The Unlawfulness and Danger of Limited Episcopacy, Tract

The Unlawfulness and Danger of Limited Episcopacy · Tract

p. 1A Reply Unto the modeſt advertiſement and calme examination of the unlawfulneſſe and danger of limited EPISCOPACIE.

AMong the multitude of rare novelties, It is much to ſee that Prelaticall faction modeſt, and calme.which of late have bin ſeen, Wee muſt take it for one not the leaſt, that Epiſcopall men have ſo far in writing changed their ſtile, as to meet their greateſt adverſaries, and extreame oppoſites, with no more, then modeſt advertiſements, and calme examinations. God and the Parliament muſt be thanked, that men may now diſpute, and diſcourſe upon Miters, without the hazard of ſtarving in a p. 2cloſe priſon, after the loſſe of eares, and ſtigmatizing of cheeks upon the pillory. Who yeſterday did rage like Lyons, to day take upon them the skin of the meekeſt lambs. **This modeſty is not ſincere.If with the outſide, the inward parts be truelie metamorphoſed, a ſhort time after the riſing of this Honourable Court will declare. For the preſent they muſt pardon the worlds misbelief of their total change while in the art of diſſembling they are yet ſo imperfect, as to let appeare at the lands foot their old Leonine paw: for beſides that in the middeſt of your modeſtie you cannot forbeare the old Common place of calumnious railing againſt the verie well deſerving Saints of God, Calvin, and Knox, as uſurpers of greater authority over their brethren, then any Biſhop did ever in your knowledge aſſume in England, aaPag. 6. for my own part I ſhould be ſorry to ſee any Biſhop in this land have ſuch authority over other Miniſters, as Calvin had in Geneva, or Knox in Scotland.Your very party whom you profeſſe to rencounter with nothing but calmenes and moderation, is traduced openly by you without any cauſe, as a bloudie man, as one who for the obteining of his concluſion, the overthrow of Biſhops, threatens the ſhedding not of vulgar blood, but that of Princes, of their whol families, and no leſſe then the ruine of Kingdomes: You make him a Turkiſh Derviſe, bbP. 12. As for other arguments, that if wee admit not the Presbytery, there will be jealouſies between us, & Scotland, that there will be changes, and periods of States, of Families, and Kingdomes, for theſe are inſinuate in this booke, and ſome are reported to have ſaid that the Biſhops muſt down, or much bloud will be ſhed. Theſe we think not proofs but threatnings, and fitter for the mouth of a Turkiſh Derviſh, who plants Religion by the ſword, then for a Miniſter of the Goſpel of Chriſt.rather then a Preacher of the Goſpel, ccPap. 18. I ſhall deſire the Authour to remember that there may be as much ambition in Corah, as in Aaron, and as much pride in refuſing to be governed, as in deſiring to govern, and to conſider whether theſe two ſpeeches are very unlike, that of his Pag 15 Is there none in the aſſembly fit to bee Preſident but one? and this of Corabs, Numb. 16. the Congregation is all holy, wherefore then lift yee up your ſelves above the Congregation of the Lord.Num 16an p. 5ambitious Corah, a very Devill changed in an Angell of light: ddIſid. And for the light whereof hee ſpeaks pag. 7. we deſire him not to bee too conſident, but rather that he will remember that of the Apoſtle, that Satan ſometimes changes himſelfe into an Angell of light, and cauſes that to be reverenced as an illumination, which many times is but an illuſion.his arguments not onelyonly to bee falſe, but Satanick illuſions. Behold, this is the calmneſſe of your examination, the meekeneſſe and moderation of your advertiſement.

The greateſt part of your profeſſed vertue, Wherein their meekneſſe doth conſiſt.we find to conſiſt in a key-coldnes, and well nigh mute-ſilence, when the hoteſt, and moſt pungent arguments approch your skin. Heere it is indeed, where the meeknes of your ſpirit, and unwillingneſſe to ſtrive, doth moſt appeare; for you are ever ſure, when any preſsing reaſon is brought, either altogether to let it go, as if you were ſtone-deafe, or if you take courage to contradict, your anſwers are ſo evidently impertinent, or triviall, and weak, that we might doubt whether this your oppoſition were made in earneſt, or meerly for faſhion, unleſſe we did ſee it in the concluſion offered unto the grave eie of the high Court of Parliament, before which no wiſe Man will adventure of purpoſe to trifle.

Who ſo miſdoubts the equity of this our ſharpe cenſure, let him be onelyonly pleaſed to fight with his own eies both the writs, comparing part with part, and every Argument with its anſwere, p. 6readily after this labour hee will ſubſcribe my Sentence: To facilitate the paines of any, who are deſirous to undertake this travell, I am content to go before in the way.

The Authours Preface, To the Preface nothing is anſwered at all.though ſhort, yet full of nervous conſiderations, it is your wiſdome to paſſe by without one ſyllable of examination.

After the Preface, And to the firſt principle nothing pertinent.the Treatiſe it ſelfe begins with this propoſition; All the lawfull offices of the Church are appointed by God in his holy word: This ſerves both for a Major to the firſt argument, and a Principle for all the enſuing discourſe. The Authour proves his Principle by a number of cleere Scriptures, by many evident reaſons deduced from Scripture, and diverſe grounds of the moſt intelligent adverſaries; what oppoſe you to all this? That the reader may not obſerve how you ſpeake to the point, you caſt up at the entry a quantity of duſt, to marre his ſight, you lay downe a Principle nothing pertinent to the purpoſe: You propone a number of queſtions, which come not neere the Propoſition of your party, when at laſt you come to your anſwer, you will neither grant, nor deny, nor diſtinguiſh your adverſaries Propoſition, nor dare you oppoſe any thing to the manifold arguments whereupon it is builded, onelyonly you fall in before the time, and out of the due place upon the Hypotheſe of Epiſcopacie, and by way of contrary argumentation, with ſome old Popiſh flouriſhes of words, you inſinuate to the ſimple, p. 7rather then prove to any intelligent minde, that your Epiſcopacie, as an Apoſtolike inſtitution is to be embraced with a divine faith, no leſſe then the Creed, or the moſt holy Scripture.

Your Principle is, That all would be carefull to keep the publike peace, as alſo, Your impertinent principle concerns none but your ſelfe.That no man for gain of things temporall, would loſe eternall: Your Falcon flight is here ſo high, your ſprings ſo far away, your conduit pipes ſo crooked, that he muſt have a skilled eye who can perceive the ways, how you bring home your waters, for any uſe to the purpoſe in hand. Doe you thinke that theſe who petition the Parliament, for rooting out of Epiſcopacie, eeP. 2. That men be not in their conſultations ſo miſled either by ſome appearances of godlineſſe, and faire colours of extraordinary zeale as thereby to hazard the diſturbance of the common quiet.which yet (as the whole Ile are now eyewitneſſes) is the proper crime of your deareſt friends: for who elſe, to keepe upon their heads their tottering Mitres, did draw the King, and all his Dominions, to the very brink of the late deſperate danger.

The other halfe of your Principle, were very expedient to bee enlarged, and gravely applyed to theſe whom it concernes. You cannot bee ignorant who theſe men are, who theſe Yeeres paſt, upon no other grounds that can be conjectured, but only their own temporall advantages, and worldly feares, have betrayed the eternall truths of God. Who p. 8theſe are, who ſo long have ſate ſtill in a lethargick quietneſſe, and yet cannot bee gotten awaked to break off their dumbe ſilence, when Arminianiſme, and all the heads of the Canterburian Popery, from ſo many Pulpits and Preſſes, have been over-ſpreading the whole Land.

