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DISSENT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 Church of ENGLAND, 
 
 Fully juftified: 
 
 And proved the genuine and juft Confequence of the 
 
 Allegiance due to CHRIST, 
 
 The only Lawgiver in the Church, 
 being 
 
 The Dissenting Gentle man's 
 
 three 
 LETTERS and POSTSCRIPT, 
 
 In Anfwer to 
 
 Mr. JOHN WHITEs on that Subject 
 
 : M'*c . low<g^>or^ 
 
 The FOURTH ED I T I O N. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 Printed by S. Powell and Son, in Dame-jlreet, 
 oppofite Fowms's-Jlreet. 
 
 MDCCLXVI. 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 TH E Gentleman to whom thefe Letters 
 are addreffed, having called us forth to a 
 vindication of our religious principles and prac- 
 tice; we think ourfelves happy that without 
 fear of the heavy fines, imprifonments and 
 deaths, which our Forefathers fuffered, we can 
 make our Defence. 
 
 A calm and unprejudiced examination of our 
 caufe is all the favour we afk. Such an exa- 
 mination, we are humbly confident, will fhew 
 ; — — That we feparate from the Church of 
 England in no one thing, but in "which me fe- 
 parates herfelf from the Church of J e s u s 
 Christ — That we are Non-conformi/is to the 
 Eftablifhment only in thofe points in which the 
 Eftablifhment is not conformed to the primitive 
 apoftolic plan of difcipline and worfhip efta- 
 blifhed in the word of God — And that would 
 the Governors of this Church be pleafed to lay 
 afide thofe things which they themfelves know 
 and acknowledge to be no parts at all of genuine, 
 original, real Chriftianity -, and to be but the de- 
 vices of fallible and weak men ; the difference 
 would be no more 5 our feparation would at once 
 vanifh ; we mould immediately/W/z together , with 
 one heart and one mouth giving glory to God. 
 
 Here we reft our caufe -, upon that which is 
 the grand bafis of Proteftantijm^ and of all rati- 
 onal 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 onal and reformed Religion; viz. 7hat the 
 Scriptures are a per feci rule of faith and of man- 
 tiers : Whoever departs from this, muft wander 
 into encilefs mazes of Church Tyranny and Super- 
 Jiition; till he plunges at laft into that horrid 
 abyfs of both, Popery, or the Church of Rome. 
 
 To every impartial judge our dijjent from the 
 Church of England will appear, nothing but a 
 proteft which we publickly make againft A new 
 Scheme of Christianity, which our brethren 
 of the Eftablifhment have taken upon them to 
 fet forth. We are content with the old, the 
 primitive, plan of doctrines and rites which 
 Christ and his Apo files eftablifhed in the 
 Church : Our brethren are not; they are for al- 
 tering, improving upon, and mending Christ's 
 fcheme : For embelliming and adorning it with 
 fome additional (plendors ; and for making new 
 terms of Chriftian communion befides thofe 
 which Christ made: In this we differ from 
 them : And this (we pray it may be noted) this 
 is the only point in difference betwixt us. 
 Here the merits reft. Which of us have Truth 
 and Right of our fide we readily fubmit to 
 every unbiafied judgment : Yea, we are even 
 bold to fubmit it to the conference and the fedate 
 reflections of our brethren themfelves. 
 
 May the GOD of Truth judge betwixt us ! 
 We are aflured he will judge. To him alone 
 be the glory of dominion over confeience, and 
 of all authority in religion ; throughout all 
 Churches, and all ages. Amen. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 DISSENTING GENTLEMAN'S 
 
 AN S W E R 
 
 Tothe Reverend 
 
 Mr. WHITES Three Letters, &c. 
 SIR, 
 
 A Debate of this kind I fhould not have 
 chofe in the prefent Situation of our pub- 
 lick Affairs : But as you have done me 
 the Honour of publickly addreffing to me three 
 long Letters for my Conviction and Edification, 
 Gratitude and good Manners conftram me to an- 
 fwer. 
 
 As worldly Considerations are very flrong on 
 your Side, I affure you, I have an Ear always open 
 to any thing that can mew Conformity to be my 
 Duty. Dijenters are not Men of fo peculiar a 
 Turn of Mind, as to love Suffering and Re- 
 proach, or to defpife the Dignities, Preferments, 
 and lucrative Pofls, to the amount of Millions a 
 Year, which are fhared amongft their Fellow- 
 fubjects, could they with a good Confcience par- 
 take of them, as they have a natural Right to do. 
 
 But, notwithflanding this Prejudice in Favour 
 of your Argument, and all the Ingenuity with 
 which you fet it off, I cannot fay it has wrought 
 in me the Conviction you feemed to hope. So tar, 
 Sir, from this, that the more carefully I examine 
 the Grounds of my Separation, the more tho- 
 roughly I am convinced of its Lawfulnefs and Ex* 
 
 A pedience 
 
[ 2 ] 
 
 pedience : that, 'tis a Debt I owe to God, to Li- 
 berty, to Truth, and an Adl of Homage and Alle- 
 giance due to Christ, the only Law-giver and 
 King in the Church. 
 
 1 (hall not enter upon the Enquiry, on which 
 you largely expatiate, who are the befl Livers, 
 Churchmen or Diffenters ? And amongft which 
 the bed Means for holy Living are found ? Let the 
 World judge betwixt us. Would to God that 
 both of us had greater Reafon to boaft ! 
 
 The Controverfy betwixt us, Sir, 1 apprehend 
 may eafily be brought to a plain and jhort IfTue, if 
 you will heartily join in it. It turns upon theyfrz- 
 gle Point of the XXth Article of your Church, 
 viz. That the Church hath Power to decree 
 Rites and Ceremonies, and Authority in Matters of 
 Faith. For if the Church hath really this Au- 
 thority and Power, then all Objections of the Dif- 
 fenters about Sponfors, the Crofs in Baptifm, 
 kneeling at the Lord's- fupper, and every other 
 Thing, are impertinent and vain : The Church 
 having this Authority, ought reverently to be 
 obeyed. And, if inflead of two or three Cere- 
 monies, it had enjoined two or three fcore ; and if 
 to the thirty-nine Articles it had added an hundred 
 befides, we ought meekly to have bowed down to 
 her fpiritual Jurifdiclion, and to have practifed and 
 believed as the Church hath taught and enjoined. 
 
 But, if on the contrary, Sir, the Church hath 
 really and in Truth, no Power at all, nor Autho- 
 rity of this kind ; yea, if Christ, the great Law- 
 giver and King of the Church hath exprefly com- 
 manded that no Power of this kind (hall ever be 
 claimed, or ever be yielded, by any of his Follow- 
 ers, then your Church is reprehenfible and highly 
 criminal before God, for ufurping this Power : 
 And then the Diffenters arejuflined, and will have 
 Honour before God, for entering their Protefl 
 againft fuch Usurpation • for afTerting the Rights 
 
 and 
 
[ 3 1 
 and Privileges cf the Chriflian Church ; and flang- 
 ing fafl in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made 
 them free. 
 
 Oar Separation from the Eftablifhment you are 
 pleafed to reprefent in very terrifying and black 
 Colours, as a Sin of near the firft Magnitude — 
 " Our Minifters, you fay, have Guilt lying hea- 
 " vily upon them on Account of their fchifmati- 
 •* cal and uncatholick Proceedings. — They are 
 *' notorioufly peccant {i.e. are great Sinners) in 
 " throwing off the Authority of thofe whom they 
 4C ought to obey and fubmit themfelvesto. — Their 
 ct Conduct is fuch as you challenge all the Wit 
 " and Ingenuity of the Nation ever to reconcile 
 
 " with holy Living You reprefent them as car- 
 
 " nal, evil, and deceitful Workers, diiorderly 
 u Walkers, whom God will, undoubtedly, for 
 u thefe things, bring into Judgment*; and the 
 u Faithful, far from being permitted to enter into 
 6< any paftoral Relation to them, are not permitted 
 <c to have any Chriflian Communion with them % 
 " no, not fo much as any intimate unnecelTary 
 u Acquaintance and Familiarity with them in 
 <4 common Life f ;" with much more to the fams 
 Purpofe. 
 
 You fpeak alfo 4< of the Lay. diff enter, as having 
 " ftained his Soul with Guilt % ; and of the Doc- 
 c4 trine on which our Separation is built, as being 
 " falfe and dangerous ||. This you wifh me to lay 
 " to Heart, and ferioufly to confider." 
 
 I have, according to your Wifh, Sir, lain it to 
 Heart, and ferioufly covfidered. The Refuk of my 
 Confederation I fhall now freely give you ; and in 
 return heartily wifh, that laying afide all Preju- 
 dice and worldly Attachments, you would imparti- 
 ally confider What is the true Nature and 
 
 Conflitution of the Chriflian Church •, and what 
 A % the 
 
 * Letter I. P^ge 82, 83. + Letter II. Page 8. 
 
 £ Letter II. Page 26. || Letter III. Page 59. 
 
[ 4 ] 
 
 the Allegiance, which, as a Subject of Jesus 
 Christ, you owe to Him the only Law-giver and 
 King in the Church ; who will fhortly call you to 
 Account for your Conduct in this Refpecl:. 
 
 To come then to the Point — The Church, 
 you fay, and folemnly fubfcribe it, hath Power 
 to decree Rites , and Authority in Matters of Faith. 
 This is the grand Hinge upon which the whole 
 Controverfy turns. Now here, Sir, let me afk 
 you, 
 
 First, What Church is it, to whom this Au- 
 thority and Power is given ? You will, doubtlefs, 
 fay, the Church of England; for the Church of 
 England exprefly claims and exercifes this Power; 
 and you avow and defend it in this Exercife and 
 Claim : Yea, this is the very Bafts on which its 
 whole Frame and Hierarchy fland. It obliges all 
 its Minifters to fubfcribe to Articles cf Faith, 
 which it hath authoritatively decreed ; and to ufe 
 in religious Worfhip Ceremonies and Rites, which 
 it hath authoritatively enjoined. 
 
 But mind, Sir, I befeech you, the Confequences 
 of this Claim. If the Church of England hath real- 
 ly this Authority and Power ; hath not the Church 
 cf France — the Church of Spain — the Church of 
 Rome the very fame ? Hath England, in this Mat- 
 ter, any Privilege from God, any fpiritual Prero- 
 gative, any Charter from Heaven, which its neigh- 
 hour Countries have not ? You will not pretend it 
 has. But if it has no Privilege nor Prerogative of 
 this kind, then the Church of France, and the 
 Church of Rome have alfo, you acknowlege, Power 
 to decree Rites and Ceremonies in God's Worfhip, 
 and Authority in Points of Faith -, confequently, 
 all the Fopperies and Superftitions of the Romifh 
 Church, at leaft, which cannot be proved to be 
 contrary to the Word of God, are to bereverently 
 fubmitted to by all the Members of that Church, 
 and cordially received. 
 
 But 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 But will not your claiming this Power for the 
 Church abfolutely overthrow the Reformation itfelf, 
 and fubvert the very Foundation of the Church you- 
 feek to eftablifh ? For till you can fhew, why the 
 Church of England is pofleffed of this Power, but 
 not the Church of Rome ; why a Body of acknow- 
 leged fallible Men in Britain have Authority to 
 make and to enjoin Articles of Faith, but not a 
 Body of pretended infallible Men at Trent ; whence 
 England came thus fpiritually-gifted, and en- 
 dowed beyond all its neighbour Kingdoms — your 
 Separation from the Church of Rome is incapable 
 of ajuit and iblid Defence- 
 
 To this, perhaps, you will reply — But our 
 Church hath exprefly guarded againfl any fuch 
 Abufe of the Power it claims, by adding in the 
 XXth Article — Tet is it not lawful for the Church 
 to ordain any Thing that is contrary to God's Word 
 written ; neither may it fo expound one Place of Scrip- 
 ture that it be repugnant to another. But, upon this 
 I entreat your Patience for thefe two Remarks : 
 
 i ft, Whatever Ceremony or Rite then cannot be 
 (hewn to be contrary to God's Word, your 
 Church, yea, the Church of Rome hath, you ac- 
 knowlege, full Authority to enjoin : Confequent- 
 ly, as your Church, by Virtue of this Authority, 
 hath enjoined the Crofs in Baptifm, it hath full 
 Rower alfo to require you to crofs your [elves ; when- 
 ever you enter the Place of Worfhip, fay your 
 Prayers, look towards the Eaft, touch the Bible, 
 fit at Meat — It hath full Power to enjoin the Ufe 
 of Salt and Spittle in Baptifm, Chrifm, extreme Unc- 
 tion, and an hundred other Things which are no 
 more contrary to God's Word than the Crofs in 
 Baptifm is. 
 
 As your Church now con f crates Ground, it has 
 every whit as much Power to confecrate the other 
 Element, and to make holy Water, as well as holy 
 Earth -, and to order it to be decently fprinkled 
 
 uptfn 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 upon its Members {for all Things, you know, are 
 to be done decently and in Order) in Token that they 
 fhall keep themfelves pure from Sin : It hath Pow- 
 er to confecrate holy Knives to cut the facramental 
 Bread ; holy Bafons and Ewers for the Priefts to 
 wafh in before the Sacrament, holy Veflments and 
 Robes, and a great Variety of holy Utenfels, lighted 
 Tapers for the Altar, &c. (all which, you know, 
 Sir, was done by your admired Bifhop Laud) 
 knocking on the Breaft, bowing towards the Eaft, 
 Proftration before the Altar. — Ail thefe, I fay, 
 and innumerable other Ceremonies your Church 
 claims Authority and Power to enjoin ; for none of 
 thefe can be fhewn to be more contrary to the Word 
 cf God, or to be a whit more fupeiftitious, ridi- 
 culous, or abfurd, than the cr offing at Baptifm, or 
 the folemn Confecration of Churches and their 
 Yards. But, 
 
 2dly. The Limitation or Guard, which the Ar- 
 ticle feems to put upon this Power of the Church, 
 is really of no Force, and amounts to nothing at 
 all. 
 
 For tho' it fays — That the Church may not or-r 
 dain any Thing contrary to God V Word, nor fo 
 expound one Scripture as to be repugnant to ano- 
 ther : Yet of this Repugnance and Contrariety, the 
 Church alone, you will obferve, and not every 
 private Perfon, is allowed to be the proper Judge; 
 For elfe the Article is abfurd; it actually over- 
 throws itfelf; and takes away, with one Hand, 
 what it gives with the other. For, if every pri- 
 vate Perf on hath Authority to judge of the Church's 
 Decifions, and to rejeel them, if they appear to 
 him repugnant to Scripture, then the Church* s 
 Authority in Points of Faith comes tojuft nothing 
 at all. It is an Authority to decree, where none 
 are bound to fubmit; that is, an Authority over 
 no Body, an Authority to do nothing. But fuch 
 a fenfeiefs, unmeaning, impertinent Claim, can 
 
 never 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 never be the Defign and Import of this Article. 
 It does claim therefore for the Church fome real 
 Authority to fettle Points of Faith • confequently, 
 to Points thus authoritatively fettled by it, private 
 Chriftians, its Members arc, reverently to fubmit, 
 even tho' to their own Judgments they appear re- 
 pugnant to the Word of God. 
 
 This, Sir, muft be the real Meaning and Intent 
 of the Article, notwithftanding the reftritlive 
 Claufe. Accordingly, in Confequenceof this Claim, 
 your Church hath authoritatively decreed thirty- 
 nine Articles of Faith ; and thefe it declares to 
 have decreed for the taking away Difference of Opi- 
 nion^ and to eflablifh an Agreement in true Religion*. 
 The plain Language of Authority. Thefe Arti- 
 cles it obliges all its Minifters to fubfcribe; and 
 our Princes, as Heads and Governors of the 
 Church, have authoritatively forbid its Clergy to 
 preach any Thing repugnant to them, and requir- 
 ed them to frame their Sermons according to the 
 Plan here prefcribed. From all which it appears, 
 that, notwithftanding the pretended Limitation, 
 there is a real Authority claimed by the Church, 
 that is to fay, by its Governors, to fettle Points 
 of Faith. But if there be fuch Authority really 
 vefted in them, then the People are bound tofub- 
 mit to their Decifions, and have no Right of pri- 
 vate Judgment to examine or rejeft them • for there 
 cannot be two Contradictory Rights-, a Right 
 in Governors to prefcribe, and a Right in Subjects 
 to refufe. But if the Church of England has 
 really this Authority and Right, the Church of 
 Rome had it before her; and, as the elder and 
 Mother -church, ought to have been obeyed. The 
 Reformation, therefore, as we are wont to call it, 
 was a Rebellion againft Superiors, a Difobedience 
 to the Authority vefted in the Church, and ought, 
 
 as 
 
 * Preface to XXXIX Articles. 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 as fuch, to be renounced by returning to the 
 Church of Rome. 
 
 In this Manner, Sir, a Romijh Priefl will turn 
 upon the Church of England its own dangerous 
 Artillery ; and by the meer Concellions of this 
 XXth Article, thoufands of Profelytes have, no 
 doubt, been gained from you. Nor, with all 
 your Ingenuity, would you find it eafy to ward 
 off the Force of fuch Arguing, fhould any of 
 your Parifhioners be likely to be feduced. And 
 this, perhaps, is the Reafon why the numerous 
 Converts thefe Priefts are faid to make, are ga- 
 thered all from your Church ; whereas, from a- 
 mongft the Diffenters, you hardly ever hear of one 
 gained. But, 
 
 Secondly. I want much to be enlightened as to 
 the Persons who are inverted with this Authority 
 and Power. 
 
 You fay, it is the Church : But Who, I pray, 
 are the Churchy in whom this great Power is lodg- 
 ed ? You will pleafe to obferve well, Sir, not the 
 Bifhops and Clergy ', who are wont to fpeak of them- 
 felves as our fpiritual Paflors and Guides, as being 
 ever us in the Lord, as Stewards of the Myfteries y 
 &c. This Power to order the Manner of God's 
 Worfhip, and to fettle Articles of Faith, is not 
 at all lodged in them, but entirely in the King 
 and Parliament of thefe Realms. 
 
 You need not be informed, Sir, that all the Clergy 
 of this Kingdom, with all the Bifhops, at their 
 Head, have not the leafl Authority to enjoin one 
 Ceremony or Rite of Worfhip ; or to either efta- 
 hlifh or annul one Article of Faith. No, but all 
 Power and JurifdicYion relating to thefe Matters is 
 lodged chiefly in Lay-hands ; 'tis folely in the King 
 and Parliament, and the Clergy are to adt in all 
 Things under their Direction and Controul. The 
 King and Parliament are in Truth the real 
 Fathers, Governors, or Bishops of this Church : 
 
 "Thefe 
 
[ 9 1 
 
 Thefe only have Power to make or to unmake Forms 
 and Rites of Worfhip, and do authoritatively in- 
 ftruct and prefcribe to the Clergy what they are to 
 believe — in what Manner, and to whom the Sa- 
 craments are to be given — what Prayers they are 
 to offer up— what Doctrines to preach-^-who are to 
 be admitted to the Epifcopale or Priefibood, and who 
 to be refufed — by what Ceremonies and Prayers, 
 and Exhortations they are to be fet apart, and con- 
 
 lecrate J to their Office.- Thefe, with every other 
 
 Circumftance relating to Religion and the Worfhip 
 of God, which is authoritatively prefcribed or en- 
 joined in your Church, you know, Sir, not the Bi- 
 Jhops ana CI rgy, but the King with his Parliament 
 are the only Per fens who have authoritatively en- 
 joined and prefcribed them. 
 
 ** The Clergy of the whole Land, in Convocation 
 " aflembled, cannot fo much as attempt any Canons 
 ec or Conftitutions without the King's Licence. If 
 u the King and Clergy make a Canon, tho' it binds 
 u the Clergy in re ecclefiaftica^ yet it does not bind 
 " Laymen*." 
 
 Yea, fo far* Sir, were the Bijhops and Clergy from 
 having any Hand in the firfl forming our prefent 
 eftablifhed Church, or in ordering its Rites and Ar- 
 ticles of Faith, that it was done not only without, 
 but in aftual Oppofition to them : " For in the i ft of 
 
 B " CL 
 
 * ViSe Examination of the Codex, &c Pag. 114, 148. " By 
 ** the 25:11 of Hen. VIII. Cap. 19. it is a Prtemumre for the 
 ■* Convocation to meet without the Kings Writ : And when they 
 '* are met to do any thing without the Kings Licence: And 
 •' then no Refolution of theirs to have the Force or" zCanon, un- 
 *' lefs the King confirm it. Nor is it then valiu, if it be contra- 
 " ri^nt or repugnant to the Laws, StatueSj apd Cufioms of this 
 ** Realm, or be to the Damage or Hurt of the King's Preroga- 
 *' tive royal —And of this the Courts of Weftminfier Hall mull 
 «• judge — 1 — Hale, in his Analyfis {Page 12. .) fays, 1/ ecclefiafti- 
 *' cal Laws are nof confirmed by Parliament, the King may re- 
 «' voke and annu »em at his Will and Pleafore." — Vide Notes 
 on an Anfwer to the Examination of the Bifhop of London* 
 Ctdex. 
 
[ 10 ] 
 
 tC Q^ Eliz. the Parliament alone eftablifhed the 
 u Queen's Supremacy and the Common-prayer- 
 " book, in fpite of all Oppofition from the Bifhops 
 tC in the Houfe of Lords ; and the Convocation then 
 " fitting, were fo far from having any Hand in 
 " thofe Church-acts for Reformation, that they 
 " prefented to the Parliament feveral Propofitions 
 " in Behalf of the Tenets of Popery , directly con- 
 tC trary to the Proceedings of the Parliament*." — 
 
 Hence then, Sir, I think you mud be abfolutely 
 forced to own (what I know Gentlemen of your 
 Robe don't care to hear) viz. That the Church of 
 England \s really a parliamentary Church; that 
 it is not properly an Ally, but a mere Creature of 
 the State. It depends entirely upon the Atls and 
 Authority of Parliament for its very EfTence and 
 Frame. The Qualifications of its Minifters, their 
 Power to officiate, the Manner in which they are to 
 adminifter the Sacraments, are all limited and pre- 
 ferred by Authority of Parliament, and this Autho- 
 rity, which at firfl made, can alone alter and new- 
 make it; can abolilh, or add to its Articles or Rites, 
 according to its Pleafure, even tho' the whole Body 
 of Bifhops and CUr^y ever fo much diflike, or pro- 
 teft earneflly againft it. 
 
 It is a Point therefore inconteflible, and abfolutely 
 out of Doubt, that the Church, your Article 
 declares to have this Authority and Power here, is 
 the King and Parliament of theie Realms; and 
 it is no other than they. But, 
 
 Thirdly. The grand Point which yet flicks, 
 and which, without your Affiftance, I (hall never 
 get over, is, how came the civil Magi/Irate by this 
 Authority in the Church of Christ ? Who gave 
 him this Power to decree Rites in Chriftian Worfhip, 
 which Chrift never decreed; and to make Articles 
 of Faith which Chrift never made? Neither Ch rist, 
 
 nor 
 
 * Vide Prieftcraft in Perfection, Pref. Pag. 4, 
 
[ 11 ] 
 
 nor the Apoflles, ever gave him this Authority ; 
 whence then is it derived? 
 
 The Subject ion to higher Powers, and Obedience to 
 Magiftrates, which the Scriptures enjoin Chriftians, 
 relates only to civil, not at all to religious Matters : 
 For this obvious Reafon ; that the Magi/hate at 
 that Time was every where Pagan. The Apoflles 
 therefore inftead of paying, or exhorting Chriftians 
 to pay, any Subjection to him in religious Affairs, 
 ftrenuoufly exhorted them to renounce and difavow 
 it — to come out from among them and be feparate. 
 They were every where, you know, Sir, Diffenters 
 from the eftablifhed Church. 
 
 Christianity is fo far from enjoining, that it 
 actually forbids, Obedience to civil Governors in 
 Things of a religious Nature. It commands us to 
 call no Man upon Earth Father or Mafier*, i. e. to 
 acknowlege no Authority or Jurifdidtion of any in 
 Matters of Religion, but to remember that One, 
 one only is oar Mailer and Law- giver, even Christ ; 
 and all Chriftians are Brethren -, i. e. ftand upon an 
 equal foot, having no Dominion over one another. 
 Tho' the Princes of the Gentiles exercife Dominion over 
 them, and they who are Great exercife Authority upon 
 them,jyet it Jhall not, our Lord fays, be jo among /I 
 you f. Nay but your Church replies, in this its XXth 
 Article, it Jhall be fo among fl us. — There are fome 
 who have Authority over others in Matters of Faith. 
 — There are other Maflers befides Christ. Thus 
 the Article and the Scripture manifeftly clafh : Will 
 you be fo good Sir, as to adjufl the Controverfy 
 betwixt them, and tell me which I am to follow. 
 
 The Church is Christ's Kingdom, a Kingdom not 
 of this World: For his voluntary Humiliation and fuf- 
 fering of Death, he is advanced to the high Honour 
 of being fole Law- giver, Judge and Sovereign in 
 religious Matters. — He only hath Authority to fix 
 the Terms of Communion for his Followers or Church ; 
 B 2 and 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 8, 9* f Matt. xx. 25. 
 
[ 12 ] 
 
 and the Terms which He hath flx'd, no Man upon 
 Earth, nor Body of Men, have Authority to fet 
 afide, to alter or new make. And if any Men up- 
 on Earth fnall prefume to alter, or new make, Terms 
 of Communion in his Church ; they are guilty of 
 great Arrogance, and invade his Authority and 
 Throne. But this, we apprehend, is whit yea have 
 done. You will not now receive a Perfon to pub- 
 lick Baptifm or the Lord's-Supper upon lie Terms 
 on which Christ and bis A t o)iles would have re- 
 ceived him. Neither Christ nor his /ipofiles ever 
 made the Sign of the Crofs^ or other Sponjors befides 
 the Parents, necelTary to a Child's Baptifm ; nor 
 did they ever make kneeling a necefTary Term of 
 receiving the Sacramental-Supper • but both thofe 
 you make necefTary*. Thus you have taken upon 
 you to new model the Church of Christ, to charge 
 and fet afide his Laws, and to make others in their 
 room. 
 
 Now give me leave to afk you, Sir, by what Au- 
 thority do you prefume to reject thofe from your 
 Church, whom in your Confcience you believe 
 Christ and his Aphles would have received into 
 theirs ? Are you wifer than they? Or is your Church 
 better framed, and more perfect than theirs ? If an 
 honeit and fincere Chriflian now brings his Child 
 to you to be publickly baptized, defiring it may be 
 done uitbout the Sign of the Crofs, and that him- 
 [elf may -ftanxj forth as Surety for its Education; 
 would you not refufs him ? Or if he defired to be 
 admitted to the Communion of Chriflians, in the 
 other Sacrament of the Supper, but that he might 
 not take it Kneeling: Would you not rejeel him ? 
 But if the fame Perfon had come to Jesus Christ 
 
 or 
 
 * The XXVIJth Canon requires, the Minifter never wittingly 
 to adminifkr the Communion to any, but to fuch as kneel. The 
 XXIXth Canon requires, that no Parent (hall be urged to be pre- 
 sent at hi' Child's .Baptifm ; nor be admitted to anfwer as God- 
 father for his cwn Child. 
 
[ 13 J 
 
 or the /Ipojlles, offering himfelf and Child upon the 
 fame Terms, would they not have received him ? But 
 Jiow is it, oir, that you take upon you to rejeel frorr* 
 Christ's Family and Church, thofe whom you be- 
 lieve Himself would have received? is not this 
 Lording it over Gods Heritage, and ufurping 
 Christ's Throned Is it not letting yourfelves up 
 for Law- ft fakers and Rulers in his Kingdom ; claim- 
 ing Homage from bis Subjects? And are not his 
 faithful Subjects, by the Allegiance they owe him, 
 obliged to enter their Proteft againft fuch Ufurpa- 
 tion, and to ft and fa/} in the Liberty w herewith 
 ,Chr i st has fit them free ? 
 
 When then, let me appeal to your own fober 
 Judgment, does the Guilt of Schifm lie: Upon you 
 or upon us ? Upon us, who offer our felves to Com- 
 munion in your Church upon the Terms which 
 Christ appointed, and are ready to do every Thing 
 which Christ has coniinanded : Or uponjw* who 
 abfolutely rejeB us, unlets, beiides what Christ 
 hath order'd, we will fubmit alfo to fome Orders 
 and Devices of your own ? We come as the Lord's 
 Servants, and defire to eat at the Lord's-Table, with 
 reverent Submiilion to all his Appointments. Nay 
 but, fay you, you mail not come to the Lord*s~Ta- 
 ble, unlefs you will kneel ^ i. e. unlefs you will come 
 in that Pofture, which tho' Christ in his Wifdom 
 did not think proper, yet which we in our Wifdom 
 have thought proper to ordain. In other Words ; 
 unlefs befides being Christ's Servants* you will 
 alfo be ours ; and pay Subjection to our Inftitution 
 and Authority in this religious Rite. 
 
 This, Sir, is the true State of the Controverfy 
 betwixt us : Judge now, I pray you, with the Im- 
 partiality of a Chriftian who makes the Schifm, and 
 who has reafon to fear being brought into Judgment, 
 by the great Law-giver of the Church, for the un- 
 happy Breach which fubfifts. — Let a great Prelate 
 who at prefent adorns one of the highefl Stations of 
 
 your 
 
[ 14 ] 
 
 your Church be heard as Judge betwixt us. — " In all 
 * c other Societies, the exprejs Will ot the Founder, 
 " and the Terms of Fellowfhip and Communion 
 u which be has laid down, are accounted /acred. In 
 " all other Kingdoms the Will of the fupreme Power 
 ct is a Law. No one pretends, or dares pretend, 
 " to make Laws of equal Force with his. How 
 " hard then is the Fate of the Chrifiian Churchy or 
 u of the Kingdom cf Christ, when bis Will is de- 
 *' ckred inefficient, and the invented Words and De- 
 " cifions of his Subjects are made co-ordinate with his 
 " own, equally exclufive of others of his Subjects 
 " from the Communion of their Fellow-Subjects ! And 
 " how hard is the Fate of thole Believers in him^ who 
 " dejire Communion upon the Terms God has prefer ibed, 
 " to be excluded by the Words of Men ; by the In- 
 " ventions of Men impofed upon them fox his Pre- 
 " cepts ! And, how unhappy is the Church, to be re- 
 u duced by any fuch Methods within more narrow 
 " Bounds than our Lord him/elf has confined it * ." 
 But you are in Readinefs to retort, and with great 
 AfTurance tell me, " That the Avoidance of Kneel- 
 tc ing infifted upon by our Miniflers, is not lefs an 
 *' Imposition than your enjoining it. — That we do 
 " really impofe the Obfervance of one particular Gej- 
 " ture upon our Communicants.- — That fitting is 
 ? the regular, unvaried Practice of our Churches ; 
 " obferved as conflantly and univerfally amongft 
 *' us, as Kneeling is amongft you, — never allowed to 
 " be departed from \ which our Minilters require, 
 
 " infill upon, and refufe to abate" And you alk 
 
 me u if one fhould prefent himfelf to take the Sa- 
 ct crament Handing, or offer to take it on his Knees, 
 46 whether I don't think he would undergo fome 
 fct fevere Expoflulations, and be plainly told, we 
 
 " had 
 
 * Bifhop of Winchejler's Poftfcript to his Anfwer to Dr. Hani 
 Sermon, page 254. 
 
[ 15 ] 
 
 " had nofuch Cuftom, nor the Churches of God, and 
 " it would not be given him at all*." 
 
 I believe the World will be furprized, Sir, and 
 that an ingenuous Blufh will cover your own Face, 
 when you find that this Account of us is abfolute- 
 ly without Truth, and quite contrary to Fad. I 
 have fpent my whole Life amongft the Diffenters, 
 and am acquainted with a great Number of their 
 Churches and Miniflers ; but never once, till now, 
 heard that Sitting at the Lord's-Table v/as ever 
 infi(led on as a Term of Communion with them ; or 
 that it is their unvaried and univerfalY ra&ice. The 
 contrary to this, I know to be Truth. In the 
 Church to which I myfelf belong, there is a Per- 
 fon who for many Years has conftantly received 
 Kneeling, without the leaft Offence to the Con- 
 gregation, or any Expoftulation from the Minifter 
 on that Account. In fome of our Churches I am 
 well informed, there are fome who receive Standing, 
 fome Kneeling: In this every one amongft us is left 
 entirely at his Liberty. Tho' the Pofture of git- 
 ting be generally thought by us moft fui table to the 
 Commemorative-Supper of our Lord; inftituted in- 
 ftead of the Pafchal-Supper of the Jews ; and moft 
 agreeable to the Practice of Christ and his Apof- 
 ties, who, without all peradventure, Sat around the 
 Table ; yet in this we are all left to follow freely our 
 own Perfuafion. Nor is there, I believe, amongft 
 our Minifters one in five hundred, who would refufe 
 to give the Sacrament either Standing or Kneeling to 
 any one who thought either of thefe the fitteft Pof- 
 ture of receiving. Our Liberty as to this Matter 
 you might have feen in Baxter's reform' d Liturgy 5 
 where it is exprefly faid— u And let none of the Peo~ 
 " pie be forced to Jit, ftand or kneel in the Aft of re- 
 " ceiving, whofe Judgment is again ft it." And in 
 Dr. Calamy's brief Account, &c. which you appear 
 
 to have read " The Communicants amongft Protef- 
 
 " tant 
 • Letter II. pag. 56, 57, 58. Letter III. pag, 8, 9. 
 
L '6 ] 
 
 **. tan t Dl flentefs, are at Liberty to ufe the'ibc 
 " own Posture in the Time of Receiving -, tho* d 
 "' Table Gcjlure is moft commmonly ufed*." 
 
 Thus, Sir, I have at large confidered your Charge' 
 of Schism upon the Dijfenters \ and hope by this? 
 time you begin to think more favourably of us-, 
 and to juftify our Principles as truly Catholic and 
 Generous ; the only Broad- Bottom on which the Peace 
 of the Church can be folidly fixed ; and that the 
 Guilt of the Separation lies wholly on your Church, 
 which infifts upon Unchristian and Unscrip- 
 tural Terms of communicating with it. 
 
 But I hope to finifh your Conviction, Sir, and to 
 wipe off every Speck of the Taint of Schifm from 
 Dijfenters, by calling to your Remembrance your 
 own excellent Definition of the Catholic or Chriftian 
 Church ; and reafoning with you on it. " The Ca- 
 " tholic Church, you fayf, is one outward and vifi- 
 " ble Society Divinely inftituted ; the moft admira- 
 fcc ble and glorious Society under Heaven."— — Mind, 
 Sir, your own Words ; and it will foon end the 
 Debate. If it be a Society Divinely injlituted, then- 
 whatever Society is not of Divine, but of meerly hu- 
 man lnftitution, is not the Church of Chrifl. If it 
 be a Society divinely injlituted, then the Terms of 
 Admiffion into this Society, and the Qualifications of 
 its Members are divinely fixed, i. e. fixed by the Will 
 and Authority of God : Whatever vifible Society 
 then hath its Terms of Admiffion and the Qualificati- 
 ons of its Members not divinely fix } d, fix'd only by 
 the Will and Authority of Men, cannot be the tru- 
 ly Catholic and Chriftian Church. 
 
 Now here (hall I intreat you, Sir, with the Im- 
 partiality of a Chriftian, who has nothing bvtTruth 
 and the Will of God in view, to flop a Moment and 
 compare the Constitution of the Church of Eng- 
 land, and the Constitution of the Church of Chrift, 
 
 and 
 
 * Letter to a Divine in Germany, pag. 1 1, 
 -j- Letter. I. pag 73. 
 
t <7 ] 
 
 and fee if they are not Societies of a quite different 
 Frame ; the one a human, the other a divine Infti- 
 tution ; the one refting entirely on the Authority 
 and Will of Men, the other upon the Will and Au- 
 thority of G O D. 
 
 If you enquire after the Conflitution and Frame 
 of the Church of Chriff, where mult you look for 
 it? only in the Bible*. But if you enquire after 
 the Conftitution and Frame of the Church of Eng- 
 land, where mud you look for that ? in the Statute- 
 book, m the Canons, and Common prayer-book, and in 
 the Codes of the En^lifh-law. 
 
 The Church of Christ is a religious Eitablifh- 
 ment, founded upon the Scriptures, as the only au- 
 thentic Rule of its Dodtrines and Worfhip ; the 
 Church of Engl and is a civil Eftablifhment, found- 
 ed upon A els of Parliament, as the only authentic 
 Rule of what is to be believed and praclifed there- 
 in. The one a fpiritual StrucJure, built upon the 
 Foundation of the Apoftles and Prophets, Jesus 
 Christ himfelf being the chief Corner- flone : The 
 other a political Struclure, built upon the Founda- 
 tion of the Lords and Commons of the Realm, 
 the King, as fupreme Head, being the chief Cor- 
 ner-done. 
 
 Into the Church of Chrijl any Perfon may be ad- 
 mitted, who fubmits to the Terms appointed by 
 Chrifl : But, into the Church of England, he cannot 
 be admitted, except over and above thefe, he fub- 
 mits alfo to the Terms which human Authority hath 
 inflituted and devifed. 
 
 In ChrijTs Church the Lord's -Supper is appointed 
 and ufed only for fpiritual and religious Ends ; but, 
 in the Church of England, it is notorioufly both in- 
 flituted and ufed for political and worldly Ends, to 
 qualify for a Pod. In the former 'twas appointed 
 with Intention, and as a mean of uniting all Chrifti- 
 ans ; and of destroying all Variance and Distinctions 
 
 C betwixt 
 
 * The Bible only is the Religion of Proteftants. Chillingworth 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 betwixt them. In the latter 'tis appointed with In- 
 tention, and as a Mean, of di (criminating and di- 
 viding Lhriflians *, and of making a Diftinftion be- 
 twixt one and another. 
 
 In the Cbriftian Cburch % no openly debauched or 
 fcandalouily wicked Perfon has a Right to come to 
 the Table of the Lord, or to partake for its Provi- 
 fions ; but in the Church of England, if fuch a Per- 
 fon has a GommijUon from the King in the Army or 
 the Fleet, or any profitable Pod, this gives him a 
 Right to come to the Comrnunion-Tabie, a Right 
 to demand the holy Elements at the PriejTs Hands, 
 as a Qualification for his Poll. 
 
 In the fcriptural Church of Chrifb, there are ro 
 fuch Officers ever heard of as ! ^jhops, Deans, 
 
 Archdeacons, Ptebendaries, Canons, Chancdlors, &c. — 
 But there is another Church, you know, Sir, where 
 thefe are Officers of great Influence, of high Impor- 
 tance and Rank. But whence came this pompous 
 Train ! From the apoflolick Fountain at Jerufalem, 
 or from the corrupted Source at Rome ? 
 
 The Church of Chrift never excommunicates, nor 
 pretends to exercife its Difcipline upon any but its 
 own Members ; For what have I to do, the Apoftle 
 fays, to judge them that are without* ? But the Church 
 of England extends its ecclefiaftical Authority over 
 thofe who never belonged to it ; and by a very ex- 
 traordinary Acf of Power, excommunicates fuch as 
 never were of its Communion • that is, it carts fuch 
 from, who never were in it. In common Life fuch 
 a Thing would be reckoned marvellous indeed. 
 Should I folemnly threaten, yea actually proceed 
 to caft a Pcifon out of my Houfe, who never was 
 in it, i mould work as great a Miracle as was ever 
 wrought in the Church of Rome: But Miracles of 
 this kind, Sir, your Church, you know, fometimes 
 works. 
 
 Again 
 
 * i Cor. v. 12. 
 
[ 19 1 
 
 Again ; the Rod with which the Church of Cbrifi 
 chaftifes its Delinquents is fp ritual, not carnal-, but 
 the Rod of the Church of England is carnal, not j pi- 
 ritual. By the Conflitution of the former , the ex- 
 communicated Member is only to be deprived of 
 spiritual Privileges, fuch as Fellowfhip in Prayer, 
 Singing, Sacraments, &c. As for this civil Property 
 and Rights, it meddles not with thefe ♦, for Chr istV 
 Kingdom is not of this World \ but by the Conflitu- 
 tion of the latter, the excommunicated Member is 
 delivered over to the civil Ann, to humble and 
 chaftife him •, he is difabled from averting his natu- 
 ral Rights, from being a Witnefs, from bringing 
 Actions at Law, and if he does not fubmk in forty 
 Days, a Writ fhall ifllie forth to imprifon him, — - 
 
 In the Church of Jefus Chr i ft, thofe who are en- 
 trufted with eccleiiaitical Difcipline are folemnly 
 charged before God, and the Lord J ejus Cbrtft, and 
 the elecl Angels, to be no Refpec~\ers of Peribns, to 
 do nothing by Partiality, and not to prefer one before 
 another*: Neither the Gold Ring nor the gay death- 
 ingf, nor pecuniary Gifts, are to have any Influence 
 upon their ecckfiaftical Proceedings >, but the Poor 
 are to receive the fame Meafure with the Rich. 
 But is it thus, Sir, in the Church of England ? May 
 not a grievous Sinner, according to her Conflitution, 
 be iuflfered to commute? to have Pardon for Money, 
 and to fkreen himfelf by a round Fee from the Stroke 
 of the Church's Rod ? Yea, when he is going to be 
 delivered, or actually is delivered, into the Bands of 
 the Devil, and Satan has him in his Keeping, will not 
 an handfome Sum prefently pluck him thence, and re- 
 flore him to the Church's foft and indulgent Bofom 
 again? — You remember, Sir, the Heathen Satyrift, 
 At vos 
 
 Dicite Pont /fees, in Sac r is quid facit Aurum. 
 
 Perfms Sat. II. 
 And you know what was faid, upon a like Occafi- 
 C % on, 
 
 * i Tim. v. 21. + James ii. 2, 3. 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 on, by a much greater than he — Thy Money peri/h 
 with thee ; becauje th-qi haft thought that the Gift of 
 God (Pardon and Abfolution) may be purchased with 
 Money, thou haft neither Part no* Lot in this Matter*. 
 
 Some of the moil /acred Acts of fpiritual Juris- 
 diction," its folemn C n/u-es and Excommunications, 
 areexercifed in the Church of England, by unconfe- 
 crated and meer Laymen. Thefe hold the Keys, open 
 or (hut, caft out or admit to it, according to their 
 fole Pleafure. The Chancellors, Officials, Surro- 
 gates who adminifter the Jurifdiclion of fpiritu- 
 al Courts, and determine the moil important fpiri- 
 tual Matters, fuch as delivering Men to the Devil, 
 &c. frequently are, and by exprefs Provifion of 
 Law, always may be Laymen. And truly, Sir, I 
 greatly pity you Gentlemen of theC/ergy, that feme 
 of the moll tremendous and folemn Parts of your 
 /acred Office, fuch as Excommunications, Ab/oluti- 
 ons, &c. you are forced to perform, not according 
 to, but fometimes, perhaps, dire&ly againft your 
 own Judgments, as you are authoritatively directed 
 and commanded by thefe Lay-perfons. Forced, I fay, 
 to do it, notwithflanding what you urge about your 
 own Concurrence -, for if you refufe to concur, you 
 are immediately liable to Su/pen/ion ab officio &f bene- 
 ficio ; and if you continue obilinate, to be excom- 
 municated your ownfelves "f\ 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ never owed its 
 Support (it fcorned to owe its Propagation and Sup- 
 port) to the Powers, Preferments and Riches of this 
 
 World 
 
 * Acts viii. 20, 21. 
 
 f There is one Thing, fays Bifhop Burnet, yet wanting to 
 compleat the Reformation of the Church ; which is to reftore 
 primitive Difcipline againft fcandalons Perfons, the eftabliftiing 
 the Government of the Church in Ecchfiajlical Hands, and taking 
 it out of Lay-Hands, which have fo long prophaned it ; and have 
 expofed the Authority of the Church and the Cenfures of it, 
 chieHy Excommunication, to the Contempt of the Nation ; fo 
 that the dreadful left of all Cenfures, is now become the molt 
 fcorned and defpifed.. Hi/}, Reform. Abridg. Fag. 367. 
 
[ ftl ] 
 World; 'twas its Glory, that it made its Way, and 
 was eftablifhed upon Earth, not only without, but 
 in direct Oppojition to them : It commands its Minis- 
 ters not /o strive, but to be gentle to all Men; in 
 Meeknefs, inflrutJing thofe who gainfay — (2 Tim. ii. 
 24, 25.; But the Church of England, confcious of its 
 Weakneis, props itfelf on every Side with civil Dig- 
 nities and Emoluments ; calls in the Powers and 
 Riches of this World to its Support and Defence -, 
 intrenches itfelf deep under Shelter of penal Laws, 
 and from thence thunders out its Excommunications, 
 and Threats of Fines and Imprifonments, upon any 
 who mail dare to write or fpeak any thing deroga- 
 tory to its Ceremonies and Forms of Worfhip, or 
 its Articles of Faith*. 
 
 There is one Difficulty more, Sir, which I have 
 often revolved, but could never pollibly get over ; 
 it feems to hang as a dead and infupaable Weight 
 upon the Frame of your Church ; if you can hand- 
 fomely remove it, you will merit Lambeth for a Re- 
 ward. 
 
 The Church of England and the Church of Chrijl 
 feem to be two Societies, abfolutely diftintt, and of 
 a quite different Conftitution, as they have two dif- 
 ferent Heads, or Fountains of Power, whence all 
 Authority, Jurifdi&ibn, and Mini ft rations in the 
 two Churches feveraily fpring. In the Church of 
 
 Jefiis 
 
 * The IV, V, Vlth Canons folemnly denounce— " That who- 
 " foever fhall affirm that the Form of God's Worfhip contained 
 " in the Common-prayer, hath any Thing in it repugnant to the 
 " Word of God— or that any of the XXXIX Articles are in 
 " any Part erroneous, or fuch as may not with a good Confcience 
 *.* be iubfcribed, Jet him be Excommunicated ipfo fafio, and 
 " not be reftored until he repent and publickly revoke his wicked 
 V Errors." 
 
 And by the Aft of Uniformity, it is ena&ed — *' That if any 
 '* one fhall declare, or fpeak any Thing in the Derogation or 
 «• depraving of the Book of Common-prayer, he fhall, for the 
 •' fir]} Offence, fuffer Jmprifonment one whole Year, without 
 «« Bail or Mainprize; and for the fecund Offence fhall be imfn- 
 lf foned during his Life." 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 Jefus Cbrift, himself is jupreme Head, the on J y La w- 
 giverand Sovereign: To us there is but one Lord*. 
 One is your Mafter, even Christ f. Gave him to 
 he Head over all Things to the Church t. All Pow- 
 e r is given to me in Heaven and in Earth, go ye there- 
 fore teach all Nations §. Christ is the only Foun- 
 tain of Influence, Jurifdi&ion, and Power in bis 
 Church, by Commiilion from whom atone all its 
 Oflicers act. 
 
 But in the Church of England, you well know, 
 Sir, the King ox Queen is supreme Head, "veiled 
 fcC with all Power to exercife all Manner of Ecciefi- 
 ct aftical Jurifdiction, and Arcbbijbops, Btfoops, Arch- 
 " deacons, and other Bcclefiaftical Perfons, have no 
 tC Manner of Jurifdiclion ecclefiailica!, but by and 
 ct under the King's Mayfly, who hath full Power 
 " and Authority to hear and determine #// Manner 
 " of Caufes ecclefiaftical, and to reform, and cor- 
 4t rect all Vice, Sin, Errors, Herefies, Enormities, 
 " Abufes whatfoever, which by any Manner of fpi- 
 " ritual Authority or Jurisdiction ought, or may 
 " be lawfully reformed *." 
 
 At the firfl Eftablifhment of this Church under 
 Hen. VIII. and Edw. VI. all the Bifhops took out 
 Com millions from the Crown, fcr the exerciling of 
 their fpirhital Janfdiclion in thefe Kingdoms, during 
 the King's Pleafure only ^ " and in their Commif- 
 " fions acknowledge all fort of Jurifdiclion, as well 
 * c ecclefiaftical as civil, to have flowed originally 
 " from the regal Power, as from a fupreme Head, 
 " and a Fountain and Spring of all Magistracy with- 
 " in his own Kingdom +." 
 
 Yea, even the Power of Ordination itfelf, which is 
 reckoned a Peculiar of the epifcooal Office, the firft 
 
 Re- 
 
 * i Cor. viii. 6. + Matt, xxiii. 8. % Ephef. i. zz. 
 § Matt, xxviii. i 8, 19. 
 
 * 26 Hen. VIII. Cap. i. 37 Hen. VI iL Cap. xvii. 1 Eliz. 
 Cap. i. f Burnet's Hift. Reform. Part II. Col. p. 91. 
 
r 23 i 
 
 Reformers and Founders of this Church derived 
 from the King, and exercifed only as by Authority 
 from him, and during his Pleafure. " Thus Cran- 
 " mer Arch bi (hop of Canterbury, Bonner Bifhop of 
 <c London, &c. took out Commiflions from the 
 Cc Crown, importing, that becaufe the Vicegerent 
 5t (Cromwel, a Lay-perfon) could not perfonally at- 
 u tend the charge in all Parts of the Kingdom, the 
 *' King authorifes the Bifljop in his (the King's) 
 " Stead, to ordain, within his Diocefe, fuch as he 
 iC judged worthy of holy Orders j to collate to Be- 
 " nefices • to give Inftitution ; and to execute all 
 €c other Parts of the Epifcopal Authority ; and this 
 " during the King's Pleafure only V 
 
 In coniequence of this Supremacy, the King 
 or Queen of this Church hath Power to excom- 
 municate from, or to re-admit into it, independent 
 of, yea, in direct Oppofition to, all its Bifbops and 
 Clergy. The King or Queen, revoke, if they 
 pleafe, any fpiritual Cenfures of the Bijhops or Arcb- 
 hi/hops ; yet can fufpend, deprive, or even excom- 
 municate, themfelves or can, by their Proclamation 
 only, without the leaft Confeflion, Humiliation, or 
 Satisfaction for their Offence, pardon and reflore 
 excommunicated Per Jons, the vileft Offenders, to the 
 Church's Bofom again f. 
 
 Yea, further ; they have Power to forbid all 
 Preaching for a Time; as did K. Hen. VIII. K. Edw. 
 VI. Q^Mary, Q^ Eliz. — to limit, inftrucl, and 
 prefcribe to the Clergy what they (hall, and what 
 they mail not preach; as did Q^Eliz. K, James I. 
 K. Charles I. K. IVilliam, &c. — Finally, to the King 
 or Queen only does it pertain to declare what is He- 
 resy, and authoritatively to pronounce what Doc- 
 trines 
 
 * Vid. Examination of the Codex Juris, £ffV. Pag. 32, 33. 
 
 •f- A Par/on was deprived for Adultery; afterwards a general 
 Pardon came, which pardoned the Adultery, it was adjudged 
 hat ihe farjon was ipfo fa£lo % reftored lo his Benefice. Coke 6 
 B p. 13- 
 
[ 24 ] 
 
 trims and Tenets are, and what are not, to be cen- 
 fured as fuch : Nor have all the Bifhcps and Clergy , 
 aiTembled in Convocation, the leaft Authority to 
 cenfure any Tenet as heretical, if the Prince on 
 the Throne refufe his Content. 
 
 Now here, Sir, I am preiTed with an infuperahle 
 Difficulty how to reconcile this Confutation of the 
 Church of England with the Constitution of the 
 Cburih of Chrift. Are they not moil indifputably 
 two different Societies, fubject to two different, fome- 
 times oppofite, Authorities, animated and governed 
 by two different Heads ? In Christ's Church, Him- 
 self is the only Sovereign and Head ; he only hath 
 Power to decree Ceremonies and Rites, to fix Terms 
 of Communion and Authority in Points of Faith: 
 Nor hath any earthly Prince Power to make Laws 
 \nhis Kingdom, which mall bind the Conferences of 
 bis Subjects \ or fovereigiily to dictate to his Ser- 
 vants and Ministers what they fnall beiieve, and 
 what they fliall preach. Yea, his Subjefis are ex- 
 preily commanded and charged to receive nothing 
 as Doclrine or Parts of Religion, which are only 
 Commandments of Men • But in the Church of Eng- 
 land there is another Sovereign, Law-giver, SU- 
 PREME HEAD beiides Jesus Christ; an Autho- 
 rity which commands Things which Christ never 
 commanded, which teaches Doctrines he never 
 taught, which enjoins Terms of Communion, and 
 Rites of religious Worfnip, which Christ never 
 enjoined. — What now can I judge, Sir! What do 
 you yourfelf judge! but that the two Churches are 
 two diflinct and quite different Societies ( for in one 
 and the fame Society, fureiy there cannot be two 
 Supreme Heads) that they are framed after different 
 Models, confift of different Members, are govern- 
 ed by different Officers, Statutes, and Laws. — Con- 
 sequently, my Separation or Dissent from the 
 
 one 
 
 * Matt, xv. 9. 
 
[ 25 3 
 
 one, does, by no Means infer my Separation 
 from the other. Yea, what am I to judge but that 
 by the Allegiance I owe to Christ my ONLY 
 Jupreme Head and King in fpiritual Matters, I am 
 obliged to enter my Proteft againlt, the Pretentions 
 and Claims of any other fupreme Head. For, can 
 a Man jerve two Mafters ? Can he be fubject at the 
 fame Time to two jupreme Heads ? Can he be faith- 
 ful to Christ, the only King in the Church, and 
 yet acknowledge another King, as a Fountain of 
 all Magiflracy and Power therein ? Surely he cannot. 
 Permit me, good Sir, to exercife your Patience a 
 Moment or two more upon this remarkable Contraft, 
 and I will difmifs the ungrateful Subject. 
 
 By the Conflitution of the Church of Chrifl, 'tis 
 exprefly ordered and declared — That the Woman 
 fhall not he p'ffered publickly to teach, nor to ufurp Au- 
 thority over the Man*. But by the Conflitution of 
 the Church of England, the Woman is permitted 
 publickly to teach, yea, to limit and controul in fpi- 
 ritual and religious Matters, and authoritatively to 
 instruct all the Bifbops, and Clergy, and Men in 
 the Land. Thus did Queen Elizabeth, thus did 
 Queen Anne, and thus hath every Queen Authority 
 to do that fits upon our Throne ; Authority to pre- 
 fcribe and diclate to all, both Minifters and People, 
 what the one are to preach, and the other to receive. 
 And was it not, Sir, a very comely and edifying 
 Sight, to behold the two Houfes of Convocation 
 waiting upon the good Q^ {Anne\) in the Cafe of 
 IVhiftons Books upon the Trinity, to be inftr titled 
 by her Majefly whether they were to be condemned 
 as heretical, or not ? that venerable and learned Body 
 had folemnly decreed them to be dangerous and here- 
 tical-, but this their Cenfure was of no Force, till 
 they had laid it before the Queen, to have her Judg- 
 ment upon the Point. Upon her Majefty's Deter- 
 D mination 
 
 * i Tim, ii. 12. -f Anno 171 1. 
 
[ 26 ] 
 
 mination it entirely depended, whether Whiflorfs 
 Tenets were to be rtjccltd by the Church of England 
 as erroneous, or not. Her Majefty, in this Cafe, 
 was of a different Opinion from her two Houfes of 
 Convocation -, fhe thought not fit to cenfure the 
 Books: So her fingle Opinion, fir ange to relate! her 
 Jingle Opinion carries it again ft that of her Bifhops 
 and Clergy. She over-rules and fets afide all their 
 Proceedings, rejlrains and counteracts them in one of 
 the very chief of their paflofal Functions, the guar- 
 ding againft Errors and Herefies in the Church. 
 
 Behold here, Sir, a Woman exercifing fpiritual 
 ecclefiaflical Authority over the Man I Yea, behold 
 the Representative of the Clergy of the whole Land, 
 a mod learned, grave and venerable Body, waiting 
 upon a Woman to learn from her Mouth, what 
 the Church is to believe, and what to reject, as to 
 this great My fiery of Faith: Upon a Woman, who 
 could be fuppofed to know as little of this Matter 
 as of the Motion of the Stars ; yet, by her file De- 
 termination, (I repeat it with Aftonifhment, and 
 you hear it, no doubt, with Perplexity and Grief ) 
 your Church was uncontroulably and authoritatively 
 directed in this deep and myfterious Point. 
 
 I afk you, Sir, in the Name of God, is this the 
 Conftitution and Frame of the Church of Christ } 
 Is it not a Conftitution of a quite different Nature ; 
 a Society not divinely, but humanly inftituted ; 
 and therefore, by your own Definition, not the 
 Church of Chrijl? And may not, think you, a Per- 
 fon feparate peaceably from it, without any the 
 leaft Danger of -thereby feparating himfelf from the 
 one fcriptural, apoftolic, and catholic Church ? 
 
 When you ftrip the Pope of his Supremacy, and 
 gave it to our Princes, you fhould have taken Care 
 not to have left his Infallibility behind. An 
 infallible Head and Director of the Church, be it 
 Woman or Man, be it an He or a She~bifhop, is a 
 Thing plaufible enough, and carries a good Face : 
 
 But 
 
[ 27 1 
 
 But to lodge the abfolute Direction of the Confer- 
 ence^ the Faith and the Difciplive of the Church 
 with a fallible Head! to give a Prince, yea a Lady 
 bred up in all the Softneilcs and Diverfions of a 
 Court, an uncontroulable Dominion over the reli- 
 gious Conduct both of Clergy and Laity, authori- 
 tatively to direct what thofe are to preach, and what 
 tbefe to believe as the Doftrine of Chr ist ! to make 
 her the file Judge in all Controverfies which fhall 
 arife upon any the moll myflerious and inexplicable 
 Points ; fo that all the Priejh are to afk knowledge at 
 her Lips ; and whatever she determines is to be 
 received by the Church as Cbriftian Verity and Truth ! 
 This is fuch a Cmflitution as quite mocks the Un- 
 derstanding, and comes not a whit behind Tranfub- 
 jtantiation itfelf. Hence, doubtlefs, Sir, the Tri- 
 umphs of Popijh Priefis over you ! Hence their In- 
 roads upon you, and the thoufands they are conti- 
 nually carrying captive from your Tents! And 
 hence the fad Increafe, and the Infults of Drifts, 
 who taking the Scheme of the Church of England 
 to be that of the Cbriftian Church, are author i fed 
 by common Senfe, they think, not only to reject, 
 but to treat it with Contempt ! 
 
 And now, Sir, having fo largely difcuffed this 
 Point, I prefume you are convinced, " That this 
 " fame peaceable Separation of ours is not, what you 
 " call it, a Piece of arrant Nonf'nfe and Contradic- 
 " twn ;" and that you will ceafe to be fo difpleafed 
 at our treating your grave Lectures upon the hei- 
 nous Sin of Schism, asfclemn Cant and Ecclefaftical 
 Scare-crows. You fee, likewife, how extremely un- 
 apt, and quite wide of the Point, are the two Inftan- 
 ces you bring to illuftrate our Cafe, viz "of a Wife 
 " feparating from the Bed and Board of her Huf- 
 cc band — Or of two or three Counties difliking a 
 " monarchial Government, and throwing off their 
 " Allegiance to the King*'*; Has the Church of 
 D 2, Eng- 
 
 * Let. I. Page 72, 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 England, Sir, any fuch Power or Authority over 
 us DiJJ'enters, as the Hufband has over the Wife ? 
 Pray who gave it that Authority ? Have we ever 
 plighted it our Troth ? or bound ourfelves by a 
 folemn Vow to honour and obey it to the End of 
 our Life ? — Or have we ever fworn Allegiance to 
 it •, or do we owe it any Homage ; as the Counties 
 have fworn and do owe to the King ? 
 
 Amongfl the peculiar Excellencies of your Church 
 you reckon u The Ufe of the three Creeds in publick 
 ** Worfhip-, as one of the mod effectual and pow- 
 " erful Means both for teaching and preferving the 
 " Chriflian Faith entire and uncorrupt, which we 
 " have not in our Churches*.'* The Creed called 
 the Apoftles, we have in con flan t ufe among us: 
 And as for the two other, efpecially the Athanafian> 
 we are content you fhould have the Honour of its 
 being peculiar to yourfelves. But methinks, Sir, 
 it fhould a little check your Triumph over us here, 
 to remember, that fome of the wifeft and moil il- 
 luftrious Members of your Church, both Clergy 
 and Laity, account the ufe of this Creed your great 
 Sin and Reproach, and with A, B. lillotfon, wijb 
 you were well rid of it. 
 
 What are you, Sir, amongfl the weak and uncha- 
 ritable Minds v/ho damn to the Pit of Hell all who 
 cannot receive all the dark and myfterious Points fet 
 forth in that Creed ! Do you in your Confcience 
 think that there is no Salvation/^ thofe who do 
 not faithfully believe the feveral Articles it contains ; 
 and that whofoever doth not keep whole and undefiled 
 the Faith therein deliver } d, he [hall without doubt 
 perifh everlaftingly ? What! the many great and 
 worthy Perfons, bright Ornaments of your own 
 Church, who inflead of keeping it whole and undefi- 
 led, have openly difavow'd, preach'd and wrote 
 againfl it, dying in this Difbelief, have they with- 
 
 out 
 * Let. I. Page. 15. 
 
[ 2 9 ] 
 
 out per adventure everlaftingly periftid ? Alas ! for the 
 
 good Doctors Clarke, Whitby, Burnet, &c. For 
 
 the illuftrious Sir lfaac^&c. ££c< Yea, alas! for the 
 whole Greek Church who have ftrenuoufly rejected 
 the Article of the Filioq ; — They are gone down, 
 it feems, to the infernal Pit ! And notwithstanding 
 their great Knowledge and Piety in this World, are, 
 for not believing the Athanafian Creed, funk into 
 
 EVERLASTING DARKNESS and DAMNATION in 
 
 the other ! Do you wonder Deifm prevails, if this 
 be genuine Chriftianity ? 
 
 'Pis a Fact, I prefume, indifputable, that a great 
 Part of the mod learned and virtuous of your Clergy 
 are departed from the Athanafian Doctrine; and 
 that thofe of them who are not, do by no means 
 think its Belief abfolute'y and indifpenfably neceffary 
 to Salvation. What now muft a Detfl think, when 
 he hears both the one and the other thirteen Times 
 a Year, moft folemnly declaring in the Prefence of 
 Almighty God, and as Inftrudtors of his People, 
 that whoever will be faved, it is before all 'Things ne- 
 ceffary that he hold the Athanasian Faith-, and 
 moft peremptorily denouncing everlasting Dam- 
 nation upon thofe who do not believe it-, that is, 
 many of them denouncing Damnation upon them- 
 
 felvesl- Is this your "powerful and effectual 
 
 F* Means of preferving the Chriftian Faith?' 1 
 
 mould think it one of the moft effeclual to fubvert 
 and deftroy it. It has no doubt, been in fact a 
 great ftumbling-block in the Way of Infidels and 
 Jews, and hardened them in their Oppofition to the 
 Religion of Christ, when they fee it dooming to 
 undoubted and everlafting Perdition all who do not 
 heartily and fincerely believe (for that muft be 
 meant by faithfully) thefe deep and myfterious 
 Points, which we acknowledge to be inexplicable, 
 and far above the powers of Reafon to comprehend. 
 
 " But the Diffenting Minifters, you tell me, who 
 " have complied with the Terms of the Toleration, 
 
 " have 
 
[ 30 ] 
 
 " have folemnty fubfcribed the VHIth Article which 
 ** approves the Athanafian Creed*." Let Di\ Cala- 
 nty anfwer -f\ " The diffenting Minifters about the 
 * City, in a Body, gave in their Senfe of the Ar- 
 *' ticles when they fubfcribed them, and among the 
 tC reft of this VHIth Article, in the Glofs upon 
 tc which, the damnatory Claufrt of this Creed are 
 tC exprefly excluded the Subfcription. — And there 
 Ct was fomething of the fame Nature done in fevc- 
 <c rai Parts of the Country." Now the Fathers 
 and Predeceflbrs of the prefent diffenting Minifters 
 having made this public Proteft and Declaration at 
 their Subfcription, and the Legiflatare having ac- 
 cepted, or at leaft not rejected it j under the Favour 
 of this Protefi their Succeflbrs may be fuppofed now 
 to fubfcribe with the fame Difapprobation of the 
 damnatory Claufe. If it were not to be thus taken, 
 there is, I hope, not a Minifter among us but would 
 publickly difown and renounce his Subfcription. 
 
 I fhould now proceed, Sir, to the Examination 
 of other Parts of your Letters, to mew the great 
 lnfufficicncy of your Arguments and Objections ; 
 and to obferve that, in many Inftances, you have 
 extremely miftaken and given quite wrong Repre- 
 fen tat ions of our religious Principles and Practice. 
 — But I relieve your patience at prefent. — If this 
 Province be undertaken by no other Hand, you 
 may in fome Time, by divine Permiilion, expect to 
 hear farther from, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Tour very humble Servant, 
 
 A Dissenter. 
 
 * Appendix, Page 78. f Life of Mr. Baxttr, Page 236. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 Diffenting Gentleman's 
 
 SECOND LETTER 
 
 To the Reverend 
 
 Mr. WHIT E, 
 
 In Answer to his 
 
 THREE LETTERS. 
 
 IN WHICH 
 
 v His Various Misrepresentations of the 
 
 Dissenters are corre&ed, 
 
 His Objections againft them anfwer'd, 
 
 And the Grounds of their D i s s e n t are farther 
 reprefented, and proved iblid and jufl. 
 
 To which is added a 
 
 POSTSCRIPT, 
 
 < CONTAINING 
 
 Remarks on Mr. WHITER Defence 
 of his Three Letters, ®c. 
 
 In vain do they worjbip me, teaching for Do cl vines the 
 Commandments of Men, Mark vii. 7. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 Printed by S. Powell and S n,' in Dame-JIrset, 
 M DCC LXV, 
 

[ I ] 
 
 THE 
 
 DISSENTING GENTLEMAN'S 
 
 SECOND LETTER, & c . 
 
 SIR, 
 
 ^f B >m \ * ^ W *° me ^ e ? ret I proceed in Vin- 
 j$ dication of my DiiTent, as it will con-- 
 
 £l flrain me to fay fome things, which 
 
 M may feem to be difrefpedlful to eflabliflo- 
 ed Forms of Worfhip. But Self -Defence is a Principle 
 which generous Minds allow ftrongly to operate. I 
 highly reverence and efteem, and mofl heartily rejoice 
 in the gieat Number of illuftrious and excellent Per- 
 fons, both Clergy and Laity, which the Church of 
 England can boa ft. But yet, as the prefent eftabltftfd 
 Forms were drawn up when this Kingdom juft 
 emerg'd out of Pvpifh Darknefs ; and as in Drawing 
 them up, efpecial Regard was had to the then Weak- 
 ncfs of the People, who could not be all at once 
 entirely brought off from the old Ceremonies and 
 Forms : As there are feveral Parts of our Liturgy, 
 and ecclefiaflical Con fti cut ion, which a great Num- 
 ber, I apprehend, if not all our Bifhops and C ergy 7 
 wifti to fee alter'd : And finally, as the Alteration 
 of thole, and the Removing a few Things, ac- 
 knowledge in themfelves to be mutable and indif- 
 ferent, would heal the unhappy Breach, and reftore 
 
 the chief Part of the DilTenters to the Church ■ 
 
 E Upon 
 
t 2 3 
 
 Upon all thefe Accounts, I may be allow'd I hope, 
 with Freedom to make my Defence againfl your vi- 
 gorous Attacks ; and to reprefent my Objections, 
 and the Grounds of my Diffent, in as flrong a Light 
 as I. am able. 
 
