Parallels Censures, Letter 1 · Section 1
The Firſt Section.
MAiſter Bernard I have ſufficient reaſons that have moved mee to breake ſilence in reſpect of you, & by this Lettre to attempt a further tryall of your pretended Zeale for the truth & faith of Chriſt: I have long tyme obſerved the applauſe yeelded you by the multitude: Likewiſe I have taken notice of your forwardnes in leading to a Reformation by publique proclamations in Severall pulpits out of that Text off Daniell. 3.16.17.18. As if you had meant contrary to the Kings mynd to have caryed all the people in the country after you againſt the Ceremonies & Subſcription: afterward having loſt your vicaridge of workſop for refuſing Subſcription or conformity I have obſerved how yow revolted back & vppon Subſcription made to the Prelate of york, have reentred vppon your ſaid vicaridg. Againe I have noted your vehement deſire to the parſonage of Sawenb…e, & your extreme indignation when you were defeated of it: Further your earneſt deſire to have been vicar of Ganesburgh, & al this after your ſubſcription: beſides I have carefully weighed with my ſelf your Readines to embrace this truth wee profeſſe, Firſt, at Sr. VV. Bowes his howſe when it was oppoſed by ſome adverſaries, after that your acknowledging of it before many witneſſes at one tyme, & before one or two witneſſes at divers tymes, aledging Naamans ſpeech for your continuance in your Miniſterie, 2. King. 5.18. as if therby you meant to reſerve libertie to ſinne againſt your conſcience. And now of late I have conſidered your covenant made with one hundreth people, a thing of ſuch note & obſervation as that the whole country ringeth of it: but alas againe you have revolted from al this t…uth (only excepting your oppoſition againſt the dumb miniſters) & have not only rejected it, but ſet your ſelf againſt it, hinder divers from it, both in your putpits, & writings proclame againſt it as error & ſchiſme, yea & beginne to juſtifie all the corruptions of the miniſterie, worship & government of the aſſemblies & all this with a high hand: Al theſe things & many more I have noted in you, & all the forward profeſſers, yea & the verie ennemies alſo have obſerved the ſame. In al which particulars two things may be mynded: your inconſtancy: & apoſtacy: (miſconſtre not the word) for how can I judg it otherwiſe ſeing you have acknowledged the truth, & now reject it & oppoſe it▪ your inconſtancy in falling of & on ſo often as you have done: now allthough theſe general reaſons might have moved any of the Prophets & Teachers of our Church for the truths ſake, to have delt with you: & to have diſcovered you to the ſimpler ſort whome you ſeduce: yet I have attempted it vppon two private groundes wherein I am eſpecially intereſſed to this buſines: one is certayne aſperſions by you perſonally caſt vppon mee: Another is certayne particular oppoſitions directed againſt ſome of my writings: For the Firſt, you may remember that at Broxtow when you returned from Mr. Hilderſham before certaine competent witneſſes you vttered wordes tending to this purpoſe: that in defence of the truth wee profeſſe, I choſe duplicate page duplicate page out aſitt adverſary (viz: Mr. Rich Clifton) to deale withall; a man that could not dive into the depth of my arguments & that I refuſed to deale with you in that reſpect. This ſpeech ſavoreth verie ſtrongly of pride, which vice take you heed of eſpecialy: it conteyneth alſo an vntruth, & manifeſteth contempt againſt a man of better hability then your ſelf in the judgment of them that know you both, beſides the wrong that you doe mee, as if I knowing the cauſe wee teſtife to be weake & bad durſt not adventure it to the trial of your ſufficiency & diving wit: but in good earneſt Mr. Bernard tel mee: is your dealing vpright in this point? Doe not you remember that you have in your handes & had in your handes at that inſtant when you vttered thoſe wordes my anſwer writtē in one Columne, to certayne doubts & objections you made written in another Columne, which I deſired you to anſwer & wherto as yet I have receaved no anſwer from you? Surely you may pretend holines & zeale for the truth, but this dealing & theſe ſpeeches declare no ſuch matter: yea rather they do manifeſt the corruptiō of your hart: This your ſpeech & dealing is one reaſon that moveth mee in Special to deale with you that your mouth may be ſtopped in that behalf: although it be ſtopped already ſith you anſwer not my writing that is in your handes: & for Mr. Richard Clifton, I aſſure my ſelf as you ſhal find ſhortly to your litle credit, he wil approve his ſufficiēcy to be Superior to your diving witt: A Second reaſon that in particular leadeth me to medle with you in this matter, is your oppoſitions againſt ſome truths which I have expreſſed in ſome of my writings.