The queſtions which ſo ſeverely you urge to be anſwered, Your firſt queſtions anſwered.needed not to have been at all proponed. Anent your firſt, ſuppone we grant that ſalvation may be obtained under Epiſcopacie, what then, will this inferre that Biſhops neceſſarily muſt be retained, and that their rooting out is needleſſe? All your friends confeſſe, that under the Pope, and Cardinals, ſalvation may be by all, and is by the moſt, obtained: Will you therefore conclude, that the ejection of the Pope, and Cardinals out of England, was a needleſſe work? Your friends do ſo indeed, ffVide Ladenſ. foreign: c. 3.And ſo your Epiſcopall principles force them, but I hope the Parliament, to whom you ſubmit your Treatiſe, will be loth in haſte by your perſwaſion to bring back the Pope, and Cardinals Authoritie.

How many good works your Biſhops have forced men to omit, and how many evill to commit, ſearch the Regiſters of the Houſe of Commons, and you ſhall want no ſtore.

Shall the Reformers be in great darkneſſe, and the Martyrs miſerable, if in their days there was in the Church any thing, which they were not able to amend, or which came not in their minde to complain of? Did any Martyr of the Reformed p. 9Church ever die in the quarrell of Epiſcopacie, or Ceremonies? Did their perſecutors require them to ſeale any of theſe things with their bloud? Was it any diſgrace to theſe Martyrs that Queen Elizabeth rectified many things in King Edwards Liturgie, and went beyond that Reformation which in their dayes was attained?

Your ſecond queſtions are not unlike the firſt, Alſo your ſecond.for their pertinencie. All the Reformed World is fully agreed to have Epiſcopacie overthrown, onelyonly ſome few of the Engliſh Church, for their own intereſt do oppoſe. There is as great an harmony among all in ſetting up of Presbyteries, and Synods, as in caſting out the old rubbiſh of Biſhops and their Courts; If ſome few of the Engliſh be ſcrupulous about the limits, bounds, and extent of the power of Synods, It is no marvell, Epiſcopall tyranny has bred, and foſtered more Schiſmes in England, then have been heard of in all the Reformed Churches beſide; If this fountain of Schiſme were once well ſtopped, We make no queſtion, but as in Scotland, Holland, France, Swize, Geneva, and many places in Germany, there is no diſcord, ſo like wayes in England, one or two well governed generall Aſſemblies would amicably put an end to all the queſtions that are, or need to be moved about the Diſcipline, or any thing elſe whatſoever.

What you enquire further, of the divine right of Presbyterie, of the places of Scripture p. 10brought to prove it, of the ſenſe, and conſequences of the Scriptures. In all reaſon you are obliged to heare with us great Patience avow that the Scripttures we bring, do infer neceſſarily, and cleerly our Concuſion, till you brought ſome materiall anſwer to the contrary.

The laſt of your Queſtions, Your laſt Queſtion anſweredis but a flaſh of your Rhetorick faculty of exaggeration, your ſelf muſt make anſwer to it; for you do ſay that God diſcharges under pain of damnation all that is unlawfull, and that every thing is unlawfull which is againſt the Word of God: That Presbyters, by the Word of God, have the power of laying on the hands, and of uſing the keyes, you will ſhortly grant; that therefore an Epiſcopacie ſhould be permitted, to ſpoile theſe Presbyters of the priviledges which God in his word has granted unto them, or to uſurpe unto themſelves, and devolve on their Officials, the Rites of the inferiour Clergie, you dare not deny to be a wrong which deſerves amending.

At laſt you come to the purpoſe, The Authors principle left unbrauled.the Authours Principle, but you finde it ſo hote, that you dare not ſtand long upon it.

You tell us firſt, that the Authours diſcourſe upon this Principle is written with much art, and eloquence, for inſinuation with the unwary Reader. Who pleaſeth to read the writ it ſelfe, ſhall ſee, that all the art of the Authour is in a very plain diſcourſe to couch, ſo briefly as is poſſible, a number of cleere and ſtrong probations, for to p. 11convince the mind of all attentive Readers.

Againe, you tell us that the Principle may be granted. Why do you mutter betwixt your teeth? ſpeak out cleerly, and plainly, for if you grant it, your cauſe is loſt, if you deny it, your next will be to anſwer the numerous arguments, wherewith it is compaſſed, not any one whereof you are bold to try.

In the third place, that you may leave a poſterne for eſcaping, the Authors cleere and plaine principle, That no office is lawful in Gods houſe, which Chriſt has not appointed, you transforme in an other mold, to wit, That none may adminiſter the Word or Sacraments, impoſe hands, or uſe the keyes, but ſuch as Chriſt has appointed; When thus you have taken leave to corrupt, not the words only, but the matter of your adverſaries very principle, Epiſcopall Courts acknowledged to be unlawfullNotwithſtanding you ſee the Concluſion that flows from your owne propoſition, to wit, that your high Commiſsioners, your Chancellours, and all the Rabble of your Officiall Courtiours doe meddle with Church cenſures contrary to Chriſts appointment; This you do not deny, but beare us in hand that theſe corruptions may be amended without noiſe, or ſcandall. It were good that your friends in the Convocation would preveen the honourable Houſe of Commons, that at laſt they would offer of free accord to paſſe from theſe long defended oppreſſing Courts, before with greater noiſe and ſhame they be compelled to render to the Presbyterie p. 12theſe Rites, whereof too long it has been diſpoſſed, by your Biſhops fraud and force.

When you have broken in unſeaſonably upon the Hypotheſe of Epiſcopacie, how marvellouſly doe you ſhift, and extenuate the queſtion? The authors principle did ſpeak expreſly, and ſoly, of a diſtinct office in the Church of God: you dare not ſay whether Epiſcopacie be any ſuch thing or not, All the diſtinction betwixt a Biſhop and a Presbyter that you ſpeak of, is a higher, and lower degree, as it were of the ſame office: Your Brethren will give you ſmall thanks for this extenuation; for you know they maintaine Epiſcopacie to be a true, and diſtinct office from the Prieſthood, unto the which, beſide a Superioritie of degree, the diſtinct faculty or power of Ordination, and Juriſdiction, eſſentially doth belong, wherewith ſimple prieſts, qua tales, have nought at all to doe.

Beſide, the Authors principle, and the probations thereof, conclude all that you here doe require, for they inferre the unlawfulneſſe of any majoritie of one Church Officer over another, without Chriſts appointment, from ſo cleere texts of Scripture, and ſo ſound grounds of uncontroverted Divinity, as you find not your ſelfe diſpoſed to anſwer any one of them.

While as you require proof in that place, for all the other parts of our Diſcipline, you are unreaſonable. When you have given ſatisfactorie anſwers to all that is brought in the head of Epiſcopacy, p. 13it will be then time, and no ſooner, to proceed unto other Articles, which ſo long as Epiſcopacy ſtands, were needleſſe to be ſpoken of.

In your contrary argumentations you undertake to prove a very ſtrange concluſion, Your great words extolling Epiſcopacie are full of vanitie.That the order of Biſhops is no leſſe Apoſtolicall, then the very Creed, and to be received with no leſſe faith then the very Scriptures, yea, with much more, as it ſeems you import; for you equal the Scriptures and Biſhops in this, that both are alike univerſall, and unqueſtioned traditions: but in this you ſeeme to give Biſhops a ſurer ground then you grant to Scriptures, for the ground whereupon you here, and many of your fellowes elſwhere embrace the Scriptures, is ſole Tradition, but the grounds whereupon you receive the order of Biſhops, is not ſole tradition; but ſundry paſsages of Scripture alſo as you alleage.

