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Full text of "The examination of Tilenus before the Triers : in order to his intended settlement in the office of a public preacher in the Commonwealth of Utopia. Whereunto are annexed the tenents of the Remonstrants touching those five articles voted, stated and imposed, but not disputed, at the Synod of Dort. Together with a short essay (by way of annotations) upon the fundamental theses of Mr. Thomas Parker"

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iNn 'Is  i;(*  r.WM 


AnoKPiSi:^  npos  'thokpi^in. 


EXAMINATION  OF  TILENUS 

BEFORE   THE   TRIERS, 

IN    ORDER    TO    HIS    INTENDED    SETTLEMENT    IN    THE    OFFICE 
or      A     PUBLIC     PREACHER,     IN     THE      COMMONWEALTH     OF     UTOPIA: 

WHEREUNTO     ARE    ANNEXED 

THE  TENENTS  OF  THE  REMONSTRANTS, 

TOUCHING  THOSE  FIVE  ARTICLES 

TOTED,    STATED,    AND    IMPOSED,     BUT    NOT    DISPUTED, 
AT     THE 

^gnotf  of  Mott 

TOGETHER     WITH     A     SHORT     ESSAY,     BY     WAY     OF     ANNOTATIONS, 
UPON    THE    FUNDAMENTAL   THESES    OF    MR.    THOMAS    PARKER. 


I 


LONDON: 


PRINTED  FOR  R.  ROYSTON,  AT  THE  ANGEL  IN  IVY  LANE, 

1658. 
„  REPRINTED     BY    JAMES    NICHOLS,     22,    WARWICK    SQUARE, 

V.  NEWGATE     STREET, 

1824. 


PREFACE  BY  THE  EDITOR. 


Of  the  Life  of  Dr.  Laurence  Womack,  the  l^idrrted  and 
ingenious  author  of  "the  Examination  of  Tilenus,"  the 
reader  will  find  a  brief  sketch  in  the  beginning  of  the  second 
volume  of  "  Calvinism  and  Arminianism  Compared."  I 
hope  to  procure  materials  for  a  more  copious  account  of  this 
excellent  Prelate,  to  prefix  to  a  new  edition  of  his  Calvinists' 
Cabinet  Unlocked,  which  I  have  in  contemplation.  He 
was  one  of  many  hundred  divines,  who,  when  through  an  attach- 
ment to  Episcopacy  they  were  ejected  from  their  benefices, 
directed  their  attention,  during  the  Civil  Wars,  to  the  impor- 
tant differences  between  Calvinism  and  Arminianism,  which 
had  been  studiously  depicted  as  one  of  the  chief  ostensible 
causes  of  the  contest  between  the  monarch  and  his  people. 
Dr.  Womack,  in  common  with  other  great  and  eminent  men 
of  that  age,  had  been  full  of  zeal  for  the  system  of  Calvin ; 
and  nothing  more  strikingly  displays  the  beneficial  results  of 
the  change  produced  in  his  mind,  than  a  contrast  between 
his  sentiments  in  1640  and  1660,  in  two  works  which  he 
wrote  at  those  periods  in  behalf  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Many  eloquent  passages,  in  praise  of  Episcopacy,  I  have  had 
the  satisfaction  of  perusing ;  but  never  any  so  eloquent  and 
nervous  as  those  of  Bishop  Womack. 

Every  man  of  feeling  will  be  captivated  with  the  simplicity 
of  style  in  which  he  relates  his  secession  from  Calvinism,  in 
one  of  the  following  pages,  (10,)  which  was  effected  by  his 
perusal  of  the  writings  of  the  persecuted  Dutch  Remon- 
strants :  "  The  greater  the  prejudices  were  which  had  been 
**  instilled  into  me  against  these  doctrines,  the  greater  you 
"  ought  to  conclude  the  light  to  be  which  hath  wrought  this 
*'  my  present  conviction  of  their  truth,  and  hath  induced  me 
*'  to  embrace  them,  against  all  the  charms  of  interest  and 
"  secular  advantages,  wherewith  the  world  tempts  us  to  the 
*'  contrary."  This  was  the  way  in  which  multitudes  of  the 
Episcopal  clergy  became  converts-  to  Arminianism,  during  the 


4  EDTTOirs    PREFACE. 

Inter-regnum ;  but  Dr.  Womack  is  the  first  man  whom  I 
have  found  openly  acknowledging  his  immediate  obligations 
to  t\}e  writings  of  the  Dutch  Divines.  In  Archbishop  Laud's 
days,,popi<kr  as  Arminianism  is  usually  said  to  have  been,  no 
.njan  would  own  himself  to  be  an  Arminian,  or  indebted  to  the 
HeriionsvrantE^for  the  change  effected  in  his  sentiments  :  The 
reason  for  this  shyness  I  have  given  in  the  second  volume, 
and  an  allusion  to  it  will  be  found  in  page  688.  Traces  of 
this  feeling  may  be  seen  even  in  that  intrepid  defender  of  the 
doctrines  of  General  Redemption,  John  Goodwin,  who  had 
nothing  to  fear  or  to  hope  from  his  Republican  brethren,  and 
who,  in  all  his  previous  writings,  never  once  made  a  direct 
avowal  of  his  obligations  to  the  illustrious  and  amiable  Pro- 
fessor  of  Leyden,  till  after  he  had  read  and  admired  Dr. 
Womack's  manly  account  of  his  departure  from  the  ranks  of 
the  Genevan  reformer.  In  doing  this,  however.  Dr.  Womack 
did  not  risk  any  part  of  his  reputation ;  for  his  pamphlet  was 
published  anonymously,  and  few  of  his  intimate  friends  knew 
him  as  the  writer.  His  enemies  knew  still  less  about  the  mat- 
ter, and  outrageously  charged  other  two  eminent  men  with  the 
publication. 

After  a  perusal  of  the  Examination  of  Tilenus,  it  will  be 
perceived,  that  its  style  is  far  superior  to  the  common  style  of 
that  age  :  It  is  exceedingly  chaste,  and  does  not  abound  in 
Augustinian  "quips  and  quirks,"  the  jocose  allusions  and 
double  meanings,  which  sometimes  disfigured  and  sometimes 
enlivened  the  productions  of  the  eminent  men  who  flourished 
in  that  and  the  preceding  century.  But  though  Dr.  Womack 
had  been  educated  in  a  knowledge  of  many  of  those  doctrines 
which  are  as  much  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  as  of  Calvin- 
ism, I  regret  to  find,  in  this  masterly  exposition  of  high  Predes- 
tinarian  intolerance,  the  germs  of  those  noxious  errors  which, 
arising  from  a  spirit  of  revulsion  to  some  even  of  the  excellen- 
ces of  Calvinism,  became  distinguishing  tenets  in  the  creed  of 
~  the  succeeding  English  Arminians.  Yet,  in  humorously  ani- 
madverting upon  the  errors  of  the  domineering  Predestinari- 
ans,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  avoid  the  extreme  to  which  I 
have  here  adverted  ;  and  such  passages  of  the  work  as  relate 
to  experimental  religion  must  be  read  with  as  much  caution  as 


editor''s  preface.  5 

those  wliicli  contain  the  specious  arguments  of  an  Infidel^  and 
of  a  Carnal^  a  Slotliful,  or  a  Tempted  Professoi'. 

But  this  pamphlet  was  written  for  the  purpose  of  exposino- 
not  only  a  few  of  the  doctrinal  vagaries  of  the  Republican 
Calvinists,  but  likewise  the  partial  and  cruel  conduct  of  Crom- 
welPs  Commission  of  "  Triers,""  whom  he  had  appointed  to 
regulate  the  admission  of  persons  into  Holy  Orders  and  con- 
sequently to  ecclesiastical  benefices.  Of  those  Commissioners 
"  the  Independents  formed  the  majority,  and  were  the  most 
active  in  the  use  of  their  delegated  powers  f  This  therefore 
is  an  admirable  specimen  of  the  ilUherality  and  intolerant 
views  of  that  denomination  of  Clu'istians. 

The  interlocutors  in  the  Dialogue,  though  generally  speak- 
ing in  the  same  smooth  style,  were  sufficiently  distinguished 
from  each  other  by  the  sentiments  which  they  severally  ex- 
pressed, and  were  thus  rendered  objects  of  public  vitupera- 
tion. The  peculiarities  by  which  each  of  them  was  then 
known,  not  having  been  matters  of  cotemporary  record,  are 
now  nearly  lost  to  posterity.  I  think,  however,  it  would  not 
be  difficult  for  a  man  of  letters,  accurately  read  in  the  singular 
lore  of  that  period,  to  put  his  finger  upon  several  passages  in 
the  Dialogue,  and  to  say,  "  This  is  verbatim  one  of  Dr. 
Twisse's  curious  assertions,""  and  "  This  is  in  the  phraseology 
of  Dr.  Owen,  Stephen  Marshall,  or  Jeremiah  Burroughes."" 
My  reading  qualifies  me  to  pronounce,  with  any  thing  like 
certainty,  only  upon  three  of  them :  Mr.  Narrow-grace  was 
intended  for  Philip  Nye;  Mr.  Know-littU,  for  Hugh 
Peters  ;  and  Dr.  Dubious,  for  Richard  Baxter.  If  it 
be  objected,  "  that  Baxter  was  not  one  of  the  Trying  Com- 
missioners^'"' it  may  be  observed  in  reply,  that  this  circumstance 
was  not  accounted  essential  to  the  author"'s  design  ;  for  there 
is  at  least  another  di'amatic  personage  introduced  by  name, 
who  never  had  more  than  a  sentimental  existence  in  England : 
This  is  Dr.  Dam-man,  which  was  the  significant  name  of  one 
of  the  secretaries  to  the  Synod  of  Dort,  a  person  of  the  most 
rigid  Calvinistic  principles.  If  all  the  other  portraits  were  as 
faithfully  executed  as  that  of  Baxter,  they  must  have  been  recog- 
nised by  cotemporaries  as  striking  likenesses.  Baxter  knew 
his  own  features  in  this  faithful  mirror ;  and  the  sight  of  them 


(J  editor's    I'KF.FACF.. 

roused  all  liis  latent  querulousness,  to  wliicli  he  gave  abundant 
utterance  in  the  Preface  to  his  Grotian  Religion  Displayed. 
When  I  first  read  the  Rev.  Thomas  Scott's  Articles  of  the 
Synod  of  Dort,  I  was  strongly  reminded  of  Baxter's  com- 
plaints concerning  the  abridgment  of  those  Articles,  which 
will  be  found  in  a  subsequent  page.  (39) 

John  Goodwin  had  been  Womack's  precursor  in  opposing 
the  Commissions  of  Triers  and  Ejectors.     In  1 657  he  pub- 
lished a  pamphlet  under  the  title  of  "  The  Triers,  or  Tor- 
mentors, tried  and  cast,  by  the  Laws  both  of  God  and  Men,'* 
&c.     In  my  friend  Mr.  Jackson's  fine  Life  of  Goodzvin,  the 
reader  will  meet  with  copious  extracts  from  this  most  spirited 
and  interesting  pamphlet.     Mr.  Hickman,  a  celebrated  Cal- 
vinistic  skirmisher  in  those  days,  found  himself  aggrieved  by 
the   contents   of  Dr.    Womack's   Examination   of  Tilenus. 
Whether,  like  Baxter,  Hickman  thought  he  had  discerned 
his  own  face  as  in  a  glass,  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining. 
If,  however,  he  had  made  such  a  painful  discovery,  he  was 
much  too  prudent  to  publish  it  to   the  world.     But,  for  the 
sake  at  least  of  the  good  old  cause  itself,  he  published  a  pam- 
phlet against  the  Examination  of  Tilenns,  upon   which  Dr. 
Womack  "  let  fall  a  few  soft  drops,"  according  to  the  expres- 
sion in  the  title-page  to  his  Calvinists''  Cabinet  Unlocked.  Hav- 
ing adverted  to  some  of  the  railing  names, — such  as  Ethiopian, 
Scribbler.^  this  poor  Felloxv, — which  he  had  "  uncivilly"  cast 
upon  the  assumed  Tilenus,  Dr.  Womack  informs  his  readers : 
"  Master  Hickman  may  pass  muster  for  a  precious  saint,  as 
the  present  accounts  are  made  below  ;  but   I  am  sure  he  can 
gather  none  of  those^oai^^r*  of  rhetoric  from  the  discourses  of 
the   holy  angels   that   converse   above.       He   chargeth    that 
author  [Tilenus]  with  impudence  in  abusing  the  Triers  :  But 
I  must  tell  him  (on  his  behalf)  when  such  schemes  of  rhetoric 
are  used, — as  they  may  be  with  vvonderful  advantage,  being 
not  only  instrumental  to  illustrate  and  adorn  a  truth,  but  also 
to  make  it  the  more  pungent  and  take  impression, — the  abuse 
imagined  to  result   from  them  is   ever,  amongst  wise  men, 
ascribed  to  him   that  takes  the  impudence  to  make  the  appli- 
cation.     And   whereas  he  saith  further,  that  the  Synod  of 
Dort,  which  Tilenus  writes  against,  is  a  man  made  up  ofhis^ 


KDITOR  S    I'KKFACi;.  7 

oum  ngly  clouU ;  I  must  tell  you,  he  shall  find  before  he 
hath  read  these  papers  half  way  through,  that  those  clouts,  as 
Vffli/  as  they  seem  to  him,  are  genuine  parts  of  that  home-spun 
stuff  which  was  warped,  and  xcoven,  and  milled  too,  by  that 
very  Synod  of  the  town  of  Dort.  Neither  hath  Tilenus  set 
this  web  upon  the  tenter-hooks,  nor  torn  any  part,  to  make 
ugly  clouts  of  it ;  but  only  used  that  liberty  which  is  allowed 
to  all  artists  of  this  kind,  fairly  to  cut  out  of  the  whole  piece 
such  proportions  as  might  best  serve  to  clothe  his  discourse,  in 
XhaiJ'ashion  it  is  now  represented  in." 