 The Part of a public Monitor, and of my Inftruc- 
 tor in this Affair, which you have voluntarily taken 
 on you, will ailow me, as I go along, to put you 
 in mind of a great Objection or two which Diffen- 
 ters are wont to urge, but which you have quite 
 overlook'd, and to intreat you will direct me How 
 to get over them, 
 
 ct We Letter-Writers, fay you, have a Privi- 
 u lege of letting down our Thoughts as they offer 
 " themfeives, without fcrupuloufly adhering toftrict 
 " and clofe Method*." This Privilege you have 
 indeed with great Freedom taken : I fliali therefore 
 be indulg'd the fame. 
 
 To begin then with your Defence of Sponsors 
 in Baptifm. It is the Opinion of the DiJJenters, that 
 when an Infant is brought to beenter'd by Baptifm 
 into the Family or Church of God, and a folemn 
 Vow and Engagement is to be made before the Church 
 for its religious Education ; that the Parents, whole 
 Child it is, and to whom both God and Nature 
 have committed its Education ; that tbofe, I fay, 
 are the proper Perfons to fland forth, and take upon 
 them this great and important Truft ; and to bind 
 themfeives by a folemn Vow faithfully to difcharge 
 it. Now our Objections to the Order and Practice 
 of your Church are, 
 
 i. That in a very arbitrary and flrange Manner, 
 without the leaft Shadow of Authority from Real on 
 or Scripture, or the ancient Praclice of the Church, 
 you actually set aside the Parents in this Solem- 
 nity ; and forbid them to fland forth, and take upon 
 them this great Charge to which God hath called 
 
 them. 
 * Let. III. p. 60. 
 
t 3 3 
 
 them. For your XXIXth Canon exprefly com- 
 mands, That no Parent /hall be urged to be prefent at 
 his Child's Baptifm, nor be admitted to anfwer 
 as Godfather for his own Child. And, 
 
 2. That you require other Per Jons to appear in 
 the Parents Stead, and to take upon them this im- 
 portant Tru/l, and mod folemnly to promife before 
 God, and the Church, the Performance of that, 
 vviiich few of them ever do, or ever intended to 
 perform ; -or, perhaps, are ever capable of perform- 
 ing. What now, Sir, is your Anjwer to thefe Ob- 
 jettons of the Diffenters? Why, truly, the fir ft, 
 which is indeed the chief, you very prudently flip 
 over-, and attempt not the lead Apology forfeiting 
 afide the Parents ; fo that you leave us Hill to con- 
 fider this, as a Thing utterly, indefenfible, unlawful, 
 abfurd, and which will admit of no Excufe. 
 
 But as to the fecond, viz. the folemn Vow and Ob- 
 ligation under which the Sureties lay themfeives, to 
 this you largely fpeak ; and tell me — " It is a 
 " grofs Miitake to imagine, that the Promifes 
 u there made by the Sureties concerning the future 
 " Faith and Practice of the Child, are made in 
 iC their own Name: As if they engaged thereby, 
 * c that, when it is grown up, it mail actually be- 
 " lieve all the Articles of the Chriflian Faith, (hall 
 " renounce the Devil and all his Works, c5V. 
 " Whereas the Cnurch confiders thefe Anfwers, as 
 *' the Child' s Anjwer s, only made by its Repre- 
 " jentatives : they contain its Part of the baptif- 
 <c mai Covenant or Contract •, which, becaufe, by 
 <c Reafon of its tender Age, it cannot itfelf utter, 
 " is utter'd by its Sureties — *." But if this be, 
 Sir, a grofs Mi/Jake, the molt celebrated of your own 
 Writers have led us into it. u The Sureties in Bap- 
 •" tifm 9 fays your learned Dr. Nichols +, religioujly 
 
 E 2 " ENGAGE 
 
 * Lett. I. p. 31. f Nichols's Defence, &c. 
 
 Pan U. p. 273. 
 
[ 4 1 
 
 ic engage for the Faith of the bstptifed ; that they 
 c sh all fincerely believe all that is revealed in the 
 Gojpel, and shall direct the fubfequent Aclions 
 " of thrir Lives by the Laws of Chrifi:' A Cloud 
 of WitneiTes, I believe, can be brought from the 
 Doclors of your Church, whofe Judgment is the 
 fame. But no wonder the Learned differ in fo my- 
 fterious a Point. — You go on and affirm — " That 
 the Sureties are, by the Church, confidered in 
 " this affair, no otherwife than as the Mouth of the 
 ic Child. — You fee, Sir, here are no Promifes nor 
 <c Engagements which any befides the Child are 
 u fuppofed to enter into, and to be bound by. 
 u Read over the Office of public Baptifm, you 
 " will not find, I affure you any Promifes or Sti- 
 pulations at all made by the Sureties in their own 
 " Name: I mean any that are explicit *." But this 
 Account of the Matter appears to me extremely 
 dark ; and rather greatly to ftrengthen than remove 
 our Objections. For, 
 
 First, It reprefents the Church as a&ing a very 
 extraordinary and unaccountable Part; viz. as re- 
 ceiving a Child to Baptitin, on Account of its 
 own Faitb 9 and its own Promi/e, utter'd by its 
 Sureties ; when at the fame time, it knows, the 
 Child neither does nor can, either promi/e or believe 
 any more than the Font at which 'tis baptized. It 
 cpnfiderE the Child as actually covenanting and 
 contracting^ yea, as the only covenanting and con- 
 trading Party in this Solemnity, when it knows it 
 to be abfolutely incapable of either. It reprefents 
 the Church as very folemnly afkingTHE Child— 
 Doft thcu believe ? Wilt thou be baptized ? Doft thou 
 for fake the Devil ? &c. When it is fully perfuaded 
 of its utter Inability to believe, or refolve, or will 
 any Thing about it. Now when a Deijt flands by, 
 and fees a learned and grave Divine thus afking, 
 
 and 
 
 * Nichols's Defence, &c. Part II. p. 31, 3 c 
 
r 5 i 
 
 and talking, and covenanting with a Child, can yon 
 wonder, Sir, if he fmiles, and merrily treats the 
 whole Tranfadtion as a Jeft ? 
 
 " The Anjwers, you fay, are confidered by the 
 u Church as only the Anjwers of the Child, and 
 u contain its Part of the baptijmal Covenant ; 
 " which becaufe, by Reafon of its tender Age, it can- 
 a not it f elf utter, is to be uttered by its Sureties:' 9 
 That is to fay, the Child thinks, but cannot fpeak: 
 It really covenants, contrails, promifes, but not be- 
 ing able by Reafon of its tender Age to utter its 
 good intentions, thefe Sureties are its Mouth to ut- 
 ter them for it. But why, good Sir, its Mouth to 
 fpeak for it ; and not its Under/landing alfo to think 
 for it ; its IVill to promife for it ; and indeed its 
 Soul, and its very felf, to covenant and contract for 
 it ? Is not the Child, by Reafon of its tender Age, 
 as abfolutely incapable of Covenanting, as 'tis of 
 Uttering ; of Contratling, as 'tis of Speaking ? If 
 the Surety therefore does one of thefe good Offices 
 for it, he undoubtedly does the other alfo. But, 
 
 Secondly, If there be, as you fay, no Pro- 
 mifes nor Engagements which any be fides the 
 Child are fuppofed to enter into, or to be bound by, 
 the Confequence is extremely plain, that then there 
 are no Promifes nor Engagements entered into at 
 all, for its religious Education. For the Child [u rely, 
 does not engage for its own religious Education. If 
 the Sureties therefore do not enter into any Promife 
 of this Kind, it evidently follows, that there are no 
 exprefs Engagements entered into by any *for the 
 Child's Education. And thus, behold, your boaft- 
 ed double Security, turns out at lafl no Security at all ! 
 But, a Surety not bound! a Sponfor promifing no- 
 thing! a Security unengaged! This is Language, 
 Sir, in the mercantile, whatever it may be in the 
 Jcholajlic Way of Life, abfolutely unintelligible. 
 And to retort your own Inftancej my Lawyer I 
 
 mould 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 ftiould think a very wrong-headed Man, who 
 mould pretend to lend my Money upon a double 
 Security, and make a Merit of fo doing, when at 
 the fame Time he confefTed, there were no Pro- 
 mi fes^ nor Engagements, by which either of the Se- 
 curities were explicitly bound. 
 
 To be plain, Sir ; as for this Bufinefs of a Child's 
 believing, promising, covenanting by Representa- 
 tive or Proxy, I cannot but think a Gentleman of 
 your Penetration, will eafily perceive it to be a 
 Thing abfolutely inexplicable, impollible, and ab- 
 furd ; a Thing utterly repugnant to Reafon and 
 common Senfe, and without the leaft Shadow of 
 Foundation in the Chrifiian Religion. For if by 
 the Conflitution of the Gofpel Covenant, a Child 
 may believe by Proxy, repent by Proxy, vow, pro- 
 mife, and contrail by Proxy, he may alfo, no 
 doubt, be fayed by Proxy, or be damned by Proxy. 
 But, into what a Jeft will this turn the Religion of 
 Cbrift ? 
 
 As for the Antiquity of this Praclice, Sponfors in 
 Baplijm, you have the good Senfe and Ingenuity 
 not to pretend it was ever known, or fo much as 
 thought of, in the primitive apoftolic Church. Ter- 
 tullian, who lived about Anno Dora. 200, is the 
 fir ft, I apprehend, of all Chriflian Writers, that 
 makes any mention of them. Nor does it at all 
 follow from what he fays, that thefe Sponfors were 
 any other than the Parents of the Child. Jujtin 
 Martyr who wrote fifty Years before him, when 
 he particularly defcribes the Method and Form of 
 Chriftian Baptifm in his Days, fays not afmgle IVord 
 of any fuch Perfons *. 
 
 But we learn from St. Auftin, about the Year 
 390 (one of the earlieft of Chriftian Writers, in 
 which any mention of them is found) wh-n, and 
 upon what Occaiion, thefe Sponfors were .admitted. 
 
 "A 
 
 • Vid. Lord King's Enquiry, Part II. p. 6j, 68. 
 
[ 7 J 
 lK A grea*; many, fays he, arc ofered to Baptifm, 
 r - not by their Parents, but by others ; as Infant- 
 tc Slaves- are fometimes offered by their Mailers. 
 cc And fometimes when the Parents are dead, the 
 - are baptized, being offered by any, who 
 fe can' afford to (hew this CompafTion to them. 
 <c And fometimes Infants whom their Parents have 
 tc cruelly expofed, to be brought up by thofe who 
 " light on them, are now and then taken np by 
 " the holy Virgins, and offered to Baptifm by 
 u them who have no children of their own, nor 
 
 " defign to have any." — Thefe are* Auftin's 
 
 words. Obferve now Dr. Waifs -f* ingenuous Con- 
 feilion on them (and the good Doclor you know, 
 Sir, was never partial in Favour of Diifenters, but 
 a fevere Remarker.on them:) " Here we fee the 
 ordinary Ufe then was for Parents to anfwer 
 u for the Children : But yet that this was not counted 
 <c so necessary, as that a Child could not be bap- 
 " tized without it" 
 
 Hence then it is plain* that Parents never were 
 Jet afide, when they were capable and willing to 
 offer their children ; and that only in Cafes of Pa- 
 rents Incapacity, were Sponfors admitted : And in 
 zWfuch Cafes, Diifenters alfo ufe them. Why now, 
 I befeech you Sir, in Defiance of this acknowledged 
 Ufage and Practice of the ancient Churchy as well 
 as of common Senfe, does your Church feverely de- 
 cree, " That wo Parent /ball be urged to ^ pre- 
 " sent at his Child's Baptifm, nor ^ admitted 
 <c to anjwer as Godfather for it?" What! would 
 the Parents (landing forth together with the Spon- 
 fors, and promifing jointly with them, at all de- 
 tract from this Solemnity, or render it lefs effcflual, 
 to fecure the Child's religious Education ? It is 
 moil evident it would not, and that your Practice 
 in this Point is undoubtedly an Innovation-, an un- 
 
 reafonable, 
 
 • Epift. ad Bonifac. f Hill. Inf. Bap. Vol. I. p. 196. 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 rcafonable, abfurd, and arbitrary Deviation from 
 the Ufage and Inflitution of the primitive apoftolic 
 Church •, an Abfurdity very generally acknowledged, 
 and complained of, by the Members of your 
 Churchy though not attempted to be reformed. 
 
 u But by this Inflitution of Godfathers and God- 
 <e mothers, you fay, your Church affords its Mem- 
 " bers fome great and fpecial Advantages towards 
 <c growing in Grace and Goodnefs, above what are 
 <c found amongfl us :" and you tell me, " you 
 ct lay a great flrefs upon it, as a wife, an ufeful, 
 cc and neceffary Inflitution *." — But did you not 
 confider, Sir, that you were here highly reflelling. 
 upon the Wifdom and Goodnefs, not of the holy 
 Apoftles only, but of your great Law giver Jesus 
 Christ ? Thefe special Advantages/^ Growth 
 in Goodnefs and Holinefs, how came it to pafs that 
 the great Founders of the Chriftian Church never 
 happened to think of them ? You do not pretend 
 it to be an Inflitution of Jesus Christ's, and yet 
 are not afraid to call it a wife, and ufeful, and even 
 a 'necessary Inflitution. Strange! that Christ, 
 in whom were hid all the Treafures of IVifdom, and 
 who loved the Church fo as to lay down his Life for 
 it, mould not know this Inflitution to be fo efpecially 
 advantageous to the growing Goodnefs of his 
 Church; or that knowing it to be fo, he mould 
 unkindly omit it ; and that we are obliged to the 
 fuperior Wifdom and Goodnefs of after Ages for 
 fupplying this Defedl. It has ufually been thought, 
 that the Apoftles declared the whole Counfel of 
 God ; and kept hack nothing from the Church 
 which was profitable to it; and that the Scriptures 
 are a perfetl Rule-, but this, it feems, is not true; 
 you have difcover'd it, Sir, to be not -true: For 
 here you fhew us a wife, an ufeful, and a neces- 
 sary Inflitution, which they really kept back: and 
 
 which 
 ♦Let. I. p. 58, 59 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 which had it not been for the Sagacity of their Suc- 
 ceffors, the Church had been (6 unhappy as never to 
 have known. Into what Mazes Men plunge them- 
 felves, when they deviate from the Truth ! 
 
 Of the fame Temerity you are guilty, Sir, when 
 treating of another Inftitution of your Church, Con- 
 firmation, and glorying over us in its Want. 
 ** Another Adminiftration of our Church is Confir- 
 <c mation •, this you know you have already difcard- 
 " ed, and furely you will be obliged to acknowlege 
 <c - you have loft thereby a very great Advantage — — 
 " greatly conducive to future Holinefs of Life *. " 
 Yes, Sir, this we will freely own, when you alfb will 
 acknowlege, that you are wifer than the Apoflles - 9 
 and can better judge what is conducive to Holinefs y 
 and for the Advantage of the Church, than its great 
 Lawgiver Jesus Christ. Had this Ceremony of 
 Confirmation been really of great Advantage, and 
 conducive to Holinefs, it is very ilrange that neither 
 Christ, nor his Apoflles, mould have ordained it. 
 That it is an apoftolic Institution, you have not fo 
 much as attempted to prove : unlefs Calvin's Con- 
 jecture muft be admitted as Proof. 
 
 The Text ufually urg'd for it, (A8s viii. 14.) I 
 prefume you are fully fenfible has no Weight. Pe- 
 ter's and Johns going down to Samaria to pray, and 
 lay their Hands on thofe whom Philip had baptifed, 
 is, furely, no Precedent, no Direction, no Inftitution 
 nor Command for our Bifhops to do likewife. For 
 the End for which the Apofiles did it, 'tis exprefly 
 faid (ver. 15, 17.) was, that they might receive the 
 Holy Ghost, i. e. its miraculous Gifts; and they 
 prayd for them and laid their Hands on them, and 
 they received the Holy Ghost. That it was his 
 miraculous Gifts (fuch as prophefying, fpeaking with 
 Tongues, &c.) to form them into a Church, cannot 
 be difputed ; becaufe, they were fomething vifible, 
 
 F and 
 
 * Let. I. p. 61, 
 
C 10 ] 
 
 and obvious to Senfe, fomething which ftruck the 
 Wonder and Ambition of the wicked Sorcerer ; for 
 'tis faid, when Simon saw that thro laying on of 
 the Apoftles Hands the Holy Ghost was given, he 
 offered them Money. — Befides, as Dr. PVhitby juflly 
 obferves, if they laid not their Hands on all who 
 were baptifed, it makes nothing for Confirmation ; if 
 they did, then Simon Magus alio was confirmed, and 
 received the Holy Ghofl: which you will by no 
 means admit. 
 
 It was to give them to the newly baptifed Con- 
 verts at Samaria the miraculous Gifts of the Holy 
 Ghojt, that Peter and John went and laid their Hands 
 on them. But do our Bifhops, Sir, pretend that, by 
 their Praying and Laying on of Hands, the Holy 
 Ghost is given? Do they not difclaim any Powers 
 of this kind ? Seeing then they make no Pretenfions 
 to the End, why with fuch Solemnity do we fee them 
 pra&ifing the Means ? Might they not as well flretch 
 themfelves upon the dead Body of a Child, in Imi- 
 tation of Eli/ha ; or, make Ointment with Spittle 
 for the Cure of the Blind, in Imitation of our Sa- 
 viour ; or, anoint the Sick with Oil, in Imitation of 
 the apoftolic Elders ; as pray and lay their Hands on 
 thofe who were baptifed, in Imitation of Peter and 
 John, who did this to the Samaritan Converts only, 
 that they might receive the miraculous Gifts and 
 Powers of the Holy Gho/t ? 
 
 <c As for the open and folemn Renewal of the 
 iC baptifmal Covenant before God and many Wit- 
 f* neffes, which, you fay, baptifed Perfons ought to 
 cC make, when they come to Years of Difcretion :" 
 this they make with us, in the other Sacrament of the 
 Supper; which Chrift himfelf has appointed, and 
 which is the only Inftitution his Wifdom has thought 
 fit to appoint, for this Purpofe. 
 
 But if you will fuffer me to /peak freely, Sir, this 
 Cercmcny of Confirmation, as 'tis at prefent appointed 
 
 and 
 
r it ] 
 
 and pra&ifed in your Church, to me appears fo far 
 from being greatly conducive to Holinefs of Life, as 
 that I wifh it may not be conducive to a quite dif- 
 ferent, and a very noxious ErTecl: : even to cberijh 
 in Mens Minds a prefumptuons and falfe Hope -, and 
 to deluue them into wrong Notions as to the Safety 
 of their State, and as to the Terms of Acceptance 
 and Favour with God. 
 
 By the Order of your Common Prayer, " All 
 iC Perfons b apt fed, when they come to competent Tears y 
 " and are able to fay the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and 
 <c Ten Commandments, and the Anfwers of the fbort 
 u Catechifm, are to be brought to Confirmation." 
 The Biftiop having alked, 4( Whether they renew the 
 ** folemn Promt fe and Vow which was made in their 
 *' Names in Baptifm." &c. Upon their Anfvver we 
 do, proceeds hereupon to declare in the moft folemn 
 manner, even in an Addrefs to God himfelf, that He 
 has vouch fafed to regenerate thtfe his Servants by Water 
 and the Holy Ghost (note: not by Water only, 
 but alfo by the Holy Ghost) and to give them the 
 Forgivenefs of all their Sins: and laying his 
 Hand upon the Head of each particular Perfon, he 
 certifies him by that Sign of God'j Favour and 
 gracious Goodnefs towards him. 
 
 I pray you, Sir, in the Name of God, inform me, 
 what Warrant has the Bijhop to pronounce a Man's 
 Sins all forgiven, and himfelf regenerated by the 
 Holy Ghost, upon no other Grounds than his 
 being able to fay the fhort Catechifm, and declaring 
 that he ftands by his baptifmai Engagements ? Will 
 you fay that this is the Chriftian Dotirine concerning 
 the Terms of Acceptance and Forgivenefs with God ? 
 Are good Vows and Refolutioss, declared in the 
 Church, infallible or proper Proofs of a Regenera- 
 tion by the Holy Gboft ? Is a Man's Prof effing that 
 he repents, and Promifwg that he will live godly, 
 jhat aSiuctl Repentance and Amendment of Life which 
 F z alone 
 
[ 12 ] 
 
 'alone can enfure the divine Pardon and Favour ? 
 Are there not Multitudes who call Christ their 
 Lord, and publickly profefs to ftand by their bap- 
 tifmal Covenant, whom yet he will reject with Ab- 
 horrence at lafl ? You will inform me then, Sir, 
 how his Lord/kip, upon his meer Profedion and 
 Promife, prefumes to declare to Almighty God, and 
 to assure the Perfon, that he is regenerated, for- 
 given, and without all Peradventure in a State of 
 Favour with Heaven ! 
 
 The Expreflions, you muft acknowledge, are 
 couch'd in abfolute and ftrong Terms : nor do I 
 find that there is any Intimation, that their Forgive- 
 riefs depends upon their Care to keep., and to live up 
 to, their baptifmal Engagements. No : but though 
 their whole Life hath hitherto been fcandaloufly cor- 
 rupt, yet upon their being able to fay the Lord's 
 Prayer, &c. the Bifhop folemnly pronounces a mod 
 abfolute Pardon over them ; appeals to Almighty God 
 that he hath forgiven them all their Sins ; and left 
 this fhould be too little to fatisfy the doubting Sinner, 
 and quafh his upbraiding Confcience, he lays his 
 Hand upon his Head, and certifies him by that 
 Sj gn of God's Favour and Goodnefs to him. 
 
 This Bifhop, Sir, the Multitudes, who come to 
 be confirm'd, are taught to confider as an Ambaffa- 
 dor of Christ, a Succeffor of the Apoftles, and a 
 fpecial Minifter of God : when they hear then, this 
 f acred Per/on, fo folemnly declaring that they are 
 fully juftined, pardoned, and regenerated by the 
 Holy Ghoft^ can you blame them if they believe it ; 
 and reft fatisfied that their Souls are in afafe and 
 happy State? And as full Remiflion of Sins, and 
 the Favour of God, are to be had on fuch eafy 
 Terms 5 can you wonder, fhould you fee thoufands 
 eagerly flocking from all Quarters to accept it ? Or 
 that Perfons of very vile and profligate Characters 
 fhould often thruft themfelves in to partake of this 
 
 Benefit j 
 
[ i3 1 
 
 Benefit ; and be feen receiving upon their Knees epif- 
 copal Abfolution, and jolcmn Affurances of God's 
 Favour and Grace ? 
 
 You know the Aptnefs of Mankind, Sir, to de- 
 ceive themfelves with fal/e Hopes •, and to fubftitute 
 good Purpofes, Profellions, and Vows in the Place 
 of real Repentance and Amendment of Life : and 
 you know this, Sir, (and have no doubt often de- 
 clared it from your Pulpit) to be one of the chief 
 Hindrances of Mens becoming truly good. Now 
 fhould your Office for Confirmation be found thus 
 powerfully and directly tending to cberifh theCe falfe 
 Hopes ; you muft excufe me if I then mould think 
 it fo far from conpucing to Holinefs of Life, as that 
 in my Confcience I fhould believe it to be rather 
 greatly obstructive to it-, and extremely ddufive 
 and injurious to the Souls of Men. 
 
 Let me further afk you, Sir, on this Head — Is it 
 any Breach of Charity, to fuppofe that amongit the 
 vafl Crowds which prefent themfelves on fuch Oc- 
 cafions, there are often many, whom God, who 
 knows their Hearts, knows to be Perfons of a cor- 
 rupt and wicked Mind, and to be flill under the 
 Power and Tyranny of Sin ? Can the good Bifhop 
 himfelf, in any Judgment of Charity fuppofe there 
 are not fome fuch amongft the thoufands he confirms? 
 Candidly tell me then, Sir, upon what grounds he 
 abfolutely, and wit bout Referve, declares to the eter- 
 nal God concerning them all, that he hath fully 
 forgiven tbefe bis Servants, when God at that Time 
 knows many of them not to be his Servants, and 
 that he hath not at all forgiven them ? Or, lays his 
 Hand on each individual Perfon to affure him of 
 God's Favour, and of his Regeneration by the Holy 
 Ghost ; when, in Truth, fome of thofe he thus af- 
 fures are abfolute and entire Strangers to the renewing 
 Influences of God's Spirit, and faft bound in their 
 £ins j To me, Sir, I affure you, this appears, I do 
 
 not 
 
[ H ] 
 
 ttot fay a very (hocking, but I muft fay a very un- 
 accountable Solemnity ; and fhould be glad to 
 know how to reconcile it to the Reverence you owe 
 to God ; or to the Faithfulnefs and Charity due to 
 the Souls of Men. 
 
 Near akin to this, but of a yet more obnoxious 
 Nature, is another Office of your Common Prayer* 
 The Absolution of the Sick. To this you know, 
 Sir, Diffenters have always flrongly objected, as too 
 much refembling the jolemn Tricks of the Church 
 of Rome °, by which they pretend to fend Men to 
 Heaven, without real Amendment and Holinefs of 
 Life. But this you very prudently pafs over in 
 perfetl Silence : for what indeed could fo ingenious 
 an Advocate offer, on fo extremely abfurd and in- 
 defenfible a Point ? 
 
 Being come to the ftck Per/on, (no Matter what 
 or how wicked his former Life hath been) the Prieft 
 is directed, after fome pious Exhortations, to exa- 
 mine, " Whether he believes the Articles of the Apof- 
 ** ties Creed-, and truly repent him of his Sins ; and 
 u . be in Charily with all the World : And to move 
 u him to wake a fpecial ConfeJJion of his Sins^ if he 
 " feels his Confcience troubled with any weighty Mat- 
 ci ter." After which Confeflion, the Prieft is or- 
 der'd to absolve him (if he humbly and heartily 
 defire it) after this fort. 
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left Power 
 to his Church /fl absolve all Sinners who truly re*- 
 pent and believe in him^ of his great Mercy forgive 
 thee thine Offences: And by the Authority com- 
 mitted to me, /absolve thee from all thy sins, 
 in the Name of the Father, and of the son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 The Form is extreamly folemn, Sir, and the 
 Matter of the lalt Importance. You had need 
 therefore be fure you go upon good Grounds, left 
 you be found to trifle with the Name cf God, and 
 
 in 
 
[ 15 ] 
 
 in Things of everlafling Moment, and to acquit: 
 thofe whom he abhors. Permit me, Sir, in this 
 great Name, and before the World, to demand of 
 you, 
 
 i. What Church is it, and where is the Church 
 found, to whom Christ has left this high Autho- 
 rity and Power ? Is it the Church of England, the 
 Church of Scotland, the Church of France, or the 
 Church of Rome ? Do you here mean by the Church, 
 what your XlXth Article hath defined it, viz. The 
 Congregation of the Faithful ? — Or, do you under- 
 fland it as in your XXth Article, where it is faid 
 to have Power to decree Rites, and Authority in Mat- 
 ters of Faith? If fo, I have fliewn in my former 
 Letter, that the Church is no other than the King 
 and Parliament of thefe Realms. The King, in- 
 deed, has Power to abfolve all manner of Sinners, 
 penitent or not penitent ; and by a fmgle Aft of 
 Grace, to vacate and fet afide the Cenfures and Ex- 
 communications of all the Bifcops, Archbifbops, and 
 Clergy of the Land, and to reflore the Offender to 
 the Church's Bofom again. To abfolve, not in 
 Foro Civili only, but in Foro Ecclcfia ; not in the 
 State only, but alfo in the Church. But whether 
 the Kings or Queens of England do this by Autho- 
 rity derived to them from Christ ? Whether that 
 Church of which they are declared the fupreme 
 Heads, be the Church to whom this high Power is 
 given? And whether they, as Heads of it, have 
 not this Power dwelling capitally, fupremely, and 
 principally in them ; fo as that, what they loofe 
 en Earth, is as certainly loofed in Heaven, as any 
 Thing that is loofed by any inferior Members who 
 
 officiate in the Church under them Thefe, Sir, 
 
 are high Points, which without your Affiflance, I 
 mall not prefume to fettle. Be fo good, Sir, as to 
 let us know, what Church upon Earth it is, to 
 whom Christ hath delegated this important Au- 
 thority j 
 
[ i6 I 
 
 thority; and where the Charter or Grant is 
 found, by which he gave it the Commifiion ? But 
 
 2. That Christ hath given, can give, no fuch 
 Authority to fallible uninfpired Men, I fhould 
 think abfolutely out of doubt. Becaufe if he hath 
 given Power to any authoritatively /fl abfohe 
 tbofe who are truly penitent, he mull alfo have given 
 them Power to know who are truly penitent. Elfe 
 *tis a Power to do nothing, for till they know them 
 to be truly penitent, (/. e. till they can fearch their 
 Hearts) they cannot authoritatively abfolve them : 
 But if they cannot do it till then, they cannot do 
 it at alt Befides, 
 
 3. If the Prieft has really from Christ this Au- 
 thority and Power, the Manner in which he is here 
 ordered to apply it, is mod certainly wrong. For 
 upon the Sinner's conf effing his Faults, and profejfing 
 his Faith and fincere Repentance, the Prieft is or-? 
 dered moft folemnly and authoritatively to abfolve 
 him. But are any Promifes or Profeffions which 
 a Sinner makes in that Diftrefs, a proper Ground 
 for fuch an abfolute authoritative Abfolution ? Are 
 not the moft profligate, when Death is thought to 
 approach, wont to feel their Confcience troubled 
 with many weighty Matters, ready to confefs their 
 Sins, to exprefs the deepeft Remorfe, and to vow 
 Amendment if fpared ? But when the Danger is 
 paft, is there one of a Thoufmd that remembers 
 his Vows, and that returns not to his Sins with as 
 keen an Appetite as ever ? Do not you Gentle- 
 men of the Clergy, loudly complain of this, when 
 you prefs to prefent Repentance, and warn us not 
 to truft to the Sorrows of a fick Bed ? but notwith- 
 ftanding all this, when the fie k Sinner fends for you, 
 confefles his Sins, profelTes Repentance, and de- 
 fires Abfolution, you are dire&ed and required with 
 all poflible Solemnity, even in the Name of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, authoritatively 
 
 to 
 
f 17 ] 
 
 to abfolve him from all his Crimes + how many or 
 great foever they have been, and to declare him 
 fully forgiven. Strange! That you can prefum- in 
 the Name of the f acred Trinity, to assure a Man 
 that he is ahfolved from all his Sins, when at the 
 fame Time you know yourfelves not sure that he 
 is abfolved ! Yea, when the o»ly Grounds of your 
 doing it, are but the fame Tigris of Repentance 
 which a thou land Sinners give, who are neverthe- 
 lefs held fail under the Power and Guilt of Sin f 
 What would you call that Man, Sir, who in a 
 Court of human Judicature, fhonld moft Solemnly 
 affirm, and declare in the Name cf God, an im- 
 portant Fail to be done, which yet at the fame 
 Time he is not Jure is done; or who fhould call 
 Heaven to witnefs to the certainty of that, which 
 he is not at all certain of? But is it lefs dangerous, 
 or lefs reproachful, thus to trifle and collude m 
 etrnal Things than in temporal \ in the Court of 
 Almighty God, than in that of the King? 
 
 I cannot fay, Sir, in what Light you view this 
 Order of your Church, nor what Obedience you 
 pay it, but am humbly cf Opinion, that 'tis this 
 firaining the facerdotal Character, which has funk 
 it into fome Contempt; and that if it continues 
 thus /framed, lower, much lower, 'twill continue 
 to fink. For when Men fee you claiming from 
 God, awful and high Powers, which they are fure 
 God has never given you ; and hear you with great 
 Solemnity authoritatively abfolving in the Name of 
 the Holy -Irmuy^ when at the fame Time they know 
 the Holy Trinity never gave you any Authority fo to 
 do, how natural is it for them to deride the prieftty 
 CharaUer on which thefe Claims are founded, and 
 to treat your other Offices with Ridicule and Dif- 
 refpect ? 
 
 And now, Sir, having prefented you with fome 
 of the true Grounds of our diflent, many of which 
 you have not at all, and the reft but flightly toiich- 
 
 G ed 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 ed, in your three long Letters, I proceed to your 
 Attempts to reflefl back our own Pleas and Objec- 
 tions upon ourfelves, and to prove us felf -condemned. 
 
 Here you complain — tC that you walk almoft 
 " without Light — that our Churches are fo fecret 
 u in all their Ways, that there is lcarce any know- 
 <c ing what they are — that you mull grope and feel 
 <s for them as in the Dark — and that you are fome- 
 " thing like one fighting with a GhoftV This 
 feems, indeed, a very jult Defcription of your 
 Cafe, for you greatly mifreprefent both our Prin- 
 ciples and our Praclice. But the Blame of this 
 Darknefs, Sir, be wholly to yourielf. Are not our 
 Churches open? Our Prayers, our Sermons, our 
 Sacraments and Ordinations performed in View of 
 the World, that whoever pleaies may come and fee 
 our Manner in them ? 
 
 But " we have no common Rules of Difcipline 
 " and Worfhip, by which we hold ourfelves 
 * c obliged to walk y at lead none made public and 
 4t laid before the World, for your Examination 
 " and DifculTion +." Yes, Sir, we have an ex- 
 cellent common Rule of Dijcipline and Worfhip, 
 by which all our Churches hold themf elves obliged to 
 walk) even the fame which Christ and his Apoflles y 
 the great Founders of the Chriftian Churchy origi- 
 nally drew up, publifhed, and eflablillied for it; 
 and which they left as a common Rule, the only 
 common Rule, and a perfect common Rule, for 
 the Ufe of all future Ages, viz. the Holy Scrip- 
 tures: This therefore you may difcufs with all 
 the Freedom you pleafe. 
 
 But to defcend to fome of the many Inilances in 
 which you much mifreprefent us. Your very great 
 Miftake, as to our impofing sitting at the Lord's- 
 J upper , I have fhewn in my former Letter. You 
 farther affirm — u That it is generally held amongft 
 " us, that the Sacrament is for none but perfell 
 
 '' and 
 
 * Let. II, pag. 4. f IbJd - 
 
C '9 3 
 
 u and confummate Chriflians, fuch as can give a 
 u particular Account of their Converfion *.'' Here 
 you walk, Sir, without Light. There is not a Jingle 
 Church, I am perfuaded, amongfl the Dijfenters ia 
 the whole Kingdom., hardly a fingh Peyjon, who 
 hath this Nation of the Sacrament. We univerfally 
 hold, that every fmcere Christian has a Right to the 
 Lord's -Table. 
 
 " As to the Duty of Fafiing, you fay, if you 
 ts are not mightily deceived, it is throwa away 
 u amongft us You have not met with any Ser- 
 " mons or Treatifes of our Minifhers, (hewing the 
 " Obligations, and preiling its Practice upon the 
 " People; nor have you ever heard of its being 
 cc practifed, even by the ftri&eii and devouteit 
 " amongft usf." You are mightily deceived. Sir, 
 a great deal too mightily, for one who fets up for fo 
 fevere a Cenfor of his Brethren, Amongft many 
 others, I refer you only to a moil excellent Uifcourfe 
 on Fafting, in Bennefs Chriftian Oratory, Vol. II. 
 which I am fure you cannot read without admiring 
 it blufhing, and condemning your own Temerity. 
 
 You are pleafed to give us alfo a very grave and 
 fevere Reprehenfion for Standing, and noc Kneeling 
 at our public Prayers ; and fay, t€ It is little lefs 
 " than impofed upon our People, infomuch that 
 * c mould any one pre/ume to kneel in our Churches, 
 " we mould certainly cenfure and condemn him for 
 " it t-— That your Church has as good Right to 
 *' impofe Kneeling in the public Worfhip upon her 
 ' c Members, as Dijfenters have to impofe it upon 
 " their Children and Servants in their Family De- 
 " votions § — xAnd that we always practife it in 
 " private ^ You are extremely unhappy, Sir, 
 in your Intelligence about this ftrange People, whom 
 you have taken upon you to reprehend. How came 
 you to know, what their Pofture of Worfhip al- 
 G 2 ways 
 
 * Let. I. pag. 52. + Let. T. pag. 65, 66. J Let. II: 
 
 pag. 65, 67. § Let, I. pag. 28. [ Let. II. pag. 6§. ■- 
 
[ 20 1 
 
 KVciys \s in private? Have they taken you into 
 their Clofets ? For my own Part, I pretend not to 
 have been much with them at their fecret Devo- 
 tions, and therefore will not pronounce mxhfucb /If 
 fura-.-ce as you do upon the Point ; but am very 
 flrongly perfuaded they pradtife varioufiy in this 
 Matter and do not always kneel. 
 
 As to their Families and Church's, though I have 
 been prefent at prayers in a great Number of both, 
 (which you, I prefume, Sir, never have been) I 
 affure you, I never once faw nor heard any Thing 
 like the Impofitions you mention. In their Family 
 Devotions fame ft and, and fome kneel, according as 
 their Inclination and Convenience ferves. And in 
 their public ffemblies, many kneel at Prayer, I be- 
 lieve, the whole Kingdom over, without it ever 
 entering into the Thoughts of: their Fehoix-tVor- 
 Jhippers, to take the leaft Offence thereat. 
 
 You tell me u you can name a considerable 
 iC Congregation amongfl us, which is greatly fcan- 
 <c dalized — and has taken a great and general Of- 
 " fence, at one of its Members kneeling at pub- 
 " lie Prayer*." But as in many other Points, Sir, 
 'tis very notorious you have been ill fe*ved by your 
 Informers, as to our Cu ftoms and Worfliip ; you 
 rnuit give me leave to think, that they have here 
 alfo made too free with your Credulity. That we 
 have weak Brethren amongfl us, and thole not a 
 few, lam very ready to own. But a Congrega- 
 tion, a confiderable Congregation too, fo weak as to 
 take a great and general Offence at fuch a Trifle as . 
 this! You mult excufe me, if I cannot eafily ad- 
 mit it. I think you will do Jufticc, Sir, to name 
 the Congregation, that it may either purge itfelf of 
 the Reproach, or ftand correcled before the World, 
 for its unchrijlian and impefing Temper ; and learn 
 to act more confident with that Liberty and Right of 
 private judgment, which as Dijfcnters they profefs. 
 
 * Let. II. pi*. 6*. 
 
[ 21 ] 
 
 No, Sir, Dif enters are not for binding, where 
 Gqd has left jree. They are our Brethren of ano- 
 ther Church, who think themfelves capable of 
 mending Christ's lntiHutions.\ and not content to 
 uie them in the plaiwefs and Jimfiithy in which 
 divine Wisdom left them, muft needs embellijh 
 and improve thtm by Additions of their own. 
 
 Tlufe Additions of your own, for Inftarice, kneel- 
 ing at public Prayers, you are fo furprizingly /?#- 
 £«/»* as to reprelent as u a great Improvement of 
 4k public Worfhip, and as adding a natural Spien- 
 " i of and Beauty to it — that our Worfhip is debajed 
 " for want of it — that kneeling is a more humble and 
 " honourable Pofture — much mere expreflive of our 
 t; profound Reverence of God. — And the humble 
 " Pofhye of kne ling, Nature itfelf fo plainly 
 4C dictates, and fo powerfully prompts us to, that 
 H a Man, if he were left to himfelf, whenever — 
 " he makes his Requefts known to God, will 
 " hardly do it in any other — unlefs when fome af~ 
 fi fecled Reflraint is laid upon him*." How tow- 
 ering a Flight ! You do not pretend to fay, that 
 either Christ or his Apcfiks, ever enjoined, or 
 conftantly, or moftly, ufed kneeling at public 
 Prayer j you mention feveral Inftances from Scrip- 
 ture, where standing was the Pofture of fome of 
 the mo ft folemn Addreffes to A mighty God — Abra- 
 ham stood before the Lordf, when he offered up 
 that humble Interceflion for Sodom. Of the Levites 
 and all the Priejh, 'tis particularly recorded, that 
 they stood up ; and all the People are alfo called 
 upon to stand up, and blefs the Lord their God, 
 in that folemn Addrefs to Heaven, Nehem* ix. 2, 
 3> 4> 5- An Addrefs of deep Humiliation, Con- 
 fellion, Deprecation, and Covenanting with God, 
 one of the mofl folemn that Hands upon facred Re- 
 cord •, 'tis here no lefs than four feveral Tunes ex- 
 prefly mentioned, that standing was the Pofture 
 
 in 
 
 * Let. II. pag. 66, 6j, 69, 73. f Gen. xviii. 22.. 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 in which their Worfhip was offered up. Mofes and 
 Samuel are reprefented as standing^/o^God, 
 when making their rnotl humble and importunate 
 Interceflions with him, Jer. xv. i. When cur 
 Saviour in his Parable reprefents two Men pray- 
 ing in the Temple, standing is the Poflure in 
 which he defcribes them, Luke xv'm. 10, u. Yea, 
 himfelf in exprefs Words has, if not actually ii> 
 joined, yet mod fully declared his Approbation of 
 this Gefture, Mark xi. 25. IVben ye stand pray- 
 ing, forgive. Finally, when the primitive Chrifli- 
 ans, it is acknowledged on ail Hands, every Lord's 
 Day, and at all other Times betwixt Eafler and 
 Whitfuntide, univerfally prayed standing, and 
 never kneeled at their public Devotions. (Con- 
 fequently, by the Way, not at the Lord' scupper.) 
 * c Die Dominico "<> f as ducimus, 6cc. fays Tertullian *: 
 <c On the Lord o r "° account it a sin to wor- 
 
 " floip kneeling ; which C ., m tyt alfo obferve 
 
 46 from Eafter to Whitfuntide " With all this 
 
 Evidence glaring full in your Face, Sir, you have 
 the Affurance, (hall I call it, or does it deferve 
 fome other Name, very fmartly to reprehend us 
 for standing at our public Prayers; and to 
 call it a Debasement of our Worfhip — to affirm that 
 kneeling is a more humble and honourable Poflure — 
 much more expreffive of our profound Reverence cf 
 God— A great Improvement of public Worfhip r 
 and that it adds a natural Beauty and Splendor 
 to it — Surprizingly enthufiaftic ! What Abraham, 
 and Mofes, and Samuel, and Nehemiah, and all the 
 Priefts, and Jewijb People, debase the divine 
 Worfhip, when they stood before God, and made 
 their folemn Addrefies to him! Yea, what Christ 
 himfelf too debafe it, by directing Men to stand 
 praying ! 
 
 Had you happened, Sir, to have been of the 
 Council of the Apojtlcs, you could have helped 
 
 them 
 
 * De Coron. Mllit. pag. 340- 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 therri to eftablifh Cbrifiian IVorfhip upon a greatly 
 improved \ a more beautiful and perfeft Plan ; and 
 have inj'in'd this mure bumble and honourable 
 Pofiure, this additional Spkndet and Beauty to 
 public Prayer, which it never came into their Minds 
 to i^join the Diiciples. — But as our Bibles at pre- 
 fent (land ; and God and J ejus Chrifl have left us 
 at full Liberty to offer up our Prayers either Send- 
 ing or Kneeling, you will excufe us if we are not fo 
 (truck with your additional Beauty as to give our- 
 felves up blindfold to its Charms. 
 
 But it ftems we are inconjtjiettt^ in condemning 
 fome of your Ceremonies, when at the fame Time 
 we readily conform ourflves to ethers: yea, have 
 many Ceremonies allow 'd and pracliied amongft ouf 
 felves. u Such, you aver, we have, tho' we feem 
 " not to know it : Such as Uncovering our Head 
 " when we enter either your Churches, or our own 
 • c Meetings *." But you are fcill cc walking in the 
 " Dark,'* Sir, as you juftly reprefent yourfelf, 
 " and encountering with GhoftsT The Diffenters 
 have no fuch Cuftom of Uncovering their Heads when 
 they enter into their Meeting-places, unlefs in Time 
 of Worfhip; no Notion of paying Reverence to 
 Timber and Wa{b\ no Miniftefs amongft them who 
 have Senfe or Grace enough to cot ifecrate a Piece of 
 Ground: And when they ufe this Ceremony at 
 Entering your Churches, 'tis, I allure you, purely as 
 a civil, not at all as a religious Ceremony * a Com- 
 pliment paid, not in the leaft to the Building, but 
 entirely to our good Brethren, whom we would not 
 needlefly offend. 
 
 " Kneeling at Ordination ," the next Ceremony 
 you mention, tho* generally ufed amongft us, was 
 never I believe impofed. If the Perlon to be or- 
 dained fcrupled that Poflure, he would, without all 
 Doubt, be permitted W (land. 
 
 As 
 
 * Let. III. p. 7. 
 
[ 24 3 
 
 As for u the fecret Ceremonies which you fufpetl^ 
 * c but will not pofitively affirm, to pafs at ftriking 
 <c the Covenant betwixt us and our Payors," which 
 you once and again mention, Jet your Sufpicions on 
 that Head, Sir, give you no further Pain. I allure 
 you I neither know, nor have ever heard of any 
 Inch Covenanting now pradifed amongft us: And am 
 perfuaded, that of all our Churches, not one in five 
 hundred obferve any fuch Thing. 
 
 " In Balance againft your Surplice you put, what 
 <c you call, the Ceremony of our long [weeping 
 " Cloak *." But the leaft Attention would have 
 (hewn the two Cafes to be far from parallel- Our 
 Miniflers are at full Liberty either to ufe or difufe 
 the one: Are yours fo as. to the other? Did you 
 ever hear of any learned pious Paftors amongft us 
 filenc'd, rejected, and cruelly imprifon'd for refu- 
 fing the [weeping Cloak? But, have you never heard 
 of your Hoopers, Sampfons, Humpherys, and an hun- 
 dred other Minifters, Men of diftinguifn'd Learn- 
 ing and Ufefulnefs m your Church, who have been 
 [wept from their Stations in it ; filenc'd, confined, 
 and grievoufly harrafs'd, only for fcrupling your 
 Surplice and Cap ? Have you never heard of many 
 Churches forfaken, and (hut up in London, and of 
 numerous Congregations, both in City and Country, 
 deprived for a long while of Sacraments and public 
 Worfhip, by the rigorous Impofition of your Habits 
 on their Miniflers ? And if the mofl celebrated Di- 
 vine was now to offer to officiate in any of your 
 Churches, but refufed to wear a Surplice, mult he 
 not, by your Canons, be fet afide and refufed ? Had 
 pur Cloak been the Occafion of a thoufandth Part of 
 the Diftra&ions and Confufions in the Church, as 
 your Surplice has been, and /wept fo many worthy 
 Perfons from their Miniftry and Livings in it ; we 
 mould have had the Grace, I hope, fooiv to treat it 
 as a Befome of Deftrutlwn y and to have doomed it to 
 the Flames. ^ ut 
 
 * Let. III. p. 42 
 
[ 25 ] 
 
 But " the giving the Chriftian Name in Baptifm 
 il to the Perfon baptifed, you very ferioufly urge 
 " as another folid Argument of Ceremonies amongft 
 u us," and afk, " Is it not an Addition to the Sa- 
 " crament ? Is it not an Impofuion ?" You add, 
 " Now 1 fee. you fmile *" Excufe me, Sir, I 
 could not help it! your Argument is quite new, 
 and really furprifed me with its Solidity and Weight. 
 Yes, Sir, I own it an Addition, an Impofuion, and 
 a very ridiculous one too. And fhould any Minifler 
 of ours pretend to add, or to impoje this Ceremony 
 upon his People ; and forbid them to call the Child 
 by its Name till it was baptifed ; you may be af- 
 fured he would foon meet with the Difregard and 
 Contempt his Impertinence deferved. When you 
 baptife adult Perfons, do you give their Names in 
 that Ceremony ? Or do you not on>y call them by 
 Names before given ? The fame, I apprehend, is 
 the Cafe as to Children amongft us. 
 
 As for the Ceremonies in Marriage ; thefe, you 
 juftly obferve, we confider only as civil Ceremonies, 
 and the Prieft as a civil Officer, appointed by the 
 Magiflrate to officiate in this Affair. And what- 
 ever decent Rites the Magiflrate prefcribes in Matters 
 of a civil Nature, we think it our Duty reverently 
 to obferve. But, " the Magiflrate prescribe!" you 
 with Aflonifhment reply. " For God's Sake how 
 u does the Magiflrate here prefcribe the Rites and 
 " Ceremonies of Marriage, more than the ether 
 " Rites and Ceremonies of the Churchf!" But 
 could not a Gentleman of your Difcernment perceive 
 a Difference here ? Is the Form of Marriage any 
 where In/lituted by our S a v i ou r ; or a Part of Chrif- 
 tian TVorJhip ; as Baptifm and the Lord's Supper 
 are ? May we not therefore own the Power of the 
 civil Magiflrate to appoint Rites and Forms for the 
 Celebration of the one, but not fo as to the other ? 
 By prefcribing Rites of Marriage, the Magiflrate 
 
 H ads 
 
 * Let. III. p. 10. \ Let. III. p. 6. 
 
[ 26 ] 
 
 acts in Character, and rules in his own Kingdom : but 
 by authoritatively prefcribing Rites in Baptifm and 
 the Lord's Supper, we humbly apprehend, he ex- 
 tends beyond the Sphere affign'd him by God, and 
 attempts to rule in Christ'* Kingdom: and that 
 therefore here we are to obey God, rather than Man. 
 You further alk with farprife — " What civil Ce- 
 cc remonies in the Church of God ! in the midft of 
 u the Adminiftration of a divine Inftitution : inter- 
 * c mix'd with paftoral Exhortations, holy Prayers, 
 
 " folemn Benedidions *." But why, Sir, fo 
 
 aftonifh'd ? Did you never take an Oath in a civil 
 Court of Judicature ? And did not the Perfon who 
 adminiftred this sacred Rife, give you a paftoral 
 Exhortation, accompanied with an holy Prayer, and 
 a folemn Beneditlion, pioufly invoking on you God's 
 Bleiling and Help? And as to the Place, which 
 you call the Church of God, where Marriage is fo- 
 lemnized ; you might have pleafed to remember, 
 that the Confecration of Timber, and the Sanclity of 
 •Walls, is a Point too fublime for Dijfenters Under- 
 standings ; and that in their Opinion all Places are 
 alike holy, and that no Building on Earth merits 
 the high Honour of being called the Church ofGou. 
 The fame Reply we make as to the Ceremonies of 
 Burial, our Compliance with which you alfobrifkly 
 retort upon us. Js Burial of the Dead, Sir, a Chris- 
 tian Inftitution? Any Part of the Religion or 
 Worfhip of Chrift ? Is it not purely a political or 
 civil Thing ? Yes -, and as fuch only we view it : 
 and coniider the Perfon who officiates, as one ap- 
 pointed to this Office, direclcd, injiruEUd, and main- 
 tained by the State. 
 
 But as you are here profefTedly " anfwering our 
 " great and popular Objettions," how came you, Sir, 
 to Aide over, in confummate Silence, one of the 
 greate/l and moft popular, to this Office of Burial ? 
 which, indeed, is not ours only, but an Objection 
 
 of 
 * Let, III. p. 6. 
 
[ 2 7 ] 
 
 of fbme of the mod illuftrious Members of your 
 own Church. Were you confcious the pbjefied 
 Paffdges were incapable of Defence, and therefore 
 prudently let them drop ? 
 
 There are but three Cafes , you know, Sir, in 
 which your Church refufes this folemn Office of Bu- 
 rial, viz. to thofe who die unbaptifed, to Self-Mur- 
 therers, and to thofe who are under Sentence of the 
 greater Excommunication. As for all other Perfons 
 which are brought to the Church-yard, it very ftricft- 
 Jy commands you, even under pain of Sufpenfwn, by 
 Canon 68, that you ufe over them the Form pre- 
 fer i bed by the Common Prayer. Now, hence it comes 
 to pafs, that over fome of the moil abandon d and 
 profligate of Mankind ; over Men who have been 
 cut down in a Courfe of open Impiety by a fudden 
 and untimely Death •, or who even fell by the Hand 
 of Jitftice for fome black and atrocious Crime ; over 
 thefe, I fay, your Church, and I lay it with Afto- 
 nilhment, directs and commands you moft folemnly 
 to declare, 1 hat almighty God of his great Me rc v. t 
 has taken to himfe'f the Soul of this your dear Brother. 
 You give God hearty Thanks that it hath ph-afed him to 
 deliver him out of the Miferies of this finful World : And 
 you pray God, that when you yourfehes /hall depart 
 out of this Life, you may rest in Christ, as your 
 Hope is this your Brother doth. This is what your 
 Church commands you folemnly to fay over everv 
 Per/on brought to be buried, the three Cafes above 
 excepted. So that if the Man happen'd to be killed 
 in the very Act of committing Murder, Adultery, or 
 a Rape : Or for either of thefe Crimes dies upon the 
 Gallows an impenitent hardened Wretch, whom Ven- 
 geance fuffer'd not to live ; yet concerning him you 
 are to declare, that Ahmihiy God hath in great 
 Mercy taken him to him f elf ' : Tho' he died a Vic- 
 tim to public Ju/lice t and was taken away in Wrath, 
 You are to give God hearty Thanks, that he hath 
 taken this your Brother out of the Miferies of this 
 ' H 2 fmfd 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 finful World : Tho' you have the flrongeft Rea- 
 fon to believe, that he is gone down to Realms of 
 greater Mifery below. And you are to profefs be- 
 fore God that you hope the Man rests in Christ, 
 and pray that you yourfelves may reft in Chrift in 
 the fame manner as this your Brother doth : when 
 you have all the Grounds in the World to think he 
 died in his Sins, and is therefore not gone to be with 
 Christ, where nothing that is defiled can ever be 
 admitted. Strange! and extremely mocking! what 
 can the People think, Sir ! what mull Infidels and 
 Deifts think ! when they hear you in the Morning 
 denouncing from the Scriptures certain Death 
 and Deftruction from the Prefence of God, to all 
 vicious and corrupt Perfons ; and affuring them that 
 without Holinefs no Man Jhall fee the Lord : But 
 in the Evening from the Common Prayer, (hall hear 
 you, the same Person, declaring before God 
 your Hope of the eternal Happinefs of one of the 
 mod debaucb'd and profligate Men your Parifh 
 affords •, and fending him hence with all the lofty 
 ExprefTions of Confidence and Hope, as you would 
 a Perfon of the mofl mining and exemplary Life. 
 
 Do you imagine, Sir, People do not think ? Can 
 you wonder Deism prevails ? That the Priefthood 
 is ridiculed ? And that your good Sermons are no 
 more effectual to reform a corrupt World ? To me 
 this appears (and doubtlefs it does the fame to thou- 
 fands of your own Church) a moft indecent Pro- 
 flitution of your facred Character and Office ; a 
 Trifling and Prevarication in Things of everlafling 
 Moment ; and a fatal Snare to the Souls of Men : 
 Who feeing their debauch'd Neighbour difmifs'd 
 to the other World with fuch Confidence of his good 
 Eftate, fupprefs their juft Fears, and fay, 1 Jhall 
 have Peace, tho 1 add Drunkennefs to Thirft. 
 
 But there is a further very ftrange and extraordi- 
 nary Circumflance attending this Matter, viz. That 
 it makes your Church perform, not to fay a Mi- 
 racle, 
 
[ 29 3 
 
 rack) but fomething very like it, if not greater 
 than that, for it damns and faves the fame individual 
 Perfons. Whom it damns when living, it faves 
 when dead. Arians and Socinians, you know, Sir, 
 your Church declares without doubt to perifb 
 everlaftingly. But let thefe very Men die, and your 
 Church as folemnly declares that God hath in gke at 
 Mercy taken them to him/elf, and that it hopes 
 they rest in Christ. Can any thing be more 
 tranfeendent and marvellous than this ! That the 
 Man whom I pronounce without doubt to be 
 damned, 1 yet hope that he is javed, i. e. I hope 
 without Hope. 
 
 But you would eflablifh, not only the Ufe, but 
 the Church's divine Right, of making Ceremonies 
 from the Inflance of the holy Kifs*. " The Kifs of 
 " Charity ufed in the Apoflolic Church, you afk, 
 <c was it a Rite of divine Appointment, or was it 
 " not ?" I anfwer you, that as I apprehend this 
 Kifs of Charity cannot properly be called a divine 
 Inftitution, nor be faid to be ordained by the Apoflles. 
 The greeting with a Kifs, was an ancient eflablifhed 
 Ufage, not only amongfl the Jews, but the Gentile 
 Nations alfo. This Ufage therefore, or Ceremony, 
 was not ordained by the Apoflles, but only by their 
 Advice regulated and directed to a moral and re- 
 ligious End. 'Tis as if they had faid, 'Tis your 
 Cuflom when you meet, to falute each other with 
 a Kifs, fee that it be a pure, a chafte, or holy Kifs, 
 a Token of unfeigned Charity, Friendfhip and 
 Peace. 
 
 " But if this Ceremony of the holy Kifs, was not 
 " of divine Appointment (which probably, you 
 <c fay, is the Truth of the Cafe, but a merely ec- 
 M clefiaftical prudential Inftitution, ordained by the 
 *' Apoflles without any Precept from the Lord, or 
 " any particular Diredtion of the Holy Spirit." -— 
 Then, Sir, I without the leail Hesitation fay, it 
 
 was 
 f Let. II. pag, 2. 
 
[ 30 ] 
 was not at all obligatory as a Law upon the Con- 
 fciences of Chri/lians ; they might or they might 
 not practifeit, without finning againft God. Even 
 the Apoftles had no Dominion over the Faith and 
 Practice of Chriftians, but what was given them by 
 the fpecial Prefence and Spirit of Chr \ st, the only 
 Lawgiver, Lord, and Sovereign of the Church. 
 They were to teach only the Things which he 
 mould command them. Whatever they injoined 
 under the Influence of that Spirit, was to be con- 
 fid ered and obeyed as the bijuntlion of Christ. 
 But if they injoined any Thing in the Church 
 (which I can by no means admit) without the pe- 
 culiar Influence and Direction of this Spirit, (i. e. 
 as merely fallible unafTifted Men) in that Cafe their 
 Injunctions had no Authority over Confcience : Eve- 
 ry Man's own Reafon had Authority to examine 
 and difcufs their Injunctions, and as they approved 
 themfelves to his private Judgment, to obferve 
 them, or not. Should we grant then what you afk 
 — u That the Church in the prefent Age, has the 
 " fame Authority and Power as the Church in the 
 tc apoftolic Age, confidered as not being under 
 4i any immediate and extraordinary Guidance of 
 u the Holy Ghoft." — What will you gain by it ? 
 This fame Authority and Power, is you fee, Sir, 
 really no Power nor Authority at all. 
 
 I proceed next " to the Point of Discipline, 
 " the Want of which you fay, is objected to your 
 <c Church ; but you will reprefent the real State of 
 " it, and then fhew that we really as much want it 
 " our/elves'* " We will attend your own Account 
 of it, which to be fure is not too fevere. You ac- 
 knowledge u that the Difcipline of the Church is 
 " of gnat Moment towards the Edification of its 
 " Members ; and that the Fault is unpardonable 
 " when Church Governors let it fall, through a 
 " fupine Carelefsnefs and Neglect — That there is a 
 
 " great 
 * Let. III. pag. 12. 
 
r si 1 
 
 u great Proftration of Difcipline in the Church of 
 4t England — That it is ruined amongft you — That 
 " the Diflempers of the Times are evidently too 
 " ftrong for it — That thofe who fit at the Helm, 
 *; find it prudent not to bear up too much again!! 
 " the Impetuofity of the Storm, but to give Way 
 " till the Madnefs of the People be ftill — That the 
 " Difcipline of the Church has not been carried to 
 " any Degree of Perfection — And now lies under 
 " a general Relaxation. — That your People are 
 " often indulg'd in all their unreafonable Demands 
 iC and diforderly Ways, to prevent their putting in 
 " Execution their Threats, that thy will go to the 
 " Meeting — And finally, That you have at leaft, 
 ** the Shadow and Form of Difcipline, and truft in. 
 " God that ibefe dry Bones will one Day live*" 
 
 This, it muft be owned, is very ingenuoufly and 
 frankly fpoken. Andean you blame then the Dif- 
 jenters, Sir, for joining themfelves to Churches^ 
 where x\\zx gedly Dijchtine is obferved, which you 
 confefs to be of fo great Moment to the Edification 
 of Chriftian People ; and which your Church is con- 
 tinually wishing, but never attempts to have re- 
 fiored. But here you retort, and intimate as great a 
 Want of Difcipline amongft us. " What are there 
 " no fcandalous Sinners, you alkf, no Fornicators, 
 '* Adulterers, Extortioners, &c. received into your 
 * c Churches ! I mull: beg your Pardon if I demur 
 u upon this. For I could never perceive the Doors 
 " of the Meeting were ever (hut againft any. And 
 c< if fuch profligate Perfons be not admitted to Jit 
 " at the Lord's Table, they need not fear being ad- 
 " mitted to all other Parts of your Worfhip." 
 
 And is not this, Sir, exactly right ? Ought not 
 our Church-doors to be always kept open, that who- 
 ever will may come, and be Witnefs to our Way of 
 Worfhip. Such profligate Perfons therefore may 
 
 come, 
 
 * Let. III. pag. 12, 13, 14, 17, 22, 28. f Let. Ill, 
 
 pag. 23. 
 
[ 32 J 
 
 come, if they pleafe, and hear their Sins reproved, 
 and be exhorted to Repentance and Amendment of 
 Life. They are then, where they ought to be, 
 under the preaching of the Word ; the Means ap- 
 pointed by God, to convince and reclaim the pro- 
 fligate and corrupt. Were not the Doors of the 
 Church at Corinth kept open in the Apoftles Days, 
 for Infidels to come in, and be prefent at their Wor- 
 fhip. Fid. 1 Cor. xiv. 23. But to the Table of the 
 Lord, to partake of the Children's Bread, you 
 feem convinced that in our Churches, fuch profli- 
 gate Perfons are not fuffered to come. And is not 
 this the true Order and Difcipline of the Chriflian 
 Church? But — Is it the fame, Sir, in your Church ? 
 Are not fome of the mofl profane and abandoned 
 of Men, Rakes, Debauchees, Blafphemers of God, 
 and Scoffers at all Religion, often feen upon their 
 Knees around your Communion Table, eating the 
 Children's Bread, and partaking of the holy Elements 
 to qualify for a Poft ? Dare your Miniflers refufe 
 them ! No, they dare not refufe the mofl impious 
 Blafphemer the three Kingdoms afford, when he 
 comes to demand it as a Qualification for an Office 
 in the Army or Fleet. 
 
 And if in any other Cafe, the Priefl denies the 
 Sacrament to the mofl infamous Sinner dwelling in 
 his Parifh, if the Man, upon an Appeal to the eccle- 
 fiaftical Court, can fecure the Favour of the Lay- 
 Chancellor, he may fecurely defy both the Minifler 
 and the Bifhop to keep him from the Lord's Table. 
 The Chancellor's Determination mail Hand in Law, 
 though contrary to the Bifhofs ; and the Minifler 
 be liable to a Sufpenfion, for refufing Compliance ; 
 and if he is contumacious, and will not give the 
 Man the Sacrament, even to Excommunication itfelf. 
 How, Sir, do you reconcile this with your affirm- 
 ing, " That your Parifh Priefl has as much Power 
 *' as any Prefbyterian or congregational Minifter to 
 " repel open and fcandalous Sinners from the 
 
 w Lord'* 
 
[ 33 fl 
 " Lord's Table*?" Or how with your " Repro 
 " Tenting the Lay- Chancellor as a Per ion only af- 
 " fumed by the Bifhop, not to do any A 61 that is 
 IC purely fpiritual, but only to be his Affifant in his 
 " ecclefiaftical and judicial Proceedings f?" 
 
 Is not the Chancellor jupreme and uncontrolled in 
 his Court, not liable to be retrained or directed by 
 the Bifhop in his judicial Proceedings ? Does he not 
 finatly and abfolutely determine on Cafes of Excom- 
 munication, fovereignly direct who fhall be received 
 to, and who caft cut from Chriftian Fellowfhip and 
 W-er-fcip at the Table of the Lord ? And is not 
 this an A 61 aspure/yfpiriiual, as important and mo- 
 mentous, as any done in the Church ? Mull not 
 bis Sentence take Place without Controul, and is the 
 Minifter in pnblifhing it any other than his Servant, 
 appointed by Law to put it in Execution ? 
 
 Will you pleafe to hear, Sir, the Sentiments of 
 a great Prelate % of your own Church, upon the 
 
 Point in Debate. u If there be any Thing in 
 
 " the Office of a Bifhop to be challenged peculiar 
 " to themfelves, certainly it mould be this (fpeak- 
 " ing of Excommunication) yet this is in a Manner 
 " quite relinquifhed to their Chancellors ; Laymen, 
 " who have no more Capacity to fentence or ab- 
 u folve a Sinner, than to diiTolve the Heavens or 
 u the Earth. And this pretended Power of the 
 u Chancellory is fometimes purchafed with a Sum 
 " of Money. Their Money per ifb with them ! Good 
 Ct God ! what a horrid Abufe is this of the divine 
 u Authority ! But this notorious Tranfgreflion is 
 Cc excufed, as they think, by this, that a Minifter 
 " called the Bifhop's Surrogate, but is indeed the 
 " Chancellor's Servant, chofen, called, and placed 
 " there by him, to be his Crier in the Court, no 
 " better i that when he hath examined, heard, 
 ** and fentenced the Can fe, then the Minifter, for- 
 
 I " iooth, 
 
 * Let. HI. pag. 33. f Ibid. pag. 3$. J Dr- 
 
 Crofts, Biihop of Hereford, Naked Truth, &c. pag. 58. 
 
t 34 J 
 
 " footh, pronounces the Sentence. Juft as if the 
 " Rector of a Parifh Church mould exclude any 
 " of his Congregation, and lock him out of the 
 " Church, then comes the Clerk, mews and 
 *,* jingles the Keys, that all may take Notice that 
 '* he is excluded. And by this his Authority, the 
 " Chancellor takes upon him to fentence not only 
 " Laymen* but Clergymen alfo brought into his 
 " Court for any Delinquency. And in the Court of 
 cC Arches* they fentence even Bifhops themfelves." 
 
 " I remember when the Bifhop of Wells* hear- 
 " ing of a Caufe corruptly managed, and coming 
 " into Court to rectify it, the Chancellor Dr. Duck* 
 " fairly and mannerly bid him be gone, for he had 
 u no Power there to ad any Thing ; and there- 
 <s withal pulled out his Patent, fealed by this 
 " Bifhop's Predeceffor, which frighted the poor 
 
 * c Bifhop out of the Court." Behold ! this is 
 
 the Perfon, Sir, whom you have the Courage to re- 
 prefent as only affumed by the Bifliop, not to do any 
 Atl that is purely spiritual but only to be his 
 Assistant in his judicial Proceedings. 
 
 But as we are now upon the Head of Difcipline, 
 and the Law called the Test, is a Battery which has 
 beat down all its Fences around your Church, and 
 you are a zealous advocate for that Law, you will 
 permit me here, Sir, to enlarge a little upon that 
 Point : And to afk — How you can bear to fee the 
 terrible Defolation it has made of your godly Dif- 
 cipline* without Refentment and Grief? Can you be 
 jealous, Sir, for the Profperity and Honour of 
 your Church, and yet patiently view it lying in this 
 polluted and common State ? Its inclofures broken 
 up, and a Way opened by Law for the moil fla- 
 gitious of Men, for Atbeifts* profelTed Deifts and 
 the moil: open and avowed Sinners, to lie fecurely in 
 its Bofom, to luck at its Breads, to be numbered 
 and cherifhed amongfl its holieft and moft beloved 
 Children, and to be acknowledged before the 
 
 World 
 
[ 55 3 
 
 World as honeft and good Chriftians, by being 
 fuffered to come boldly to the Table of the Lord. 
 
 But why do I fay fuffered? Does not your 
 Church by the Force of this Law, even compel them 
 to come in ? Many of the unhappy Perfons, con- 
 fcious of their unfit n fs, would gladly draw back. 
 Knowing themfelves perhaps, either to dijbelieve the 
 Truth, or elfe to live in open Violation of the Laws 
 of Chriflianity, they are loth to add to their other 
 Crimes this Prevarication with Almighty God, and 
 Affront to Jesus Christ, and thereby to run a 
 dreadful Rifque of eating and drinking Judgment to 
 themfelves. But, their All lies at Stake : They mufl 
 qualify, or be given up to Beggary and Want. 
 Away therefore with Scruples ! They rufh to the 
 Lord's Table, and partake of the /acred Elements 
 with Confciences and Characters all covered witfc 
 Guilt. 
 
