Works of Joseph Hall, Dedication 23 – Section 1
TO OVR GRATIOVS AND BLESSED MOTHER, THE Church of England; THE MEANEST OF HER CHILDREN DEDICATES THIS HER APOLOGIE, AND WISHETH ALL PEACE AND HAPPINESSE.
NO leſſe than a yeere and a halfe is paſt (Reuerend, Deare, and Holy Mother) ſince J wrote a louing monitorie Letter to*Smith and Robinſon. two of thine vnworthy Sons; which (I heard) were fled from thee in perſon, in affection, and ſomewhat in opinion: Suppoſing them yet thine in the maine ſubſtance, though in ſome circumſtances their owne. Since which, one of them hath waſht off thy Font-water as vncleane, and hath written deſperatly both againſt Thee and his owne fellowes: From the other, J receiued (not two moneths ſince) a ſtomack-full Pamphlet; beſides the priuate iniuries to the Monitor, caſting vponupon thine honourable Name blaſphemous imputations of Apoſtaſie, Antichriſtianiſme, Whoredome, Rebellion: Mine owne wrongs I could hauehave contemned in ſilence;Meam iniuriam patienter tuli: impietatem contra Sponſam Chriſti ferre non potui, Hieron. ad Vigilant. but, For Sions ſake, J cannot hold my peace: Jf I remember not thee, O Ieruſalem, let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth. It were a ſhame and ſinne for me, that my zeale ſhould be leſſe hot for thine innocencie, than theirs to thy falſe diſgrace. How hauehave J haſtened therefore to let the World ſee thy ſincere Truth, and their peruerſe ſlanders! Ʋnto thy ſacred Name then (whereto J hauehave in all pietie deuoted my ſelfe) I humbly preſent this my ſpeedie and dutifull labour: whereby I hope thy weake Sonnes may bee confirmed, the ſtrong encouraged, the rebellious ſhamed: And if any ſhall ſtill obſtinatly accurſe thee, I refer their reuenge vntounto thy Glorious Head, who hath eſpouſed thee to himſelfe, in Truth and righteouſneſſe: Let him whoſe thou art, right thee: In the meane time, we thy true ſonnes ſhall not only defend, but magnifie thee: Thou maiſt be blacke, but thou art comely: the Daughters hauehave ſeene thee, and counted thee bleſſed; euen the Queene, and the Concubines, and they hauehave praiſed thee: thou art thy Welbeloueds, and his deſire is towards thee. So let it be, and ſo let thine be towards him for euer; and mine towards you both, who am the leaſt of all thy little Ones.
IOS: HALL.
A COMMON APOLOGIE AGAINST THE BROWNISTS.
SECTION I.
IF TRVTH and PEACE (Zacharies two Companions) had met in our louelove, this Controuerſie had neuer bin;The Entrance into the worke. Zach. 8.29. the ſeuering of theſe two hath cauſed this ſeparation: for while ſome vnquiet mindes hauehave ſought Truth without Peace, they hauehave at once loſt Truth, Peace, LoueLove, vsus and themſelues. God knowes how vnwillingly I put my hand to this vnkinde quarrell: Nothing ſo much abates the courage of a Chriſtian, as to call his Brother Aduerſarie: We muſt doe it;Math. 18.7. woe be the men by whom this offence commeth: Yet by how much the inſultation of a brotherly enemie is more intolerable; and the griefe of our bleſſed Mother greater, for the wrong of her owne; So much more cauſe I ſee to breake this ſilence: If they will hauehave the laſt words, they may not hauehave all. For our carriage to them: They ſay, when Fire,Otho. Friſing. ex Philem. V…. Chalde…. Ruffin. Eccleſ. Hiſt. l. 2. cap. 26. the god of the Chaldees had deuoured all the other woodden Deities, that Canopis ſet vponupon him a Caldron full of water, whoſe bottome was deuiſed with holes ſtopt with waxe; which no ſooner felt the flame, but gaue way to the quenching of that furious Idoll. If the fire of inordinate zeale, conceit, contention, hauehave conſumed al other parts in the ſeparation, and caſt forth (more than Nebuchadnezzars Furnace) from their Amſterdam hither;Dan. 3. it were well if the waters of our moderation and reaſon could vanquiſh, yea abate it: This little Hin. of mine ſhall be ſpent that way: wee may try and wiſh, but not hope it: The ſpirits of theſe men are too well knowne, to admit any expectation of yeeld…nce. Since yet both for preuention and neceſſary defence, this taske muſt be vndertaken,*id. Treatiſ. of certaine godly Miniſt. againſt Bar. I craue nothing of my Reader but patience and iuſtice: of God, victory to the Truth: as for fauour, I wiſh no more than an enemie would giuegive againſt himſelfe: With this confidence I enter into theſe liſts, and turne my pen to an Aduerſarie, God knowes whether more proud or weake.
SEP.
IT is an hard thing euen for ſober-minded men in caſes of controuerſie, to vſe ſoberly the aduantages of the times: vponupon which whileſt men are mounted on high, they vſe to behold ſuch as they oppoſe too ouerlie, and not without contempt; and ſo are oft-times emboldned to roule vponupon them as from aloft very weake and weightleſſe diſcourſes, thinking any ſleight and ſlender oppoſition ſufficient to oppreſſe thoſe vnderlings, whom they hauehave (as they ſuppoſe) at ſo great an aduantage. VponUpon this very preſumption it commeth to paſſe, that this Author vndertaketh thus ſolemnely and ſeuerely to cenſure a cauſe, whereof (as appeareth in the ſequele of the diſcourſe) he is vtterly ignorant: which had he been but halfe ſo carefull to hauehave vnderſtood, as he hath been forward to cenſure, he would either hauehave beene (I doubt not) more equall towards it, or more weighty againſt it.
As this Epiſtle is come to mine hands, ſo I wiſh the anſwer of it may come to the hands of him that occaſioned it: Intreating the Chriſtian Reader, in the name of the Lord, vnpartially to behold without either preiudice of cauſe, or reſpect of perſon, what is written on both ſides, and ſo from the Court of a ſound Conſcience to giuegive iuſt iudgement.