But,  not  content  Avith  vilifying  Tilenus,  Mr.  Hickman 
"  fell  foul  of"  John  Goodwin.  As  the  brief  answer  which 
that  redoubtable  Arminian  returned  to  his  rancorous  assail- 
ant, contains  a  remarkable  confirmation  of  Dr.  Womack's 
fidelity  of  execution,  in  the  portraits  which  he  has  here  given, 
I  subjoin  a  copious  extract  from  it : 

"  I  understand,  by  some  of  my  friends,  who  have  had  the 
opportunity  and  leisure,  (which  I  have  not  yet  had,)  to  look 
into  a  book  not  long  since  published  by  one  Mr.  Hickman, — 
a  gentleman  altogether  unknown  to  me,  and  not  heard  of  until 
of  late,  casting  mine  eye  upon  a  piece  of  Mr.  Pierce  his  writ- 
ing, I  found  such  a  name  there, — that  this  gentleman,  pre- 
tending in  the  said  book  only  an  answer  to  Mr.  Pierce  touch- 
ing some  things  in  his  writings  at  which  he  made  himself 
aggrieved,  two  or  three  several  times  in  this  pamphlet  stepped 
out  of  his  way  to  ease  his  mind,  perhaps  his  conscience,  in 
remonstrating  unto  the  world  what  high  Remonstrant  misde- 
meanours he  had  found  in  me.  In  one  place  of  his  book,  (as 
I  had  the  passage,  transcribed  by  a  steady  hand,  sent  unto 
me,)  having  charged  the  English  Tilenus  with  making  the 
Triers  to  ask  such  questions,  oftlwse  that  come  before  them, 
a^  in  all  probability  never  came  into  all  their  thoughts  to  ask, 
upon  this  his  probable  misdemeanour  he  advanceth  this  Rhada- 
manthine  and  severe  sentence,  both  against  him  and  me  : 
Which,  saith  he,  is  such  a  piece  of  impudence  as  no  one  liath 
ventured  to  imitate  him  [Tilenus]  in,  but  that  Ishmael  of 
Coleman-street,  [Goodwin,]  ivlwse  hand,  being  against  all 
men,  hath  provoked  all  men,  even  to  the  common  pamphlet- 
eer, to  lifl  up  a  hand  against  him.       The  best  is,  in  cas-c 


8 


EDITOII  S    PllKFACE. 


Mr.  Hickman's  reproach  here  could  be  admitted  for  true, 
that  Jeremy  of  Jerusalem  was  '  a  man  of  strife  and  a  man  of 
contention  to  the  whole  earth ,""  as  well  as  that  IshmaelgfCole- 
man-street,  and  yet  was  a  true  prophet,  and  never  the  less  like 
so  to  have  been  for  the  numerousness  of  his  contests. — Noah 
also  was  '  a  preacher  of  righteousness/  yet  his  proportion  of 
opposers  far  exceeded  mine  ;  and  the  number  of  those  who 
embrace  my  doctrine  with  their  whole  hearts,  far  exceedeth  the 
number  of  those  who,  upon  such  terms,  received  his. — ^Yea» 
our  Saviour  himself  testifieth,  that,  in  the  church  and  nation 
of  the  Jews,  they  who  had  the  more  general  approbation  and 
applause  were  ihejalse  prophets,  not  the  true :  '  Woe  unto 
them,  when  all  men  shall  speak  well  of  them  ;  for  so  did  their 
fathers  to  the  false  prophets.'  (Luke  vi,  26.) 

*'  Whereas,  he  chargeth  me  with  veniur'mg'  to  imitate  Ti- 
le N  us,  in  making-  the  Triers  to  ask  such  questions,  of  those 
ivho  come  before  them,  as  in  all  prohahility  never  came  into  all 
their  thoughts  to  asJc :  The  truth  is,  that  he  chargeth  me  with 
the  crime  of  such  a  courage  or  boldness  whereof  I  was  never 
conscious.  I  never  made  any  venture  to  imitate  Tilenus,  in 
such  an  attempt  as  is  here  charged  upon  him ;  nor  did  I  ever 
go  before  him  in  any  such  :  I  no  where  either  challenge  them 
or  charge  them  with  asking  such  questions,  of  those  that  come 
hefore  them,  zohich  in  all  probability  never  came  into  all  their 
thoughts  to  ask.  If  I  charge  them  with  asking  any  questions 
in  the  case,  they  are  only  such  which  themselves  and  their 
own  consciences  know,  that  they  do  or  did  ask  frequently, 
and  from  time  to  time.  And  for  the  questions  which  Tilenus 
liimself  makcth  them  to  ask,  as  far  as  I  remember,  if  they 
were  not  the  same  formally  et  in  terminis,  yet  they  were  the 
same  materially  and  in  reality  of  import,  which  they  were 
wont  to  ask.  And  for  a  man  in  his  own  words  to  report 
another  man's  sense  uttered  in  his,  is  no  such  venturous  piece 
of  impudence  r 

Without  further  Preface,  I  introduce  my  readers  to  Dr. 
Womack's  very  able  pamphlet. 

JAMES  NICHOLS. 


THE 


PREFATORY  EPISTLE 

VIKO   PARI,    ET    FAMILIARI    MEO 
M.  S.  P. 


My  Dear  and  Good  Friend, 

These  Papers  come  now  to  your  hands,  to  give  you 
assurance,  that  ray  many  late  discourses,  upon  the  subjects  here 
treated  of,  were  in  good  earnest.  Whatever  it  was  that  occasioned 
the  forming  of  my  conceptions  into  this  shape,  there  is  nothing 
in  the  world  hath  a  greater  hand,  (if  so  it  may  be  said  of  motives,) 
to  give  them  birth,  than  your  passionate  opposition.  For  I 
am  weary  of  those  debates  by  word  of  mouth,  wherein  men  of 
much  zeal  and  prejudice  grow  so  hot  and  so  far  transported, 
that  instead  of  solid  arguments  advancing  oi'derly  under  the 
command  of  sober  reason,  they  can  levy  no  other  forces  but 
froth  and  choler  to  assist  them.  That  I  may  no  more  break 
the  peace  (in  this  kind)  with  you,  nor  endanger  making  the 
least  flaw  in  that  dear  friendship  that  hath,  by  so  long  a  con- 
versation, grown  up  to  so  great  a  height  betwixt  us ;  I  have 
resolved  to  take  this  calmer  course, — to  give  an  account  of  some 
grounds  of  my  present  persuasions,  wherein  I  differ  from  your 
judgment.  Perhaps  they  may  some  time  or  other  find  your 
affections  so  quiet,  your  understanding  so  well  awakened,  and 
your  will  so  willing  to  stand  neuter,  till  these  truths  have  a  fair 
and  full  hearing,  that  they  may  make  a  better  impression,  than 
hitherto  they  have  had  opportunity  to  do,  upon  you.  And 
because  I  remember,  (in  some  heat  of  dispute,)  you  have  thrown 
some  things  upon  me,  (which  were  not  so  much  faults  in  me, 
as  prejudices  and  scandals  taken  up  by  yourself,)  I  shall  briefly 
wipe  them  off,  that  such  rubs  being  removed  out  of  your  way, 

B 


10  Till-:     KXAMINATIOX  [I'REFAT. 

you  may  have  the   less  objection  to  friglit  you   from  a  further 
inquiry  into  the  Articles  imder  question. 

Ami  now,  I  beseech  you,  in  the  first  place,  to  upbraid  me 
no  more  with  the  errors  of  iny  education,  (for  so  I  must  now 
account  them,)  because  the  greater  the  prejudices  were  which 
were  instilled  into  me  against  these  doctrines,  the  greater  you 
ought  to  conclude  the  light  to  be  which  hath  wrought  this  my 
present  conviction  of  their  truth,  and  induced  me  to  embrace 
thenij  against  all  the  charms  of  interest,  and  secular  advantages, 
wherewith  tlie  world  tempts  us,  to  the  contrary. 

Unconstancy,  (one  of  your  other  charges,)  I  confess,  is 
sometimes  culpable :  But  may  we  not  say  so  too  of  co7istancij 
many  times .^  which  is  therefore  resembled  (somewhere)  to  a 
sullen  porter,  who  keeps  out  better  company  oftentimes  than 
he  lets  in.  Our  happiness  that  will  be  unchangeable  commenceth 
in  a  change ;  and  it  is  our  duty  to  turn  from  darkness  to  light, 
though  we  be  called  "inconstant"  for  it.  We  were  not  bora  with 
our  eyes  open  ;  neither  shall  we  ever  see  far,  if  we  look  no 
further  than  that  prospect  which  some  few  admired  writers  have 
set  before  us.  "  The  new  man,"  which  we  are  to  "  put  on,"  is 
"  renewed  in  knowledge  ;"  *  and  if  we  receive  our  illumination 
regularly  from  heaven,  that  is  given  according  to  the  capacity 
of  the  subject.  We  have  a  dawning  first,  but  the  progress  of 
our  light  holds  a  proportion  with  the  sedulity  of  our  studies. 
We  are  never  too  old  to  learn  in  Christ's  school. 

"  But  the  great  scandal,"  you  say,  "is,  to  profess  myself  a 
disciple  to  such  masters." — What  masters  do  you  mean  >  I  call 
no  man  Master  on  earth,  (in  this  sense,)  nor  ever  will  give 
any  so  great  a  dominion  over  my  faith,  as  to  sv/ear  allegiance 
to  his  doctrines.  I  would,  others  were  as  free  from  this  yoke  of 
bondao-e.  But  yet  I  know,  it  is  not  only  a  thing  commendable, 
but  a  duty,  to  march  after  the  standard  of  truth,  what  hand 
soever  carries  it  before  us.  And  who  do  you  think  were 
the  bearers  of  it?  If  you  enquire  into  their  learning,  (even 
their  adversaries  being  judges,)  they  were  as  lights  shining  in 
the  midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  nation  ;  t  and  if  you  ex- 
amine their  lives,  for  piety  and  justice,  they  were  blameless 
and  harmless  as  becomes  the  sons  of  God  ;  not  more  polite  in 
their  intellectuals  than  unreproveable  in  their  morals,  but  very 

*  Cul.  iii,  10.  t  rhil.  ii,  15. 


EPIST.]  OF    TILENUS  11 

eminent  in  both.  And  they  have  declared  their  virtues  as  well 
in  a  way  of  passive  obedience  as  active.  What  professors  were 
ever  more  constant  and  cheerful  in  their  sufferings  for  the  word 
of  God  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held,  (having  been 
taught  it,  according  to  their  full  persuasion,)  as  the  truth  is  in 
Jesus.  * — They  have  been  banished,  imprisoned,  &c  ;  insomuch 
that  one  of  them  bespeaks  his  fellow  soldiers  (in  this  conflict,) 
after  this  manner :  Vos  societatis  nosirce  decora  ac  lumina,  quorum 
v'mcidajam  noti  in  Belgio  tantum,  sed  pene  ubique  per  totum  orbem 
ChrisHanum  celebria  facta  sunt,  qui  paiientid  vestrd  jam  per  tot 
mmos  invicta  atque  infracta,  adversariis  totique  adeo  mundo  Jidem 
Jecistis,  conscientiam  Eemo7istrantihus  pluris  esse,  quam  qidcquid 
uspiam  carum  est  in  mundo.  Ita  pergite  t^c.t — "  You,  the  lights 
and  gloiy  of  our  society,  whose  bonds  are  famous  throughout 
-the  whole  Christian  world,  whose  invincible  patience  hath  given 
proof  to  your  very  adversaries  and  all  the  world  besides,  that 
the  Remonstrants  value  their  conscience,  above  all  things  what- 
soever: March  on  with  me,"  (saith  he,)  "to  the  mark,  'by 
honour  and  dishonour,  by  evil  report  and  good  report,  as  deceiv- 
ers and  yet  true  :  as  unknown  and  yet  well  known :  as  dying 
and  behold  we  live  :  as  chastened  and  not  killed  :  as  sorrowful, 
yet  always  rejoicing  :  as  poor,  yet  making  many  rich  :  as  having 
nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all  things.'  " — (2  Cor.  vi,  8,  9,  10.) 
— Thus  far  he. 

But  yovi  will  say,  "  Non  pcena  sed  causa,  S)-c.  '  it  is  not  the 
suffering  but  the  cause  that  makes  a  man  a  martyr ;'  and  those 
men  run  after  the  error  of  Pelagius,  who  was  condemned  by 
the  Ancient  Fathers  as  an  enemy  to  the  grace  of  God." — To 
this  I  shall  return  Arminius's  own  solemn  protestation  :  Inspici- 
antur  capita  omnia  Pelagiance  doctriuce,  proutilla  in  Synodis  Mile- 
viiana,  Arausicana,  et  Hierosolymitana  enarranlur  et  condemnaiitur, 
etiam  ut  ci  Pont'ifice  Romano  Innocentio  referuntur ;  et  adparebit 
posse  quempiam  Pelagianam  dodrinam  improbare,  et  tamen  doc- 
triuce isti  (Gomari  sc.,J  de  Predestinalione,  non  accedere:  %  And,  a 

*  Ephes.  iv,  21.  f  Apoloj.pro  Confess,  in  Prefat.  ad  finem. 