This your mighty Concluſion you prove not by any argument, but onelyonly by a number of big words borrowed from the Papiſts, in this ſame and many more ſubjects. You tell us that many Scriptures are alleaged for Epiſcopacy, and that theſe Scriptures are exponed in your ſenſe by all the Fathers, yea, by all Writers for fifteene hundred yeeres. I hope that your ſelfe will finde it reaſon that wee be permitted to take your great words for nought, but vaine ecchoes in the Aire, while you be pleaſed to produce at leaſt ſome one Scripture, ſome one Father, ſome one Writer, p. 14which here you have not done. Alſo while you would have us taking it on your naked word, that all times, all places, all perſons are for Biſhops, and that for ſuch Biſhops as you here expreſlie deſcribe, to whom alone it belongs to rule, as it is proper for the inferiour Presbyters to be ruled, ſuffer us to ſay that you are greatly miſtaken, till wee have heard ſome one of your proofs. Your patience will here I hope be the greater, when you read in the ſubſequent writt for this our contradiction more Scriptures and Fathers then you in haſte are like ſatisfactorily to anſwere. The queſtion of Epiſcopacie diſcuſt.In that ſame ſhort writ you will ſee all the Scriptures, and the moſt pregnant paſſages of antiquity which the beſt learned on your ſide are accuſtomed to produce, anſwered by the ancients themſelves ſo cleerely, that while you give ſome evidence to the contrarie, Indifferent men will pronounce, that wee have but too good reaſon to avow Epiſcopacie as your ſelfe in the ſame place deſcribes it, to be a plant which God never ſet in his garden, to bee a meere ſtranger to the ancient Church for ſome hundred yeeres, and ever while the Pope had uſurped mainly by the help of his Epiſcopall juriſdiction, many Antichriſtian priviledges.

Your conſequences, beſides the palpable errour of your Antecedent, are weake, vitious, and inconſequent; though your Epiſcopacie be an Antichriſtian errour, yet it will not follow that all people who are ſubject to it muſt be condemned p. 15as Antichriſtian, and falſe worſhipers of God; for you know that one fault and one quality is not ſufficient to put on the ſubject an abſolute denomination. What you adde of the fountaine and originall of Presbyteries, it ſhews, if not your ignorance, yet your great forgetfulneſſe, not onelyonly what Cyprian, and other of the ancients have written of the Presbyteries in their times, but alſo what your ſelfe within a few pages does write of Presbyteries which you could admit, though with an Epiſcopall Moderator.

This is the matter of your firſt ſix pages, To the Authors firſt argument the anſwer is Popiſh and nought.upon the Authours Principle; when you come to his Arguments, your Anſweres are ſhorter, but nothing better. The firſt Argument, That theſe places of Scripture, which of purpoſe, and moſt punctually ſet downe the offices of Gods houſe, eſpeciallie the Acts of the Apoſtles, and the Epiſtles to Timothy and Titus, ſpeak not at all of your Biſhops. You firſt deny the Argument, albeit in your deniall you are ſo rationall, as neither to give any reaſon for what you ſay, nor to anſwere any of the proofes whereby the Author confirmed his aſſertion, Then you deny the ground whereupon the argument is builded, The Principle which before in the proper place you durſt not deny, but rather did inſinuate your granting of it; however the Authours Probation of that Principle ſtands as yet untouched.

While you tell us here that Tradition is a ſufficient ground for Epiſcopacie though Scripture p. 16were lacking, you but joine with your Brethren the Canterburians, who upon this ground preſſe upon us already their Altars, Croſſes, Images, the primacie of the Pope, and much more, and ſhew their minde by this doore to let in upon us the whole flood of Antichriſtian abominations, when they find their ſeaſon, eſpecially as your ſelf here does profeſſe, any matter of practice, of diſcipline, of government. This your popiſh errour of tradition is a very generall, and catholike one, which ſhakes not one or two but all the ground-ſtones of Proteſtant reformations.

The Authours ſecond Argument is, The ſecond you anſwere by a nonſenſe and childiſh toy.That no inferiour officer in the new teſtament, carries the name of any ſuperiour; but ſo it is that a Presbyter every where carries the name of a Biſhop; Therefore a Presbyter is not an inferiour officer to a Biſhop. What here you bring, is ſo far from the ſhew of any anſwere, that it is like you have not conceived the drift of the Argument, only the non ſenſe of your reply is compenſed with your extraordinary quickneſſe, to take your adverſarie twice in his own argument, in his owne net, firſt you will put him to a non plus by an Interrogatory, where then are ruling Elders by their names diſtinguiſhed? you have read I believe the 1. Timothy 5.17. there you may ſee ruling Elders, by their name, and ſurname, cleerly diſtinguiſhed from Preachers of the word; you know alſo that there are a number of paſſages of p. 17the Fathers for theſe ruling Elders in the booke of Gerſombucerus, which the boldeſt of your party for all their big words and exclamations in the eares of ſilly people, durſt never yet after twenty two yeeres adviſement ſo much as offer to anſwere.

Thereafter you triumph as if you had drawn from your Adverſaries own pen, by an ocular demōſtration, the ful proof of your whol cōcluſion. The ſuperiority of a Biſhop to a Presbyter by divine right, becauſe forſooth the author ſays, That Biſhop and Paſtor which are all one, are made by the Apoſtle ſuperiour to a Presbyter. Wee did not believe that any man of the leaſt acquaintance with theſe controverſies, had beene ignorant of that common, and triviall homonomie of the word Presbyter, and Elder, ſometimes taken for a preaching Elder, ſometimes for a ruling Elder, and ſometimes for both. The Author with the Scriptures makes, a Paſtor, a Biſhop, a preaching elder, to be altogether one, and in nothing to differ, but as three ſynonimous names of one, and the ſame officer, which by divine right is indeed ſuperiour to a ruling Elder, or Preſbyter, this no man ever did queſtion, but no way ſuperiour to a preaching Elder, of whom alone is all the preſent queſtion.

The Authors third and fourth Argument confirmed ſtrongly by a number of pregnant Scriptures, are all utterly miſpent, To the third and fourth argument no ſyllable of anſwere appears.and not one word of anſwere made to either of them.

p. 18His fifth Argument, The fifth is in ſhew granted.That by Chriſts inſtitution & the conſtant practice of the Apoſtles, the power of ordination, and juriſdiction, is never committed to one Biſhop, but ever to a number of Preachers and others, as is cleared, by a multitude of manifeſt Scriptures. This you cannot deny, yet your heart will not permit you freely to grant it. You are content that in ordination, and juriſdiction, Biſhops ſhould be aſsiſted by Presbyters, but the argument infers much more, to wit that your Biſhops in uſurping to thēſelvs the power of juriſdiction, & transferring of it to their carnal courts, that their aſſuming by vertue of their office the power of ordinatiō, though for the form they admit ſome Presbyters to be their aſsiſtāts in giving of orders, that both theſe faculties which make not the abuſe but the two main limbs, and integrall parts of the office it ſelfe, are wicked practices againſt Chriſts ordinance, not to be reformed, but preſently aboliſhed, with a great remorſe, that with a high hand for ſo long a time theſe tyrannous uſurpations have bin maintained.

The ſixt Argument was from the 22. The ſixt is abſurdly anſwered.Luke 25. where Chriſt forbids all Paſtors to accept any Majority or preheminence over their brethren, This the Author proves from Scripture, Reaſon, and Antiquitie, to evert the office of Biſhops. All that you anſwere is that this place does not forbid the Apoſtles to accept any degree of Honour above their brethren wherein they may govern them for their profit, It follows then that by this place Biſhops are not hindered to aſſume p. 19as great authority over the Church as the greateſt Emperours ever had over the bodies, or Chriſt himſelfe as you confeſſe here over the ſoules of men.

