Works of Joseph Hall, Section 56
SECTION LVI.
THat which followeth is but words, a ſhort anſwer is too much:The iudgment of our owne, and our neighbours of our Church. Socrat. l b. 1. c. 4. Conſtant. Alex. & Ario. Ac tamet ſi vos inter vos viciſſim dere quap…am m…mini momenti diſſentuis (ſiquidem neque omnes de omnibus rebus idem ſ…ntimus) nihilominus tamen fieri poterit, vt eximia concordia ſincere inter vos, integre que ſeruetur, & vna inter omnes communio & conſoc…atio cuſto…atur. That all Chriſtendome magnifies the worthineſſe of our Church, in ſo cleare euidences of their owne voices, you cannot denie; and now when you ſee ſuch teſtimonies abroad (leſt you ſhould ſay nothing) you fetch cauills from home: Thoſe men which (you ſay) complaine ſo much of their miſerable condition vnderunder the Prelates impoſitions, hauehave notwithſtanding with the fame pens and tongues not onelyonly iuſtified our Church, but extold it: you hauehave found no ſharper aduerſaries in this very accuſation, for which you maliciouſly cite them: How freely, how fully hauehave they euinced the truth? yea, the happineſſe of the Church of England againſt your falſe challenges: and yet your forehead dare challenge them for Authors. So hath their moderation oppoſed ſome appendances, that they hauehave both acknowledged and defended the ſubſtance with equall vehemence to your oppoſition: neither doe they ſuffer (as you traduce them) for ſeeking another Church gouernment: looke into the Millenaries petition (the common voice of that part) I am deceiued▪ if ought of their complaints ſound that way, much leſſe of their ſufferings; deformitie in practiſe is obiected to them, not indeauour of innouation; That quarrell hath beene long ſilent, your motion cannot reuiue it: would God you could as much follow thoſe men in moderate and charitable carriage, as you hauehave out-run them in complaint.
It pleaſeth you to deuiſe vsus, like pictures vponupon courſe Canuaſſe, which ſhew faireſt at fartheſt; attributing forraine approbation (which you cannot denie) to diſtance, more than to deſert. How is it then, that (beſides ſtrange witneſſes) we which looke vponupon this face without preiudice, commend it, (God knowes) without flattery? wee can at once acknowledge her infirmities, and bleſſe God for her graces: Our neighbours, (yea, our ſelues) of Scotland, know our Church ſo well, that they doe with one conſent praiſe her for one of Gods beſt daughters; neither doe the moſt rigorous amongſt them, more diſlike our Epiſcopall Gouernment, than imbrace our Church: what fraud is this; to flie from the Church in common, to one circumſtance? we can honour that noble Church in Scotland, may we not diſlike their alienations of Church-liuings? If one thing offend, doe all diſpleaſe? Yet euen this Gouernment, which you would hauehave them reſiſt to bonds and baniſhment (who knowes not?) begins to finde both fauour and place: what choice other Churches would make, as you doubt not, ſo you care not. If you regard their ſentence, how durſt you reuile her as a falſe Harlot, whom they honour as a deare Siſter? If you were more theirs than we, you might vpbraid vsus: Now you tell vsus what perhaps they would doe; we tell you what they doe, and will doe: Euen with one voice; bleſſe God for England, as the moſt famous and flouriſhing Church in Chriſtendome: your handfull only makes faces, & enuies this true glory. Who yet (you ſay) deſpiſe not our graces, no more than wee thoſe of Rome: See how you deſpiſe vsus while you ſay, you are free from deſpite: How malicious is this compariſon? as if wee were to you, as Rome to vsus: and yet you deſpiſe vsus more: Wee grant Rome a true Baptiſme,M. Smiths retort vponupon M. Clifton, p. 50. true Viſibility of a Church, though monſtrouſly corrupted: you giuegive vsus not ſo much: Thankes be to God, we care leſſe for your cenſure, than you doe for our Church: We hauehave by Gods mercy the true and right vſe of the Word and Sacraments, and all other eſſentiall gifts and graces of God; if there might be ſome further helps in execution, to make theſe more effectuall, we reſiſt not: But thoſe your other imaginary ordinances, as we hauehave not, ſo we want not: Neither the Caldeans, nor any Idolatrous enemies could make Sion Babylon, nor the holy veſſels profane; ſo as they ſhould ceaſe to be fit for Gods vſe: but they were brought backe at the returne of the captiuity, to Ieruſalem: Such were our Worſhip, Miniſtery, Sacraments, and thoſe manifold ſubiects of your cauills, which whilſt you diſgrace for their former abuſe, you call our good euill, and willingly deſpiſe our graces.
SEP.
Where the truth is a gainer, the Lord (which is truth) cannot bee a loſer. Neither is the thankes of ancient fauours loſt amongſt them, which ſtill preſſe on towards new mercies: Vnthankefull are they vntounto the bleſſed Maieſtie of God, and vnfaithfull alſo, which knowing the will of their Maſter doe it not, but goe on preſumptuouſly in diſobedience to many the holy ordinances of the Lord and of his Chriſt, which they know, and in word alſo acknowledge, he hath giuen to his Church to be obſerued, and not for idle ſpeculation, and diſputation without obedience.
It is not by our ſequeſtration, but by our confuſion, that Rome and Hell gaines. Your odious commixture of all ſorts of people in the body of your Church, in whoſe lap the vileſt miſcreants are dandled, ſucking her breſts as her naturall children, and are be-bleſt by her (as hauing right thereunto) with all her holy things, as Prayer, Sacraments, and other Ceremonies, is that which aduantageth hell, in the finall obduration and perdition of the wicked, whom by theſe meanes you flatter and deceiue.
The Romiſh Prelacie and Prieſthood amongſt you, with the appurtenances for their maintenance and miniſtrations, are Romes aduantage. Which therefore ſhe challengeth as her owne, and by which ſhe alſo ſtill holds poſſeſsion amongſt you, vnderunder the hope of regaining her full inheritance at one time or other. And if the Papiſts take aduantage at our condemnation of you, and ſeparation from you: it concernes you, well to ſee where the blame is, and there to lay it; leſt through light and inconſiderate iudgement, you iuſtifie the wicked, and condemne the righteous.