X  "  Let  all  the  articles  of  the  doctrine  of  Pelagius  be  inspected,  as  they 
stand  recorded  and  condemned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Synod  of  Milevia,  [or 
Mela,  in  Africa,]  Orange,  and  Jerusalem,  and  even  as  they  are  related  by 
Innocent,  the  Roman  Pontiff;  and  it  will  appear  possible  for  any  man  to 
disavow  and  disapprove  the  Pelagian  doctrine,  and  yet  not  make  the  least 
approach  to  this  doctrine  of  Gomarus  concerning  Predestination,  as  it  is 
expounded  iu  these  theses." — Examcn  Thesium  Gomari.  156. 

b2 


12  THE    EXAMINATION  [fREFAT. 

little  after,  Vrojilcor  intereu  me  Pelagiana  dogmata,  qua;  ipsis 
imponunlur  a  Sijnodis  supra  noviinath,  ex  animo  deteslari,  et  si 
<]uis  connnonslrare  possit,  ex  iis  quce  dico,  quidpiam  seqiii,  quod  Hits 
affine  est,  sententiam  mutaturum  el  correcturum.  *  If  the  protest- 
ation of  this  person  be  not  sufficient  to  clear  the  innocency  of 
these  tenets,  then  take  Vossius's  Historia  Pelagiana,  and  Gro- 
Tiuis's  Dlsquisilio  on  that  very  argument,  for  their  compurga- 
tors. Withal,  let  us  remember  the  caveat,  which  Arminius 
gives,  (loco  citato,)  Neque  id  solum  studio  habendum,  ut  a  Pelagi- 
ano  dogmate  rccedatur  quam  longissime :  Caxiendmn  etiain  ne  in 
Manichceismam,  ant  quod  Manichceismo  est  intolerahilius,  ratione 
saltern  consequentiw  suos  incidatur.  f 

But  you  object  further,  that  "  these  tenets  are  not  agreeable 
to  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine,  the  maul  of  heretics,  as 
he  is  styled." — St.  Augustine  must  give  us  leave  to  depart  from 
him,  where  he  takes  leave  to  depart  from  all  that  went  before 
him,  and  from  himself  also;  (and  which  of  you  will  follow  him 
in  all  he  held  })  for  it  is  observed,  that  he  changed  bis  batteries, 
as  he  changed  his  enemies ;  and  employed  other  principles 
against  the  Pelagians,  than  those  he  used  in  combating  the 
Manichees :  And  from  the  variety  of  his  opinions  in  these  points 
it  proceeds,  that  his  followers  express  themselves  in  such  differ- 
ent terras,  that,  though  taught  in  the  same  school,  and  of  the 
same  master,  yet  they  seem,  as  he  saith,  not  to  have  learnt  the 
same  lesson.  And  yet  we  must  not  deny  what  Arminius 
observed  {ubi  supra)  "  that  St.  Augustine  might  have  confuted 
the  Pelagians  sufficiently,  and  yet  have  omitted  that  way  of 
Predestination  which  he  taught,"  And  yet  the  doctrine  of 
Predestination,  as  it  is  handled  by  Gomarus  and  the  rest  of  his- 
persuasion,  diffei-s  much  from  that  of  St.  Augustine,  and  lays 
idowh  many  things  which  Augustine  would  by  no  means  grant, 
though  the  greatest  adversary  the  Pelagians  had. 

*  "In  rtie  mean  time,  I  profess  that  1  detest  from  my  heart  the  dogmas 
of  Pelagius,  which  are  assigned  to  him  and  his  followers  by  the  before- 
mentioned  Synods  ;  and  if  .any  person  be  able  to  prove,  from  any  thing 
which  I  say,  that  such  consequences  ensue  as  are  at  all  allied  to  those  dog- 
mas, 1  will  instantly  change  and  correct  my  sentiments." — Ibid,  157. 

•f-  "  It  is  not  only  necessary,  that  we  be  desirous  of  receding  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  Pelagian  doctrine  ;  we  must  at  the  same  time  be  cautious 
not  to  run  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  Manicheism, — or  into  that  which  is 
more  intolerable  than  Manicheism  itself,  at  least  with  respect  to  its  cousfi- 
queuces  which  arc  in  these  ])agcs  the  subject  of  controversy." 


EPisr.]  or  Tir.F.Ms.  l:^ 

And  therefore  your  objection,  that  "  these  tenets  are  against 
the  doctrine  of  the  Synod  of  Dort," — is  of  vahie ;  for,  beside  their 
dissent  from  all  the  Ancients  and  from  St.  Augustine  himself, 
the  manner  of  their  proceedings,  in  carrying  on  that  business 
against  the  Remonstrants,  were  enough  alone  to  beget  an  aver- 
sation  to  their  doctrine.  Take  it  in  their  words,  who  had  most 
reason  to  be  sensible  of  the  injury.  Scrip.  Hist.  Rem.  (mihi 
p.  211, J;  where  they  refer  us  to  their  Historica  Narratio,  et 
Antidotiim,  in  which  they  say,  Iniquitas  (Dordrac.  Si/nodi, J  im- 
primis aiitem  frandes,  imposturce,  et  equivocationes  in  Canonibus 
Synodicis  ad  horrendam  illam  Absolulce  Predestinationis  senientiam 
colore  aliquo  fucandam  et  incriistandam  usurpatce,  clarissime  dete- 
gunlur.  * — Tilenus,  who  was  present  there,  an  eye  and  an  ear- 
witness  of  those  transactions,  could  discover  something :  but  he 
spares  you.  And  yet  he  cannot  but  tell  you,  that  the  many 
pitiful  shifts,  and  thin  distinctions,  and  horrid  expressions, 
which  he  observed  to  be  frequently  made  use  of,  by  persons  of 
that  persuasion,  have  contributed  very  much  to  the  rectifying 
of  his  judgment. 

Would  it  not  startle  a  man,  that  were  well  in  his  wits,  sadly 
to  consider  that  opinion  so  stiffly  maintained  by  Piscator,  Mac- 
covius,  and  divers  others?,  viz.  +  "That  God  hath  so  predeter- 
mined the  will  of  every  man  to  every  action,  that  he  cannot 
possibly  do  any  more  good  than  he  doth,  7ior  omit  more  evil  than  he 
omitleth."  What  sad  inferences  may  be  drawn,  and  properly 
enough,  from  this  doctrine?  Will  it  not  (in  the  consequence  of 
it,)  take  off  the  wheels  of  duty,  and  furnish  the  careless  with  an 
excuse,  and  lay  all  sin  at  the  door  of  the  most  Holy  God  ?  Some 
of  you,  indeed,  to  decline  the  odium  of  this  assertion,  do  tell  us 
the  quite  contrary ;  and  affirm  roundly,  that  men  may  do  more 

*  "  In  which  are  most  clearly  disclosed  the  iniquity  of  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
but  particularly  the  frauds,  impostures,  and  the  equivocations  which  us 
members  employed  in  their  Syuodical  Canons,  for  the  purpose  of  disguising 
by  specious  colours  and  plaisteriug  over  that  horrid  sentiment  of  Absolute 
Predestination." 

-}•  In  sumnvX  se  tueri  fafetur  Deum  absolute  decrevisse  ab  aterno  et  cffi- 
caeiter,  ne  qmspiam  homimnn  plus  boni  fciciat,  qnam  reipsa  facit ,  atit  plus 
maliomittar,  quam  reipsk  omittit.. — Piscator  ad  Amic.  Dupl.  Vorstii,  p.  175. 
—  ["  In  short,  he  confesses  himself  the  defender  of  this  doctrine, — that  God 
has  efficaciously  and  from  all  eternity  decreed  absolulely,  that  no  mortal 
man  shall  do  more  good  than  he  actually  does,  or  shall  neglect  the  commissioji 
of  more  tvlckedness  thati  he  cwtualli/  omits.'"'\ — See  the  doctrine  of  these 
Divines  recited,  Act.  Synodal,  par.  2,  pag.  ."6,  ?.7. 

B  3 


14  THE    EXAMINATION  [PREFAT. 

good,  and  commit  less  evil,  if  they  will.     But  (see  the  fallacy  !) 
they  hold  withal,  that  for  them  to  will  either,  the  decree  of 
God  hath  made  impossible.     You  may  as  well  say,  that  "  a  dog 
can  fly,  and  a  horse  become  an  excellent  philosopher,  if  they 
ivill."     You  cannot  but  take  notice,  when  you  are  treating  of 
these  points,  how  your  doctrines  and  jases  do  interfere ;  and 
when  it  hath  cost  you  much  noise  and  sweat  to  confute,  what 
you  account  an  error,  in  the  doctrine, — how  you  are   fain  to 
court  the  very  same  opinion  to  come  in,  to  help  you  at  a  dead 
lift,  in  your  exhortation.     You  deliver  it  for  sound  Divinity, 
that  "Christ  died  only  for  a  few ;"  and  yet  you  vehemently 
urge  all  men  to  believe  in  him,  which  they  cannot  rationally 
do  unless  they  be  persuaded  of  the  contrary.     Have  you  heard 
the  preacher  inveigh  against  apostacy ;  and  yet,  almost  in  the 
same  breath,  tell  his  audience,  "  the  Elect  can  never  fall  away, 
and  the  r-e.yi  never  stood?"     What  is  this , but  to  take  away  the 
very  subject  of  that  sin  ?      What  construction  have   T  known 
some  men  put  upon  those  particles,  in  those  texts, — "  Let  him 
that  thinketh  he  standeth,"  (1  Cor.  x,  12,)  and  "What  he  seemeth 
to  have,"  (Luke  viii,  18.) — as  if  they  signified  nothing  but  a 
bare  appearance  or  misconceit,  when  it  is  most  evident,  they 
are  either  a  redundance  in  the  phrase,  orim  ply  reality !  (Heb.iv,!.) 
One  while    you  cry  Cl  ^xQas  !    and  declaim  against  prying 
into  God's  secrets;  anon  you  are  as  definitive,  as  if  you  had 
been  of  God's  Counsel,  and  seem  to  be  angry  that  others  should 
pretend  to  have  as  good  a  key  to  open  that  cabinet  as  yourselves. 
You  ascribe  much  to   God's  Omniscience,  and  yet  you  will  not 
allow  him  to  see  future  events  but  by  the    perspectives  and 
optics  of  such  decrees  as  yourselves  fancy  him  to  have  made 
to  that   purpose.  *     You  set  up  his  Sovereignty    to  confront 
his  other  attributes,    viz.  his  Justice   and  Mercy,    and  think 
you  do  much  honour  him  in  assigning  him  a  power  to  co7nmand 
perjury,  lying,  blasphemy,t  and  a  prerogative  to  cast  poor  inno- 

*  See  the  note  in  the  loth  paje,  and  particularly  that  passage,  Idea 
prasciuerit  quia  decreto  suo  sic  ordinaverat, — "  The  reason  of  his  fore- 
knowing is,  because  he  had  so  appointed  it  by  his  decree." 

•f-  Fateor  et  ipse,  quod  ad  comniuneni  sentiendi  cnnsuetudinem  crudum 
nimis  hoc  videri ;  Deum  posse  blaspkemiam,  perjurmm,  metidacium,  &^c. 
irnperare  :  quod  tamen  verissimum  est  in  se. — Vid.  Szydlovium  apud  Steph. 
CuRCELL/EUM,  de  jurc  Dci  in  Creaturas,  p.  25,26.  This  is  bound  up  with 
Arminii  Exumen  Thesium  Gotnari,  in  octavo,  of  small  price,  and  great 
profit. — "  1  myself  acknowledge,  that,  according  to  the  common  custom 


F.PIST.]  OF    TH.ENIS.  15 

cent  babes  into  hell-torments;  a  piece  of  doctrine  wliich  the 
great  Patriarch  certainly  never  dreamt  of,  when  he  expostulated 

of  thinking,  it  seems  too  crude  or  open  to  say,  Gnd  can  command  bktsphetnj/ 
perjui;/,  lies,  i,;c.:  hh  can  also  command,  that  He  shall  not  hhnstlf  be  nor- 
ihipped,  loved,  honoured,  i^;c.  Yet  all  this  is  most  true  in  itself  ;  and  from 
our  p:eneral  question  this  necessarily  follows  as  a  special  consequence,  and 
it  cannot  be  denied  without  admitting  a  number  of  absurdities." — Szvdlovh 
/  indiciie  OttiFst.  aliquot  ..ye. 