 You will fay, perhaps, it is their own Fault, 
 they might have refujed to come. They might, 
 indeed, if they would have loft their Pofts, their 
 Subfiftence, their Bread. — But can the Church rea- 
 fonably expedl fuch Sacrifices as thefe, from Men 
 of corrupt Minds ? Is fhe then in no Fault, in lay- 
 ing Men under fuch ftrong, almoft invincible Temp- 
 tations, to this odious Hypocrify and Profanation 
 of holy Things? Is fhe not highly culpable, for 
 opening her Bofom to receive Men of impure Cha- 
 racters to all the facred Privileges, Liberties, and 
 Honours, which belong only to fincere Chriftians ? 
 Yea, for owning before the World as worthy and 
 good Chriftians, Perfons whom the World fees, and 
 whom the Church herfelf cannot but fee to blaf- 
 pheme the Name of Christ, and to live in avowed 
 Contempt of his Authority and Laws ? 
 
 And what Relief, Sir, has the unhappy Minifter, 
 of whom as Steward in God's Houfe, >rt is required 
 that he be found faithful, and who is to anfwer 
 for his Conduct to his great Master hereafter? 
 
 I 2 What 
 
[ 56 ] 
 
 What Relief, I afk, has he, when the mod veteran 
 Debauchee, fhall come and demand from him theft 
 Pledges of Chriflian Fellow fhip, and of God's pa- 
 ternal Love ? Truly, none at all : He mufl receive 
 him as a Child of God, and a dearly beloved Bro- 
 ther to the Table of Christ, or have an Atlion 
 commenced againfl him, and be condemned per- 
 haps in Damages more than he is worth. 
 
 As much therefore as you are concerned for the 
 Honour of the Church, and for the Jnterefl, Repu- 
 tation, and Comfort of its Clergy, fo much you 
 ought to wifh and zealoufly promote the Repeal of 
 this Law. A Law, which whatever was its origi- 
 nal Intention, hath in its Application let in like a 
 Plood-gate upon your Church, the Dregs of the hu 
 man Race. A Law, which though at firfl defigned 
 only the more efTectually to prevent all Danger to 
 the Confli union from Papifts, hath by an unnatural 
 Perverilon of it, actually broken down all Bijlinc- 
 iions eftabiifhed by divine Authority, betwixt Sacred 
 and Profane : Has thrufl Infidels and Profligates 
 into the mcft holy Places of your Temple, and 
 brings Deifls and Debauchees to eat at the Lord's 
 
 Table amongfl the Children of his Houfe. Let 
 
 me afk you, Sir, in the Name of Christ, our 
 common Mailer and Judge, doth not this Law, as 
 now enforced, occafion the moll notorious Proflitu- 
 tion of an holy Sacrament of his Religion ? Is not 
 its avowed and open Tendency and Ufe, to pervert 
 an Inftitution of our Saviour to Ends, not only 
 quite different, but even oppofite to thoft lor which 
 He appointed it? Is it not making that a polui- 
 cal Inft.ru.ment to divide Chriflians, which Christ 
 inflituted as a religious Inflrument to coalefce and 
 iiniuMiem} Mufl it not be highly odious and of- 
 fcnfive to Almighty God, to fee an holy Sacrament, 
 which his Wifdom hath ordained for fpiritual only 
 and religious Purpofes, thus proilituted, perverted, 
 made an Engine and Tool of State, employed to 
 
 ft r en e then 
 
[ 37 ] 
 flrengthen and perpetuate Differences amongfl good 
 Chriftians ; and thereby debafed, not to worldly 
 only and fee ular, but to much worfe than worldly, 
 Ends? 
 
 As to myfelf, Sir, I affure you, tho' I think this 
 Law to be a mofl unrighteous Reflraint upon us, 
 and an undoubted Violation of our natural Rights -, 
 yet I am far from being perfuaded that its Repeal 
 would be of the leafl Service to our Interefl as Dif- 
 fenters. I doubt, and have often thought, that 
 there is too much Truth in what you fay — " That 
 " high Trufts, public Offices, and Court -Employments, 
 u wouid be extremely apt to corrupt us, and to make 
 " practical Religion more vifibly decay " and that it 
 would really rather injure than flrengthen our In- 
 tereft. I have never therefore, as a Diffenter, been 
 at all follicitous for the Repeal. No, Sir, fo far 
 from this, that could I allow myfelf to hate and 
 wifh ill to the Church, I would moll heartily wifh 
 it pertinacioufly to hold fail this fhameful Corrup- 
 tion. I would wifh it, by no means to give up 
 this open Profanation of the Authority and Name 
 of Cbrift ; this Proftitution and Perverfion of an 
 holy Sacrament of his Religion ; this Deftruclion 
 of all Difcipline h this open Door for the Reception 
 of the mofl Abominable and Profane to its mofl 
 holy Myfteries and Rites: This, if I wifh'd it ill, 
 I would earneflly wHh your Church inflexibly to 
 continue : not doubting but, if long continued, 
 it will furely at length bring down upon it the 
 heavy Anger of Almighty God ; the jufl Refentment 
 and Jealoufy of a defpifed and infulted Saviour ; 
 and the deep Scorn and Contempt of all wife and 
 thinking Men. 
 
 Whilfl this Law continues, Sir, in its prefent 
 Application, yourfelf cannot but fee, that your Dif- 
 cipline mufl neceffarily lie fcandaloufly proftrate, % 
 ruind, relax d. 'Tis impofTible you can maintain, 
 hardly the Shadow and Form, much lefs the Spirit 
 
 of 
 
f 38 ] 
 
 of primitive ecclefiaftick Government. Your boh 
 Things muft lie common, vilely trodden under Foot. 
 Of all Perfons in the Land therefore, the Clergy 
 mould be the firft, to labour with all their Might 
 the Repeal of this unhappy Law. A Law, which 
 cannot but be fuppofed terribly to bear hard upon, 
 and wound the Confciences of many of them : and 
 which fubjects them to fo fervile a Proftitution of 
 their Character, as cannot but load it with great In- 
 famy and Reproach. 
 
 You tell me*, fcC That you will engage, fimple 
 " as you fit here, that this Law (hall be repeal'd ; 
 " and our Incapacities removed, when we will lay 
 " down our Enmity to the Church, that is in fhoit 
 
 c< to one half Part of the Confutation. For 
 
 u Church and Stale here in England are fo incor- 
 <; porated and united, that they have, like the 
 t4 married Pair, the fame Friends and Enemies: 
 4C and ftand or fall together." I cannot pretend 
 to fay, Sir, how fimple you fat there, when you gave 
 us this AlTu ranee, but I would to God you were 
 able to /land up 9 and make it good. For, 
 
 i. Are you fure that the Church is really any 
 ejjemial Part. at all, much lefs the Half Part of the 
 Bntijh Constitution : Or, that Church and State 
 are fo married and interwoven, that they muft ftand 
 
 or fall together ? Many, Sir, befides Diffenters 
 
 will think, that this is a very partial and wrong Re- 
 prefentation of our moil: excellent Frame of Go- 
 vernment. Let any one in his Imagination annihilate 
 the Form of our prefent Church. Let him fuppofe its 
 Liturgy, Clergy, Articles, Canons, with all its Cere- 
 monies and Rites, entirely vanifrfd from the Land : 
 its mmenfe Revenues applied in Eafe of our heavy 
 Taxes, and for the Payment of the public Debts y 
 and Preachers paid only by voluntary Contributions, 
 as they are amongft us. Would the State hereby 
 fuftain fo effential a Lofs, that it could not thence- 
 forward 
 * Let. I. p. ii. 
 
w 
 
 [ 39 1 
 
 forward poffibly fubfijl ? What ! would the Britijh 
 Monarchy be overthrown — Our Courts of Judica- 
 ture be (hut up — the Courfe of Law be ftopp'd — 
 Parliaments no more meet — Commerce and Trade 
 ftagnate — becaufe what you call the Church is no 
 more ? Romantic and abfurd ! No : The Frame of 
 our happy Government, both civil and mili ary, 
 might remain the very fame: And you will give 
 me leave to obferve on the prefent Occafion, that 
 in one Part of this Kingdom, thofe who profefs 
 themfelves to be of your Church, as to its external 
 Polity and Ceremonies, are almoft to a Man inve- 
 terate avowed Enemies of our happy civil Consti- 
 tution, and have rifen in an impious Rebellion 
 againft his prefent Majefty, and joined with Spa- 
 niards ^ trench, Italians, and home-bred Papifts, in 
 their wicked Attempts to fubvert the Protectant 
 Religion and Liberties. 
 
 2. This Deftruclionot the Church of England^ is 
 what we by no Means wifh. May God in mercy 
 prevent it, by caufing her to fee, in this her Day, 
 the Things belonging to her Peace — We bear it no 
 Enmity ; God is our Witnefs. We wifh it from 
 our Souls Glory, Profperity, Purity, Peace: The 
 Glory of being formed according to xheperfecl Plan 
 of the primitive apojhlick Church : purg'd of thofe 
 Things, which yourfelves know to be no Parts of 
 the Religion 0/ Christ ! We wifh to fee it eftablijtid 
 upon the catholick and broad Bottom, upon which 
 alone it can ftand firm ; even the fcriptural Founda- 
 tion of the A pottles and Prophets, JefusChrift him- 
 felf being its only Lawgiver and King ; And net 
 upon the narrow Bafis on which it now refts, the 
 Articles and Canons, the lnjtitutions and Inventions 
 of fallible and weak Men ; on which it can never be 
 ftrongly and firmly fixt ; which are all, in the Apos- 
 tle's Language, (Vood, Hay, Stubble -, whofe End 
 is to be burnt ! We wifh, Sir, that as it opens its 
 Boforn, and admits the vileft Debauchees without 
 
 demurring 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 demurring at their open Violation of God's Com- 
 mands ; fo it would charitably extend its Arms to 
 take us into its Communion, without infilling upon 
 our Obedience to the Injunctions and Commands of 
 Men ! Finally : we wiih, that what Gon^ in his 
 Wifdom, hath been pleated to leave indifferent ; 
 your Church alio, in her Wifdom, would be pleafed 
 to leave the fame : That you would not attempt to 
 mend the Inflitutions of Jesus Christ : But would 
 receive us into your Church upon the fame Terms 
 a ;:d Qualifications as Christ and his Apoftles would 
 have received us into theirs j and as God will re- 
 ceive us into Heaven at lad ! — This, Sir, I allure 
 you, is all the Harm we wifh the Church : Judge 
 then yourfclf, whether we bear it any Enmity*, and 
 whether you are not now bound to take from us 
 the Incapacities which you engaged, fimple as you 
 fat tbere± fhould on this Condition be removed. 
 
 And you v» ill give me Leave, Sir, to think, and 
 to hope, that there are Numbers of your worthy 
 Clergy of the fame Mind ; that it would not at all 
 leflen either the Glory, Stability, or Profperity of 
 your Church, if its Bounds were thus enlarged, to 
 admit the moderate Dijfenters, who fincerely defire 
 fb happy a Coalition. Its Enemies feem to multi- 
 ply, and dark Clouds to rife around it. Popery is 
 making dangerous and mignty Inroads on the one 
 hand ; and Deifm on the other. There may come 
 a Time, as there formerly has been, when the 
 Frame of your Church being terribly threatened, 
 we may again be confider'd as no defpicable Auxilia- 
 ries. But — If we cannot be fo happy, as not to be 
 caft out and rejeBed by our Brethren ; our Confola- 
 tion is this, that God judgeth in the Earth ; and 
 that he will furely, at the proper Seafon, vindicate 
 and plead the Caufe of the Injured and Opprefs'd. 
 
 But to return to the Point of Difcipjine. To the 
 acknowledge Irregularity of Lay-Chancellors in 
 your Church, you would fain " put in Balance the 
 
 " Lay- 
 
[ 4« ] 
 
 " Lay- Preaching, Lay-Praying, and Lay Ordina- 
 " tion allow'd in our Churches *." To which I 
 reply, that in the Generality of our Churches there is 
 no fuch Thing either allow'd, or ever done. Befides, 
 if there were : Did not your own Church fet us the 
 Pattern ? In the Rubrick before the general Con- 
 felTion at the Communion, did it not direct ? — "Then 
 jhall this general Confeffion be made, in the Name of 
 all thofe that are to receive^ either by one of them, 
 or elfe by one of the Ministers. How it came 
 to be omitted in the late Editions of the Common 
 Prayer ; whether it is done according to Law, and 
 by Authority of Parliament; you, Sir, perhaps 
 can fay. 
 
 As to Cc Laymen being an effential Part of all 
 " our Confiftories and Synods ; fitting in them, 
 u and having an equal Vote with Pallors in all Bu- 
 4< finefs — jointly with them fufpending from the 
 " Lord's Table, &Y. f." This, Sir, is no other 
 than the fcriptural apoflolic Plan. The aggriev'd 
 Perfon is by our Lord, you know, Mat. xviii. 17. 
 directed to lay his Complaint before the Church, 
 i. e. the Congregation of the Faithful: and if the 
 Offender neglected to hear the Church (the Con- 
 gregation) admonifhing and reproving him, he was 
 then to be confider'd as an heathen Man and a Pub- 
 lican. So the corrupt Member, at Corinth, was to 
 be folemnly excommunicated. How } Not by any 
 particular Perfon, Chancellor or Bifhop ; but it was 
 to be the Act of the whole Church. To the whole 
 Body or Congregation of Believers in that City, 
 St. Paul gives Directions, That when they were come 
 together, they (hould deliver juch an one to Satan. 
 And, that they Jhould put away from amongfl them* 
 f elves that wicked Perfon, 1 Cor. v. 4, 5, 13. which 
 Excommunication he afterwards calls a Punifhment 
 inflitled by the many, % Cor. ii 6. So jn that 
 weighty and momentous i^/to—— How far the 
 
 K Gentiles 
 
 * Let. III. p. 38. f Ibid. p. 37. 
 
[ 42 ] 
 
 Gentiles were to fubmit to the Law of Mofes ? The 
 Elders and Brethren are join'd with the Apoftks in 
 the Decifion and Decree, Atls xv. 23., The hatiy 
 therefore have a Right to be confulted, and to judge, 
 in thefe important Church Matters, together with 
 the Clergy ; as they do, by their Reprefentatives, 
 in what you call our Conjiftories. But with you, 
 Sir, z Jingle Layman, (this is the Abfurdity which 
 you feem willing to lofe fight of) I repeat it, a 
 Jingle Layman, net only in Diftinction from, but in 
 adtual Oppofition to, the Bijhop, and all the. Church, 
 both Clergy and Laity, has Authority to judge and 
 determine thefe important Matters ; and excom- 
 municates, or abfolves •, fhuts out, or lets in, ac- 
 cording to his Jo I e Pleafure. 
 
 And here, Sir, let me flop a Moment, and re- 
 view the Point in Debate betwixt our good Dr. IVatts 
 and yourfelf. As for the Lives of the DifTenters, 
 tho' God knows we have nothing whereof to boaft, 
 but a great Deal that calls for Shame and Humilia- 
 tion on this Head; yet whether we are quite Jo 
 deep immers'd in the Deluge of Profanenefs, Immo- 
 rality^ and Vice, which fpreads over the Land. * 
 
 Whether the Blafphemies and Oaths, the Debauchery, 
 Riot, and guilty Excefjes, which too generally pre- 
 vail, be in Proportion to our Number, found as 
 rife amongft us, as amongfl the Members of the 
 
 ejlablijlfd Church muft be left, and we freely 
 
 leave it, to the impartial World to judge betwixt us. 
 And as to fpecial Obligations ^Advan- 
 tages for holy Living, which you conteft ftrenu- 
 oufly with the Dotlor to lie on your Side ; what 
 hath been above obferved on your feveral Offices 
 for Confirmation, Abjolution of the Sick, and Burial 
 of the Dead, (hews them, I humbly think, to 
 have really an ill Afpecl upon the Morals of your 
 People-, a dangerous and apparent Tendency to 
 cherifh in them falje Hopes, and to give them wrong 
 Notions of the Terms of Acceptance, and of En- 
 trance 
 
[ 43 1 
 
 trance into Heaven. And of the deplorable State 
 in which your Difcipline lies (which you acknow* 
 ledge to be of great Moment to the Edification of 
 the Church) no Enemy need to wifh a J adder Ac- 
 count than yourfelf have given of it. Upon the 
 whole therefore, Sir, I cannot think, the worthy 
 Doclor to defer ve Cenfure, for attempting to roiize 
 Diffenters from the languifhing State of Religion 
 amongft them, by putting them in mind of the 
 fuperior Advantages they enjoy 'd, and of the pecu- 
 liar Obligations under which they manifeftly lay to 
 greater Holinefs of Life. 
 
 You feem not a little difpleafed * at its having 
 been urged as a Reafon for cur Dijjent, " That 
 rt your Church has fhewn a perfecuting Spirit," 
 and with fome Emotion afk — " Did the Church 
 " perfecute at any Time its own Members ? Were 
 " you or your Fathers ever perfecuted while they 
 " continued in the Church ? And were they driven 
 " out of it by thofe Perfecutions ?" I confefs, Sir, 
 you quite furprize me by fuch Queftions as thefe. 
 What ! are you only a Stranger in Britain -, and 
 have never heard of the bitter Sufferings of our 
 worthy Fathers the Puritans? With what Si- 
 lencings, Deprivations, Fines, Imprifonments, and 
 lingering and cruel Deaths, for more than an Hun- 
 dred 7 ears, they were terribly harrafs'd and op- 
 prefs'd by your Church? Have you never read, 
 with a bleeding Heart, the unrelenting Rigors of 
 your Archbifhops Parker, Bancroft, Whitegift, Laud, 
 • — under xhzfirft of whom above an hundred-, un- 
 der the fcond, above three hundred pious and learned 
 Men, not only Members but Minijlers of your 
 Church, werefilenc'd, fufpended, admonifh'd, de- 
 prived, many of them loaded with grievous and 
 heavy Fines, and fhut up in filthy Jails, where they 
 expired llowly thro* Penury and Want ? And what 
 were the Crimes which drew this dreadful Storm of 
 
 K 2 epif- 
 
 * Let. Ill, p. 60, 61. 
 
[ 44 1 
 
 epifcopal Vengeance on them ? Nothing but their 
 Scruples about the Surplice and the Cap, about Bow- 
 ing at the Name of J ejus ^ about Chri/l's Defcent in- 
 to Hell, and fuch like momentous Points. 
 
 Have you never read, Sir, what Deibiations Laud 
 brought upon our Fa.b r^'whilfr yet in your Church ? 
 How many Hundreds of them were fequeftred, driven 
 from their Livings, excommunicated, perfecuted in 
 the High CommifTion Court, and forced to leave 
 the Kingdom for not punctually conforming to all the 
 Ceremonies and Rites -, and not daring to tell their 
 People, that they might lawfully profane the S-bbatb 
 by Gambols and Sports ; and to publifh from their 
 Pulpits the Ptrmiffton of the King to break the Command 
 of God — And yet you alk — " IVereyour Fathers ever 
 <c perfecuted while they continued in the Church f" 
 
 Pray ! what was it peopled the favage Defarts of 
 North America? Was it not the Thoufan^.s of perfe- 
 cuted and opprefs'd Families, who fled from tyran- 
 nifing Bishops ? Who not being fufTer'd to worfhip 
 quietly in their native Country, as their Confciences 
 directed, fought a peaceful Retreat from the Rage of 
 their Fellow Chriflians amongft more hofpitable In- 
 dians.— To omit a thoufand Ads of Cruelty, which 
 thro' feveral fucceflive Reigns our Fathers fuffer'd 
 not only from, but when actually w, the Church. — 
 Did fhe not at lafl, in a mofi: arbitrary and unrigh- 
 teous Manner caft out at once above two thoufand 
 of them, excellent and pious Miniflers, and aban- 
 don them, and their ftarving Families, to great 
 Poverty and Diflrefs ? To heighten that Diflrefs, 
 did not your Church, by another Act, banifh them 
 five Miles from any City, Boj ough, or Church in 
 which they had before ferved : and thereby put 
 them at a proper Diflance from their Acquaintance 
 and Friends, who might minifter to their Relief? 
 Did fhe not by another Act forbid their meeting to 
 worfhip God, any where but in your own Churches, 
 
 under 
 
r 45 ] 
 
 under the Penalties of heavy Fines, Imprifonments, 
 and Eanifhment to foreign Lands ? 
 
 In Confequence of thefc cruel Acts, were not 
 vaft Numbers of pious Clergymen, our Forefathers 
 (once the Glory of your Church) with Multitudes of 
 their People, laid in Prifons amongft Thieves and 
 common Malefactors, where they fuffered the 
 greateft Hardfhips, Indignities, Oppreflions; their 
 Houfes were rudely rifled, their Goods made a 
 Prey to hungry Informers, and their Families given 
 up to Beggary and Want. " An Eftimate was 
 M publifhed of near eight Thoufand Proliant Dif- 
 " [enters, who had perifhed in Pnfon in the Reign 
 " only of Charles II. By fevere Penalties inflicted 
 " on them, for affembling to worfhip God, they 
 " fuffered in their Trade and Eftates in the Com- 
 <c pafs of a few Years, at leafl two Millions ; and 
 " a Lift of fixty Thou/and Perfons was taken, who 
 " had fuffered on a religious Account, betwixt the 
 <c Re/location and the Revolution *." — Behold, the 
 Groans and the Blood of Miriads of oppreifed 
 Puritans, which cry beneath the Altar, How long, O 
 Lord ! But you are deaf to all their Groans — And 
 with Infenfibility enough alk — Were your Fathers 
 ever perfecuted ? — 
 
 " But the Prefbyterian and Independant Churches 
 4< have each in their Day of Power, difcovered as 
 " much, and indeed more of that Spirit t." Too 
 much of that b d Spirit 'tis acknowledged, they 
 have each (hewn. But furely there is no Compari- 
 fon betwixt the Cruelties and Oppreflions of your 
 Church, and of their's. Your little dinger, has 
 been thicker than their Loins. 
 
 " But whatever the Church may have been here- 
 u tofore, you affirm, it is not now of a perfecuting 
 " Spirit : And that there is not the leaft Appear- 
 " ance of its having difquieted and opprefled any 
 
 " on 
 
 * Vid. Near* Hift. Purit. Vol. IV. p. 554. f Lett. 111. 
 p 6i. 
 
[4«] 
 w on Account of Religion, for more now than half 
 " a Century V You had forgot, Sir, the famous 
 Scbifm, and occafional Conformity Acts, which long 
 fmce that Date much difquieted and opprejfed us. 
 The Te.Q and the Corporation Acts had alfo flipped 
 your Memory, which at this Time deprive us of 
 valuable and important Privileges, to which as 
 faithful Subjects, and Members of the Common- 
 wealth, we think we have a natural undoubted Right. 
 The prefent Governors of your Church indeed, 
 (Thanks be to Heaven for it) are too wife and too 
 righteous, to permit Ptrjecutwn to rage againil us. 
 But to their Clemency and Juftice, Sir, not to the 
 kind and benevolent Spirit and Conftitution of your 
 Church, I humbly apprehend we owe it, that we 
 are not at this Time feverely perfecuted and op* 
 prelTed. If the Act of Uniformity, which to be 
 fure you will call a grand .Pillar of your Church, is 
 not a very unrighteous and perfecuting Acl, yet 
 feveral of your Canons breathe, you know, Sir, a 
 very curfing and perfecuting Spirit, By the for- 
 mer, " Whoever fhall declare or fpeak any Thing 
 " in the Derogation or Depraving of the Book of 
 " Common Prayer, or any Thing therein contained, 
 u or any Part thereof, he fhall for \.\\?firjl Offence 
 * c fuffer Imprijonmeni for o>ie whole Tear, without 
 " Bail or Main prize ; and for the fecond Offence, 
 16 be imprifoned during Life." Here I affirm 
 nothing, but appeal to the whole World ; I ap- 
 peal, Sir, to your own Confcience, whether this 
 be or be not an unjuft and a perfecuting Act? By 
 the latter, the Canons, Cfc If any Man fnall affirm 
 tc any of the- Things contained in the Book of Ar- 
 u ticks, Common Prayer, or of Ordination-," (in 
 which yet there are many Things acknowledged by 
 your own moil learned Divines, and I doubt not, 
 by yourfelf to need Alteration; your IV, V, VI, 
 VII, and VHIth Canons, thunder out upon him a 
 
 terrible 
 * Let. III. p. 61. 
 
[ 47 1 
 terrible Excommunication ipfofaclo*, by which he 
 is to be cut off as a cankered and rotten Member, 
 and not to be reftored, till he hath repented and 
 publickly revoked his wicked Errors. Doth not 
 this favour, Sir, of an antichriflian and perfect- 
 ing Spirit ? 
 
 But you feem not, with SubmifTion, to have 
 your [elf, a. juft Horror of the dreadful Sin of Per- 
 /edition, and to be a little too deeply tinged with 
 this fanatical Spirit : For you call aloud for cc the 
 tfc Church's Sword to fall upon Eteretich, as well as 
 " upon immoral Perfons : And put me in Mind, 
 " that by that ancient Difcipline" (which you vjifh 
 to fee reftored) ct open Schifmaticks were treated al- 
 tC moft as roughly as any Sort of Offenders what* 
 " foeverf." By Hereticks, no doubt you mean, 
 thofe whom you take to be iuch : And by open 
 Schijmaticks, thofe who are withdrawn from your 
 Church : Ihefe you wifh to fee roughly handled, and 
 tq have the Church's Sword drawn upon them. But, 
 God Almighty be praifed! We live under fojuft a 
 Government, as is not, we hope, like to gratify 
 this cruel PVifh. 
 
 Do you not remember, Sir, that the firjl Re- 
 formers were counted Hereticks and open Schifmaticks, 
 
 * Concerning an Excommunication ipfo faclo, our late learned 
 Primate, Dr Wake, has obferved. " Firjl, That there is no 
 *' Need in this Cafe, of any Admonition, as where the Judge is 
 *' to give Sentence ; but every one is to take Notice of the La-iv, 
 " at his Peril, and to fee that he be not overtaken by it. And, 
 " Secondly, That there is no Need of any Sentence to be pro- 
 " nounced, which the Canon itfelf has paJJ'ed ; and which is bv 
 " that Means a/ready promulged upon, every one, as foon as he 
 " comes within the Obligation of it. Jn other Cafes, a Man 
 " may do Things worthy of Cenfure, and yet behave himfelf fo 
 " warily in them as to efcape the Punilhment of the Church, 
 " for want of legal Evidence to convict him. But Exc'jmmuni- 
 " catio Canonis ligat etiam occulta Deliila. Where the Canon 
 '* gives Sentence, there is no efcaping ; but the Confcience of 
 " every Man becomes obligedby it, as foon as ever he is fenfi'ble, 
 " that he has done that which was forbidden, under the Pain of 
 *' fuch an Excommunication ." Appeal in Behalf of the Kings 
 Supremacy, p. 2 2. f Let. III. p. 12, 21. 
 
[ 48 3 
 
 by the Top Churchmen amongft whom they lived ? 
 That Jesus Christ and his slpoftles were counted 
 the very fame ? That our dear Brethren in France* 
 who are now bleeding under the Church's Sword, 
 are moft confidently reckoned fitch* by all -the Ru- 
 lers and Priefts there ? But is it fit that thefe Here- 
 t: b mould be thus roughly handled? Or, is it 
 thoje only* whom you are pleafed to call by that 
 Name, who merit thefe rough Meafures ? When- 
 ever, Sir, you fnali produce your Patent from 
 Heaven, conftituting you judge of Heresy, and 
 (hall be able authoritatively and infallibly to pro- 
 nounce what is* and what is not* to be punifhed as 
 such, then the Church's Sw'rd will, I hope, be 
 put into your Hands. But till then* Sir, 'tis much 
 fafer tc It it remain /heathed ? left under the Notion 
 of Ilereticks* you fall upon and roughly handle, 
 Men better t ban yourfelf. This has ever been the 
 Cafe, fince the Days of the Apoftles, when Eccle- 
 fiafticks have prefumed authoritatively to draw and 
 life the Church's Sword. 
 
 But you add, " 'Tis well we can't fay your 
 " Church has fhewn a dividing Spirit, and aclually 
 u divided itfelf by an open Schifm, from a found 
 " Part of the Catholic Church * that* indeed, 
 " would have been an unanfwerable Reafon for your 
 <c difTent*. 5 ' Yes, this alfo, Sir, we can fay, and 
 therefore (land jujlified by your own Conceflion. 
 That mifguided unhappy Prince Charles I. and his 
 furious Primate Laud* began this fatal Schifm* in 
 Complaifance to the Church of Rome* and a&ually 
 divided the Church of England from a found Part 
 of the Catholic Church ; and the fame fcbifmatical 
 Spirit has ever fince too generally prevailed in it. 
 
 The Dutch* V/alloon* and French Churches here 
 in England* were eftablifhed by Charters from feve- 
 ralofour Princes; but Lord Clarendon informs us, 
 u The Bijbops growing jealous that the countenan- 
 
 cing 
 
 Let. III. p. 60. 
 
[ 49 1 
 
 " cing another Difcipline of the Church here by 
 " order of State, would at lead dimini/h the Re- 
 u putation and Dignity of the epifcopat Govern- 
 " ment," got them fupprefled. ** And that this 
 " might be fure to look like more than what was 
 " neceffary to the civil Policy of the Kingdom, 
 ** whereas in all former Times, the AmbaiTadors 
 u and all foreign Minifters of State employed from 
 u England, into any Parts where the reformed Re- 
 u ligion was exer,cifed, frequented their Church s, 
 a and gave all pqflible Countenance to their Pro- 
 * 4 feflion ; the contrary to this was now with great 
 u Induliry pra&iied, and fome Advertifements, if* 
 " not Inftrudtions, given to the AmbafTadors there 
 " ( Le Clerc fays they were ordered) to forbear any 
 14 extraordinary Commerce with Men of that Pro- 
 " feffion. And Lord Scudamore, the laft ordinary 
 " Ambafiador there, not only declined going to 
 <c Cbarenton (the Protejtant Church) but furnifhed 
 " his own Chapel with Wax-candles on the Com- 
 " munion- table, &c. And befides, was careful 
 " to publifh upon all Occafions by himfelf, and 
 " thole who had the neareft Relation to him, that 
 *' the Church 0/ England looked not upon the Hugo- 
 " nots of France, as a Part of t whir. Commu- 
 " nion ; which was likewife too much) and too 
 " induftrioufly difcourfed at Home*." Behold 
 here, Sir, the Church of England, aclually dividing 
 itfelf from a found Part of the Catholic Church ! 
 For fuch furely you will own the brave Proteftants 
 in France, who have born Teftimony to the Faith by 
 fo great and fo glorious a Fight of Ajfiifiions, and 
 fealed it with Seas of Blood. 
 
 I would alio put you in Mind of another Facl, 
 that feems to have efcaped your Reading, or Me- 
 mory. Upon the Queen of Bohemia's earnetl Solici- 
 tation with the King her Brother (Charles I. Anno 
 X634) a Collection was ordered throughout England, 
 
 L for 
 
 * CJarerJ. Hiit. Rebel. Vol. III. p. 96, 97, 
 
[ 5° 1 
 
 for the poor perfecuted Minifters of the Palatinate, 
 who were banimed their Country for their Religion. 
 In the Brief which was granted for this Purpofe, was 
 this Claufe: Whcfe Cafes are the more to be deplored, 
 hecaufe this Extremity is fallen upon them, for their 
 Sincerity and Conjlancy in the true Religion, which 
 we together with them profefs. Archbifhop Laud 
 excepted againft this Claufe, and denied that the 
 Religion of the Palatine Churches was the fame 
 with ours, becaufe they were Caivinifts, and their 
 Minifters had not Epifcopal Ordination. Laud ac- 
 quainted the King with his Objections. The Claufe 
 was ordered to be expunged, and the brave un- 
 happy Palatines were thus publickly difowned by 
 the Governors of the Church, who in ail reafonable 
 Conftruction, muft be fuppofed to know and fpeak 
 its Senfe, and not allowed to be ProfelTors of the 
 fame true Religion *. How unchriftian and fchif- 
 matical this! 
 
 Of the like Schifm was it alfo guilty, in the Occa- 
 ftonal Conformity Act, which took Place in a late 
 Reign. For it thereby forbid under fever e Pe- 
 mhies, all its Members who had any Places of Pro- 
 fit or Trull:, to worfhip or hold Communion with 
 any of the foreign Churches, Dutch, French, &c. 
 in thofe Kingdoms, in which its Liturgy was not 
 ufed. And mould any Minister of any of the 
 reformed Churches of Scotland, France, Germany, 
 Holland, now come into England, would your Church 
 receive them as Mhiilers, or admit them as fuch 9 
 to officiate in its public Worfhip ? I prefume you 
 know, Sir, me would not. But is not this virtu- 
 ally renouncing their Communion ? Nor will you 
 admit even the Lay Members of any of thefe fo- 
 reign Churches, to your Communion at the Lord's- 
 fupper, except befides what Christ has ordered, 
 they will fubmit alfo to fome Order and Fiflitution 
 of your OWN. 
 
 Now 
 * AW'sHift. Purit. Vol. II. p. 271. 
 
[ 5i ] 
 Now your great S tilling fie et * hath thus deter- 
 mined — " That which confines, muft Mo divide the 
 44 Church ; for by that Confinement, a Separation 
 " is made betwixt the Parties confined, and the 
 44 other ; which Separation muft be made, by the 
 44 Party fo limiting Chriftian Communion." Upon 
 the whole then, 'tis moil evident, that your Church 
 has fhewn, and does fhew, a fchifmo.tical and divid- 
 ing Spirit, has actually div.ded it/ If from found 
 Parts of the univerfal Church. This therefore you 
 will pleafe to take, as an unanfwerable Reafon for 
 our dijfent. 
 
 You muft excufe me, Sir, if I think you treat 
 a great deal too feverely a worthy Body of Men, 
 our Ministers-, when you reprefent them as 
 44 Perfons whom the Faithful, far from being per- 
 44 mitted to enter into any Pafioral Relation to them, 
 44 are not permitted to have any Chriflian Commu* 
 44 nion with them ; no, not fo much as any inti- 
 44 mate unnecejfary Acquaintance and Familiarity 
 44 with them in common Lifef" — And tell me — 
 44 They are not duly ordained to their Office ; that 
 44 their Administrations are moft certainly irregular, 
 44 an unneceflary and wanton, if not a factious 
 " Departure from the primitive Order. And that 
 tc therefore I cannot depend, at leaft with fo much 
 44 AiTurance, as is requifite to the Peace and Ac- 
 44 quiefcence of my Mind, that fuch Ordinances 
 44 will be b;efTed to me J." — I have weighed this 
 Matter with a good deal of Attention, and upon 
 the whole am fully fatisfied, both from Scripture 
 and Antiquity, that Prejbyters have a Right to, and 
 did from the Apoftles Times actually ordain. There 
 are two Things, amongft many others, which I 
 beg Leave to offer to your Confideration upon this 
 Point. — 
 
 L % i. That 
 
 * Ration. Account, p. 359, f Let. II. p. 8. % Let, 
 
 I. p. 72 . 
 
[ 5* 1 
 
 i. That the Miniflers of the Reformed Churches 
 in all foreign Parts, have almoft all of them, I 
 apprehend no other than Prejbyterian Ordination. 
 
 The whole Company of illuftripus Proteitant 
 Churches of Scotland, France, Holland, Switzerland, 
 Germany^ Poland, Hungary, Denmark, except per- 
 haps Sweden, &c. have none but Pr<jl>yterian Or- 
 dination amongft them. For Luther, Calvin, Ber- 
 cer, Melanfton, Bugenhagius, &c. and all the firft 
 Reformers and Founders of thefe Churches, who or- 
 dained Miniflers amongft them, were themfelves 
 Prejhyters and no ether. And though in fome of 
 thefe Churches, there are Miniflers which are called 
 Superintendents^ or Bifhcps, yet thefe are only primi 
 inter Pares *, the fir ft among Equals ■, not pretend- 
 in g to an y Superiority of Order. Having/ hem J elves 
 no other Orders, than what either Prejhyters gave 
 them, or was given them as PrefbyterSs they can 
 convey no other to thofe they ordain +. You are a 
 Gentleman of too great Difcernment to urge the 
 ftaie Pretence, that this is to thefe Churches a Mat- 
 ter not of Choice but of Neceffity and Force. For 
 if they thought epif copal Ordination, I do not fay 
 necejfary, but even more regular or expedient, could 
 they not with the greateji Eafe immediately obtain 
 it ? Would not the Church of England, upon the 
 leaf Intimation of their Wiilingnefs to receive it, 
 moil readily fend them Bifhops to fupply this De- 
 fect ? You know, Sir, too well its charitable Dif- 
 pofition, and even Offers of this kind, in the lead 
 to fufpec~t it. Whatever Cenjures you pals then 
 upon the Orders and sidminift rations of the Minifters 
 amongft us, they equally fall upon all the Reformed 
 
 Churches 
 
 * Account of Denmark, p. 253. f The Danijh Church 
 
 is indeed at this Time governed by Bijhops. Hut they look upon 
 Epifropary as only an human Institution ; and the firft Proteitant 
 Prelates in that Kingdom, were ordained by Bugenhagim, a raeer 
 Prefbyter ; who by Confequence, could convey no other than a 
 Vrejlyterian Ordination to their fucccflbrs ever fince. Seekendorf* 
 hijl. Lutberian. Lib. 20. Seel. I. With Caveat, p. 15. 
 
[ 53 ] 
 
 Churches throughout the whole Proteftant World. 
 If ours are an unneceifary and wanton Departure 
 from the primitive Order, theirs are the fame. Now 
 ft gives me great Pleafure to fee myfelf in fuch a 
 Crowd of excellent and good Company. And un- 
 lets you can offer fomething more demonjlrative on 
 this Head, than I have ever yet feen, my Mind 
 will enjoy full Peace as to the Regularity of the 
 Minjftration on which I attend. But, 
 
 Z It feems a little flrange to hear you glorying 
 over us, and confequently over all the foreign 
 Churches, as to this Matter of Orders, when thefe 
 very Orders in which you glory, you acknow- 
 ledge to have derived only from the Church of 
 Rome. A Church which yourfelves, in your Ho- 
 milies, confefs to be idolatrous and antichriftian, 
 tC Not only an Harlot, as the Scripture calleth her, 
 " but alfo a foul, filthy, old, w i ther'd Harlot • the 
 44 foulejt and filthiefi that ever was feen. — And that 
 u as it at prefent is, and hath been for 900 Years, 
 *' it is fo far from the Nature of the true Church, 
 " that nothing can be more *." — Note, Thefe Ho- 
 milies twery Clergyman publickly declares, and fub- 
 fcribes with his Hand, that they contain a godly and 
 whole [ome Dotirine, fit to be read in Churches by 
 Minifters. 
 
 Now it is only, Sir, from this fihhy, withered, 
 old Harlot, that you derive, by Ordination, your 
 Spiritual Dejcent. You confefs yourfelves born of 
 her, as to eccleficftical Pedigree : And the Sms of 
 this foulefl and filthieft of Harlots, you acknow- 
 ledge as Brethren, by admitting their Orders as re- 
 gular and valid ; whereas thofe of the Proteftant 
 Churches you reject. If a Prieft, ordained with all 
 the fuperititious and idolatrous Rites of this anti- 
 chrijtian and falfe Church, comes over to the Church 
 of England -, you admit him as a Brother, duly 
 ordained \ without obliging him to pafs under that 
 
 Ceremony 
 
 * Vid, Homilies, p. 162, 295. 
 
[ 54 ] 
 
 Cerem-ny ag 5ut if a Minuter of the Reformed 
 
 as himfelf to you, you confider fca 
 but a . : wdavid Petfin, and cb 
 
 bini to rec rirrj according to your Form.* 
 
 How, is it pouible to account for this Proce- 
 
 dure ■ Church, v>\.xh is M i frifc Church, 
 
 impart tm//Vj and trut Orders ? Can a/. .~ T jr- 
 
 fei produce any other than a 
 Breed: Will you reft the /' id Regularity of 
 
 3 u: Adminiftrations on your receiving the/: 
 2 tal Char after from the Bifhops and Popes of the 
 
 : moil, of whom, 
 
 Men of mod: corrupt and infamous Lives; 
 
 from being regular and valid 
 
 Ministers in the Church of Jesus Christ, that 
 
 - lb n i uch tg it for or real M embers 
 
 of it a: all . ... d theref re :ould not poffibly, </w/v, 
 
 ox regularly officiate therein; confequendy, had 
 
 ko Power to communicate or convey Orders or 0/- 
 
 Zh a i st i a x C h u rch. W b a te v e r G; 
 they convey *d therefore, are at bell doubtful and 
 picious; if not abiblutely null, irregular, and 
 
 void So that really your own Orders, if flrictly 
 
 1 i may miir.ir.er great Doubt and Difquie- 
 tudc of Mind. 
 
 If Charity then were (llent •, Prudence, methinks, 
 Stoi dly dictate, that you [peak gently as to 
 
 the Authority and Orders of our Mimjiers, when you 
 \ is in their Power fo ilrongly to retort. It 
 y not mfe % Sir, as well as ex- 
 tremely unkind^ to fet them up as Objects of public 
 Odium and Jkaaida \ and to admonilh " every 
 " r i not to 'cite or unnecejjary 
 
 m y -,V-v twilhtbt . Familiarity in common 
 
 " L^P." But Blessed, our Lord hath faid, 
 
 /bail hate you, and separate 
 their Company, and cast out 
 vil, fortbt So* of Man's fake: Rejoice 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 ye in that Day, and leap for joy ; for behold, your 
 i Reward in Heaven is great * ! 
 
 You very ftrenuoufly conteft what you call M one 
 <c 'of the favourite and fundamental Principles of 
 " the Diffention, namely, 7 bat every Lay-Cbriflian 
 u has a Right to chufe his own Pad or f." A Right fo 
 evidently founded on Reafon 9 Scripture, and the un- 
 doubted Pratlice of the primitive Church, and fo 
 generally acknowledg'd by all the learned of your 
 own Communion, that I cannot but a little wonder 
 at the Alertnefs with which you make your Attack 
 upon it. The Charge given to the Chriftian People 
 — To take bed what they hear — to beware of falfe 
 Prophets — not to believe every Spirit, hit to try the 
 Spirits — inconteflibly proves them to have a Right 
 °f Judgment and of Choice, relating to this Matter : 
 And that this Right, which God has given them, 
 it is their Duty to ufe. 
 
 When an Apojlle was to be chofen in the Room 
 of Judas the Traitor, the uho/e Body of the Difci- 
 ples were applied to on that Occafion, Acls i. who 
 appointed by common Suffrage, two from their 
 whole Number to be Candidates for that Office., 
 § 23 u The Eleftion, you fay, was evidently made 
 " by God J." But was it not as evidently made 
 by the People alfo ? If the choice of one from the 
 two be acknowledge to be the Adt of God ; was 
 not the Choice of theje two, from amongft the 
 whole Number, as much the Act of the People ? 
 The. People then were actually concern'd in that 
 Choice. " The feven Deacons, Acts vi. you fay, 
 " were but prejented or recommended by the Brethren §;" 
 But let the (acred Story judge — Wherefore, Brethren, 
 look ye out among ft you, feven Men of bone/l Re- 
 port : And the Saying pleafed the whole Multitude, 
 
 and they chose Stephen and Philip, &c. Can 
 
 Words be more exprefs ? 
 
 That 
 
 * Luke vi. 22, 23. f Let, II. p. 6. % Ibid. p. 8, 
 
 § Ibid. 
 
C 56 ] 
 
 That Bifljops and Pafiors were chofen in the an- 
 cient Church by the Suffrage of the People, the Evi- 
 dence is fo ftrong, as greatly to try the Countenance 
 of the Perfon who difputes it. Ignatius, if you will 
 allow him genuine* fays &pmv ep» v^v u$ tKxXv>ai& 
 ©f» x^oWc-at £7rt&xo7ro» *. // becomes you as the 
 Church of God to chuse ^ Bijhop. Alexander was 
 made Bifhop of Jerufalem, by the Compulfwn ct 
 Choice of the Members of that Church. Upon the 
 Death of Anterus, Bifhop of Rome, All the People 
 met together in the Church to chuse a Succejfor — ■ 
 and they all took Fabianus and placed him in the epif- 
 copal Chair, So Cornelius, his Succeffbr, was elect- 
 ed by the Suffrage cf the Clergy and Laity. Cyprian: 
 often acknowledges he was made Bifhop of Car- 
 thage, Favore Plebis — Populi univerji Suffragio, &c 
 By /4? Favour and Vote of all the People f. And 
 exprefly fays, Plebs maxims habet Poteftatem, vel 
 eligendi dignos Sacer dotes, vel indignos recufandi. The 
 chief Power of chusing worthy Minifters, and of 
 rejecting the unworthy, belongs to the People, 
 I produce no further Evidence upon a Point fo in- 
 conteftible, but the Words of a learned Brother of 
 your own, high enough for Church Power, " That 
 •• the People had Foes in the Choice of Bi '/hops all 
 u muft grant; and it can be only Ignorance and 
 " Folly that pleads the contrary J.*' 
 
 * You think a Man provides very well for his 
 " Soul, who fubmits himfelf to the Inftru&ions, 
 " and devoutly attends all the Adminiftrations of 
 " an able and orthodox Minifter, by whomfoever pro- 
 " vided. And it will be confelfed, you fuppofe, 
 " that the King, and Bifljops, Lord-Chancellor, No- 
 " bilitx, and Gentry ^ who are onr greater Patrons, 
 " are more competent Judges of the Abilities and 
 " Orthodoxy of Clergymen, and of their Fitnefs 
 M for particular Stations, than the common Run of 
 
 " Men, 
 
 * Epift ad Philad. -j- Vid. Conftitut and Difcipline of 
 
 the Primitive Church, p 46. J Loivtb on Church Power. 
 
[ 57 ] 
 
 * Men, efpecially the Vulgar V But 
 yourfelf, Sir, for a Moment on the other Side the 
 Water, preaching this wholefome Doctrine to the 
 good Protejianis in France. If Kings, Bifhops, &c. 
 have Authority and Right to appoint Pallors to the 
 People, then the People are Bound to receive and 
 attend the Paftors they fend. But if this be right 
 in one Country (I muft again put you in Mind) 'tis 
 right alfo in another ; unlefs one Kingdom can pro- 
 duce a Warrant, or Charter from Heaven giving 
 it Juch Authority^ which other Kingdoms have not. 
 If this Doctrine be Truth in England, 'tis Truth 
 alfo in France. The brave Proteflants then have 
 rajhly and unwarrantably withdrawn themfelves 
 from the Pallors, whom their King and Bijhops had 
 fet over them ; they ought to return, and fubmit 
 to their eftablifhed Guides, and not proudly attempt 
 to" find Mini fters more able and orthodox, tharrihofe 
 their Superiors have folemnly deputed to that Trufl. 
 — Will you ftand, Sir, to this Doclrine ? If not, 
 you muft allow every Man a Right to judge for 
 himfelf. 
 
 To the common and juit Plea — "That every 
 46 Man has as good Right to chufe his own Pa/lor, 
 tc to whom to commit the Care of his Soul, as to 
 ** chufe his Lawyer or Phyfician, with whom he 
 u intrufts his Body or Eftate," you reply : 
 " Phyficians in many Places are provided by Go- 
 46 vernors for thofe who are fick, as in Chelfea, and 
 tc other Hofpitals, whilft no body dreams of any 
 " Incroachment upon their natural Rights +." But 
 tell me, Sir, would you not complain, if when- 
 ever you were fick, you were obliged to accept of 
 this public Provifion-, and must commit your f elf to 
 the Care of thofe Gentlemen of the Faculty who 
 officiated in the Hofpitat, fuppofing you lived near 
 it, whatever Notion you had of their Fidelity or 
 Skill ? Or fhould a Phfician be provided, and efta- 
 
 M blifhed 
 
 * Loivtb on Church Power, p. g. f Ibid. p. 13, 
 
[ 58 ] 
 
 blifhed by Law in each Parifh of this Kingdom, 
 would you not call it an Infringement of your natu- 
 ral Right, to be obliged to call him in (however ig- 
 norant or uvcapable you took him to be) and to 
 commit your Health to his Care v efpecially if there 
 was at Hand another, licenfed by Authority, whom 
 you thought to have better Judgment, and from 
 whofe Prefcripts you had received frequent and 
 fignal Relief? I am perfuaded in this Cafe, you 
 would flrongly and very juftly complain of the Re- 
 ftraint. But every Man furely, is as capable, and 
 has as undoubted a Right to Judge and to cbufe what 
 Minifter to attend for the Edification of his Soul* 
 as what Phyfician to ufe for tlie Recovery of his 
 Health. 
 
 " No, you reply, there is a Difference in the 
 " two Cafes ; your Pafiors are your Guides and 
 u Governors, to whom you owe Subjetlion in fpiri- 
 cC tual Things : And it is not, I think, quite fo 
 iC reafonable to challenge to yourfelves the chufing. 
 ** of thefe, as of the other who have no Authority. 
 " over you*." But I befeech you, good Sir, 
 who made them my Governors? Who gave 
 ihem this Rule and Authority over me ? Does every 
 gay Stripling, jufl emancipated from the College, 
 that can get (and there are various Ways of getting, 
 you know Sir, not fit to be here mentioned) to be 
 inducted into a good Living, does he, I afk, thence- 
 forward become Governor of all the Souls dwell- 
 ing in his Parifh, to whom they owe Subjection 
 in fpiritual Things ? What, mufl all the learned,, 
 the wife, the grave and experienced Perfons refid- 
 ing in that Parifh, confider the enrobed Youth as 
 their fpiritual Ruler, vefted with Authority 
 over them, in Things pertaining to God, to Con- 
 fcience, and to Eternity ! Yes, he has Authority, 
 you fay, over me, I owe him fpiritual Subjetlion. 
 But how far, Sir, does the Authority of my young 
 
 Ruler 
 
 * Lcwtb on Church Power, p. 14. 
 
£ 59 3 
 
 Ruler extend ? Muft I believe whatever he tells 
 me, becaufe He hath faid it ; or, do whatever he 
 commands me, becaufe He hath injoinedit; or, 
 follow my fpiritual Guide wherever He (hall lead 
 me, without confidering, examining, and judging 
 for myfelf, whither the Courfe tends ? And if I 
 happen to think he is leading me wrong, muft I 
 ftill obey and fubmit to my ghofiiy Director, and 
 truft God with the Event? Am I to deliver myfelf 
 up entirely, oronly a little, and in Part, to his 
 facerdotal 4uthority? And muft I fee Things ia 
 Religion, only and always by the Eyes of my Over* 
 Jeer, or ought I not alfo Jometimes, at leaft, to fee 
 with my own ? Will you pleafe to inform me alfo, 
 whether as my young Governor undertakes to judge 
 for me now, he will alfo undertake to be judged for 
 me hereafter -, and to be damned for me too, if I 
 happen to go aftray, by going as he directs? 
 A certain Nobleman, not half a Century ago, got 
 his Hunt/man inducted into a good Living ; and 
 from the Care of his Hounds, advanced him to the 
 Priefthoocl and to the Cure of Souls, Now from 
 the Time of his Inveftiture with this new Character 
 and Office, he became the Governor and Guide, 
 // feems, of all the Souls in his Parilh, and they 
 owed him Subjeclion in fpiritual Things. If a Lock 
 then, a Newton, or even his Lord/hip himfelf who 
 gave him the Living, had dwelt within its Bounds, 
 they ought reverently to regard Him as their fpi- 
 ritual Governor and Director; and to fubmit 
 tbemfelves to him, as having the Rule over them 9 
 
 and watching for their Souls. But are thefe Claims 
 
 to be vouched, or is this Doclrine to be preached, 
 in this Age of Liberty and Light? Let them for 
 the Honour of Christianity, be eternally fup- 
 preffed. — I am forced then to return, Sir, to the 
 Point whence I fet out, and to acknowledge the 
 Right which every Man has, in Things of Religion, 
 M 2, to 
 
[ 6o ] 
 
 to call no Man upon Earth Master, but to examine 
 and judge, and chufe for himfelf. 
 
 As to the Manner in which the Choice of our 
 Minifters is conducted, againft which you except, 
 1 believe no Elections of any kind, are tranfa&ed 
 with greater Faimefs and Equity than thefe. And 
 the Nature of the Thing fpeaks, that thus it muft 
 be. For ours being AjTembHes formed only by Con- 
 fent, and fupported only by voluntary Contribu- 
 tions of their Members, any oppreflive or iniqui- 
 tous Management would throw them prefently into 
 Confufion, dilband and break them up. To your 
 Queftion — Who are the Eletlors ? And to all the 
 Objections you raife on that Head — I reply, by 
 praying you to turn your Eyes, Sir, to a Britijh 
 Parliament, or to an Englijh Convocation, and tell 
 me who are the Eleclors? And how is the Choice 
 concluded? But if both the Parliament and Convo- 
 cation, notwithilanding the enormous Difpropor- 
 tion and Inequality of the Electors, be yet accounted 
 and gloried in as the Representative of the Na- 
 tion ; and you compliment your Fellow Britons 
 upon their invaluable Privilege in being ruled by 
 Laws of their own making, and in paying no Taxes, 
 but what them/elves by their Reprefentatives, have 
 contented to lew. — Your Exceptions to our Elections 
 will be prefently withdrawn, and you will ftill give 
 us Leave to glory, as polTefTing this ancient un- 
 doubted Right of the Chriftian Church. 
 
 But 'tis Time, Sir, that 1 now releafe your Pa- 
 tience and Attention, having drained, I fear, both 
 to their utmoft Extent. There are many other 
 Parts of your Letters as liable to Remark, as thofe I 
 have taken Notice of, but I would not be tedious. — 
 I might haveexpoftulated with you largely on your 
 reading, as Parts of your public Worfhip,the fabulous 
 and grofs Legends of Be/ and the Dragon, of Judith 
 and Sufannah ; and above all, the magical Romance of 
 receiving a fair Virgin from the lnchantments of 
 
[ ftl ] 
 
 her infernal Lover, and conjuring away the amorous 
 Devil Afmodeus, by the Fumes of a FifrYs Liver — 
 Is it for the Honour of the Chriflian Name, think 
 yon, Sir, to have fuch fpurious and idle TaLs read 
 folemnly in our Churches (if folemnly they can be 
 read) and made Parts of our public Worfhip ? What 
 will an Unbeliever think, when prefent at fuch Wor- 
 fhip ! When he fees fitch Things not only bound up 
 with the Holy Scriptures, but commanded to 
 be read as fuch in the Order of the Common Prayer ! 
 Will it not heighten his Contempt of the Credulity 
 of Believers, and eftablifh his Prejudices againft the 
 Hiflory, the Miracles, and Doctrines of Christ ?— 
 I might alfo have alked you, Sir, to what Ori- 
 ental Deity you pay your Devoirs, when from 
 the North, the South, the IVefl, the Worfhippers 
 in your Church on certain folemn Occafions, turn 
 reverently towards the East, and make their pecu- 
 liar Honours ? To whom, Sir, I befeech you, arc 
 thefe peculiar Honours paid ? Not furely to the im- 
 menfe, omniprefent Jehovah • he is an infinite 
 Spirit, you know, alike prefent in all Places ; not 
 more confined to one Quarter of the Heavens, 
 than to another : To reprefent him as being Jo, is 
 to diffionour and offend him, to detract from the 
 Glory of his lmmenfity or Omniprefence, and to give 
 Men very falfe and unworthy Notions of God. 
 This worfhipping towards the East, is not, I 
 think, ordered by any Canon of your Church, which 
 is now generally received ; but 'tis (if I miftake 
 not) its common and prevailing Practice. I mould 
 be glad to be informed, for I affure you, Sir, I am 
 quite ignorant, what Shadow of Ground, either from. 
 Reafon or Scripture, you can poMibly pretend, for 
 this unaccountable Super flition, for fuch you mud 
 allow me at prefent to think it. If you fay, the 
 Worfhip is paid toward the Altar, this feems to 
 make the Matter more inexplicable (till. For what 
 is there m the Altar to make it a proper Object. 
 
 of 
 
[ 62 ] 
 
 of religious Veneration ? Indeed, whild the Breaden 
 God was upon it, the People who believed it to be 
 theory Body of Christ, did well to pay their 
 Homage to it: But now that Idol is taken thence, 
 I cannot for my Life perceive, what* Shadow of 
 Divinity Proteftants fee in the Altar, that they 
 fliould give it religious Honours. 
 
 As much, Sir, am I at a Lofs, when endeavour- 
 ing to reconcile to Reafon and good Senfe, another 
 of your additional Beauties and Splendors of public 
 Worfhip, viz. Bowing at the Name of Jesus. As for 
 that Pallage of the Apodle, Philip, ii. 10. Thai at 
 the Name of Jesus every Knee fhall bow — the learned 
 Men of your Church, I prefume, univerfaliy dis- 
 claim it, as in the lead authorizing or injoining this 
 Practice. Your great Dr. Nichols* vindicates your 
 Church from fuch an uncouth and ridiculous Abufe 
 of this Text, and affirms, that it is not once mew 
 tioned in any of your ecclefiajlical Confiitutions, as to 
 this Matter; and adds, that you are not so dull, 
 as to think, that thofe Words can be rigoroufly ap- 
 plied to this Purpofe. But if this Tex4 be acknow- 
 ledged not in the lead to authorize or require this 
 Acl of Worfhip, what Shadow of Argument, Sir, 
 can you poffibly bring, either from Reafon or Scrip- 
 ture, which fhall fo much as feem to fupport it f 
 Why then does your Church command (Canon 
 XVI II.) that when in Time of divine Service the 
 Lord Jesus fhall be mentioned, duly and lowly Re^ 
 verence fhall be done by all Perfms prefent? Is not 
 this, Sir, by your own Contention, an Act of Will 
 Worfhip, a Commandment, an Invention of Men, 
 not in the lead founded upon the Authority and 
 Will of God! 
 
 But why, Sir, mud this lowly Reverence be made 
 at the Name of Jesus, and not at the Name of 
 Christ, at the Name Imnjanuel, JEHOVAH, 
 or GOD ? Is there net in all thefe, fomething at lead as 
 
 venerable 
 
 f Defence, Sec, Part. II. p. 319. 
 
r h ] 
 
 venerable and worthy of peculiar Honours ; indeed 
 fomething much more fo, than there is in the Name 
 of Jesus ; a Name not at all peculiar to our blelTed 
 Saviour, but which was common to him with a great 
 
 many other Men? But if this' peculiar Reverence 
 
 muft be made at the Name of Jesus, why not at 
 all Tunes whenever 'tis mentioned, at leaft in pub- 
 lic Worfhip ? Why in the Creedonly, which is but 
 a human Compofition, and not every Time 'tis read 
 from the Go/pels and Epiftles i which were indited 
 by the Holy Ghost? But I prefs no further a 
 Pointy which I believe few of your own Church 
 think capable of a rational and folid Defence. — 
 
 I have now finifhed my Reply, Sir, to the Let- 
 ters with which you have publickly honoured me, 
 and have with Freedom kt before you, the chief 
 Difficulties and Objections which keep me in a State 
 of Separation, from your Church. If by calm and 
 fair Argument, you can (hew my Objections to be 
 futilous and weak, I (hall with Pleafure become 
 your Convert^ and readily obey the Calls of worldly 
 Intereft and Honour. 
 
 But as you, Sir, have the Dignities, Emoluments, 
 and Powers of this World on your Side, you mud 
 give us Leave to think, at leaft till we are better 
 taught, that we have TRUTH on our's. 
 T R U T H, which is great, and will finally 
 prevail. Nor am I, Sir, without Hope, that, 
 upon an impartial Review of the Merits of the 
 Caufe betwixt us, omnipotent TRUTH may even 
 bend your Mind towards us ; and difpofe you, like 
 one who has fince had the Honour of being called 
 th^ great Apoftle, to join yourfelf to thofe you once 
 cen lured and defpiied. 
 
 What though we have not the Honours and Pro- 
 fits of this World to draw you to our Communion, 
 are we ever the lefs like to be the genuine Apoflolic 
 Church of a crucified, defpifed, infulted JESUS 
 for this? Hath he not exprefly told us* that His 
 
 Kingdom 
 
t 64 ] 
 
 Kingdom is not of this World *. — That whoever wilt 
 come after him, muft deny himfelf, and take up his 
 Crofs "f".— rThat not many mighty and noble are 
 called ? %— Are not the Witnejjes /oTRUTH, to 
 Prophecy, cbathed in Sackcloth %^ till the promifed 
 Times of Refrejhing come from the Appearance of 
 Christ ? Is not the pure Apoftolic Church, the 
 true Spoufe of Christ, reprefented in the Revela- 
 tion as a Woman driven into the Wildernefs, [J /'. e. in 
 an afflicted and forfaken State; whilfl the corrupt 
 and antichrijlian Church (the apofta.te Church of 
 Rome) is carefTed and enriched by the Kings of the 
 Earth €fi y glittering in all the Pomp and Splendor of 
 this World, wantoning in Luxury, Power, and 
 Wealth ? Does TRUTH need the Charms of 
 earthly Grandeur to recommend 4t, or the Force of 
 civil Power to fpread or to eftablifh it ? Was it thus 
 the bleffed Gospel was at firfl propagated, made 
 its Way, and prevailed over all trie Earth ? No, 
 worldly Grandeur and Power have generally, you 
 well know, Sir, if not evermore, been extremely 
 injurious to it ; have enervated, obftru&ed, under 
 Pretence of improving, have greatly corrupted 
 and depraved it, and have robbed it of its native 
 Beauty, and Glory, and Strength. 
 
 High Dignities and Preferments, Mitres and 
 Thrones, Lordfhips and large Revenues, have a 
 mighty Force, you will own Sir, to hiafs and per- 
 vert the Mind, in its Searches after TRUTH. 
 Thefe are not the Means which the God of 
 T RUTH ufes, to draw the Mind to it ; but 
 you know they are the Means, which the great 
 Enemy is wont to ufe, to J educe the Mind from it; 
 'Tis therefore, I apprehend, Sir, no Preemption 
 at ali in Favour of any Church, that it fhines with 
 all the Glory of worldly Honours and Wealth. 
 This the prophetic Scriptures very clearly defcribe 
 
 as 
 
 * John xviii. 36. f Matt. xvi. 24. J 1 Cor. i. 26. 
 
 S Rev. xi. 3. I Ibid. xii. 14, 11 ibid, xvii. 4, 5—13 — 17- 
 
[ % ] 
 
 as the State of the falfe Church, whilfl the true 
 Church of Jesus Christ, his genuine and faithful 
 Followers, are to be a little, dejpifed Flock : A Seel 
 every wh re fpoken ogainft : In the World it is to 
 have tribulation, till the expected happy Period, 
 when it (hall be the Father'j^W Pleafure to give 
 them the Kingdom. 
 
 Let not then the low Eftate of our Intereft, as to 
 the prefent World, at all frighten or difcourage you, 
 Sir, from cafting in your Lot amongft us. The 
 World paffeth away, and all its Glories and Pomp 
 will foon vanifh like a Dream before the defcending 
 Son of God, whom we (ledfaftly expect. — And then 
 to be found faithful-, and to have ftuck with un- 
 fhaken Loyalty to the only Lawgiver, Lord, 
 and King of the Church.- — To have denied ourfelves 
 any worldly Honours, Preferments or Profits out 
 of Confcience towards Him. — To have been fepa- 
 rated from Mens Company, caft out and reproach'd, 
 becaufe we would not make a Sacrifice of our Vir- 
 tue and Integrity to the Applaufe of tbe Many, or 
 the Favour of the Great. — Will yield divine Com- 
 fort, and procure immortal Honours in the everlafling 
 Kingdom of God. Pardon me, Sir, if I am here 
 acting a little out of Character, and feem to invade 
 your Office : For I am extremely ambitious of en- 
 gaging fo ingenious a Gentleman amongft us. 
 
 Thefe, Sir, are the Profpects with which Diffen- 
 ters fupport themfelves under all their Difadvantages 
 with regard to the prefent World. They remember 
 whose Difciples and Followers they are — who it is 
 that hath faid, in vain do they worfhip me, teach- 
 ing for Doclrine the Commandments of Men. — 
 Who hath ftrictly charg'd them to call no Man 
 upon Earth Master, becaufe ONE only is their 
 Master, even Christ. — And, finally, who it is 
 that hath promifed, that if any Man fJoall forfake 
 Houfe, or Brethren, or Sifters, or Children, or Lands, 
 
 N ; for 
 
[ 66 ] 
 
 for his Names Sake ; be Jball receive an hundred 
 fold; and /hall inherit everlasting Life. 
 
 I now conclude, Sir, by befeeching you very 
 carefully to remember, that the Controverfy betwixt 
 us depends abfolutely and entirely upon the Decilion 
 of this finale Point.— h there any OTHER Law- 
 giver ox King in the Church of God, to whofe Autho* 
 rity and Command, as to Things of Religion, Chris- 
 tians are bound to fubmit, BESIDES Jesus 
 Christ? Or is there not? — If there be no other 
 Lawgiver, be fides Jesus Christ, no other King, 
 no other Authority to whofe Decrees in Point of Doc- 
 trine, and to whofe Injunctions in Point of Worfhip, 
 Chr>stians are obliged, and ought to fubmit : 
 then the Dissenters in every impartial Judg- 
 ment, will be, muft be juflified: then They acl 
 right : then they ought to be commended, and will 
 furely be rewarded for adhering loyally and firmly 
 to the ONE only King and Lord of the Church : 
 And for faithfully Oppofing the Claims of any 
 other Power ; and for Refufing Obedience to the 
 Injunctions of any other Lawgiver •, and the De- 
 cifions of any other Judge ; who hath made other 
 Articles of Faith, other Terms of Communion, other 
 Rites of Worfhip, besides and above thofe which 
 CHRIST himfelf has made. 
 
 For to illuftrate the Cafe. — If any foreign Prince 
 mail pretend to make Laws, and preicribe Rules 
 of Action to the People of thefe Realms, and (hall 
 exact Obedience to his Injunctions from the Subjects 
 of King George ; I afk, does not your Allegiance 
 to Him, your only Sovereign, require and oblige 
 you to make your Proteft againfl any fuch Laws, 
 and to refufe your Obedience to them ? But is not 
 the Church a Province in which CHRIST alone 
 is King, as much as thefe Realms are the Domi- 
 nions only of King George ? If any human Po- 
 Untate then mail rife up in the Church, and mail 
 
 claim 
 
[ 67 ] 
 
 claim Authority and Dominion over the Conferences 
 of Christ'j Subjects ; Authority as to Things of 
 Faith, to decree what He hath not decreed ; and 
 Dominion as to Things of Worjhip, to appoint Rites 
 and Inftitutions which He hath not appointed ; I 
 afk you, Sir, does not your Allegiance to Christ, 
 your only Sovereign, require and oblige you to en- 
 ter your Proteft againft fuch afurfd Authority, and 
 to refufe your Obedience to it ? 
 
 This, Sir, I repeat it, becaufe I earneftly intreat 
 your peculiar Attention to it, is the ejfenti #/and im- 
 portant Point upon which the Controverfy betwixt 
 us entirely turns. If you can prove, that there 
 is another Lawgiver, another Judge, another 
 King in the Church hefides Jesus Christ, to whofe 
 Authority we are to fubmit in Things ot Religion ; 
 and that the King and Parliament of thefe Realms 
 are this Lawgiver, and this Judge ; you will then at 
 once gain your Point ; and by that Jingle Blow you 
 will entirely overthrow the dijfenting Intereft and 
 Churches, We will immediately become your 
 Converts ; and flock into the E/labliftfd Church. 
 