Having evinced the unlawfulneſſe of Epiſcopacie it ſelfe by the former Arguments, The Authors firſt reaſon againſt all limitation of Epiſcopacie is but ſlighted.nothing enervate by all your Oppoſition, in the reſt of the treatiſe the Author reaſons againſt the lawfulneſſe of the leaſt degrees, and beſt limitations of that evill; his firſt argument is well confirmed with Scripture, and reaſon, you anſwere but to one piece, caſting by the firſt, and ſtrongeſt parts of it, to wit, all parts, all degrees, all meanes, all appearances of the diſcharged evill; you had good reaſon to cut off all theſe portions from the Argument, for you ſaw that your diſtinction was not applicable to theſe, for you will be loath to deny that Epiſcopacie, howſoever limitate, is ſome degree, ſome part, ſome mean, ſome appearance, not by accident, but of its own nature, of that Epiſcopacie which now ſtands in England.

The part of the Argument which you take in hand is not ſufficiently anſwered, for you clear your diſtinction with no more then your own ſimple aſſertion, That limited Epiſcopacie is not in it ſelfe, but alone by Satans malice, either a cauſe, or a beginning, or a provocation to Epiſcopacie as now it ſtands; Surely that effect which has followed limited Epiſcopacie, in all places where ever it has dwelt, may not well be denyed p. 20to be naturall unto it, however you dare not apply your diſtinction, for it will ſound harſhlie in the eares of your Neighbours, that limited Epiſcopacie ſhould be a beginning, & a provocation, by the malice and craft of the Devill, of that Epiſcopacie which now in Rome and England has place.

The Author in the next place by cleer Scriptures does prove, The ſecond is unwittingly granted.That the reformation of Epiſcopacie muſt be taken, not from the times of the poſteriour Fathers, but from the beginning, the dayes of Chriſt, and the Apoſtles; your anſwere is ſhort, but how good, your ſelfe be judge. You grant the Argument in all things which have a divine patterne; but that Presbyteriall Government is ſuch, you deny: you remember that the queſtion here is alone of Epiſcopacie, what ſay you of its patterne? if its patterne be not divine you have loſt your labour; If it bee divine, then according to your ſelfe it muſt bee conformed to the firſt, and Apoſtolicall times. As for Preſbyteriall Government which placeth the power of Ordination and Juriſdiction, never in one, but in a multitude of Presbyters, that the patterne thereof is Scripturall, and divine, your ſelfe before durſt not contradict.

While you make it the Authors tenet, that all the fathers, and all Chriſtians, in all ages throughout the world, have agreed to bring forth Antichriſt, wee acknowledg a tract of your profeſſed modeſtie, for the furtheſt the Author ſayes p. 21is that many of the fathers did unwittingly bring forth the Antichriſt, and that the lights of the Proteſtant Churches, at, and ſince the reformation, have diſcovered many ſecrets concerning the Antichriſt, which were not knowne in former ages; that you have not faith to believe this, Wee doe not marvail, for this is one of the heads among many more, wherein you of the faction, long ago have made Apoſtacie from the Engliſh, and all the reformed Churches; So far are your brethren from denying the Popes Antichriſtianiſme, that they avow his holineſſe this day to be a true and lawfull Biſhop, the firſt Patriarch of the Chriſtian world, from whoſe See of Rome the Engliſh derive their ſucceſsion, and to whom in reaſon all Biſhops where ever they live, ought ſubjection, and canonicall obedience.

In the third place the Author caſts together a number of grave conſiderations againſt all degrees of Epiſcopacie, The third alſo but ſlighted.almoſt in every ſentence is couched a pithy Argument. In your anſwers you are in ſuch haſte, that you caſt all behind your Back, you aſcribe to him that he did not write, that Popery and Prelacy are inſeparable; This your own conceit you refute, but of all your partie hath ſaid, you take notice of nothing, ſave one word, that Prelacie is a ſtep to Poperie; Sundry reaſons are brought by the Author to prove this, all which you misken, only you argue to the contrarie, that the ſuppreſsing of Epiſcopacie is the way for ſupporting of Popery p. 22and introducting Anarchie. Upon this laſt you run out in a large diſcourſe; for this is the field wherein you of the faction are wont to expatiate with greateſt delight.

You prove your firſt point by a cleer miſtake, All Papiſts advancers of Epiſcopacie.diſtinguiſh the Accident from the Subject, Epiſcopacie from Biſhops, you will finde that neither the Councell of Trent, nor any Popiſh Divine are for ſuppreſſing of Epiſcopacie; This office to the uttermoſt of their power they all uphold, neither have you or any of your brethren any one argument for that office, which is not borrowed from them: It is true that the moſt of the Papalines doe ſuppreſſe other Biſhops, to make great their Pope, but the meanes whereby they put under the Popes feet both Biſhops, Fryers, and all, both Clergie, and Laity, is chiefly this unhappie inſtrument of Epiſcopacie, which in the Popes perſon they advance to the higheſt degree of its extenſion, and this is nothing leſſe then true Antichriſtianiſme. If you have read Padre Paulo's Hiſtory of that Councel you name, you muſt ſubſcribe what I have ſaid.

That from the removall of Epiſcopacie, The putting downe of the Biſhops would bring to an end the preſent confuſions and ſchiſmes.confuſion and anarchie does follow, you would have the Divines of New England to prove by the Authors principles. The manifold cōcluſions which you aſcribe to theſe Divines, whether they will own them or not, themſelves doe know, with their tenets I am not well acquainted, onelyonly it ſeemes nothing marvelous, if Epiſcopall cruelty p. 23baniſhing them to the Wilderneſſe of a new World, ſhould have driven them to greater extravagancies then any you name, but were they once freed of all feare of that monſter Epiſcopacie, and brought back to their Countrey, where in libertie and peace they might enjoy in a nationall aſſembly, the benefit of a leaſurely conference with their brethren, wee make little doubt of their acquieſcing to the government of all the reſt of the Reformed Churches.

As for theſe grounds, you make the Author lay for them, you are no more happie here then in the reſt of your writ; For this is your Syllogiſm. Whatſoever God has not eſtabliſhed in his Church, is unlawful; but God has not eſtabliſhed that ſome paſtors ſhould be over others; therefore this is unlawfull: What a poore caption is in your minor in the word Some taken for one only, or for more, for one Biſhop, or for more Paſtors, & Elders conveened in a Synod or Preſbytery? That any one ſhould rule over the reſt, the Author has proved it to bee againſt the ordinance of God; That a Presbytery and Synod of many ſhould be over every one particular perſon, when ever it ſhall be challenged, it may be eaſily proved to be according to holy Scripture and all good reaſon.

What you ſubjoine about the State of the queſtion, though it be not very tymous in the end of your diſpute, yet wee ſhall conſider p. 24it ſince you ſo requeſt. You ſay that the ſtate of the queſtion is not whether a Biſhop in the Primitive times had a Presbyterie under him, This you dare not deny unto us, for you know too wel, and all that have looked upon any of the Ancients, muſt confeſſe that a Biſhop without a Preſbyterie was a ſtrange Monſter in the primitive times, and a plain non ens not to be found in many hundred yeeres in the Chriſtian World. But withall you may not deny the impudent oppreſſion of your Biſhops in England. You muſt confeſs the oppreſſion and impudence of the Biſhops.Their oppreſſion in that (as they have learned alone from Popiſh Biſhops in the late moſt corrupt times) they have aboliſhed the ancient Presbyteries, It is true that ſome of them now, when they are like to be compelled to live a little in order, begin to ſhew their contentment to have ſet up again in all the Kingdome theſe Presbyteries, but who of them all before this time were ever heard to ſpeake one word of reſtoring the Church to the uſe of Presbyteriall government, which now they dare not deny to be her due by right both divine and alſo Eccleſiaſtick, in all the ancient times of any puritie. Their impudence that hitherto they have had faces and browes to beare the King and State in hand, that their Epiſcopall Government without Presbyteries was according to the Practice of the ancient Church, that Antiquity, Univerſality, and what not, was for them, when yet the leaſt twitch of triall muſt extort from them a cleere confeſsion, That the chief ſinews of that government which was univerſall p. 25in the ancient Church, was ſeated in the body of Presbyteries, the very name whereof till the ſitting down of this Parlament all of you did abhorre, cane pejus, et angue. If there remain any drop of ingenuous blood, you would proclaim openly, and no more mutter within your teeth, that your late injurious errour, and without further delay your ſelfe be the firſt, and moſt earneſt Solicitor of the Parlament, for the re-erection in all the Kingdome of theſe Presbyteries, which now at laſt you confeſſe were univerſally in uſe in all the purer times of antiquity.