In  a  preceding  passage  he  says,  "  These  are  subjects  of  enquiry,  Is  any 
thing  antecedentlu  good  given  to  the  w  ill  of  God?  Or,  Jre  things  just  and 
good,  on  account  of  God  having  willed  them  .'  Or,  Does  he  uill  them,  because 
they  ace  just .'  It  is  denied  that  '  any  thing  antecedently  good  is  pre 
sented  to  the  will  of  God;'  and  it  is  affirmed,  that  'things  are  just  and 
good,  on  account  of  God  having  willeiV them,' — but  not,  on  the  contrary, 
that  '  God  wills  them,  because  they  are  just  and  good.'  " 

In  a  subsequent  paragraph  he  says,  "  Some  one  will  object,  *  It  will 
'  therefore  be  possible  for  God  to  command  blasphemy,  perjury,  lies, 
'  &c. ;  which  seems  an  absurdity  I' — I  answer.  Even  in  those  matters 
which  relate  to  the  worship  of  God,  men  are  plafoed  under  obligation 
in  no  other  way,  than  by  conimand  and  through  law  :  For  if  it  had  been 
God's  good  pleasure,  then  he  might  have  ordered  other  worship,  or 
another  mode  of  it,  to  be  performed  to  Himself.  God,  therefore,  most 
freely  commanded  even  those  matters  which  relate  to  his  worship,  and  in 
such  a  manner  as  it  was  possible  for  him  to  have  commanded  otherwise  : 
and  therefore  it  is  only  from  the  hypothesis  of  the  Divine  command,  that 
these  are  vices.  And  it  seems  here  to  be  presupposed,  as  tliough  lies  and 
blasphemy  affected  God  in  some  measure, — which  is  entirely  false.  It  is 
certain  then,  that  it  was  possible  for  God  to  have  commanded  a  contrary 
mode  of  worship  to  be  performed  to  himself.  For  those  things  which  he 
has  once  freely  commanded,  he  could  have  commanded  otherwise  :  But  this 
it  was  not  possible  for  God  to  do,  on  the  principles  of  our  adversaries,  if 
this  be  essential  and  natural  to  him.  For  natural  things  arc  immutable, 
and  always  proceed  in  an  uniform  manner." 

In  the  Eighth  Chapter  he  says,  "This  question  is  asked,  'Can  God 
'  command  any  thing  contrary  to  all  the  precepts  of  the  Decalogue, — but 
'principally  against  the  first,  second,  and  third  commandment.'' — A  cer- 
tain famous  Divine  rejects  the  affirmative  opinion  of  some  of  the  school-men 
who  say.  Offences  against  the  Decalogue  are  evils,  soleli;  because  God  has 
prohibited  them  ;  and  it  is  possible,  therefore,  for  God  to  dispetise  irifh  all 
the  precepts  of  the  Decalogue.  Yet,  I  confess,  I  am  not  only  incapalde  of 
perceiviuj,  anj'  strong  reason  in  the  disputation  of  that  famous  man,  but,  oti 
the  contrary,  it  is  possible  to  produce  solid  reasons  and  principles  by  which 
that  opinion  may  be  refuted." 

In  the  Ninth  Chapter  Szydlovius  says,  "  It  is  objected,  It  is  repugnant 
to  the  Divine  JVature  to  dent/  itself ;  and  it  follows,  therefore,  from  the 
force  of  this  proposition,  that  it  is  impossible  for  Gnd  to  command  that  He 
shall  not  be  worshipped,  invoked,  S(c. — I  answer.  We  deny  the  consequence. 
It  is  one  thing.  For  God  to  deny  Himself ;  it  is  another,  For  Gnd  to  be  able 
to  cnmrnand,  that  he  be  denied.  The  First  of  these  things  it  is,  without 
doubt,  impossible  for  God  to  do,  without  destroying  his  nature ;  but  it  is 
possible  for  Him  to  do  the  Second." 


16  THE    EXAMINATION  [PREFAT. 

with  his  Maker,  and  said,  "  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
world  do  right  ?"  (Gen.  xviii,  25.) — Indeed  you  seem  to  magnify 
the  riches  of  Divine  Grace;  but  when  we  come  strictly  to 
examine  it,  it  is  by  a  false  glass.  For  when  we  look  through 
the  other  end  of  the  perspective,  we  find  that  grace  infinitely 
extenuated,  by  the  flat  and  absolute  denial  of  it  to  the  far  greater 
number  of  mankind.  And  that  you  may  have  it  the  more  free 
to  yourselves,  you  render  it  very  illiberal  to  the  most  ^art  of 
Christians,  who  equally  share  with  you  in  the  common  invitations 
and  dispensations  of  it.  And  that  you  may  make  it  serve  your 
own  turns  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  you  have  laid  the  great 
excommunication  (of  Reprobation)  upon  the  rest  of  Adam's  pos- 
terity, to  exclude  them,  utterly  and  for  ever,  from  the  benefit 
thereof.  Nay,  you  think  you  cannot  sufficiently  extol,  as  to 
some  persons,  that  special  grace  which  is  God's  Jree  gift, 
unless  you  extinguish,  as  to  others,  (as  far  as  your. opinions 

These  are  extracts  from  a  work  entitled,  A  Vindication  of  some  Difficult 
Questions  in  Theology,  that  have  been  Subjects  of  Controversy,  which  Szyd- 
lovius  had  published  at  Franeker,  about  two  years  prior  to  the  appearance 
of  Professor  Curcellseus  De  Jure  Dei  in  Creaturas,  who  adds,  "  J  judged 
it  proper  to  make  these  few  extracts,  from  a  multitude  of  other  opinions, 
(not  only  absurd  but  blasphemous,)  with  which  that  pamphlet  abounds, 
that  they  may  serve  as  examples  of  the  doctrine  which  resounds  in  the  pulpits 
of  the  University  of  Franeker ;  and  that  I  might  shew  what  large  camels  the 
reverend  Fathers  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  could  swallow  in  their  own  Maccovius, 
who  was  Professor  of  Divinity  in  that  University,  and  from  whose  instruc- 
tion Szydlovius  imbibed  these  sentiments  ;  while  they  strained,  with  tenacious 
scrupulosity,  even  at  the  least  gnats  in  the  Remonstrants.  I  congratulate 
the  University  of  Saumur,  [in  which  Amyraldus  was  Theological  Professor,] 
such  [doctrinal]  monsters  are  banished  from  it,  and  1  humbly  pray  God, 
that  they  may  remain  there  buried  in  eternal  oblivion.  It  is  pleasing  to  me 
to  hope,  that  Amyraldus  will  hereafter  exert  the  force  of  his  genius  and  the 
powers  of  his  eloquence  against  those  portentous  doctrines,  rather  thau 
against  men  [the  Arminians]  against  whom  he  cannot  frame  any  objection 
that  is  in  the  slightest  degree  repugnant  to  piety  and  the  Divine  Glory." 

The  Friezland  University  of  Franeker  was  in  those  days  the  grand  hot- 
bed of  the  rankest  Calvinism.  It  is  only  necessary  to  mention  the  names  of 
three  of  the  Theological  Professors, — Sybrandus  Lubbertus,  John  Macco- 
vius, and  the  English  Puritan  William  Ames!!!, — and  the  intelligent 
reader  will  instantly  recognize  three  of  the  greatest  Calvinistic  sticklers  and 
most  pragmatical  Divines  of  that  age.  Bishop  Womack  has  given  a  concise 
but  just  description  of  Maccovius  and  his  opinions  in  his  Calvinists'  Cabi- 
net Unlocked, — a  work  which  abounds  with  the  most  interesting  religious 
information  respecting  the  Predestinarian  disputes  that  agitated  the  Christian 
Church  at  that  period.  For  the  character  of  Lubbertus  and  Ames,  consult 
the  English  translation  of  The  TVorks  o/ Arminius,  Vol.  I,  pp.  452,  46a, 
469.— EorroR. 


t.ra3 


EPIST.]  OF    TILENUS.  \.^        I'' 

can  reach,)  that  Universal  Juslicc  which  is  Iiis  veryy^ifre ; 
to  the  dignity  whereof  it  is  not  only  disagreeable,  but  incon- 
sistent, that  he  should  (as  you  would  have  him,)  procure  himself" 
glory  ou^  of  the  everlasting  misery  of  his  own  poor  innocent 
creatures,  -or  take  pleasure  in  it. — What  think  ycu  of  that  pas- 
sage, which  a  honest  ear-witness  told  me  from  the  mouth  of 
one  of  your  brethren  ?,  ''  that  God  deals  by  Reprobates,  as  the 
rat-catcher  does  by  those  vermin,  who  stops  up  all  their  avenues 
and  passages,  and  then  hunts  them  with  his  dogs,  that  he  may 
provoke  them  to  fly  in  his  face."  Do  such  expressions  become 
the  pulpit,  or  that  reverence  which  should  govern  our  thoughts 
when  we  speak  of  the  Divine  Majesty  ?  But  this  is  one  of 
your  excellent  artifices  to  salve  the  justice  of  God's  decree  of 
Reprobation,  and  because  you  dishonour  him  in  the  first  act  of 
it,  (the  preterition  of  those  forlorn  wretches,  without  any 
respect  to  sin,)  you  think  to  make  him  amends  in  the  latter, 
by  saying,  in  effect,*  "  that  he  does  necessitate  them  to  sin,  that 
he  may  seem  not  to  condemn  them  without  justice."  t  For  thus, 
some  of  your  party  say,  his  wisdom  hath  contrived  it,  and  his 
will  decreed  it,  and  his  power  brings  it  to  pass  insuperably.  I 
know  you  will  shift  this  off",  by  saying,  that  "  the  Reprobates 
sin  voluntarily."  But  will  this  plea  more  alleviate  or  aggravate 
the  cruelty  ?     That  holy  man  could  say,  "  It  is  better  to  be  in 

*  Reprobatio  facta  est  nuUk  habitk peccati  ratione.  fANT.  Thvsius  ad 
Summ.  Baronis  ex  Piscatore.) — Ibi  demum  mjinitum  0a9of  et  abyssus  est 
divinadiscretionis,  quando sine peccati  ratione quidam  reprobantur.  (Ii?ein  ib. 
ex  Wittakeri  Cygn.  Cant.  p.  57.) — "  Reprobation  was  decreed  without  any 
regard  being  paid  to  sin." — "  It  is  the  very  abyss  and  infinite  profundity 
of  the  Divine  determiuation,  when  certain  individuals  are  reprobated 
without  any  consideration  of  sin." 

•j-  Ouia  reprobatio  immutabilis  est,  <^"c.  darmis  reprobos  necessitate  pec- 
candi  eoque  et  pereundi  ex  liacDei  ordinatione  constringi,  atque  ita  constringi, 
ut  neque  aut  nan  peccare  et  perire. — Et  Mox,  IVnn  dubitamus  ergo  confi- 
teriS^-c.  (Zamchius  de  Nat.  Dei,  1.5,  c.  2,  de  Prsed.  pt.  4,  Respon.  ad 
postremum  arg.  p. 571,  Edit.  Genev.  1619.) — "This  is  the  answer  which 
we  return  to  the  other  reason  drawn  from  'that  necessity  of  sinning  by 
which  reprobate  men  are  constrained  even  unto  death  :'  First,  Because  the 
reprobation  is  immutable  by  which  reprobates  are  destined  to  be  vessels  of 
dishonour  through  wickedness,  and  on  that  account  vessels  of  God's  wrath  : 
We  grant  that  reprobates  are  constrained  by  a  necessity  of  sinning,  and 
therefore  of  perishing,  through  this  ordination  of  God;  and  that  they  are 
constrained  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  unable  to  do  otherwise  than  sin  and 
perish.  The  Apostle  teaches  this  when  he  returns  no  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion, '  TVlio  liath  resisted  hisu'ill  ?,  but  confirms  it  by  his  silence.    St.  Au- 


18  THE    EXAMINATION  [PREFAT. 

hell  without  sin,  than  in  heaven  with  it."  If  a  man  be  cast 
into  the  gaol  without  fault,  he  carries  the  comforts  of  a  good  con- 
science to  help  to  bear  the  burden  of  his  durance:  But  when 
his  judge  contrives  to  draw  him  in  to  be  a  partner  in  some 
crime,  that  the  guilt  and  remordency  of  his  own  conscience  may 
make  an  accession  to  his  misery,  this  leaves  him  nothing  to 
reflect  upon  to  mitigate  his  torments.     I  pray,  by  whose  decree 

gustine  also  often  says,  that  the  will  of  God  is  the  necessitating  cause  of 
things  ;  and  that  whatever  he  has  willed,  must  necessarily  come  to  pas"s, — 
in  the  same  manner  as  those  things  will  certainly  occur  which  he  has 
foreseen. 