 But if you cannot prove this Point ; you then 
 yield the Caufe to us ; you then, in effect, own us 
 juftified before the World •, and you leave us to in- 
 dulge the rational and reviving Hope of being ac- 
 knowledge by our great Lawgiver, at his Re- 
 turn into the World, as his loyal and obedient Sub- 
 jects ; of being advanced Mo peculiar Honours and 
 Dignities in his Kingdom, as we have here iuffer'd 
 on Account of our Duty and Allegiance to him ; and 
 of receiving from our Judge, before Angels and 
 Men, that Sentence of Applaufe — Well done good 
 and faithful Servants, enter ye into the Joy of 
 your Lord. 
 
 I have only to add, Sir, that this Principle 
 
 That Christ is the only Lawgiver and King in 
 his Church ; and that no Man, no Body of Men 
 upon Earth, have any Authority to make Laws, 
 
 N 2 or 
 
[ 68 ] 
 
 or to prcfcribe Things in Religion, which (hall oblige 
 the Confciences of his Subjects ; is the grand, the 
 only Principle, upon which the Unity, the Pu- 
 rity, and the Peace of the Chriftian Church can 
 poflibly fubfift. Take away this, and you let in 
 endlefs Difcords and Corruptions into it : You fplit 
 it into Parties: You make Christianity one 
 Thing, in one Country ; a quite different, in an- 
 other. In England you make it wear an Epifcopal 
 Form : In Scotland^ a Prefhyterian. : In France, a, 
 Popi/h : In Denmark, a Lutheran : In Pruffta, & 
 
 Calvinift : In RuJJia, a Grecian, <kc. But ought 
 
 thefe Things to be fo ? Is Christ divided? Is this 
 the Unity of his one beautiful, well-compacted 
 Body? Can thefe be all genuine apoftolick Chris- 
 tianity p — Rather, are either of them fo ? — When 
 the Powers of this World take upon them authori- 
 tatively to interpret and prefcribe in Things of Re- 
 ligion, which are Christ's Kingdom and Province, 
 they act beyond their Sphere : They invade the 
 Throne of another Prince : The certain Confequence 
 of which is Confufions, Separations ; the Unity of 
 the Church is broken, the Rights diQhriftians violat- 
 ed, a Gate open'd for innumerable Superftitions and 
 Inventions to enter, and mingle with the pure Doc- 
 trines of Ch r ist ; and hence neceffarily flow Schifms, 
 Emulations, Contentions, and every evil Work. — 
 I befeech you, Sir, by the Mercies of God ; and 
 for the Honour 0/ Christianity; and by the Alle- 
 giance you owe your only Lawgiver Jesus Christ, 
 to weigh thefe Things in an impartial and unbiafs'd 
 Mind. May his Spirit of Truth judge betwixt us 
 upon the Point, and teach us his Will ! To his In- 
 fluence I commend you, Sir, and am, 
 
 With great Sincerity, 
 
 Tour vzry Humble Servant, 
 
 A DISSENTER. 
 
[ 6 9 ] 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Containing Remarks on the Defence 
 of yourlhree Letters. 
 
 THE above Letter being fent to the Prefs 
 before your Defence, &c. was advertifed ; its 
 Publication was (laid, till I had feen what Occafion 
 it might give, either to retract or fupport what 
 was offer'd in my firft Letter. You feem moved 
 at its pretending to be an Anfwer to your three 
 Letters, when fo imall a Part of them is confider'd 
 therein : And with Airs quite fuitable to the Caufe 
 you are pleading, ecclefiaftical Authority, give me to 
 underftand, that your taking any notice of this Per- 
 formance is to be confider'd as a Condefcenfion to 
 which you were not obliged, and which I had no 
 Right to exped from you. But, pray recoiled : 
 What was the avow'd Defign and Purport of your 
 Letters ? Was it not to refute the great and popu- 
 lar Objections of the Dijfenters, and to bring me over 
 to your Church ? But upon Reading your Letters, 
 I found you had fcarce touch'd upon the principal 
 Objetlion which kept me from your Church. Was 
 it not then my Part to (late the Objection to yon, 
 and fet it in its full Light ? As unajKd, you had 
 taken on you to be my Inftru&or in this Affair *, 
 had I not a Right to lay my Difficulty before you, 
 and to demand your Solution of it ? What, mult 
 I confine myfelf to the Pleas which you had feen lit to 
 cook up for the Di (Tenters; and if I prefume to offer 
 others, will you magifterially call them Rambhngs, 
 
 in 
 
[ 7« J 
 
 in which you are not obliged to follow ? Very 
 pleafant indeed ! 
 
 Here therefore I now put in my Claim, Sir, and 
 give you to under/land, that I expect your plain and 
 full Anfwer to the feveral Objections againft your 
 eftabliftSd Forms prefented in the above Letter : 
 Some of which, tho' you knew them to be of great 
 Weight with Diflfenters, you dextroufly avoided 
 bringing into the Debate. To this you are moil 
 clearly and indifpenfibly 'obliged by the Province 
 you have taken on you. If there be any Parts of the 
 Liturgy indefenfible and abfurd, this (i.) condemns 
 your own Conformity, who not only declare, but 
 folemnly fubfcribe your unfeigned /ijfent and Confent 
 to all and every Thing contained in and prescribed 
 by the Book of Common Prayer , &c. And, (2.) it 
 juftifies /^Separation, by proving it a fevere 
 and cruel Thing to call out above 2000 of our 
 Minifters from the Church for not declaring and 
 iubferibing this unfeigned Ajfent and Confent , ore. 
 which began the Separation. 
 
 This being premifed, we come to the Point of 
 Church Authority, upon which the Controverfy turns. 
 Here I obferve, with pleafure, that you are for mu- 
 tilating your XX th Article, ridding your Hands of 
 one Part, and holding only to the other. u The 
 " Church's Authority in Matters of Faith, you have 
 u nothing, you fay, to do with *." — But this, you 
 know, your Church claims as much as a Power to 
 make Ceremonies-, and againft this Part of its Claim 
 I as much excepted as againft the other. When you 
 declare therefore you have nothing to do with it, you 
 mean, if I take you right, you will not pretend to 
 undertake its Defence. This to be fure is wife ; No 
 Man upon Earth being able to defend it. But then, 
 is it not extremely hard that your Churcfi mould 
 ftill inflexibly maintain its Claim to this Authority : 
 Should force its Clergy to fubfcribe and acknowledge 
 
 this 
 * Defence, p. 18. 
 
[ 7i ] 
 
 this Claim ; and keep Di {Tenters from a Share in 
 thofe Emoluments, u after which, you fay, they 
 u languijh,'* partly for refufing their folemn Sub- 
 fcription to fo unreafonable a Claim ? 
 
 44 By the Church's Power to decree Rites and 
 " Ceremonies, is meant, a Right in the Paftors and 
 " Governors thereof, to ordain and appoint fuch 
 46 Things, fo as to make it, ordinarily, the Duty of 
 " the People to conform themfelves to them. •" — 
 You have artfully declined to fay, whom you un- 
 derstand by its Paftors and Governors ; but from 
 other Paflagesf it is evident you mean the Bijhops 
 and Clergy • for the Civil Magiftrate, you declare, 
 has no fuch Power at all %. Now, 
 
 i. That the Clergy have no Power nor Authority 
 at all of this kind over the Laity, I proved beyond 
 all doubt from the exprefs Command of our great 
 Lawgiver. — Call no Man upon Earth Master ; 
 ONE is your Master, even Christ, and all 
 ye are Brethren §. The Princes of the Gentiles exer- 
 cife Dominion and Authority over them, hut it shall 
 not be so among ft you \\. What have you faid in 
 Anfwer to thefe Texts ? Not a fingle Word. You 
 leave them to (land in full Force againft you : And 
 without one Text of Scripture to fupport this Au- 
 thority of the Clergy over the Laity, you go on to 
 treat it as a Thing indifputable and allow'd : And 
 labour hard in raifing a pompous Structure upon 
 the Sand. What you fay as to the Kifs of Charity, 
 has been confider'd above, p. 29. Should even this 
 be allow'd to be a merely ecclefiaftical and prudential 
 Injlitution, it will by no means eftablifh the Autho- 
 rity you claim for your Paftors and Governors ; the 
 Orders, Decrees, and Appointments of thofe Times 
 being by the common Confent and Suffrage of the 
 whole Church ; in which the Laity had an equal, if 
 not a far greater, Share of Authority than the Clergy f . 
 But, 2 . Your 
 
 * Def. p. 10. f Lett. II. p. 1 4. % Def. p. 1 8. § Mat. 
 xxui. 8, 9. (| Mat. xx. 25. ^ Vid. Exam, of the Codex, p. 1 20. 
 
C 72 1 
 
 2. Your lodging this Power in the Paflors and 
 Governors abioluteiy contradicts the Articles them- 
 felves. For as the XX th Art. claims it for the 
 Church : So the immediately preceding Art. (XIX.) 
 cxprefly defines what it means by the Church, 
 viz. A Congregation of faithful Men where the pure 
 Word of God is preach' d. — 'Tis to the whole Body of 
 the Faithful then that this Power of decreeing Ce- 
 remonies, if any fuch there be, belongs : How then 
 do you prefume, Sir, to wreft it from them, and 
 to vefl it folely in the Clergy f And, 
 
 3. When you add, that to this Right of the Paf- 
 tors to decree Ceremonies, it is the Peoples Duty, or- 
 dinarily, to conform them f elves : The Word, or- 
 dinarily, feems thrown in as a Mift to darken the 
 Point ; a feafonable Salvo to which to retreat when 
 you feel yourfelf pufh'd. What mean you, Sir, 
 by ordinarily ? How fhall the People know when 
 it is, and when it is not, their Duty to fubmit to 
 thefe Injunctions of their fpiritual Governors ? Are 
 the People themfelves to judge, always to judge, 
 of the Fitnefs and Expedience of the injoined Cere- 
 monies ; or are they not? If they are not, then 
 they are abfolutely to refign themfelves to the Direc- 
 tion of their Governors ; which is palpable and 
 grofs Popery, and leads directly to Rome. Bat if 
 they are, then the Babel of Church-Authority is at 
 once over-thrown : For then the Authority refides 
 no longer in the Decrees of the Governors, but in 
 the Judgment of the People. 'Tis the Judgment 
 they form of them, which alone makes them bind- 
 ing upon them or not. Of their Number, whether 
 they are too many ; and of their Nature whether 
 they are fuperftitious, foppifh, and vain, you feem 
 fometimes to allow, the People are to judge : But 
 if they have a Right to judge, they have a Right 
 alfo to ail in Confequence of that Judgment *, and 
 to withdraw from thole Churches where fuch Cere- 
 monies are injoin'd, as they think foppifh and vain ; 
 
 and 
 
[ 73 ] 
 
 «nd to join themfelves to others, where they think the 
 Worfhip of God perform'd in a more fcripturaland 
 proper Manner. So then, the folemn Parade of 
 Church- Authority, you fee, turns out a mere Shadow. 
 'Tis an Authority to command, which no one is un- 
 der Obligation to obey. This Power of making Ce- 
 remonies mull be either limited or unlimited : If it be 
 not unlimited (which you feem to difavow) Pray \»what 
 is it limits it ? What prefcribes its bounds, beyond 
 winch it foal I not pafs} If the Church lias Power to 
 ordain /itf Ceremonies, why not tin? And if ten, 
 why not more ? Who (hall pretend to fay how far 
 it may go? 
 
 Your Illuilration " as to the King's Injunctions," 
 &c. * will not reach the Cafe ; becaufe the Consti- 
 tution and Laws of England empower the King to 
 make fuch Injunctions: But you have not yet prov- 
 ed, and I prefume never will prove, that the Con- 
 flitution of the Chrijiian Church empowers its Paf- 
 tors to decree Ceremonies and Rites. 
 
 You ahVf" — " Where does the Church pretend 
 " to be alone the proper Judge, or where di fallow 
 ci private Chrijlians to judge for themfelves in thefe 
 " Matters?" I will tell you, Sir, in its XXXIV th 
 Article, which decrees, that whomever thro' his 
 private Judgment, willingly and purpofely doth 
 openly break the 'Traditions and Oremonies of the 
 Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, 
 and be ordain 'd by common Authority, ought to be re- 
 buked openly (that others may fdar to do the like) as 
 he that offendeth again/1 the common Order of the 
 Church, and hurteth the Authority cf the Magi- 
 strate. Private Judgment, you fee, is h&vefor- 
 bid to oppofe the common Order di the Church, and 
 the Authority of the Magijlrate -, and when it pre- 
 fumes fo to do, is to be cenfured and puniQied 
 for it. 
 
 O "The 
 
 * Dtf. p. 14. f P. 13, 
 
[ 74 J 
 
 " The Church of France, and the Church of 
 jRome, you acknowledge, to be as much poffeiTed 
 " of this Power as the Church of England : But it 
 u does not follow, that becaufe they have a Power 
 " to decree Rites, that they may therefore decree 
 " Fopperies and Super lit tions* ." — But by what Mark, 
 I pray, do you diftinguifh betwixt Rites and Fop- 
 peries -, betwixt Ceremonies and Superjlitions? The 
 Confecrating of Ground in the Church cf England is 
 a Rite, but the Confecrating of Water in theCburcb 
 of France is a Foppery. — The Prieft's figning the 
 bap^ried Infant with the Sign of the Crofs, in Token 
 that it fhall confefs a crucified Chrift, is a fignifi- 
 cant Rite : But his putting his Finger into its Ear, in 
 Token that it fhall hear the Word of God -, or Salt 
 upon its Tongue, in Token that its Speech fhall be 
 feafon'd with Salt, are intolerable Fopperies. — Can 
 you help bleiling yourfelf, Sir, in the Refinement 
 and Delicacy of fuch Distinctions ! — The Bow- 
 ings to the Altar, bowing at the Name of Je- 
 fus. Kneeling at the Communion, Sponfors, Sur- 
 plice, Hoods, Lawn Sleeves, and every thing of 
 this kind ufed in the Church of England, are edify- 
 ing and decent Ceremonies *' of clear Signification 
 44 and indijputable Ufef:" But the Slippers and 
 Staff, Knocking on the Bread, Elevations, Crof- 
 fings, Gefliculations, Sprinklings with holy Water, 
 &c. pra&ifed in the Church of Rome, are ridiculous 
 Superftitions — How happy to have Governors thus 
 fpiritually gifted ; able to diftinguifh betwixt Things 
 that differ! 
 
 tc My Suggeftion, that by the mere Conceflions 
 ce of your XX th Article Thoufands of Profelytes 
 " have been gain'd from you to the Church of 
 " Rome, is rafh, you fay, and groundlefs : Nor 
 " do you believe I can name one who was ever 
 <c gain'd by it^." — I will give you two Inftances 
 almoft equal to a thoufand. The firft fhall be the 
 renowned Chillingwortb, who was gain'd to the 
 Church of Rome, chiefly by this Argument, viz. 
 ♦Def.p. ip +P.11. JP-iS- fbe 
 
I 75 ] 
 
 The Necejftty of an infallible living Judge of Contra- 
 verfies*: Which is but a different Expreflion for 
 the Authority of the Church in Matters of Faith, 
 Now if this Argument was fo plaufible as to van- 
 quifh, and lead captive fo great a Matter of Reaibn, 
 Multitudes of weaker Minds have, no doubt, fallen 
 by its Force. The other fhall be King James II, 
 of whom Bifhop Burnet fays, he gave me this Ac- 
 count of the Change of his Religion. — " Ail due 
 * e Care was taken to form him to a drift Adhe- 
 cc rence to the Church : Amongfl other Things 
 11 much was faid of the Authority of the Churchy 
 " and of the Tradition from the Apoftles in fup- 
 ''* port of Epifcopacy. So when became to obferve 
 * c that there was more Reafon lofubmit to the Ca- 
 tl tholic Chunh, than to one particular Church -, and 
 Cc that other Traditions might be taken on her 
 u Word, as well as Epijccpacy was received amongft 
 " us, he thought the Step was not great, but that 
 u it was very reafonable to go over to the Church 
 " of Romef." See how dangerous a Weapon is 
 this fame Chur ch- Author ity : And how capable of 
 being ufed to the infinite Prejudice of the Prote- 
 ftant Caufe ! 
 
 " But granting this Authority of the Church, 
 <c (/. e. of its Paftors and Governors, its Bifhops 
 11 and Clergy) How, you afk, would our Rrfor- 
 <c mation be overthrown by it \ which was not car- 
 Cc ried on in Oppofition to Authority, but with the 
 * c Concurrence of all the Authority in the Nation X ?" 
 Strange, Sir, you mould fo foon forget! Did not 
 I remember you that the Reformation under Queen 
 Elizabeth, and the prefent Forms of Worfhip pre- 
 ferred in the Common Prayer, were ftrongly op- 
 pofed by every Bijhop in the Kingdom ; and the 
 Convocation then fitting, were fo far from having 
 any hand in it, that they prefented to the Parlia- 
 O 2 ment 
 
 * Vid. Life of Cbilling<wortb y p. 7. f Burnet's Hid. of 
 
 kisown Times, Oflav. Edit, Vol. I. p. 194. J Def. p. 15. 
 
[ 76 1 
 
 mcnt Teveral Propofitions in favour of Popery , di? 
 r-edlly contrary to the Proceedings of the Parliament r* 
 The Civil Magiftrate, you affirm, has no Power at 
 all y nor Authority in theje Matters *. They are the 
 Paflors and Governors of the Church, in whom alone 
 it is lodged. But behold, thefe Pallors and Go- 
 vernors were zealous for the old Religion ! They 
 argued, voted, petitioned ftrenuouily for it, and 
 againft the Reformation. The Reformation then, 
 upon your Principles, is built upon a wrong Bot- 
 tom : Was carried on, not in Concurrence with, 
 but in avow'd Oppofition to, all the Authority of 
 the Nation. How juftly might I here return your 
 own ungenerous Compliment, // was great Rafh- 
 nefs (too great in Confidence) if indeed it was not 
 Treachery Splaying Booty, to Jet the Pro- 
 tectant Caufe upon fo Jandy a Foundation -f*. Your 
 Principles, if digefled into proper Form, will itand 
 thus. — " The Church hath Power and Authority 
 " to decree Ceremonies and Rites : But by the 
 " Church, obferve, I underftand, not the King and 
 " Parliament, not the Civil Magi ft rate, who have 
 <c no Power at all relating to thefe Matters •, but 
 <c the Bi/kops only and Clergy, who are appointed 
 " and called of God to be its Paftors and Gover- 
 tc non : But remember, my Countrymen, the 
 u Common Prayer, and Forms of Worfhip now 
 " eftablifhed and ufed amongft you, were intro- 
 " duced into this Church, not by the Authority, no, 
 " nor yet by the Confent of the Pallors and Go- 
 " vernors whom God hath fet over it, but in direct 
 tC Oppofition to them. It was a Change brought about 
 " entirely by the Civil Magi/Irate, who had no Au- 
 tC thority to effect it. It was therefore really no 
 <c other than an ecclefiaflical Rebellion, an unjufti- 
 " fiable Revolt from the only rightful Rulers and 
 " Governors of the Church in its fpiritual Con- 
 
 €< cerns."- 
 
 This s 
 Eef. p. 1 8. + P. 19, 
 
r 77 i 
 
 This, Sir, is the plain Language and Tendency 
 of your Principles ; though I know you have been 
 fo wile as to contradict them again, by allowing, 
 " that if Church Governors will not come into fuch 
 a Reformation, as is according to God's Word, but 
 '* objlinately per fever e tn maintaining their finful Er- 
 <c rors and Corruptions, the People may reform them- 
 cC /elves *." — But this Concejfion overthrows your 
 whole Scheme of Church Authority, makes the 
 People the fupreme and ultimate Judges, as to 
 Points of Faith and Rites of Worfhip ; brings 
 down the Decrees of the moft numerous and moft 
 holy Councils, Convocations, and Synods, to (land 
 at the Bar of every Man's private Judgment ; and 
 vefts him with Authority to receive or reject them, 
 as to himfelf fhall feem fit. So powerful is Truth, 
 which will prevail! 
 
 But your Pofitions as to the Civil Magi fir ate, de- 
 ferve a more diftindt and accurate Confideration. 
 " He has no Power at all to decree Rites in divine 
 ' Worfhip "f — This Power is not in the King and 
 " Parliament, for in this very Article (XX.) which, 
 '* together with the reft, is confirmed by Acl of 
 " Parliament (13 Eliz. c. 12.) and thereby made 
 " a Part of our ecclefiaflical Conftitution, they 
 " have plainly owned it to be in the Church ; and 
 " no body imagines, that by the Church they meant 
 •" themfelves. The King and Parliament then have 
 Cc plainly difowned any fuch Power in themfelves, 
 " and have recognized it to be in the Church J." — 
 This, Sir, is a Doctrine, of dangerous and im- 
 portant Confequence, and quite contrary to Fadt. 
 For, 
 
 1. As.'twas the Queen and Parliament alone, 
 without, yea in Oppofition to, the Bifhops and Con- 
 vocation, which decreed the prefent Form and Wor- 
 fhip of your Church, and to their Authority alone 
 it owes its very Being, Birth, and Support ; by 
 
 affirming 
 
 * D«f. p. 13. f Ibid. p. 18. t Ibid. p. 17. 
 
[ 7S ] 
 
 affirming that they had no Power nor Authority of 
 this Nature, you knock down and demolifh the 
 Cburcb of England at once, and lay it proflrate in 
 the Dull And, 
 
 2. That the King and Parliament by acknow- 
 ledging this Power to be in the Church, have not 
 dijclaimed it, nor put it out of their ov/n Hands, is 
 inconteltible hence, that they have at the fame Time 
 exprefly told you, what they mean by the Church ; 
 not the Bifhops and Clergy, but the Congregation of 
 the Faithful •, of which Congregation themjehes are 
 not only a Part, but the principal and ruling Part : 
 And accordingly, our Laws and Conflitution have 
 veiled the fupreme Power of prefcribing Ceremo- 
 nies and Rites, only in them. I afk you — By what 
 Authority do the Rubricks of the Common Prayer, 
 bind the Clergy to Obedience ; or whence is it, they 
 are obliged to obferve the Rites and Forms pre- 
 ferred in that Book ? Is it not entirely by the Au- 
 thority and Ad of Parliament ? As for the Pallors 
 and Governors to whom you appropriate this Au- 
 thority, (the Bifhops and Clergy,) they have no 
 Power by our Conflitution to make one fingle Law, 
 to decree one Rite, or to prefcribe one Ceremony : 
 When aflembled in Convocation, they areabfolutely 
 under the Controul and Direction of the Civil 
 Power. " Even the very Subjects of their En- 
 " quiry and Debate, as well as the Extent of their 
 " Ordinances in Point of Obligation, are prefcribed 
 " by Statute Law, that they cannot fo much as at- 
 " tempt any Canons or Conflitutions, without a 
 " Royal Licence; and that none of their Ordi- 
 " nances are binding, even againfl the private 
 " Cufloms of a fingle Parifh *." How is it then 
 you affirm, the King and Parliament to have dif- 
 owned any fuch Power in themfelves, and to have re- 
 cognized it to be in the Church ? But, 
 
 3. The 
 
 * Kxaminat. of the Codex, p. 114. 
 
[ 79 3 
 
 3. The Point is if poiTible, dill rendered more 
 clear from the XXXIVth Article above cited; 
 which fays, If any Man through his private Judg- 
 ment, openly breaks the Ceremonies of the Church, or- 
 dained by common Authority, he /hail be openly 
 rebuked, as one who offendeth againft the common Or- 
 der of the Church, and hurt eth the Authority op 
 the Magistrate. — The Authority of the Magif- 
 trate then, is indifputably concerned in ordaining 
 thefe Ceremonies : And your Church, Sir, how- 
 ever loath you are to hear it, is undoubtedly a Par- 
 liamentary and Civil Conftitution ; made, formed, 
 fupported entirely by the Civil Magiftratc, and by 
 him alone is it capable of being thrown into a new 
 Form. 
 
 But you afk, Cc Are not the DiiTenting Churches 
 cC in the fame Senfe Parliamentary ? Do they not 
 " depend entirely upon an Ad of Parliament, the 
 " Ad of Toleration*?" No ; the DiiTenting 
 Churches were formed, fubfifted, and grew with- 
 out and before, any Parliamentary Authority. We 
 are thankful to the excellent and good Government 
 under which we live, for the Act of Toleration. 
 But would humbly beg Leave to fay, we derive 
 not our Power to altemble for divine Worfhip, nor 
 our Minifters theirs to officiate in fuch AlTemblies, 
 from any human Law, but from our natural Right 
 as Men, and from the Authority of Christ. 
 The Act of Toleration only protects us in the En- 
 joyment of this Right. 
 
 " But above all Things you marvel, that whilft 
 46 I was making this Puiri at the Church of England 
 <c I did not reflect how much / la d myfelj open: 
 ** For if there was ever upon Earth a Churchy 
 '* which could properly be called Parliamen'ary, it 
 " was the Prefbyterian in the Time of the grand 
 <c Rebellion -Y" What you call the grand Rebellion, 
 Sir, a Britijh House of Commons, fince the Re- 
 storation, 
 * Dcf. p. 2i, t Ibid. p. 20. 
 
[ So ] 
 
 floration, call a Vindication of their just Liberties^ 
 and brought one of their Members, Lenthal, upon 
 his Knees at the Bar, and there fharply reprimanded 
 him, for prefuming to reflect upon it in the Man- 
 ner you have done . Befides, if it was a grand 
 Rebellion, the Shame and Reproach of it falls 
 chiefly upon the Church of England; the Parlia- 
 ment who began it, confiding almoft entirely of 
 Members of thai Communion, as Lord Clarendon 
 himfelf owns. But, what if the Prefbyterial Church 
 eftablifhed afterward by them was truly Parliamen- 
 tary , how have / laid myfelf open ! Had I faid or 
 luggefted any Thing at all relating to that Church, 
 or the Proceedings of thofe Times ? Not a fingle 
 Word ; but for ought I had faid, it appears not 
 but I as much condemn that Eftablijhment as your- 
 felf. How then have / laid my f elf open ! Are you, 
 Sir, the Gentleman, that reproves me for Ram- 
 bling* ? 
 
 You put the Cafe, f cC that any of our Diflent- 
 tc ing Churches, or the Church of Scotland, fhould 
 u by an Ac~l of the general AfTembly ordain, that 
 <c a decent Bafon, with clean Water mould be pro- 
 <c vided, and placed near the Pulpit, that fo the 
 <c Minifier taking the Child in his Arms, may 
 " conveniently pour or fprinkle Water upon its 
 <c Face, in the Name of the Father, &c. Here are 
 <e feveral Rites ordained, which Chrift in his Wi£ 
 u dom did not think proper to ordain, and one of 
 '* them at leaft as exceptionable as any excepted 
 " again ft in our Church, Sprinkling — What will 
 iC this Gentleman fay to fuch an Appointment ?" 
 I will fay, Sir, that if Compliance with this In- 
 junction be made a neceffary Term of receiving Bap- 
 tifin ih that Church fas the Crofs and S oh/on are 
 made necefTary in yours) fo as tha,t no Child fhall 
 be baptized, that is not fprinkled from fuch Bafon > 
 and the Parent that defires to have his Child dipt 
 
 (believing 
 
 * Journal of the 12th of May 1660. f Def. p. 23, H' 
 
[ 8i 3 
 
 (believing that to be the only Way in which Chrif- 
 tian Baptifm ought to be adminiftered) rtiali not 
 have it done ; in that Cafe, Sir, I will fay the Church 
 .acts a tyrannical, unjuft, fchifmatical Part ; and if 
 I could have my Child baptized in any other 
 Church, constituted upon a more Catholic and Scrip- 
 tural Plan, I mould think it my Duty to apply to it 
 on that Occafion. The Spirit of Ceremony- making 
 and Church Tyranny, is of a refllefs and incroach- 
 ing Nature, and ought timely to be crufhed. ' Twas 
 from fuch little Beginnings, the Mafs of Romijh Fop- 
 peries grew up to its prefent enormous and oppref- 
 five Heighth. 
 
 Ci The natural Rights you reprefent fome of our 
 w Fellow-fubjects as fubmitting to be deprived of 
 " by difqualifying Laws, without going about to 
 u turn the World upjide down for their Repeal •," 
 are vaftly too trivial, to be compared with thofe of 
 which Diffenters are deprived ; nor are they dis- 
 qualified as to thefe, upon the Account of Con- 
 ference and Religion (the hard Cafe of DiiTenters) for 
 acting as we think the Authority and Laws of God 
 indifpenfibly oblige us : Nor, finally, can the Per- 
 fons you mention, perhaps be properly faid to have 
 a natural Right, to iuftain at the fame Time two 
 different Characters, and to execute two Offices 
 which are generally inconfiftent and interfere with 
 each other — So the Cafes are not parallel. Befides, 
 why, are we reprefented as turning the World 
 up/ide down ? Have we ever kindled Tumults, 
 raifed Mobs, demolifhed Houfes, threatened Courts 
 {as you know, Sir, who have done) — under a fe- 
 ditious Cry, that our Churches were in Danger ? We 
 appeal to the impartial World, for the Loyalty 
 and Peaceablenefs with which we behave. 
 
 You pafs over, by your own Confellion, almofl 
 half my Pamphlet \ unremarked- in which the Con- 
 stitution of the Church of England is compared 
 
 P with 
 
 * Def. p. 6. 7. f Ibid. p. 37. 
 
[ 8 2 ] 
 
 with that of the Church of Christ, and they 
 are inconteftibly fhewn to be Societies of a quite 
 different and even oppofite Nature ; fo as that 
 a Perfon's Separation from the one, does by 
 no Means imply his Separation from the other. 
 Your replying nothing to this, you will give me 
 Leave to impute to fomc other Caufe, than " your 
 6C not obfetving any Thing in it, which pretends to 
 <c refute or contradicl any Pcfitun advanced in your 
 " Letter." Is not the Charge of Schifm your fa- 
 vourite and conflant Topic ? But if I prove the 
 two Societies fo entirely different in their Conflitu- 
 tion and Frame, as that my not communicating in 
 the former, does in no wife break me off from, 
 nor in the lead interrupt my Communion in the 
 latter, is not this a Refutation of one of the chief 
 and moft interefting Parts of your Letters ? And did 
 not Juflice to your Argument demand, if you 
 could have given it, a proper Reply ? 
 
 " 'Tis growing mighty mcdifh, you complain, 
 " with our People to laugh at all Notions of 
 " Church Communion, and to make nothing of 
 " the mod unneceffary Separations*." Yes, I 
 thank God, the loud Peals you were wont to ring 
 us upon the Head of Schifm, are generally treated 
 with pretty much Neglecl, not only amongfr. our 
 People, but even amongft your own. For when 
 one fees grave Gentlemen fetting themfelves up for 
 Rulers and Governors in the Name of the Lord, 
 claiming Power to forgive Sins, to decree Cere- 
 monies, to make Laws, and to determine Points 
 of Faith ; and then thundering out their Anathe- 
 mas, upon fuch as refufe to fubmit to their Autho- 
 rity. — What muft this provoke in all fenfible Spec- 
 tators, but a Mixture of Contempt, Indignation, 
 and Mirth. 
 
 Can thefe fyirkual Fathers in their Confciences, 
 believe our Schism to be fo horrid and fo damning, 
 
 ancj 
 * Def. p. 25. 
 
[ s 3 ] 
 
 and yet refufe to drop the Ceremonies which they 
 fee to be the Stone of Stumblings at which we fo 
 grievoufly and wickedly fall? What, for the Sake 
 of a few Things which they own to be indifferent, 
 will they harden themfelves againft the Cries of fo 
 many perifriing mifguided Ghriftians y and deftroy the 
 Souls for which Chri/i died ! Forgive me, Sir, if I 
 cannot think it ; but that Schifm is only ufed as 
 an ecclefiafical Scarecrow, to keep the Simple in 
 Awe, and to eftablifh a facerdotal Empire over 
 du&ile and weak Minds. 
 
 u All Chriftians, you affirm, living within the 
 " Church of England, which is co-extended with 
 " the Kingdom, may be truly faid to owe it Obe- 
 u dience and Submiflion, and are de Jure, whe- 
 " ther they will be or not de Faclo, true Members 
 " and Subjects of it *." But pray tell me : Is not 
 the Church of Scotland equally co extended with 
 that Kingdom, as the Church of England is with 
 this? And do not all who live within its Pale, owe 
 it like Submilfion ? Is not the Prcfhyterian Difci- 
 pline and Worfhip as much efcablifhed there, as 
 the Ep'fcopal is here ? If it be Schifm then, and a 
 grievous Sin for DiiTenters to withdraw from the 
 eftablifhed Church in South- Britain, is it not alike 
 fchifmatical and wicked in your Epifcopal Bre- 
 thren to withdraw from the Prefbyterian Church 
 eftablifhed in the North ? Whence is it we never 
 hear from you any folemn Admonitions to your 
 Brethren beyond the Tweed, of the deteftable Sin. 
 of S hifm ; warning them of its damning Nature, 
 and exhorting them fpeedily to unite with the efta- 
 blifhed Church ! Here your grave Lectures may 
 poftibly have good Effect ; and if you really 
 thought Schifm fo grievous an Offence as you affect 
 to reprefent, 'tis ftrange you never try the Power 
 of your Perfuafions with your Brethren in the 
 
 P 2 North. 
 
 * Def. p. 29, 
 
t 84 ] 
 
 North. This would be a noble Proof that ydtt 
 were in earned, and fincere. But whilft, amidfl 
 your warmed Harrangues againfl the Englijh Sepa- 
 ration, you encourage and fupport the DiiTent from 
 the Scottijh Church ; what can be thought of your 
 Outcries about Schifm, but that they deferve a 
 Name more fevere than I am willing here to 
 give ? 
 
 Your Notion of our being " true Members of the 
 ct Church of England de Jure, tho r we are not, and 
 * will not be de Faffo" — is a Refinement,, indeed, and 
 quite furpafles my Comprehenfion. I thought it en- 
 ter'defTentially into the Idea of a Church, that it is a 
 Society of Volunteers : A Company join'd toge- 
 ther in certain Acts and Profeflions by common Con- 
 sen t : And that without, much lefs againfl, his 
 own Agreement and Content, no Man could with 
 Truth be fliled a Member of any Church. All 
 Perfons living in Chriflendom may be faid to owe 
 J ejus Chrift Obedience and Submiflion, with infi- 
 nitely greater Reafon than all the People of Eng- 
 land can be faid to owe it to the Church ; but does 
 it therefore follow, that they are all de Jure, if 
 they will not be de Fafto, true Members of the 
 Church of Chrift ? What, thofe who openly re- 
 nounce Chrift, declare him to be an Impoftor, and 
 utterly difavow Obedience and Subjection to him, 
 can Juch, with any Truth or Propriety, be ftiled 
 true Members of his Church ! Strange Divinity in- 
 deed ! Chrift's Church then, inftead of a Congre- 
 gation of faithful Perfons, may now be defined a 
 Society of impious Blafphemers, of Infidels and 
 profane Perfons, who neither fear God, nor believe 
 in J ejus Chrift ; thefe all may be declared and 
 treated as true Members of his Church. If this 
 indeed -be right, then with fome Pretence it may 
 be faid, that thofe who openly renounce and dis- 
 claim the Church of England, and declare they will 
 
 not 
 
[ 8 5 ] 
 
 not live in any Subjection to it, may yet be con- 
 fider'd as true Members of it. 
 
 I owe Allegiance to the King of England, be- 
 caufe I receive Protection from him, and enjoy 
 innumerable civil Bleflings by means of his Go- 
 vernment, under which I confent to live. But it 
 does not hence follow, that I owe Subjection to the 
 Church of England, (as you argue pag. 29.) from 
 whom 1 receive no Protection, enjoy no Benefit 
 nor Advantage, and in Communion with which I 
 by no means confent to live. Consent, Sir, is in- 
 difpenfably and eifentially neceflary to form the 
 Relation betwixt Paftors and People : And without 
 this Confent no Church in any Chriftian or fcriptural 
 Senfe can poflibly be formed. Diffenters therefore 
 can with no Juftnefs nor Propriety in the World 
 be (tiled true Members of your Church. Your fo- 
 lemn Excommunications of them is really a Cafi> 
 ing fuch out, as never were in it : So the Miracle 
 (till remains. 
 
 As to our Pofture of receiving the Lord's Sup- 
 per, initead of ingenuoufly owning your great Mif- 
 reprefentaiion, you feek by frivolous and quaint 
 Queflions to raife a Dull to conceal it. As, " what 
 " meaneth this Informant, by fome of their Churches, 
 " which have admitted kneeling ? What by fome 
 " in their Churches ? If there were any confidera- 
 <c bie Number, %2(f.*J* Their Number, give me 
 leave to tell you, Sir, is nothing to the Purpofe. 
 'Tis the Liberty they have to do it, is the only 
 Point in Debate. If all have this Liberty, tho' 
 not one in five thou fan d mould actually ufe it ; 
 my Point (lands firm, yours is overthrown ; and 
 you (land convicted before the World of having 
 given a very wrong and injurious Account of us. 
 You rafhly afferted that Sitting among us was 
 never allowed to he departed from j that our Ml- 
 
 nifters 
 • Def. p. 32. 
 
[ 86 ] 
 
 nifters insisted upon, and refused to abate it. -^ 
 This, from my own certain Knowledge, from the 
 Information of others, from Baxter 's reform'd Li- 
 turgy, I proved to be a falle Reprefentation. In 
 the fecond Edition of my Letter, (pag. 21.) I added 
 a Paflage from Dr. Calamfs brief Account to the 
 German Divines, which exprelly fays, — The Com- 
 municants amonft Protestant Dissenters are 
 at Liberty to ufe their own Posture in the 
 Time of Receiving ; tho y a Table- Pofture is moft com- 
 monly ufed. Note. To this brief Account, &e. you 
 appear to have been no Stranger ; you had, doubt- 
 lefs, read it -, for you quote a long PafTage from it 
 (Let. II. pag. 62.) not four Lines diitant from that 
 I have now cited. How then could you take 
 upon you fo roundly to affirm — that it is never 
 allowed to be departed from, &c. When you 
 had feen it declared to the World that our Com* 
 municants were at Liberty to ufe their own 
 Post ure! 
 
 But if this deferves an ingenuous Blufh, I am 
 called upon to blufh with you, " For having faid 
 " that Chrift and his Apoftles, without all perad- 
 ?' venture, Jat around the Table, when every Body 
 tl knows, who knows any Thing at all, that they 
 w ufed the recumbing Pofture, which is no more 
 ic Sitting than it is Kneeling *." — If my Aflertion 
 cannot be fupported by indifputable Authority, 
 I have a Blufh at your Command. Let my 
 Vouchers be heard. St. Matthew f fays, he s-aT 
 down with the twelve. — And as they were eating 
 Jesus took Bread and bleffed it. St. Mark %, As 
 they sat and did eat, Jesus took Bread, &c. St. 
 Luke^, Whentfie Hour was come, he sat down, 
 and the twelve Apoftles with him : And he took the 
 Bread and gave Thanks. If I am now to be cor- 
 rected for representing Chrift and his Apoflles as 
 
 SITTING 
 
 * Def. p. 31. t ?»vi 20. % xiv. 18. $ xxii. 14. 
 
[ 87 ] 
 
 sitting around the Table, the Weight of the 
 Stroke will fall entirely upon the Scriptures ; under 
 which Patronage I am fafe. I make no manner of 
 doubt, Sir, but the Pofture was fitting, though 
 with the Body, perhaps, a little leaning or te- 
 clirfd. Nor would our Language afford our 
 Tranflators any better, or indeed any other Word, 
 than Jilting to exprefs it by. Pray, how would 
 you render it — ds they recumbed and tideat. — 
 And when the Hour 'was come, /^recumbed with 
 his twelve Apoflles ? If every Body " who knows 
 *' any Thing at all, knows thiy ujed the recumbing 
 " Pojlure," then good Mr. Henry knew nothing 
 at all ; for he fays, " He fat down in the ufuat 
 " Table-Gefture •, not lying on one fide, for it 
 " was not eafy to eat, nor poffible to drink in that 
 " Pofture, but fitting upright, tho' perhaps, fit- 
 ft ting low :" Or rather, as Dr. Ligbtfoot tells us, 
 the Pofture was, fitting on a Couch, leaning the 
 left Elbow on the Table. 
 
 My Account of the Conftitution of the Church 
 of England, of the regal Supremacy, and of the 
 Proceedings of the Convocation in the Affair of 
 Mr. Whijlon, you call Mifreprefentations * j but I 
 obferve you are fo prudent as not to offer a fingle 
 Word in Proof of their being fuch. 
 
 Your reprefenting me as having a great Zeal for 
 Arianifm, and being fond of theje new Notions "f, 
 for which I had given not the leaft real Occafion, 
 is an Artifice fo low, that you muft give me leave 
 to look down with great Pity upon it ; not doubt- 
 ing but I have both an Advocate and an Avenger 
 in your own Bofom. 
 
 There is fomething truly extraordinary in your 
 affirming — " That the damnatory Claufes of the 
 f* Athanafian Creed may be as fafely fubicribed, 
 ft without any explanatory Declaration, as the holy 
 
 " Scriptures -. 
 
 * Def p. 37, 3 g. f P. 3 8, 44. 
 
[ 88 ] 
 
 •' Scriptures ; at lead fuch PafTages, as He that be- 
 ffc lieveth not jhall be damned — He that believetb not 
 " the $on 9 frail not fee Life, but the IVrath of God 
 " abide tb on him *, &c."— - As much as to fay, 
 You may as confidently affent to the Decifions of 
 a weak and fallible Man y concerning the everlaflin% 
 State of Multitudes of his Fellow Men, as to the 
 Decifion of the omnifcient and infallible God. — 
 Or thus, becaufe God hath fixed feme Terms for 
 a Man's Entrance into Life, therefore Man may 
 take upon him to devife and fix others. — Or thus, 
 becaufe Christ had Authority to pronounce, that 
 no Man who received not the Gcfpel, which he 
 preached, mould finally be faved, therefore Athana- 
 Jius (if he was its Compiler) had Authority to 
 pronounce, that no Man who believed not the 
 Creed which he had made, mould attain eternal 
 Life, but fliould everlaflingly perifh. — Are thefe 
 Conclufions juft ? 
 
 I cannot think myfelf to need your Forgivenefs, 
 Sir, for afking, " whether you were anion gftjthe 
 tc weak and uncharitable Minds, who damn to the 
 " Pit of Hell, all who cannot receive all the dark 
 !* and myfterious Points let forth in the Athanafian 
 " Creed." — For does not that Creed molt peremp- 
 torily pronounce this Damnation on all fuch ? Are 
 not. you a zealous Advocate and Admirer of that 
 Creed ? Do you not your felf thirteen Times a Year, 
 in the Prefence and Church of God, and as his 
 Minifter and AmbafTador, declare folemnly to the 
 People, That whoever does not keep whole and 
 undefiled the Faith therein delivered^ he feoall 
 without doubt perijh everlaflingly ? Where then 
 is the wrong of my afking, Whether you are among ft 
 the weak and uncharitable Perfons? &c. For if you arc 
 fincere in its Ufe, and do really believe what you fo- 
 lemnly tell the People, when you read to them 
 
 that 
 * Dcf. p. 40. 
 
[ 8 9 ] 
 
 (hat Creed, you mull, furely, be content to be 
 reckoned in that Number. For how to reconcile 
 a folemn Declaration that certain Perfons, with- 
 out doubt perifh evertaftingly, with hopes of their 
 Salvation, is what no Wit of the fubtleft Je/uit 
 is able to perform. 
 
 The Subfcriptions of our Minifters, with the 
 Proteftation they made againfl the damnatory Claufes, 
 can with no Truth, I apprehend, be called " a Pro- 
 u teftatio contra Factum, nor a fubferibing AfTent 
 " to the Truth of. certain Proportions, at the fame 
 ** Time declaring they do not alfent to it V For 
 it really amounted to no more than this — " I believe 
 11 the Articles of this Creed, and think it agree- 
 u able to the Word of God, but I here publickly 
 " declare, I do not confider the damnatory Clauses 
 " as any Part of the Creed, nor give my AfTent 
 " to them." As for the Subfcription of our pre- 
 fent Minifters, if it be not done under a Claim of 
 the Benefit of this Proteftation made by their 
 PredecefTors, or with fome fuch Proteftation made 
 by themfelves; I freely own, Sir, I cannot juf- 
 tify it, and think it a Thing which ought not to 
 be done. 
 
 Subscription to human Creeds have, I appre- 
 hend, been of infinite DifTervice and Hurt to the 
 Chriftian Church, have rent it into a Variety of 
 Seels and angry Parties, and filled it with innu- 
 merable Strifes and Debates : They are a Feme 
 raifed around the Church, which can pofiibly keep 
 none but virtuous and honeft Perfons, but never 
 can one Hypocrite, one Her t ck, or wicked Man, 
 from entering into it. I with the Cafe you men- 
 tion may not be extremely common, viz. Frau- 
 dulent and infincere Subfcriptions, and the conftant 
 Uje of Forms, which they who ufe ihem do not ap- 
 prove of, whereby the Conscience is defiled -f . 
 
 CL But 
 
 • Def. p. 41. t Ibid. p. 44, 
 
[ 9° ] 
 
 But the Point of Subfcriptions which is the Sub- 
 ject of your Appendix, will be confidered by an 
 abler Hand-, who will give you, I hope, ample 
 Satisfaction on this Head : To his Instructions I 
 commend you, Sir, wiftiing you with great Sin- 
 cerity, abundant Peace and Truth. 
 
 THE 
 
 
[ i 2 
 v 
 
 Tr\\o.r*A oCv, Oa WcToq A. 
 
 ■ : T- 1 ^ — ' — 
 
 T H E 
 
 DISSENTING GENTLEMAN'S 
 
 Third and Last 
 
 LETTER, &c. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 1H A V E read carefully your two Defences, and 
 attentively weighed the Reafons by which you 
 further prefs my Conformity to your Church ; 
 but muft ftill fay, that though I feel the At- 
 traction of worldly Inter eft ftrongly operating with 
 your Arguments, and giving them great Force; yet 
 '{here is fomething more forcible which draws a 
 contrary way. 
 
 Were I to never live but in the pjefent World, 
 I would foon become your Convert : But when I 
 con fider that the Purity, Simplicity, and Liberty of 
 the Gospel are a f acred Deposite committed to 
 my Truft •, and that there is an Allegiance I owe 
 to Christ, as the only Lawgiver of the Church, 
 for which I muft furely be accountable before him ; 
 I cannot but think it my Duty, and therefore, upon 
 the whole, moft certainly my Intereft alfo, to con- 
 tinue my Separation, though attended with fome 
 worldly Difadvantage and Reproach. 
 
 The Grounds of my Dijfent I have already layn 
 
 before the World, to whofe impartial Confidera- 
 
 Q^2 tion 
 
[ 2 ] 
 
 tion they are humbly fubmitted. u But I have left 
 " unnotic'd and untouch'd, you complain, a great 
 ' Part of your Letters." This, indeed, I have 
 done, and (hall alfo of your Defence ; a great Part 
 of both being futilous, and of little Moment to 
 the Merits of the Caufe before us. Debates of this 
 kind, I knew, inienfibly fwell. I remarked there- 
 fore, but upon a few of the many obnoxious Paf- 
 fages with which your Letters abound, that greater 
 Liberty might be left to prefent you with feveral 
 ftrong, and to me unanfwerable, Arguments for 
 Diflent from your Church, which you had art- 
 fully forborn to mention; and which, tho' fince 
 held up before you and peculiarly urg'd upon you, 
 you turn' gravely away from, and will not be pro- 
 vok'd to encounter their Force. 
 
 I have prefs'd you with the Ccnflitution and 
 Frame of your Church ; and have (hewn you various 
 Points in which its Structure and Form was not 
 only quite cliff e --.ni from, but actually repugnant to, 
 the Church of Jesus Christ ; confequently, that 
 it was not, could not be any dangerous and aam,iable 
 Schi m for the Servants of J ejus Ctnji to feparate 
 and withdraw from it, as you had railily affirmed. 
 But to this popuLr and <;reat Plea you have made 
 no Reply at all; it flands before you in full 
 Strength. 
 
 This Charge of Schifm is (till rendered more com- 
 pletely ridiculous-^ by obferving, That the very 
 
 Powers which alone form'd, and which atone govern 
 your Church, have given us leave to withdraw from 
 it. The wry Authority which made your Church, 
 and upon which alone it refts, hath allow'd us to 
 fet up our feparate Churches for Worfhip ; and hath 
 taken thofe Churches, and the Worfhip perform 'd 
 in them, under its immediate Protection and Care. 
 
 SECT 
 
[ 3 3 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Of Church Power, and in whom lodged. 
 
 TH E Iffue of the Debate betwixt the Church 
 and the D iff enters, I have frequently reminded 
 you, and every attentive Perfon fees, depends ab- 
 solutely and intirely upon this finglc Point 
 
 Is there any other Lawgiver or King in the Church 
 of God befides Jesus Christ, or, is there not? 
 Is there Power and Authority vefted in any Man or 
 Body of Men on Earth, to make and to injoin new 
 Rites of Christian Worfhip, and new Terms of Chris- 
 tian Fellowfhip, befides what Ch r ist, the only Law- 
 giver, hath binifelf made and injoin'd ; or, is there 
 not ? Could you but be engag'd to give a plain and 
 diretl Anfwer to this one Point, it would foon end 
 the Debate. But for Reafons befl known to your 
 felf, yet very obvious to the World, you are deaf 
 to my repeated Solicitations on this Head ; and 
 will not, cannot be either perfuaded or provoked to 
 fpeak your Sentiments freely and openly upon it. 
 You ftrenuoufly contend that there is fuch a 
 Power ; but are greatly at a lofs, i. Where Kb 
 place it ? And, 2. How to limit and confine it ? 
 Thefe are two things which it indifpenfibly lies upon 
 you to fix clearly and to afcertnin •, before you can, 
 with any Grace, cenfure our Separation as unjuftifi- 
 able and wrong. But tho' in multiplying Words, 
 your Talent is not common, and you expatiate 
 difFufely upon things of little moment ; yet here 
 where the Point lies, and you faw, and even felt 
 it, you artfully endeavour to evade. However, 
 with much Difficulty, a few C onceffions are extort- 
 ed from you, which, in Part, fhew the World 
 
 your 
 
[ 4 1 
 
 your prepofterous Scheme, and which prove you' 
 to be really (as I fhall presently fhew) no Advocate 
 for, no Friend at all to the true Church of England, 
 the Church eflablilhed by Law ; but to be a Be- 
 trayer^ an Oppugmr of it, a dangerous Under- 
 miner of its very Bafis and Foundation ; and that, 
 if your Principles take place, it mud prefently be 
 overthrown, and its Hierarchy and Frame be ut- 
 terly deftroy'd. 
 
 For, with regard to Hitfirft of the above Points, 
 viz. In w hom this Power of making and enjoin- 
 ing new Ceremonies and Rites of Worfhip, and new 
 Terms of Communion in the Church of Chrift, is 
 
 verted- You affirm, i. "That 'tis not in the 
 
 <c Civil Magistrate; be has no such Power 
 " at all*. 9 ' But, 2. *' 'Tis in the Pastors and Go- 
 " .vernors of the Church -f\" Now, 
 
 First, If it be not in the Civil Magis- 
 trate •, and ke has, as you affirm, no such 
 Power at all-, the Confequence is inevitable, that 
 then the prefent eftablijhed Church of England \s il- 
 legally, unjuftly, tyranically efiablifhed; That it is 
 an Ufuipation upon the Rights, of Chriftians, and 
 upon the civil Liberties of Mankind \ and that the 
 very Bafts on which it Hands, with its whole Frame 
 and Conflitution, are fundamentally, effentially and 
 
 notorioufly wrong. For, That the prefent 
 
 Church of England was conflituted, form'd and efta- 
 bhfh'd by the Civil Magi fir ate, and only by him, 
 viz by CL Lliz. and her Parliament, every Gentle- 
 man, not a perfedt Stranger to our Hiftory and 
 Co: ifli union, indifputably knows. When we talk 
 of the Church eftablijhed b\ Law ; by what Law, I 
 pray, do we mean eftabliftied ? Is it not by a Law 
 enacted by the Crown and Parliament, and enact- 
 ed by no Authority or Power but theirs f Is 
 
 not 
 
 * I. Defence, p. 18, 19. f Ibid. p. jo. 
 
[ 5 3 
 
 not the Atf of Uniformity the grand Pillar or Foun- 
 dation on which the Church of England reds ? Was 
 it not that alone which eftablifhed its prefent Liturgy, 
 with all its Ceremonies and Forms ? But by whom 
 was that Law made ? was it not by the Civil Ma- 
 giftrate ; and made by him atone \ the Bifhops in the 
 Houfe of Lords and the Clergy in Convocation la- 
 bouring earneftly againft it. To fay then, as you 
 
 do, that the Civil Magi/Irate has no Power to de- 
 cree Ceremonies and Forms of Worfhip, is to fay 
 that the Ad of Uniformity wa sa tyrannical unrighte- 
 ous Act : that it was enacted by tbofe who had no 
 Power at all to do it; confequently, that the 
 Church eftablifhed by that Law was an unwarrant- 
 able Eftabliftiment, a fpurious illegal thing. 
 
 This is the definitive Tendency, Sir, of your Prin- 
 ciples and Scheme. You root up Foundations, over- 
 throw our Conftitution, and demolifti totally the 
 very Church you feem zealous to defend -, fo that 
 you never fpoke, perhaps, a truer Word than when 
 you were pleafed to defcribe yourfelf as a forry Ad- 
 vocate for the Church* 
 
 But you afk, Why are we to regard only 
 
 the hftablifhment of Queen Elizabeth ? 4C Why is- 
 " King Edward's Reformation overlooked f?" Not 
 
 for 
 
 * Defence, p. 128 Your learned Warburton in his Alliance 
 i3'c. honourably and frankly owns, " "That the Church hath re- 
 ined her Independency, and made the Magistrate her su- 
 preme Head; without whefe Approbation and Allowance /he can 
 direct, order and decree nothing, p. 87. And that the Clergy are 
 mrw under the Magistrate's Direction, p. 74. 
 
 Accordingly, an Act in the 2d Parliament or Charles II. in Scot- 
 land, to which all the Bijhops concurred, and none of the Laity 
 protefted againft it, enaas,-— " That the Dicipline of the external 
 Government and Polity of the Church is in his Majesty and his 
 SucceJJbrs as an inherent Right of the Crown ; and that they 
 may fettle, enad and limit fuch Con fiitutions, A8s and Orders concern- 
 ing the Adminiftration of the external Government of the Churcb 
 and the Perftns employ d in the fame, and concerning all ecclefiajlical 
 M*e tings, and Matters to be proposed and determined therein, as they 
 in their Royal Wisdom Jball think fit" 
 
 f 11, Defence, p. 14©. 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 for any Advantage which you can poflibly get by 
 it. For in the Reformation under that Prince alfo, 
 " The Majority of the Bifhops and inferior Clergy 
 H (diredlly contrary to what you afifert) were on the 
 " Side of Popery *." And it was the Parliament 
 alone, without the Convocation, which eflablifhed 
 the reform'd Liturgy and Service-Book then. 
 
 But at Queen Eliza fa b's Reformation, when the 
 prefent Church was form'd, erecled and eflablifh'd, 
 
 you alledge, 4t Though the Bifhops did, m- 
 
 4< deed, in Tome of her firli Years op^ofe the Re- 
 " formation, which they had before approv'd, yec 
 <c they did not long ft and out f". That the Ma- 
 jority of the Bifhops did either before approve, or 
 afterward comply, is, 1 believe, quite repugnant to 
 Fact % ; but whether true or not, is not at all to 
 the Purpofe : For when the Rcfonnati n was actually 
 accompli fried, and the Church with its Liturgy and 
 Forms was eflablifhed ; their (landing in or out af- 
 terward, for a longer or Jborter time, makes no^ 
 thing for your Point. The Work was done with- 
 out them ; this is ail I afk ; this you are forced to 
 grant. The Bifhops then bad no Hand, no Share at 
 all, in making and eflablifhing the prefent Church 
 of England-, but with all their Might oppofed it. It 
 was done by the Civil Magi fir ate (who had no 
 Power, you fay to do it) and done by him alone. 
 <c At her Majefly's Acceffion, and even after Re- 
 " ligion was reftored to the fame State as under 
 " King Edward, the Universities were fo en- 
 ce tirely loft, that there were Jcarce two of the fame 
 <c Opinion with the Reformers. As to the Bifhops 
 " and Clergy (Bifhop Cox adds) thy w;re v nan l- 
 " mous for Popery, firm as a Rock. 
 
 —Stat 
 
 * NeaPs Hill. Pur. Vol. i. p. 45, 51. f II. Def. p. 140. 
 
 } Only one Bifhop conformed himfelf to the Queen's Com- 
 mauds, and W2S continued in his Place, via. Kitchin of t.andajf* 
 Fuller's Ch. Hift. Book. ix. p. 59, and Book. vii. p. 414. 
 
[ 7 ]. 
 
 Stat Clerits Tetus, 
 
 Tanquam dura file x autftet Marpefia Cautes *. 
 
 ct But if the Reformation was carried on, it was 
 " not, fay you, perfecled without the Bifhops t." 
 True, becaufe it was never perfected at all. That 
 glorious Work remains to immortalife, perhaps, 
 the Name of its preient Governors. But to what- 
 ever Perfection it hath been at all brought fince its 
 firft EftabliiTiment, it was brought onlv and entirely 
 by the Authority of the Crown and Parliament ; our 
 excellent Conflitntion acknowledging no legijlativc 
 Power or Authority but theirs %. 
 
 " And as for the XXXIX Articles, thefe, you 
 " al ledge, were fome Years after pafs'd in a Convoca- 
 M tion of the Bifhops and Clergy §." Whether they 
 were pafs'd in a Convocation or not, with regard to 
 their Authority^ is of no Moment at all. Their 
 unanimous Ajjem adding not the leaft Grain to their 
 Obligation on the Subject ; nor their moft zealous 
 Dijjent in the leaft detracting from it. But did not 
 your Heart fmite you, Sir, at the very Mention of 
 theft Articles ; the XXXI Vth of which declares 
 exprefly againft you. That your Church Ceremo- 
 nies were ordained by the Authority of the Civil 
 Magistrate. The fame alfo your XXXth Ca- 
 
 R non. 
 
 * Neal's Review, CifV. p. 58. Vide alfo Fuller's Ch. Hilt. 
 Book ix. p. 56. *f- II. Def. p. 139. 
 
 X Synods and Convocations have in all Ages of the Church fel- 
 dom done good ; often much Hurt ; have generally obftru&ed, 
 not promoted Reformation ; which hath moft ly been carried on by 
 La v-Councils and Hands The Sentiments of a learned Father, 
 who had feen much of thefe Church-Proceedings, may be not 
 unworthy to be here remember'd. Sic fentio, fi <verum fcriben- 
 du?n cjl y &c. My Opinion is this, if I may be allowed to f peak th( 
 Truth ; that alt Conventions of Bifhops are to he avoided* For 
 1 never fa<vj any Good come of any Synod ; nor that it did not mucfy 
 more Mif chief than it hindered. For Truth, in fuch AJfemblies^ it 
 generally born doivn by a Spirit of Strife and Fain-Glory. Greg. 
 Nazian. Epift. ad Procop, § Ibid, p. 14Q. 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 mn *. You have feveral times fubfcribed the Truth 
 of this Article, and fvvorn to this Canon. With what 
 Countenance then durft you thus publickly oppugn 
 and contradicl it ; and in open defiance of our Ar- 
 ticles and Statutes, our Conftitutions and Canons, and 
 your own repeated Sub [cript ions, prefumptuoufly de- 
 clare, That the civil Magistate has no 
 
 Power nor Authority at all to decree Ceremo- 
 nies in Religion ? Do you folemnly fubfcribe one 
 thing and publickly teach another ! Where is the 
 Confiftency and Confcience of this ? But let us fee 
 Where you lodge this Power. 
 
 Secondly. They are the Church's Pastor e 
 and Governors, whom you are plea fed to inveit with 
 iff -, that is, I fuppofe you mean (for you are ex-^ 
 tremely fhy of Explications) its Bishops and Cler- 
 gy. But you have not deign'd to fhew me one 
 "Text of Scripture, nor one Statute or Acl of Parliar 
 merit which vefts them with this Power. I have 
 fhewn you feveral of both, which exprefly diveft 
 them of it, and utterly deny them any fuch Jurif- 
 diclion or Authority at all. 
 
 But, for once, we will grant you, That thefe 
 
 Pastors and Governors have Authority from GOD 
 to make new Ceremonies and Rites, and to ordain in 
 
 Christ'j Church new Terms of Communion. ^ 
 
 Tell me then, is this Power veiled folely and only 
 in the Bishops ; or, mufl their Deans and Chapters 
 acl: in concert with them ? Has every BiJh,op y within 
 his Diocefe, this Power from GOD to injoin new 
 Ceremonies and Rites ; or, may his Archbifhop con- 
 troul him ? This latter, I fuppofe, not : For Arch- 
 
 bijhops, 
 
 * " We hold it the Part of every private Man, both Mi- 
 wifler and other, reverently to retain the life of the Ceremonies 
 prefcribed by Public Authority ; confidering, that things of them- 
 lelves indifferent do, in fome fort, alter their Natures, when they 
 are either commanded or forbidden by a lawful Magistrate ; 
 and may not be omitted, at every Man's Pleafure, contrary to the 
 Law." Canon xxx. f I. Def. p. 10, 
 
C 9 1 
 
 hfJjops, you own not to be of apoflolic, but of mo- 
 dern Inflitution ; whereas Bifhops it mould feem, 
 are the lineal Succeffors and Reprefentatives of the 
 Apoflles ; in whom therefore the apoftolic Power of 
 governing the Churches refls. This then, which is 
 of divine, ought not to be controul'd by that which 
 
 is but of late and human Inflitution. The Bifhop 
 
 then of every Diocefe, as its Paftor and Governor^ 
 has Authority from GOD to decree in his Church 
 what Ceremonies and Rites ibever, and to make 
 what Terms of Communion, he thinks edifying and 
 fit. Nor has any neighbouring Bifhop, no nor any 
 Power upon Earth, Authority to controul him : For 
 as the Apostles were all equal, fo mufl their Suc- 
 cefTors, the Bishops, alfo be : And as the former 
 were not accountable to any temporal Prince for their 
 Jurifdiction in the Church of Christ, the fame 
 Exemption alfo may their Defendants and Repre- 
 fentatives claim. How excellent a Scheme of Go- 
 vernment and holy Difcipline this ! With what 
 Beauty and Uniformity, Unity and Peace is it cal- 
 culated to blefs the Church ! as we fhall prefently 
 fee. But, 
 
 Thirdly. Acknowledging this high Power to 
 be really veiled in the Church's Bifhops, as Gover- 
 nors and Pastors of it. I again afk, How far 
 does it extend? Is it limited ox unlimited? May they 
 injoin whatever Rites they think decent and orna- 
 mental ; and decree whatever Ceremonies or new 
 Terms of Communion they judge conducive 
 to the Edification of the Church ? As they have 
 now in the Church of England, decreed we will 
 fay, four only, to give additional Beauty and 
 Splendor to its public Worfhip ; may they not, if 
 they think it conducive further to this worthy End, 
 decree four, or even forty, more ? Yes, and make 
 that forty, four Hundred, if they happen to think 
 them ufeful, and to promote Decency and Order, in 
 
 R 2 the 
 
[ io ] 
 
 the Worfhip of their refpeclive Flocks. But do 
 
 you not plainly fee, Sir, how dangerous a Power 
 this ! A Power which, in all Ages, hath proved the 
 Bane of the Chriftian Church ! A Flood-gate which 
 hath let in an horrible and filthy Deluge of Ani- 
 mofities, Corruptions and Superflitions upon it \ 
 Hence fprung that enormous Mais of profane and 
 foolifh Rites, which, to the Scandal of the Chrif- 
 tian Name, now grievoufly opprefs both the Greek 
 and the Romi/h Churches. One good Bifhop, or 
 perhaps Junto of Biihops, taking it into his Head 
 that there ought to be a Trine- fmmerfian in Bap- 
 tifm ; another the Signal ion of the Crofs ; another 
 an Unttion with Oyl ; another Milk and Honey ', and 
 Ifnpofition of Hands immediately after it ; another 
 Infufflation or Breathing upon the Perfon's Face to 
 exonife the Devil ; another wajhing of Ha -ids before 
 
 Prayers thus praying towards the Eaft ; Spon- 
 
 fors in Baptiim ; kneeling at the Lord's Supper; 
 firil the Veneration, then the Adoration of Re- 
 lics; Images erected, firfl only as Memorials, thence 
 quickly Hiding into Objects of Religious Worfhip : 
 Thus, I fay, that Inundation of abominable Cor- 
 ruptions, which at prefent overwhelms both the 
 Greek and Romifh Churches, gradually came in at 
 this very Breach which you are now zealoufly main- 
 taining, namely, the Bifhops Power to decree Rites 
 and Ceremonies in the Church. 
 
 'Tis a moft dangerous and important Power ; 
 not fit to be trufted, and therefore, we may be af- 
 fur'd, never was trufted with any fallible uninfpir'd 
 Men. Jesus Christ, furely the Supreme Bi- 
 fhop and only Head of his Church, well knew what 
 Inftitutions were moft for its Edification ; and what 
 Ceremonies and Rites would bed promote the Or- 
 der and Decency of its Worfhip ; and either by him- 
 felf, or by his infpir'd Apoftles, has kft a perfefl Plan 
 ©f both. For any weak and uninfpir'd Men there- 
 fore 
 
C " ] 
 
 fore to rife up in after Ages, and fancy they can 
 improve the Scheme of Worfhip which Christ hath 
 left ; that they can add greatly to its Beauty, its 
 Splendor and Perfection by fome Ceremonies of their 
 own, is, to be fure, a rude Invafion of Christ's 
 throne, which every fober Chriflian ought highly 
 to deteft. 
 
 But with great Acutenefs you obferve, " That 
 <c though thofe Church-Governors have Power 
 " to decree Ceremonies and Rites, yet not Fopperies 
 " and Superfiit ions." This is extremely pleafant! 
 But when I afk yon, by what Criterion to diitin- 
 guifh Rites from Fopperies, and Ceremonies from Su- 
 perjiitions, you will not, and no wonder, fatisfy my 
 Curiofity. For I defy all the Common Senfe and 
 Ingenuity of the Nation (to borrow one of your 
 own Expreflions) to fhew the Conjecration of Earth 
 to cover the Body when dead to be an edifying and 
 decent Rite ; but the Confcc ration of Water to 
 fprinkle it when living to be a ridiculous and foolifli 
 Foppery. I defy any Man upon Earth to fay 
 why Spittle and Salt in Baptifm are not as inftruc- 
 
 tive Ceremonies as the Sign of the Crofs ? And, 
 
 why a Bifhop has not as much Power, according to- 
 ancient Cuflom, to exorcife the Devil before Bap- 
 tifm, as to/tfv on Hands after it (as you fay he does 
 in Confirmation) to impart the Graces of the Holy 
 Gboft. 
 