Paralleles: Cenſures: Obſervations: aperteyning to the firſt Section.
The place of Daniel mentioned in the beginning of this Section is: Dan. 3.16. O Nebuchadnezzar wee are not careful to anſwere thee in this matter: 17. Behold our God whome wee ſerve is able to deliver vsus frō the hote fiery fornace, & he will deliver vsus out of thyne hand o King, 18. But if not, be it knowne to thee o King, that we wil not ſerve thy Gods, nor worship the golden jmage which thou haſt ſet vp.
This place of Scripture Mr. Ber…a… handled oft tymes in ſeveral places, in ſo much as every man conceaved that he would have been a ring leader to reformation: For the circumſtances being conſidered, that this Scripture was handled when the King vrged Subſcription & conformity throughout the whole land, & when divers of the forwardeſt preachers were ſilenced, & himſelf then endaungered to leeſe his vic…ridg: that then he ſhould thus p each was enough to have brought him within the compaſſe of petty-rebellion, in ſtirring vp the myndes of the people againſt the Kings proceedings: beſides the ſhew of the text might aford that he compared the King to Nebuchadnezzar: Subſcription, to the Kings commaundement of worshipping the golden jmage: Refuſal of Subſcription, to the Refuſal of worshipping the golden jmage: the parts of Subſcription to the golden jmage: the Miniſters refuſing Subſcription to the three perſons that refuſed to worship the golden image: their Reſolution & courage to the Reſolution of thoſe three: The Prelates that vrged Subſcription & conformity, to the accuſers of the Iewes: I would therfor know of Mr. Bernard whither his mynd be now altered from that he held when he Preached theſe Sermons vppon this text, if yea: then I demaund whither feare of affliction & love of his living & reputation with the world, have not cauſed that in him: & whither a man ſhould beleeve him rather now he is a formaliſt, then before when he was a reformiſt.
The place of Naaman the Aſſirian is this: 2 King. 5.18.
When I bow in the howſe of Rimmon to worship, the Lord be mercifull vntounto thy Servant in this point.
By this place Mr. Bern. intended to ſinne againſt his conſcience for he did acknowledg this truth wee now profeſſe divers tymes, & was vppon the point of Seperation with ſome of his people with him: yet loving the world & prefermēt as Naaman is thought to doe he choſe rather to ſtay ſtil in his vicaridge againſt his conſcience, then to leeſe it & to follow Chriſt with a good conſcience: do you not remember Mr. Bern. what you ſaid to mee & Mr. Rob. Southw. comming together from w: that ſpeaking of the daunger of walking in this truth of Chriſt we now profeſſe you ſaid you could eaſely die vppon the tre for the truth, but you could not withour great horror think of being burned as the Martyrs were in Q. Maryes dayes? & that all the jorney you were caſting how to dispatch your eſtate & to get away with ſafety: I ſpeake this to prove vntounto you & the world, that you were as forward to the truth of Chriſt with vsus then, as you were before to the cauſe of the Reformiſts: & yet as then ſo now you have wholly & I feare finally apoſtated from it: the L. be merciful vntounto you in theſe your ſinnes: wherevppon this followeth that if ever you come to the truth of Chriſt wee profeſſe, you can not be admitted into the office of Elder in the Church, but therein you muſt beare your iniquity, bicauſe you have apoſtated fearfully from the truths you did acknouwledg, therein giving Suſpition of your conſtancy & faythfulnes for the tyme to come: & whither you be a worthy Miniſter of your owne Church, lett the Reformiſts judg who have betrayed their cauſe into the Prelates handes ſo ſhamefully as you have done: wherfor be it knowne vntounto you, firſt, that wee reject you, Seconbly, that the Reformiſts have juſt cauſe to reject you whither then wil you goe, but to your LI. the Prelates to whome you have ſworne your Can. obediēce, & vntounto whome you have now at the laſt fuly returned as it were a dog to the vomit, & a ſwine to wallow in the myre.