"We  do  not  hesitate  therefore  to  confess,  that,  through  this  immutable 
reprobation,  an  incumbent  necessity  of  sinning  rests  on  the  reprobate,  of 
sinning  indeed  without  repentance  even  unto  death,  and  therefore  of  being 
punished  with  death  eternal.  But  we  denj',  that  they  are  on  this  account 
forced  to  sin.  For  it  is  one  thing,  to  be  constrained  by  necessity ;  and  it  is 
another,  to  be  forced.  We  Sivc  forced,  when  reluctantly  and  against  our  will, 
and  therefore  with  some  resistance,  we  are  compelled  to  do  or  to  suffer  any 
thing:  But  we  are  constrained  by  necessity,  when  it  is  impossible  foi  us  to 
do  otherwise, — although  what  we  do  is  performed  willingly,  spontaneously, 
of  our  own  accord,  and  with  delight.  Thus,  a  man  who  is  oppressed  with 
a  violent  thirst,  is  constrained  by  the  uesessity  of  drinking,  and  necessarily 
drinks;  he  cannot  do  otherwise  than  drink, — although  he  does  it  willingly 
and  with  great  pleasure,  and  therefore  can  on  no  account  be  said  to  do  it  in 
opposition  to  his  inclination,  or  to  he  forced  to  diink. — But  when  the  wicked 
commit  sin,  they  do  it  knowingly,  willingly,  and  with  delight;  so  that  if 
you  be  desirous  ofpreventing  them  from  committing  iniquity,  they  are  soon 
angry  with  you.  Therefore,  you  did  not  speak  correctly  when  yon  said, 
'  They  were  forced  to  sin.'  Yet,  in  the  mean  time,  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  do  otherwise  ;  and  they  are  constrained  to  it  by  a  certain  necessity 
through  God's  ordination  or  appointment.  This  necessity,  therefore,  is  by 
uo  means  an  excuse  for  sin,  which  is  committed  by  a  free  will, — that  is,  by 
a  will  which  is  neither  forced  nor  reluctant,  but  is  perfectly  ready  and 
agreeable.  From  this  necessity,  therefore,  by  which  wicked  men  cannot 
do  otherwise  than  sin,  it  is  not  to  be  deduced  that  Cod  punishes  and  con- 
demns them  with  injustice :  For  the  cause  of  damnation  is  found  in  the 
reprobates  themselves,  according  to  that  passage  in  the  prophecy  of  Hosea, 
*  0  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself  T  (xiii,  9.)" 

What  a  mass  of  inconsistent  sophistry  do  the  tenets  of  Calvin  require,  to 
give  them  an  air  of  plausibility  !  If  the  reader  wish  to  behold  a  singular 
instance  of  the  unprofitable  expenditure  of  intellect  and  ability,  on  the 
hopeless  attempt  ot  saving  the  Divine  .Attributes  from  the  open  attacks 
which  Fatalism  makes  upon  them, — but  which  Calvin's  disciples  assert,  can- 
not be  justly  charged  on  their  system, — he  may  consult  the  (otherwise) 
admirable  works  of  Zanchius.  The  concluding  passage  of  scripture  from 
Hosea,  it  will  be  perceived,  is  incomplete  ;  for  the  remaining  clause  of 
the  verse,  [But  in  me  is  thy  help,)  which  removes  its  applicability  to  the 
reprobate,  would  not  suit  the  purpose  of  Zanchius,  by  whom  it  has  for 
that  reason  been  prudently  omitted. — Editor. 


E?1ST.]  OF    TILENIS.  lf> 

comes  it  to  pass  that  the  soul  of  the  Reprobate  is  polluted  at 
the  first  ?  *  Their  first  sin  comes  to  them  only  by  imputation,  (as 
divers  of  your  party  do  contend,)  and  that  draws  all  the  rest 
after  it  by  an  unavoidable  and  invincible  necessity,  as  they 
acknowledge  likewise.  Upon  which  account,  God  should  have 
been  less  severe  if  he  had  cast  them  into  hell  innocent,  and 
without  any  sin  at  all,  as  (you  say,)  "  He  cast  them  off,  or  pass- 
ed them  by,  at  first,  without  any  respect  at  all  to  it." 

But  you  have  one  reserve  behind,  by  the  strength  whereof 
you  are  confident,  after  all  these  disputes  and  foils,  to  win  the 
field  at  last.  Upon  the  matter  you  say,  "  God's  decrees  could 
be  no  other  than  they  are ;  for  Decreta  et  liberce  Dei  aclio7ies 

*  Unde  factum  est,  ut  tot  gentes,  S^c.  (Calv.  Instit.  1.3,  c.  23,  sect.  7.) 
— "  What  other  than  the  good  pleasure  of  God  is  the  cause  why  the 
fall  of  Adam  involved  in  eternal  and  remediless  death  whole  nations, 
with  their  infant  offspring  ?  I  confess,  thai  it  is  indeed  a  horrible 
decree :  Yet  no  one  will  be  able  to  deny,  that  God  foreknew  what  end  man 
would  have  before  he  created  him  ;  and  that  he  Joreknew  it,  solely  because 
he  had  so  ordained  it  by  his  decree." — Calvin's  Institutes,  Book  iii,  ch.  23, 
sec.  7. 

Et  in  Responsione  ad  Calumn.  Nebul.  ad  artic.  1,  Interea  hanc  meam 
esse  doctrinam  agnosco,  Non  solo  Dei  permissu,&(c.  "  In  the  mean  time, 
I  acknowledge  the  following  to  be  my  doctrine  :— Adam  fell,  not  only 
hy  God's  permission,  but  also  by  God's  secret  will,  and  drew  by  his 
fall  all  his  posterity  into  eternal  destruction. — If  thou  hast  proposed 
to  subject  God  to  the  laws  of  nature,  thou  wilt  bring  him  in  guilty 
of  injustice,  because  on  account  of  one  man's  crime  we  are  all  considered  to 
be  implicated  in  the  guilt  of  death  eternal.  One  man  sinned,  and  all  are 
drawn  on  to  punishment.  Nor  is  that  the  only  circumstance,  but  from  the 
crime  [or  vice]  of  one  man  all  contract  the  contagitju,  that  they  may  be 
born  in  a  state  of  corruption,  infected  with  a  mortal  distemper.  What  hast 
thou  to  do  with  this,  my  good  censor.^  Wilt  thou  accuse  and  convict  God 
of  cruelty,  because  through  the  fall  of  one  man  he  has  plunged  into  des- 
truction all  his  offspring  ?  For  though  Adam  has  destroyed  himself  and  his 
Tpostarity,  yet  tve  must  attribute  the  corruption  and  the  guilt  to  the  secret 
judgment  of  God ;  because  the  offence  of  one  man  would  not  have  concerned 
us,  unless  the  Heavenly  Judge  had  condemned  us  to  eternal  destruction." 
— Calvini  Responsio  ad  Calumn.  Nebul.  ad  art\. 

He  hath  also  these  words  .  Li.beri  arbitriifuisse  dicunt  [Adam]  ut  fortu- 
natu  ipse  sihi  fingeret :  i^'c.  Tujn  frigidum  commentmn  (so  he  calls  it,) 
si  recipiatur,  is^c. — Vide  locum.  Instit.  ubi  supra.  "  They  say,  that  '  It 
was  at  the  option  [or  free-will]  of  Adam  to  shape  his  own  fortune ;' 
and  that  God  destined  nothing  more  than  to  treat  him  '  according  to 
his  deserts.'  If  such  a  dull  and  frigid  contrivance  as  this  be  admitted, 
where  will  be  that  omnipotence  of  God  by  which  he  governs  all  things, 
according  to  his  secret  counsel  which  is  independent  of  every  other  thing  ?" 
—Calvin's  Institutes,  Book  3. 


20  THE    EXAMINATION  [PREFAT. 

s?int  ipse  Deus,-^*  The  Decrees  of  God  are  God  himself:' — and 
therefore  to  make  a  conditiortal  decree,  were  to  make  a  conditional 
God,  and  if  Election  and  Reprobation  should  have  respect  to 
any  qualifications  in  their  objects,  this  would  amount  to  a  denial 
of  God's  indepeiidency."  And  having  resolved  justification  to 
be  "an  immanent  act  of  God,  and  consequently  God  himself, 
it  follows,"  you  say,  "  from  the  same  topic  or  principle,  that  it 
must  be  from  all  eternity,  and  that  men's  sins  are  remitted  before 
they  be  committed;  and  that  it  is  as  impossible  for  all  the  most 
horrid  sins  in  the  world,  to  cause  any  interruption  of  a  man's 
justification,  as  for  Almighty  God  to  become  mutable  in  his 
nature  and  being ;  that  faith  serves  not  as  a  condition  to  qualify 
us  for  our  actual  justification  before  God,  but  only  for  a  mean 
to  procure  the  sense  and  feeling  thereof  in  ourselves."  These 
opinions,  with  many  others  of  like  import,  you  say,  do  un- 
avoidably follow  from  that  one  position,  which  you  think  as 
certain  as  if  you  found  it  (totidem  verbis)  in  the  Gospel.  But 
that  the  very  foundation,  upon  which  you  build  so  many  gross 
errors,  is  itself  unsound,  you  may  learn  from  your  own  Go- 
inarus,  who  was  once  of  that  opinion  with  you ;  but,  being 
afterwards  awakened  to  a  more  clear  sight  and  mature  judg- 
ment in  this  point,  he  hath  left  arguments  enough  upon  record 
in  his  own  writings  to  confute  you :  To  which  purpose  I  shall 
subjoin  his  own  words  presently  : 

XXVIIL  Ex  qua,  efficientis  decreti,  explicatione,  gravis  ilia  et 
ad  veri  Dei  notitiam  ac  cullum  j)ertinens,  controversia  ;  An  decre- 
TUM  Dei  sit  Deus,  nec  ne.''  commodissime  dirimi  potest.  Si- 
quidem  spectata,  cum  rei,  turn  Dei,  natura,  7iegatio?iis  Veritas 
perspicue  demonstratur.  * 

XXIX.  Nam  a  natura  rei  hcec  demonstratio  est;  Nulla  actio, 
a  consilio  et  voluntate  Dei,  libere  agente  dependens,  est  Deus : 
Deus  ejiim,  a  se,  natura  est :  non  vcro,  a  consilio  ac  voluntate  libere 
agente,  dependet :  Atqui  decretum  Dei,  est  actio,  a  consilio  et 

*  "  XXVIII.  From  this  explanation  of  the  efficient  decree,  may  be  very 
exactly  determined  that  weighty  controversy  relating  to  the  knowledge  and 
worship  of  the  true  God,  which  is  thus  stated,  Is  God's  decree  God  fiimself, 
or  not  ?  For  if  regard  be  had  to  the  nature  of  the  thing  itself  and  to  the 
nature  of  God,  the  truth  of  the  negative  proposition  is  plainly  demonstrated. 
"  XXIX.  The  demonstration  from  the  nature  of  the  thing  itself,  is  the  fol- 
lowing ;  A'o  action  dependent  on  the  coimsel  and  will  of  God  when  freelif  acting, 
is  God  himself.  For  God  is  naturally  from  himself ;  and  he  is  not  dependent 
on  his  counsel  or  will  when  it  is  freely  acting:  But  the  decree  of  God  is  an 


EPIST.]  OF    TILENLS.  21 

voluntate  Dei,  libere  agente  dependens :  Ergo  decretum  Dei, 
non  est  Deus. 

XXX.  A  natura  vero  Dei  Cut  causce  efflcienlls  dec?-eti,J  altera 
etiain  invicta  demonstratio  promanat ;  Deus  est  ens,  absolute  ne- 
cessarium :  Decretum  Dei  non  est  ens  absolute  necessarium ; 
Ergo  decretum  Deij  non  est  Deus. 

XXXI.  Ex  quibiis  etiam  (ut  alia  omittamus,)  clarissimum, 
aeternitatis  Dei  et  decreti  discrimen,  elucet.  Nam  ui  Dei  existen" 
tia  sit  a;terniias  ejusdem,  ahsoltde  necessaria  est.  Contra  verb,  el 
decreti  existe?itia,  a  causa,  liberrime  agente,  dependet,  sic  ejusdem 
ceternitas  mere  arbitr aria  est  ^  nt  quce  sic  est,  ut  non  esse  potuerit : 

actiou  dependent  on  the  divine  counsel  or  will  when  freely  acting ;  therefore 
the  decree  of  God,  is  not  God. 

"XXX.  But  another  invincible  demonstration  emanates  from  the  nature 
of  God,  as  the  efficient  cause  of  the  decree  :  God  is  a  being-  that  is  alsoluteli/ 
neccssari/.  But  God's  decree  is  not  an  absolutely  necessary  being  :  There- 
fore the  decree  of  God  is  not  God  himself. 

"XXXI.  From  these  premises,  omitting  other  arguments,  is  most  lumin- 
ously traced  the  difference  between  God's  eferniti/,  and  the  eternity  of  the 
decree.  For  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  that  God's  existence  be  his  eternity. 
But,  on  the  contrary,  as  the  existence  of  the  decree  depends  on  a  cause 
that  acts  with  the  greatest  freedom,  so  the  eternity  of  the  decree  is  merely 
arbitrary  ;  it  being  such  as  it  might  have  been  possible  for  it  not  to  be, — 
which  is  evident  from  what  has  just  been  declared.  The  decree  therefore  is 
analogicalli/  called  "  eternal,"  not  si/noni/moitsfi/,  or  in  the  same  respect  as 
God  is  styled  "  eternal."  Wherefore,  from  this  argument  the  Deity  of  the 
decree  is  not  established,  but  is  completely  overturned. 

"  XXXII.  From  the  personal  actions  [of  the  Deity],  that  is,  from  the 
generation  of  the  Son  by  the  Father  alone,  and  from  the  breathing  forth 
[spiratiou]of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  both  Father  and  Son,  it  is  proved,  that,  if 
every  thing  which  is  in  God  be  7iot  God  himself,  such  a  simplicity  of  the  Divine 
Essence  as  the  Sacred  Writings  attribute  to  it,  isnot  on  that  account  violated. 