 Superstition, Sir, is ever refllefs, infatiable, 
 incroaching ; every good Bifhop will be ambitious 
 of adding fome Rite or Ceremony of his own to 
 beautify divine Worfhip and render it more brilliant. 
 Thus when your holy Bifhop Laud was Governor 
 of this Church, you had lighted Candies upon its 
 Altars -, Copes of Mafs Priefts with Crucifixes and 
 Images of the Trinity upon them ; confecrated 
 Knives to cut the facramental Bread ; Incenie Pots ; 
 
 Canifters for Wafers lined with Cambric Lace, 
 
 with 
 
t 12 ] 
 
 with a deal of other Furniture all folemnly conse- 
 crated for the Service of Almighty God, and for 
 the Comfort, Inftruclion, and Edification of his 
 Church ; to exalt and enliven the Beauties of Holi- 
 nefs therein. And had it not been for the noble 
 and heroic Stand againfl this Rite-making Spirit 
 which the Puritans and their SuccefTors have all 
 along made, there is little Reafon to doubt, that 
 the Church of England, by this time, had fallen 
 little fhort in thefe holy Decorations and additional 
 
 Splendors of the Church of Mo/cow or of Rome. 
 
 I have dwelt the longer upon this, becaufe it is, 
 undoubtedly, the Capital and Fundamental Point on 
 which the Debate betwixt the Church and the Dif- 
 fenters entirely turns. Prove your Church, Sir, to 
 have this Power and Authority from God which (he 
 exercifes and claims, a Power to decree new Rites 
 and Ceremonies in Chrifiian JVorfljip, to make new 
 Terms of Communion, and to determine Controverfies 
 
 of Faith, and you need give yourfelf no farther 
 
 Trouble ; all other things in Controverfy, Sponfors, 
 Abfolution, the Sacramental Teft, and every other 
 thing fhall immediately be given up. Make good 
 but this one Point, and if your Church commands 
 us to fign ourfelves all over with a fignificant and 
 
 inftrudt-ive Crofs y we will reverently do it. If it 
 
 bids us worfhip towards the Eaft, and to think the 
 omniprefent Deity to be more there than in the 
 Weft ; and to bow at the Name of Jefus ; we will 
 
 humbly fubmit ; or, if it requires us to believe, 
 
 that an amorous Devil was forced away from his 
 beloved Maid by the Fumes of a FiuYs Liver ; or 
 that the vilefl Wretch that lives, if the King gives 
 him a Pod, has a Right to eat at the Lord's -Table • 
 and that when he dies he refts in Christ, and is 
 taken to God in Mercy •, we will roundly believe it 
 all. There is nothing your Church can ivjoin or de- 
 cree, but you fhall find the Diffenters dutifully fub- 
 
 mitting 
 
t 13 ] 
 
 mining to it when you have once clearly (hewn it to 
 have this Power from GOD -, and have told us 
 plainly, and without Referve, what you mean by the 
 Church ; and have diftindtly pointed out WHO 
 the Perfons are in whom this Power refides. 
 
 But it is pitiful and low Trifling, Sir, and in- 
 deed confummately ridiculous to talk of the 
 
 " Church's JurifdiRion and Authority over Dis- 
 
 * c s enters of the Subjeffion we owe it, 
 
 " of the damn able ness of the Sin of refufingObe- 
 
 <c dience to it ." When you have not, durft not, 
 
 cannot openly and plainly tell us who and what it 
 is you mean by the Church ? Or who the Perfons 
 are to whom God hath committed this high and 
 important Truft ? Is it the King and Parlia- 
 ment ; or, is it not ? Is it the Clergy met in 
 
 Convocation -, or, is it not? Is it each Bifhop 
 
 in his refpe&ive Diocefe ; by himfelf alone, or in 
 Conjunction with his Clergy ; or is it not ?- 
 Is it the whole Body of Chriftian People, the Con- 
 gregation of the Faithful ; or, is it not ? Open your- 
 felf freely, Sir, and don't be afraid of Truth, 
 Truth will never hurt you •, it is a moil innocent 
 and lovely thing ; it may rob you of fome Emc~ 
 luments and Pojfejfions of a worldly nature ; but be 
 afTur'd it will give you something more fubftan- 
 tial in their Head. Be ingenuous then, and tell 
 
 Di {Tenters in whom God hath lodged this Power 
 
 to which they owe SubjecJion, and by revolting from 
 which they are guilty of a dangerous and damnable 
 Sin. If you write again, but will not explain 
 yourfelf diftinflly on this Point, you yield the Caufe 
 to us before the World. You make it evident that 
 you write neither for our, nor your own Convic- 
 tion ; but that you havefomething elfe in view be- 
 fides finding out Truth. That Something, perhaps, 
 you may find -, but it will continue with you but for 
 
 a Mo- 
 
[ H J 
 
 a Moment : whereas, if you find and do the Will 
 of GOD, it will give you a PoiTefiion that will en- 
 dure FOR EVER. 
 
 SECT II. 
 
 Of the Sacramental Test. 
 
 THAT the Law called The Test, is not, as 
 you fuggefl, the innocent Occafion only, but 
 the plain, the notorious, the culpable Cauje of thofe 
 Proflitutions of the Holy Sacrament, which, you 
 fay, you fee with Concern ; what room can there 
 be for any rational Doubt ? For does not the very 
 Defign and Intent of that Law, at leaft as 'tis now 
 apply'd, proftitute and pervert the Sacrament to 
 an Ufe not only different from, but directly repug- 
 nant to, that for which it was inftituted and de- 
 fign'd by Jesus Christ ? The Chnfiian La$o in- 
 joins it as a Mean, and with Intent, to unite and. 
 coalefce Chriftians. The Tejl4aw injoins it as a 
 Mean, and with Intent, to difcriminate and divide 
 them. For the Minijiers of Jesus Christ then 
 to be Advocates for a Law which proflitutes and 
 perverts an holy Sacrament of his Religion ; yea, 
 a Lav/ which makes themselves the very Inflru- 
 ments and loots of this fhameful Proflitution ; is 
 fuch a Violation of their Character, fuch a Profli- 
 tution of their facred Office, fuch a betraying the 
 folemn Trull committed to them by Gop, for which 
 they inuft give Account to the Chief Pajlor at his 
 coming, as cannot but greatly fhock an attentive 
 Beholder i, and asfhould give, methinks, extremely 
 painful Apprehenfions to themfelves. 
 
 •'* Theie Proflitutions, you allure us, you do fee 
 u with Concern ; but yet cannot be for the Re- 
 
 M PEAL 
 
[ '5 3 
 
 u peal, becaufe you think it incan/ijteni with the 
 " Prefervation of the Church *.'* What Church 
 alas? muft that be which cannot be preferred but by 
 an acknowledgM Prostitution and Perverfion of 
 an holy Sacrament ! Sure, not the Church of Ch r ist. 
 Let not Chriftians do Evil* that good may come ; 
 fuch carnal and corrupt Policy ever defeats itfelf^ 
 and its Condemnation isjuft-\. 
 
 You correct me for faying, — That by the Force of 
 this Law Multitudes of needy Perfons are compelled 
 to come to the Lord's Table, and cry,— — u GOD 
 ic forbid ! that the Temptations even of Poverty 
 u and Want fhould be efleem'd to have the nature 
 
 " of Force and Compulfion, for in that Cafe 
 
 " they would have no Guilt at all upon their Con- 
 lc fciences." So then, you can bring off, I find, 
 the young Adulterer from any Guilt with his lewd 
 Woman, Prov. vii. 21. becaule with the t lattery of 
 her Lips fhe forced him. I thought I had written 
 to a Eatchelor of Divinity, to a Gentleman who was 
 no Stranger to Scripture Language, and who knew 
 what is meant when the King commands his Servants 
 to compel the Guefts to come in, Luke xiv. 23. For 
 the like ufe of the Word compel, you may pleafe to 
 confult Galat. ii. 14. vi. 12. See alfo Luke xiv. 18, 
 20. in the Original. 
 
 That the Prieft has no Power to refuje the Lord's- 
 Supper to the vile ft Perfon that demands it as a 
 Qualification for a Pofl, you care not to admit, and 
 
 afk, " Is there any Law which forbids the Cu- 
 
 *' rate to repel him from the Lord? s-Table %V* Yes, 
 by equitable Conflrudion of the Law called the Teft ; 
 mod certainly there is : For the fame Law which 
 requires, under fevere Penalties, all Perfons in Pofts 
 to receive the Lord's- Supper according to the Ufage 
 of the Church of England, does, by indifputable 
 Confequence, require fome one to give it. If it 
 muft be received by them, it muft furely be given 
 
 S to 
 
 • II. Def p. 8. + Rom* iii. 8. % 11. Def, p, %> 
 
[ 16 ] 
 
 to them. To fuppofe the Legiflature to have obliged 
 them, under heavy Pains, to partake of the holy Sa- 
 crament •, but to have obliged none, upon their De- 
 mand, to adminifter it to them, is to fuppofe it 
 acting a moil abfurd and vmjuftiriable Part ; which 
 is not to be imagined. Who then is the Perfon to 
 whom, according to Law, a Man that wants the 
 facramental Qualification is to apply for that Ser- 
 vice ? Undoubtedly his Pariflo Prieft ; who is ap- 
 pointed and paid by Law for the Performance of 
 the feveral Offices which the State requires of him *, 
 of which this is plainly one. Whatever £ower there- 
 fore the Rubric gave the Curate to repel open Evil 
 Livers from the 'Table of the Lord before the Teft- 
 Aft took place, in Cafes of Qualification, it is now 
 unqueflionably fuperfeded, and the Rubric virtually 
 repeal 'd. For when a new Law injoins what is re- 
 pugnant to an old, that old Law is to be confider'd 
 as fo far fet afide. And as for the " Damages to 
 " which the Prieft is liable to be condemned for re- 
 " fujing the Sacrament ," thefe the Law, 'tis pre- 
 fum'd, will give according to the Lofs, which 
 the Perfon can make appear he hath fuftain'd by 
 that Refufal ; which in many Cafes may be great ; 
 more than the Prieft is worth. 
 
 " The Oath of Abjuration you efleem quite a Pa- 
 '" rallei to the Sacramental '•left \ and urge, that if one 
 " fhould be repealed becaufe it lays Men under vio- 
 <c lent Temptations to proflitute their Confciences ; 
 <c foalfo ought the other *." No, the Cafes, if duly 
 weighed, will be found to differ widely. An Oath 
 of Fidelity to the Government that employs us in 
 Polls of Influence and Power is a Security or Pledge 
 evidently founded in the Reafon of Things ; it has 
 been the Pradice immemorial of all civiliz'd Na- 
 tions ; Its Neceility, or great Expedience, mani- 
 festly arifes from the nature of civil Government •, 
 
 it 
 * Def. p. 6. 
 
[ i7 ] 
 it is therefore reafonably prefum'd to be the IVill 
 and lnfiitution of GOD the Author of Civil Go- 
 vernment ; and was inftituted for Purpofes of apo- 
 litical or civil kind. Here is no Proftitution then, 
 no Perverfion of this /acred Rite, when the Oatb 
 is tender'd to a Man at his Entrance upon a Pod 
 of Trull: ; and if a needy Jacobite takes it, to the 
 Pollution of his Confcience, him/elf only can be 
 blamed : The Law that ordered it is clear. But, 
 can any of this be faid concerning the sacramen- 
 tal Tejl ? Hath this been an Inftrument for the 
 Support of Civil Government in the greater!, mofl 
 flourifhing and wifeft Empires of the Earth ? Hath 
 God, the Author of civil Government, given the 
 lead Intimation of his intending it fuch a Guard ? 
 Had Christ the lnjlitutor of this Rite the leaft 
 Intention or Dejign that it mould be thus ufed and 
 applied ; be made an Engine and Tool of State ; 
 an Inftrument to difcriminate betwixt Chriftian and 
 Chriftian j to lift feme to Pofts of Power in the 
 Kingdoms of this World ; and to lay upon others 
 (Men equally virtuous) Brands of Odium and Dis- 
 grace? Had he not unqueftionably a quite con- 
 trary Defign ? You know, Sir, that he had. 
 Does he look then with Pleafure down, think you, 
 upon the Kingdom and Church, where he fees his 
 Name and Injlituiions thus openly violated, per- 
 verted, profaned ; his Priefts liking to have it *fo ; 
 approving, efpoufing, defending the Abuse ? I 
 own, I cannot think it ; and mould any Man ex- 
 prefs a fear that this is not the leaft of thofe na- 
 tional Sins which expofe us to Divine Difpleafure • 
 that it is a public Violation of that Righteousness 
 and Piety which alone can exalt a People \ 2. Ble- 
 mifh, a Difeafe which preys upon the Body Po- 
 litic ; and, if it does not threaten its DifTolution, yet 
 greatly impairs its Strength : I confefs I could not 
 prove his Fears to bz/uper/titious or weak. For if the 
 S 2 Church 
 
[ 18 ] 
 
 Church of Corinth was Severely chaftetfd for not 
 making a due Diftinclion betwixt the Sacrament 
 and their common Meals, and not eating it AS the 
 Lord's Supper ; I fee not but the Church of Eng- 
 land may have fomething aifo to fear, for thofe 
 Perverfions and Profit tuiions which, you own, you 
 fee with Concern; for its ufing this Sacrament 
 not only not according to, but directly again/t its pri- 
 mitive Inftitution ; to a Purpofe and for an End 
 which quite oppofes and fubverts one principleDefign 
 for which our Divine Mafter appointed thissACRRD 
 
 Rl TE. 
 
 High Offices and Court Employments, I have 
 acknowledg'd, might be apt to corrupt Dif enters \ 
 as every one knows them to have this Influence 
 upon the human Mind ; though as a Briton there- 
 fore and a Chriftian I wifti earneflly to Repeal, 
 yet as a Dijfenter I profefs no Solicitude about it. 
 " But I ought not then, you fay, fo ftrenuoujly to 
 " plead for their being admitted to fuch Employ- 
 " rnents, but to be very folicitous againjt it." Re- 
 view, Sir, in lefs hafte, and you will find, I am fo 
 far from pleading ftrenuoujly for their AdmilTion to 
 fuch Employments, that 1 have not fo much as 
 pleaded for it at all. All I plead for is, the Re- 
 moval of the Incapacity under which they unjufily 
 lie ; the breaking a difgraceful Yoke which the 
 *Ieft hath put upon their Necks ; and the reltoring 
 them to their native Freedom and Honour and 
 Right. That the State may have Liberty, if it 
 thinks it needs their faithful Services, to avail itfelf 
 of them ; and that it be left to their Liberty, their 
 Virtue, their Choice either to accept or refufe Pofts 
 of Truft under the Government ; and that they may 
 not fland branded and fligmatiz'd before the World 
 as Perfons incapable and unworthy of fuch Trufts * 
 
 S E C T. 
 
 * In the late excellent Comment on Warburtoifs Alliance, 
 &c. thePaflageofroyyVrtW Letter, to which this refers, is not 
 
 only 
 
£ f9 I 
 
 SECT. HI. 
 Of our Const i tot ion in Church and State* 
 
 YO U feero a little difpleafed at my doubting 
 " Whether the Church were an eflential and 
 ** an half Part of our Const itutjon ? and whe- 
 " ther Church and State here in England are fo /«- 
 " cvrporated and untied as that, like the married Pair^ 
 ** they mud ftand or fall together ? and alledge, 
 u that in all the Converfation as well as in the Wri- 
 •• tings of Dijfenters and others, we read and hear 
 " continually cf the ecckfiaftkal as diftinguifhed 
 " from the civil Conftituiion : Yea, even from the 
 ** Throne and both Hou fes of Parliament we often 
 
 u hear 
 
 only miftaken, but not faithfully and exa&ly quoted. In the Let- 
 /fritftandsthus, p. 74, 75. — " Though I think vims Law amoftun- 
 " righteous Reji taint upon us, and an undoubted Violation 0/ our na- 
 " tural Rights ; yet I am far from being perfuaded that its Repeal 
 " would be of the leaf Service to our Inter eft as Dissenters. / 
 " doubt, and have often thought, there is too much Truth in what 
 u you fay, that high Trufts and Court-Employments would be 
 ** extremely apt to corrupt us ; and that it would really rather in- 
 ** jure than firengthen cur lntereft. I have never therefore as a 
 4t Dissenter been at all folicitous for the Repeal." 
 
 Note, This is exprefs'd only as a Doubt or Sufpicion ; but the 
 Author of that Comment hath made it f3y in pofitive 
 and ftrong Terms (p. 1 23) " That a Repeal of the Test 
 and Corpo ration A els would re ally be injurious to th$ 
 lntereft of Protefiant Dijfenters; or, that I am per/uaded it 
 would rather injure than ft lengthen our lntereft.'" Which it 
 giving the PafTage a very different Turn. 
 Ami when that Gentleman ajks, — " Is there an abfclute Incapa- 
 city of being virtuous in high Stations ? I Jnfwer, No : But if 
 there be a great Danger of being Vttious ; this will juftify furely 
 an Indifference ; a no folicitude about them ; and will excufe, at 
 leaft, a Doubt a Fear as to the Event. And when he further 
 afks,— " Would any Man think his Condutt juftifiable, fhould 
 ** he refu/e a large Eftate merely becaufe of the greater Danger 
 44 of his being corrupted by it ?" I Anfwer, 1. There have beea 
 
 In ft a aces 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 li hear of our Conftitution in Church and State*." 
 Bat dived yourfelf, for a moment, of worldly attach- 
 ments$w\\\Qh infenfibly warp the Mind, and you will 
 fee it, I believe, to be a very rational Doubt. For 
 our cccicfiajlka}, however commonly diftinguifhed 
 by Sounds, I have fully proved in my firft Letter 
 (page 19 — 29, to which you have not prefumed to 
 make the lcaft Reply) as alfo in the Beginning of 
 this Letter, to be really no other than a civil Confti- 
 tution ; a Sy/tem or Frame contrived, difpofed and 
 enacted by the Civil Magistrate ; as much as. 
 the Conftitution of the Treqjury, of the A?my^ 01 of 
 the Courts of IVefuMfifter-Hall. Thefe all, Sir, have 
 their Covftttutions, (that is, their feveral Parts of the 
 public Bufmefs afiigned them todifpatch, and their 
 feveral Officers and Forms and Methods of proceed- 
 ing in them) as really, as truly, and as much as 
 the Church. The Army is the Conjtitittion and Or- 
 der of the civil Magiftrate relating to the Direction 
 
 of 
 
 Infhnces of fuch Refufai recorded, and, perhaps, juftly, as In- 
 fiances of heroic Virtue. But, 2. To refuse it when offer 'd,is , 
 a thing extremely different from being solicitous to obtain it. 
 Public Oilices andTrufh, when offered by thofe in Power, ought 
 not tc be refufid by fuch as think themfelves capable of rightly 
 difchargmg them ; becaufe this would be to rejecl an Opportu- 
 nity of Publk Service, to which their Country calls them. But 
 this may be done without a Solicitude to procure them. 
 
 The Paffage on which this ingenious Author has ftep'd afide to 
 remark, fpeaks but the very lame Sentiment which himfelf has 
 elfewhere, perhaps more ftrongly exprefs'd. Comment, CirV. page 
 138. U An indifferevcy to the Honours, Riches and Pleafures of 
 '* this World, a Contempt of and Victory over them, is the lnde» 
 " pendency and Supremacy which the true Religion and Church 
 " can boaft ; the Refignation (or Lofs) of which muft be infinitely 
 V dangerous to her, her Poifon, her death Wound." — Again, page 
 131. •• Though it may be thought 1 am pleading for the In- 
 ** traduction of Proteftant Diffenters into Places of Profit andTruft, 
 " 1 am fully perfuaded that their having fuch Places would not 
 ** make them more religious Men, nor from Numbers of them fo 
 44 employed would their Societies appear with greater Reputation 
 ** as religious Societies." 
 
 * Let. I. page n. II. Dzf. pages 9, 10. 
 
[ 21 ] 
 
 of the Military Force. The Treasury is the Con- 
 ftitution and Order of the fame Magiftrate relating 
 to the Collection and Difpofal of the public Monies. 
 The Courts of We\tminftfr- hall are the Conflitution 
 of the fame Magiftrate for the difpenfing public Juf- 
 tice. And the Church is the Conflitution and Or- 
 der of the fame Magiftrate relating to the Manner in 
 which the public Worfhip is to be performed. The 
 Officers in each are all entirely made, inftrutied, con- 
 trouled by the Power of the civil Magistrate : 
 'Tisby his Authority alone they are all qualified and 
 impowered to acl in their refpeclive Stations ; and 
 'tis in that Manner, and by tbofe Rules only which 
 his IVifdom hath prefcribed, that in all their refpec- 
 tive Offices they feverally proceed. 
 
 What you call then the tcckftaftical is really, you 
 fee, no other than a Branch of the civil Conflitution*, 
 and what you call the Church is in truth no more 
 an effential, much lefs an half Pan of our Consti- 
 tution, than the Treafv.ry, the Army, or either 
 of the Courts of Weflminfter-ball. Should, now, the 
 Wifdom of the Legifiature think proper to new-form 
 any of thefe Conftiiu lions • for inftance, the Method 
 of difpenfing Juftice in any of our Lazv Courts 
 (which Courts, by the way, are all of much longer 
 ftanding than the Conflitution of our prefent Church) 
 by which a Saving would arife of vail Sums to the 
 Public, and Juftice be difpenfed in a more rational 
 and eafy way : Would you not fmile to hear fome 
 zealous Gentlemen of the Robe fland forth and in- 
 fill, That thefe Courts were an ejjentinl and an 
 
 half Part of the Constitution • and that therefore 
 whoever moved for, or jo much as wifhed, an Alte- 
 ration in either of them, could not be fafcly trufied 
 with any fhare of the public Power, and was really in 
 Truth an Enemy to the State — } The learned 
 Gentlemen of that Robe, Sir, no doubt, alike 
 
 fmile 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 fmile to hear you thus reafoning as to the 
 Church *. 
 
 By " the Constitution m Church and State, 
 u then, of which we often hear even in Speeches 
 **• and AddreiTcs from, and to the Throne/' can be 
 
 meant nothing elfe, than, that Order or 
 
 Form of Government refpe cling all Per fens and 
 Things wbhh is tftcblijbed by the Laws and Cuficms of 
 this Realm. A Co n s t i t u t i on , by w hich the King 
 or Qceen, as fupreme Head of the Church, is the 
 fountain of all Power and Jurifdittion therein ; au- 
 thorifed to inftruct, over-rule and controul ail the 
 Arcbbijhsps, Bi/hops^ and Pnefts in this kingdom, in 
 3ll tlieir moil spiritual and ecclesiastical 
 
 concerns A Const i tution, by which a Lady, 
 
 when fuch fills the Throne, is impowered to com- 
 
 pofe 
 
 * That the Account here given of the Nature and Ccnfitution of 
 the Church of England is quite agreeable to the Sentiments of our 
 jirf Reformers, the Founder: and Framers of it, appears from 
 the determination of a felecl Aflembiy of them, convened at Wind- 
 kr by K. Ed-ward VI. by whom (as may be concluded from Arch- 
 biffiop Cranmer% Manufcript) it was declared. 
 
 44 That all Chriftian Princes have committed to them immedi- 
 44 ately from God the ivbole cure of their Subjects; as well con- 
 •* cerning the administration of God's Word for the Cure of Souls, 
 " as concerning the Miniftrationof things political and civilGo- 
 44 vernance. Jn both thefe Miniftrations they muft have fim- 
 44 drv Minifters under them, to iupply that which is apppinted to 
 u their feveral Offices. 
 
 « 4 The r/WMinifters under the King's Majefty in this Realm be 
 " thofe whom it inall pleale his Highnefs, for the time, to put in 
 " Authority under him; as for Example, the Lord Chancellor, Lord 
 44 Treafurer, Lord Admiral, &c. 
 
 " The Minifters of Gob'; Word under his Majefty be the Bi- 
 " /bops. Par/ens, Vicart, and fuch other Priefls as be appointed 
 44 by his Highnefs to that Miniftration ; as for Example, the Bi- 
 " fhop of Canterbury, the Bifhop of Wincbefttr, the Parfon of 
 •■ Coytnuick, &c 
 
 " All the faid Officers and Minifters, as well of the one fort ai 
 •* of the other, be appointed, affigned and elefted in every Place 
 * by the L aw: and Orders of Kings and P^inces. ,, [Vide an Ex- 
 tras! from Archbijkop Crminey.; M.S. billing. Irtn. Pari II. Q. 
 ▼iii. page 39I. 
 
[ 2 3 ] 
 pfi/e public Prayers for the Church ; to ftop all 
 Preaching therein ; to fill vacant Bifhoprics with 
 what Peribns (he pleafes, or not to fill them at all * ; 
 to direct all Ecehfiaftics what they Jhall, or /hall not 
 preach ; and even in the moft abftrufe and metaphy- 
 seal Points to be the final Judge of Heresie ; 
 whofe Judgment mull: ltand, as to what fhall or 
 fhall not be deemed Heresie in this Church, even 
 though it happen to contraditl that of all her learned 
 Clergy in Convocation convened. 
 
 Thus that renown'd Lady Queen Elizabeth, in 
 the Fulnefs of her ecclefiaflical Power, herself 
 compos'd a Prayer, Archdeacon Eehard f informs 
 us, for the ufe of a great Number of her Nobility and 
 Gentry, as well as her Soldiers and Sailors, in the 
 Expedition againft Cadiz, directing it to be u/ed 
 daily in every Ship. And by virtue of her Supremacy 
 fhe might, I prefume, if Ihe had pleas'd (and that 
 any future Queen may) compofe Prayers for the 
 ufe of the Archbifhops, Bifhops, and all the Clergy of 
 the Land ; and injoin their folemn Ufe every Sunday 
 in the Church ; and that the Ufe of fuch devout 
 feminine Compofitions, no Bifhop nor Priejl 
 can agreeably to our Constitution, in any wife 
 refufe. 
 
 The fame Royal Lady, by virtue of her Procla- 
 mation only, put an entire flop to all Preaching of 
 Minifters and others throughout the Kingdom \ 
 and the People were charged to bear no other Preach- 
 ing or Doclrine, but the Epijile and Go/pel of the Day, 
 and the Ten Commandments, without any Expofition or 
 Paraphrafe thereon. And mould any future Queen 
 
 T think 
 
 * Any of the Bifhoprics may be kept vacant by the Princes 
 of England, as thole of Ely and Oxford were by Q^ Elizabeth i 
 the latter had no Bifhop for 22 Years. The Parliament difiblved 
 the rich Bifhcpric of Durham in King Edward VI's Reign, and 
 gave the Profits to the Crown. And it had remained ditfblved 
 to this Day, probably, had not Popifh Q^Mary reitored h, 
 
 t Hift. of England, p, 367. Col. 1. 
 
[ 24 ] 
 
 think proper to do the fame, I humbly apprehend, 
 all her Biihops and Clergy are, by our Constitu- 
 tion in Church and State, oblig'd to obey. 
 
 By the fame Conftitution King Charles I. put forth 
 a Proclamation ( if a Woman had worn the Ciown, 
 Jhe alfo might have done it •, as any future Queen 
 may) commanding the Clergy not to preach or dif- 
 pute about Arminianifm. The learn'd Bifhop Dave- 
 nant, prefuming to preach upon the Do&rine of 
 Predeftination, was forced to appear upon his Knees 
 before the Council ; and being feverely reprimanded, 
 hardly fo efcaped : Though he alledg'd he had 
 preach'd nothing but the XVIIth Article of the 
 Church of England. The King, not only in his 
 Superior, but supreme ecclefiaftic, Wifdom told 
 
 him, " The Dotlrine of Predeftination was too 
 
 ** big for the Peoples Under '[landings -, and that HE 
 " was resolved not to permit that Conlroverfy to 
 " be difcufs'd in the Pulpit V 
 
 What Authority our Conjtitution gives Queens 
 to judge in Points of Heresie (the mod deep and 
 myftenous Points) and to controul the Proceedings 
 of the mod venerable and holy Synod which the 
 Clergy of this Kingdom can pollibly compofe, has 
 been obferv'd in the Cafe of Whijton, whom Queen 
 Anne, by htrfok Authority, fkreen'd from the hea- 
 vy Cenfure of her learn'd Convocation. Her fingle 
 Judgment, in the Balance of our apoftolic and ex- 
 cellently conflituted Church, being of far greater 
 Weight than that of the united Biihops and Clergy 
 of the whole Land. This you are pleafed, weakly 
 enough, to call Mifreprefentation ; but might have 
 feen the Truth ot it attefted by two of your own 
 learn'd and reverend Hiftorians Burnet and Tindal> 
 in their Accounts of the Year 1 7 1 1 . 
 
 Again, 
 
 * tiUe Fuller's Church Hid. Book IX. page 138 
 The fame blefled Martyr, by his royal mandate only, without 
 any trial, fequeftered and fufpended from the execution of his of- 
 fice good Archbifhop Abbtt, for refufing his licence and approba- 
 tion to a mod vile and fcandalous fermon of Sjbtborp. 
 
f 25 ] 
 
 Again, by our prefent Conftitution the King alone, 
 or at leaft by Content of Parliament, hath undoubted 
 Power to divide the twenty- fix Biftioprics, into 
 which this Kingdom is at prefent cantoned, into as 
 many hundred; and thus to render tliem more like 
 the Bifhoprics of the fir ft ages • when every Chriili- 
 an Bifliop took the over fight of no more than he 
 could personally know, and than could communicate 
 at one Tableau Power to new-frame the whole 
 order of public worfhip; to abolifh its prefent ar- 
 ticles, ceremonies and forms ; and to fubftitute 
 none «at all, or quite new ones, in their (lead. A. 
 Power to difpofe of that part of the public trea- 
 sure by which the Clergy are maintained in a more 
 equitable and jufl.er manner ; and to reduce the 
 fhameful Exorbitance, by which fome Members of 
 that great, and in itfelf venerable and ufeful Body, 
 wanton in vail Affluence, Indolence and Sloth, 
 (which may be what you call Snugnefi) whilft others 
 more virtuous, laborious and learned wear away 
 their Lives in Obfcurity and Want. — This, Sir, 
 without queftion, is our prefent Constitution in 
 Church and State. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Of Sponsors in Baptifm. 
 
 YOUR Defence of Sponfors in Baptifm comes 
 next to be confidered. Here you affirm, — • 
 * l That I reprefent the Ufe of Sponfors as a very 
 " myfterious Point, as an unaccountable, inexplicable^ 
 " ah fur d and unlawful thing*." An Aifertion 
 hurried from you by the Ardor of Zeal, but quite 
 without Truth. The Ufe of Sponfors, in all Cafes of 
 Parents Incapacity, I entirely approve ; and expreflv 
 T z told 
 
 * II. .Def page 24. 
 
[ 26 ] 
 told you, That in fitch Cafes the Dijjenters alfo ufe 
 them*. You could not, without extreme Inattention, 
 but fee, that it was '* The setting aside the Pa- 
 <c rents), the forbidding them to ftand forth and 
 u ewage Jolemnly for the religious Education of the 
 a Child ; and the receiving the Child to Baptifm upon 
 " account of its own Faith and its own Promise 
 tc expreffed by its Sureties," that I thus reprefent. 
 And though I have the Pleafure now to find you 
 tacitly giving up, though not honourably retracting, 
 that precipitant Expreflion, " That Godfathers are 
 " not an ufeful only, but even a NECESSARY In- 
 tc jtitution" yet fcarcely, without Pain, can one fee 
 you grievouily embarrafTed in accounting for the 
 Anfwers made at the Font. Thefe, you (till infift, 
 are not the Sureties^ but the Child's Anfwers. 
 But your Attempts to explain, how a Child who 
 
 cannot believe, does yet prof efs Faith \ How the 
 
 Infant who in no Senfe can promife or engage; 
 does yet really and in good Senfe vow and en- 
 gage! How the Babe, who has no Thought, no 
 
 Purpofes, nor Defires, may yet exprefs thefe by the 
 Mouth of its Sureties; and thefe Expreflions of what 
 it hath not, and cannot poffibly have, are accepted 
 by the Church as a proper Token that it hath them, 
 
 and as a folid Ground of Baptifm! This is (till 
 
 to me, and 1 believe to all the World, as inexpli- 
 cable, myfterious, tranfcendent a thing as before 
 you undertook to unvail and explain it. 
 
 Nay, the Myftery grows upon you, by attempt- 
 ing to unfold it ; For you declare, " That the 
 " Ground and Foundation of Infants being received 
 " to Baptifm, in your Church, is the Promife of 
 " God to Believers and their Seedf." Mind then, 
 'tis the Faith of the Parent that intitles the Child 
 to Baptifm •, but if the Ground of its being received 
 to this Chriflian Sacrament be the Faith of its Pa- 
 rent 
 
 * L«t. If. page 42. f .11. Defence, page 28* 
 
[ 27 J 
 rent only, why do you receive it as if upon ac- 
 count of its own Faith? Why interrogate the 
 
 poor Babe ? Doft thou believe? Wilt thou 
 
 be baptifed? Again, if the Parent's Faith 
 
 be that which intitles the Child to Baptifm-, why is 
 not the Parent the Perfon who (lands forth to 
 profefs Faith as a Qualification for the Baptifm of 
 the Child? Why is the Child called upon vica- 
 rioujly to declare, that itfelf believes, that it f elf 
 defires Baptifm, &c. when all the World (cgs 
 that it neither knows, nor does, nor can in any fenfe 
 at all do either of thefe things ? 
 
 You endeavour to explain the Matter " by an 
 " Infant in the Lord of the Manor's Court, who by 
 " his Attorney is admitted to his Copy-hold, and 
 " covenants to do Homage for the fame ; or, by 
 " an Infant-King, who hath fome one of the No- 
 u bility who in his Name and for his Benefit is ap- 
 *' pointed to take the Coronation Oath ; and there- 
 " by oblige him to obferve the Laws and protect 
 " his Subjects*. But r.hefe Inftances avail you 
 nothing, For, 
 
 i. The Child, when admitted by his Attorney in 
 the Lord's Court to his Copy-hold, does not cove- 
 nant to do Homage for the fame. That he does not 
 covenant, I prove by a very plain and inconteflable 
 Argument, which is, that he cannot. There is no 
 Senfe at all, no religious or moral Senfc, in which the 
 Infant can with any Truth or Propriety be faid to 
 covenant. No, 'tis the Attorney, and he alone that 
 covenants to perform the Homage. And in the 
 Cafe of a Minor King, when one of the Nobility 
 takes the Coronation-Oath in Its Name or Stead (if 
 any fuch Ceremony be ever performed) he does not, 
 cannot in any Senfe thereby oblige the Royal Infant to 
 cbferve the Laws and protett the Subjecl : Not w hi 1ft 
 an Infant -, becanfe, not being a moral Agent, he 
 
 cannot 
 * II. Def p. 129. 
 
f 28 ] 
 
 cannot porTibly be capable of moral Obligation : And 
 not when he comes of Age ; becauie the Promife 
 or Oath of one rational moral Agent, can never pro- 
 perly oblige another, if that other was not at all 
 confcious of, nor gave his Con fen t to it. The whole 
 Nature and Extent of the Obligation in that Cafe is 
 unquestionably this: The Nobleman who takes the 
 Oath, as perfonating the King, and who during the 
 Minority is vefted with the regal Power, (wears 
 that £<? himself will, in the Exereife of that Power, 
 obferve the Laws and protect the Subjects. The 
 Obligation of this Oath, which is made by himjeif 
 only, can extend only to bimfelf \ and it lafts only 
 fo long as he continues vefted with the regal Power. 
 But when the Royal Infant comes of Age, and af- 
 fumes the Power into his own Hands -, he muft per- 
 sonally take the Oath ; or fome way or other fignify 
 his foiemn AiTent to it, in order to his being laid 
 under any real Obligation by it. And then, 
 
 2. Thefe Cafes alfo widely differ from that of the 
 baptized Infant, becaufe in both of them there are 
 feveral important Services and Anions to be done, 
 (which mujl be performed by fome one) whilft the 
 Minority continues. In the firft, there are Suits and 
 Services in the Lord's Court, and Quit-rents to be 
 paid. In the other, there are -Icls of regal Power 
 to be continually exerted for the due Government of 
 the People, even whilft the Infancy remains. 
 Thefe, therefore, being indifpenfibly Necejj'ary to 
 be done, and the Infant being utterly incapable of 
 doing them, hence arifes a Neceflity of fome Per- 
 foil's undertaking to Difcharge thefe Offices for 
 him, and to act in the Infant's ftead. But, is there 
 any Thing like this in the Cafe of baptized Infants? 
 Is there any Service, or Homage, any Faith or Vows 
 which God expects from them whilft their Infancy 
 lap ? You know there is not. If God then expects 
 no fuch Services from the Infant, why are Sponfors 
 called forth to pretend to perform them for him ! 
 
 And 
 
[ 29 ] 
 
 And this when the pretence is in every View ridi- 
 culous; becaufe in Things of Religion 'tis utterly 
 abfurd for one Man to pretend to promije, to re- 
 pent, to believe in the Name of another. 
 
 One principal Defign of the Baptifm of a Child, 
 you own, " is that fome Security be given ; fome 
 u folemn Stipulation be made before the Church 
 ** for its religious Education." Who then, 
 I pray, fo proper to give this Security, as the Per- 
 fon to whom its Education is committed ? Whom 
 fhould the Church bring under the Engagement of 
 a folemn Vow or Covenant for this purpofe ? Stran- 
 ger s, who, perhaps, never faw the Child ; or, who 
 when the Ceremony is pad, will never fee it more! 
 Or the Parents, in whofe Family it is to grow up, 
 and under whofe Eye it is to be formed! 
 
 An explicit Stipulation, in your Baptifm of 
 an Infant, you do not pretend there is any but what 
 the Child (poor Babe) itself makes ; " but the 
 ** Sureties by {landing there, and receiving a fo- 
 w lemn Charge concerning the religious Educa- 
 " tion of the Child are juflly fuppofed to accept 
 " it V But do you not know, Sir, that this is no 
 Stipulation, neither explicit nor implicit. A Stipu- 
 lation is a mutual Proraife : But though the Spon- 
 fors (land there, and hear the Admonition ; no 
 Anfwer, no Word, no Token is required of them 
 by which to fignify their folemn Purpofe and En- 
 gagement to obey it. Accordingly, when they re- 
 turn home, they too generally with great Levity 
 fhake off the Charge again, avd threw it over to the 
 Parent^. And thus the folemnity of the Inflitu- 
 tion dwindles into a mere Trifling, if not ludicrous 
 Ceremony ; and your beaded double Security flill re- 
 mains no real Security at all. 
 
 Dr. Nichols's Account of this apparently abfurd 
 and myfterious Affair, to which I referred you, is to 
 
 be 
 * II. Def. p. 36. f Com. to the Temp. p. 612. 
 
[ 30-3 
 
 be fure far more defenfible, though quite contrary 
 to yours, viz. " Baptifatorum fidcm religiofe in fe 
 14 recipiebant, eos fincere omnia in Evangelio reve- 
 M lata credere, & fubfequentes vitae actiones juxta 
 
 4C Chrifti normam diredturos effe *." That the 
 
 Sureties religioufly engaged for the Faith of the Bap- 
 tifed, that they should ftncerely believe all that was 
 revealed in the Go/pel, and dire ft the fubfequent Ac- 
 tions of their Lives by the Law of Chrift. This you 
 call my Tranjlation -, and tax me before the World 
 " for having wrong translated/'/ to ferve my 
 <l Purpofef." It will give you, furely, fome Confufi- 
 on and Pain to be told that this is not mine, but is the 
 Doclor's own Tranjlation, or that of his learned 
 Friend who publifhed his Defence, &c. And I appeal 
 to the Public, whether the Doclor's or Tours be 
 the proper Rendering of the Words. Is Red f ere infe 
 
 fidem baptifatorum, To make a folemn Declaration 
 
 and Profejfion touching the Faith of the Baptifed? 
 
 Befides, the Doclor was too wife a Perfon to repre- 
 fent the Sureties, as you would have him, as mak- 
 ing a folemn Declaration that the Infant did fine erely 
 
 believe all that is revealed in the Gofpcl, becaufe 
 
 this he well knew was what no wife or honed Man 
 could polTibly declare concerning any Infant upon 
 
 Earth. He knew it abfurd to affirm, 'That the 
 
 Infant did believe at all; much more to affirm 
 that it sincerely believed > y but more even yet, 
 that it ftncerely b lieved all that is revealed in the 
 
 Go/pel. Which ever way you view it then, 'tis 
 
 all myfterious and recondite : And this Bufinefs of 
 the Sureties and their Anfwers at the Font, after all 
 your Pains to clear it up, is ftill covered with ex- 
 tremely dark and impenetrable Clouds, which, till 
 fome new Light fhall arife, one may venture to pro- 
 phefy will never be difpelled : It turns the Cere- 
 mony of your Baptifm into little elfe than a folemn 
 Trifle ; and furnifhes to Unbelievers Matter of ever- 
 lading Ridicule and Contempt. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 * Nicli. Def. Part, II. p 273. f n Def - P- 2( >- 
 
[ 3i 1 
 SECT V. 
 
 O/CONFIRMATION, 
 
 AS to the Ceremony of Confirmation, you are 
 Hill fo wife as not to avTert any Scriptural or 
 Apo frolic Authority for its Practice. But yet afk, — ■ 
 " If both the ordinary and extraordinary Gifts of the 
 " Spirit were communicated by the Apoftles by 
 " Impofition of Hands, why may we not expect that 
 <c the ordinary ones will be ftill communicated by 
 " the fame Adminiflration ? And why fhould we 
 " not continue that Adminiflration in the Church 
 " in Hope and Expectation of them * ? By thefe 
 ordinary Gifts, as you fully explain yourfelf, you 
 mean, what are ufually called, the Graces of the 
 Spirit, even the Spirit of Love and of a sounp 
 Mind. For you add, " If this Spirit of Love and 
 <c of a found Mind was given to Timothy by 
 " impofition of Hands in his Ordination ; why 
 cC may it not be done by the fame Ceremony 
 cC in Confirmation ?" I am forry there is a Pro- 
 teftant Divine in this Kingdom capable of afking 
 fuch J a Queftion as this. For, i. This Spirit of Love 
 and oj a found Mind iy^q^ <™<pp<m^«,. which you en- 
 courage us to expect from the laying on of the Z?/'- 
 Jhofs Hands, is one of the fublimeft Gifts con- 
 ferred upon the human Race, by the Gofpel of 
 Christ. A Gift which far excells an Ability to 
 fpeak with Tongues, a Faith that can remove Moun- 
 tains, a Power to call: out Devils, to heal all manner 
 
 of Difeafes, or even to raife the Dead. The 
 
 Spir[t of Love and of a sound Mind far excells 
 them all •, and yet this it feems we may now expect 
 by the laying on of the Bifhop's Hands! BleiTed 
 Episcopacy indeed, if it carries with \xfuch Gifts 1 . 
 
 U But 
 
 * II. Def. t>, 38; 
 
[ 32 T 
 But how foolifli and wild the Claim, if neither Scrip- 
 ture nor Reafon lend it the leaft Support ! For, 
 
 2. Becauie this Gift was confer r'd on Timothy at 
 his Ordination by the laying on of the Apostles 
 Hands ; does it follow, that the fame Gifts may be 
 expected in Confirmation from the Hands of our pre- 
 sent Bi/hops ? Is there Power in their Lordfhip's 
 Fingers to convey fo divine a Biejfing to the Head 
 on which they reft ? You mould know, Sir, that 
 the learned Prelates of this Church abhor the pre- 
 fumptuous Claim : They pretend to no fuch Power. 
 Why then will you ojpctoujly prefume to claim it for 
 them? And why amufe the World, and give Infi- 
 dels room to feoff by the ufe of a folemn Ceremony 
 for the conferring thefe Gift 4 9 which no mortal 
 Man hath now Power to bellow ? The Age is cri- 
 tical and diicerning. For the Honour of the Chril- 
 tian Name therefore, and the Dignity of Chriftian 
 Bijhops, all Claims not clearly founded on Scrip- 
 ture or Reafon, and all Offices and Rites not evi- 
 dently fupported by them, fhould at the leaft be 
 filently dropt. 
 
 The only Rite, after Baptifm, which I find either 
 inftituted or praclifed by Christ and his ApoJlles y 
 u to make a public Recognition of baptifmal 
 " Engagements in the Face of a Chriftian Congre- 
 " gation,*' is the celebrating the Lord's Supier. By 
 this Chriftians are openly to profefs themlelves the 
 Subjects and Followers of Jesus Christ; tore- 
 cognize their baptifmal Covenant-, to Jhew forth 
 that Death by which he purchas'd them to himfelf ; 
 andinthemoft public and fokmn manner to lay 
 themfelves under frefh and moft facred Obligations 
 
 to live obedient to his Laws. Here then are all 
 
 the Ends which can rationally be propos'd in the 
 ufe of Confirm s t ion , a human Invention, more effec- 
 tually and better anfwer'd in that of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, an undoubted Inftitution H and Command of 
 Jesus Christ. With the Emblems of their Sa- 
 viour's 
 
[ 33 ] 
 viour's 'Body and Blood in their Hands, the Recogni- 
 tion they here make of their Engagements to an 
 holy Life is vaftjy more foiemn, the Motives to 
 Obedience more powerful and conftraining, and 
 they are certified of God'j Favour and gracious 
 Goodnefs to them by a Token incomparably more 
 important than the laying on of the Bijhop's Hands. — ; 
 If you afk, " What is this to thofe who dare not 
 V offer themfelves to the Sacrament * ?" I anfwer, 
 fuch have* equal reafon not to offer themfelves to 
 Confirmation j the fame Faith and Sincerity which 
 are requifite to render a Perfon a proper Subject of 
 the one, make him alio a worthy Communicant in 
 the other. 
 
 That this Ceremony of Confirmation is no Part of 
 genuine and primitive Christianity, there are 
 few, I fuppofe none, of our learned Bifhops and 
 Divines, but perfectly know. Tertullian is the mofl 
 antient Author in which Mention of it is found. 
 But by bis time, 'tis well known, a great Variety 
 of Superftiiions and ridiculous and foolilh Rites were 
 brought into the Church. And you are alio, I pre- 
 fume, not ignorant that Confirmation was then al- 
 ways performed (not as it is with us, but) imme- 
 diately after Bapli]m n as it is now alio through- 
 out the Greek Church, and all the Churches of the 
 Eaft. A due Regard to this will lead you to the 
 true Meaning of that Expreflion in your office, 
 which you are fo embarrafs'd in clearing up ; where 
 the BiiTiop declares to God, 'That be bath vouchsafed 
 to regenerate theje his Servants by Water and the Holy 
 Ghojt, and to give them the Forgivenefs of all their 
 Sins. An Expreflion taken, probably, from fome 
 antient Liturgy ; and which was fuitable and well 
 adapted to the Practice of thofe Times, but is ut^ 
 terly incongruous and unfuitable to ours. 
 
 For then, as Dr. Cave obferves f, " Though In- 
 
 " fants were undoubtedly taken into the Church by 
 
 U % " Bap- 
 
 S II. Def. p. 39. % Frim. Chrif. Part I. p. 194, 308* 
 
[ 34 3 
 li Baptifm, yet the main Body of the Baptifed were 
 M adult Perfons ; who, flocking over daily in great 
 u Numbers to the Faith of Chrift, were received in 
 " at this Door. Ufuall.y they were for fome con- 
 " fiderable time catechifed, and trained up in the 
 u Principles of the Cbriftian Faith ; till having 
 M given Teftimony of their Proficiency in Know- 
 " ledge, and of a fober and regular Converfation, 
 f* they became Candidates for Baptifm :** Or as a 
 greater Author * fays, " The Catechumens enjoy'd 
 46 not the Privileges of the Faithful till they had, 
 ic in a Senfe, merited them ; which was when, thro* 
 " a confiderable time of Trial, they had evidenced 
 <c the Sincerity of their Hearts by the San&ity and 
 * c Purity of their Lives : And then, as Origin fays, 
 " We initiate them in our Myfteries, when they have 
 <c made a Proficiency in Holinefs, and according to the 
 cc utmoft of their Power have reformed their Conver- 
 * c fation. When they had changed their Manners 
 " and rectified their irregular Carriage, then they 
 " were warned with the Water of Baptifm, and not 
 <c before. For, as Tertullian obferves, we are not 
 <c baptifed, that we may ceafe to fin • but becaufe we 
 <c have already ceafed" Now when this was 
 the Cafe, and immediately after Baptifm Confirmation 
 was adminiftred, there was fome Decency and Pro- 
 priety in the Bifhop's or Prefoyter's (for Prefbyters 
 alio then confirm'd) addreiling Almighty God as 
 having vouchfafed to regenerate thefe his Servants with 
 Water and the Holy Ghoft, and to grant them the For- 
 given efs of all their Sins. But how different, alas ! 
 Cvaflly different) the Cafe at prefent is with the Mul- 
 titudes who flock to our modern Confirmations! How 
 rude and unferious they rufh to receive this epifcopal 
 Grace! In how perfunctory and flight a manner the 
 Ceremony is performed. What Riot and Diforder 
 frequently concludes the Day !— — is. too obvious to 
 
 the 
 • Inquiry into the Conftitutbn, Cfc. Part I. p, 102. 
 
[ 35 ] 
 
 the World, and would feem, perhaps, invidious if 
 fet in its proper Light. 
 
 Your laboured Apology for the Bifhop's making 
 that very weighty and folemn Declaration over a pro- 
 nvfeuous Affembly, which is fuppofed to include 
 many vitious and corrupt Perfons, is effectually 
 
 overthrown by your own juil Concejfion, " that 
 
 ** if he was, indeed, to declare to each individual 
 " Perfon, by hiwfelf, that God had regenerated 
 u him in particular with the Holy Gbofi and for- 
 " given him all his Sins, it would be a different 
 
 " Cafe. Such a Perfon might be tempted there- 
 
 " by to entertain better Thoughts of the State of his 
 " Soul than he had Reafon for, and to delude himfelf 
 " with deceitful Hopes *." Behold this, in effect, in- 
 difputably done! For each individual Perfon, after 
 having heard this folemn Declaration pronounced 
 over bimfelf in common with .all the reft, is pre- 
 fen ted feparately by his Parifh Prieft ; and kneeling 
 before the Bifhop, feels his confe crating Hand refil- 
 ing upon bis Head, and hears himself diftindtfy 
 and perfonally certified (assured from the Bifhop* s 
 MouthJ that this is a Token of GOD's Favour 
 and gracious Goodnefs to him in particular. What 
 now, I afk, is the obvious, the natural Conftruclion 
 which the Perfon puts upon all this! Why furely, 
 unlefs he thinks the whole Solemnity a Farce ; and 
 that the Bifhop and Prieft (his fpiritual Guides, 
 whofe Lips are topreferve Knowledge, and who are to 
 be the Mouth of God to him) have confpired to put 
 a dangerous Cheat upon his Soul, he muft ftrongly 
 conclude his Soul to be in a happy and fafe Cafe ; in a 
 State of Favour with God j and a Partaker of that 
 Forghenefs which his gracious Goodnefs hath pro- 
 
 mifed in the Gofpel of Cbrijl. Whether the 
 
 Continuance of this Ceremony, in its prefent Form of 
 Adminiflration, be either for the Honour of the 
 Adminiflrator, or for the Benefit of the Church ? — 
 
 WW 
 • II.Dcf.p. 43. 
 
f 36 ] 
 
 Whether it hath not an apparent Tendency to cbe- 
 rifh a delufive Hope, and to fpeak Peace tojucb Per- 
 fons as are not, by the Cbriflian Covenant, entitled 
 to Peace? I with all Humility leave to the Confe- 
 deration of thofe whom, I thank God, it more im- 
 mediately concerns than myfelf ; who are to be faith- 
 ful in God'j Houfe ; and to watch for Mens Souls as 
 thofe who muft give Account to the Great Shep- 
 herd, who will fhortly come ; before whom it will 
 be a tremendous thing to have the immortal Souls of 
 thousands required at their Hands. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 The Terms of ministerial Conformity hard and 
 terrible. — Lay-Dissent juftifud. — The Rise of 
 the Separation. 
 
 NEXT after Confirmation, I confidered 
 two other Offices of your Liturgy, viz. Ab- 
 solution of the Sick, and the Burial of the Dead-, 
 and fhewed them, I apprehend, to be liable to great 
 Exceptions ; and to have no friendly Afpedt. upon 
 the Morals and Souls, of Men. I am ftrengthened 
 in that Opinion by obferving, that amidft the Va- 
 riety of trifling things to which you have defcended, 
 in the Profecution of this Debate, you have quite 
 overlooked thefe two important Points ; and have 
 not fb much as undertaken their Defence. It does 
 feme Honour to your Understanding not to attempt 
 to defend what you know to be indefenfible, but to 
 let the Forms lie under the Imputations charged up- 
 on them, till God fhall put it into the Hearts of 
 thofe who have it in their Power to wipe thefe un- 
 happy Blemifhes from the Face of the Church. 
 
 But as to thefe, and fome other of your additional 
 Splendors (doing reverence towards the Eafl, and 
 bowing to the Name of Jesus, which alfo you do 
 ,)ot to much as pretend either to juftify or explain) 
 you obferve, — — £ That thefe are things with 
 
 " which 
 
[ 37 1 
 w which, as a Layman, I have no concern. As to 
 '■ the Form of Abfolution, what has he, for God's 
 tc Sake, to do with it ? If he does not defign to 
 " take Orders in the Church, and fo fubfcribe to 
 " the Uie of the Liturgy, 'tis no Concern of his 
 •* whether that Form be defenfible or not *." But 
 have not I, dear Sir, as much to do with your. 
 Mini lie rial Conformity, as you with my Lay-Diffent? 
 Are you not as much obliged to vindicate, before 
 the World, your Subscription and Use of thefe 
 Offices in your Church ; as I am to juflify my Se- 
 paration from it ? Yes, and I now publickly call 
 upon you, and charge it upon your moft ferious 
 deliberate Reflections, as you will foon anfwer it 
 at afupreme and impartial Tribunal, to remember 
 and confider — 
 
 That you have folemnly, and in God's Prefence 
 (God that fearcbetb the Heart, and that abhors all 
 Prevarication, Hypocnfy, and Deceit, efpecially in re- 
 ligious things) in the Prefence of this God, I fay, 
 and in the Face of his Church, you have declared 
 your unfeigned /Iff erst and Confent to ALL and 
 EVERY Thing contained in, and prefcribed by the 
 Bock of Common Prayer, &c. If then there be any 
 one 7 hi fig contained in that Book, any one Office 
 or Form, irrational, unfit, repugnant to the Gofpel 
 Scheme, and which no well inflructed Chriftian 
 can heartily ajfent to, or unfeignedly approve. I ap- 
 peal to your own Confcience, 1 appeal to the whole 
 World -Where is the Honour ! Where the Chrif- 
 tian Simplicity and Godly Sincerity of this folemn 
 
 Declaration ! W 7 hat, fhall a Man, a Minifter, 
 
 in God's Prefence, and appealing to Him as the 
 Searcher of Hearts, declare his unfeigned. As- 
 sent to things he does not approve-, and promife 
 his unfeigned Consent to ufe Forms in God's 
 fVorjhip, which he heartily dijlikes ! This is a moil 
 grievous Yoke j beheld by Unbelievers, upon the 
 
 Necks 
 * II. Def, p. 133. 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 Necks of Chriftian Miniflers, with mighty Infults 
 and Scoffs ; and which every Friend to the Chriftian 
 Name mould wifh heartily to fee removed. And, 
 
 This, as before obferved, jufiifies moil fully that 
 Separation from your Church, to which our 
 Fathers were compelled, and which we at prefent 
 continue: when in a moft unrighteous and fcbif- 
 matical manner /he call out above two thoufand of 
 her Miniflers, for not fubicribing and declaring 
 this unfeigned Affent and Conjent. Thefe Mintf 
 ters were by this deprived of what they had not 
 forfeited-, deprived of acting as Miniflers by thofe 
 who had no Right, nor Authority, to deprive them 
 of it. The Paftoral Relation therefore undoubtedly 
 remained betwixt them and their refpeclive Flocks ; 
 and they acted a lawful, a worthy Part in continuing 
 their minijlerial Services, though thus cruelly call 
 out. 
 
 " No, you reply, they ought to have conformed 
 <c as Lay-Men, as feme of them did; much lets 
 " will this juflify the Laity of thofe Times ; lefs 
 " flill the Miniflers and Laity of the prefent in their 
 ** Separation*." To their immortal Praile be it 
 recorded, they better underftood their Rights and 
 their Duty as Christ'j Subjetts, the only KING 
 in the Church ; and, with great Suffering and worldly 
 Lofs, entered boldly their Protefl againfl this prc- 
 fumptuous Invafion of his Throne-, this fchifmaticai 
 Intrufion of new Terms of the Chriftian Miniflry 
 and Communion into his Church. The Conditions of 
 excrcifing the Chriftian Miniflry, which the /icl of 
 Uniformity impofed upon our Fathers, were fuch as 
 no Power upon Earth had a Right to impofe upon 
 them : They were fuch, as if complied with, opened 
 a wide way for innumerable Corruptions, Superfti- 
 tions and Perfecutions to enter and lay wafte the 
 Church. Their Subfcription was required to NEW 
 
 Artir 
 * II. Def. page iji. 
 
L 39 J 
 
 Articles of Faith which Christ had never made; 
 and their unfeigned AfTent and Confent to NEW 
 Rites and Forms of Worfhip which neither Christ 
 nor his Apo/tles had ever appointed or enjoined : 
 Yea, it obliged them fchifmatically to confine Chrif- 
 tian Communion to thofe only who would fubmit 
 to thefe Inventions of Men in the Worfljip of Gcd * 
 and to deny Baptifm and the Lord's Supp r r, to thofe 
 who, by the Conftitution and Laws of Chrift's 
 Kingdom, were .duly qualified to receive, and had 
 an abfolute Right to them.> 
 
 Amongft others, there are two ever memorable 
 Circumjlances from which the flagrant OpprefTion 
 and Tyranny of thofe Proceedings mold flrongly ap- 
 pear, i. That the Time fixed for the Minifters fub- 
 icribing and affenting to the Alterations in the Com- 
 mon-Prayer was fo fhort, that not one in an hundred 
 of thofe who lived remote from London faw, or 
 could be fuppofed to fee them, before their Affmt 
 and Confent was, under fo fevere a Penalty, to be 
 folemniy given. It is a known and certain Truth, 
 fays one *, that the Litmgy, with its Alterations* 
 to which they were unfeignedly to affent^ came not 
 out of the Prefs till Bariho ] omew-Eve^ the Day en- 
 fuing, which was the ultimate lime fixed, by the Acl 
 for the Minifters Subfcription -, fo all thofe, -through- 
 out the Kingdom, who conformed, except a ftw in 
 London, fubicribed to they knew not what. Cl The 
 u Matter was driven on, fays Bifhop Bur net, with 
 u fo much Precipitation, that it feemed expected 
 *■* the Clergy fhould fubfcribe implicitly to a Book 
 <c they had never feen. This was done by too many, 
 
 " as the Bifhops themfelves informed me -f." 
 
 Could any thing be more unrighteous or tyrannical 
 
 than this ? Yes : For, 
 
 2. The unhappy Minifters were obliged likewife 
 to declare folemniy, and even to fubfcribe a notori- 
 
 X ous, 
 
 * Tong of Schifro, page 1 50. 
 I t Hift. of hi's Time, Vol. I. page 212, Oa, 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 @us, moil dangerous and important Untruth, viz. 
 'That it is n ot la wful upon any Pretence what- 
 soever 10 take Arms again ft the King, or any Commif- 
 
 Jioned by him. A Pojition abfolutely fubveriive of 
 
 the Britifb Conftitution, and which the Nation was 
 f jon after (in God's righteous and wife Providence) 
 brought openly to acknowledge to be traiterous, de- 
 ferrable, fcandalous and falfe. A Pojition which, if 
 admitted, the glorious Revolution, and our pre- 
 fent happy Government, had never taken Place ; 
 but Tyranny and Popery, with all their dire Curfes, 
 had been bound eternally upon our Necks. But, 
 be aftonifhed, O Heavens ! Th\s falje, this bafe, this 
 fcandalous Declaration, by the Ad of Uniformity, 
 the Minifters, upon Pain of lofing their Places, were 
 obliged iblemnly to make. Our Fathers nobly ab- 
 horred it ; fcorned to betray the Rights and Liber- 
 ties of their Country, and to be "Tools of arbitrary 
 Power. For this Heroic Refufal they were call: 
 cruelly from their Churches, and delivered up, 
 with their flarving Families, to extreme Sufferings 
 and Diflrefs * 
 
 This, Sir, was the fhameful, the tyrannical 
 Yoke, which the Aft of Uniformity would have put 
 
 upon 
 
 * " By the Aa of Uniformity, fays Mr. Locke, all the Clergy 
 " of England arc obliged to fubfcribe and declare, That it is not 
 u lawful upon any Pretence whatever to take Arms againfi the 
 " King. This they readily complied with f . For you muft 
 " know that fort of Men are taught rather to ohcy % than under- 
 " ftand. And yet that Bartholomew Day was fatal to our Church 
 " and Religion, by throwing out a very grvat Number of worthy, 
 " learned, pious, orthodox Divines who could not come up to 
 " this Oath, and other things in that Acl. And fo great was the 
 " Zesl in carrying on this Church- Affair and fo blind the Obedi- 
 u ence required that if you compute the time of pafTing this Acl, 
 " wkh that allowed for the Clergy to fubfcribe the Book of Com- 
 " mon-Prayer thereby eftablifhed, you will find it could not be 
 J printed and diilributed, fo as that one Man in forty could 
 " hzvefeen and read the Book they did fo perfectly affent and 
 " confeni to." Maiz. Col. page 6i. 
 
 -f Our two thoufand worthy Predeceflbrs excepted. 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 upon the Necks of our iUuftriou's PredecefTors ; and 
 to which, as Christians and as Protestants 
 they bravely fcorned to fubmit. Noble was the 
 Stand which they made in Defence of Chriflian 
 Liberty and Truth. Glorious will their Names ever 
 mine in the Britifh Annals, whilft Virtue and Inte- 
 grity are facred amongft us, Peace and everlafting 
 Honour be upon the Memory of thefe Chriftian 
 heroes : Future Generations will rife and call them 
 blefted ! 
 
 To their Ministers thus unrighteoufly and 
 cruelly ejected, it was the Duty and the Honour of 
 the Qbrihian Laity to adhere. It was partly for 
 their Liberty, and that the Gofpel might be conti- 
 nued in its primitive Simplicity and Purity amongft 
 them, that their Minifters thus fufTered : It had been 
 Inglorious then, ungrateful, and in the highefl De- 
 gree unjuft, to have forfaken their ejected Parlors ; 
 and not have borne their Witnefs with them againfl 
 the impofing Spirit which then lifted itfelf up, and 
 was fattening a difgraceful Yoke upon the Difciples 
 of Chrift. Through the Favour of Heaven, a no- 
 ble Spirit of Chriftian Fortitude was awakened alfo 
 in LAY-Breafts (and, its Mercy be praifed, ftill lives ; 
 beats high •, and, we hope, daily advances to the 
 final and everlafting Overthrow of Bigotry, Church-* 
 Tyranny and Perfecution from the Earth.) They 
 faw and detefted the dangerous and fatal Schifm and 
 Ufurpation upon the Rights of Confcience, which 
 a Part of lordly Men were fetting up in the Church 
 of Chrift. They ftuck faft to their injured Minif- 
 ters, and to the Principles of Chriflian Liberty. 
 And God hath eminently bleffed their Churches for 
 the promoting fincere Piety, Sobriety, and Virtue 
 in all fucceeding Times. 
 
 This was the Rife of that Separation from the 
 
 Eftablifhment which I am defending in thefe Letters. 
 
 A Separation, which as it was founded upon 
 
 Chriftian andjujt Principles, fo it has marvellously 
 
 X % fob- 
 
[ 42 ] 
 
 fubfifted, under great worldly Difcouragements, 
 flrengthened and upheld, we truft, by the mighty 
 Power of God. And by the Jatne mighty Power , 
 we hope, will flill be upheld, till his Mercy mall 
 difpote the Hearts of oar Brethren who have caft 
 us out, to receive us again. 
 
 As a Layman y Sir, I confider the Gospel and 
 Christian Liberty as zfacredDepofete committed 
 to me by God, for Which I am to be accountable at 
 his Tribunal hereafter. As to thtfe, he hath ex- 
 prefly charged me, and every Lay-Chriftian, to 
 
 watch to ft and faft,-> to keep what is committed 
 
 to me, to fight the good- Fight of Faith, &c. — If 
 
 I fee then the Simplicity and Liberty of the Gospel 
 corrupted and infringed by the Inventions, Tradi- 
 tions and Commandments of Men ; the Unity of 
 the Church broken by new Terms of Communion, 
 and new Ankles of Faith impofed upon the Difci- 
 ples. If I fee things ridiculous*, fuperftitious +, 
 erroneous J, brought into the Church, and made a 
 Part of Chrijian Worfhip ; things dangerous to 
 Mens Souls, and which give them wrong Notions 
 of the Terms of Salvation and Acceptance with 
 God, and which manifeflly tend to cherifh a falfe 
 and deli five Peace §. In this Cafe, though a Lay- 
 man, I am bound to enter my Proteft, and to de- 
 clare openly my Dijfent, as I would not be con- 
 demned as a Betrayer of my sacred Trust, and 
 would ftand before my Judge with Confidence at 
 iaft. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 * Reading the fpurious, romantic, apocryphal Tables. 
 
 + Bowing at the Name of Jefus ; and worfhipping toward* 
 fche Eajl, &c. 
 
 % Several of the Articles, efpecially the XXth, and the dam- 
 natory claufet) of the Athanafian Creed. 
 
 $ The Abfolution of the Sick, the Burial Office and Confir- 
 mation \ 
 
£ 43 ] 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 Several grofs Misrepresentations of the Dijfen- 
 ters corrected. 
 
 I Proceed next to what you feem to glory in as 
 the peculiar Excellence of your Letters, but 
 which will foon appear, to your very self, their 
 peculiar Foible and Dif grace, viz. Tour retorting up-? 
 on Dissenters their own Pleas and Obj-clions ; par- 
 ticularly your Charge, That they not only have, but 
 impose Qremonies in Divine IVorfhip ; and that there 
 are various Impositions among ft our f elves. 
 
 You here force me to call you forth, Sir, to un- 
 dergo the Mortification of feeing yourfelf proved, 
 before the World, afalfe Accufer of your Brethren. 
 Sitting at the Lord's- Supper you have at feveral 
 diftinct. Times, and with great Variety of Language, 
 moil confidently alTerted, " to be really imposed by 
 
 " US to be CONSTANTLY, INV ARI ABLY and UNI- 
 
 " vtRSALLY pratlijed amongft us. — 7 hat it /V never. 
 " allowed to be departed from. — That our Minif- 
 " ters insist upon and refuse to abate it — — *," 
 with much more to the fame Purpofe. This now 
 is a Charge, not only abfolutely falfe, but (which 
 is a very aggravating Cucum fiance, and mufl fnock 
 greatly your Character and Credit before the World) 
 you had feenit to be false. For, you had actually 
 read in Dr. Calamfs Brief Account, 13c. a moft 
 exprefs Declaration that no such thing was at 
 all impofed amongft us, but that our Communicants 
 were at Liberty to ufe /heir own Posture. I 
 again put you in mind of this, becaufe you have 
 not yet had the Honour to own the Falfhood of this 
 Charge, and publickly to retract it. I can affure 
 the Public, there are no lefs than /even or eight dif- 
 fering 
 
 ,* Let. II. pages 56, 57, 58. Let. III. pages 8, 9. 
 
