The Fastening of Saint Peters Fetters, Tract · Preface
The PREFACE.
Right Worſhipful,
IF (without ſuſpition of blaſphemy and irreverence towards Sacred men and Sacred writ) I may purſue Dr. John Gauden's Metaphor, I cannot but tell you, mens prophane neglect and contempt of the Covenant did not a little perplex me; but that Solemn and Sacred Oaths ſhould be deemed St. Peters Bonds; and that Proteſtant Divines (dreaming of an Apoſtolical Priority) ſhould by Popiſh Arguments attempt his Releaſe to the Re-eſtabliſhment of the Papatum alterius mundi (as it was, is, and muſt be owned) of Epiſcopacy in Lawn ſleeves, exerciſing Paternal Authority over their brethren, as the peoples *Dr. John Ganden's Analyſis of the Covenant. p. 17.equals and inferiors, becauſe in black coats, did much more afflict my ſpirit.
Sir, in ſence hereof, I did ſend out my Analepſis after the Doctors Analyſis; and made bold to withſtand St. Peter to his face, for he was to be blamed, and indeed condemned (as *foreign.the word in Gal. 2.11. doth ſignifie) and brought him back to priſon (it muſt be ſo eſteemed) with ſilence hearkning for his joyful ſongs under Chriſt his Maſters yoke; and in thoſe holy Stocks: and reſolved ſubmiſſively to wait on God, to perfect the peace and purity of his Church in England, and plead the quarrel of the Covenant; but the Grating Files of ſome (more willing than able to diſmiſs my priſoner) have diſturbed my reſt.
Truly, Sir, I love St. Peter better in Bonds than in the Popes Lordly Chair, and was never yet reputed a Sceptick, and therefore cannot now brook to have my Analepſis out-run, and derided with an foreign, a ſcornful eſcape from my due and diligent purſuit; and therefore muſt once more make bold, under your Worſhipfull name, 1 Sam. 18.23.to ſend this Ahimaaz after Cuſhi, though on the ſame errand; whereunto I am no little encouraged, for that the *Book ſo called.Doubts and Scruples concerning the taking the Solemn League and Covenant, which are by the Doctor (my Antagoniſt) and his Nephew No-body, commended to my conſideration, hath done me the honour to couple you with me; and you the honour as to tell the world, you abide as ſtedfaſt in the Covenant as they found you in their firſt aſſaults.
Noble Colonel, I will not fear to be (in my place) your Second, under ſo holy an Enſign as is the Solemn League and Covenant; nor once doubt your courage in ſo good a cauſe, which I wiſh may appear in Common-Council, not Champian-Fields: For Sir,
—Tutius eſt contendere verbis,
Quam pugnare manu—
Sanctified words uttered from a ſound mind, may ſubdue prophaneneſs, and ſettle His Majeſties Throne in Righteouſneſs, and no way diſturb the peace of theſe too long diſtracted Nations: rather than which, I deſire never to put pen to paper.
Sir, Since my anſwer to Dr. Gaudens Senſe and Solution of the Covenant, many Pamphlets have ſtarted into the world, to raiſe a duſt, and make a noiſe in the ſtreets, that the Vulgar may think ſomething may be ſaid againſt the Covenant; but when they come to be conſidered, they appear like the Apples of Sodom, or out-cries of affrighted women, who cry, Stop, ſtop, Hold, hold; but cannot ſtretch one hand whereby to hold or ſtay the purſuit.