"  XXXIIl.  For  it  is  clearer  than  the  sun,  that  those  personal  actions  are 
in  God,  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  be  God  himself,  and  this  without  any 
injury  to  his  simplicity.  For  the  Essence  of  God  is,  absolutely  and  simply, 
common  to  the  three  persons  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  personal  action,  such 
as  the  generation  of  the  Son,  is  not  absolutely  and  simply  common  to  the 
three  persons,  but  is  peculiar  to  an  individual :  Therefore  a  personal  action 
is  not  the  Essence  of  God. — Wherefore,  God  is  predicated  synonymously 
concerning  each  of  the  Divine  Persons,  but  a  personal  action  of  God  is  not 
synonymously  predicated  of  each  of  the  Divine  persons  :  Therefore,  a  per- 
sonal action  is  not  God. 

"  XXXIV.  It  is  not  therefore  a  matter  of  wonder,  if  the  most  free  act  of 
the  will  of  God,  in  determining  future  things  at  his  pleasure,  may  be  in 
God,  and  yet  not  be  God  himself. — That  the  celebrated  Ursi.vus  was  not 
entirely  ignorant  of  this  truth,  is  apparent  from  his  Explanation  of  the 
Catechism,  on  the  58th  question  concerning  life  eternal ;  though  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  expounded  it  with  any  great  accuracy."— Go.mar.  J)isj)ut, 


22  THE    EXAMINATION    OF    TILENUS. 

quemadmoduvi  ex  superioribus  constat.  Ideoque  decretum,  ?ion 
syuojipnus  ,  sen  eadem  prorsus  ratione,  qua  Deus ;  sed  analogus, 
eeternum  appellatur.  Ac  propter ea  ex  eo,  decreti  deltas,  no7iJirma' 
lur;  sed  evertitur, 

XXXII.  Neque  tameii,  essentiaj  divince  simplicitatem  (qualem 
Sacrce  literal  ei  allribuiuilj  ideo  violari,  si  non  omne  quod  in  Deo 
est,  sit  Deus,  ex  actio7iibtis  peisonalibiis  (generatione  FiUi  a  solo 
Patre,  et  spiratione  Spiritus  sancli,  ab  utroque)  evincitur. 

XXXIII.  Eas  eiiim,  sic  in  Deo  esse,  ut  tamen,  illccsa  illius 
slmplicilaie,  non  sint  Deus,  sole  clarius  apparet.  Essentia  enim 
Dei,  absolute  ac  simpliciler,  communis  est  tribiis  personis :  contra 
vero  actio  personalis,  nt  generatio  Jtlii,  non  est  absolute  et  simpli- 
ciler coinmunis  iribiis  personis ;  sed  propria  certx  :  Ergo  actio 
personalis,  non  est  essentia  Dei.  Deinde,  Deus  synoiii/mus  prce- 
dicatur,  de  singulis  personis  divinis:  actio  personalis  Dei,  non 
prcedicatur  si/nonyrnus  de  singidis  personis  divinis :  Ergo  ea  non 
est  Deus. 

XXXIV.  Ideoque  mirandurn  non  est,  si  Uberrima  voluntatis  Dei, 
in  rebus  J'uturis,  pi-o  arbitrio,  determinandis,  actio,  in  Deo  sit,  nee 
iamen  sit  Deus.  Idquc  sane  non  ignorasse,  Clar.  Ursinum,  ap- 
paret ex  Catechesis  explicatione,  ad  quoist.  58,  de  vita  celerna 
qucest.  1,  etsi  mifius  acctirate  exponere  videatur. — Gomar.  Tom.  3, 

DiSPUT.  9}    ThES.  28,  ET    SEQQ. 

In  the  mean  time,  if  there  be  in  any  one  word  of  this  ad- 
dress, more  asperity,  than  I  ought  to  use,  or  yourself  can  well 
digest,  I  desire  you  to  pardon  it,  for  God's  honour's  sake, 
which  I  am  zealous  to  vindicate  from  that  foul  impeachment, 
'vvhich  something  more  than  a  mere  jealousy  prompts  me  to  be- 
lieve your  opinion  guilty  of.  "  Nevertheless,  (to  conclude  with 
the  words  of  the  great  Apostle,)  whereto  we  have  already 
attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let  us  mind  the  same 
thing.  Endeavouring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace."  * — I  have  two  things  which  I  must  yet  beg  of  you 
upon  the  score  of  our  old  friendship,  viz.  the  continuance  of 
your  affection  and  your  prayers ;  which,  I  will  assure  you, 
how  freely  soever  you  lay  them  out,  shall  not  be  cast  away 
upon. 

Sir,  ^ 

Your  true  and  faithful  Friend, 

N.N. 

*  riiili]!  iii,  16. — Ephcs.  iv,  3. 


THE  EXAMINATION 

OF 

TILENUS 

BEFORE  THE  TRIERS  IN  UTOPIA. 


THE  TRi 

ERS. 

Dr. 

Absolute,  Chairman. 

Mr. 

Fatality. 

Mr. 

Prf.terition. 

Mr. 

Fry BABE. 

Dr. 

Dam  MAN. 

[grace 

Mr. 

Narrowgrace, 

alias    Sunt- 

Mr. 

ElFICAX. 

Mr. 

Indefectible. 

Dr. 

Confidence. 

Dr. 

Dubious. 

Mr. 

Meanwell. 

Mr. 

SiMULANS. 

Mr. 

Take-o'-trust. 

Mr. 

Knowlittle. 

Mr. 

iMPERriNENI. 

The  Clerk  examined  Tilenus,  [who 
is]  a  well-wilier  to  some  tenets  of  the 
Remonstrauts,  and  [who  becomes] 
by  fiction  of  person, 

1.  Infidelis,  an  unbelieving  person. 

2.  Carnalis,  a  carnal  profane  person. 

3.  Tepidus,  }  «  ^«'^^"«'-'«  slothful 

■>  person. 

4.TENTATUS,  y^'M<^t^d despair- 
'  )  ing  person. 
The  Commissioners  being  all  sate, 
and  Tilenus  presenting  himself  (with 
a  Certificate  and  a  legal  Presentation) 
before  them,  the  Chairman  addresseth 
his  speech  as  followeth  • 


Dr.  Absolute. — The  great  prudence  and  piety  of  the  govern- 
ors of  this  Commonwealth,  (considering  how  apt  the  people 
are  to  be  influenced  by  the  principles  and  examples  of  their 
constant  teachers,)  have  been  pleased,  (out  of  an  ardent  zeal 
to  God's  glory,  and  a  tender  care  of  men's  precious  souls,)  to 
think  upon  a  course  how  their  dominions  may  be  made  happy 
in  the  settlement  of  an  able  and  godly  Ministry  amongst  them ; 
for  which  purpose  they  have  appointed  Commiscioners  to  ex- 
amine the  gifts  of  all  such  as  shall  be  employed  in  the  office  of 
public  preaching.  And  seeing  you  have  addressed  yourself  to 
us  for  our  approbation  in  order  to  your  establishment  in  that 
office,  we  hope  you  understand  the  natiu'c  and  weight  thereof. 


24  THE    EXAMINATION 

You  are  to  be  a  pastor,  not  of  beasts,  but  of  reasonable  creatures, 
framed  after  God's  own  image,  and  purchased  with  his  blood. 
Having  undertaken  this  charge,  it  is  incumbent  upon  you  to 
watch  for  those  souls  under  your  inspection,  as  one  that  must 
give  an  account ;  and  what  shall  perish  through  your  default, 
will  be  required  at  your  hands.  And  that  we  may  not  be 
found  betrayers  of  the  great  trust  reposed  in  us,  we  must 
receive  some  satisfaction,  how  you  stand  qualified  for  the  carry- 
ing on  so  great  a  work  as  you  pretend  to  be  now  called  unto. 

And  because  it  is  to  be  suspected  that  he  who  hath  been  so 
regardless  of  his  own  soul,  that  he  is  not  sensible  of  the  work 
of  grace  in  himself,  will  not  be  very  zealous  in  his  endeavours 
to  procure  it  to  be  wrought  in  others ;  therefore  let  us  be  in- 
formed, in  the  first  place,  what  assurance  you  have  that  you 
are  in  the  state  of  grace. 

TiLENus. — Sir,  I  trust,  you  shall  find,  that  I  am  no  Repro- 
bate. 

Dr.  Confidence. — Methinks  you  speak  very  doubtfully.^ 

Til, — Sir,  I  humbly  conceive,  it  becomes  me  not  to  be  too 
confident,  when  the  modesty  of  the  great  Apostle  Avas  content 
(upon  occasion)  with  the  very  same  expression  which  I  used. 
(2  Cor.  xiii,  6.) 

Efficax. — But  can  you  remember  the  time  and  place,  when 
and  where,  that  work  of  grace  was  wrought  in  you .''  By  what 
means,  and  upon  what  occasion  ? 

Til. — I  suppose  they  are  violent  and  sudden  changes  only, 
(from  one  extreme  to  another,)  that  fall  under  such  a  punctual 
observation. — Had  I,  with  Mary  Magdalene,  been  so  notoriously 
lewd  as  to  make  the  city  ring  of  my  crimes  : — Or  had  I  travelled 
with  a  design  of  blood,  as  Paul  did,  and  procured  a  commission 
to  execute  it  upon  the  Church  of  Christ,  my  conversion,  if 
sincere,  in  that  case  must  needs  have  been  very  remarkable : — 
Or  had  I  committed  adultery,  and  then  tempted  the  injured 
party  with  so  much  artifice  to  cloak  it,  and  because  I  could  not 
with  all  the  wicked  charms  of  intemperance  prevail  to  induce 
him  to  it,  [^had  I]  deliberately  contrived  and  commanded  his 
murder : — Or  had  I  (though  upon  a  surprise,)  so  passionately 
denied  and  foresworn  my  Lord  and  Master,  (as  you  very  well 
remember  who  did,) — the  solemnity  requisite  to  attend  repent- 
ance for  such  offences,  would  have  made  as  deep  an  impression 
in  my  memory,  as  the  frequent  inundation  of  tears  did  in  those 


OF    in. EN  US.  :io 

transgressors'  cheeks,  and  there  would  have  been  no  need  of 
red  letters  in  my  calendar  to  render  such  a  time  observable  with 
me.  But,  blessed  be  God  !,  by  whose  providence  it  was,  that, 
being  dedicated  to  the  service  of  Christ  in  mine  infancy,  the 
piety  of  my  parents  took  an  early  care  that  I  should  not  be 
alienated  from  him  through  the  allurements  of  the  world,  for 
want  of  a  religious  education ;  and  from  a  child  having  been 
acquainted  (as  Timothy  was)  with  the  holy  Scriptures,  "which 
are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus ;  herein  I  have  exercised  myself,  through  the 
assistance  of  his  grace,  to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  towards  God  and  towards  men." 

Narrowgrace. — You  speak  as  if  regeneration  came  by  na- 
ture and  education. 

Til. — No,  Sir;  to  say  "regeneration  comes  bi/  nature,"  were 
a  contradiction. 

Take-o'-trust. — Do  you  not  remember  what  the  Apostle 
saith  ?,  "  We  have  all  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God."  (Rom.  iii,  23.)  And,  "We  are  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  and  are  by  nature  children  of  wrath."  (Ephes.  ii,  1,  2.) 
Can  there  be  so  great  a  change  wrought  in  a  man,  as  is  a  change 
from  death  to  life,  and  he  have  no  apprehension  or  feeling 
when  such  a  change  is  wrought  in  him? 

Til. — When  I  reflect  upon  the  exuberance  of  the  Divine 
grace  under  the  gospel,  I  persuade  myself,  there  is  some  differ-i 
ence  betwixt  Christians,  born  of  faithful  and  godly  parents, 
and  from  their  childhood  educated  and  instructed  in  the  ways 
of  faith  and  piety  ; — I  say  we  must  make  a  difference  betwixt 
these,  and  those  Jews  and  Gentiles  of  whom  the  Apostle  speaks, 
before  they  were  made  Christians.  I  know  you  will  not  allow 
Heathens  to  stand  in  competition  with  the  servants  of  Jesus, 
devoted  to  him  from  their  very  infancy :  neither  is  the  law  and 
discipline  of  Moses  an  equal  standard  to  measure  the  dispens- 
ations of  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  by  ;  and  yet,  if  you  consider 
Zachary  and  Elizabeth,  (who  were  trained  up  under  the  peda- 
gogy of  Moses,)  and  date  their  practice  of  piety  from  their 
youth,  *  (as  you  ought  to  do, — for  why  should  we  make  an 
exception  where  God  makes  none  ?,)  you  will  find,  that  "  being 
righteous  before  God,  and  walking  in  all  the  commandments 
and  ordinances  of  the   Lord  blameless,"  (Luke  i,  6,)  they  were 

*  1  Kiii"^  wiii,   12. 