[ 44 ] 
 
 fenting Churches in my Neighbourhood, in which 
 the Pofture either o{ ftanding or kneeling at the 
 Lord's- Supper has constantly been practifed for ma- 
 ny Years pad (though in fome of them the Perfons 
 are now deceafed) and this without the leaft Offence, 
 to any of the Congregation or Diflike of the Mi- 
 
 mifters. judge, Reader, hence what Regard is 
 
 to be paid to the Reprefentations of this zealous 
 Cenfor ! and how juftly he defcribes himfelf en- 
 countering with Ghofts, and groping in the Dark. 
 With equal Rafhnefs you affirmed, and ftill ftout- 
 
 ly maintain. " That kneeling ^ in Family 
 
 ftfc Prayer is ALWAYS praftifed by Diflfenters ; that 
 ct *tis imposed and commanded by the Matter of 
 * fe the Family upon his Children and Servants, by 
 4t his. fignifying his Mind to them, and letting 
 4t them know, once for ail, he would have them 
 ct kneel.*." Upon a particular Enquiry I allure the 
 Public, that I cannot find the leaft Trace of any 
 ftich Impofition, or Signification of the MafteVs Mind 
 in any Family of Diffenters •, but that, in their Fa- 
 mily Devotions, ftanding is a Pofture very frequent- 
 ly tiled, and not avoided in Point of Confcience, I 
 Relieve, by ten Diflenters in the Kingdom. The 
 Matter is too trifling to merit many Words. But, 
 to let you lee how utterly unfit you are for the Office 
 you aitiime, I will take you from the Darknefs where 
 you miferably grope, and lead you to a Light which 
 will a little difconcert your Countenance, by ac- 
 quainting you, that at the three principal Diflenting 
 Academies in the Southern Parts of England, viz. 
 Northampton, Taunton, and Bridgwater, it hath been 
 jthe general, if not the conftant, unvaried Ufage 
 both of Tutors and Students, to stand at Family 
 Prayer. Tiiefe are the Nurferies where mod of the 
 DifTenting Gentlemen and Minifters in England 
 have been formed ; whofe Cu/lom therefore muft 
 
 naturally 
 • II. Def. pages 70, 71. 
 
C 45 1 
 naturally have a wide and ftrong Influence upon 
 Multitudes of diJenting Families throughout the 
 whole Land. See now with what Truth, with what 
 Honour, and Difcretion you bolt your random Cen- 
 fures at the religious Conduct of your Neighbours! 
 and feel the jufl Pain with which they rebound arid 
 wound your own Head ! 
 
 But what heightens our Perverfenefs and Incon- 
 fiftency, is this; that at the fame time that we thus 
 always worfiip kneeling in our Families, and tbz 
 Mafter commands and imposes /'/ upon all its Mem- 
 bers : tc Yet in our Prayers at Church, there, it 
 " feems, we always fiend ; and it is little lefs than 
 " impof.d upon our People ; for fo great and gene- 
 ** ral is the Difcountenance that kneeling lies under* 
 " that it requires lbme Courage and Refolution for 
 " any one to venture upon it; and if any one 
 " does, you fay it again, he will be censured 
 ** for it *." A charge not more bold, than it is 
 groundlefs and falfe. " One Congregation, you have 
 " faid, you can name, where great Offence was 
 c ' given by a Perfon kneeling at her Prayers." But 
 you have publickly been told, by an Authority of 
 great weight, which I prefume you durfl not con- 
 tradict, that the whole Account is a Misrepresen- 
 tation ; of which the mofi authentic Evidence is rea- 
 dy to be produced f. Did I not juflly fay, that your 
 Informers had ferved you ill? A Man confeious of his 
 own Darknefs, mould be cautious into what Hands 
 he delivers himfelf up. 
 
 Befides, could you have made good the Charge, 
 not againfl one only, but even an hundred of our 
 Churches; will this juftify the Univerfality and Po- 
 fitivenefs of your Affertion, that if any one kneels 
 amongfl us, he will be censured for it? This 
 publickly accufes not one only, nor an hundred, but 
 
 all 
 
 t * II. Def. page 72. f Chandler's Cafe of Subfcrip- 
 
 tion, page 14. 
 
[ 46 ] 
 
 :;ll the Diffenting Churches of this ridiculous 
 IVeaknefs ; which yet you cannot prove upon any 
 i] ngle one of them all. The Reproach therefore 
 
 comes back with great Force upon your felf. 1 
 
 have made no extenfive Enquiries on this Head, 
 but can take upon me to allure you, there are no 
 lefs than fix or jeven of our Congregations near me 
 (I believe there are many more) where kneeling 
 at public Prayer hath been conftantly practifed by 
 by one or more Members without the lead Dis- 
 countenance. And of the many Miniflers I have 
 confulted, I find not one who imagines the Practice 
 would give Offence to any fingle Congregation 
 amongft us. 
 
 Alike juft and well fupported is that other Re- 
 proach, " That it is generally held amon^fi us that 
 u the Sacrament is for none but p.rfect and con- 
 * 6 summate Chrijlians.^ After multiplying on 
 this Subject many Words to little Purpoie, unlefs 
 it be to (hew the Reluctance with which you do it* 
 you are at laft forced to retracl this injurious Impu- 
 tation as to the Pre/by terians * (who are by far the 
 greater Part of the DifFenters) and acknowledge it 
 to be falfe. You might have done the fame by the 
 Independents i whom you flill leave under its Weight. 
 For though they are generally more minute, I fear, 
 in enquiring after Proofs of the Sincerity of a Man's 
 Chriflianity than the Scriptures authorifethem ; yet 
 there is fcarce one to be found, I believe* amongft 
 the mod rigid of them all, who will not declare, 
 that every sincere Chriftian hath a Right to the 
 Lord's 'Table. For do they not all acknowledge that 
 every fuch Perfon is become, by the Gofpel Cove- 
 nant, a Child of God, and a Brother of Jesus 
 Ch'rist? Will the moil rigid Independent \ fay, 
 then, \\\2Xfuch have not a Right to eat of the facra- 
 tnental Supper ? No, the Truth of Grace, they will 
 
 tell 
 * II. Def. page 36. 
 
[ 47 ] 
 
 ell vou, be it in ever fo weak a State, in titles to 
 he Sacrament. You wrong them therefore much 
 y faying, that they hold it to belong to none but 
 p e r f E c t ^consummate Chriftians. 
 
 Thus groundlefs and ill fupported, Sir, are the 
 Defamations of your DifTenting Brethren, which 
 your Ear hath been wide extended greedily to re- 
 ceive, and your Hand fo officious to publifh to the 
 World. But naffer, I befeech you, the Council of 
 a Friend. Put away far from you that little, un- 
 generous, unmanly, bigotted Spirit by which " Ton 
 u advife the Faithful to (hun the Conversation and Com- 
 
 ic pany of our Minifters, as being notorious 
 
 " Sinne rs, and not to have any intimate unneceffary 
 <c Acquaintance with them, or Familiarity in common 
 * c Life *." Indulge the more Chriflian and Catho- 
 lic Difpofition Dr. Nichols recommends, who in- 
 forms the World with Pleafure 4t of the charitable 
 " Correfpondence, and ftricl Degree of Friendjhip 
 " which fubfifts betwixt the eftablifoed Clergy and fome 
 " of the Dijfeniing Miniftersf." 'Tis becaufe they 
 know one another no more, that they do not love 
 each other better. Shynefs begets Eftrangement, 
 Eftrangement, Averfion, and Aver/ion prepares the 
 Mind not only to receive with Pleafure, but induf- 
 trioufly to propagate grofs Mifreprefentations, falfe 
 Accufations, fcandalous and little Things, utterly 
 without Foundation, and contrary to Truth. 
 
 Had you freely converfed with the Dijfenting Mi- 
 nijlers around you, as the learned Dotlor advifes, 
 you had faved yourfelf a good deal of public Mor- 
 tification, which your injurious Accounts both of 
 their Principles and Practice have now unhappily 
 drawn upon you. Cultivate at length, Sir, a fa- 
 miliar Acquaintance with them. Their Acquain- 
 tance will do you Honour ^ will edify and enlarge 
 
 Y your 
 
 * Let. II. page 8. Let I. page 83, + Nich. Def. 
 page 145, 
 
[ 48 3 
 
 your Mind ; will give you jufler Notions of Men 
 and of Things than a mere College Education is ca- 
 pable of doing, and prepare you for that happy 
 World where Bigotry and Party-Zeal no more alie- 
 nate pious Spirits, but where all the Children of 
 God are gathered together in one. From them you 
 
 would have learned that the Ceremonies of the 
 
 Sweeping Cloak, of kneeling at Ordination, of the 
 People's holding up their Hands at that Solemnity, 
 of ftriking a Covenant with their Pallors, of giv- 
 ing the Name at Baptifm, are molt of them 
 
 never ufed at all in the greater Part of the dilTenting 
 Churches -, and the other not the leafl impofed ; full 
 Liberty is given to ufe, or to ufe them not ; no ftrefs 
 is laid upon them ; much lefs are they made indif- 
 fenfible lerms of Chriflian Communion y as Sponfors, 
 the Crofs, and kneeling are with you. They would, 
 moreover, have told you, what you feem not to 
 know, that 'tis not the mere ujing Ceremonies, 
 againfl which Diflenters object, fo much as the 
 impofing them ; the laying a ftrefs upon them ; the 
 confidering them as Decorations and Improvements of 
 Chriflian Worfhip; not only ufeful, but necessa- 
 ry In ft it utions (as you had the Irreverence to your 
 divine Lawgiver to pronounce concerning Sponfors) 
 and the making Compliance with them, Terms of Re- 
 ception into the Family and Church of Chrift. And 
 finally, they would have told you, that Mens ««- 
 covering the Head in Prayer, is by no means a mere 
 Ceremony, but a Circumftance or Acl of Worfhip, 
 which feems dictated by the Light of Nature ; and 
 is commanded by an Apoflie, i Cor. xi. 3, 4, 7 ; 
 and that therefore, your placing this in the Rank 
 of Ceremonies praclifed by Diflenters, was (to return 
 your own Compliment) mofl certainly a very heed- 
 lefs and wrong-headed thing. 
 
 u The Neglect of private fafting" .is another 
 Charge you advance againfl us, " and infill confi- 
 (i dently that you were in the right in faying it was 
 
 " very 
 
[ 49 ] 
 " very little, if at all, practifed amongfc us *." 
 Diflenters, Sir, I prefurne, have read that Inflruc- 
 tion of their Mailer, Mat. vi. 17. Thou, when thou 
 fa ft eft, anoint thy Head, and wa(h thy Face ; that then 
 appear not unto Men to fajt, but to thy Father which 
 is in Heaven. Though they affect not to flourifti 
 with their Vigils and Lents (which with Sorrow they 
 fee turned into little elfe than a religions Farce by 
 too many around them) nor, like the Pharifee are 
 oflentatious in telling God and the World how often 
 they faft ; yet this Duty, I am perfuaded, is prac- 
 tifed with much Serioufnefs amongfl them. Befides 
 the excellent Difcourfe of Bcnnet, to which you 
 were referred, you call for more Tracts. See an- 
 other on the fame Subject in the Morning Exercife 
 b.y Barker ; and from the Lives of the two Henrys, 
 Allen, Baxter ^ Trofs, &c. particularly, of the late 
 mofl ingenious and pious Abernethy, you may learn 
 what are their religious Sentiments and Practice as 
 to this Matter. In many of their Churches there 
 are ftated periodical Fails, befides the perfonal do- 
 meflic ones, which upon, extraordinary Occafjons 
 are not unufual amongfl them. 
 
 But was it poffible you mould fo alertly attack us 
 on this Head, when you knew it in our Power with 
 fuch Advantage to retort! If " you have met with 
 ** no Sermons or Tracts of Diflenters recommend- 
 
 u ing private Fafls" Pray, have you met with 
 
 any which difcourage and forbid them ? But, have 
 you never yet met with your own LXXIId Canon ? 
 which fays, " No Minifler fhall without Licence of 
 " the Bifhop, under his Hand and Seal, keep any 
 w solemn Fasts either publickly or in an y p r i v a t e 
 " House, other than fuch as are appointed by Law y 
 " nor be prefent at any of them ; under pain of Sus- 
 '* pension for thefirft Fault, of Excommunica- 
 46 t 'ion for the fecond, and of Deposition from the 
 
 Y 2 c< Miniftry 
 
 * II. Def. page 47, 
 
[ 5o ] 
 
 * c Miritjlry for the third." This Sir, is the exalted 
 Foot, upon which the Duty of private Fafling flands 
 in your Church ! Could any thing then be more 
 wife, more pertinent, or mote juft than the Cenfures 
 you deal us here ? 
 
 As to the Pofture of standing at public Prayer, 
 for which alfo you had the Sagacity fharply to re- 
 prehend us; befides the great Variety of Scripture 
 Examples which I produced in its Juftification, you 
 have had fince, from a learned Hand *, indifpu- 
 table Proofs from Juftin Martyr, Iremeus, Clemens 
 of Alexandra, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, the Apof- 
 tolical Conjtitutions, Jerome and Aujtin, that it was 
 the Pofture in which the Chriftian Churches univer- 
 fally offered up their public and mod folemn Ad- 
 dreffes to God through all the Primitive Times. 
 So unlucky is your Hand, that the Bolts you fling 
 at us, as Debafer* of the Public IVorfhip, i3c. light 
 dire&ly upon the Heads of fome of the mod /acred 
 and venerable Peifons which either Scripture or An- 
 tiquity holds out to your View! 
 
 " But the Inftances of Abraham, Mofes, Samuel, 
 €t fcfa standing in Prayer ferve; you fay, to little 
 " purpoie ; unlefs it were alfo fhewn, that they 
 ** were Inftances of fuch fimple mere ftanding as is 
 " practifed in our Congregations iV Yes ; they are 
 full to our Purpofe ; becaufe it appears not from the 
 f acred Story, but they were Inftances of exactly 
 fuch ftmpU mere ftanding as is ufed amongft us. As 
 to the other Geftures of Devotion which your Imagi- 
 nation would fupply, the Scriptures are wholly 
 filent •, and your fertile Imagination, Sir, you will 
 excufe us from accepting as a proper Supplement 
 to the Word of God. 
 
 " The primitive Chriftians, it feems, cannot be 
 lc imagined to do no more than barely keep upon 
 
 " their 
 * Chandler's Cafe of Subfcrip. pages, n, 12. 
 
 f II. Def. page 76. 
 
[ 5' ] 
 
 " their Feet, No, they prayed with Hands 
 
 tC fpread, and with Eyes lift up toward Heaven *" 
 — — Hence then we infer ; firjt, That they did 
 not read their Prayers from a Book : That there were 
 no Liturgies in thole Days. But the Pallor, as 
 Juftin Martyr and Origen fay, offered up Prayers 
 and Praifes to God o<m ^wL^c, *} «ar« Swzpiv, according 
 to his Power , or as he was able. But, J'econdly, by 
 the Account which both Cyprian and Tertullian give 
 of their Gefture and Manner, the public Prayers in 
 Dijfenting Churches vaftly more refemble it than 
 
 thofe offered in your s. " Stamus ,ad orationem, . 
 
 u Cum modeftia & hiimilitate ad. r antes, &c.f" We 
 stand at Prayer, — adoring with Modejty and Humi- 
 lity, that we may the more effectually commend our Pray- 
 ers to God ; not even lifting up cur Hands high, but 
 moderately and decently, no nor boldly elevating our 
 Faces. For the Publican whofe Countenance as well 
 as Prayers was humble and dejected, went away 
 jujlified rather than the [awry Pharifee. 
 
 When you have fedately confidercd the Contents 
 of this Seclion, you will fee Caiife* Sir, once more 
 to refume your cenforial Rod, and to lay it fmartly 
 on your/elf-, condemning heartily your own Teme- 
 rity, in prefuming to write fo freely about Perfons 
 and Things you knew fo little of; and to pronounce 
 peremptorily upon Matters you had fo (lightly ex-, 
 amined. 
 
 Though this Article of your Misrepresenta- 
 tions might be vaftly enlarged, 1 conclude with a 
 frefh flagrant Inflance of it %, which fhews your 
 Honour and Juftice in a very unfavourable Light, 
 and too plainly demonflrates that your Zeal for the 
 Church hath juft eaten them up. It is the Cafe '* of 
 " a D indenting Minifter in Cambridge, whom you 
 € * knew -, and who, you affirm, declared from his 
 " Pulpit, that the Common-Prayer- Bock had damned 
 
 more 
 
 * J I. Def. page 77. + Tert. de Orat. Cap. 13. 
 
 % II. Dcf. page 116. 
 
[ 52 ] 
 
 w more Souls, than the Bible hadfaved; for which 
 " he was indi&ed, and had his public Trial as a 
 
 " depraver of it." Here you flop fhort, and 
 
 leave that injured Gentleman ; yea, you tranfmit him 
 to Polterity, under the Scandal of the Indictment, 
 without having the Honefty and the Virtue to inform 
 the World of the I flue which you could not but alfo 
 know, viz. that after a long and full Hearing, on both 
 Sides, be was by the Jury honourably acquitted. 
 This, Sir, is fuch an Inflance of Partiality, lnjuftice 
 and notorious Mifreprefentation, as all virtuous and 
 wife Men will behold with Indignation, and as, I 
 am fure, muft give you a good deal of Pain in the 
 review. The Cafe of that injured Minifler (Mr. 
 Jofeph Hujjey) has been fince publifhed (printed at 
 Colchefter in your Neighbourhood 1737) which I 
 cannot doubt, you have feen. From thence it fully 
 appears, that Mr. Hujfey fpake honourably, not 
 reproachfully of the Common-Prayer, in the Ser- 
 mon referred to ; and that he deferved highly that 
 Acquittal and Triumph over his Enemies which the 
 Jujiice of his Country gave him-, but which you 
 injurioujly endeavour to blaft and fupprefs*. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 Dijfenters not inconsistent in fubmitting to fomt 
 Ceremonies, and refufmg others. 
 
 T 
 
 H I S is another Charge advanced vigoroufly 
 
 againft us " The Ceremonies of Mar- 
 
 " riage 
 
 * He was fhewing how utterly repugnant the Arminian Prin- 
 ciples are to feveral Parts of the Common-Prayer ; and after feve- 
 ral things faid very refpeftfully: of that Book, concludes,--— " I 
 « wifh there was more of that Spirit of God breathing in the 
 " Souls of Men now, which breathed in the Souls of thofe who 
 " made the Common-Prayer; and indeed confidering the Incon- 
 " fiftency of Mens Principles, with their grofs Hypocrifies in 
 «' Practice, I fear that at the great Day, when the Books are 
 il opened, this Book of Common-Prayer, when 'lis opened, will 
 
 " com* 
 
[ 53 1 
 
 u riage and of Burial to which we conform, arc 
 " injoined in the fame Manner, by the fame Autho- 
 " rity, and in the fame Place (the Common- Prayer) 
 " as the other Ceremonies and Rites againft which 
 " we proteft." And you put it as a dunning Dif- 
 ficulty, ■•* where and when the Magiftrate 
 
 tc prefcribed the Marriage Ceremonies otherwife 
 " than he did thofe of Baptifm and the Lord's-Sup- 
 " per*.'* I am truly furprized, Sir, that fo mere 
 a Cobweb entangles you. Pray, what is your 
 Common- Prayer ! Is it any thing in the World but 
 a mere Statute or Acl of Parliament ; as really and 
 truly fuch, and nothing but fuch, as any Statute in 
 our Books of Law. Now as the Magiftrate has in 
 this Statute injoined fome Things of a Civil nature, 
 which belong therefore to his Kingdom, and which 
 he has a Right to injoin ; to thefe we reverently 
 fubmit : But as he has alfo, in the fame Statute, in- 
 joined other Things of a Religious Nature (pertain- 
 ing to Baptifm and the Lord's- Supper) which, we 
 humbly apprehend, belong to another Kingdom, 
 even that of Jesus Christ-, to whom, and to 
 whom alone, GOD the Supreme Governor has ap- 
 propriated fuch Things • as to thefe, we crave 
 Leave to withhold our Submiflion, and chufe to obey 
 GOD rather than Man. And behold, the very 
 Magiftrate who made' the Statute, has indulged us 
 herein ! has excufed our Obedience in the Points as 
 to which we fcruple ! has repealed the Obligation of 
 this Law upon DiiTenters ; and allows them to acl: 
 in thefe things as to their Judgment feems bell: ! Is 
 there any thing in the leait difficult or entangling in 
 all this ? 
 
 " But 
 
 M come in a fwift Witnefs againft them. And if fo t I fear it 
 " will be found that that Book they now fo much rely on, may 
 " be a means of fending more of them to Hell, than the Gofpel 
 " converts in England."" 
 
 * II, Def. page 80. Let. III. page 6. 
 
[ 54 ] 
 
 " But upon this Suppofition all our Objections to 
 " the Burial Office as Reafons againfl Conformity 
 " fall to the Ground. For if the whole Tranfac- 
 " tion be a 'political thing $ and the Gentleman of- 
 " fkiating is, in that, no other than an Officer of 
 " the Slate, how is the Church, for the Lord's 
 u Sake, concerned in any thing he either fays or 
 " does, on that Occafion * ?" Certainly very much. 
 The Church is indeed nothing but a Branch or 
 Limb of the State. But if the State exacts of 
 thoje, whom it deputes to officiate in this Part of 
 its Adminiilration, unreafonable and /hocking things; 
 if it commands them to fay that black is while , to 
 pronounce folemnly a Man faved, whom they think 
 verily to be loft ; and to thank God that in his great 
 Mercy he hath taken to him/elf an abominable Sinner, 
 when in their Confciences they believe that God 
 took him away in IVrath, and hath driven him from 
 
 his Prejence to eternal Darknefs below, is the 
 
 Officer, will you fay, who is to pronounce and to 
 do this, not at all concerned therein ? Nor that Branch 
 of the Adminiftration in which he officiates at all 
 wounded in its Honour or Reputation thereby ? Mod 
 deeply, no doubt. And all virtuous and good Men, 
 by the eternal Regards they owe to Righteous- 
 ness and Truth, ought openly to protefl againfl 
 iuch public Violations of them •, and to declare their 
 Dillike of iuch Proflitution of [acred things. 
 
 The Church, your learned Warburton\ tells you, 
 has by Contract or Alliance, refigned up her Su- 
 premacy in Matters eccleftaftical, and her In- 
 dependency to the State. The State, in Confe- 
 quence of this, hath drawn up for her, Articles of 
 Faith and Forms of public IVorjhip, which it requires 
 
 the Church to fubfcribe and to ufe. Hard Fate 
 
 of unhappy Church! To come as Pupil to the 
 State, to alk what ihemufl believe, and how flie 
 mull worfhip ; yea, to be forced folemnly to fub- 
 fcribe 
 
 * II. Dcf. page 82. f Alliance, &c. page 87. 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 fcribe Articles, which (he by no means believes, 
 and to ufe Forms of public Worfhip, which ilie 
 greatly dijlikes ! But, is there no Prevarication, nor 
 Hypocrify in all this ? No ; the State hath comman- 
 ded it •, and we are to be fubjell to the higher Power s y 
 and to obey thoje who have the Rule over us : 'Tis not 
 for a Man's private Confcience to kick again ft the 
 
 Public ; but if any one dare fay, u That ei- 
 
 ' c /her of the Articles is in any Part erroneous , 
 " or that the Book of Common-Prayer contains 
 tc any Thing in it contrary to Scripture •" your 
 IVth and Vth Canons thunder out upon him ip/o fac- 
 to, a molt terrible Excommunication, and cut him 
 off, as a wicked IVr etch, from the Body of Christ. 
 
 ■ Excellent Conftitution this! quite holy and 
 
 apoftolick ! moft heavenly and divine ! bearing up- 
 on every Part a lively and glorious Imprefs of the 
 
 Character of Jesus Christ ! What Wonder, 
 
 if the Dignity of the Priefily Character finks ? If 
 Religion is ridiculed, and its Sacred Things treated 
 with Drollery and Jeft P It is impoffible, we are told, 
 but Offences will come ; but wo be to that Man ! wo 
 be to thofe Chriftians, whofe hypocritical and cor- 
 rupt Con duel: lays thefe Stones of /tumbling in the 
 Way of Infidels and Papifts ! and by whom the Of- 
 fence cometh ! 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 The egregious Abfurdity of rejecling Presbvterian 
 and admitting Popish Ordinations, 
 
 WE come next to the much contefted Point of 
 Orders or Ordination^ as to which you are 
 wont to make a mighty folemn Parade. The Se- 
 verity with which you nullify the Dijfenters Ordi- 
 nation, though the very same with that of all the 
 illuflrious Churches of Protestants abroad, when 
 
 Z at 
 
[ 56 3 
 
 at the fame Time you are fo complaifant as to ac- 
 knowledge the Validity of the Ordinations of the 
 Church of Rome, is a Conduct fo extraordinary as 
 one cannot eafily comprehend. The Hands and the 
 devouteft Prayers of a Company of truly virtuous, 
 religious and Chriftian Presbyters, in Scotland or 
 Geneva, are not fo efficacious, it feems, to fend a 
 Man forth a true Minifter in the Church of 
 Christ, as the Hands and iuperftitious Prayers of 
 an antichriftian, idolatrous, perfecting and wicked 
 Bishop of Italy or Spain.- No; let a Prieft, or- 
 dained by one of theje y come over to the Church of 
 England; he (hall be received as a valid Minifter, 
 rightfully ordained : But, let another, ordained by 
 the moil learned, religious Presbytery which 
 Germany, Hungary or the whole Woild can boarT, 
 come over alio to this Church, this Proiejtant Church -, 
 his Orders fhall be pronounced not valid, he mufl 
 (iibmit to be ordain'd rifrefh. The former is ad- 
 mitted, as one rightly and duely enter'd- a Pa/tor in 
 the Chriftian Church, becaufe a Bijbop's Hand was 
 laid upon him, though with a great many ridicu- 
 lous, fuperftitious and foolifh Rites ; and though 
 he was really no Christian Bijhop, but an Apof- 
 tate from Chriftianity, an open and avowed Idolater 
 and Perfecutor of the Flock of Christ • yea, tho' 
 the Church alfo into which by that Ceremony, he 
 was enter'd was fo far from being a true Church, 
 
 that for 900 Tears pafi, nothing can be more * 
 
 But the latter, though let apart to the Miniftry 
 by the mod fervent and holy Prayers; tho' he has 
 long labour'd in the Church of God with great Di- 
 ligence and Succefs; has fuffer'd, perhaps, the Lofs 
 ot all for the fake of Christ and his Truth ; and 
 is fled hither from the Rage of idolatrous and cruel 
 Bijhops ; yet (ftrange to relate!) for not having 
 
 had 
 
 * The Words of the Hemily which every Clergyman fubferibes 
 his folemn Approbation of. 
 
[ 57 1 
 had the Hand of fuch an idolatrous and cruel />/- 
 Jhop in the Ceremony of his Ordination, he is con- 
 fider'd but as a mere Layman in this proteftant 
 Church of England ; he fhail not, cannot, be ac- 
 knowledge by us as a Minifler of Jesus Christ. 
 How myfterious and quite aftonifhing is the Pur* 
 tiafity of this ! 
 
 But let us hear your Cenfure on this Head, . 
 
 Our Minifters are not duly ordain'd to their Office : 
 their Miniftratidns are mod certainly irregu- 
 lar ; an unneceffary and wanton, if not a factious 
 Departure from the primitive Order, and there- 
 fore fhofe who attend them cannot depend that 
 iC fuch Ordinances will be bleffed to them, nor can 
 " they be pleafing to God *." And concerning the 
 eftablifhed prejhyterian Church of Scotland, you af- 
 firm, 4fe Thai having renounced Episcopacy* 
 
 " and their Ordinations being irregular^ their Com- 
 " m union can be neither safe nor lawful -f*." A 
 mofl fchifmaucal and rafh Judgment ; which equally 
 condemns all the illuflrious reformed Churches of 
 France, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Hun- 
 gary, Denmark, &c. They all likewife have re- 
 noune'd Epifcopacy ; their Ordinations therefore mud 
 be irregular, and their Communion neither fafe nor 
 lawful. 
 
 But to give you, Sir, more juft and favourable 
 Impreflions of Ordination by Pre/by ters ; and to 
 fink a little your Efteem of that epifcopal Ordination 
 on which you pique yourfelf fo much, I recom- 
 mend to your Confederation the following things : 
 i . That Timothy was ordain'd by the laying on of 
 
 the Hands of the Presbytery, i Tim. iv. 14,— 
 
 That Paul and Barnabas were ordained by certain 
 Prophets and Teachers in the Church of Antioch, and 
 not by any Bishop (of whom there is not a Word 
 in all that Solemnity) preftding in that City, Atls 
 
 Z 2, xiii* 
 
 * Let. I. page 73, 74. f 11. Def. page 145, 
 
[ 58 ] 
 
 xiii. i, 2, 3, And that it is a well known, ac- 
 knowledge, inconteftible Fact, that Prefbyttrs, in 
 the celebrated Church of Alexandria, ordain'd even 
 their own Biftoops for more than 200 Years in the 
 earliefb Ages of Chriflianity. 
 
 2. Bifoops and Prejbyters are in Scripture the very 
 Jam' \ and are not a diftinct Order or Office in the 
 Chriflian Church. The Church vxPh'dppi had but 
 two Orders of Church- Officers amongft them, viz. 
 Bifhops and Deacons, Philip, i. 1. And that the 
 Name, Office, Work of a Bijhop and Prefbyter are 
 the fame, appears from Tit. \. 5, 7. For thi? Omje 
 left I thee in Crete, that thou Jhouldjl ordain Prefby- 
 
 ters in every City, for a Bifhnp mull be blame left. 
 
 Paul called the Preffyters of the Church of Ephejus 
 together, and charged them, Jcls xx. 27, 28. To 
 take heed to the Flock over which the Holy Ghost 
 had made them Bishops e^^ow;. So 1 Pet. v. 1,2. 
 The Presbyters, among you 1 exhort, who alfo am 
 a Presbyter, feed the Flock of GOD amou% you y 
 performing the Office of Bishops s7r»c-xo*r«i>V 
 
 The Superiority of Biffops to Prejbyters is not 
 only by the firit Reforme'Kk and Founders of the 
 Church of England, but by maly of its mod learned 
 and eminent Doctors fince; not pretended to be of 
 divine, but only of human Inftitution ; not grounded 
 upon Scripture, but only upon the Cuftom or Ordi- 
 nances of this Realm. " The Truth is, that in the 
 " New Teftament there is no Mention of any Dgree 
 " or Diftintlion of Orders, but only of Deacons or 
 
 " Minijlers, 'and of Priests or Bifhops '*, fays 
 
 a Declaration of the Funtlion, &c. which was fign'd 
 by more than thirty-feven Civilians and Divines, 
 amongil whom were thirteen B 1 shops *. The Book 
 intitled the Inftitution of a Chriflian Man fubicrib'd 
 by the Clergy and Convocation and confirm'd by 
 Parliament, owns Bishops and Presbyters- by 
 ■£A Scripture 
 
 ■* Bu nurt*s Hilt of the Reformat. Vol. I. Ap. page 321, 
 
[ 59 1 
 
 Scripture to be the fame *. And fays, tho' St. Paul 
 confecrated and ordered Bijhops by Impofition of 
 Hands; yet there is no certain Rule prefcribed in 
 Scripture for the nomination, election, or prefenta- 
 tion of them : This is left to the pofitive Laws of 
 every Country. And that the main Ground of 
 fettling epifcopal Government in this Nation was 
 not any Pretence of Divine Right, but the Conve- 
 nience of that Form of Church-Government to the 
 State and Condition of the Church at the time of 
 the Reformation, your learned Stilting fleet f affirms, 
 and proves it to be the Sentiment of Archbiihop 
 Cranmer and other chief Reformers both in Edward 
 VI. and Queen Elizabeth' 's Reign, of Archbiihop 
 Whitegift, Bilhop Bridges, Loe, HooMr, Sutcliffe, 
 
 Hales, Chillingworth, &c. X Yea, %* 
 
 3. It deferves your ferious Confideration "Whether, 
 by the Conftitution and Frame of the Church of 
 England, sacerdotal Ordination be really at all 
 necejfary to the making a valid Minifter, and to the 
 giving Succefs and Efficacy to his Miniltrations ; 
 or, whether there is, really, any such Ordination 
 in the Church of England at all ? It feems clearly 
 
 the 
 
 * To the fame Purpofe fpeaks the Erudition of a Chriflian 
 Man. 
 
 f Irenic. Ch. VIIT. page 38$. 
 
 X See a Letter of Dr. Raynolds of Oxford on this Head ; where 
 he declares the famenefs of Bijhops and Priejis, or that they have 
 equal Authority and Power by God's Word to have been the 
 Judgment of St. Paul, Chryfoftom, Jerome, Jmbrofe, Auftin* 
 Theodoras, Primafius, Tbeophylacl, Oecumenius, Aenfelm, Gregory, 
 Gratian, the Waldenfes, Wickliffiles, Hujfites, tjfe. Neal. Hift. 
 Purit. Vol. I. page 497. 
 
 Archbiihop Bancroft and the reft of the Bifhops with him 
 owned the Ordination of Prefiyters to be valid, and therefore 
 refufed to re-ordain the Scottifh Prelbyters who were then to be 
 made Eifhops, declaring, That to doubt it, <was to doubt whether 
 there were any lawful Vocation in moft of the reformed' Churches. 
 Archbiihop Spotfwood s Hi i. page 514. The Bifhops of Scot- 
 land, when Epif.opacy was fettied there, never required the 
 Prefbyterian Minifters to take epifcopal Ordination. Bifhop Bur- 
 net's Vindicat. pages 84, 85. 
 
[ 6o ] 
 
 the Sentiment of our firft Reformers that it was no* ) 
 and that they eflabiifhed the Church of England 
 agreeable to this Plan. For in a feledt AfTembly of 
 Divines, convened by the Authority of King Ed- 
 ward Vf, for the fettling important Points relating 
 to Religion, it was determined, as may be preiumed 
 from a recorded Opinion of Archbifhop Cranmer 
 
 their Prefident, *, " That though, in the Ad- 
 
 44 million of Bifhops, Parfons, Vicars, and other 
 44 Priefis to their Office, there be divers comely 
 44 Ctremonies and Solemnities uied (he fpeaks chiefly 
 44 of Ordination) yet thefe be not of Neceffity, but 
 " only for good Order and feemly Fafhion. For if 
 44 fuch Offices and Miniftrations were committed 
 u w i thout fuch Solemnity, they were neverthe- 
 lefs truely committed. And there is no more 
 Promife of God that Grace is given in the com- 
 mitting of the ecclefiafiical Office, than it is in the 
 committing th&civih — —A Bifhf-p may make a 
 '* Prieft by the Scriptures, and fo may Princes and 
 " Governors alfo, and that by the Authority of God 
 44 committed to them ; and the People alfo by their 
 44 Eleliion. For as we read that Bifhops have done 
 44 it, fo Chriftian Emperors and Princes ufually 
 44 have done it : And the People, before Chriftian 
 44 Princes were, commonly did elect their Bifhops 
 
 44 and Priefis. In the new Teftament, he that 
 
 " is appointed to be a Bifhop or a Prteil, needeth 
 44 no Conj'ecration by the Scripture ^ for Election or 
 44 appointing thereto is Efficient f" 
 
 Agreeable hereto, the Bifhops in this Church, in 
 the Reigns of Hen. VIII. and Edw. VI. took out 
 
 Com- 
 
 * Vide Extract from Archbifhop Cranmer s M. S. Stilling. Iren. 
 Qiap. VIII. page 391. 
 
 f To the fame Purpofe fpeaks the Erudition of a Chriflian 
 Nan- — which was drawn up by a Committee of Bijbops and Di- 
 *uines y and read and approved by the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
 poral, and the lower Hoiife of Parliament. An. 1543. Vid. 
 AWs Bill. Purit. Vol, I. pages 33, 36. 
 
t 61 ] 
 
 Commiflions from //^ Crown, like other State- 
 Officers, for the Exercifing their (piriiual Jurif- 
 
 didtion ; in which they acknowledge, tc That 
 
 ct all sorts of Jurifdi&ioti) as well ecclefiaftical 
 " as civil, flow originally from the Regal 
 " Power, as from a supreme Head, the Foun- 
 " tain and Spring of all Magiftracy within this 
 " Kingdom; and that they ought with grateful 
 il Minds to acknowledge this Favour derived from 
 " the King's Liberality and Indulgence ; and ac- 
 " cordingly they ought to render it up whenever 
 " the King thought fit to require it of them. And 
 44 amongft the Particulars of ecclefiaftical Power 
 " given them by this Commiflion, is that of or- 
 u daining Prcjbyters ; and all this to laft no lon- 
 M ger than the King's Pleafure. And thefe things 
 M are laid to be fttper and ultra over and above 
 " what belongs to them by Scripture *." f 
 
 From thefe Commiffwns, which the Bifhops took 
 out, efpecially Zfawtt^'s'Biftiop of London, it is evi- 
 dent, that all the Power ^/Ordination which the 
 Bifhops had, or could have and exercife, in this 
 Kingdom, they derived entirely from the Civil 
 Magistrate, and only from him %. And that this 
 really is the Cafe as to the Ecclefiaftical Orders confer- 
 red by our prefent Bifhops ; that all the Validity, Sig- 
 
 nificancy 
 
 * Rights Chr. Ch. Pref. page 39. 
 
 f Even Archdeacon Echard acknowledges, that in the R.eign 
 of Hen. VIII. the Bi/bcps took out, and acted, by Cornmijjionsi^. 
 which they were but Subaltern to the lying's Vicegerent : But in 
 the Reign of Edward VI. none being in that Office they were 
 immediately under the King: But by thefe Commiffions they 
 declare, '* that they held their Bifbopria only during the King'% 
 " Pleafure, and were impowered in the King's Name, as his 
 " Delegates, to perform ALL the Parts of the Episco- 
 " pal Function," Ecbard's Hill:. Eng. page 299. 
 
 % Anno 1550, an order of Council was made that fome 
 Bifhops and other learned Men ihould devife an Order for the 
 Creation of Bi/bops and Priefls. Burnet's liift. Refor^Vol. 
 III. page 195. 
 
[ 62 ] 
 
 nificancy or Weight which they have in this Church 
 they derive purely and jolely from the Authority of the 
 Magistrate inconteftibly appears hence ; namely, 
 that the Magiflrate has authoritatively directed and 
 prefciibed how and to whom Ordination is to be 
 given *. And mould an Ordination be given by all 
 the Bifhops of this Church in other Manner and 
 oth e r Form than that prefcribed by the Magiflrate, 
 fuch Ordination would be of no Legality at all, nor 
 Authority in ibis Church. The Man fo ordained 
 would be no proper Minifter in the Church of Eng- 
 land. A Minifter in the Church of Cbrift, he pof* 
 fibly might be ; but he would, I repeat it, be no 
 Minifter in the Church of England \ nor would 
 have Power and Authority to officiate as a Pi ieft 
 therein +. 
 
 The Church of England, if you duely weigh it, 
 feems evidently confti tuted upon the congregational 
 or independent Plan. 'Tis from the People (in other 
 Words, from the King and Parliament, in whom 
 the People have lodged their Power) that all the of- 
 ficers in this Church receive their whoje Authority 
 and are directed how to acl. In ail their Ordina- 
 tions, Jurifdiclions, Miniftrations, its Bifhops and 
 Priefts act entirely by an Authority committed to 
 them by the Civil Magiflrate, received originally 
 from the People. So that as /fo People, by their 
 
 Repre- 
 
 * Vid. the Judgment of the Court in the Cafe of Ko<wel> 
 a Nonjuring Clergyman, ordained by Dr. Hicks (Tin Jars Hilt, 
 of Eng. Vol. IV. page 502.) His Ordination was pronounced 
 illegal, and he difowned as a Clergyman. Vid. a Statute 8 of 
 Eliz. in Fuller's Ch. Hift. Book ix. page 80. 
 
 •f The Bifhop at an Ordination afks, — M Are you called ac- 
 4 ' cording to the Will of our Lord Jefus thrift, and the dueOrder 
 *• of this Realm." 
 
 Note, It is not fufficient to make him a Minifter in this Church 
 that he is called according to the Will or Inftitution of 
 Jesus Christ, if he be not alfo called according to the 
 due Order ef this Realm. 
 
[ 63 ] 
 
 Reprefentatives, are fuppofed to have authorifed, 
 directed, and appointed them to act ; fo, and to 
 only, are all the ArcbbiJJoops, Bifbops and Priefts 
 in this Church to officiate, and to difcharge their 
 feveral Functions therein. And if they prefume to 
 tranfgrefs the bounds which the People, by their 
 Reprefentatives, have fet them ; and to officiate 
 other wi se than in the Form and Manner preferr- 
 ed, their Mini ft rat ions are illegal and of no Au- 
 thority in this Church. 
 
 This, Sir, I appeal to all who know our Confli- 
 tution, is the real and true Nature of your boafted 
 episcopal Ordination, as it now flands in our 
 Church. 'Tis an Ordination performed by a civil 
 Officer, i. e. by one who officiates only by an Au- 
 thority derived to him from the civil Magiftrate y 
 and the Legality of whofe Miniftrations, and their 
 Efficacy in this Church, depends entirely upon his 
 obferving the Manner and Forms which the Magis- 
 trate hath injoined Ordinations then, in the 
 
 Church of England, if traced to their proper Ori- 
 gin and rightly confidered, are in truth nothing but 
 merely civil or popular Ordinations. 
 
 Nor let it be here replied, — That thefe Bifhops, 
 who by the Laws of England are im powered to or- 
 dain, are at the fame Time to be confidered as Sue- 
 c ffors of the Apoflles, and have received Power of 
 Ordination from thefe Founders of the Chriftian 
 Church by an uninterrupted lineal Defcent. For the 
 Constitution and Law. of England knows nothing 
 at all of this ■ it refts not this Power, which it com- 
 mits to its Bifhops, upon any fuch lineal Succeffion 
 or Defcent (which it knows to be a Rope of Sand, 
 a ridiculous Chimera, a Thing which no Man upon 
 Earth is able to make out J No; but it confiders 
 the King, vefted (by Act of Parliament, or the 
 Suffrage of the People) with a Fulness of all 
 Power Ecclefiafiical in thefe Realms, as empowering 
 and aubhotijmg Bifhops to ordain. This Power of 
 A a Or- 
 
[ 64 ] 
 
 Ordination was once delegated to Cromwell a Lay- 
 man, as Vicegerent to the King. And by the 
 Conftitution and Law of England this Layman had 
 then as much Authority to ordain as any Bi/hop in 
 the Realm ; and any Prieft whom he had ordained 
 would have been as much a Minifter in the Church 
 of England, and his Ministrations as valid, as if 
 all the Bifhops of the Realm had laid their Hands 
 on his Head *. But, 
 
 4. The only poflible way of avoiding this Diffi- 
 culty, is recurring to the wretched Refuge of Po- 
 pi sh Ordination^ and deriving the Validity of your 
 Orders and Miniftrations, and your Powers of Or- 
 dination, from the idolatrous Church of Rome. If 
 you derive them not from the Civil Magiftrate, 
 \ou mad from Popish Bifiops. A defperate Re- 
 fuge this ! attended with a Train of monitrous Ab- 
 furdities ! all which yet, rather than admit the Or- 
 ders of foreign Proteflanl Divine* and the Regularity 
 of their Miniftrations, you refolutely fvvallow. 
 
 That Popery is an undoubted fundamental Sub- 
 verfion of the whole Scheme of Chriftianity. — That 
 it is that A post ac y from the Chrijlian Faith, de- 
 fcribed by St. Paul, 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, 3. — The Man 
 of Sin and the Son of Perdition fitting in the 
 Temple (Church) of God •, oppofing, and exalting him- 
 J elf above all that is called GOD, foretold by the 
 Holy Ghost, 2 The/, ii. 3, 4. — And that the 
 Church of Rome is reprefented by the Prophetic 
 Spirit in the Revelation of St ; John, as an adulte- 
 rous and bloody Woman, which hath broken the Mar- 
 riage Covenant that efpoufed her to Christ, and 
 is fallen into a State of abominable and open Lewd- 
 r:efs ; multiplying her Fornications ; and inftead of 
 bringing forth and cherifhing a faithful Seed to the 
 Redeemer, breathes out horrid Threatnings and Per- 
 fections 
 
 * Heath and Day y the Bilhops of Worcefter and Chicheficr, 
 were deprived of their Bi/hoprics by a Court of Delegates, \vh« 
 w we all Laymen* Yid. Ecbatd's Hift. Eng. page 310. 
 
[ 6 5 ] 
 
 /editions againft them, makes War with the Saint* , 
 deftroys them from the Earth, and is drunk with 
 their Blood • that the Papacy or Church of Rome is 
 thus defcribed by the Holy Ghost, Proteftant Di- 
 vines, and even thofe of the Church of England, 
 readily confefs. How aftonifhing then to fee! That 
 from this idolatrous apoftate Church you derive, by 
 Ordination, your fpiritual and facerdotal Powers ; 
 and boaft that you can trace from her by an uninter- 
 rupted Line your ecclefiaftical Defcent. Strange ! 
 that without Shame you declare yourfelves before 
 the World the Offspring of this filthy withered old 
 Harlot, as your Church exprelly calls her ; and 
 that the Validity of your Ordinations and holy Of- 
 fices in Christ's Church, you reft upon their Tranf- 
 miflion to you from this antickrijlian and falfc 
 Church, even at the very time that you acknow- 
 ledge that for a thousand Years pajl it has been fo 
 far from having the Nature of the true Church 
 
 /^/nothing can be more, What Miracles 
 
 are here ! That which is no true Church, nor has 
 been any thing like it for a thoufand Years pad ; yet 
 conveys true, regular, Church-Offices and Powers ! 
 An anti-apo folic Church imparting genuine apoftolic 
 Orders ! The Synagogue of Satan become the facred 
 Repofitory, where the Power of Ordination to holy 
 Offices in Christ's Church, for more than ten Cen- 
 turies principally refted, and was almoft only to be 
 found ! The Church of Rome, which by Apoftacy 
 hath cut it/elf off from the Body of Christ, hath 
 neverthelefs his Spirit and Authority dwelling in it ; 
 and is commiffioned by Christ to examine, ordain 
 and fend Minifters into his Church, for the edify- 
 ing of his Body and perfecting his Saints ! How in 
 every View marvellous and tranfeendent is this ? 
 
 ct But Harlot as fhe is, you fay, (Tie may bring 
 
 u forth Children as well as a virtuous Matron, and 
 
 " fometimes Children far better than herfelfV 
 
 A a 2 Poor 
 
 * II. Def. p. 52, 
 
[ 66 ] 
 
 Poor Confolation this ! For the Children fhe brings 
 forth in this State of her Divorcement muft be 
 born of Fornication, a fpurious and corrupt Race. 
 
 This, Sir, is that Church of Rome whom you 
 own as your Mother, and from whom ydu claim 
 by Ordination to be ecclefiailically fprung ; and the 
 Sons of this vile and deteitible ProPtitute you ac- 
 knowledge as your Brethren ; duly born into the 
 Church \ ordained, becaufe epifcopally, in a valid 
 and right Manner ; whereas the glorious Company 
 of foreign reformed Churches, together with the 
 Church of Scotland and the Dijfentwg Minifters at 
 home, you utterly dilown as ecclefio.jtical Brethren ; 
 and affirm, " That having renounced Episcopacy, 
 ic and their Ordination being irregular, their Commu- 
 Ci nion can be neither lawful nor fa fey Where, alas ! 
 is the Decency, the Confiftency and Common 
 Senfe 5 to fay nothing of the Chriftianity or Charity 
 of this ! 
 
 The Church of Rome, by the XlXth Article of 
 the Church of England, cannot poflibly be a Part 
 of the true vifible Church of Christ ; for this it 
 thus defines,' ■ A Congregation of faithful Men, in 
 which the pure Word of G O D is preached, and the 
 Sacraments be duly adminiftred according to Chrift's 
 Ordinance, in all thofe things that of Neceffity are re- 
 quifite to the fame. But, do you not acknowledge 
 that the pure Word of G O D is fo far from being 
 preached in the Romifh Church, that 'tis there 
 corrupted by moil erroneous and abominable Tra- 
 ditions, idolatrous Rites and blafphemous Rabies, as 
 your XXXIft Article mod righteoufly fliles them ? 
 Do you not confefs the Wine to be an evidential Part 
 of the Lord's-Supper ? Is that Sacrament then duly 
 miniftred, according to Ch-r.ft's Ordinance in the 
 Chiuch where the Cup is taken from the People ? 
 
 In fhort, " If Blafphemies againft GOD and 
 a Tyranny over Men ; if defacmg the Ideas of 
 cc Deity, and corrupting the Principles of moral 
 #c Honefly and Virtue-, if fubverting the Founda- 
 
 " tions 
 
[ 67 ] 
 
 u tions of natural Religion, and ailing direclly 
 u counter to the Spirit and Defign, and overthrow- 
 " ing the effential Articles of the Chriftian Faith; 
 " if the moft avowed and bold Affronts offered to 
 " Heaven, and the bloodied and moft brutal Out- 
 tl rages executed on the beft of Men; if all thefe, 
 " I fay, are fufficient to exclude Men from being a 
 " Part of the truely catholic apoftolic Church, the 
 " Romaniftscan certainly have no Pretences to it." 
 
 The Church of Rome then having by her abo- 
 minable Immoralities, Blafphemies and Idolatries, 
 excommunicated and cut herfelf off from the Body 
 of Chrift, fhe cannot have his Spirit and Power 
 dwelling in her^ confequendy, has no Authority 
 to convey facer dotal Characters and Offices in CbrJi's 
 Church; the Characters and Offices therefore which 
 fhe pretends to convey, are fpurious and of no Va- 
 lidity or Efficacy therein. 
 
 But what finifhes the Abfurdity, and renders it 
 
 quite afionijhing, is, That thefe very Popijh 
 
 Clergy, to whole Orders you pay fuch extravagant 
 Complaifance, are fo unpolite as not to return the 
 Compliment to yours : No, fo far from it, that they 
 rudely pronounce you all, from the greateft Arch- 
 bifljop to the meaneft Clerk in the Land, a Company 
 of mere common unconfecrated Laymen ; as un- 
 qualified for performing any holy Office in the Chrif- 
 tian Church as the moft illiterate and contemptible 
 DifTenter of us all. To return Good for Evil is, 
 indeed, fometimes truly great. Bat to fee the ve- 
 nerable Bench of Bifhops and Governors of this 
 Church, with the whole Body of its Clergy, not 
 only yielding, but contending before the World for, 
 the Validity and Efficacy of the Orders of Popish 
 Priefts ; when at the fame time thefe very Priefts 
 are going up and down the Kingdom undermining 
 their Authority, invalidating their Miniftrations, 
 and reprefenting their facerdotal Powers as a mere 
 Nullity and Jeft. To fee them publickly main- 
 taining 
 
L 68 ] 
 
 taining the ecckjiafiic Characters and Office of thefe 
 Corrupters of Chriftianity, thefe fworn Enemies to 
 our civil Government and to his Majefly King 
 George^ thefe crafty Seducers, who are gone out 
 fpreading Treafon, Idolatry, Superflition and de- 
 finitive Error through the Land, this is fuch a 
 
 Strain of Courtefy as no Reafon can juftify ; yea, is 
 fuch a Strain of Weaknefs and Impolicy as ought not 
 to be beheld without indignant Concern, For this 
 gives thefe Popifh EmiJJaries a mofl dangerous Ad- 
 vantage over you : they artfully tell their Profelytes, 
 u That you acknowledge the Truth and Validity 
 <c of their Orders ; whilft they utterly deny the Va- 
 " lidity of yours \ the only safe and sure way 
 14 therefore is to flick to their Miniflrations ; which, 
 tc yourfelves being Judges, are authentic and valid ; 
 " whereas there is, at leafl a Rifque y a Danger at* 
 u tending yours ;" and, u that the People cannot 
 " (to ufe your own Words) depend with Jo much A[- 
 u furance as is requijite to the Peace and Acquiefcence 
 " of their Mind r that such Ordinations will be 
 u blejjed to them, and that they are pleafing to God." 
 Thus they uncourteoufly turn the Weapons againfl 
 you which you put into their Hands ; and whilfl 
 you are juflifying their Orders, make ufe of thofe 
 very Orders to poifon and pervert the People ; and 
 craftily to traduce, undermine and deflroy your 
 Church. 
 
 " The great Blejfing of episcopal Ordination is 
 " wanting to the foreign Churches, you affirm, 
 <c rather through Necessity than Choice*'' This 
 is perfectly romantic, and has not the Face of Pro- 
 bability. Does not the World know, that in their 
 public Confeffions and Formularies of Faith, Bijhops 
 and Priejis are declared originally the fame, and that 
 
 the 
 
 • II. Def. p. 50; 
 
[ 6g ] 
 
 the Power of Ordination belongs equally to both * ? 
 Can any thing be more manifeft than that epifcopal 
 Ordination, iT chofen and defired by them, like 
 other Brilijh Manufactures, might with all imagi- 
 nable Eafe be in a few Days exported to them, and 
 fpread in a few Months through all their Provinces 
 and Towns ? Are there not in this Kingdom thou- 
 fands of Ecclefiaftics^ who, receiving it from our 
 Bifhops^ would mod joyfully carry over this great 
 Bkffing to foreign Churches ? Or mould any of their 
 Divines come over to fetch it, would they not be 
 received, think you, with Extafies of Welcome ; 
 and return loaded with Honours ; perhaps, with Fa- 
 vours more folid and jubftantial than thefe P Has 
 there no Management or Addrefs been ufed thro' a 
 Century paft, to introduce into their Churches this 
 epifcopal Grace ? And as to its cw fating the Conftitu- 
 " tion and Frame of their civil Governments" no- 
 thing, you know, can better fit thofe of the Lu- 
 theran Profeflion, who have nominal Bifhops, tho' 
 no Ordination but Presbyterian amongft them — . 
 To afifert then, " that the foreign Churches do really 
 u prefer, desire and fome of them sigh for 
 ic episcopal Ordination •, and that it is not of 
 u Choice but of Necessity they want it — ," ap- 
 pears to me to be mere Romance-, an AiTertion far 
 from doing Honour to the Perfon that makes it. 
 
 There is one Confideration more, upon this Head 
 of Ordination, which I beg leave to mention •, the 
 rather, becaufe there hath not generally, I think, 
 that Strefs been laid upon it which its Importance 
 defer ves: Which is, 
 
 5. Sup- 
 
 * Mr. Du Plefis (fays Bifhop Jer. laylor) a Man of Honour 
 and great Learning, attefts, that at the firft Reformation there 
 were many Archbifhops and Cardinals in Germany, France, Italy, 
 cjfr. who joined in the Reformation, whom they might, but did 
 not, employ in their Ordinations ; and therefore, fays the Bi- 
 Ihop, what NeceJJity can be pretended in this Cafe I would fain 
 learn? Epifc. ajfertedy&c. page 191. 
 
[ 7° ] 
 
 5. Suppofing the Power of Ordination to be, 
 from Scripture, ever fo clearly .proved to belong 
 folely to Bifbops\ yet all the Bifhops of this Realm 
 refufing to ordain but upon unjufiifiable Terms ; Or- 
 d in at ion, in this Cafe, may j u illy be fought from 
 Prejbyters ; and, when given by tbent; is of undoubt- 
 ed Validity and Regularity in the Chriftian Church. 
 
 The Bifljops require from all Candidates for Or- 
 dination, as an mdfpenfibe Term of receiving it 
 
 from them That they fubferibe will ngly, and ex 
 
 animo to the XXXIX Articles, that they are all 
 and every one of them agreeable to the IVord of 
 God ': And that they Jolemnly declare their unfeign- 
 ed Affent and Confent to all and every thing 
 contained in and prefer ibed by the Book of Common- 
 Prayer. This now is a Term of AdmilTion to the 
 Chriftian Miniftry, which they have no Authority 
 from Christ to infill upon or to make ; yea, a 
 Term (if with Humility I might fay it) which they 
 offend greatly againft the Rights and Liberty of the 
 Chriftian Church, and againft Christ its only 
 Head, by prefuming to make ; becaufe, thoufands 
 may be duely qualified, according to the Will of 
 Christ, to acl as Minifters in his Church, who 
 cannot with a good Confcience comply with this 
 Term. By infilling therefore on it, they rejecl thofe 
 whom Christ receives •, and unlawfully keep out 
 Numbers of worthy Perfons from a Part in the 
 Chriftian Miniftry, who, by the Appointment and 
 Will of God, and by the Conftitution of the Chrif- 
 tian Church, have a Riyfbt of Admiflion to it; and 
 whofe Miniftry is greatly needed and would be 
 ufeful therein. 
 
 Let the fole Power of Ordination, then, be al- 
 lowed to have been originally lodged in the Bifhops ; 
 yet, if at any Time they mould enter into a Com- 
 bination to abuft and pervert this Power ; to lay a 
 Yoke upon Chriftian Minifters which Christ never 
 laid upon them, and which they ought not to bear *, 
 
 and 
 
[ 71 ] 
 
 and Ordination cannot be had from them upon 
 honourable and Chriftian Terms ; in this we may 
 fafely reafon, as our Lord hath taught us in a like- 
 Cafe, that God will have Mercy ana not facnfice • 
 that a mere Ceremony is to give Way to Confidera- 
 tions of a moral Nature ; and that Men, in other 
 Refpe&s well qualified, when their Service is needed 
 (of which fhemfe'vesanfrthe People are to be Judges,) 
 may act as Minifters in the Church of Chrift ; either 
 without any Ordination, when it cannot honourably 
 be had ; or with fuch only, whether Prefbyterianot 
 Popular, as can be obtained upon honourable Terms. 
 Thefe things I recommend, Sir, to your difpaf- 
 fionate and fober Thoughts ; not doubting but they 
 will difpofe you to be lefs fevere upon Prefbyterian, 
 and more Modeft in your glorying on epifcopal Or- 
 dination, than you have formerly been. And 
 
 whether thofe who now claim the jole Power of Or- 
 dination, and confider it as a Trust committed to 
 them by Christ, can juftify their refufing it, but 
 upon Compliance with fuch fevere and unreafonable 
 Terms,— deferves maturely to be weighed ; con- 
 fidering, that (as far as they bear any Relation to 
 Chrift) they are not Lords, but only Servants in his 
 Houfe, and that to him they muft be accountable for 
 fo important a Trust. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 Of the Peoples Right /(?chuse their own Paflors. 
 
 THE next Point to be confidered, is the Right 
 of the Chriftian Laity to cbufe their own Mi- 
 nifters. The Charge given them in Scripture to try 
 
 the Spirits, to beware of falfe Prophets, to 
 
 take Heed of what they hear, " you own, incontefti- 
 tc bly proves their Right of Juagment, or of exa- 
 <c mining and proving Doctrines ; but the thing 
 tc you want to fee is, how from the Right of Judg- 
 
 B b " ment 
 
[ 72 ] 
 
 lC merits the Right of Choice can be deduced ? *" 
 But can a Perfon of any Difcernment want to be 
 fhewn this? Does not the Right of judging in 
 things of Religion, neceffarily imply not only a 
 Rights but a Duty alfo, of acting agreeable to 
 that Judgment ; or in other Words, a Right of Choice? 
 Pray, why mud a Man examine ? What ! that he 
 may have, peradventure, the Guilt and Mortifica- 
 tion of combating his own Confcience, and acting 
 contrary to his Senfe of Things ? What Abfurdity 
 were this ! If the Chriftian Laity were to try the Spi- 
 rits, and to examine and weigh the Doctrine their 
 pretended Pallors brought •, then/^/<f, furely, whom 
 they found to bring not the Doclrine of Christ, and 
 to be led by not the Divine Spirit, they were to re- 
 ject, to turn away from, and not to accept as their 
 fpiritual Guides. 
 
 Accordingly, the Chriftian Laity are charged 
 Rom. xvi. 17. To mark (wowm to confider, to ob- 
 ferve carefully) them that cause Divi/ions and Of - 
 fences contrary to the Chriftian Doclrine, and to avoid 
 them. Note, thofe who make new Terms of Com- 
 munion in the Church of Chrift ; who fet up new 
 Ceremonies of human Invention, and command the 
 Subjects of Chrifl to yield Obedience to them ; and 
 who caft out of the Church, or refufe to admit into 
 it, thofe who comply not w'rthfuch Ceremonies and 
 Rites , these, Sir, are the Men (I appeal to your 
 own Confcience, and to the Bar of eternal Reason 
 at which all muft fhortly (land) these are the Men 
 which cause Divi/wns and Offences contrary to the 
 Chriftian Doclrine ; these therefore, the Chriftian 
 People are exprefly commanded, by the Apoftle, to 
 avoid. Attentively confider this, and you will 
 never more condemn our Separation from your 
 Church ; this fingle Text alone juftifies it before the 
 World ; and not only fo, but proves it a mofl 
 plain and indifpenfible Duty. 
 
 The 
 * II. Def. page $7. 
 
L 73 3 
 
 The Church of England feems to have departed 
 from, and moft manifeftly to have dejlroyed the pri- 
 mitive Apoftolic and Catholic Communion, by 
 fetting up and enjoining other Terms of Christian 
 Fellowship than the Gospel hath injoined, and 
 
 rejecting thofe whom Christ receives. From 
 
 tbis 9 therefore, upon Cbnftian Principles, and by 
 the Command of St, Paul we are to withdraw our- 
 felves, and to feparate. 
 
 But to return — The Manner in which the Place 
 of Judas, the Traitor, was fitted up, Acls i. and in 
 which the feven Deacons were chofen, Acls vi. mews 
 it plainly to be the Constitution of the great Foun- 
 der of the Chriftian Church that its Minifters 
 mould be appointed by the Election of the People. 
 An Apoftle was an Officer of extraordinary Rank, 
 whom it feemed in a peculiar Manner the Preroga- 
 tive of Christ to appoint folely to that Office; but 
 neither doth he do this, nor yet order the Apoftolic 
 College to fill up this Vacancy by their own Autho- 
 rity and Difcretion ; but (for an Inflruclion, no 
 Doubt, to future Ages) he commanded the Chrifti- 
 an People (the whole Number of Believers, as far as 
 appears, that were then at Jerufalem) to chuf out 
 two, and prefent them before him, of whom he 
 would appoint one to the vacant Apoflolate. A 
 ftrong preemptive Evidence, every one muft grant, 
 in Support of popular Elections. 
 
 And when feven Deacons were to be appointed to 
 manage the Church's Stock \ though the Apofiles 
 were then vefted with a Futnefs of Power, and had 
 the Gift of discerning Spirits (in both which 
 they have no Succefjors) and were therefore far bet- 
 ter qualified to have chofen Perfons for that Office 
 than the Multitude of Lay- Christians ; yet behold, 
 as a Handing Monument to after-times in whom this 
 eleclive Power was to reft in the Church, they took 
 not upon them authoritatively to nominate, but di- 
 rected the People to look out feven Men of good Rt~ 
 B b % port, 
 
[ 74 1 
 port. In Obedience to this Direction, and in Pur- 
 fuance of their Right (as the Lord's freed Men ; put 
 into an. happy State, where none were to have Au- 
 thority or Dominion over others, but all were to be 
 Brethren) the whole Multitude, 'tis faid, chafe, or, as 
 you learnedly render it, picked out of their Num- 
 ber feven Men. Not to differ on (mail things, 
 
 Sir, if you allow the Chriftian Laity to pick out 
 their Ministers, as the Hpoftles, with their fuperior 
 Powers and Gifts of decerning Spirits, allowed the 
 Laity in their Times, this is all we crave. 
 
 As to the Practice of the antient Church, 'tis not 
 I, as you fuggeft, but a Writer * of your own, high 
 enough for Church Power, who fays " That the People 
 " had Votes in the Choice of Bifhops, all muft grants 
 <s and it can be only Ignorance and Folly that 
 u pleads the contrary." I own, I am furprized at 
 your contefling ftiffiy this Point, when the Stream 
 of all, even your own Writers, beats fo violently 
 againft you. Clemens Romanus f a Cotemporary of 
 the Apoftles, favs, they appointed Bimops,at;m,&xW<ri3c 
 m mxKwu*; -n^W, by the Conjent of the whole Church. 
 How often does Cyprian fay, cC Nihil fiat nifi con- 
 fentiente plebe," Let nothing be done but by the Con- 
 fetti of ihe People. Again, " Deus inftruit ordina- 
 " tiones facerdotales non nifi fub populi aflillentis 
 " confeientia fieri oportere %" God appoints that fa- 
 cer dotal Ordinations fhouldnot be made without the 
 /,£iftance and Confent of the People. Himfelf he de- 
 clares chofen to his Office, " Favore plebis, populi 
 " fuffragio," by the Favour and Vote of the People. 
 Your Criticifm on the Word fuffragium (which all 
 the Learned know properly and conftantly fignifies 
 a Vote ; as it undoubtedly does in one if not both the 
 very Inftances you bring to dil prove it) is too flen- 
 der to deferve a particular Confideration ; efpecially 
 as you offer not a Word againft that other exprefs 
 Teftimony quoted from the fame Father, which in- 
 
 difputably 
 
 * Lowth. f Epift. ad Cor. Cap. 44. % Epift. 67, 
 
t 75 ] 
 
 difputably (hews theSenfe in which he ufes, fuffra- 
 gium, * c Plebs maximam habet poteftatem vel eli- 
 M gendi dignos facerdotes vel indignos recufandi," 
 To the People belongs the chief Power either of 
 chufing worthy Minifiers or of rejecting the unworthy. 
 This is a Teftimony full to the Point, which you 
 could not gainfay, and therefore wifely over lock it. 
 
 The Con ft i tut ions of the Apoftles decree, That he 
 who is to be ordained a Bifhop muft be chosen by ail 
 the People as the moft worthy *. 
 
 The Canons called the Apoftles depofe fuch Bifhops 
 as are chofen by the Civil Magijlrate -f*. 
 
 The famous Council of Mice, in a fynodical Epi£ 
 tie to the Church of Alexandria forbid any to be or- 
 dained Bifhcps without the Election of the People, 
 
 The Council of Constantinople, anno 382, fay 
 they ordained Nettarius, cuncia decernente civi- 
 tate, all the City decreeing it ; and Fiavianus, omni 
 Ecclefia decernente, according to the Determination of 
 the whole Church. 
 
 The Council q{ Carthage, anno 394, fay a Bifhop 
 is to be ordained, cum omni con fen fu Clericorum & 
 Laicorum, with the univerfal Consent both of the 
 Clergy and Laiety. 
 
 LeoV. Father Fault confefiTes, has amply (hewn, 
 " that the Ordination of a Bifhop could not be 
 " lawful or valid, which v/as not required and 
 M fought by the People, and by them approved ; 
 " which is faid by all the Fathers of thofe Times -,'* 
 and adds, Qui praefuturus eft omnibus, ab omni- 
 bus eligatur §, Let him that is to pre fide over all be 
 chofen by all. 
 
 The Council of Paris, anno 552, require the 
 Election of the People and Clergy, on Pain of 
 Excommunication. Chryfoftom was chofen Bifhop of 
 Conjlantinople by the common Confent of all Perfons, 
 
 Clergy 
 
 * Conft. Apof. L. 8. Cap. 4. f Can. Apof. 30, In 
 
 Fhotio. % Benef. Mat. Seft, 29. § Leon. Ep, 89, 
 
 Cap. 5. 
 
[ 76 ] 
 
 Clergy as well as Laity *. In the Choice of St. 
 Martin, the Votes of the People carried it againft 
 the Votes of the Bijbops them (elves, the People in- 
 fifling upon their Privilege -f-. 
 
 Finally ; the mighty Contefls and Struggles, of 
 which ecclefiaftical Story is full, into which the 
 great Cities frequently fell at the Eletlion of their 
 Bifhops, put beyond all Doubt the Antiquity of the 
 Practice. That at Antioch when Euflathius was cho- 
 fen, defcribed by Eufebius (de vita Conftant. L. 3. 
 Ch. 59, 60.) where alfo is the Emperor's Letter to 
 the People of Antioch (another memorable Monu- 
 ment full to the Purpofe) exhorting them not to 
 chuse Eufebius as their Bifhop, but to think of 
 
 fome other Perfon. That at C<e{area defcribed 
 
 by Greg. Nazian. X That at Alexandria by Eva- 
 
 grius §. -That at Conftantinople, feveral Times, 
 
 by Sozomen, &c. That at Ephefus by Cbryfof- 
 
 /^—-r-At Verfeiles by Ambrofe. At Milan by 
 
 Socrates. At Rome by A mm i anus Marcellinus, 
 
 Gfr.— — It hence evidently appears what the Sen- 
 timents and Practice were of the Churches in thefe 
 untient Times. So that fo warm a Champion for 
 Church-Authority as your zealous Dr. fVatt is forced 
 to confefs, " that it is a Piece of Hiftory which 
 " cannot fairly be denied, that amongfl the primu 
 tf live Chriftians the People ufed to have their Suf- 
 " frage in the Choice of Church-Officers ; and 
 u that this is the moll regular Way ; that it con- 
 46 tinned many Tears ; and thofe Chriftians who 
 " have gone about to mend fchLs Way, have made 
 " it worfe ||." 
 