The firſt of thſe was John Rowland, A Rejoynder to Mr. Rowland's Reply.a right Sir John Suckling in his pretended Reply to the Anonymous Anſwer to the Doctor, wherein, more like a Sir John Country Curate than Rector of Footſcray in Kent, he anſwereth all matters of moment as to fact or notion, as if to a Quis fuit hic ſepultus in his Churchyard, with I know not, I cannot tell, I have not read, I have not the Book, and the like; meriting to himſelf Ignoramus Motto, Per verbum Neſcio Reſolvitur omnis queſtio. Yet he giveth Mr. Crofton (the meaneſt dwarfe, but) in his monſtrous eye the Goliath of the Covenanters, a moſt capital Confutation: Like a well-skill'd pick-pocket, writing his name in ſuch Capital Letters, that men may run and read, and ſucklings ſtand ſtill and gaze at them: but throughout his whole Book medieth not with him or his Anſwer, and therefore my Rejoynder to his Reply muſt be tht of Sir Thomas Moor to the ſilly Frier,
Tu bene caviſti ne te ulla occidere poſſit
Litera; nam tota eſt litera nulla tibi.
Thou tak'ſt good care the Letter kill thee not,
Thy skill is ſuch thou know'ſt not B from Bot.
But yet in fine, by a Hocus-Pocus Poſtſcript, he conjured Mr. Crofton into a Synonimy with Anonymus, and profoundly concluded, Anſwer one, anſwer all.
The next was a paper of the like ſtamp, Mr. Ruſſel's piſcharge diſcharged.but more immediately directed unto me, yet not to any thing of my Arguments; This was, The Solemn League and Covenant diſcharged, by John Ruſſel of Chinkford in Eſſex: This man pretends not onelyonly to looſen, but to annihilate St. Peters bonds; and for his ſtrength and skill, was atteſted by John Gauden D. D. and yet he medleth not with one of thoſe Arguments he pretendeth to diſcharge, but ſtarts a new notion; which, becauſe it ſo well pleaſed the Doctor, ſhall (though not worth it) come in its place to be conſidered: I owe this man thanks for his good opinion of the modesty and perfection of my anſwer, In his Epiſtle.which he ſaith, was onelyonly defective in point of memory, for that I did not remember the Kings conceſſions which were voted a ground of peace, were with continuance of Epiſcopacy; but by his leave I remembered it, though my Argument led not to repeat it; and though he ſeem to forget, I remember the Concesſions were to ſuſpend Epiſcopacy, and the Liturgy, and admit Presbytery and the Directory for three years. To him I ſay then,
Turpe eſt doctori, cum culpa redarguit ipſum.
And wiſh him, He ſo calls it himſelf in p. 8.who ſo minds my memory, to look well to his Intellectuals: For, the laſt qualm of ſadneſſe made him half mad, to rage and rave, That Mr. Crofton had urged the Ligne de ſaint in France as the Preſident of the Covenant, who onelyonly reſcued the Covenant from the odium of that compariſon caſt upon it by the Doctor, and that, by the ſame Argument which himſelf granteth, (viz.) That though the Ligne de ſaint were ſinful in the matter, yet it was lawful enough in the abſtracted form of it. And here alſo he rampantly braggeth, that he could produce an hundred precedents to ſquare with the conditions of the times when the Covenant was taken; which, conſidering the Religion profeſſed, the Kingdoms confederated, the Reformation purſued, the Authority directing it, and the like; if he find ten of his hundred I will go to Bedlam, on condition he lie there till wiſe men diſcern the parallel. The common out-cry of others is, The like time was never ſeen; but this was to eaſe his mind, as himſelf profeſſeth.
