Works of Joseph Hall, Section 55
SECTION LV.
The impure mixtures of the Church of England.AS there is no Element which is not through many mixtures departed from the firſt ſimplicity: So no Church euer breathed in ſo pure an aire, as that it might not iuſtly complaine of ſome thicke and vnwholſome euaporations of errour and ſinne. If you challenge an immunitie, you are herein the true broode of the ancient Puritanes: But if too many ſinnes in practiſe hauehave thickned the aire of our Church, yet not one Hereſie: that ſmoke of the bottomleſſe pit hath neuer corrupted it: and therefore iuſtly may I auerre, that here you might draw in the cleare aire of the Goſpell: No where vponupon earth more freely. And if this be but the opinion of cuſtome, you whom abſence hath helped with a more nice and dainty ſent, ſpeake your worſt: Shew vsus our Hereſies, and ſhame vsus: you hauehave done it, and behold foure maine infections of our Engliſh aire:1. Canons. The firſt, the ſmoke of our Canons: Wittily: I feare, the great Ordinances of the Church hauehave troubled you more with the blow, than the ſmoke: For you tell vsus of their Plantation againſt the Kingdome of Chriſt: What Kingdome? The viſible Church: Which is that? Not the Reformedſt peece of ours, whoſe beſt are but Goats and Swine: Not the cloſe Nicodemians of your owne Sect amongſt vsus, which would be loth to be viſible: Not forrainers; to them they extend not: None therefore in all the World, but the Engliſh Parlour-full at Amſterdam: Can there be any truer Donatiſme? Cry you ſtill out of their poyſoning the aire: We hold it the beſt cleanſed by the batteries of your idle fancies, by ridding you from our aire, and by making this your Church inuiſible to vsus; ſmart you thus, till we complaine.
2. Sinne vncenſured.The ſecond is the plague or leproſie of ſin vnſhut vp and vncouered: We know that ſinne is as ill as the Deuill can make it; a moſt loathſome thing in the eyes of God, and his Angels, and Saints: and we grant to our griefe, that among ſo many millions of men, there may be found ſome thouſands of Lepers: Good Lawes and cenſures meet with ſome, others eſcape: It is not ſo much our fault as our griefe. But that this Leproſie infects all perſons, and things, is ſhamefully ouer-reacht: Plague and Leproſie hauehave their limits, beyond which, is no contagion; If a man come not neere them,Certè nullius crimen inaculat neſcientem. Aug. Epiſt. 48. if he take the wind in an open aire, they infect not: ſuch is ſinne: It can infect none but the guilty: Thoſe which act or aſſent to, or beare with it, or deteſt it not, are in this pollution: But thoſe which can mourne for it, and cannot redreſſe it, are free from infection: How many foule Lepers ſpiritually did our Sauiour ſee in the publike aire of the Iewiſh Church? wherewith yet hee ioyned, and his, not fearing infection ſo much, as gracing the remnants of their ruinous Church: Were thoſe ſeuen thouſand Iſraelites,1 Reg. 19.18. whoſe knees bowed not to BAAL, infected with the Idolatry of their Neighbours? yet continued they ſtill parts of the ſame Church.
3. Hierarchie.But this yet exceeds: Not onelyonly all perſons, but all things? What? Our Goſpell? Our Heauen, Earth, Sea? Our Bookes, Coyne, Commodities? Behold, you ſee the ſame Heauen with vsus, you hauehave no Bibles but ours: our aire in his circular motion comes to be yours: the water that waſheth our Iland, perhaps waſheth your hands. Our vncleane Siluer (I feare) maintaines you: Our commodities (in part) in rich your Land-Lords: and yet all things amongſt vsus infected? you are content to take ſome euill from your neighbours.
The third is our blaſting Hierarchie, which ſuffers no good thing (that is, no Browniſt, no ſingular fancy, for what good things hauehave we but yours?) to grow, or proſper amongſt vsus, but withers all, both bud and branch, would to God the root alſo. The laſt,4. Seruice-booke. is a daily Sacrifice of a Seruice-booke: an Incenſe, how euer vnſauoury to you, yet ſuch as all Churches in Chriſtendome hold ſweet, and offer vp as fit for the noſtrils of the Almighty; we are not alone thus tainted; all Chriſtian Churches that are, or hauehave beene, preſent the ſame Cenſers vntounto God. But ours ſmels ſtrong of the Popes Portuiſe: See whether this be any better than triuiall cauilling: If …ither an ill man, or a Deuil ſhal ſpeake that which is good; may not a good man if it▪ If a good Angell,Patres noſtri non ſelum ante Cyprianum vel Ag…ppinum, ſed p…ſtea ſalube…rimam conſuetudinem tenue…unt, vt quicqu…d diu. nil atque legitimum in aliqu… haereſi vel ſi biſmate in…egrū reper…ent, …pprobent potius quàm negarent. Auguſt. or man ſhall ſpeake that which is euill, is it euer the better for the Deliuerer? If Satan himſelfe ſhall ſay of Chriſt; Thou art the Sonne of the liuing God, ſhall I feare to repeat it? Not the Author, but the matter in theſe things is worthy of regard: As Ierome ſpeakes of the poyſoned Workes of Origen, and other dangerous Treatiſors, Good things may bee receiued from ill hands. If the matter of any Prayer be Popiſh, fault it for what it containes, not for whence it came▪ what ſay you againſt vsus in this, more than Maſter Smith (your from Anabaptiſt) ſaith of our baptizing of Infants: Both of them equally condemned for Antichriſtian. Still, therefore we b…aſt of the f…ce, and cleere aire of the Goſpell: if it bee annoyed with ſome practicall euills, we may be foule, the Goſpell is it ſelfe, and our profeſſion holy, neither can we complaine of all euills while we want you.
SEP.
That all Chriſtendome ſhould ſo magnifie your happineſſe (as you ſay) is much, and yet your ſelues, and the beſt amongſt you, complaine ſo much both in word, and writing, of your miſerable condition, vnderunder the imperious and ſuperſtitious impoſitions of the Prelates, yea, and ſuffer ſo much alſo vnderunder them, as at this day you doe, for ſeeking the ſame Church Gouernment and Miniſterie, which is in vſe in all other Churches ſaue your owne. The truth is, you are beſt liked where you are worſt knowne. Your next neighbours of Scotland know your Biſhops Gouernment ſo well; as they rather chuſe to vndergoe all the miſerie of bonds and baniſhment, than to partake with you in your happineſſe this way, ſo highly doe they magnifie and applaud the ſame. Which choice I doubt not other Churches alſo would make, if the ſame neceſsitie were laid vponupon them. And for your graces, we deſpiſe them not, nor any good thing amongſt you, no more than you doe ſuch graces and good things as are to be found in the Church of Rome, from which you ſeparate notwithſtanding. We hauehave, by Gods mercy, the pure and right vſe of the good gifts and graces of God, in Chriſts Ordinance, which you want. Neither the Lords people, nor the holy Veſſels, could make Babylon; Sion, though both the one and the other were captiued for a time.