 Thefe, 
 
 * Socrat Schol. L. 6, Ch. 2. f Sculp. Sev. Cap. 7. 
 
 % Orat. 19. § L. z.C. 6. 
 
 || Dr. Wall's Hift. Inf. Bap. Vol. II. page 334. Nay, if any 
 Trejbyter was created a Bijbop by imperial Mandates, the People 
 were enjoined to renounce him. 
 
[ 77 1 
 
 Thefe, now, are the Grounds on which this 
 Right of the People ftands. And thus impregna- 
 ble is the Pofl you fo adventroufly attack. Your 
 reafoning upon this Head is truly extraordinary ; 
 
 which in fhort is this, " A Man does well who 
 
 " meekly attends the Miniftry of a good, able, or- 
 " thodox Minifler, by whomfoever provided ; but 
 " the King, Bifhops, Lord Chancellor , Gentry, &c. 
 " are more competent Judges of the Goodnefs 
 " and Orthodoxy of Clergymen than the common 
 " People* \\ therefore, the People ought not to 
 judge for themfelves in thefe Matters, but to fubmit 
 meekly to the Determination of the King, Lord Chan- 
 cellor, Bi/hops, &c. A moil: excellent Doctrine! 
 admirably fit to promote Popery in Spain, Maho- 
 metifm in Turkey, Paganifm in Japan. The brave 
 Proteftants in France then, I urged, have unwarran- 
 tably and wickedly withdrawn from the Minifler s 
 which the King and Bifhops had fet over them : 
 " Yes, you reply, undoubtedly they have, if their 
 " Kings and Bifhops fet over them, as they do here, 
 " good orthodox M i ni iters " But could you think, 
 Sir, fuch an Anfwer would be received without a 
 Smile ? Pray, who is. to judge of the Goodnefs, Abi- 
 lity, and Orthodoxy of the Minifler ? Not the Peo- 
 ple themfelves, according to your Scheme, but the 
 King and Bifhops, who are more competent 
 Judges. Well then, the Rulers in France are more 
 competent Judges of the Goodnefs, Ability, and Or- 
 thodoxy of Miniflers than their Huguenot Subjects ; 
 to their fuperior Judgments, therefore, they ought 
 
 to fubmit. What rare Chriflianity and Protefia- 
 
 nifm this ! But are the Huguenots in France, I befeech 
 you, more competent Judges of the Ability of the 
 Clergy, on whom they ought to attend, than the 
 People of England ? Or have the King and Bifhops 
 here more Authority from God tojudge for their 
 
 Subjects, 
 
 * II. Let. page 9. II. Def. page 63. 
 
[ 7* 1 
 
 Subjects, than the King and Bifhops there? *Tis 
 flrange a Gentleman of Difcernment can entangle 
 himfelf in fo inconfiftent a Scheme. 
 
 " 1 hat the Minority of a Parifh are bound to fub- 
 " mit to the Choice of the Majority ; fo if tbefe hap- 
 " pen to chufe a Popijh Prieft for their Paftor, thofe 
 " are obliged to receive him as men," is an Ab- 
 furdity you would charge upon my Principles and 
 Reafoning *, but is really nothing, Sir, but the Pro- 
 duction of your own Imagination ; there being not 
 a Syllable in my Letter favouring fuch Submiffion ; 
 but it exprefly claims and maintains the Right of 
 every Man to judge and chufe for himfelf. 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 
 'The Burial Office and Athanasian Creed 
 moft apparently inconfiftent and repugnant to each 
 ether. 
 
 WI T H what Truth, Sir, and Juftice you 
 drew your own Character as a jorry Advo- 
 cate for the Church f, the Public will judge ; 
 
 that you have (hewn no Defect of Courage, every 
 one mufl own. You proceed in what you call, 
 your foldierly Manntr%, and like a bold and intre- 
 pid Champion undertake to defend what, I believe, 
 few except yourfelf but would defert as a quite for- 
 lorn and untenable Poll : And that is, your Church's 
 thirteen Times a Year moil folemnly pronouncing 
 concerning all Aricins and Socinians that they 
 cannot be faved, that they do without doubt 
 perifh everlaflingly ; and yet, with equal Solemnity, 
 pronouncing concerning thefe self same Perfons, 
 dying in their Herefies, that God has in great 
 Mercy taken them to himfelf, and that you Hope 
 they rest in Christ. This is fuch a Contradic- 
 tion 
 
 * II. Def. page 63. f II, Def. page 12S. J De- 
 
 dic.pag e »5- 
 
t 79 ] 
 tion as, I confefs, I did not expert any Gentleman 
 of Sobriety, would attem'pt to reconcile. But let 
 
 us hear how you perform. " When we declare 
 
 " that Arians and Socinians perifh everlaflingly, our 
 " Senfe is, that their Herefies are damnable, and 
 " that they upon, the Account of them are liable to 
 " Damnation ; notwithstanding which, there may 
 " be Room for Pardon in particular Cafes, and that, 
 " when one of thefe comes to die, it may be chari- 
 " tably hoped, that his is fuch a Cafe, and we may 
 " lawfully declare, that we do not quite de/pair con- 
 u cerning him * :" That is to fay, you damn the 
 Herefie, but fave the Heretic: A. Piece of fpiritual 
 Legerdemain, which, I own, I cannot comprehend. 
 But does not all the World fee, Sir, that the Creed 
 plainly and inconteitibly refers to Persons, not to 
 Things only ; and abfolutely pronounces upon their 
 final Circumftances or Stale? Whosoever will be 
 faved, 'tis necefjary before all Things that he hold the 
 Faith there defined ; which Faith, except every 
 one doth keep whole and unde filed, he Jhall without 
 
 Doubt perifh everlaflingly. Does this fpeakonly 
 
 of the Herefie, will you fay, and not exprelly pro- 
 nounce upon the Condition or State of the Per- 
 fon who holds it ? And does it only fay of him, that 
 he is liable to Damnation, and not that he Thai I 
 without Doubt, or mofl certainly, be damned? 
 
 Again, does the Creed leave Room to hope in par- 
 ticular Cafes, when, at five diftinct Places, it de- 
 termines abfolutely againfl Hope ; and in fuch ftrong 
 and exprefs Language, as mod evidently reaches, 
 and was intended to reach, to every particular Cafe? 
 Whosoever, — Every one, — which except a Man 
 believe, — he fhall without Doubt, penjh everlafl- 
 ingly. If, notwithstanding thefe decifive and mofl 
 peremptory Declarations, the Creed ftill leaves Room 
 to hope for the Salvation of the avowed Deniers and 
 Oppugners of this Faith -, then the Ufe of Language 
 C c is 
 
 * II. Def. page 151. 
 
t 80 ] 
 
 is loft-, there is no Meaning in Words, Truth and 
 Faljhood are the fame, and a Man may honeflly fub- 
 fcribe the Koran of Mahomet and reconcile it with 
 a.Profeilion of the Go/pel of Christ. Befides, what 
 contemptible Chicanery and trifling is it to talk, " of 
 " Room for Pardon and Hope in particular Ca- 
 u fes 9 " when you declare folemnly this Hope uni- 
 versally, and in every Caje , and to fay, 
 
 " When one of thefe comes to die •," when you do it 
 over All when they come to die : And, " that 
 " you do not quite defpair concerning the Man 5" 
 when you have the A flu ranee to thank God that he 
 hath in great Mercy taken him to him f elf, and to 
 pray him, that when you die, yourself may red in 
 Christ, as you hope this arian or Socinian doth. 
 Is this the Language of Not-quite-Despair ? — 
 Such trifling does but hurt a Caufe : You had much 
 better have done here, as with the burial Office and 
 the Abjolution, have paffed it in Silence over, and 
 not attempted to defend what every one fees to be 
 incapable of Defence. 
 
 But, the unfeigned Assent and Consent which 
 you have folemnly given, and which every Clergy- 
 man is obliged moil folemnly to give, flicks, no 
 Doubt, greatly ; and makes you itrain every Nerve 
 to endeavour to let it pafs. Such Potions, indeed, 
 muff, be bitter ; God grant they be not malignant / 
 There is fometh'mg in every wife Man that muff 
 flrongly keck againfl them. To Numbers in your 
 own Church it cannot but be difficult, in God's 
 Prefence and before his Church, before Angels and 
 Men, to give their unfeigned Assent and Consent 
 to all and every thing contained in the Athanafian 
 Creed, with all its Explications, Limitations, and 
 
 damnatory Claufes. A Creed, whofe Limitations 
 
 they condemn ; whofe Explications they deride ; and 
 whofe damnatory Claufes they deleft heartily and 
 
 abhor \ yet in God'j Prefence and before his 
 
 Church, I repeat it with Aflonifhrnent ! to declare 
 
 ones 
 
f 8. ] 
 
 ones unfeigned Assent and Consent to them all, 
 
 is a Potion, furely, which though fweetened 
 
 with the nobleft Church-preferments, a Man might 
 juftly dread to fwallow J You wonder, Sir, perhaps, 
 to fee Dcifm, Infidelity, Popery, a Corruption of Man- 
 ners and Contempt of holy Things prevail through- 
 out the Land ? I acknowledge, 1 do not : For when 
 thofe who are to be the great Examples and Teachers 
 of Righteousness, too generally enter upon their 
 facred Office with a dangerous Violation of it ; fub- 
 fcribing Articles they do not believe -, preaching 
 contrary to their Subfcriptions ; declaring folemnly 
 their unfeigned AfTent to what they do not approve, 
 but, it may be, heartily deteft -, and proftituting 
 the holy Rites and Offices of their Religion to poli- 
 tical and fordid Ends. W hy mould it oe thought 
 
 ilrange if Popery and Infidelity greatly gain 
 Ground ? and what wonder if they at length fatally 
 prevail ? # 
 
 SECT. XII. 
 
 Tb* SccttilTi Prefiy'.erian Establishment 
 
 vindicated. 
 
 F Schism be fo dangerous and damnable a Tfiino* 
 as you affect to reprefentt > the River Tweed, 
 C c 2 methinks 
 
 * See a like manifeft inconfiflenee betwixt the XXVth Article 
 and the Office for Confirmation. The Article fays — " Confirma- 
 " turn has not any vifible Sign or Ceremony ordained of God" 
 
 ■ But the Office commands the Bifhop to declare, " That he 
 
 " hath laid hi s Hands on the confirmed (after the Example of 
 " the holy A pottles) to certify them hy this Sign of God's 
 
 t( Favour" Behold an evident Contrariety ! But to both Parts 
 
 unfeigned Affent and Confent is obfeqiiioufly given ! 
 
 It is fomething (more than) odd, a learned Bifhop of your own 
 has lately obferved, to have two Creeds eftabliilied in ihejame 
 Church ; in one of which, thofe are declared accurfed, who deny 
 the Son to be of the same Evpofla/is with the hat her : And in the 
 other, it is declared they cannot be faved, but perifb e-verla/iingly, 
 who do not afTert that there is one Hypofiafis of the Father and 
 
 another of the Son Eftayon Spirit. §. 146. 
 
 t II. Def p, 63. 
 
 I 
 
[ 8 2 ] 
 
 methinks, fhould not bound it, nor your folemn 
 Warnings againft it * ; but from the Profufion of 
 your Charity to the Englifh DifTenters t, a little 
 mould extend alfo to your epifcopal Brethren the 
 Dijfenters from the Scottijh Church. But thefe, fuch 
 is your partiality, you endeavour to juftify inftead 
 of cenfuring ; yea, to juftify upon fuch Principles 
 as certainly expofe yourfelf to heavy Ceniure and 
 
 Rebuke. You alledge, "■ That they did not 
 
 " feparate from the Prefbyterians, but the Pre/by- 
 
 <c terians from them, that by Tumults, falfe 
 
 " Mutters, and other Mifreprefentations of Perfons 
 " and Things the Prefbytenans got themfelves efta- 
 
 <c blifhed, but that having renounced Episco- 
 
 " pacy, and their Ordination being irregular, 
 f* their Communion can be neither Safe nor Law- 
 " ful\r Behold! in thefe laft Words that fchif- 
 matical dividing Spirit from which you endeavour to 
 vindicate your Church. A fevere and unchriftian 
 Sentence! by which you unchurch at once, and cut 
 off from Chriftian Fellowjhip all the foreign reformed 
 Churches, a glorious and great Company, and pro- 
 nounce them not to belong to the vilible Church of 
 Christ. They all have renounced Episcopacy, in 
 your Senfe of the Word, their Ordi nations there- 
 fore you declare irregular, being only Prefbyterian, 
 and their Communion to be neither safe nor law- 
 ful, /'. e. it is a dangerous and wicked thing to hold 
 Communion with them : Your own fober Thoughts, 
 Sir, and the epifcopal Authority under which you 
 are placed, will, I doubt not, correct you for fo im- 
 mociefl a Cenfure. To ailift the former in this 
 good Office, I would offer two things to your feri- 
 ous Review. 
 
 i. That the very Canons of the Church of Eng- 
 land, to which you have fworn Obedience, acknow- 
 ledge the Church of Scotland to be a true Sifter 
 
 Church j 
 
 * Ibid, page 128. f Dcdic. page 15. % II. Dct 
 
 pages 16, 145, 
 
[ 83 ] 
 
 Church ; commanding all its Clergy to pray/^r the* 
 Churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland 
 as Parts of Christ'j holy Catholic Church, 
 which is difperfed throughout the World. Canon LV. 
 Note, the Church of Scotland, when thefe Canons 
 were made, was Prejbyterian as it is now. And, 
 
 2. Confider, that the Prejbyterian Church in 
 North Britain is eftablifhed by the very fame Autho- 
 rity, and refts upon the fame Law as the epifcopal 
 Church in South Britain. 
 
 The very fame Legijlative Powers which eftablifh- 
 ed and formed the one, have eftablifhed the other 
 1 ike wife ; if it be Schifm, then, Rebellion and 
 Contumacy againft Governors to feparate from the 
 latter ; it is moft certainly the very fame to Jeparate 
 from the former alfo. As for " tumults and falfe 
 " Muflers by which it got it f elf eftablifhed." You 
 fhould have known, that the Senfe of the Scotiifh 
 Nation was, perhaps, ten times more general for 
 Prejbyterianifm, in the Reigns of K William and 
 Qi_ Ann, when that Form was eftablifhed there ; 
 than the Senfe of the Englifh Nation was for Pro- 
 t eft ant if m, in the Reigns of K. Edward and Q. Eli- 
 zabeth, when the epifcopal Church of England was 
 formed and eftablifhed here. But if the Settlement 
 of Protestantism in England, by the Crown and 
 Parliament of thefe Realms, was valid and right, 
 even though the Bifhops and Clergy were,, almoft 
 unammoufly againft it; Presbyteri anism in Scot- 
 land furely, enacted and eftablifhed by the fame 
 Crown and Parliament, muft be equally valid; ef- 
 pecially as the Voice of their Clergy as well as Laiety 
 ran, not only violently, but generally that Way. 
 
 A grand Convention of the States in Scotland, 
 at the Revolution, in a Claim of Rights which they 
 prefented as containing the fundamental and unalte- 
 rable Laws of that Kingdom, declare, Ce That 
 
 " the Reformation in Scotland having been begun 
 ^ by a Party among the Clergy, all Prelacy in 
 
 that 
 
[ 8 4 ] 
 
 *' that Church was a great and in fttppor table Grievance 
 " to that Kingdom" King William, however, Bi- 
 fhop Burnet * informs us, " allured the epifcopal 
 u Party there, that he would do all that he could to 
 * 4 preferve them (eftablifhed) granting a full Tole- 
 u ration to the Prejbyterians, provided they concur- 
 " red in the new Settlement of the Kingdom (i. e. 
 " in renouncing King James, and owning himfelf 
 *' as their Sovereign.) But the Bi/hops and their Fol- 
 " lowers refolved to adhere firmly to the Interefts 
 " of King James, and fo declaring in a Body, with 
 iC much Zeal, in Oppofition to the new Settlement, 
 Ct it was not poflible for the King to preferve that 
 " (epifcopal) Government there, all thofe who ex- 
 " preiTed their Zeal for him, being equally zealous 
 * 6 againft that Order." 
 
 This Eftablifhment of Prejbytery was again in the 
 moil folemn Manner enacled and confirmed by the 
 Queen {Ann) and Parliament of England when the 
 Union was made. You fpeak therefore of this 
 Affair, Sir, in more coarfe and difrefpeclful Lan- 
 guage than is either decent or true, when you talk 
 of In fur regions, falfe Mufte>s, Mifreprefentations, csV. 
 It was done upon the moft mature and grave Deli- 
 beration's both of King William and Queen Ann, 
 and of the Lords and Commons of both Kingdoms 
 in* Parliament alfembled ; it has received the moft 
 facred Sanction a haman Law can receive • and is 
 made as ejfential and fundamental a Part of our pre- 
 fent Conftitutioi, as the Church of England itfeif. 
 Take heed therefore that you are not preparing a 
 Rod for your own Correction ; and left by teaching 
 Men to argue away the Legality and Reverence of 
 the Prefbyterian Eftabliftiment in North Britain, you 
 give a fecond mortal Stab t to the Church eftabliih- 
 ed here. You may pleafe to obferve alfo, that 
 when you call the epifcopal DifTenters there the 
 
 Church 
 
 * Hift. of his Times, Vol. IV. pages 42, 43, duodecimo. 
 f A deadly one you before gave. See page 7. 
 
[ 85 1 
 
 Church of Scotland, 'tis with juft the fame Propriety, 
 Decency and good Senfe, as if the Prelbyterians 
 fhould call themfelves the Church of England here. 
 
 Hence alfo it appears, that what you offer in 
 Mitigation of the Jaccbitifm and Rebellion of the 
 Epifcopalians in Scotland (pages 16, 17,) has one 
 material Flaw, which is, that it is not founded upon 
 Truth. For you reprefent the Lofs of their Efta- 
 blifhment as being the Caufe of their Difaffection ; 
 whereas, the very Reverse is exactly the Cafe; 
 and they therefore loft their Eftablifhment. becaufe 
 they were difaffeded, rejected the Revolution, and 
 adhere ftaunchly to King James. King William 
 would have prelerved them, if they would have 
 acknowledged his Government ; they obflinately 
 refufed, and fell therefore a juft Sacrifice to their 
 ftupid Attachment to a tyrannical and Popifh Prince. 
 
 As to the prefent Loyalty of the two Parties in 
 that Kingdom, the Pre/by terians and Epifcopalians, 
 which you have drawn into Comparifon you have 
 done one of them great wrong in reprefenting them 
 both as, perhaps, alike deeph engaged * in the late 
 impious Rebellion there. If from the Difpofition 
 of the Clergy, that of the Laiety may be reafonably 
 prefumed, there are two important Fads, to omit 
 many other, which will difpofe every impartial 
 Ferfon, I believe, to view that Affair in a ve*y 
 different Light. One is, the Royal Commander, 
 the Duke of Cumberland' s Letter to the General Af 
 Jembly at Edinburgh, in which he expreffes a ftrong 
 Senfe " of the very fteady and laudable Conduct 
 '* of the Clergy of that Church, through the whole 
 " Courfe of that wicked and unnatural Rebellion ; 
 " and fays, I owe it to them in Juftice to teftify 
 " that upon all Occafions I have received from 
 <c them Profeflions of the moft inviolable Attach- 
 €t ment to his Majefty's Perfon and Government, 
 
 and 
 * II. Def. page 1 <;. 
 
[ 86 ] 
 
 " and have always found them ready and forward 
 " to ad in their feveral Stations in all fuch Affairs 
 <l as they could be ufeful in, tho' often to their 
 
 " own great hazard ." Upon an impartial 
 
 Account, the Balance, I believe, by every difin- 
 
 terefted Perfon, will be found to (land thus, 
 
 Of the Prejbyterian eftablifhed Clergy not one in fifty 
 in the whole Body, but wifhed heartily Succefs to 
 the Arms of his Majefty King George ; of the 
 epif copal Piffenting Clergy ', not one in fifty of the 
 whole Body but wiilied heartily Succefs to the Arms 
 of Frenchmen, Italians, and the mifcreant Crew 
 who came to invade and overthrow our Conjlitution 
 in Favour of an abjured and Popifh Pretender. 
 
 The other Fad is, the Neceflity which the Le- 
 gijlature have found themfelves under, by new Ads 
 of Parliament, in two different Seflions, more nar- 
 rowly to watch, and to lay under frefh Reftraints, 
 the epifcopal Churches in Scotland. Thefe are well 
 known to be fruitful and fatal fources of Jacobitifm 
 and Difaffeclion - y dangerous Seminaries where Men 
 are formed and nourifhed up in Allegiance to a 
 Popifh Prince, and in avowed Averfion and Difloy- 
 alty to their rightful Sovereign King George : — 
 Though it be too true then that there were fome of 
 the Laiety of the eflablifhed Church, by fome occa- 
 fional Refentment or unhappy Occurrence, hurried 
 into that black Affair ; they herein departed from 
 their fettled and profeffed Principles-, whereas the 
 Epifcopalians aded quite in Character, agreeable to 
 the fixed Sentiments and Affections of their Party, 
 when they prayed and fought heartily for the 
 Deftrudion of our happy Government, and for 
 the Advancement of a Popifh Pretender to the 
 Throne. To fay then, " that the Scottijh Pre/byte- 
 " rians y were, perhaps, as deeply engaged in the late 
 " odious Rebellion as the epifcopal Diffenters there," 
 is to fcatter Cenfures at random, to confront the 
 plainer!: Evidence, and to reprefent them (as you 
 
 have 
 
[ «7 ] 
 
 have done abundantly by your DifTenting Brethren 
 here) in a very partial and injurious Light. 
 
 SECT. XIII. 
 
 Of the Church's Authority in Cont rover fas of 
 Faith. 
 
 THIS is a Claim, which, to the Grief of its 
 real Friends, and to the Triumph of its Foes, 
 your Church hath fet up, and obliges all itsCJergy 
 folemnly to fubfcribe. For it is really no other 
 than an Invafion of the Divine Prerogative ; and, 
 in the Language of the Holy Ghost, a fitting in 
 the Temple of God, f hewing itfef that it is God *. 
 It is a Claim of Honour as due to a Company of 
 poor frail and fallible Men, which belongs only to 
 the omnijcient and infallible God, and to Christ 
 the fole Lawgiver and King in the Church. It is 
 the very Root of Antichriftianifm ; the Prop upon 
 which the whole Syftem of Popery reds*, it came 
 rrom the Church of Rome, and thither it directly 
 leads ; nor can the Reformation be ever juftified, or 
 the Church of England fupported, upon the Foot 
 of this Claim. 
 
 For if the Church hath Authority in Controvert 
 fies of Faith, the Church of Rome, finely, had it be- 
 fore the Church of England i'yea, had it at the very 
 Time when the Reformation was made. Cranmer, 
 then, and Ridley, Luther and Calvin were guilty of 
 great Pendancy and ecclefiaflical Rebellion, in refu- 
 sing to fubmit to the Church's folemn Determina- 
 tions concerning Image-worfhip, Tranfubfiantiation, 
 &c. and in proudly fetting up their own private Opi- 
 nion againft the authoritative Decifions of their eccle- 
 iiaftical Superiors, to whom they owed Submiffion^ 
 
 and whom they ought to have obeyed. This Claim 
 
 D d of 
 
 * 2 Thef. ii. 4. 
 
[ 88 ] 
 of your Church, Sir, 1 fay it again, is an unanfwer- 
 able Argument in favour of Popery • which hath 
 drawn thouiands, no doubt, and is continually 
 perverting Multitudes from yours to the Church of 
 Rome. Nor can all the Learning or Wit of the 
 whole Clergy of the Land withftand the Force of 
 a fingle Jefuit, let him be armed with and wield 
 fkiifully this dangerous Weapon, the XXth Articte 
 of your Church. 
 
 It was the fatal Influence of this Article, I ob- 
 ferved, that feduced King James II. and the great 
 Chillingworth into the Romijh Tents. Thefe Inftan- 
 ces you contetl with me. But as to the firfl, are 
 guilty of an unhappy Overfight, in confounding 
 two Things, in the Quotation from Burnet's Hiftory, 
 and confidering them as one, when they are moil 
 apparently diflinft. The Authority of the Churchy 
 and the Tradition from the Apoftles in Support of Epif- 
 copacy, are in the Bifhops Account of King James's 
 Perverfion mofl manifeftly two feveral and different 
 Things ; whereas you would ftrangely have k 
 thought, " that by the Authority cf (he Church, is 
 " meant only, the Authority of its Tradition or Tef- 
 " timony concerning Epifcopacy *." But do you not 
 know, and did not the King know, that the Autho- 
 rity of the Church is one Thing, and its Tradition in 
 Support of Epi/copacy is another ? Does not the 
 Church, befides ibis Tradition, claim to itfelf more- 
 over an Authority, in Controverfies of Faith ? And 
 did not the King wifely and ri^tly judge, " that 
 " there was more reafon to fukmfilo the Catholic 
 
 11 Church, than to oue Particular ChurchT\ 
 
 That if the Church of England had this Authority, 
 the Church of Rome had it long before her, and 
 
 upon better Grounds than (he ; ■ that if the 
 
 Church of England by its Authority might folemnly 
 determine that Chr i st went down into Hell, and that 
 
 Arians 
 * II. Dei page 137c 
 
[ »9 ] 
 
 Arians and Socinians are undoubtedly damned when 
 they die, and perifh everlastingly, but yet, there 
 is hope, when they die, that they reft in Christ, 
 and are taken to God in mercy ; the Church of Rome y 
 by the fame Authority, might folemnly determine 
 that Images are to be worshipped, and that a Piece 
 of Bread is tranfubltantiated into the Body and 
 Blood of Christ ; there being nothing in the one 
 at all more incredible or abfurd than in the other? — 
 I own I fee not but, upon this Principle, the King 
 acted right •, and that every one that believes this 
 XXth Article of your Church ought to follow his 
 Example, immediately forfake it, and go over to 
 the Church of Rome *. 
 
 Thus did the renowncdCbillingwortb ; he thought 
 there was a Neceffity of an infallible living Judge of 
 Qontroverfy ; or, that there always was and muft be 
 fame Church upon Earth that ccuid not Err, which in 
 other Words is, that had Authority in Controverftcs 
 of Faith , finding therefore the Church of Rome 
 claiming it with a better Grace, and upon fairer and 
 Itronger Grounds, than thai of England could pre- 
 tend, he too haftily went over to it ; though he af- 
 terward well atoned, by his incomparable Writings, 
 for that precipitant Step. u But he was too great 
 " a M after of Reafon, you fay, to take Authority for 
 u the fame Thing w r ith InfaWbility, under a dif- 
 !" ferent Expreilion*, and that, therefore our 
 " Church, in claiming the former, did, in effect, 
 D d 2 claim 
 
 * In a Debate on a Bill againft Blafpbemy, &c. brought into 
 the lioufe of Lords, Anno 1721, the Earl of Peterborough 
 frankly faid, tho' he was for a Parliamentary King, yet he did 
 not defire to have a Parliamentary God, or a Parliamentary 
 Religion: And if the Houfe were tor fuch a one, he would go 
 to Rome, and endeavour to be chofen Cardinal ; for he had ra- 
 ther fit in the Conclave, than with their Lordfhips, upon thofe 
 Terms. TindaPs Hi/}. Eng. Vol, IV. page 647. 
 
 Dr. Will. Tindal was alfo, by the fame Principle?, perv rted 
 to the Church of Rom. Vid. Second Defence of the Right*, 
 &c, page 79. 
 
[ 9° ] 
 
 u claim the latter *." However he took them, Sir, 
 nothing is more plain than that they are undoubt- 
 edly the fame. For that to whomfoever GOD gives 
 Authority in Controverfies of Faith, he gives alfo 
 Infallibility, inconteftibly appears hence, viz. 
 that elfe a Man might really have Authority from 
 the God of Truth to lead Mm into Error, he 
 might have a Power, a Right from Heaven to fe- 
 duce and to deceive. The Abfurdity of which glares 
 at firfl View, and needs no further to be expofed. 
 To talk therefore " of the Church's limited Au- 
 tC thority to decide Controverfies according to the 
 cc Rule of Scripture and univerfal Tradition ; and 
 * c th it thefe Decifions (fo long as they evidently 
 " contradid not that Rule) oblige her Members to 
 
 tC Obedience, is quite trifling and beneath the 
 
 Character of a rational Divine : For who, I pray, 
 is to judge whether the Church's Decifions are, or 
 are nrt^ according to the Rute of Scripture and uni- 
 verfal Tradition. — The Church herfelf, — or her 
 Members ? If the Church herfelf and not her Mem- 
 bers -, then the Authority is abfo'.ute, a Popijh Tyran- 
 ny is erected, and a blind unlimited Obedience takes 
 Place. But if the Members are themselves to 
 judge, and no further to yield Obedience than they 
 themselves fee the Decifions to be according to 
 the Rule of Scripture, then all Authority is over- 
 thrown ; the Determinations of the graveft Synods 
 are to be weighed in the Balance of every Man's 
 private Judgment, and according as they appear to 
 him to agree with Scripture or not, are abfolutely 
 Xoftand or fall. Betwixt Authority and no- authority 
 in Matters of Faith, there is no poflible medium : 
 as for limited and unlimited they are only cant Ex- 
 pressions to which you affix no determinate Ideas j 
 nor can pretend to tell the World. — what limits the 
 
 Audio- 
 
 * II. Def. page 136.] 
 
[ 9' 1 
 
 Authority has, — where it is circumfcribed, — in whom 
 it is lodged, — and how far its bounds go ? 
 
 Accordingly, you find that noble Champion of 
 the Proteftant Caufe, when efcaped from the per- 
 nicious Snares in which his Notions of Church Au- 
 thority had at firft unhappily entangled him, ex- 
 prefling himfelf thus, — ;t For my part after long 
 u and impartial fearch, I profefs plainly that I can- 
 " not find any reft for the Sole of my Foot, but 
 * c upon this Rock only, namely, that the Bible, 
 ** the Bible, I fay only, is the Religion of Protef- 
 " tants, 1 fee plainly and with my own Eyes, that 
 " there are Popes againft Popes, Councils againft 
 " Councils, fome Fathers againft others, the fame 
 *' Fathers againft themfelves, a Content of Fathers 
 " of one Age againft a Content of Fathers of an- 
 " other Age, the Church of one Age againft the 
 4< Church of another Age, — in a Word, there is 
 " no fufficient Certainty but of Scripture only for 
 " any confidering Man to build upon : This there- 
 
 iC fore, and this only, I have reafon to believe, 
 
 iC I will take no Man's liberty of Judgment from 
 " him •, neither (hall any Man take mine from me. 
 
 " ■ 1 am fure that God does not, and therefore 
 
 " that Men ought not to require any more of any 
 u Man than this, To believe the Scripture to be God's 
 *' Word, to endeavour to find the true Senfe of it, and 
 u to live according to it V - Thete are the true Prin- 
 ciples of Proteflantifm and of Chri/Hanity to which 
 your Church muft necejfarily come back, if ever 
 (he would maintain her Ground againft the dange- 
 rous Affaults which Popery is making on her ; for as 
 long as (he ftands hampered with that perplexing 
 and unhappy Article (the XXth) fhemuft remain the 
 Dupe and the Jeft of infulting Jefitits and Unbelie- 
 vers ; and be content to fee her Members led in 
 Triumph away from her by hundreds in their 
 Snares. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 * Chillingworth's Rel. Plot, Chap. VI. Seft. S^page 379. 
 
[ 92 ] 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 Of the Posture in which our Lord and his Apoftles 
 eat the Sacramental Supper. 
 
 TH I S is the only Point I fhall at prefent 
 further confider. Concerning which I ob- 
 serve, 
 
 i. That it is mod certain that they eat it in their 
 Table-Gesture, whatever that was \ it was the 
 Gejlure in which they were wont to take their Food 
 at Meals. This is all w€ need to know, to juftify 
 our Practice : Our Lord and his Apoflles took the 
 Sacrament in an eating, not in an adoring Pofture. 
 Let no Man, then, think himfelf wifer, nor pretend 
 that he can take it in a more humble, dev.ut, and 
 fitter Pofture than they. And, 
 
 2. Though it was, perhaps, fomewhat different 
 from the Pofture we at prefent ufe (as there are fe- 
 veral different Ways of fitting in different Countries 
 and Times) yet there was no Word in the Engli/h 
 Language fo proper by which to render uvanmfiw and 
 «v«,Ka t Aiv*c, as fitting, which our Tranflators, and I, 
 after them, prefumed to ufe; for which I have 
 fallen under your Rebuke. 
 
 " You tell me, page 148, that the Pofture was 
 " ty n g down or alon% y' and yetjuft after, " that it 
 " was with the upper Part of the Body eretl ^ and 
 iC advife me to try how conveniently a Man may 
 " eat and drink in that Pofture." But to lay my 
 Body down or along ; and yet keep its upper Parts 
 ercfi, is a Pofition fo extraordinary, that without 
 the Help of fome Pofture- Mailer, or your further 
 good Infractions, I defpair of ever compaffing fo 
 arduous a Point. 
 
 That it was the Cuftom of the Antients, both 
 Romans and Greeks, to sit at their Meals cannot 
 
 be denied -, *?.&» lu»viwy> Homer. Odyff. And 
 
 Virgil, 
 
[ 93 3 
 
 Virgil^ who wrote near the Time of our Saviour, 
 
 fays, Soliti patres confidere men/is *. JEneid VII. 
 
 The Cuftom oflying or leaning at Table was brought 
 in amongft the Romans not till the primitive Seve- 
 rity of their Manners was corrupted by the Effe- 
 minacy and Luxury of the Eaft ; and even then, 
 the Pofture of fitting was retained in their J acred 
 Feafts in the Capitol f. 
 
 And as for the Ufage of the Jews, Dr. Ughifoot^ 
 Sir, is an Authority which if, without being ftrong- 
 ly armed, you prefume to attack, the Blow will 
 furely rebound, and hurt your own felf. But the 
 
 learned Do&or allures us, u That at other 
 
 " Meals they either fat, as we do, with their Bo- 
 " dies erect, or when they would enlarge them- 
 " felves to more Freedom of Feafting or Refrefh- 
 " ment, they fat upon the Beds and leaned upon 
 " the Table on their left Elbow. But on the Paf. 
 " [over Night, they ufed this leaning Compofure, 
 " being the Pofture of free Men, in Memorial of 
 
 *' their Freedom. And thus are we to under- 
 
 " ftand thofe Texts which mention Johns lying 
 " on Jefus' s Bread, and leaning on his Bofom (John 
 " xiii. 25. xxi. 20.) not, as fome have pictured him, 
 " repofing himfelf or lolling on the Breaft of 7<?- 
 " fus, contrary to all Order and Decency ; whereas 
 " the Manner of fitting together was only thus • 
 " Jefus leaning on the Table with his left Elbow, 
 -• and fo turning his Face and Breaft away from the 
 u Table on one Side, John fat in the fame Pofture 
 " next before him, with his Back towards Jefus ; 
 u his Breaft not fo near, as that John's Back and 
 " Jefus's Breaft did touch one another, but at 
 " fuch a Di fiance as that there was Space for Jefus 
 ic to ufe his Right-hand upon the Table, to reach 
 " his Meat at Pleafure ; and fo for all the reft, as 
 
 " they 
 
 * Porro confidere, non in letto recumbere ad menfas heroicrs 
 temporibus moreni ftrifie diximus. Not. Delp. in Loc. & in 
 iEneid. I. L. 702. f Valer. Max. L. 2, 3. 
 
f 94 ] 
 
 " they fat in like Manner : For it is a ftrange Fan- 
 44 cy that they lay upon the Bed before the Table, 
 44 one tumbling, (or lolling) upon the Breaft of 
 4 ' another *." 
 
 1 have now followed you, Sir, much further 
 than I intended to have done. I hope it will not be 
 expected that I remark upon all the weak and inde- 
 fenfible Things your Defences contain ; there are, I 
 believe, five Times as many as thofe I have here 
 noted ; upon which it would tire the Reader's Pati- 
 ence, as well as greatly try my own, particularly 
 to touch. As for the Difcipline of the Church of 
 England, its beft Friends I am perfuaded wifh, and 
 common Prudence would have advifed, that you 
 had been quite filent on that Head. " Whoever 
 44 thinks ferioufly (fays one of the greateft of your 
 44 prefent Bifhops) of the Manner, Caufesor Objects 
 44 of onr Excommunications generally fpeaking, mould 
 44 methinks in Pity forbear to mention the Word t." 
 Your ecclejiaftical Courts^ to whom that Difcip-line is 
 committed, arejuftly not only reckoned, but called 
 amongft yourfelves, the very Dregs of your Conftitu- 
 tion. And upon your own honed Confeflion of the 
 fcandalous and ruined State in which Church -difcipline 
 lies amongft you (quoted pages 67, 68, of my fe- 
 cond Letter) I am well content to let that Matter 
 reft. 
 
 As for the perfecuting and dividing Spirit the 
 Church of England has fhewn, I think it the eafi- 
 eft of all Points (and fo, I believe, does every one 
 who knows its real Hiftory) to fupport with abun- 
 dant Evidence the Charges on this Head. But as 
 both Churchmen and Diffenters, 'tis hoped, are now 
 growing into a better Spirit, and their common 
 latereft as Britons, as Proteftants, and as Chrijiians^ 
 
 calls 
 
 * Li^btfoot's Temp. Serv. Chap. xiii. Vid, alfo Rainold. 
 Centura de Libris Apoc. Prsele&. 79. Altare Damafcen. Cap. x. 
 page 552. 
 
 f Anfvver totheRcprefent. pages 38, 39. 
 
C 95 3 
 
 calls loudly for a ftricler Union ; I wave, at prefent, 
 any further Profecution of a Point which might ra- 
 ther tend to widen than heal the unhappy Breach. 
 Upon your own Principles as to Perjecution alio I 
 forbear to remark* though mofc eafy to be proved 
 both unproteitant and unchriitian, the Merits of 
 the Caufe betwixt us being little concerned therein. 
 
 if this Review of the Controverfy* which your 
 Letters have called up, mall be a Means of ho'ding 
 forth to both the contending Parties the feveral De- 
 fects of their ecclejlaftical Conftitution, and of ren- 
 dering them more candid and benevolent to each 
 other ; and (hall at all prepare the Way for a Coali- 
 tion betwixt them, I mall think it an aufpicious and 
 very happy Event. 
 
 " The Readinefs which, you fay, my Lords the 
 " Biibops have fhewn, and will mew, to come to 
 " a Temper with their citffenting Brethren*," will* 
 I doubt not, be very gratefully and delightfully ac- 
 cepted by them, and returned by a correfpondent 
 readinefs to lay afide all Prejudice (for Prejudices-, I 
 am free to own there, doubtlefs* are amongft us) 
 and to comply with any juft and reafonable Propo- 
 ials for the accompliihing fo important and valuable 
 an End. 
 
 I hear it with great Pk a lure, if what you fpeak is 
 upon good Authority .- — -" That if parting with 
 4t the Ceremonies, and taking away a few indiffe- 
 ^ rent Things will clofe the Breach, you are fatif- 
 " fied that it will not long remain open — — f .*' 
 And in return declare, I verily believe that if fucb 
 Condefcehiions as a great Part of our Governors both 
 in Church and State would, I prefume, think no't 
 ttnreaftmab.e to make, were made to the Di (Tenters, 
 there would no unbecoming Stiff nefs or Aver [ton be 
 ihewn by the mod confiderable Part of them. May 
 Heaven difpefe the Minds of all v/ho have Power to 
 further and help on this defirable Event ! that with one 
 
 E e Mini 
 
 * Dedic. page 12, j- Ibid, pages 1^, ij. 
 
[ 96 1 
 
 Mind, and with one Mouth, we may glorify God, and 
 unite our common Zeal againft z. growing common 
 Enemy •, and may receive one another ^ but not to 
 doubtful Difputations ! For if we (till continue to wor- 
 ry and weaken one another, there is Reafon to fear 
 left we finally be deftroyed one of another. Thefe 
 Things I recommend, Sir, to your Consideration : 
 and lhall only farther fay, that as \ have not been 
 able -, and am perfuaded never lhall be ; to get you 
 to fp'eak out, and openly and plainly tell us, — — 
 who you mean by /^Church, " to which Dif- 
 tc fenters owe Subjection, which hath Power to de- 
 " cree Rites, and Authority in Points of Faith; 
 " and by withdrawing from, and rejecting the Au- 
 " thority of which we are guilty of a dangerous 
 
 " and damnable Sin ." Whether it is the Pope 
 
 with his Cardinals ; or the King with his Parlia- 
 ment •, or the Archbilhop with his Rilhops •, or the 
 Bifhop of every Diocefe with his Dean and Chapter 
 attending. — —Nor will you fo much as pretend to 
 fhew us the Charter which has veiled them with this 
 
 high Power, nor will fay, to what Things, or 
 
 how far it extends, though thefe are ejjential 
 
 Points upon which the Controverfy betwixt us en- 
 tirely depends : You mud excufe me from paying 
 any farther Regard to your Lucubrations on theie 
 Things I have neither Time nor Inclination to 
 difpute about a Scheme which you affect to wrap in 
 Obfcurity, and which you are afraid to lay open 
 and avow before the World. I here therefore take 
 my Leave of the prefent Debate. But though I 
 chufe not to bear you Company in the difagreeable 
 Employment of groping in the Dark, you will ne- 
 verthelefs believe me, Sir, to be 
 
 JVith unfeigned Refpeft, 
 
 Tour very humble Servant, 
 
 A Dissenter. 
 
 THE 
 
C 97 3 
 
 THE 
 
 DiiTenting Gentleman's 
 POSTSCRIPT 
 
 TO HIS 
 Three Letters to Mr. White. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 TH E extraordinary Remark which introduces 
 your appendix — That Views of worldly Inter- 
 eft incourage and fupport our Diff nt from the Efta- 
 blifhment-I mail leave to the univerfal Laugh cf 
 your Readers, for a Confutation ; and pafs on to 
 points of greater Moment in debate. -To begin 
 with your Jirjl. Of Church-Power, and in whom 
 lodged. 
 
 The Church of E d claims, in her Articles 
 
 and Canons * to have Power from GOD, to decree 
 other Ceremonies and Rites of IVorflAp, and to make 
 other Terms of Chrijlian Communion than either 
 Chrift or his Apoftles ever made or decreed -, and to 
 have Authority in Ccntroverfies cf Faith. 
 
 This high and important Power fhe fovereignly 
 
 exerts : You, as her zealous Advocate, endeavour 
 
 to fupport her in it ; and charge all the DiJJenters 
 
 as guiity of a very crying and dangerous Sin, in 
 
 E e 2 not 
 
 ♦ Art. XX. and Can XXVII, XXIX, XXX. 
 
[ 98 1 
 
 not fubmitting thereto. The Di/fentcrs, I have told 
 you, will readily own the Charge, and return im- 
 mediately to your Church, if you will gratify them 
 in thefe two moft reafonable Requefts. i. Tell 
 them plainly, who, and what // is, you mean by 
 the Church ? And, 2. Prove it, to have this Power 1 
 vetted in it by GOD. 
 
 Your Advocates for Church Power, I know, love' 
 always to deal in Generals •, and will twift a thou- 
 fand Ways, radier than explain their Scheme, and 
 be forced to /peak out : But you, Sir, being a Gen- 
 tleman of fingular Intrepidity ; and afFedting to do 
 Things in, what you call, zfoldierly Manner, when 
 your late Appendix came forth, protefting to treat 
 exprefly of Church Power, and in whom lodged; I 
 hoped to fee the point, all Difguifes apart, openly 
 and frankly handled ; and that a certain Judgment 
 might now be formed what your Sentiments weie. 
 But, alas, vain were thefe Hopes ! Not all the In- 
 vitations and Provocations I have ufed, can draw 
 you from the Darknefs where you artfully lurk. 
 Tho' the regard you owe to 'Truth, to Juftice, to 
 the Souls of your Dijfenting Brethren, and to your 
 own Reputation, moft ftrongly obliged you to it ; 
 yet you have not, durft not honeftly and fairly tell 
 11s — who the Per/ons are whom GOD hath truft- 
 ed with this Power ; nor have produced the lead 
 Shadow of a Charter from Heaven, invefting them 
 with it. 
 
 In moil manifeft Contradiction, indeed, to our 
 Con/lit utton \ our Laws ; our Articles and Canons, to 
 which you have folemnly fworn and fubferibed ; 
 and even to your very self (as I ihall preiently 
 fhew) you continue to affirm — " That this Power 
 " is not at all in the civil Magijlrale ; that he 
 ** hath declared and recognifed it not to be in 
 *' himfelf •, but is folcly in the Paflors and Governors 
 * c of the Church." — But when I once and again prefs 
 and provoke you to fay, who thefe Governors and 
 
 Pajlors 
 
[ S9 ] 
 
 Priors are Are they the Archbijhops-, or the 
 
 Bijbops; or the Deans and Chapters of every Diocefe-, 
 or the Priift in every Pariili ; or the Clergy met in 
 Convocation ft — -You are four, and will not anfvver. 
 No, if Dijjenters mult have thefe knotty Points 
 folved, let them feek it from other Hands. 
 
 But what Idea, Sir, will the Public form of a 
 Scholar , a Divine, a fome-time Ft I low of a learned 
 College, arraigning us before its Bar as guilty of 
 high Crimes in not fubmitting to Church- Power ; 
 writing Tract upon Tract to perfuade and reduce 
 us to it ; coming forth with an Appendix profeiling 
 to treat exprefly of Church- Power and in whom lodg- 
 ed ; and yet, with all this Parade, not capable of 
 
 being induced to fay who it is he means by 
 
 thefe Pafiofs and Governors, to whom, under Peril 
 of everlafting Damnation, we are bound to fubmit. 
 
 I obferve, you rank yourfelf with the Learned* 
 
 and claim Precedence amongft them. " /, and 
 
 41 another learned Gentleman * " (Ego, & Rex meus.) 
 But will not the Learned difclaim you ; and treat 
 your Lucubrations as an egregious Impertinence ; 
 who can thus double and evade, and meanly refufe 
 to fpeak to the one fingle Point, on which they all 
 fee the whole Controverfy turns ? Muft not all your 
 pretended Charity, and Lamentation over our ftray* 
 ing Souls, appear to an high Degree ridiculous, and 
 per feci: Grimace ? Bijjfenters dangeroufly fin, in re- 
 jecting a Power ordained by Almighty GOD: They 
 profefs themfelves ready to yield it Submiflion, if 
 fhewn where it is : Mr. White, their pretended 
 Friend, knows the grand Secret; but no Prayers 
 can wreft it from him ; he is clofe and demure ; 
 and leaves them to wander on, and fin, and perifli 
 in the dark. 
 
 But to examine your romantic Scheme, as far as 
 Conjecture can pick it out. — The Church's Paftors 
 
 and 
 * Appen. page 37. 
 
[ IOO ] 
 
 and Governors are alone poffeffed, you fay, of this 
 Power. By its Governors, 'tis prefumed, you mean 
 its Bijhops -, and by Paftors, its Priefis. Every Pa- 
 ri fh Prieji then, (your good Self, Sir, among(t the 
 reft) and every Bijhop of this Land, is veiled with 
 this high Power : viz. a Power of decreeing other 
 Rites and Ceremonies in divine Worfhip, and of in- 
 jsining other. 'Terms of Chrifiian Communion, than 
 either Christ or his Apofiles decreed or injoined ; 
 and of pronouncing Authoritatively in Contro- 
 verts of Faith. This, you will note carefully, is 
 the Power in Difpute betwixt us. This the Power 
 which your Church exerts: This the Power you 
 claim for her ; and which you affirm is veiled y^/y, 
 (if I underfland your Scheme) in its Bifhops and 
 Priefis. 
 
 But, pray, give me leave to alk— - — How do 
 they poitefs it! feparately or conjuntlly? It muft be 
 one of thefe. Has every Prieji within his Parifh, 
 and every Bifhop within his Diocefe, a Right to ex- 
 ercife this Power, feparately and apart from others ? 
 Or, muft they aflemble in common Council, and by 
 joint Suffrage and Confent iflue forth their Determi- 
 nations ; to which the Confciences of all the Faith- 
 ful are bound to fubmit? 'Not feparately and apart, 
 'tis prefumed you will fay, but in Convocation con- 
 vened. 
 
 Accordingly, you lay, I obferve, a mighty ftrefs 
 upon the Convocation's Confent to the Act. of 
 Uniformity, and the prefent eftablifhed Forms • 
 and feem to reprefent this as that which alone gave 
 Jluthority to both •, and that as long as this Confent 
 of the Convocation was witheld (as for a confiderable 
 Time it was) fo long the Reformation Cl was a Mea- 
 " fure not quite Canonical nor ecclefiajlically right 
 ct — That ii was a going a little awry into fome 
 
 <c il'egal or extra-legal Ways That the King's 
 
 *' Supremacy, on that Occafion, was raifed to an 
 * undue Height^ and fuch as ought not to be drawn 
 
 " into 
 
[ ioi ] 
 
 '* into Example at other Times That moft, if 
 
 " not all, the Reviews and Alterations which have 
 " been fince made, have been made by the Bifhops 
 " and Clergy, in, or by the Authority, or with the 
 " Concurrence of the Convocation (your great Mif- 
 " take, here, you will preiently fee) and if our 
 u Governors fhall at any Time think fit to fubject 
 " it, to any other Alterations or Reviews, you 
 " will not fuffer yourfeif to doubt, but they will 
 " be made by ecclefiaftical and even fynodal Autho- 
 " rity, before the civil Sanftion be added to 
 " them*." 
 
 The Authority of the Convocation is, I fee, the 
 Phantom that haunts your Mind, and has difiorted 
 flrangely your Thoughts, on this Subject of Church- 
 Power. I will candidly endeavour your Illumina- 
 tion on this Point ; as I have the Satisfaction to 
 hope, I have, not without good Effect, attempted 
 it on fome other. 
 
 Before you had taken on you, Sir, to write about 
 Church-Power, you ought to have known — That, 
 by the Constitution and Laws of England, the Con- 
 vocation is really no Part of its Government ; no 
 Branch of its ruling-Powers-, has no Share of its 
 legijlaiive Authority at all. To be amply convinced 
 of this, I fhall lead you to Authorities which you 
 will have no Countenance nor Power, however flrono- 
 your Inclination may be, to con tell. To fome 
 great ones, in the Law, you have already been di- 
 rected f, which you have (and with good Reafon) 
 not prefumed to difpute. Turn your Attention, 
 now, to fome of your own Bijbops, the Ornament, 
 the Supports, the Glory of your Church : Who 
 were honoured with the firfl Rank among thofe 
 Paflors and Governors, with whom alone you declare 
 Church- Pow$r is lodged. 
 
 A Gen- 
 
 * Append, pages 8, 9. f Diffent. Gent. 1 Lett, page 10, 
 
A Gentleman of your Erudition hath, no doubt, 
 beard, at lead, of the Writings or thofe venerable 
 Names Burnet, Kennet, Nicholjon, Hody, and parti- 
 cularly Wake i your late excellent Archbifhop, on 
 this Subject of the Convocation. 
 
 A due Attention to their learned Refearches on this 
 Point, will effectually eafe your Mind of the Errors 
 it labours under. From the laft of thefe great Per- 
 fons, I mail prefent you with a few Extracls, to fet 
 right your Mifapprehenfions as to the real Confti- 
 tution and Nature of your Church ; which you feem 
 (excufe my Freedom) extremely unacquainted with? 
 and not at all to underftand. 
 
 To root up, and deflroy for ever, the dangerous 
 Abfurdity of two independent Powers (i. e. the 
 Power you are claiming for your Paftors and Gover- 
 nors, independent of the civil Magfirate) the Wif- 
 dom of 'our Legiflature hath enacted and decreed, 
 " by the Statute 25 Henry VIII. called the M of 
 " Submission. 1 ft. That the Convocation fhould 
 " from thenceforth be afTembled only by the King's 
 " Writ. 2dly. That it mould make no Canons or 
 •* Conflilutions but by Virtue of the King's Licence, 
 
 firft given them, fo to do. 3<dly. That having 
 
 agreed on any Canons or Confiitutiom, they mould 
 
 yet neither publijh nor execute them, without the" 
 " King's Confirmation of them. Nor 4thly. By his 
 " Authority, execute any, but with thefe Limita- 
 " tions ; that they be neither againft the King's 
 " Prerogative, nor againft any common or ilatute 
 46 Law ; nor finally, in any other refpect contrary 
 " to the Cufioms of the Realm." Vid. Wake's Ap* 
 peal, &c. page 4. 
 
 The learned Metropolitan further informs you * 
 
 " That Chriftian Princes have a Right ; and 
 
 u from Conjlantine the Great, down thro' lucceed- 
 45 ing Ages, have exerted the Right •, not only of 
 
 41 exercifing 
 * Wake% Authority of Chriftian Princes, &c. page lo. 
 
 u 
 
it 
 
 I 103 ] 
 
 exercifing Authority over ecckfiaftical Perfons, but 
 
 • to interpofe*in ordering ecdefiaftical Affairs 
 
 ; That when the civil Magijtrate advifed with the 
 ; Clergy about calling a Ssnod, it was not looked 
 ; upon as a Matter of Right ; but that he often 
 called Synods without fuch Advice: And when 
 the Bifhops have earneftly defired a Council, and 
 it has been refufed by the Magi ft rate, they have 
 fubmitted, and not reckoned themfelves to have 
 
 a Right to meet without his Leave When a 
 
 Synod was refolved on, the Prince determined, 
 or allowed, the Time and Place of meeting, and 
 
 what Perfons fhould come to them When 
 
 Synods are affembled, he (hews, the civil Magif- 
 trate has a Right to prefcribe the Matters on 
 which they are to debate; as alfo the Manner 
 and Method of their Proceedings in them ; and* 
 if he pleafes, to fit in, and prefide over them \ 
 or to appoint his Commijfioner to do it in his ftead. 
 (Thus Ld. Cromwell, a Lay-Perfon, fat in, and 
 prefided over the Convocation for the King, Hen. 
 VIII.) They cannot diffolve themfelves, nor depart 
 from Council but by the King's Licence — Their 
 Definitions are no further Obligatory, than as ra- 
 tified and confirmed by civil Authority. — That 
 the Prince is not obliged to confirm whatever the 
 Clergy (hall think fit to determine -, but has a 
 Power of annulling and rejecting what they have 
 done-, to alter or improve, to add to or take 
 
 from it. He denies the inherent Authority of 
 
 the Church to make any fynodical authoritative 
 Definitions ; or that the fitting of Convocations 
 
 is any Right of the Church.- And fays, 
 
 that as even the King's Licence cannot give the 
 Convocation Authority to promulge or execute 
 any Canons, but what are agreeable to the CuJ- 
 toms and Laws of the Realm ; fc> he ought to 
 F f " fub- 
 
[ *°4 1 
 <c fubmit them to the Examination of his Council 
 u learned in the Law ; by them to be advifed, whe- 
 " ther they are thus agreeable, before he confirms 
 " them *." 
 
 So that the Convocation, you fee, are not fo much 
 as the King' sjupreme Council in ecc/e/iaftical Affairs. 
 There are others who are to judge after them ; to 
 fit as a Check above them ; to infpect, controul, 
 approve or reject the Advice they give the King ; 
 even his Council learned in the Law. 
 
 The Archbimop adds Ct That as the King 
 
 " has Power, without a Convocation, to make and 
 " publifh fuch Injunctions as he /ball think the 
 u Necelhties of the Church to require and to com- 
 " mand the Obfervance of them : So he may, with 
 " the Advice and Confent of his Parliament much 
 " more, (i.e. I apprehend, he may without, much 
 *' more with, their Advice and Confent) make 
 <c what ecclefiaftical Laws he ihall think fitting, for 
 " the Difcipline of the Church \ and may alter, 
 * c correct, difallow, or -confirm the Refolutions of 
 " the Convocation according to his own liking -f" 
 
 And finally, he gives a Lift of a great Number 
 of Alterations, Reviews, and Reformations in eccle- 
 fiaftical Matters, which have been done entirely by 
 Select Committees, without any Advice, or 
 Confent of a Convocation (through all the feveral 
 Reigns of Hen. VIII. Edw. VI. Q. Eliz. James I. 
 and Charles I.) When the King having nrft ap- 
 pointed a certain Number of B flops and Clergymen 
 (whether they fhall be Clergy or Laity, or what 
 Number of each, is entirely in his Choice) to con- 
 fider what may be jit to be ordered, then injoins it 
 by his royal Authority. And adds (directly con- 
 trary to whatj>0# aflert) That after this Man- 
 ner, viz. -by felecl Committees, (and Acts of Coun- 
 cil) the Reformation of the Church of England was 
 
 in 
 * Wakes Authority of Chrii. Pr. &c. page 130. 
 
 f Wakes Authority of Chrif. Fr. &c. page 136. 
 
[ io5 ] 
 in great Meafure carried on, and its mofl important 
 Affairs tranfa&ed *. And in his Appendix, No. VII. 
 he prefents you with a long Catalogue of Canons \ 
 Injunctions •, new Tranjlations of the Bible ; Art: 
 of Religion fet forth ; Explications made of them ; 
 Examinations of Ceremonies •, Homilies com po fed ; 
 Prayers fent to the Archbifhop ; with Orders for 
 their public Ufe | Visitations of the whole Kingdom, 
 with an entire Sufpenfion of epifcopa! jurifdiction •, 
 (The Vifitors were two Gentlemen, a Civilian, a Re- 
 gifter, and only one Divine. EvhartTs Hifl. Eng m 
 page 300.) new Offi.es of Commumw ; other Offices 
 
 reformed ; new Catecbifm drawn up, &c. &c. 
 
 All done by private CommiJ/ions, or otherwife, out of 
 Convocation f. So that the CLrgy m Convocati- 
 on have not the leaf! Ground to claim as a Right to 
 be confuhed in any future Reformations or Reviews. 
 If the Government mail indulge them with Le&uA 
 to affemble, and to give their Sentiments on thefe 
 Things, it is to be gratefully received, as a Matter 
 of Grace, not of Right ; and to be ufed with due 
 Humility and Deference to the Royal Judgment ; 
 in which the So pre me ecclcjiaftical IViidom is by our 
 Conftitution declared, and by all our Clergy ac- 
 knowledged to refide. 
 
 F f 2 By 
 
 * Wake's Auth. of Chr. Pr. &c. page 256. The King, fays 
 fuller, would notintruft the Convocation with a Power to meddle 
 with Matters of Religion, from a juft Jealoufy he had of the ill Af- 
 fection of the major Part thereof ; who under the fair Rind of Pro- 
 teftant ProfeiTion, had the rotten Core of Romijb Superftitior.. It 
 was therefore conceived fafer for the King to rely on the Ability 
 and Fidelity of {omt fe!e£t_ Confidents, cordial to the Caufe of Re- 
 ligion, than to adventure the fame to be difcufled and decided 
 by a fufpicious Con<voiation. Ch. Hijl. Book. VII. page 421. 
 
 ■f Whether? And xn^what Method, our prelent Governors may 
 think proper to attempt any further Reviews, I prefume not to 
 guefs: But, perhaps may be allowed to fay, ' hat whoever knows 
 the real Hiftory of Englifij Convocations ; and obferves the 
 narrow and bigoted Spirit j the petulant, cenforious, uncatbelic, and 
 rigid Temper, which has ever generally prevailed there ; efpeci- 
 ally, in its inferior Members ; will indulge but faint Hopes of 
 Reformation from that Quarter, 
 
t 1 06 ] 
 
 By this Time, no Queftion, Sir, you have an 
 humbler and jufter Senfe of the Power of a Convoca- 
 tion -, and perceive it to be no Part of our Govern- 
 went, and that it has no legiflative Power or Autho- 
 rity in thefe Realms. 
 
 Your favourite fantaftic Scheme, then, " of PaJ- 
 " tors and Governors having the sole Power as to 
 " Church-matters ; and that the Civil Magiftrate has 
 " none at all*," is really, you now fee, of ve- 
 ry dangerous and important Confequence ; actually 
 fubverfive of our prefent happy Conjlitution ; wrefts 
 from the King and Parliament an high Branch of 
 their Prerogative •, impeaches their Jupreme Autho- 
 rity ; attempts to fet up another legislative Power ; 
 and is a deep Indignity cad upon our Reformation 
 from Popery, which was effected only by the Ci- 
 vil Magiftrate, your boafled Paftors and Governors 
 flruggling vehemently againfl it. Are thefe the 
 Returns you make for the Indulgence of that Go- 
 vernment, by whofe Favour you live at Eafe upon 
 the Labour and Sweat of others !- 
 
 The Times of Hen. VIII. Edw. VI. and Q11. Eliz. 
 you fay, were extraordinary Times, and the regal 
 Supremacy was then raifed to an undue Height. But, 
 fee how the Cafe flood, when the Church was in 
 the Zenith of its Profperity and Power! I mean at 
 the patting the AH of Uniformity of Charles II. In 
 the Preamble of which you have the Sentiments of 
 the Legiflature, and of that your mo ft religious King, 
 
 which recites to this Effect- <c That the Book of 
 
 " Common prayer, &c. having been injoined to be 
 t* ufed by the Statute ift hlizab. and fince that by 
 *' the Negledt of Minifters, great Inconveniences 
 !" and Schifms having happened ; for Prevention 
 " thereof, and for fettling the Peace of the Church, 
 f c &c. the King had granted his CommifTion to forne 
 ** Bifhops and other Divines to review the Common 
 " Prayer-book, and to prepare fuch Alteration and 
 
 " Advice 
 f I Dcf. pages 1 8, 19, 
 
[ io 7 ] 
 ci Advice as they thought fit to offer. And that 
 " afterward his Majefty having called a Convocati- 
 " on, and having been pleafed to authorize and 
 " require them to review the fame Book, and make 
 " fuch Alterations as to them mould feem meet, 
 " and to exhibit and prefent the fame to his Majef- 
 " ty, for his further Allowance or Confirmation ; and 
 " the fame having been done ; his Majefty hath du- 
 u ly confidered, and fully approved and allowed the 
 " fame ; and recommended to this prefent Parlia- 
 A< ment that the fame fhall be appointed to be ufed 
 " in all Churches, Whereupon it is enacted, 
 
 See here, how poor a Figure the Power of your 
 Convocation makes when mining in its higheft Glo- 
 ry ! The Clergy are authorized and required by the 
 King to propofe Alterations in Church-ceremonies 
 and Forms, for his Consideration and Allow- 
 ance, as Supreme Headoi the Church. The Fung 
 approves and allows fuch of them as he thinks fit^ 
 but in order to their having Power at all to oblige 
 the Members of the Church, the King recommends 
 them to his Parliament •, who turn them into a Law. 
 And thus only they acquire all their obliging Force. 
 What, now, did the Clergy in all this Affair ! but 
 give their Advice. Which might have been taken, 
 or refufed : So Lawyers, incapable of voting in 
 Parliament, are often confulted'm forming and making 
 Laws ; fhall they therefore fet up for a Share in the 
 kgiflative Power ; and exalt themfelves from Sub- 
 jecls to be Rukrs in the State ? 
 
 And when a moll happy alteration was, after- 
 ward, made in this Law, by the Acl of Toleration ; 
 which fo deeply affected the Forms and Ceremonies 
 of the Church, with Regard to a great Number of 
 the Subjects of this Kingdom, pray tell me! What 
 Hand had the Convocation and Clergy in that impor- 
 tant Church -affair? 
 
 And 
 
[ io8 ] 
 
 And as Forms of JVorlhip ; fo Matters of Faith 
 are enacted into Laws, judged and punifhed, entire- 
 ly by the Civil Magiftrate, without any Intervention 
 or AiTiftance of the Clergy. By the Statute of 9th 
 
 and ioth of William III. it is enacted, That if 
 
 any Peribn fhall be convicted in the Courts of IV eft - 
 nunfter, or at the AJJizes, of denying any one of the 
 Perfons of the Trinity to be GOD : Or, of main- 
 taining that there are more GODS than one : Or, 
 of denying the Chriftian Religion, or the Authority 
 
 of the Scriptures ; he fhall forfeit be imprifoned, 
 
 cs?r. Here again, you fee the Jurifdi&ion and 
 
 Decifion of the great Articles of Faith declared by 
 Parliament to be in the Lawyers. 
 
 And as to the Punifhment of Vice and Irreligion, 
 the Statutes againft Drunkennefs, curfing, fwear- 
 ing, the Breach of the Sabbath, &c. fufficiently 
 mew that the Parliament and Common-law Courts 
 have taken to themfelves the Cognizance of tbefe. 
 And what now becomes of your ecclefiaftical Domi- 
 nion and canonical Settlement for above 200 Years ? 
 When it has been, and might in innumerable other 
 Instances be fhewn, that the King and Parliament 
 have all along claimed and exerted zfupreme Right 
 in Matters of Religion, Faith, Worfhip, and Prac- 
 tice. Your ecclefiaftical Courts, indeed, are fome- 
 times permitted to take Cognizance of fome of thefe 
 Matters ; but then it is to be remembered, 1. That 
 thefe are the King's Courts ; to be held only in his 
 Name. 2. The Judges in thefe Courts often are, al- 
 ways may, and (fay many of your moll learned Cler- 
 gy) ought ever to be Laymen. And, 3. The King, 
 whenever he pleafes, flays their Proceedings; grants 
 Prohibitions-, takes Caufes out of them, and re- 
 moves them into his Courts of Common -law, 
 
 What, now, is become of the original, radical Ju- 
 risdiction, which you claim for your Pajicrs and 
 Govetmrs ! 
 
 But 
 
[ 109 ] 
 
 But to return to the Convocation, Our excel- 
 lent Conftitution 9 you fee, hath with great Sagacity 
 circumfcribed its Power, and reduced it to a mere 
 Shadow, or juft nothing at all. Ecclefiaftical Synods, 
 from the famous Council of Nice, down to the not- 
 famous Convocation of L n y anno 1717. Sad 
 
 Experience hath fhewn to have been little elfe than 
 the Pefts and Troublers of Mankind; Mints where 
 pernicious Errors have received the Stamp of Au- 
 thority, and been fent out to corrupt the Church, 
 and to fet the World in Flames -, and that, for the 
 moft Part, they have been Conventions of interefled, 
 ambitious, factious and angry Men ; who under a 
 fair Pretence of Zeal for the Lord of Hofts % have 
 been driving furiouily and foully on in Purfuit of 
 worldly Views ; and with an Affectation of being 
 thought contending earneflly for the Faith, have been 
 only contending like the Difciples, who fhould be 
 greatefi among themfelves. This the Wifdom of our 
 Legijlature knew to have been the Manner, the Prac- 
 //Ve immemorial, of ecclefiaftical Synod? ; and there- 
 fore guarded, with great Difcretion, againft the por- 
 tentous Evil ; denied them ail legijlative Power j fub- 
 jected them entirely to the Authority of the Civil 
 Magiftrate ; and thus hardly retrained them from 
 throwing, as they have often done, the World in- 
 to Confufion ; and filling the Church with everlafl- 
 ing Debates. 
 
