The Vindication of Liturgies Proved No Vindication, Conclusion
The Concluſion.
IT is now Reader high time to have done drawing this Saw which will goe no further. I remember in the Ancient Practice of the Canon Law, after the Pars Rea or (as we call him) the Defendant, had put in his Anſwer to the Promoters Libel, ſo as there was Lis conteſtata (as we call it Iſſue joined) the Promoter or his Proctor took an Oath which they called Juramentum Calumniae, and expreſſed in theſe terms:
Illud juretur, quod lis tibi juſta videtur.
Et ſi quaeretur verum, non inficietur.
Nil promittetur, nec falſa probatio detur
Ʋt lis tradetur, dilatio nulla petetur.
That is the Promoter was to ſwear, That he believed he had juſt cauſe of action. That being asked he would not deny the truth, That he would promiſe no Bribe, nor bring in any falſe Teſtimony, nor without juſt cauſe delay any proceedings. I have obſerved likewiſe ſome Writers of late interpoſing ſome Solemn Profeſſions and Proteſtations; amongſt others our Vindicator ſaith thus, p. 21.
I do freely profeſs, that beſides what concerns the Laws of the Church and of the Realm, that I account my ſelf to have as plain Evidence from the Laws of God and the Conſtitution of the Chriſtian Church, that Schiſm and Ʋnneceſſary Separation, is a ſin in the breach of Chriſtian Unity, as that Adultery is a ſin, in the breach of Wedlock. And I account my ſelf to be as certain that if ever there were, an unwarrantable Separation from any known Church ſince the Apoſtles time, the ſeparation from the Church of England is ſuch, ſince our Church is truly as free from any juſt exception in its Conſtitution, Doctrine, and Worſhip, as any other ſince that time, either was or is. — A very large Aſſertion.
I ſhall only in like manner enter my Proteſtation.
1. That I do believe all unneceſſary Separation from any Church of which we are, or have been Members, is Sinful.
2. I am equally certain, That Seperation is neceſſary, where Miniſters or People cannot keep communion without ſin, or ſo far forth, as they cannot do this.
3. I have the ſame certainty, That the practical judgment of Miniſters or Peoples Conſciences, muſt (as to their practice) determine what is lawful and unlawful; tho it be a fallible judgment; and they are therefore bound to uſe the beſt means they can for information, before they form it.
4. I do in like ſincerity profeſs, That I have wilfully omitted no means of a true Information, as to the Will of God in this Cauſe, and I do truly believe it is not lawful for me as a Miniſter of Chriſt ordinarily to perform my Miniſterial Acts in Publick Solemn Prayer by the preſcribed Forms of other Men, not Divinely Inſpired; nor yet, being Solemnly ſet apart to the Miniſtry, wholly to forbear Preaching
5. There are many other things which I cannot but judge ſinful, without the doing of which I can have no ſtation in the National Miniſtry. Reordination, Aſſent, and Conſent, Ceremonies, Promiſcuous Adminiſtration of the Lords Supper, &c.
6. I do believe the Vindicator hath not given a juſt Anſwer to one Argument I brought in this cauſe, and I profeſs my Arguments remain ſtill ſuch as I cannot Anſwer.
7. I do finally profeſs, That I have not wilfully brought any thing in any of my dicourſes on this Argument (laying any ſtreſs upon it) which I have not believed to be true: Nor have I been bribed, with any hopes of Reward, or Preferment. Nor have I quoted any Author (to my knowledge) falſly or partially, hardly three which I have not ſeen with my own Eyes, unleſs I have told the Reader otherwiſe: Nor have I done any thing to keep my Reader from a true underſtanding of the thing in Queſtion, nor gone about to blind him with Digreſſions, Prejudices, or Impertinent Obſervations, nor (further then the Nature of the matter doth it) have I loaded my Adverſary with Odium, Envy, or Prejudice.
Whence all may obſerve, what need we have for to exerciſe a further Charity then is yet to be found amongſt us, and a greater liberty in Religious Worſhip then we are yet ſo happy to injoy; and that without it we are never like to come to our deſired Peace and Ʋnity. If there were only this ſingle point in difference, Eaſt and Weſt ſeem to me as likely to unite as Diſſenters, and thoſe of our Vindicators perſwaſion. The good Lord ſhew us a more likely way for Ʋnion, then all Miniſters uſing the ſame Words and Syllables in the Acts of their Publick Worſhip; which is a kind of Union, no where required, no where promiſed, no where found, nor ever to be expected, and of which there is no neceſſity at all.
FINIS.