As for that which you deſire to bee the State of the queſtion, Engliſh Epiſcopacie is a late corruption, a meere ſtranger to the ancient Church.whether ever there was a Preſbytery without a Biſhop over it, you will I hope bee content after the faſhion of reaſonable men to ſpeake of things not of names, you will make no queſtion with us about the name of Biſhops, which wee never deny to be frequent, both in Scripture, and antiquity, But the thing ſignified by this name, An officer, as all your partie deſcribes him, who in his Dioceſſe hath the power of Ordination, and Juriſdiction, by vertue of his office, This is the ſubject of all our queſtion. You affirme that in the ancient times Biſhops in this Senſe were ſet over Presbyteries, Wee do deny. We ſhould be glad to ſee your Affirmation proved, that ever there was in the Church of God any ſuch Biſhops before the Pope had brought his Biſhoprick to the Cope-ſtone of Antichriſtianiſme; Our negative wee have laboured to p. 26prove in the following treatiſe, by more paſſages of antiquity then you will have leaſure in haſte to anſwere.

As for the Biſhops of the ancient Church which agree with yours onelyonly in the naked name, but in the eſſentiall parts of the office doe differ as much as the Duke of Venice this day from the Duke of Muſcovie, as the Emperours of Rome in the dayes of Seneca from the old Imperatores in the time of the Common-wealth: The queſtion about them will bee whether their right in theſe anciēt times was divine, or human, whether they ſtood by Apoſtolick tradition, or alone by Eccleſiaſticall conſtitution eſtabliſhed at the Churches pleaſure, and ſo by her free will removeable. You will be a better diſputer then any of your ſide who yet have appeared if you can make good the firſt, yea that you can prove the ſecond to have been univerſal, we do not believe. If every Church would ſearch their originall rights, as they of Scotland have done their own, readily as theſe have found their Church in the moſt ancient times governed by Presbyters without any biſhops at all, ſo much as in name, for ſome hundred yeers, ſo many other nationall Churches might finde the ſame upon the like diligence of tryall; however when it comes to the exacteſt ſearch, it will appeare that Epiſcopacie was at moſt but an humane Eccleſiaſtick conſtitution, neither more ancient, more univerſall, nor received upon any better grounds then p. 27the Primacie of the Patriarch of Rome, then the manifold fraternities of the Monkes, Fryers, and Nunnes, Theſe, though according to your friends aſſertion, ſo anciently, ſo univerſally, ſo piouſly eſtabliſhed, that all the reformed, and England among the reſt, are much to be blamed both for their firſt raſhneſſe to reject, and there too long lingring ſince to reſtore them, yet as England did never repent the caſting out of the former, according to the example of her ſiſters abroad, ſo now wee believe, if ſhee may be pleaſed to follow the ſame example in caſting out the other ſhee ſhall have as little cauſe of ſorrow.

The Author did ſhew at length the vanity of their expectation who deceive themſelves with hopes to get Biſhops kept in order by the bonds of any imaginable limitations: No caveats are able to keepe Biſhops long in order.for the demonſtration hereof, he ſets downe the caveats, whereby the Scottiſh Kirke and Kingdome did bind their Biſhops, then which England can not invent harder this day for theirs. The knot cannot be faſter tied. The Scots had their Biſhops conſent, ſubſcription, and ſolemn oath, The King in perſon in the generall Aſſembly did ratifie the bargaine, numbers of Parliaments did eſtabliſh the liberties of Presbyteries. Sundry reaſons the Authour brings to cleer that England is not able at this time to employ ſuch meanes to keepe their Biſhops low, as Scotland then did uſe, your anſwere to all is compendious: you ſay that all your adverſaries arguments are weake, but how p. 28your ſaying may be proved, you take not time to tell us.

The Author in the end of his writ makes anſwere to a number of the common jargous of Prelaticall men, Presbyteriall government a heavier hammer to ſchiſme then Epiſcopall.eſpecially that of Schiſme in the Church, and danger to the State, which by the removall of Epiſcopacie, they take upon them to propheſie, will certainly fall out: To both theſe Objections hee gives a number of very ſatisfactory and grave replies. In your anſwer you misken well neere them all, Theſe few you picke out are caſt in a ſtrange confuſion here and there in your Papers.

Againſt his replies to the firſt objection of Schiſme, you rejoinder that the diviſions of New England are witneſſes of theſe Schiſmes which proceed from the want of Epiſcopacie: you do well to ſpeake to us of men in an other World, with whoſe eſtate we are not acquainted, but can you ſay that there are half ſo many Schiſmes in New England where Biſhops are not, as we ſee in Old England where Biſhops are in their full Strength. Speak of the things we know, Behold the Churches of Europe, from whence Biſhops are baniſhed, Scotland, France, Holland, Swize, Geneva, &c. Did you ever heare of any either Schiſme or Hereſie, in theſe places, except when Presbyteriall government was ſuppreſſed? did that diſcipline any ſooner get leave to employ its native ſtrength, but in a ſhort time it made the Countries where it dwelt free of all theſe evills

p. 29It is made evident in the next place, If Biſhops ſtand ſchiſme in England muſt increaſe.that the keeping of Epiſcopacie on foot any longer, in all probability will fill the Church of England with many pitifull diviſions, both amongſt themſelves at home, and from all their Neighbours abroad; concerning the reformed Churches over ſea you anſwer, that in time bigon you have kept good correſpondence with them, notwithſtanding of all the difference in diſcipline; but truly the correſpondence you ſpeake of is to be aſcribed much rather to the patience and long ſuffering of your good Neighbours, then to any well deſerving of your Biſhops: for their doctrine in the point of Epiſcopacie, is cleerly Schiſmaticall, as you may ſee in the Pedagogick, and Maſter Likes Letter of Andrews to Muleine, and in other of your Prelaticall writs, where your men with the Papiſts, by all the arguments they can invent, do preſſe the Reformed Churches to embrace their Epiſcopacie as an Apoſtolike inſtitution, the want whereof puts them from the very being of a Church, & makes the calling of their Preachers to be unlawfull, without any right. This wound, I grant your Biſhops, when they have given it, go about incontinent to cure, but in vaine, for if their ground of Epiſcopacies divine right hold, it is not poſſible to defend the calling of theſe Miniſters who refuſe Epiſcopall Ordination.

While here you prefer for number, and equall both for learning and pietie, the Lutheran Churches to all the reſt of the Reformed, we doe not marvell, ſince you contemne them both ſo farre, p. 30that when they are joined together, being compared with the Roman Church, and the Grecian which follows the Roman in the moſt of her errours and Idolatries, to be but a few perſons in the Weſt of Europe, not comparable with all the Chriſtians, as you ſpeake Pag. 12. upon the face of the earth.

You profeſſe at laſt, it is a ſmall thing to you, to differ from all the Reformed, when you joine with the ancient Kirke in the firſt three hundred Yeeres; we have ſhewn before the vanitie of this Language, for in Epiſcopall Government, you differ little leſſe from the ancient Kirke, then from the Reformed, of whom yee were ſpeaking, for the ancient Presbyterie is a ſtranger to your Land, and your Epiſcopacie would be as great a ſtranger in any Chriſtian Kirke, for the firſt five hundred Yeers, as the drink of Muſcovia would be this day in Venice, or the Empire of Tyberius in Rome, in the days of Cato the elder.