The third was the Spurious League Illegal, The Baſtardy of the League Illegal.falſly fathered on Dr. Daniel Featly, by the dignity of his name to deceive the world; but the feature of it is every way unlike a man ſo acute and Logical as was this Doctor, as is evident in its arguing idem per idem, in the 8 and 11th Arguments, generals from particulars, Argument 8. pag. 26. its Contradiction to the Doctor, who, in his Epiſtle to the Parliament, prefixed to his Dipper Dipt, denominateth the two Houſes Beauty and Bonds, and owns the Commors as Legiſlators, the Lords as Executors, and determined their War, A repairing the Temple with their Swords in their hands: whom this Book (pretending to be written the ſame year with that Epiſtle) denyeth to be any Lawful Authority, and denominateth fomenters of that unnatural civil War; nay, it is contradictory to it ſelf, affirming, No people may make a Covenant in any caſe without the Kings conſent, in pag. 15. Arg. 3. and yet affirmeth, that in ſundry caſes a people may covenant not onelyonly without, but againſt the conſent and command of the King, Page 20.unto which I might add an heap of Non-ſence obſervable in it, as, That the Covenant is not a vertue, for Ariſtotle ſaith, Virtus eſt habitus Electivus, pag. 26. This piece looking aſquint at me, is loaded with ſuch railing language, that it ſeems to have come from beneath, and muſt be owned as Dr. Featly's Ghoſt, raiſed by the circle of his Executors fancy, to clear his way to preferment; it gives us arguments by number, not by weight; the force of any of them is in the Oxford-Reaſons (that fountain that feeds, and Fort that guards all exceptions againſt the Covenant) and ſhall in its place be conſidered.
The fourth and laſt Pamphlet no leſſe ridiculous than the reſt, The doubts and ſcruples concerning the Covenant weighed.as ſcarce having a grain of true Religion, or a ſcruple of a Right Reaſon, is the doubts and ſcruples againſt taking the Solemn League and Covenant, publiſhed by an aliquis Nemo, a man in the Moon, and ſo like to be reſolved by Nuper Nunquam; but this is uſhered into the world at its *Being reprinted.new birth by the learned Epiſtle of Dr. John Gauden, and is offered to the conſideration of Sir Lawrence Bromfield, and Mr. Zachary Crofton; and ſo makes the Exchange ring, and ſtreets roar with Dr. Gauden's Reply to Mr. Croftons Anſwer about the Covenant, and ſo calls for regard, which otherwiſe was as fit ware for the Tobacco-ſhops as any the reſt.
Truly, Sir, I could not read this Epiſtle without aſtoniſhment, for that inſtead of thoſe clear, pregnant, and conſtant beams of right reaſon, and true Religion, which ſhineth with the brightneſs and ſtability of Divine and Human Laws; and might be the pillars of this truth, firm ſupport of duty, ſure bounds of obedience, and ſafe repoſe of conſcience, which he promiſed in his Analyſis, and I demanded in my Analepſis; he doth idem iiſdem verbis aſſerere, affirm the ſame thing without diſtinction, in the ſame terms without variation, or other demonſtration; onelyonly, (as having obtained his fancied paternal authority) he doth ſomething more Magiſterially preſcribe the performing of the Covenant againſt Schiſm (which he would have us take on his word to de Presbytery, to which Doctor Uſher would have reduced Epiſcopacy) and Superſtition, before we conſider its obligation againſt Epiſcopacy; and in a grave paſſion, brandeth the Covenant (himſelf hath ſworn) with the Epithite of a lawleſs unnational Covenant, and ſtigmatizeth the exactors thereof as covetous crafty men, engaged in the ſacrilegious depredations of the Church, and unſtable ſouls: Which cannot be found in me: My 8 l. per annum will not more acquit me from the one, than my Sequeſtration for adhereing to the Covenant, will acquit me from the other. But he addeth, Or ſilly ſouls, and ſuch an one I may be, yet will play the fool in glorying in ſuch godly ſimplicity. In this heat he chargeth all Civillians and Caſuiſts with fooliſh and fanatick Superſtition, as well as mad and violent Schiſm, in teaching men to avoid what is good, honeſt, juſt, and lawful, becauſe of a ſuppoſed and confeſſed abuſe thereof: Not ſo much as favouring Hezekiah, who demoliſhed the brazen Serpent; nor Paul in his reſolution, never to eat fleſh in his future diet. We may be aſſured he will never be ſo ſuperſtitious or ſchiſmatical, as to cut off his right hand, or pluck out his right eye, (which are good, honeſt, juſt, lawfull members) in caſe they offend him, though the Lord Chriſt himſelf hath ſo directed.