But your covenant Mr. Bern. is beyond all the endevors of al the reformiſts of the land that you should cull out an hundreth perſons of ſo many paris hes ſo far diſtant to enter covenant together not to heare the dumb Miniſters, to watch one over another, to admonish one another, &c. And therevppon to receave the Lords Supper: What? was not the covenant the Church of England large enough, but you muſt enlarge it thus? Did not your conſcience tel you then that the dumb miniſtery was vnlawful? that you ſinned in not admonishing your brethren & therfor went to ſeek out an hundreth brethren where your proctor or agent could find them? That al your parish were not your brethrē, being not of your covenant, though of the covenant of the Church of Englād? or that you had two ſorts of brethren, one of a general nature, viz: all the people of the parish? another of a Spiritual nature, viz: Thoſe hundreth perſons of your covenant? & yet that you admitted both thoſe ſorts of your brethren to all the holy things among you, excepting the particular covenant? I pray you with your logick, or divinity, juſtifie vntounto vsus theſe things. But now all this is forgotten & the Prelate of york hath ſo bewitched you with his flatterie, eloquence, & aungels, that your covenant is profaned & caſt in the duſt, men of your covenant muſt shift for themſelves, you have deceaved them like the ſtaffe of reed, & you juſtifie your wonted ſpeeches, you love the world, & eaſe with all your hart: & therfor I ſay vntounto you with the Apoſtle: The love of the Father is not in you: I do therfor Proclame you vntounto the whole land to be one of the moſt fearful Apoſtates of the whole nation that excepting, VVhyte, & Claphā, you have no Superior nor equal that I know or remember, who have thus often confeſſed & witneſſed much truth, & now not only have fallē from it, but have ſo childishly & yet moſt ſlaunderouſly written againſt the cauſe of the Lord, to blaſpheme the name of the Lord, his Tabernacle & them that dwell in Heaven, as if, bicauſe your ſinnes werē not known Sufficiently to the world, your would with inck & paper publish them to al men & ages to come, that they might remain in record agaiſt you vppon the file at the day when the Lord shal recompenſe every man according to his worke.
But Mr Bernard ther is yet one other thing that I muſt diſcover to the world: namely that you have written a book againſt the Prelates, wherein you have proved by divers arguments that their authority is Antichriſtian: this book ſome of your Frends have ſeē & read & though you durſt not print it your ſelf, yet you would have been content a Frend should have cauſed it to be published vnderunder the vizard of an vnknowne Author: is not this ſo Mr. Bern? then tel mee with what face, or conſcience you can Subſcribe to the Prelacy, you can plead for the Prelacy: is not this to build that which you have deſtroyed? Surely all theſe things compared together do plainly convince, your deep Hypocriſy: & yet in your pulpit & among the ſimple ſort you would ſeem a brother to the Sonnes of Thunder: but I deſire the Lord to open the eyes of his people that they be no longer deceaved by ſuch Phariſaical Hypocrits as your deedes manifeſt you to be even in the indifferent cenſure of thoſe that love you beſt.
Now therfor to conclude this Parallele of your Famous or rather infamous acts: compare your reſolurion againſt Subſcription & conformity, with your Subſcription to the Prelate of york: your acknowledgment of the truth with Naamans preſumptiō to ſinne: your covenant, with your confirmity: your book againſt the Prelates, & your book againſt the Seperation & therevppon it will follow, that you are as chandgable as the Moone, as mutable as Proteus, as variable as the Chamaeleon. And whereas you object aganſt me pag. 37. & 73. that before I came to the truth I wrote againſt it & was diſtracted to & fro before I ſaw it cleered to my judgmēt & conſcience, I muſt needes acknowledg it ſo to be, which was my greater ſinne, & the weaknes of my vnderſtanding, but therein the L. hath shewed mercy vntounto me, which mercy I deſire alſo for you: but what is this to excuſe your ſlaundering, rayling, ſcoffing, inconſtancy, Apoſtacy, conformity, ſubſcription, blaſphemy, & the reſt which you have plentifully diſcovered to al the world: Shew me, how & when after the acknowledgment of the truth, I fell back as you have done many tymes? that I ever yeelded to the Prelates, conformity, or Subſcription, after I once withſtood it? & amōg the reſt of your follyes ther is one vntruth that I did kneele downe & praiſe God for Satisfaction after doubting, Not ſo: I remayned doubting alwayes till I ſaw the truth after I once doubted, but during the tyme of my doubting which was 9. Months at the leaſt I did many actions arguing doubting, but that I ever ſel back from any truth I ſaw I praiſe God, I can with a good conſcience deny it, & you are never able to prove that againſt me: but the L. wil cut out the tong that ſpeaketh lyes.