The Authour named the jealouſies that would be inavoidable betwixt the two Kirks of England and Scotland, if Epiſcopacie, which the one, with the King, and all the Worlds conſent hath caſt downe, ſhould by the other bee kept on foot; upon this paſſage you fall once and again, at the firſt time, that you may have a larger ſcope for a tract of your modeſtie, you draw a paſſage from another farre diſtant place of the Authours writ, where hee ſayes no more, but that vices contrarie to pietie, righteouſneſſe, and ſobrietie, where they doe raign, are certaine forerunners p. 31and cauſes of many calamities, judgements, and changes of States, Kingdomes, and Families. This you cut out from its own place, and joine with the fore-named ſentence, that from both you may make out your verie modeſt concluſion, that your author, more like a Turkiſh Darviſe, then a Miniſter of the Goſpel, does threaten to overthrow Biſhops, by the bloudie Sword, by the change of States, Families, and Kingdomes, and that not the author alone, but alſo all the Presbyterians, yea, the Presbyteriall government it ſelf, is guiltie of perſecuting the perſons, and tyrannouſly preſſing the ſouls of men, no leſſe then the papiſts; if this be your ſtile when your mood is calme, how crabbed muſt your dialect be when you are commoved?

When in your roving you fall the ſecond time upon this ſame point, you anſwer ſomwhat more pertinently then is your cuſtome, That you truſt the Scots will count it as unreaſonable to have their diſcipline preſſed upon the Engliſh, as they did eſteem it, to have the Engliſh preſſed upon them; but I pray you, what if the Scots ſhould leave here their own way, and follow your example, might any of you in reaſon complaine of ſuch a retaliation? Did ever your Biſhops give over to force upon the Scots the Engliſh Government with all their might, till the whole Iſle was in armes, and in the midſt of a dangerous war? Left they ever their deſigne, till God, the King, and the Parliament, made them unable for a further p. 32proſecution thereof. It is like that the Scots will be loth to follow that your example; Yet certainly, they have all the reaſon of the World to perſwade with all their power, their Brethren of England to joine with them, and all the Reformed everie where, to batter downe that unhappie Epiſcopacie, without any reſting, till the greateſt Biſhop, the Antichriſt himſelf, from whom the Prelates of England confeſſe they draw the line of their pedigree be overthrowne, and quite aboliſhed.

If in this no leſſe noble then neceſſary enterpriſe the Engliſh will bee lacking to themſelves, in this ſeaſon of ſo golden an occaſion, the Scottiſh cannot faile to regiſter for the poſterity a Proteſtation of their great and too well grounded feares, that Epiſcopacie in England may well change the habit, but never the nature, that as it has beene ever ſince the Reformation a bitter fountain of almoſt all the troubles that hath vexed the Scotiſh Kirk, ſo it ſhall remain like it ſelf a Spring of future woes to the Churches of the whole Iſle.

The domeſtike diviſions which are like to encreaſe amongſt the Subjects of England, if that root wee ſpeak of be not drawne up, and caſt over Sea towards Rome whence it came, the author expreſſeth them cleerely; all that you anſwer is a ſalt gybe; it is truly ſtrange if any ſhould make queſtion that as to this day many of the moſt Godly in England who have been far from p. 33reſiſting authority in any thing, yet could never follow the Doctrine of the Biſhops ſo far, as with them to believe that the ſentence of authority, whether Civill or Eccleſiaſticke, was a ſufficient argument to perſwade their conſcience that Biſhops were a holy ordinance, ſo hereafter that many more who walk moſt carefully according to the rule of Gods law, will refuſe to ſubmit their hearts to the government of Biſhops, though after the loſſe of their cares, their Heads ſhould be chopped off from their ſhoulders.

The Authour in his Anſwer to the ſecond ordinarie Objection, anent the danger of change, No hazard to the State in changing the preſent government of the Church.propones a number of very wiſe conſiderations, whereby he makes it evident, that presbyteriall Government will much better accord with the eſtate of England, then Epiſcopall; all theſe you paſſe by in your anſwer, only you ſnatch at a word or two, in ſome few of them. The Author upon preſuppoſition of his firſt principle, that no Office might be permitted in the Houſe of God, without his own appointment, inferreth, that as a man would be loth to ſuffer any of his ſervants to place in his houſe Governours beſide his own knowledge: ſo that Chriſt will not be content when any does erect in his Church, Biſhops to be guides, which hee did never ordain.

You touch not the point while yee tell us, that a Wiſeman would never permit a Democratie to be erected in his Family, and ſo that none p. 34would ſet up a Presbyterie in the Church; a Presbyterie is not a Democracie, but be what ever it may, the reaſon here proceeds alone from the authoritie of a Maſter, to plant in his owne houſe what Government he will, without libertie for ſervants to diſpute the qualitie thereof.

In the current of his Diſcourſe, You ſnatch at ſome few of the Authours words, but let paſſe without anſwer, the moſt of his matter.amongſt other interrogations, the authour did queſtion, if in a whole Synod there was none meet to preſede, but only one perpetually: For it is well known that in every dioces there is a number much meeter for any good ſervice then the Biſhop. Of this harmleſſe queſtion you make a great quarrell, and compare the authour to Cora, your ſelfe to Aaron, and his interrogation to the rebellious ſpeeches of that wicked man, Numb. 16.

When the whole has ſufficiently overthrown all the matter of Epiſcopacie, whether abſolute or limitate, hee bringeth ſundry arguments, why the verie name of a Biſhop would not be retained, but you are not pleaſed to take notice of any one of them.

In the laſt two pages, verie cleerlie by divers evidences, he declareth the great and rare opportunitie which God hath put in the hand of this preſent Parliament to remove the whole root of Epiſcopacie, with as great eaſe, as to cut off its branches; all this you misken, only to give us a further taſte of the temper of your modeſt Spirit, you inſinuate, Pag. 14. that the greateſt opportunitie you can remark in this ſeaſon, is for men p. 35by fraud and force to worke out their owne ends.

When you have done with the authour, The right of Presbyteries is divine, not humane only.you turn your ſelfe to two other ſorts of men, firſt to theſe who preſſe Presbyterian Diſcipline upon a meere humane right; who theſe are I doe not know, if any ſuch be, it ſeems they are more unconſiderate then your verie ſelf, and many others of the Prelaticall faction, who dare not now denie, what ever before was their language, the divine right of the Presbyterie, that the principall members thereof, the preaching Presbyters, are inveſted by God with the power of Ordination, and Juriſdiction, though the Biſhops of England, ever ſince the Reformation, have ſpoiled them of their due, and kept them in ſlaverie, as much altogether if not more, as the Romiſh Biſhops doe their inferiour ſlaves of the Clergie this day.

The two conſiderations you bring to beare off theſe men are both impertinent, Your plea for keeping up of Biſhops, is the very ſame which the Papiſts uſed againſt King Henry the Eighth, for the upholding of the Pope and Monks.The firſt was preſſed with much more acuracie and eloquence, then you, or any of your partie can uſe, by More the Chancelor, and the Cardinall of Rocheſter, in the dayes of Henrie the eighth; it was the ordinarie and paſſionate declamation of theſe men, that the Popes authoritie was ever reverenced in England, ſince it was Chriſtian, That for many ages it had been confirmed, by numbers of Parliaments, That Abbots and Priors were a conſiderable part of the Parliament, at leaſt foure p. 36times more then Biſhops, That Monkes, Fryers, and Nuns had been eſtabliſhed in all times, in all places, That the caſting out of theſe would be a change exceeding dangerous for the State, That the keeping of the things with the removall of the abuſes would be a reformation ſatisfactory to all reaſonable complainers. This here is your moſt ſpecious plea anſwered long agoe by the actions of King Henry, King Edward, Queene Elizabeth, to uſe now any verball reply were but ſuperfluous.