But, Sir, with what face think you can Dr. Gauden again urge againſt the Covenant the defect of Authority, its ſad effects, the obſcurity, ambiguity, and ſeeming diſcrepancy of the Covenant, for the diſcharge of its obligation, whilſt he hath been fully and ſoberly anſwered as to theſe things, and hath made no Reply? How is it that he preſſeth forward his Epiſcopacy without diſtinction? and yet I have told him there is Papal Epiſcopacy to be extirpated, and a Presbyterial Preſidency (pointed unto them by the Primate of Armagh) to be advanced. Knoweth he not, qui bene diſtinguit bene docet? Or doth he diſdain to take truth from ſo mean an hand? He is a Miniſter, ſo am I, though my poor eſtate, numerous family, or want of the Kings grace, will not allow me to write D. D.
But ſeriouſly, Sir, though Popiſh do, me-thinks Proteſtant Biſhops ſhould not diſdain a Reformation in a Luthers hand: Let him then conſult Dr. Sanderſon De Juramento, and if he ſquare with, or I differ from his Divinity, let him be humm'd, and me be hiſt, & contra. I believe he would not have us think him ſo ambitious of his Epiſcopal See (to which ſome ſay he is promoted) as for it to break his Covenant, and brow-beat his brethren, and rage againſt the Oath of God with à non amote— and being demanded a reaſon, can ſay no more than Non poſsum dicere quare. Sure he is not ſo ſtout a Sophiſter as to paſs the premiſes, and ſtand to the denial of the concluſion. If he have attained to a Papal-Epiſcopal-Chair, I hope he will not pretend to the Infallibility of it, and bind our faith on his ipſe dixit. Verily, Sir, I cannot but ſay to the Doctor, concerning his Analyſis and this Epiſtle, as Eraſmus to Faber of Vienna,
Mente cares, ſi res agitur tibi ſeria; rurſus
Fronte cares, ſi ſic ludis, amice Faber.
Whether he be proudly mad, or fooliſhly pertinacious, I will not judge, but muſt yet call on him to remember the Covenant, and conſider from whence he is fallen, and repent. He had need to run to the common Refuge, the Oxford Reaſons; but it is well if they prove not a broken Reed, more to wound than defend him.
Sir, notwithſtanding theſe and the like Squibs and Crackers flung out againſt the Solemn League and Covenant, to make prophane men ſport, and expoſe it to vulgar ſcorn more than ſatisfie conſcience, the Covenant keeps the field in its full force and vigour, and St. Peters bonds abide. I ſhall not therefore waſte time and paper to trace their follies, and tire my Reader with an anſwer to words without weight; but in the purſuit of (the edification of ſouls) the end of my Miniſterial Writing, as well as Preaching, Faſten St. Peters Fetters, and ſecure my Priſoner by a Chain made of thoſe Seven Links or Propoſitions, which, being cleared and confirmed, will extend the influence, and enforce the obligation of the Covenant, againſt that prophane oppoſition which is made unto it, (viz.)
1. The aſſerting of the Solemn League and Covenant, and its obliging force, is a duty indiſpenſably incumbent on every man in his place; but eſpecially on the Ministers of the Goſpel.
2. The irregularities in firſt making the Covenant will not diſcharge its obligation, now it is made and ſworn.
3. The matter ſworn in the Solemn League and Covenant is juſt and lawful, to be maintained and purſued.
4. The form and manner of making the Solemn League and Covenant was good and allowable.
5. The Ambiguities and Contradictions of the words in the Solemn League are imagined, and not real.
6. The Covenant in its quality, and for its obligation, is publick and National, as well as private and perſonal.
7. The Solemn League and Covenant is in the nature of it permanently binding, and no way to be abſolved or diſcharged.
Of theſe then particularly, and in their order. And firſt of the firſt of them.