 And now, Sir, having thus laboured your Edifi- 
 cation, in a Point of high Importance, where, 'tis 
 certain you greatly needed it •, by this Time you 
 begin to fee, not the Futility only, but the Preemp- 
 tion, and the real Danger of your Scheme. That it 
 is a Suggeftion as groundlefs, as it is ungrateful and 
 ill-timed, that our Reformation was not effected in 
 a legal and right Manner. You, fee, that by re- 
 prefenting the Magiftrate as having no Power in 
 Church-matters 1 you undermine that glorious Struc- 
 ture ; betray it into Pofifh Hands- and fubvert the 
 
 very 
 
[ no ] 
 
 very Foundation of your own admired Church : 
 And that by laying fo effential a Strefs, as you do, 
 upon the Convocation's AfTent to the Act of Unifor- 
 mity, by which the Reformation and the prefent 
 Church was eflablifhed, you fuggeft to a crafty Je- 
 fuit unanfwerable Matter to infult and expofe both. 
 For, pray, the Jefuit will afk, How was that AJ- 
 fent of the Convocation obtained ? Was it not by 
 the Magi ft rates depriving the holy Bifhops ; and 
 thrufting out the Church's Pallors from thofe Seats, 
 and from that Authority which GOD had given 
 them therein ? And can the Affent of a Convocation 
 thus packed by the Magiftrate, make that legal, ca- 
 nonical, and ecclefiafiically right, which was before 
 illegal, uncanonical, and ecclefiafiically wrong? 
 
 Befides, to talk of the Convocation's Assent and 
 Concurrence, is Language altogether unconjlitu- 
 tional, and has a great deal too affuming and prejump- 
 tuons an Air. Submiffion, Sir, and Obedience is all 
 the Convocation was capable of giving. The King 
 may give his Afjent i and either Houfe of Parliament 
 may give their Affent, and thereby confirm and 
 give Authority to any Ad : But mould the Magis- 
 trates of a Country Town talk of further con- 
 firming it by their Concurrence and Affent ; which 
 would they moil provoke, your Indignation or your 
 Mirth ? And yet, the Corporation of a Cornijh Bur- 
 rough, Sir, has, as much Right, by our Conftitu- 
 tion, to talk of ratifying by their Affent any Law of 
 the Crown, as the Convocation itfelf *. 
 
 And hence, by the Way, you fee the extreme 
 
 Vanity of your Imagination " That the Civil 
 
 " Magiftrate, by ratifying the XXth Article, hath 
 
 " recognized 
 
 * The Convocation neve* gave their Attentat all to the Articles 
 of Religion in K. Edwards Reformation. And all the AfTent they 
 ever gave to (^Elizabeth's (as far as 1 can find) was the letting 
 forth the Articles, which wasnot done ti\\ January, I ^63 : Where- 
 as the Reformation was eftablifhed by the firft of Etiz. January, 
 1 ss8. Vid» Fuller's Ch. Hilt. B. IX- pages 52 and 72. 
 
[ III ] 
 
 " recognized and owned the Power to be not in 
 u himfelf, but in the Church*'* — i.e. as you are 
 pleafed to underfland it, in the Clergy. By what 
 Logic, Sir, do you make the Church, in that Arti- 
 cle, to mean the Clergy? Are not the Laity alfo 
 an effential Part of the Church ? Does not the very 
 preceding Article, XlXth, exprefly declare they 
 
 are ? Defining the Church to be a Congregation 
 
 of faithful Men> ~ But, would you impute to the 
 Magiftrate fo tame, fo abfurd, fo ridiculous a Part, 
 as publickly to difown himfelf to have any Power in 
 Church-Matters : Yea to deny himfelf to belong to 
 the. Congregation of the Faithful! Yes; with Afto- 
 nifhment be it feen, this is what you are not afhamed 
 openly to impute to him. u For the King and 
 4i Parliament, you fay, have plainly dijowned any 
 " fuch Power, as we are fpeaking of, in themfelves ; 
 •* and recognized it to be in the Church, and no 
 a body imagines that by the Church they mean 
 
 " themfelves f." But if by declaring it to be in 
 
 the Church, they have dif owned it to be in themfelves ; 
 they have, thereby, alfo difowned themfelves to be 
 of the Congregation of the Faithful ; for this Congre- 
 gation they declare to be the Church, to whom this 
 Power belongs. Befides; this is fuppofing the 
 Kinc to difown and give up a Power which the 
 whole Legiflature hath folemnly veiled in him ; 
 and which every Bifhop and Ecclefiaftic in the King- 
 dom (till the Time of K. William) did fwear, that 
 he believed in his Confcience to be true, under the 
 Penalty of a Premunire, viz. J* That the King is 
 " the only fupreme Governor of this Realm •, as 
 " well in all fpiritual or ecckfiaflical Things or 
 " Caufes, as temporal-, and that they will aflift and 
 " defend him in fuch Jurifdidtion and Authority .'* 
 See, now, the hopeful State to which you have 
 brought the civil Magiftrate ! You have made him 
 
 G g to 
 
 * I Dcf. page 17. Appen. page 5. + I Def. page 17. 
 
[ U2 ] 
 
 to divert himfelf of all Power as to Church Matters, 
 and to recognize it to be myou, the Clergy. He is 
 now, therefore, in all thefe Affairs, to be fubject to 
 you his higher Powers. You have Authority 
 from G OD to make Laws, and to prefcribe Rites, 
 which Kings and Parliaments are to obey : To bind 
 your Kings in Chains, fpiritual, ecclefiaftic Chains — 
 Rife up, O ye Kings, to thefe your Pa/tors and Go- 
 vernors ! be inflructed, and pay Homage to their 
 fpiritual Decrees ! This Doctrine was the happy 
 Engine, which hath often lifted humble Bifhops, to 
 the hi ^h Places of the Earth ; hath made Kings 
 bow down before them, and fubjecled Emperors to 
 their Feet. 
 
 Ecclefiafiical Affairs, Sir, you are too fagacious 
 not to know, take in a mighty compafs ; and very 
 naturally comprehend the Principles, the Manners, 
 the whole focial and moral Conduct, of thofe over 
 whom thefe holy Paftors are to watch. Thus the 
 Priefts of the Church have exalted themfelves, for 
 many Ages, to be Princes of the World-, and by 
 Claims of fpiritual Power, have hooked in enor- 
 mous Shares of temporal Grandeur and Wealth. 
 But, is this a proper Time, think you, to revive and 
 to prefs Pretenfions of this Kind ? Thank Heaven, 
 that Darknefs is palled ! The Light of Chriftian 
 Liberty dawns gloriouily upon us ; and expofes all 
 fuch fanatic Claims to juft Scorn and Reproach. 
 
 g Llt 1 p r efs you no farther You begin to 
 
 relent. Having urged you with the Weight 'of 
 your XXXIVth Article, which you have frequently 
 fdbferibed -, and of your XXXth Canon to which 
 you have folemnly Sworn •, both which declare po- 
 sitively, your Church Ceremonies to be ordained by the 
 Authority of the Civil Magistrate; you are, 
 at length, conflrained to own their Force. But, 
 without the Honour of retracting your former dan- 
 gerous Aflcrtion, " That the Magiftrate has no fuch 
 
 Power 
 
[ "3 3 
 Power at all *." You are now brought to acknow- 
 ledge *' That the Truth of the Cafe is, all our 
 
 " Ceremonies, and Forms of Worfhip, are ordain- 
 u ed, as they ought to be, both by eccleftafticat 
 " and civil Authority +." Honeftly faid at lad! 
 Well, if by civil Authority, then the Magiftrate 
 has Jome Power in ordering Church-Matters • which 
 you have all along denied him ; and then the Pow- 
 er is not veiled folely in the Pallors and Governors, 
 as with great pertinacity you have infifled it was. 
 Render then to Cafar^ the things which are Cafars ; 
 and lift not up your Heel againfl the Hand by 
 whofe bounty you are fo liberally fed. 
 
 You are now willing, I find, to compromife the 
 Matter, and to go (hares with the Magiftrate^ in 
 the Enjoyment of this Power ; and prefume to talk 
 of an " Alliance, and of Terms on which it 
 tc ilands, betwixt the State and the Church J." 
 This Alliance, Sir, is a mere Phantom^ conjured 
 up by the Strength of a late warm Imagination, to 
 preferve at leafl a Shadow of its lofl Power to the 
 Church §. Neither our Hiftory^ nor our Laws know 
 any Thing at all of it. The Nature of our Con/li- 
 tution utterly difowns it ; and avows the Church to 
 be not an Allv, but a Subject to the State. Ao 
 Alliance fuppofes Independency in the Powers be- 
 twixt whom it flands. But, by the famous Atl of 
 Submijfion, the Church hath refigned all pretentions 
 to Independency ; and given up its Powers into the 
 Hands of the State. The Truth of the Cafe is this. 
 A few Centuries pall, the Church was found guilty 
 of a dangerous Rebellion and High-Treafon again It 
 the State : Whilft it lay thus at mercy, as a Crimi- 
 nal before its Judge, its Pardon and Life were given 
 it, upon the Terms of its refigning all Claims of 
 Independency^ and fubmitting itfelf thenceforward to 
 G g 2 the 
 
 * I. Def. pages 18, 19. + Appen. page 13. % IbiJ. 
 § See a late excellent Comment on Warburton's Alliance &c. 
 
t in I 
 
 the Will of the Prince. But behold ! thefe Terms 
 of Submijfion, you have now, it feems, refined into 
 Terms of Alliance , and the Church from a 'pardoned 
 Criminal, now claims to be a rival Power ; and to 
 have its Rights and Jurifdiction independent of the 
 State. " Our Ceremonies and Forms of IVorjhip are 
 u ordained by ecclesiastical, as well as civil 
 <6 Authority'' But thefe, alafs ! are but Illufions 
 which mock your heated Fancy ; for ecclefiajlical 
 Authority, as diftinguifhed from civil, you may 
 reft aflured, there is none. Afk your learned Bi- 
 fhops, and they will utterly difclaim it. Afk your 
 able Lawyers , and they will tell you, that you in- 
 cur the Danger of a Premunire by prefuming to 
 exert any one fingle Act of Authority of this Kind. 
 Afk all the knowing Members of the Convocation 
 itfelf, and they will anfwer with one Voice, "Tis 
 
 not in us Authority we have none. Yea; 
 
 Afk the meaneft Novice in the Hiftory of the Re- 
 formation, and of the Eflabiifbmcnt of your Church ; 
 and he will prefently acquaint you, that your Cere- 
 monies and Forms were not ordained by both ecclefi- 
 ajlical and civil Authority , but by civil Authority 
 only : The Ecclefiaftics in Convocation, and in the 
 two UniverJitieSy obftinately refujing to give their 
 Concurrence ; and even entering their very folemn 
 and zealous Proteft againft it. 
 
 But, you are ftill harping that the Convocation at 
 laft gave their Affent. Pray ! how did they give it ? 
 Not till they had been firft garbled and packed by 
 the Magiftrate : All the Bifhops, fave one, exiled, 
 impriibned, turned out, by his Authority ; and 
 new, according to his tafle, put into their Room ; 
 beiides, the invincible Artillery of Deaneries, Pre- 
 bends, fnug and fat Livings played ftrongly upon 
 the inferior Clergy : Many Dignitaries amongft thefe, 
 alfo, being deprived by the civil Power. And, is 
 it ftrange that the Convocation, thus powerfully at- 
 tacked, made no long Refiftance ; but yielded, 
 
 how- 
 
[ "5 1 
 
 however rehiftant, to what the Parliament had 
 done* ? But their Concurrence, I mud again tell you, 
 whether ft it or forced, gave, and could give, no 
 Autority to the new Eftabli/hment ; becaufe, by 
 our Conftitution, they had not the leaft Grain of 
 Authority to give. Suppofethe Convocation had 
 refufed their Concurrence to that Act of the Legif- 
 lature ; would the Law not have had its Force ? You 
 dare not affirm it. Suppofe, again, the Clergy had 
 eftablifhed any new Forms, without an aft of Parli- 
 ament ; would the People have been obliged to yield 
 Obedience to them ? neither.durft you aflert this. 
 However, not to difcourage good Beginnings, I 
 
 will take you where you are We are come, 
 
 then, to this IiTue. That the civil Magiftrate has 
 Power to ordain Ceremonies and Rites of IVoijhip, and 
 to make new Terms of Chriilian communion ; and 
 that the Things of this Kind which are done in the 
 Church of England, are done, at leaft in Part, by 
 civil Authority. This is what you now grant. 
 But the Queftion then returns, with unanfwerable 
 
 Weight upon you Who gave him this Power ? 
 
 What Charter hath lodged it in him ? Not, furely, 
 the Scriptures ; the only Charter of the Chrijtian 
 Church. For all the Power or Authority which the 
 Scriptures give the Magijirate relates only, and can 
 relate but, to Things of a civil Nature ; and cannot 
 at all relate to Things of IVorfhip and Religion. 
 This never can be contended, becaufe the Magijirate 
 was, at the Time, when the Scriptures were wrote, 
 
 and 
 
 * Hear what even Echard, who was never iufpe&ed of Parti- 
 ality againfi: the Church, fays " Fourteen Bijkopt, twelve 
 
 *' Deans, twelve Archdeacons, fifteen Heads of Colleges, fifty Pre- 
 " bendaries, and eighty Reelors, were deprived by the Queen. 
 *• But it was ftrongly believed, that, of the reft, the greateft 
 " Part complied again/} their Confciences ; and would have been 
 " ready for another Turn, if the Queen had died while that 
 f\ Race of Incumbents lived, and the next Succeflbr had been of 
 ", another Religion." Ecbard*$ Hift. Eng. page 330. 
 
[ n6 ] 
 
 and for near three hundred Years after, Infidel and 
 Pagan. St. Paul, therefore by commanding us to 
 be fubjecl to the higher Powers •, and to obey Magif- 
 trates, for Confcience Sake, becaufe they are the Minif- 
 
 ters of GOD, for good does not, in the leaft, 
 
 require our Obedience to their Decrees as to Ceremo- 
 nies, and Forms of Worfhip -, or, our Conformity to • 
 their Eflabli foments, in Things of a religious Na- 
 ture. No, St. Paul himfelf, and all the Apoftles 
 were very zealous Nonconformifts. The grand Scope 
 of all their Labours, their preaching, their Lives 
 was to perfuade and draw Men off from the efta- 
 blifhed Forms of Worfhip; and to convince them 
 that, in thefe Affairs, there was ONE King only, 
 and ONE Lord to whom their Homage alone was 
 due : Even J E S LI S, who by his Sufferings had 
 merited this high Honour, and to whom alone 
 GOD has commanded that, in Things of Religi- 
 on , every Knee jhall bow. 
 
 Here, then, I again call upon and provoke you 
 
 to tell me Who gave tjie Civil Magiftrate this 
 
 Authority in religious Matters ? You are fiient, 
 
 and cannot fay Well, then, if by the Com- 
 mand of Almighty GOD, and by the original Con- 
 stitution of the Chriftian Church, he hath none ; then, 
 the Subjects of Jesus Christ are under no Obli- 
 gation to obey his Injunctions, in Things of a reli- 
 gious Nature ; confequently are in no Fault in diffen- 
 ting from eftablifhed Forms ; and confequently, 
 your Cenfures of them, as great Sinners for fo do- 
 ing are extremely rafh and uncharitable ; for which 
 it becomes you, to be humbled greatly before 
 GOD, and to afk Pardon of Men. 
 
 See , now, the unhappy Pinch to which you are 
 reduced If you fay the Magiftrate has Authori- 
 ty to decree Ceremonies, and Forms of IVorJhipy to 
 make new Terms of Communion, and to determine 
 
 Controverfies of Faith you then fin againft the 
 
 undoubted Rights and Conftitution of the Ch r ist i a n 
 
 Church - t 
 
[ **7 ] 
 Church; againflGOD, againft Jesus Christ, a- 
 gainft Reajon and common Senfe. But if you fay that 
 he has not, you then fin againft the Church of 
 England, againft its Laws and Conflitution \ You 
 are a Dijfenter, at leaft, in Principle ; but, per- 
 haps, have not Fortitude enough to facrifke, what 
 you call, your Snugnefs, by profeiling openly your 
 Diffent. 
 
 Having thus confidered the former Part of your 
 JelJ -repugnant Scheme, i That the Magiftrate has 
 not : And, 2. That he has the Authority which he 
 claims and exercifes in your Church : I mould now 
 proceed to the other, viz. That it is lodged in the 
 Churches Pa/tors and Governors. But, here, to the Sur- 
 prize of every attentive Reader, you content yourfelf 
 with averting, without paying him the Compliment 
 of fo much as attempting to prove them, poiTefTed of 
 this Power. The Bible, I thought you knew, to 
 be the Religion of Proteftants ; and the Scriptures, 
 the only Rule of their Practice and Faith. But be- 
 hold ! a Pro t eft ant, a Divine, claiming an high 
 Power for his Paflors and Governors ; a Power in 
 which the Peace and Purity of the Chriftian Church 
 are ejjentially concerned ;' and yet not able, nor 
 when called upon pretending, to produce one fmgle 
 Text of Scripture in Support of this Claim. 
 
 I have pointed you to feveral exprefs Commands 
 of the /acred Law, which directly forbid and 
 condemn this pretended Power •, have fhewn you, 
 that Chrijtiam are the Lords frecd-men, that they 
 are each for himfelf, to ftudy, and fearch the Scrip- 
 tures To examine and try the Spirits To call 
 
 no Man upon Earth Master, and are not to be 
 called Rabbi, i. e. are neither to acknowledge, nor 
 to claim any Authority over others in Things of 
 Religion, becaufe ONE only is our Lawgiver and 
 Mafter, in thefe Things, even Christ ; and all 
 Chrirtians are Brethren. That tho' the Princes of 
 the G entiles exercife Dominion over them; and they 
 
 whs 
 
[ "8 ] 
 
 who are great , exercife Authority upon them, it 
 
 shall NOT BE SO amongst you What 
 
 have you replied, Sir, to thefe plain and direct Com- 
 mands : Have you fo much as attempted to evade 
 their Force ? No : but with confcious Impotence 
 ftand flill ; and fee this Scripture- Artillery demo- 
 lishing the boafled thrones of your Paftors and Go- 
 vernors, and beating down the high Places to 
 which your Immagination had raifed them, without 
 fo much as extending a feeble Hand for their 
 Support. 
 
 From what has been faid, on the Point of 'Church- 
 Power, you fee with how little Reafon you plume 
 yourfelf and Gentlemen of the Eftablifhment, as 
 the only proper Champions to encounter the Church 
 of Rome — — " Upon the Head of Herefy, Schifm, 
 " Ordination, Tradition, Church-Unity, and Catho- 
 " lie-Communion, no Proteftant is fo well qualified 
 " to write upon thefe, and fo likely to do it to the 
 " Conviction of a Papift, as one of the Church of 
 * c England ; but, to be fare, not a Proteftant Diffen- 
 " ter V What Proteftant Diffenters can do on 
 the Popijh Controverfy, the Salter's- Hall Lectures 
 will fhew to their lading* Honour. And, in Truth, 
 all your mighty Champions, Chillingworth, Hales, 
 Stillingfleet, Middleton, &c. in all their Conflicts 
 with the Church of Rome have been ever forced to 
 quit their own, and to borrow our Weapons ; and 
 to thefe alone have owed the Triumphs they have 
 gained. 
 
 Councils, Fathers, the Church's Power to decree 
 
 Rites and Authority in Controverfies of Faith 
 
 are Armour in which no Proteftant dares look a 
 fagacieus and learned Jrfuit in the Face. No •, but 
 the fufficiency of Scripture, and the Right of private 
 Judgment (our diftinguifhing and proper Princi- 
 ples) are the only Method of AfTault before which 
 
 the 
 * Appen. page 1 1. 
 
t 119 ] 
 
 the Romi/h Syftem immediately falls. Thefe, Sir, 
 if you know any Thing of the State of that Con- 
 troverfy, you muft know to have been the Principles 
 upon which your ow,n learned Doctors have defend- 
 ed the Reformation •, and the Principles on which 
 alone it is capable of Defence. But then you are to 
 remember alio, that they are Principles on which 
 the Church of England can never poflibly be de- 
 fended ; and which, if faithfully and duly followed, 
 would have brought Chilling-worthy and H les, and 
 Middk'on, amongft us ; and would make every 
 intelligent and honeft Protettant, in this Kingdom, a 
 Diffenier from the eftablifhed Church. 
 
 For if the Scripture be, indeed, a fufficient and 
 per feci Rule ; what becomes of your additional 
 Splendors (as you are pleafed to call them) and your 
 Improvements upon Chriftianity ! What, of your 
 Church's Power to decree Ceremonies and Rites! 
 What, of Sponfors and the Crofs in Baptifm, kneel- 
 ing at the Lord's-Supper, bowing to the Eaft, &c. 
 of which the Scriptures, the [ufficient and perfect 
 Rule, fay not a Word. And if the Right, and the. 
 Duty of private Judgment be acknowledged ; into 
 what a Fume, alas ! evaporates the Church's boafl- 
 ed Authority in Controverjies of Faith ! Your learned 
 Doctors themfelves felt, and owned the Difficulty 
 of the Part they had to act. And 'tis, really, plea- 
 fant to obferve-, how, in their Attacks upon Dif- 
 fenters, Councils and Fathers, Church-Authority and 
 Church Power, the Danger and Sin of Schifm, &c. are 
 gravely muttered up, and plied warmly upon us. 
 But no fooner does a crafty Jefuit come forth arm- 
 ed, cap-a-pee, with Weapons of this Kind, than 
 away they are all flung ! to our Quarters they re- 
 treat ! Then, the Bible, the Bible only is the Reli- 
 gion of Protectants, and every Man is to read, and to 
 judge for himfelf ; then, not thofe, who feparate from 
 a Church, that impofes unlawful (unfcriptural) 
 
 H h Terms, 
 
[ 120 ] 
 
 Terms, arc guilty of Scbifm -, but the Church alone 
 is guilty in impojing fuch Terms. 
 
 A flight Attention will fhew you, with how ex- 
 tremely ill a Grace a Church of England Divine 
 mud appear upon the Head of Scbifm, Tradition, 
 
 Church-Unity Who by the Tradit ion s of 
 
 Men (Sponfors, the Crofs, &c ) hath notorioufly 
 made void the Commandment of G O D (to receive 
 one another, but not to doubtful Difputations*.) 
 Who breaks, in a flagrant Manner, the Unity of 
 the Cbriftian Church, by fetting up new Terms of 
 Fellowfhip and Communion in it ; and by calling 
 out fuch as Cbrift receives into it : And who de- 
 clares, before the World, againfl Catholic-Com- 
 munion, by refufing to admit any to the two Sa- 
 craments of Religion : except, befides what Cbrift 
 and his Apoftles have ordained, they fubmit alfo to 
 fome Rites which themfelves have ordained, as Im- 
 provements upon the Plan which the infpired Apoftles 
 
 left. And is this, now, a Man to encounter 
 
 Romijh Emifiaries ? Mud he not go forth with in- 
 finite Difadvantage, and feel his own Weapons 
 turned violently upon himfelf ? But, the Diffenter, 
 who Hands fail: to his diftinguifhing and proper 
 Principles {fujficiency of Scripture, and rigbt of private 
 Judgment) at once beats them from the ftrong Holds 
 of Councils and Fathers (where you have been long 
 aflaulting, but not able to diflodge them) and 
 makes all their learned Sopbiflry fall before the fa- 
 cred Force of the Bible and Common Sense. 
 And hence it is, as before obferved, that the Swarms 
 of unhappy Profelytes, which thefe Seducers are 
 faid to make, are all drawn from your, not one, 
 that I have ever heard of, from our ; Churches: 
 Your Dodtrines and Forms too naturally preparing 
 them to take that fatal Step. 
 
 But 
 
 ? Rom. xiv. i« 
 
[ 121 ] 
 
 But it is Time that we now quit the Subject of 
 Church- Power. I have treated it the more largely, 
 becaufe it enters into the ejfence, and is -the one 
 Tingle Point, every Perfon fees, on which the whole 
 Controverfy turns. Your other two Points, the/d- 
 cramental <Teft, and the regal Supremacy, I (hall dif- 
 mifs in fewer Words. 
 
 As to the firft, the facrament a I Test 1 per- 
 ceive nothing in your Appendix which either merits 
 or needs a particular Reply. Only becaufe you (till 
 infill, that as the Law now ft and s, the Priefi has a 
 Power of repelling evil Livers, when they come to re- 
 ceive the Sacrament, as a qualification for a Place ; 
 and by this wrong Apprehenfion, are kept from 
 viewing the Affair in a Light fo diftafteful as it 
 really deferves; I (hall offer a few Things for your 
 Illumination alfo here: Prefuming, when you fee, 
 that you have not Power, in that Cafe, to refufe the 
 Christian Communion to the wickedeft Man living, 
 you will groan under the difgraceful Yoke; and 
 for the Honour of Chriftianity, and the Eafe of 
 your own Confcience, will be the firft to wifh its 
 Repeal. Now this is a Point of Law ; and has 
 been given againfl you, by the learned in that Pro- 
 feflion. And, if you attentively weigh the Cafe, 
 their Opinion will appear grounded upon Reafons 
 of very great and unanfwerable Strength. Becaufe 
 if the Priefts has a Liberty of Discretion in this 
 Cafe, it is then fn his Power to deprive the King of 
 the Services of his loyal and good Subjects ; as alfo, 
 to deprive the Subjecls of fome of the mod valuable 
 Favours of the Prince -, yea, the Priefi has then a 
 Power to put a Negative, in many Cafes, upon the 
 Nominations of his Sovereign to Pods of the 
 higheft Dignity and Importance in the State. 
 
 His Majefty appoints a Perfon to fome great Of- 
 fice in his Army, his Houfhold, or his Fleet ; but 
 the Law forbjds him to Acl (at lead, but for a fhort 
 H h 2 Time) 
 
[ 122 ] 
 
 Time) till he has firft taken the [acrammal Tefi : 
 He comes, therefore, according to Law, to qualify 
 for his Place. No, Sir, anfwers the Priefl •, I fay 
 you are a prophane and wicked Man, a notorious 
 evil Liver ; I am authorized therefore by the Rubric^ 
 and commanded by the Canon, to refufe you the 
 
 Sacrament • and, be allured, I will not give it 
 
 So here is the King's commiilion the Subject's ex- 
 pectations, and the Officer's good fervices, all 
 quafhed at once. 
 
 But can it enter into an Imagination fo vague as 
 even yours, that our Laws have put it in the Prie/Ps 
 Power thus to bar the King's Commiilion to a Ge- 
 neral, an Admiral, a Secretary of State. Gentlemen 
 who too much merit, perhaps, the Character of 
 evil Livers may, fometimes, by the royal Choice be 
 appointed to high temporal Offices ; and may be 
 capable of difcharging them with great Advantage 
 to their Country, and great Honour to themfelves. 
 But, muft the Prieft's Confent be afked ! at his Dif- 
 cretion muft it lie ! whether the Perfon, whom the 
 King hath honoured with an high Commiilion, (hall 
 prefume to proceed in the Execution of his Truft ! 
 
 Yes, it really thus lies in the Prieft's Power 
 
 (you will have it) to put a Negative upon the Crown. 
 Without the Prieft's Approbation of him, as being 
 not an evil Liver, no Officer (hall prefume, nor 
 can be qualified by Law, to acl. 
 
 I congratulate you much, Sir, that you are now 
 even with the civil Magijlrate. The Noli Profequi's 
 and Prohibitions he has granted to flop proceedings 
 in your ecckfiaflical Courts, have been Matter of 
 long Grievance: Now, you have it in your Power 
 to make ample Reprisals on him. You have now a 
 Power, by Law, to judge after, above, the King. 
 Tho' his Majefty ever fo much wants and de/ires the 
 Services of a brave Officer, you are firft to Jit in 
 Judgment on him ; to confider whether he is an evil 
 Liver; and according as you pronounce concerning 
 
 his 
 
[ >23 ] 
 
 his moral Character, he (hall, or fhall not, be qua- 
 lified and allowed to att Thefe, doubtlefs, are 
 
 the Days, of which bleffed Laud is faid to pro- 
 phefy ! Who hoped to fee the Time, when no Jack 
 Gentleman in England (hould dare to /land covered be- 
 fore the meanejl Prieft. The holy Mart\r, indeed, 
 died unbleffed with the Sight. But, you, his Son and 
 Succefibr in Doctrine and Spirit, are taking bold 
 Strides to reach Pifgah-Top, from whence to feaft 
 your Eyes with that promifed happy State. 
 
 I might reft the Matter here- and hope you 
 
 are now convinced of the prefumptuous and high 
 Nature of the Power you are thus, publickly, again 
 claiming for the Prieft: But, to filence for ever all 
 doubts on this Head, I will prefent you with an 
 Authority of irrefiftible Weight. This is no other 
 than the lower Houfe or Convocation, Anno 1704; 
 (launch Champions for the Church, you know, as 
 ever honoured the Britifh Ifle ; in their Addrefs to 
 the upper Houfe, amongft Gravamina C/m Grievan- 
 ces to be redreffed, they reprefent " The in- 
 
 " creafmg Difficulties of the parochial Clergy, 
 " about adminiftring the holy Sacrament indif- 
 " ferently to all Perfons who demand it, in order 
 <£ to qualify themfelves for Office; becaufe they 
 " fee not how they could, in feveral Cafes, aclcon- 
 " formably to the Rubrics and Canons of the Church, 
 41 in repelling fuch Perfons as were unzvortby, and 
 <c particularly notorious Schifmaiics, without expo- 
 " fmg themfelves to vexatious and expenfive Suits 
 
 c 5 at Law *." This was the Conftruclion which 
 
 this learned Body of Clergy, you fee, put upon this 
 Law, but a Conftruclion, becaufe I had made it, 
 which you, blefled with fuperior Light, take upon 
 
 you to pronounce " forced, unnatural, whwiji- 
 
 *' cat, unequitable \*' Happy 'tis nothing worle! 
 
 But, 
 
 * Tindati Hift. of Eng. Vol. III. page 686. 
 f Appen. pnge 20. 
 
C *2 4 ] 
 
 But, to conclude this Point If, as the Law 
 
 ilow ftands, the Pried has, as you affirm, a Power 
 to repel evil Livers ; pray ! what is the Reafon that 
 the Rubrics and Canons, which fo folemnly oblige 
 him to it, are not only, not faithfully obferved, but 
 moil fhamefully violated, and quite trampled under 
 Foot? Why, amongft the Swarms of notorious evil 
 Livers, Heretics, Blafphem.rs, and open Unbelievers , 
 who continually come to the Lord's Table, to 
 qualify for a Place ; do we never here of one rejected 
 by the Pried ? What! is there no Confcience, no 
 Integrity or Honour left amongft thofe who admi- 
 nifter this holy Rite of Religion! feeing the Rubric 
 requires, and the Canons oblige to rejetl thefe evil 
 Livers ; and the Scandal of receiving them (both 
 to Deifls without, and to Chri/lians within) is fo 
 crying and flagrant ; Why, in the Name o/.GOD, 
 whofe Miniflers and Stewards you profefs yourfelves 
 to be, are thefe Enemies to his Government, thefe 
 Aliens from his Family, thefe Defpifers of his Son, 
 never rejected, but ever tamely received, as bis 
 
 Children, to /;/i Table Why! but becaufe 
 
 the Prieft knows there is a Law which hangs hea- 
 vily over him, and threatens to punifh with fevere 
 Penalty its Breach : And this being the Cafe, he 
 chufes rather to throw himfelf upon the Mercies of 
 GOD, than upon the Indignation of Man. 
 
 And now, Sir, if with this dreadful and oppref- 
 five Yoke upon your Neck ; whilfl fcoffing Infidels 
 laugh, and difcerning Chri/lians mourn ; you arc 
 eafy and well pleafed ; and blefs yourfelf, and your 
 Church in the Protection of this Law : All I (hall 
 fay, at prefent, is, that I envy not your Felicity • 
 but heartily thank Heaven, I have neither Lot nor 
 Share in this Matter. Only, hear the Word, which 
 GOD fent by his Prophet to certain time-ferving 
 Prieft s. Ezrk. xliv. 6, 7. Thou fhalt fay to the re- 
 bellious Houfe; let it fuffice you of all your Abomina- 
 tions •, in that ye have brought into my Sancluary Stran- 
 
[ 125 ] 
 gers, mcircumcifed in Heart, to be in my Santluary, 
 to pollute it ; even my House, when ye offer my Bread 
 
 they have broken my Covenant, becaufe of' all your 
 
 Abominations. 
 
 I have faid too much on your fir ft Topic, of 
 Church-Power, to have either loom or occafion to 
 add many Things on your laft, our Conjtitution in 
 Church and State. Here, indeed, I obferve with 
 Pleafure, that amidft the (hew you affect to make 
 of confuting my Account of the regal Supremacy, 
 and of our Conftitution, you hardly, in one fingle 
 Inftance, prefume to contradict it. My Account, 
 Sir, was founded upon FacJ and upon Law. After 
 clofe Examination, I fuppofe you found it to be {o ; 
 and therefore though, to fave Appearances, you 
 would feem to fay fomething on this Subject alfo ; 
 yet in your whole 14 Pages, there is fcarce the mew 
 of any Oppofition to what I had advanced. 
 
 As for the Form of Speaking in ufe amongfl us 
 
 Our Conftitution in Church and State That 
 
 it is really an impropriety, as generally underflood, 
 I do not at all hefitate (with due Submiflion to the 
 great Authorities by whom it is ufed) again to infill. 
 It is a Form of Speaking, no doubt, drawn from the 
 Ufage of Popifh Times ; before the Reformation of 
 our Religion took Place. For then there, truly, 
 was a Conftitution in Church, diftinct from, and in- 
 dependent of, our Conftitution in State. The Church 
 had, then, its Laws, its Rights, its Officers and 
 Powers, and its fovereign or fupreme Head, peculiar 
 to itfelf, and apart from the State. But, now, by. 
 the Reformation all that Independency and Difiinc- 
 t'wn is abolimed ; it is now become entirely and ab- 
 solutely a civil Syftem : There are now no Laws in 
 the Church (I mean none of human Enaction) but 
 what were made by the civil Magijtrate, and receive 
 all their Obligation and Authority from him : There 
 are now no Officers in the Church but what are con- 
 stituted by the Authority and Direction of the Ma- 
 
 gifirate, 
 
[ 126 ] 
 
 giftrate, and are all liable to be unmade and de- 
 prived again by him But that our Conjthution 
 
 in Church, is nothing really, but a civil or parlia- 
 mentary Conftitution ; has, v/ith ihconteftible Evi- 
 dence, been mown in the preceding Letters ; and 
 and is a Truth, indeed, fo plain, that no intelligent 
 or lbber Member of your Church will, Iapprehend, 
 fo much as attempt to deny. 
 
 Our Conftitution, therefore, being now changed 
 by the happy Reformation ♦, fo, doubtlefs, would 
 this Form of Speaking too ; but feems to have been 
 retained for Reafons of Policy, to (both the Weak- 
 nejs of thofe who were then the Weakeft of all the 
 People, and the moft averfe to the Reformation, I 
 mean the Clergy *. With the fame condeicending 
 Views, probably, it is flill kept in Ufe; but in 
 real ftrictnefs and propriety to talk of our Conflitu- 
 tion in Church and State, is not only to put the Body 
 before the Head, the Effdl before the Caufe, the 
 Handmaid before the Miftrefs ; but it is to convey 
 an Idea your Authorities could not poflibly intend 
 to convey, becaufe not founded in Truth, viz. That 
 the Church has a Conflitution diflindt from, inde- 
 pendent of, yea prior or fuperior to, our Conftitution 
 
 in State, By the Way, you will remember alfo, 
 
 that the Prefoyierian Church of Scotland is as efjential, 
 fundamental, and unalterable a Part of our prefent 
 ecclefiaftical Constitution, as the epifcopal Church 
 of England can ever pretend to be. 
 
 My Account of the Power which our Laws and 
 Conftitution give to the Kings and QJJ E E N S of 
 this Realm, in Affairs ecclefiaftical •, to inftruct, 
 over-rule, direct, controul, all the Archbifiops, Bi- 
 
 (Jjops, 
 
 * So becaufe 'tis faid The Lords Spiritual and Temporal— 
 
 Will any one therefore plead, that a Bi/hop is of higher Rank 
 than a Duke ? 'Tis no more than giving a Lady the upper Place; 
 or, according to the apottolic Precept, honouring the weo.ker 
 VeJJ'el. What Defeft of Argument does it (hew, to lay fuch 
 ftrefs upon a mere Compliment ! 
 
I >*7 J 
 Jhops and Priefts of this Kingdom, in all their fa- 
 cerdotal and mofl fpiritual Concerns, &c. you do 
 not pretend to litigate, but rather attempt to vindi- 
 cate and explain. But you unhappily forget the 
 one grand and material Point, for which it was in- 
 troduced ; and to which, above all other, it con- 
 cerned you to fpeak ; and that is, to reconcile this 
 Conflitution of the Church of England, with the 
 Condi tu tion of the Church of Cbrift : And to (hew 
 that Dijfenters cannot feparate from the one, with- 
 out the Danger and the high Crime of renting them- 
 (elves from the other. This was what you aliened, 
 and flourifhed copioufly upon ; but are now, I 
 prefume, too well inftrudted to endeavour to fup- 
 port. You now fee them, Sir, to be two dijiincl 
 and quite different Societies : And will be hence- 
 forward eafed of thofe painful Commiferations over 
 the Souls of your Diffenting Brethren, with which 
 your generous Mind laboured ; and be terrified no 
 more with direful Apprehenfions on Account of 
 our Scbifm, which feem all your Life long to have 
 held you in Bondage. 
 
 There is a little unhappy Slip which, tho' not 
 
 quite in Place, I (hall take Notice of here In 
 
 page 13. of your Appendix, you charge me " with 
 " falfe Play in citing your XXXIVth Article, as de- 
 " daring exprejly thjzt your Church Ceremonies were 
 
 " ordained by tbe Civil Magi fir ate. And afk me 
 
 u Did you find there any fuch Words V- And yet, 
 with agreeable Surprize, I find you either fo un- 
 cautious, or fo honed, as within a few Lines, to 
 cite the very Words of the Article, which fupport, 
 in the dronged Manner, the Senfe I had given ; 
 where an open and wilful Violation of tbefe Ceremonies 
 is, by the Article, declared to be an hurting the Au- 
 thority of the civil Magistrate. Can a Viola- 
 tion of thefe Ceremonies violate the Magiftrat 's 
 Authority, if by his Authority they had not been 
 $rdained ? 
 
 I i 
 
[ i*8 ] 
 
 But thefe are fmall Matters, in Comparifon with 
 what follows. The Affair of Mr. IVbifton I thought 
 you would gladly have let deep. The Cafe, to be 
 lure, wrung much : You have been once and a- 
 gain flinging to rid yourfelf of it ; but the Manner 
 in which you now do it, rather folely wounds, than 
 gives you Relief. " You tax me with Mifrepre- 
 " fentation, and with no mean Talent that Way *." 
 Yea, have the Courage to confront me, with a Ci- 
 tation from Bp. Burnet to whom I had referred, as 
 fupporting my Account. But what will the World 
 fay, Sir ! How will all your Friends, if not your 
 Heart, reproach you ! and the Learned, amongft 
 whom you rank, hold you in great Derifion ! 
 When they fee you undertaking to give the Pub- 
 lic an Account of his Lordfhip's Hiftory of that 
 Cafe; but, either carelefly overlooking, or wilfully 
 fupprefTing, the material and important PaflTages, 
 which clearly and irrefragably fupport my Account. 
 
 * c His Lordfhip, fay you, f reports it thus ■ 
 
 " That it feeming doubtful, whether the Convo- 
 " cation could, in the fir ft Inftance, proceed againft 
 " a Man for Herefy; and it being certain that their 
 " Proceedings, if not warranted by Law, might 
 " involve them in a Premunire, the upper Houfe, 
 44 in an Addreis, prayed the Queen to ajk the Opinion 
 " of the Judges, and Juch others as jhe thought fit , 
 " concerning thefe Doubts, that they might know 
 cc how the Lav/ flood in this Matter." Here you 
 flop fhort with the Bijhop's Narration : Having ei- 
 ther not Patience to re^d, or not Honefty 'to write 
 
 further; and then, with flourifh, afk u Will 
 
 <c thefe Accounts now authorize you to reprefent, 
 " as you do, the two Houfes of Convocation, as waiting 
 " upon her Majefly ; and that too to be inflrucled 
 " by her, and to learn her Judgment •, and not that 
 " neither, how the Law flood in Relation to their 
 " Proceedings, but how the Gofpel flood in Rela- 
 
 " tion 
 * Appcn. page 39. f Appcn. page 3 8. 
 
[ '20 ] 
 
 <c tion to the Opinions of Mr. Whifton, and the 
 " Myftery of the Trinity ? And do you not now 
 " perceive your Mifreprefentation of the Cafe, and 
 " that I did not talk without Book, when I fpeak of 
 " it as a Specimen of your Talent, which, indeed 
 " is not mean that Way." 
 
 There is one Thing I here perceive, Sir ; which 
 is, that if you do not talk without Book, yet when 
 the Book is before you, you either want Capacity or 
 Integrity to make a proper Ufe of it. For befides 
 the partial and maimed Account which you have 
 given of this Matter, his Lordfhip exprefly adds 
 the important Pajfages which follow ; whence the 
 Public, will pleafe to obferve, with how little Fair- 
 nefr and Truth you treat this famous Cafe ; and 
 how great is both the Church's and my own Infelici- 
 ty ; fhe in having an Advocate, and I an Opponent, 
 capable of fiich difhonourable and low Methods of 
 Defence. 
 
 His Lordfhip fays " That by the Aft of i ft 
 
 " of Elizabeth, which defined what mould be 
 " judged Herefy, that Judgment was declared to be 
 
 " in the Crown The Bifhops in Convocation 
 
 drew out feveral Proportions from Mr. fVhiftons 
 <c Bocks, which feemed plainly to be reviving of 
 " Arianifm, and cenfured them as fuch. The lower 
 " Houfe (excepting to one Propofition) cenfured 
 a them in the fame Manner. This the Archbifbop, 
 " being then difabled by the Gout, fent by One of 
 " the Bifhops to the QUEEN, for her Afferit (Pa%c 
 " 1 194, Approbation) who prom i fed to consider 
 '* of it. At their (the Convocation's) Meeting 
 " next Winter, no Anfwer being come from the 
 " Queen, two Bishops were fent to ask it, and 
 " to receive her Majefty's Pleafure in it; but She 
 u could not tell what was become of the Paper the 
 <l Archbifbop had fent her. So an Extract of the 
 " Cenfure was again fent to her; but fhe thought 
 * not fit to fend any Anfwer to it. So Wbifton's 
 l i 2. Affair 
 
 <£ 
 
L *3° 3 
 
 " Affair (lept, and all further Proceedings againft 
 c< him were flopped, fince the Queen did not con- 
 tC firm the Step that we had made ; tho' he after- 
 ct ward publifhed a large Work in four Volumes 
 " OdtavoV* 
 
 Here let it be noted, i. The Judgment of what 
 is, or is not to be treated as Herefy, is, by our apof- 
 to lick Conftitution lodged wholly in the Crown. 
 The QUEEN, when fuch wears it, is xh^ proper, 
 the fole Judge, what Doctrines and Books fhall be 
 cenfured as heretical : What Principles and Te- 
 nets are, or are not, contrary to the holy orthodox 
 Faith. 
 
 Note 2. The two Houfes having extracted feve- 
 ral PafTages from Mr. Whijton's Books, and cenfured 
 them as heretical f ± deputed firft one, then two 
 Bifhops to wait upon the Queen, to ask her ap- 
 probation and -ffent, to receive her Majejlfs Pleafure 
 in this Affair ; and to defire her Confirmation, without 
 which, their Cenfure was not of the lead Significa- 
 tion or Validity in the Church. 
 
 3. Upon the Receipt of this Requeft the Queen, 
 as file Judge, promifed to CONSIDER of it. 
 The Affair was of great Importance, viz. " What 
 u the primitive apofiolic Doctrine was concerning 
 u the Trinity, Incarnation, Nature and Generation of 
 " the Logos ? Whether there were three Perfons 
 " exifling in one undivided Subftance : Or, whe- 
 7 ther the Logos was diftindt in EfTence from the 
 * ; Father; not created, nor made, but in an inef- 
 u fable Manner, begotten from JLternity ? And, 
 
 " finally 
 
 * Burnet's Hift. of his Times, Vol. VI. pages 1 133, 34, 35, 
 94. Edit. 121110. 
 
 f The Archbi/bops and Bifhops in their Addrefs to the Queen, 
 fay, that Mr. Wkijlon had advanced federal damnable and 
 blasphemous Jfjertions againft the Doftrine and Worjhip of the 
 ever blejfed Trinity : And, in their Cenfure, they earneftly befeech 
 all Chriftian People, by the Mercies ^Christ, to take heed bow 
 they gi<ve Ear to thefe falfe Doctrines, as they tender the Honour and 
 Glery of our Savitur, &c. 
 
[ 13' ] 
 
 u finally, whether the apoftolical Conflitutions were 
 " a genuine and infpired Book ; and a true Part of 
 " the facred Canon ?" Her Majefty was now ap- 
 plied to, by her two Houfes of Convocation^ and 
 requefted, as sole Judge, to pronounce authorita- 
 tively upon thefe Points, i. e. to tell them whether Mr. 
 Whiftorfs Doctrine was to be received or rejeeled ; 
 to be confidered as Herefy, or not ; in this Church. 
 The Queen, as became a wife Judge, refufed to 
 pronounce rajbly : She took Time to consider of 
 it -, to weigh fedately in her Mind the Merits of 
 the Caufe, left (he fhouid condemn the Innocent. 
 
 Note, The Scriptures, and the four fir ft general 
 Councils^ are the Meafure fet by Law, to judge of 
 Herefy : Her Majefty, therefore, being now requeft- 
 ed by her Clergy to judge author it ativdy in this im- 
 portant Cafe, acted a worthy Part in deferring her 
 Judgment, 'till fhe had examined carefully the 
 Rule by which fhe was to judge. 
 
 Obferve, 4. After the Qu e e n had taken Time 
 maturely to consider of thefe deep and myfterious 
 Points, fhe thought not fit to fend any Anfwer. 
 Upon her Majefty's Thoughts, the IfTue of this 
 great Affair is feen abfolutely to depend. Finally, 
 'Tis worthy to be obferved. 5. That her Ma- 
 jefty's Thoughts and Judgment, on this weighty 
 Cafe, were quite different from thofe of her learn- 
 ed Bijhops and Clergy. They thought Mr. fVhi/ton's 
 Writings " contained damnable and wicked Doctrines, 
 ct and earneftly befeech ail Chriftian People, by tie 
 " Mercies of Chrift, to take heed how they give ear, 
 
 " &c." and judged them to deferve a public 
 
 andfolemn Cenfure: Her Majefty thought other- 
 wise. She did not think fit to confirm the Step 
 the Convocation had made. In Confequence of which, 
 their Proceedings were all ftopped -, and the folemn 
 Cenfure they had pafled with all their earneft Ob- 
 teftai'wns, by the Mercies of Christ, evaporate into 
 
 Air. This is a fair and true State of the Cafe— 
 
 What 
 
[ »3* ] 
 
 What Improvements are here made, by the WiP 
 dom of later Ages, in the primitive apoftolic Plan ! 
 Behold the WOMAN now empowered, not only 
 to teach, but to ufurp Authority over the Man \ over 
 all the ArchbiJhopSi Bifljops, and Priefts of this 
 Realm ; to vacate their mod folemn Cenfures - 9 to 
 quafh and flop at once their Spiritual Proceedings, 
 in an Affair where blafphemous Doftrines, and dam- 
 nable and wicked Errors^ were bringing Danger of 
 everlafting Ruin to the Souls over whom they 
 watched ! See here, Sir, the two Scales^ that are to 
 try Doctrines and Opinions in your holy apoftolic 
 Church : In one, is laid the united Judgment of all 
 the Bifhops and Clergy in Convocation convened ; 
 in the other, the Queen's alone : Lo, the former 
 mounts, and kicks the Beam ! The fingle Judgment 
 of the Queen, in the Balance of the Church, 
 weighs more than that of all the learned Bifhops 
 and Priefts of the Realm ! 
 
 And is not this, now, exactly confonant to the 
 Account I had given ? u Is not here, Sir, the very 
 -*' comely and edifying Sight (at which you ex- 
 " cept) * of the two Houfes of Convocation wait- 
 ** ing upon the good Queen, to be instructed by 
 " her Majefty, whether that Gentleman's Books 
 " concerning the Trinity were to be condemned, 
 <c as heretical or not \" Do they tell us, " you afk, 
 * 6 of the Synod laying their Cenfure before the 
 iC Queen, to have their Judgment upon it ?" Yes — 
 " And of their waiting upon a Woman, who 
 M could be fuppofed to know as little of this Mat- 
 " ter as of the Motion of the Stars, to learn from 
 " her Mouthy what the Church is to believe, and 
 " what to reject, as to this great Myftery of Faith ?*' 
 Yes ; you fee, with your own Eyes, that this is 
 really the Cafe. Why Sir, will you conflrain me 
 to expatiate upon Things which reflect no Ho- 
 nour upon the Church 9 and by a rafh and indif- 
 
 creet 
 
 * Appen. page 37. 
 
[ *33 1 
 creet Defence hurt the Caufe you would fupport ! 
 How much wifer is the Part your candid Brethren 
 are now acting, who like dutiful and pious Sons, are 
 taking a Veil, and walking backward, to cover the 
 Nakednefs which has been too long expofed to the 
 Jefts of fcoffing Unbelievers *. 
 
 As your Letters and Defences breathe a noble 
 Companion to the ftraytng Souls of Di (Tenters ; the 
 extraordinary Initance, with which you conclude 
 the whole, ought not to be overlooked. You are 
 concerned, it feems, ** that I have read, and in feve- 
 " ral Inftances agree in Sentiment and Reafoning — 
 " with the Author of the Rights of the Chriftian 
 " Church ; and appear to have much fludied and 
 f* profited by that worthy Author— And are forry to 
 cC find DiiTenting Minifters and Gentlemen dealing 
 iC fo much in Books of this Sort. So long as this 
 " is the Cafe, what hope of a Comprehenfion ! Or, 
 * c indeed, who would wilh for it! t" I have read, 
 Sir, and I hope profited by the Rights, &c. As 
 you profefs to have read, and I hope not without 
 profit, Bellarmin, an Author incomparably worfe. 
 As for my Agreement with the Rights, &c. as far 
 as that Author agrees with Truth, with Scripture, 
 with Law, you mufl give me leave to fay (without 
 augmenting, I hope, your Sorrow) that I efteem it 
 not the leaft Reproach. Nay for once, Sir, if you 
 pleafe, I will make you my ConfeiTor, and frankly 
 
 own, 
 
 * See a Series of fuch Exertions of feminine archiepifcopal, 
 paftoral, Authority , throughout the whole Reign of Qu. Eliza- 
 beth ; particularly, the Cafe of Archbifhop Grinda ; whom ihe 
 fequeftered, in great Wrath, from his arckiepif copal Functions, 
 for refufing to obey a rafh and tyrannical Order of the Queen 
 relating to Church-matters. Under this Sequeftration he con- 
 tinued many Years. The two Houfes of Convocation prefented 
 to the Queen a moft humble and earneft Petition for his Refto- 
 ration, but could not obtain it. Vid. Fuller's Ch. Hift. Book 
 XX. page 120, — Neil's Hift. Pur. Vol. I. pages 358, 374. 
 
 f Appen. pages 41, 44, 
 
[ 134 ] 
 
 own, that in many Things I agree in Sentiment and 
 Reafoning with one far worfe than either Bdlarmin 
 or the Rights, &c Who this may be, you will fee, 
 Luke iv. 41. James ii. 19. 
 
 Diflfenting Minitlers and Gentlemen, I prefume, 
 deal in Booh of all Sorts, from whence they can ga- 
 ther ufeful Knowledge, and improve and enlarge 
 their Minds. They have dealt in the Writings of 
 the mrewdeft Deijts (Books much worfe than the 
 Rights, &c.) as you fee by the many noble Defences 
 of Cbrifttmitv which their Pens have produced. 
 Your — dealing in books of this Sort — is a Bugbear, 
 which may frighten Child en in Underftanding ; but 
 Dhleiiters, you mould have known, have not fa 
 learned Chiiist. They are commanded to try the 
 Spirits ; to examine, and prove all Things -, and re- 
 member the noble Sereins^ who are commended 
 by St. Paul for fe arching carefully into the Grounds 
 and Evidnce of Things before they gave their Af- 
 lent And if this Liberty of Examination, and of 
 fpeaking and writing freely upon Subjects of Reli- 
 
 gion* *be a bar to a Comprehenfion very long 
 
 may it remain ! It is the Glory of Chriftianity that 
 it muns not the fevereft Search : 'Tis Bigotry and 
 Err&r only that love to hide themfelves in Darknefs, 
 and grow touchy and alarmed if you feek to bring 
 them into open Sight. 
 
 We acknowledge, Sir, your Goodnefs in bring- 
 ing down to our Understandings the Myftery of 
 Consecrations of Churches and Church-yards -, and 
 your kind Attempt to illuftrate the Ufefulnefs, Edi- 
 fication, and Comelinefs of this Ceremony. There 
 are feme previous Queftions, which I could wifh to 
 fee anfwered, before we enter thoroughly into the 
 
 grand Debate- As, whether you think the Apof- 
 
 tle Paul, in all his apoftolic Labours and Travels 
 fthro* the Churches, ever confecrated a Plat of Ground? 
 Whether any of the twelve Apoftles, amongft the 
 
 Mwa- 
 
[ 135 1 
 
 Miracles and mighty Works which they every where 
 wrought, ever did this wondrous Thing ? Whether 
 the Synagogues, where our Saviour preached -, the 
 Chamber where he inftituted, and firft celebrated his 
 facred Supper ; the upper Room where the Apoflies 
 met, when they actually received the extraordinary 
 Gifts of the Holy Ghoft ; the Houje of Aquila and 
 Pri/ciila, Nymphas, &c. in which were Chrifiian 
 Churches ; had really any other Confecration than out- 
 Places of Worfhip have ? And yet, whether thefc 
 were not as much the Houfe of God, and Places of 
 his more immediate Prefence, as any fplendid Cathedral^ 
 now confecrated with all the Pomp of facer dotal 
 Device ? * 
 
 You appeal to " the Forms which Bp. Andrews 
 " and others have ufed in their Confecrations. And 
 " alk — What think you now ? Is there any Thing 
 " ridiculous or fuperftitious in all this ? f" Yes ; 
 extremely much of both, if they at all refemble 
 that of A. B. Laud (the only one I have ever feen) 
 when he confecrated the Churches of St. Catherine 
 Cree, St. Giles's, and others iji London. An into- 
 lerable Piece of ecclefiaftical Foppery, fufficient to 
 have made a Popifh Cardinal Blufh, and which no 
 Proteftant can read but with indignant Concern [ 
 The Form has, in larger Hiftories, been more 
 than once publifhed ; but having never feen it in 
 any little Tract, I fhall beg leave to tranfcribe it, 
 for the Edification of our common Readers. A 
 ftriking Inftance of the Danger of indulging human 
 Invention in Things of Religion ; and which mews, 
 into what Wilds of ridiculous Superflition even 
 K k learned 
 
 * You have forgotten, perhaps, the Doctrine of your own 
 Homily, to which you have feveral Times folemnlyfubfcribed, — 
 " That in 7>r/«///Ws Time, 160 Years after Christ, Chrif- 
 *' tians had no other Temples but common Houfes, whither for 
 " the moil Part they fecretly reforted." Peril of Idol. Part III. 
 2 Page 159. 
 
 f Appen. Page 45. 
 
[ 136 ] 
 
 learned Minds are apt to run, when they leave the 
 Simplicity of the Go/pel of Christ. 
 
 " The Bifhop came attended with feveral of the 
 
 } high Commiffion and fome Civilians. At hisr- 
 
 . Approach to the Weft Door of the Church, 
 
 44 which was fhut and guarded by Halberdeers, fome 
 
 44 that were appointed for that Pur pole, cried with 
 
 ci a loud Voice' Open, open, ye ever laf ting 
 
 44 Doors, that the King of Gl/ry may come in I Pre- 
 44 fently the Doors were opened, and the Bifhop, 
 <c with fonae Doctors and principal Men, entered. 
 44 As (bon as they were within the Place, his Lord- 
 44 pip fell down upo n bis Knees ; and, with Eyes 
 44 lifted up, and his Arms fpread abroad, faid, This 
 u Pla e is Holy, the Ground, is Holy-, in the Name of 
 46 the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, / pro- 
 u nounce it Hcly. Then walking up the Middle 
 44 Ifle towards the Chancel, he took up fome of the 
 44 Duft, and threw it into the Air feveral Times. 
 44 When he approached near the Rail of the Com- 
 44 munion-table, he bowed towards it five or fix 
 " Times-; and returning, went round the Church, 
 44 with his Attendants, in ProceiTion ; faying fir ft 
 44 the hundred and then the nineteenth Pfalm, as 
 " prescribed in the Roman Pontifical. He then read 
 44 feveral Collects, in one of which he prays God 
 to accept of that beautiful Building, and concludes 
 
 thus- We consecrate this Church, andfepa- 
 
 rate it unto thee as holy Ground, not to be 
 prophaned any more to common Ufe. In another he 
 
 prays -That all who fhould hereafter be buried 
 
 within the Circuit of this holy ^sacred Place, 
 may reft in their Sepulchres in Peace, till ChrifCs 
 coming to Judgment^ and may then rife to eternal 
 Life and Happinefs." 
 
 " Then the Bifhop, fitting under a Cloth oS 
 State, in the Ifle of the Chancel, near the Com* 
 munion-table, took a written Book in his Hand* 
 and pronounced Curfes upon thofe who fhould 
 
 hereafter 
 
 cc 
 
[ '37 J 
 
 cC hereafter prophane that holy Place by Mufters of 
 '* Soldiers, or keeping prophane Law-Courts, or 
 c< carrying Burthens through it : and at the End 
 c6 of every Curfe he bowed to the Eaft, and faid, 
 tC let all the Peop'e fay Amen. When the Curfes 
 4< were ended, which were about Twenty, he pro- 
 " nounced a like Number of BleJJings upon all that 
 u had any Hand in framing and building that fa~ 
 " cred and beautiful Church ; and on thofe that 
 " had given, or fhould hereafter give, any Chali- 
 <c ces, Plate, Ornaments, or other Utenfils : And, 
 cc at the End of every Bleffwg, he bowed to the 
 >c East, and faid, let all the People fay Amen. 
 *' After this came the Sermon, then the Sacrament, 
 <6 which the Bifbop confecrated and adminiftered 
 '* in the following Manner. 
 
 " As he approached the Altar, he made five or 
 " fix low Bows ; and coming up to the Side of it, 
 " where the i?r^and Wine were covered, he bowed 
 <c /even Times. Then, after reading many Prayers, 
 u he came near the Bread; and gently lifting up 
 " the Corner of the Napkin, beheld it, and imme- 
 te diately letting fall the Napkin, he retreated haf- 
 " tily a Step or two, and made three low Obei- 
 " fances. His Lord/hip then advanced, and having 
 ** uncovered the Bread, bowed three Times as be- 
 " fore. Then he laid his Hand on the Cup, which 
 u was full of Wine, with a Cover upon it ; which 
 " having let go, he flepped back, and bowed three 
 cc Times towards it ; then he came near again, and 
 " lifting up the Cover of the Cup, looked into it, 
 " and feeing the f¥ine> let fall the Cover again, re- 
 " tired back, and bowed as before. Then the 
 ■* Elements were confecrated, and the Bi/hop hav- 
 " ing firft received, gave it to fome principal Men 
 " in their Surplices, Hoods and Tippets ; after 
 " which, many Prayers being faid, the Solemnity 
 M of the Confecration ended.'* 
 
 K k 2 This, 
 
[ 133 ] 
 
 This, Sir, was the Senje, and this the Manner of 
 that celebrated Martyr and Governor of -your 
 Church, in this Bufmefs of Consecration. And, 
 what now think you? Was there nothing Ridiculous 
 or Super flitious in all this! You feem, indeed, to 
 have not quite fo exalted an Opinion of this Solem- 
 nity as his Lordfliip ; but as the Church has no where 
 (that I know) explained herfelf as to this Matter ; 
 nor cenfured Laud's Conduct ; nor prefcribed any 
 fet Form in which this Ceremony is to be done - s 
 any Biftiop, I apprehend, at prefent, is at full Liber- 
 ty to ufe the fame, and may now confecrate a Church 
 after the Manner of St. Catherine Cree Church. 
 And pray ! to whom (hall I attend, as bed know- 
 ing and exprefling the ChurcFs Senfe in this Point, 
 to the great Archbifliop Laud; or, to the— — Mr. 
 White, fometime Fellow of St. John's College, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 I have now done with your Appendix There 
 
 is another Office of your Liturgy, alike liable to 
 the fevere Exceptions of all well-inftrudted Chris- 
 tians, and to the Sneers of infulting Deifis, as any 
 Ihave yet confidered ; and that is, your Office 
 for the Ordination of Priefis and Deacons. This, if 
 you call me forth again, I may more particularly 
 fhew. At prefent, I only alk— Whether to your 
 fiber Reafon it really appears a fit Queflion, to be 
 put to every young Gentleman that comes from 
 the Univerfity for Orders to the Bifhop ; whether he 
 trufts that he is inwardly moved by the Holy 
 Ghost to take upon him this Office? And for every 
 fuch young Gentleman to declare folemnly as in God's 
 ■ Prefence* that he trufts that he is SO inwardly 
 moved. The Gentlemen, and their Communication - y 
 the Manners, the Tafte, and State of the Univer- 
 fities -, you, perhaps, better know, than I (hall pre- 
 tend. Tell me then, before God, is their moral 
 State such that you can reafonably think every 
 Student that comes thence, when he gets a Title to 
 
[ *39 3 
 a Living, and applies for Orders to the Bifhop, dotk 
 really feel him f elf inwardly moved by the HOLY 
 GHOST to make that Application ? How is it 
 we are not afraid to trifle in an Affair fo exceeding 
 ferious and important ! Is it not coming too near to 
 the Sin of Ananias, viz. lying to the Holy 
 Ghost ? 
 
 And when, kneeling before the Bifhop, he lays 
 bis Hand on the Student's Head, is it not a llrange 
 
 faying Receive the Holy Ghost— — Whofe Sins 
 
 THOU dofl forgive, they are forgiven - f and whofe 
 Sins THOU dofi retain, they are retained ; in the 
 Name of /^Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, Amen. I make no Reflections at prefent : 
 But only fay : That to me it appears quite amazing, 
 that, in an Age of fuch Difcernment and Freedom 
 of Enquiry, this Form is furTered to fland. And, 
 in the Language of your Collet?, I very heartily 
 
 pray That Almighty God, who alone worketh 
 
 great Marvels, would J end down upon our Bifhops and 
 Curates the healthful Spirit of his Grace, the Spirit 
 of Wifdom and Humility ! afTured, that this Stone 
 of Stumbling, in the Way of fagacious Infidels, will 
 then quickly be removed. 
 
 But to conclude. I have the Pleafure, Sir, to be 
 perfuaded that your Mind is not now filled with 
 thofe /welling and high Thoughts of the Excellence 
 of your Liturgy, as when our Correfpondence open- 
 ed. Diffenters, you find, are not the only Perfons 
 who except ftrongly againfl your Forms. Many 
 of your learned Clergy have, in a candid and ref- 
 pectful Manner, and yet with a becoming Courage, 
 exprefled greaj DifTatisfadtion with them. What 
 Effetl their Attempt for the Enlargement of the 
 Church's Bounds, and for a further Reformation and 
 Review will produce ; Time alone muft (hew. 
 Upon the Foot it at prefent ftands, the Church's 
 Situation, to every difcerning Perfon, muft appear 
 extremely critical and uncertain. 
 
 It 
 
[ H° J 
 
 It h difficult to defend it againfl: the crafty At- 
 tacks of Popery on the one Hand ; and, I think, 
 actually impoffible to fnpport it againfl the AfTaults 
 of Infidelity on the other. Betwixt thefe two 
 Stones, is there no room to apprehend its being 
 quickly ground to Powder ? To the injurious Idea 
 which many of your Forms give of the Chriliian 
 Religion, the unhappy Increafe of Deifm is, un- 
 doubtedly, in great Meafure owing. And increafe 
 it further will, there is the higheft Reafon to believe, 
 if tbeje Forms which are thejufl Offence and Ridi- 
 cule of Unbelievers, are not timely difmifTed. But, 
 when thofe who now boaft themfelves the Succejfors 
 of the Apoftles, and the only regular Pajlors and 
 Minifters of Chrift, (hall give Proof that they are 
 poflefTed of a truly apojlolic Virtue, and fhall no 
 longer feek their own, but the. Things of Jesus 
 Christ -, a Review will be no diflant, nor difficult 
 Event. 
 
 In the mean Time, Diff enters have the Satisfac- 
 tion to reflect ; that amidft various Difcourage- 
 ments, they have, by thei r Bijjent, approved them- 
 selves loyal to the only Sovereign of the Church, 
 and faithful to a J 'acred Truft committed to them 
 by GOD, for which they mud give Account. 
 They rejoice in the Review, that they have entered 
 their Proteft againfl the lmprfitions and Inventions of 
 Men ; which have corrupted the Simplicity, enervat- 
 ed the Vigour, deformed the Beauty, and broken the 
 Communion of the Body of Chrijl. And whatever 
 rafh Cenfures they may happen to incur from the 
 Prejudiced, the Weak, and the Inter eded now : They, 
 with great AiTurance hope, to be not only approved, 
 but applauded by their Judge ; and to receive, at 
 his appearing, Honour proportioned to their prefent 
 Reproach. 
 
 When, it fhall pieafe the Almighty Sovereign to 
 awaken in the Cbriftian World a Spirit of genuine 
 Christianity' 'When true Honour (hall 
 
 prevail 
 
t Hi ) 
 
 prevail over Cowardice and Ttmporifing -, and Inte- 
 grity and Truth over Fat/hood and Error 
 
 When that flavifh ignoble Principle, that we are to 
 conform to the eftablijhed IVorfhip of the Country where 
 we dwell, whatever it be, fhall be held in deferved 
 Reproach : a Principle that debafes greatly and 
 corrupts the human Soul ; puts out its intellectual 
 Eye ; chains up its nobleit Powers ; robs it of its 
 highett Glory, viz. the fearching into religious Sub- 
 jects, and offering to its Creator a reajonable Ser- 
 vice ; in fliort, a Principle that directly tends to 
 banifh every Thing that deferves the Name of Re- 
 ligion-, to drive all Truth, and Honour, and Hunef- 
 ty, from amongft Men ; that will juftify a Man's 
 profeffing himfelf a Mahometan at Confiantinople^ 
 
 a Pagan at Peking, a Papifl at Rome When this 
 
 infamous and bale Prh , , I fay, fhall be treated 
 with juft Contempt ; and Men mail be every where 
 difpoied, to feek with Impartiality, and to practile 
 without Difguife Righteousness and Truth — 
 Then, Sir, will the Character of a rational Dis- 
 senter be had in univerfal Honour. Then will 
 fuch appear to have been the only confident Protef- 
 tants ; the true Patrons of Chriflian Liberty, Church 
 Unity, and Catholic Communion ; and thQ only 
 Body of Chriftians upon whom the Guilt of Scbifm 
 does not really reft ; becaufe they open their Com- 
 munion to every fincere Chriflian ■, and require no 
 Terms, but what Christ and his Apoftles have re- 
 quired in the Church. If you will not throw in 
 your Lot, and (hare with them in thofe Honours - 3 
 you mull e'en take your own Way. However, 
 reft afTured that I am, with due Affection and 
 Efteem > 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Tours, &c. 
 
 A Dissenter. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

y s 
 
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 A\ I I 
 
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