What you ſpeake of the great learning of your Biſhops, ſuppone it to be true, yet you are exceedingly prejudicate, if you ſee not as much if not more of that quality in far mo of the Engliſh Divines who never were Biſhops, theſe few whoſe eminencies hath kythed in the epiſcopall charge might have advanced further, as themſelves will confeſſe, both in learning and pietie, if they never had beene burthened with Epiſcopall diſtractions.

Your gloriation of the honour done by ſtrangers to your Divines wee doe not envie, only we conceive you miſtaken, when you apply the reſpects done to the fame of the Church of England unto the perſons of the Biſhops, let bee to their Epiſcopacie, what ever reſpect that gratious Kirk has gotten from any ſtranger, we believe it might have been multiplied if their Biſhops had long ago bin aboliſhed, for they & their tail hath beene allways the onelyonly ſubject of feare and reſtraint p. 37of the full and plenary affections of forreigne Churches towards their Siſter of England. Your ſelves are forc'd to agree unto all the confiderable changes that are requifite.To fall out upon that Common place of changes in Church or State, it doth not well become you, ſince both your ſelfe, and all theſe of your Prelates, who would be conceived to have any ſponke, either of pietie, wiſdome, or moderation, doe willingly conſent to the far greateſt part of the change, whereby you would affright the State at this time; for your ſelfe along all this Treatiſe, and the prime of your Prelates, in the draughts of Government that come from their hands, ſeem to acknowledge the neceſſitie of erecting Presbyteries over all the Land, and pulling at laſt from the Biſhops, the power of Ordination and Juriſdiction, which too long they have unjuſtly poſſeſſed, that therewith the Presbyteries and Synods may bee inveſted, to whom by Divine Right they grant it belongs. Further, the putting downe of the Chancellour and Officiall Courts as meerly abuſive, the removing alſo of all the Clergy from Secular employments, and ſo from the Houſe of Parliament. What more is petitioned, will not introduce any farther change, either of cuſtome or Laws, that is conſiderable; while therefore your ſelfe doe offer to begin, or at leaſt to goe on with the far greateſt part of the change, you ought not to be heard in oppoſing ſome farther Reformation then you can agree to upon the pretended danger of alteration.

p. 38Your other conſideration is leſſe pertinent to the purpoſe, The world has had too long and too heavie experience of the ungracious fruits of Epiſcopacie.but more injurious to your profeſſed modeſty, your prudence here is not ruled by reaſon, while you adviſe the holding out of the required diſcipline for ſome yeers, till by experience you have ſeene the fruits of it amongſt your neighbours; is not the experience of twice forty yeeres and above, which many places have felt both of the Presbvteriall and Epiſcopall diſcipline, more then ſufficient? in all the reformed Churches wee ſee powred out upon the Presbytery by the hand of God, the firſt author of it, plentifull bleſſings, Wee ſee Epiſcopacie curſed in every ſoile it commeth with very bad conſequences, in the Romiſh Churches this government is the powerfull inſtrument of Satan to bar out the light of the Goſpel, in England and Scotland wee have ſeene grow upon it the Aples of ſtrife, ſuperſtition, pride, and many other evils, till of late it did become the horſe, whereupon came poaſting to the whole Iſle, Arminianiſme, Popery, and a bloudy warre for the hazard of the lives, eſtates, liberties, and all that was dear to any man, if the miraculous hand of God had not caſt the Horſe & his rider in the ditch of his vengeance; thoſe that would wait any longer to get any further experience of the fruits of Epiſcopacie may in juſtice meete with the miſchiefs which ordinarily fall upon them who tempt the Almighty.

What you ſpeake of the unquietneſſe of the p. 39Church of Scotland in the time of the Presbyterian diſcipline, it is far beyond the truth, never Church more quiet and free from inward diviſions then that of Scotland, from the beginning to this houre, except ſo far as this unhappie inſtrument of Epiſcopacie did creat them trouble.

Your boaſting of ſo great Pietie and vertue of thoſe plants who have grown under the ſhadow of your government needes not any anſwer.

Compariſons are odious, where England had ever one gratious Plant, wee wiſh it had beene multiplied to a 1000, yet wee muſt be permitted to think that the goodneſſe which has appeared in any member of the Engliſh Church has flowed from other fountains then that dry one of Epiſcopacie, what grace it hath been the inſtrument of, to thoſe who have beene neareſt to its influence, what vertues are moſt conſpicuous in their families, their Cathedralls, their Chaptors, their Courts, the World knowes, If you were ſo wiſe as you pretend, you would have beene ſilent at this time of Epiſcopall fruits; read over the thouſands of petitions that are preſented already to the eyes of this very Parliament againſt Biſhops, and Preachers, their greateſt favourites, you dare not ſay, if all the crimes that ever were known, let be preſented to any judicato ry, of all the presbyterian Preachers this hundred yeeres were put to gether, that either in number or quality they come neere to the black roule p. 40which the regiſters of this own yeere will tranſmit to the eares of after ages, of the gratious effects of that your noble plant. Who ſo will take pains to compare the crimes preſented to the Parliaments in the dayes of Henry the Eighth, againſt the Fryers, Monks, and Nunnes of thoſe times, for which their whole orders were for ever baniſhed the land, with theſe which now are delated of the Biſhops and their faction, Wee believe that the former ſhall be found not ſo important for the razing of the Abbacies, as the later doe require the pulling up by the roote of that old rotten tree of whoſe fruits you are here boaſting.