26  THE    EXAMINATION 

not  capable  of  answering  your  question.  When  and  where  and 
how  the  work  of  grace  was  wrought  in  them.     Now,  if  the  minis- 
tration of  Moses  (which  was,  in  comparison,  "  a  ministration 
of  death,")  "  was  thus  glorious,"   how   shall  not  "  the  minis- 
tration of  Christ,"  which  is  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit,  "  be 
rather  glorious?"  (2  Cor.  iii.)     Under  the  gospel  that  covenant 
is  fully  accomplished,  wherein  God  bound  himself  to  Abraham 
by  the  sacred  tie  of  an  oath,  to  grant  ns  a  power  "  to  serve  him 
in  holiness,  and  righteousness,  all  the  days  of  our  life."  (Luke 
i,  74^0     And  the  conveyances  of  this  powerful  grace  being  all 
put  so  freely  into  our  hands,   (this  word  and   sacraments,)  it 
is  required  of  us  as  a  duty,  "to  have  grace,  whereby  we  may 
serve  God  acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly  fear  :"  (Ileb.  xii, 
28.)     And  doubtless  it  is  only  our  own  inexcusable  fault  if  we 
have  not;  for  indeed  (be  it  spoken  with  holy  reverence!)  the 
administration  of  our  sacred   baptism  were  no  better  than  a 
piece  of  solemn  pageantry,  if  grace  were  not  conferred  upon  us 
in  receiving  that  sacrament ;  for  therein  are  begged,  on  our 
behalf,  the  blessings  of  Christ, — grace  and  pardon,  with  the 
renewing  and  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     The  church  by 
prayer  seeks  for  these,  on  our  behalf,  by  virtue  of  that  cove- 
nant  wherein    God   hath    promised   and   engaged   himself  to 
bestow  them ;  "  which  promise  he  for  his  part  will  most  assur- 
edly keep  and  perform."     Then  upon  this,  we  engage  our  vow, 
"  to  forsake  the  devil  and  all  his  works,  and  to  keep  God's  holy 
will  and  commandments."     Can  we  think,  either  that  God,  in 
goodness  or  justice,  would  require  such  an  engagement  at  our 
hands,  (under  peril  of  a  greater  condemnation,)   or  that  the 
church  of  God  in   prudence  could  oblige  us  to  undertake  it, 
without  good  assurance  of  sufficient  assistance  and  power  from 
his  Gracious  Spirit  to  enable  us  to  perform  it  according  to  the 
tenor  of  the  gospel  ? 

Frybabe. — It  seems  you  are  for  universal  grace,  and  you 
hold,  that  all  the  children  of  the  faithful,  (dying  in  their  infancy, 
and  before  they  have  the  use  of  reason,)  are  saved  by  virtue  of 
that  covenant*  (made  with  us  in  the  blood  of  Christ,)  into 
which  they  are  consigned  at  their  baptism  ;  as  if  all  such  were 
invested  with  some  privilege  to  exempt  them  from  the  absolute 
decree  of  reprobation ! 

*  Isa.  xlix,  8.— Heb.  xiii,  20. 


OF    TILENLS.  27 

Til. — This,  Sir,  is  the  faith  into  which  I  have  been  baptized 
and  catechised  ;  for  I  am  taught  to  profess,  that,  in  my  baptism, 
"  I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ,  a  child  of  God,  and  an  in- 
heritor of  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Knowlittle, — But  you  know,  that  "without  holiness  no 
roan  shall  see  the  Lord."  (Heb.  xii,  14.) 

Til. — That  I  very  well  remember  :  but  withal  I  consider,  that, 
besides  that  federal  holiness  which  removes  all  obstacles  in  the 
children   of  the   faithful,   and   renders   them   recipients   duly 
qualified  for  the  sacrament,  I  am  instructed  in  my  creed  to 
believe  "in  God  the  Holy  Ghost  who  sanctifieth  me,"  (that  is, 
if  I  do  not  resist  his  work  and  quench  his  motions,)  and  am 
further  directed  to   beg  "  by  diligent  prayer  his  special  grace" 
to  enable  me  to  discharge  my  duty  to  God  and  my  neighbour.; 
of  which  grace  (if  I  be  not  wanting  to  my  duty,)  I  have  reason 
to  assure  myself,   upon  the  strength  of  our  Saviour's  promise. 
(Luke  xi,  13.) — The  short  is,   baptism  being  styled  "the  laver 
of  regeneration,"  (Tit.  iii,  5,  6.)  and  the  children  of  the  faithful 
being  in  no  capacity  of  putting  a  bar  against  the  efficacy  of  it, 
the  learned    Davenant  (one  of  the  Divines  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort,)  concludes,   that  therein  they  are  truly  justified,  regener- 
ated, and  adopted ;  and,  by  this  means,  a  state  of  salvation  is 
conferred  upon  them  suitable  to  the  condition  of  their  infancy; 
and,   arriving  to  the  use  of  reason,  if  they  walk  in  the  strength 
of  Divine  grace,  under  the  command  and  conduct  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  fight   under  Christ's  banner,  as  generous  soldiers 
should  do,   [^who  are]]  engaged  by  solemn  covenant  and  armed 
with  assistance  from  above  to  that  purpose, — we  are  assured,  that 
"  sin  shall  not  get  the  dominion  over  them ;"  (Rom.  vi,  14.)  "for 
he  is  greater  that  is   (engaged)  in  them  (for  their  assistance) 
than  he  that  is  in  the  world,"  (against  them.)    (1  John  iv,  4.) 
Whereupon  the  same  Apostle  is  confident  to  conclude,  "  We 
know  that  whf  soever  is  born  of  God,   sinneth  not :  but  he  that 
is  begotten    of  God,   keepeth  himself,    and  that  wicked   one 
toucheth  him  not."  (v,  18.) 

Knowlittle. — You  speak  as  if  a  man  might  live  without  sin, 
and  so  be  saved  without  Christ. 

Til. — Sir,  I  believe  it  is  the  duty  of  the  children  of  God,  and 
therefore  possible,  "  to  be  blameless  and  harmless,  without 
rebuke,  shining  as  lights,  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse 
nation,"  (Phil  ii,  15.)  "that  at  Ciirist's  coming  they  may   be 


28  THE    EXAMINATION 

found  of  him  in  peace,  without  spot  and  blameless."  (2  Pet.iii,!^.) 

But  this  is  done,  not  without  Christ,  but  through  the  power  of 
his  grace,  rescuing  them  from  the  polhitions  that  are  in  the 
world  through  lust,  and  from  all  the  carnal  invitations  that  do 
so  earnestly  solicit  them.  Yet  this  is  not,  to  live  without  sin ; 
for  there  are  sins  of  ignorance  and  inadvertency,  which,  many 
times,  through  the  levity  of  the  matter,  insensibly  steal  from  us  ; 
sins  of  infirmity,  wherein  we  are  surprised  on  a  sudden ;  and 
sins  wherein  we  are  overtaken  through  the  daily  incursion  and 
tiresome  importunity  of  temptations  :  But  these,  upon  a  general 
humiliation  and  petition,  being  put  upon  the  accounts  of  Christ's 
cross,  and  pardoned  (as  it  were)  of  course  to  the  regenerate,  do 
not  interrupt  his  estate,  nor  impeach  his  interest  in  God's 
favour :  And  hereupon  such  men  are  reckoned  by  our  Saviour 
in  the  accounts  of  "  just  persons  which  need  no  repentance,"  * 
(Luke  XV,  7,)  or  [  need  ]  no  more  washing,  save  of  their  feet,  + 

*  The  reader  is  desired  to  advert  to  the  introductory  remarks,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  pamphlet.  But  since  tlie  reasoning  of  the  assumed  Tilenus 
in  this  place  may  be  mistaken  by  the  unlearned,  it  seems  requisite  to  state, 
that  his  application  of  the  phrase,  "  just  persons  which  need  no  repentance," 
is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  sentence  immediately  preceding,  in  which 
the  same  persons  have  all  the  marks  of  true  penitents  ascribed  to  them  by 
the  author.  His  words  are,  "  But  these  [sins],  u])on  a  general  humiliation 
and  petition,  being  put  upon  the  accounts  of  Christ's  cross,  and  pardoned," &c. 
Without  some  such  necessary  qualification  as  this,  the  phrase  in  its  com- 
mon acceptation  can  never  be  applicable  to  any  man  living,  as  long  as 
the  following  passages,  and  others  of  like  import,  remain  constituent  parts 
of  the  revealed  will  of  heaven  : — "  But  row  God  copimandeth  all  men  every 
■where  to  repent. — There  is  no  difference :  For,  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God."  (Acts  xvii,  .30. — Rom.  iii,  23.) 

No  employment  can  be  more  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  the  man 
who  espouses  the  benevolent  and  scriptural  doctrines  of  General  Redemption, 
than  that  of  endeavouring  to  narrow  the  evangelical  obligation,  which  is 
binding  alike  on  all  men,  to  repentance,  faith,  and  holiness.  Yet  there  are 
individuals,  who,  while  they  would  shudder  to  set  bounds  to  the  illimitable 
mercy  of  God,  can  deliberately  fritter  away  by  their  carnal  comments  the 
essence  and  glory  of  the  gospel,  and  reduce  it  from  its  Divine  and  poAferfOl 
elevation  to  as  low  and  inefficient  a  condition  as  that  of  a  system  merely 
ethical. — Such  a  course  of  conduct  is  only  another  proof  of  the  great  obliquity 
of  which  the  human  intellect  is  occasionally  seen  to  be  capable.  But  Bishop 
Womack  was  too  wise  a  master-builder  in  Israel,  to  engage  in  such  a  dese- 
crating occupation  ;  and  accordingly,  in  the  very  passage  which  has  elicited 
these  observations,  he  carefully  guards  against  any  popular  misapprehension 
of  his  meaning,  while  he  states  the  advantages  of  baptism  and  of  a  religious 
education  in  as  strong  and  pointed  a  manner  as  the  scope  of  his  argument 
required. 

f  John  xiii,  10. 


OF    TILENUS.  ^ 

■which  is  ordinarily  performed  in  the  daily  use  of  their  prayers 
and  other  holy  offices. 

Take-o'-trust. — But  we  see,  by  daily  experience,  that  the 
dearest  of  God's  children  do  frequently  complain  of  their  cor- 
ruptions, and  bitterly  bewail  them,  and  groan  under  the  ap- 
prehension and  burden  of  them :  "  O  wretched  man  that  I 
am !"  &c. 

Til. — No  doubt,  it  is  fit  a  Christian  should  entertain  such 
a  holy  jealousy  over  himself,  as  may  make  him  humble,  and 
keep  him  upon  his  guard,  vigilant  and  industrious.  "  Blessed 
is  the  man  that  feareth  always."  (Prov.  xxviii,  14.) 

Narrowgrace. — Yea,  but  we  find  also,  that  the  most  eminent 
of  the  saints  of  God  have  fallen  foully. 

Til. — We  must  walk  by  precept,  not  by  example ;  especially 
we  should  take  heed  we  do  not  transcribe  a  foul  copy,  though 
written  by  the  hand  of  the  greatest  saint  in  heaven,  who,  we 
know,  had  never  been  admitted  thither,  had  not  that  hand  been 
washed  in  the  streams  of  repentance  and  the  blood  of  Christ.  But 
the  truth  is,  such  is  the  frailty  of  our  human  nature,  and  the 
lubricity,  the  flexible  and  wax-like  temper  of  youth,  so  apt  to 
receive  the  impressions  of  vice,  and  such  the  precipitancy  of 
our  passions, — that,  if  we  be  not  bridled  by  the  benefit  of  a 
more  severe  and  holy  institution,  and  taught  to  improve  our 
talents  of  grace  and  nature  for  our  own  preservation,  the  de- 
ceitful paintry  of  pleasures,  and  the  snare  of  occasions,  and  the 
witchcraft  of  ill  company  and  examples,  with  the  sundry  strata- 
gems of  that  politic  enemy,  (who  manageth  all  the  rest  to  his 
best  advantage,)  will  surprise,  and  foil,  and  most  miserably 
"womad  us.  But  as  to  deny  the  possibility  of  j)reventing  this  mis' 
i:hief,  were  a  huge  disparagement  to  the  power  of  the  Divine 
grace ;  so,  having  that  grace  so  abundantly  administered,  (as 
it  is  under  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel,)  to  prevent,  and 
assist,  and  follow  us,  not  to  co-operate  therewith,  but  to  let  loose- 
the  reins  uulo  our  lusts,  and  give  way  for  sin  to  abound,  that 
grace  may  much  more  abound  to  the  working  of  a  remarkable 
repentance,  that,  having  such  a  signal  experience  of  sin  and 
misery,  we  may  be  able  to  give  a  punctual  account  of  the  time 
and  manner  of  our  conversion, — what  were  this  but  to  grow 
desperate  and  tempt  God !,  a  ridiculous  folly  joined  with  a 
most  execrable  impiety.  Like  a  man  that  sets  his  house  on 
fire,  that  he  may  make  light  for  others  to  read  his  evidence  by 


30  THE    EXAMINATION 

which  he  holds  it,  he  turns  God's  grace  into  lasciviousness,  and 
ventures  upon  a  certain  evil  for  an  uncertain  good ;  "  whose 
damnation  is  just." 