The other kind of men you admoniſh are a multitude of your brethren in the Prelaticall faction, Your reproof of theſe crying abominations whereof you confeſſe the Prelats to be guilty is both cold and ſhort.whō you ſay are too obſtinate in retaining what ever hath beene eſtabliſhed; your advertiſement to them is calme, modeſt, & ſhort enough, it is but in ſome few particulars (and that with the clauſe of a perhaps) wherein the generall and conſtant clamour againſt them, you confeſſe, is juſtifiable and ought to bee heard. How faintly and coldly touch you upon theſe evills which your conſcience doth know to be crying abominations, and to have beene long committed with an high hand? you name but too few; their aboliſhing of the fourth Command: of the Morall Law, their turning of all the pietie of the Goſpel, into a number of Legall, and Popiſh Ceremonies, their contempt of Souls for the love of p. 41money, in a world of Pluraliſts, and Non-Reſidents, their mixing of Heaven and Earth, Chriſt and the World, in joyning to the burthen of their ſpirituall charge, the load of all the temporall offices which by any means they can attain, they teach, that the Biſhop is the only proper Paſtor of his whole Dioceſſe, to whom alone the immediate and moſt proper care of all the ſouls in that great flock doth belong, and yet as if it were not enough to charge one poore man with the cure of ſome five or ſix hundred thouſand perſons, yea of ſome forty or fifty hundred thouſand, for readily the dioceſſe of Lincolne will exceed the firſt number, and that of London the ſecond, as if all theſe brought not burthen enough to the ſhoulders of one man, The weight of the great Seal and of the white ſtaff, the greateſt temporall offices in the Kingdome, muſt be joyned thereto, that the cenſure of the Church ſhould be reſt, againſt all Law Divine, and humane, out of the hands of Preachers, & caſt on the rabble of your Laick Canoniſts, that they by their Courts may make havock of the goods and perſons of the whole Nation, In all theſe you doe well to confeſſe your ſinne in fighting againſt the voice of God, in your impudent outfacing, and obſtinate reſiſting the cleere light of all reaſon; here it was indeed where your pen would have beene a little more pungent, for you know, you have to do with an hard hearted generation of men, who minde reformation in nothing if they bee not p. 42compelled; as every pin of their Tabernacle, and the whole frame of their government, is brought from the Mountains of Rome, ſo that principall maxime of Popiſh policie, that the Church muſt not be conceived by People ever to have erred, is the chiefe ſquare, and great rule, according to the which hetherto they have ruled all their adminiſtrations, to think of a reformation in any thing were to give groūd to the adverſaries, were the beginning of a declination, they ſee a deep precipice before them, if once they bee put to a mooving they know not where the reſt and period of their diſcent may be, ſo by all meanes, the preſent ſtation muſt bee kept without the yielding willingly of one foot of ground. No Prelate can be excuſed of great guiltineſſe.Have not theſe ſpirituall Lords ſitten already above 4. moneths in the convocation and Parliament? have any of them to this day made the leaſt motion to ſtop the courſe of thoſe hereſies and Idolatries which to their certain knowledg have bin theſe yeers paſt like a gangreene, like a peſt, like a firie poiſon infecting ſouls over all the Land? Should any reaſonable men ever more take notice of any their motions? can ever any faithfulneſſe be expected from them who ſo manifeſtly have betrayed the truſt which the King and the Country did cōmit to them, of their religion, and ſouls? no thanks to them, that Canterbury long ere now had not ſo firmly rooted Arminianiſme and Popery in the Church, with a tyrannous oppreſſion in the ſtate, as we and our poſteritie had never p. 43beene able in any after age to have gotten it amended. It is eaſie to diſcern what ſpirit hee is, who moves men to be clamorouſly contentious, when the queſtion commeth to any matter of their own dignitie, their own rents, their own ceremonious toys, but to be dumbe like fiſh, when before their eyes, the doctrine, the worſhip, the Saints of God, are moſt miſerably trampled under the foule feet of moſt inſolent men. Thoſe of the Prelats who count themſelves moſt orthodox, and innocent, cannot be excuſed of theſe crimes, which by their connivence they did foſter, and well neere as much promove by their ſuffering, The World upon good grounds, expects from this Parliament, the abolition of Epiſcopacie.as the other who were eſteemed more guiltie by their doings; who ſo will be pleaſed to make an accurate ſearch by what meanes the Prince of darkneſſe did moſt enable the one, I mean the Canterburian Prelats, to be ſo active and ſucceſsfull in their evill deſigne, and by what means the other who ſtill in private did profeſſe their diſaffection from theſe ways, were ſubdued to be ſo paſſive and ſilent, when errour, ſuperſtition, and oppreſsion, in the Church were advancing with ſuch ſpeed before their face, Epiſcopacie will be found the inſtrument which cloſed the mouth, and tied the hands of the one from ſpeaking or doing thoſe things which the honour of God, and welfare of the Church, then ſo deeply wounded, did require, but opened the mouth, and ſtrengthened the hand of the other, for ſaying and doing what ever they found conduceable p. 44for their miſchievous ends. How happie and glorious a work would it be for this gracious Parliament, to adde as a Crown and Coapſtone to all the bleſsings which the Church and State hath felt already, and yet expects from their hands, the breaking in pieces of this unhappie inſtrument, which in the hands of evill men is a very ſharp ſword, and firebrand, for executing of all their furious follies, and in the hand of good men becometh a bond of braſſe or ſteel, for binding them up from thoſe good words and works, which the World would certainly have expected from them, if they had beene free of ſuch ſlaviſh fetters?

If it might bee the will of God to move the minds of the Houſe of Commons, to behold the teares, the ſighes, the prayers, which for many yeeres numbers of godly ſouls have been powring out before God and men, from their heavie ſenſe of the cruell oppreſsion, ſpirituall and temporall, of the hierarchie, to read with a compaſsionate eye the ſupplications, which from the hands and hearts of many thouſands, in all the corners of the Kingdome, are come already, and daily encreaſe againſt that root of all their woe: to looke vponupon the reſpectfull faces of all the Reformed Churches who at this inſtant of time with more paſsionate deſires, with a greater meaſure of hope then ever before, are greedily gazing to behold, if now at laſt, that great ſtumbling blocke and ſole impediment of a full conformitie p. 45amongſt all the gracious Siſters can be gotten removed, and caſt into the Sea. But above all, to blenke up and fix their thoughts upon that great God, who but juſt now, here ſaved them all from ſo horrible a danger, and in the midſt of deſpaire, has lifted up to them an enſigne of the faireſt hopes; Unto that God, who daily walks in the midſt of theſe Honourable Houſes, which he alone has both aſſembled and kept thus long together above the thoughts of all men, whether friends or foes, expecting by way of thankfulnes from thoſe who deſire to bee counted faithfull ſervants, either to him or their Countrey, a full reſolution to govern themſelves in the affaires of his Houſe, eſpecially this great one which ſo neerly concernes his honour, by his ſole pleaſure, without any regard of worldly midſes, or baſe ends, which may draw them away one haires breadth from his Majeſties direction: If it may be the good pleaſure of the Lord to ſettle ſuch thoughts in the hearts of the houſe of Commons, they are few who make queſtion, but by their means, the higher houſe of the Peeres may be induced, as in all things elſe, ſo in this, to concurre in a joint ſupplication towards our gratious Soveraigne, that by the ſtrength of their threefold cord, they may pul up that old bitter root, which ſo long hath beene noxious to the ſoile, both of the Church and State.

If otherwayes the thoughts of the lower houſe ſhould be diverted from theſe and the like p. 46conſiderations, if they ſhould faint and give over to proſecute with courage, with faith, and hope, this truly noble deſigne, they would do well to forethink, unto whom after ages will impute all the inconveniences which readily may be procured to the King, to the Countrey, to the Churches abroad, by this unhappy Epiſcopacie, which if now retained after ſo full an examination of its nature and conſequences in ſo grave and wiſe a Court cannot but take deeper root then ever, & be more firmly eſtabliſhed againſt all poſsibilitie of any future removall. What ever the events hereof may prove, our Gracious Sovereigne, and higher Houſe of Parliament, may not ſo well be charged therewith, they having given ſo many late documents of their great readineſſe to hearken unto all the equitable motions, though never ſo full of difficulties at the firſt appearance, which the Houſe of Commons with any unanimitie and earneſtneſſe have as yet proponed: Beſide, it is to that Houſe alone, unto which the numerous petitions demonſtrating, not only the exceſſes of the men, but the inherent and eſſentiall corruptions of the office hath been preſented: It is the ſtate of Commons that moſt have taſted of Epiſcopacies bitterfruits, It is the Commons of the Land who will moſt be beaten, if Biſhops remain with their paſtorall rod, who moſt will be trod upon by the feet of their pride, and ſpoiled with the violence of their rapacious hands. To this Houſe therefore, above all others, ſince p. 47for this once, God has put in their hand to may, if they will, ſhall be aſcribed either the un-utterable grief of the Godly, for retaining, or their unſpeakable joy, for utter aboliſhing all degrees of Epiſcopacie.

FINIS.

Errata.

IN the Epiſtle l 19 r. thy. p. 10. l. 3. r. us with. p. 17. l. 2. r. Gerſem Bucous. p. 25. lin. 23. for that read what.

The Stationer to the buying Reader.

LOving Reader, bee pleaſed to take notice that the queſtion of Epiſcopacie diſcuſſed from Scripture and Fathers, promiſed upon the title of this Book, was intended by the Reverend Author to be joyned to this Reply, but ſome weighty cauſe having brought this to publike view firſt, and by it ſelfe, I thought good (after the printing of the ſaid title, in ſervice both to him and thee) to give notice of it. I reſt

Yours T. V.

End of the text · Robert Baillie, The Unlawfulness and Danger of Limited Episcopacy (1641)