Dr.  Confidence. — If  a  man  should  do  so,  wilfully  and  of  set 
purpose,  I  grant  it :  But  if  you  cannot  satisfy  our  question 
concerning  your  certainty  of  being  in  the  state  of  grace,  how  will 
you  be  able  to  obey  that  of  the  Apostle  ?,  "  Sanctify  the  Lord 
God  in  your  hearts,  and  be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asks  you  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you, 
with  meekness  and  fear."  (1  Pet.  iii,  15.; 

Til. — That  you  may  not  think  I  have  a  desire  to  wave  your 
question,  by  telling  you,  "  that  1  perceive  you  do  many  times 
allege  Scriptures  very  impertinently,"  I  shall  shape  my  answer 
directly  to  what  I  conceive  to  be  your  meaning.  We  must 
consider  therefore  what  our  Saviour  Christ  saith,  Cvery  appli- 
cable to  our  purpose,)  "The  kingdom  of  God"  (in  the  work  we 
speak  of,)  "  cometh  not  (alv/ays)  with  observation :"  (Luke 
xvii,  20.)  but  (many  times)  it  is  "as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed 
into  the  ground,  and  should  sleep,  and  rise  night  and  day, 
and  the  seed  should  spring,  and  grow  up,  he  knoweth  not  how." 
(Mark  iv,  26,  27.)  And  therefore,  I  observe,  our  Saviour  and 
Z}ns2  Apostle  do  direct  us  to  make  our  judgment  a  posteriori, 
** from  the  effects:"  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them  ;" 
and  "  let  every  man  prove  his  own  work,  and  then  shall  he 
have  rejoicing  in  himself  alone,  and  not  in  another."  (Gal.  vi,  4.) 
The  children  of  God  are  called  "  Saints  of  light;"  (Col.  i,  12.) 
and  the  wise  man  saith,  "  The  path  of  the  just  is  like  the  shin- 
ing light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  urito  the  perfect  day." 
(Prov. iv,  IS.)  It  is  only  the  conscience  loaded  with  guilt,  and 
fear,  and  horror,  that,  having  fire  put  to  it,  like  a  gun  charged 
with  powder  and  shot,  makes  a  bounce  when  it  is  discharged. 
Experience  teacheth,  that  the  natural  day  breaks,  without  a 
crack  to  report  it  to  us ;  and  so  does  the  day  of  grace  too,  in 
many  souls.  Though  the  sun  rise  under  a  cloud,  and  so 
undiscernibly,  and  the  clock  of  conscience  do  not  strike  to  give 
us  notice  of  the  hour,  yet  we  may  be  assured  he  is  up,  by 
the  effects ;  viz.  if  his  influences  have  dried  up  the  dirt,  and 
made  the  plants  and  herbs  to  spring  out  and  flourish.  Grace  is 
more  discoverable  in  Uie  progress  iha?i  in  the  dawning  of  it. 

Impertinent. — But  the  Apostle  saith,  "He  that  hath  not 
jthe  Spirit  of  Cluist,  is  none  of  his." 


OF    TILENUS.  31 

Til. — And  I  say,  as  the  same  Apostle  to  another  purpose,  "  I 
think  also,  that  I  have  the  Spirit  of  God."  (1  Cor.  vii,  40.) 

Dr.  Confidence. — You  said  well  even  now  from  our  Saviour, 
that  "  the  ti-ee  is  known  by  the  fruits ;"  can  you  give  us  a  good 
account  of  the  fruits,  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ  hath  brought 
forth  in  you,  so  as  we  may  be  able  to  distinguish  them  from 
counterfeit,  and  discern  that  they  proceed  from  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  not  [^from]]  a  lying  one  ? 

Til. — That  I  may  not  deceive  myself  nor  you  herein,  I  think 
the  surest  way  is,  not  to  go  by  the  common  Inventory  of  the 
world;  whereby  I  find  men  pretending  to  godliness,  to  be 
generally  very  partial  in  their  reckoning.  If  they  abhor 
idols,  they  think  it  tolerable  enough  to  commit  sacrilege  and 
sedition;  and  if  they  be  not  drunk  with  wine  or  strong  drink, 
they  think  it  is  no  matter  though  the  spirit  of  pride  and  disobe- 
dience stagger  them  into  any  schism  or  heresy.  I  choose 
therefore  to  follow  the  Apostle's  catalogue,  and  (if  I  can  find 
that  in  myself,)  I  hope  1  am  safe :  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit," 
saith  he,  "  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, faith,  meekness,  temperance :  against  such  there  is  no  law :" 
(Gal.  V,  22,  23.)  That  is,  (as  I  conceive,)  "  the  love  of  Christ  in 
sincerity,"  as  it  is  in  Ephes.  vi,  24 ;  which  sincerity  discovers 
and  approves  itself,  in  a  constant  and  uniform  observation  of  all 
his  commandments.  (John  xiv,  15.) 

Efficax. — How  did  the  Spirit  of  God  bring  forth  these 
fruits  in  you,  if  you  find  them  ?  Did  you  ever  feel  it  offer  a 
holy  violence  to  your  will  and  affections,  so  that  you  were  not 
able  to  resist  the  power  of  it  ?  You  have  read  how  Paul  was 
surprised  in  the  height  of  his  rebellion,  his  spirit  subdued  and 
forced  to  yield,  and  he  cast  down  to  the  earth  in  great  astonish- 
ment. 

Til. — Though  I  have  intim.ated  mine  opinion  in  this  particu- 
lar already,  yet  I  shall  add,  that  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul  was 
not  according  to  the  common  way  and  rule,  but  extraordinary, 
in  regard  whereof  he  may  very  well  style  himself  "an  abortive." 
(1  Cor.  XV,  8.)  For  the  ordinary  course  is  not  for  the  kingdom, 
of  heaven  to  offer  violence  to  us,  and  to  take  us  by  force  ;  but  for 
us  to  do  so  by  it.     (Matt,  xi,  12.) 

Efficax. — You  speak  as  if  the  grace  of  conversion  were 
resistible ;  and  so  you  would  make  man  stronger  than  God  : 
But  the  Apostle  tells  you,  that  God  exerts  and  putteth  forth  a 


32  THE    li X  z\  M  1  N  A  TU)  N 

power  for  the  conversion  of  a  sinner,  equal  to  that  "  which  he 
wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead."  (Ephes. 
i,  )iO,)  And  indeed  there  is  a  necessity  of  such  a  power,  for 
the  accomplishment  of  this  work ;  because  the  sinner  is  as  a 
dead  person, — "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  (Ephes.  ii,  1.) 

Til. — It  is  a  rule  we  have  learned  in  the  schools,  that  ThcO' 
login  SijmhoUca  noii  est  argumentativa,  "  Metaphors  never  make 
solid  and  cogent  arguments."  Sinners  are  like  dead  men;  but 
no  like  is  the  same.  If  they  were  absolutely  dead,  then  it  were 
impossible  for  them  to  make  any  opposition  or  resistance  at  all, 
to  any  the  least  dispensation  of  grace.  Resistance  implies  re- 
action; but  the  dead  have  no  power  at  all  to  act :  And  yet  it 
is  acknowledged,  that  the  sinner  hath  a  power  to  resist,  and 
doth  actually  resist.  But  that  which  is  maintained  generally 
by  that  side,  is,  that  the  power  of  grace  is  so  prevalent  and 
invincible  that  at  last  it  will  svibdue  and  take  away  the  resisti- 
bility  of  man's  will.  And  therefore  man  is  not  dead  in  every 
sense.  We-  find  him  sometimes  resembled  to  one  halt  dead  ; 
(Luke-x,  SO.)  and  sometimes  to  one  asleep :'  CEphes.  v,  14.) 
So  that  you  cannot  certainly  infer  the  conclusion  desired, 
from  such  figurative  expressions.  Besides,  [^that  passage  in]] 
Ephes.  i,  20,  speaketh  of  God's  power  towards  those  that  were 
already  believers,  and  not  of  his  power  that  works  belief  in 
them. 

Impertinent. — It  is  said  of  those  that  disputed  with  Stephen, 
that  "they  were  not  able  to  resist  the  wisdom  and  the  Spirit 
by  which  he  spake."  (Acts  vi,  10.) 

Til. — He  speaks  of  that  conviction  which  the  force  of  his 
arguments  (dictated  to  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit,)  made  upon 
their  understandings,  so  that  they  were  not  able  to  answer 
him  in  disputation.  But  he  speaks  not  of  any  irresistible  im- 
pression that  the  internal  Divine  grace  made  upon  their  wills ; 
for  there  was  no  such  effect  wrought  in  them,  as  appears  in  the 
following  verses :  but  rather  the  contrary,  as  you  may  conclude 
from  St.  Stephen's  word,  "  Ye  do  alv/ays  resist  the  Holy  Ghost !" 
(Acts  vii,  51.) 

Efficax. — By  rcsisling  the  Holy  Ghost  there,  Stephen's  mean- 
ing is,  that  they  opposed  the  outward  ministry,  which  was 
authorized  and  sent  out  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Til. — The  words  are  plain  in  themselves,  and  so  they  are 
literally   clear   against   you.     But  that  this  evasion  may   not 


OF    TILENLS.  33 

serve  your  turn,  we  find  the  Word  and  the  Spirit  both  together, 
in  Zach.  vii,  12.*  Yet  it  is  said,  "  they  hardened  their  hearts 
like  an  adamant,"  and  resisted  both.  (Isa.  Ixiii,  10.)  But  (2) 
men  may,  and  do  resist  that  power  of  Divine  grace  which  doth 
effectually  and  eventually  convert  others ;  yea,  [[they  resist^  a 
greater  power  than  that  which  doth  it.  "  The  men  of  Nineveh 
shall  rise  up  in  judgment  with  this  generation,  and  shall  con- 
demn it ;  for  they  repented  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah :  and 
behold,  a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here !"  (Luke  xi,  32.)  And  as 
much  is  implied  in  those  other  words  of  Christ:  "Woe  unto 
thee,  Chorazin  !  Woe  unto  thee,  Bethsaida  !  For  if  the  mighty 
works  which  were  done  in  you,  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes." 
(Matt,  xi,  21.) — Those  Heathen  cities  would  have  been  wrought 
upon  by  these,  gracious  dispensations  ;  but  you,  to  whom  they 
are  so  freely  and  earnestly  administered,  do  resist  them.  And 
why  should  our  Saviour  work  so  many  miracles  to  their  senses, 
to  induce  them  to  believe  and  be  converted .?  Ad  quid  perditio 
hcsc?  "  Why  so  much  pains  lost?"  For,  if  that  had  been  the 
way,  that  one  superlative  miracle, — the  irresistible  operation  of 
internal  grace, — had  superseded  the  necessity  of  all  others,  and 
made  them  utterly  superfluous. 

Impertinent. — What  say  you  to  that  text  in  Luke  xiv,  23  ?, 
"  Compel  them  to  come  in."  Doth  not  that  imply  an  irresistible 
power  upon  them  } 

Til. — This  place  in  St.  Luke  speaks  of  a  charge  given  to  a 
minister,  whose  office  it  is  to  call,  invite,  and  importune,  (to 
say  nothing,  that  it  is  a  part  of  a  parable  ;)  and  I  remember 
even  now,  when  you  were  urged  with  that  in  Acts  vii,  51,  ("ye 
always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost,")  then  you  could  allege,  that  that 
was  spoken  concerning  the  outward  ministry  of  the  word, 
which,  you  confessed,  might  be  resisted.  But  now,  you  pro- 
duce a  text  yourselves,  which,  though  it  doth  most  evidently 
belong  to  the  outward  ministry,  yet  because  it  hath  the  word 
COMPEL  in  it,  and  will  serve  your  interest,  it  must  needs  signify 


*  The  passage  inZechariah  reads  thus  :  "  Yea,  they  made  their  hearts  as 
aa  adamant  stone,  lest  they  should  hear  the  law,  and  the  words  which 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  hath  sent  in  his  Spirit  by  the  former  prophets." 

'The  next  passage  from  Isaiah  is,  "But  they  rebelled,  and  vexed  his 
Holy  Spirit  :  Therefore  he  was  turned  to  be  their  enemy,  and  he  fought 
against  them." — Editor. 


34  THE    EXAMINATION" 

"irresistible."  So  that,  in  the  Acts,  " the  Holy  Ghost"  must, 
according  to  your  interpretation,  signify  the  oiitward  minislri/, 
and  that  must  be  the  only  thing  resisted;  but,  in  St.  Luke,  the 
outward  ministrij  shall  signify  "the  inward  working  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  that  shall  be  irresistible. 

Efficax. — The  Apostle  saith,  "  It  is  God  which  worketh  in 
you,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  (Phil,  ii,  13.) 

Til. — The  Apostle  doth  not  say,  that  "  God  doth  this  immedi' 
ately  and  irresistibly ;"  for  if  he  did,  that  would  evacuate  the 
force  of  his  exhortation,  (which  is  both  a  mean  and  suasion,)  to 
the  duty  of  "  working  out  our  salvation,"  &c. ;  for  the  en- 
forcing whereof  that  is  rendered  as  the  reason,  which  is  "  the 
cord  of  a  man."  He  speaks  not  of  the  means  or  manner  of 
God's  working.  *  And  that  he  works  the  ability,  I  grant;  but 
not  the  very  act  itself  of  our  duty,  (which  if  he  did,  it  would  be 
his  act,  not  ours,  and  so  not  obedience,  for  he  hath  no  superior,) 
much  less  doth  he  work  it  immediately  and  irresistibly. 

Efficax. — The  Prophet  acknowledgeth,  that  the  Lord  "work- 
eth all  our  works  in  us."  (Isai.  xxvi,  12.) 

Til. — If  the  text  were  to  be  read  "  in  us,"  there  were  some 
small  colour  for  your  pretension ;  but  in  the  original,  it  is  "  for 
us ;"  and,  therefore,  rejecting  the  sense  which  you  would  put 
upon  the  words,  some  vinderstand  "  all  the  benefits,  which  God 
nad  bestowed  upon  them,"  answerable  to  the  former  part  of  the 
verse,  "  Lord,  thou  wilt  ordain  peace  for  us  :  for  thou  hast 
wrought,"  &c.  Others  understand  it  of  "their  afflictions  and 
distresses,"  in  opposition  to  that  former  branch  of  the  verse,  and 
agreeable  to  the  verse  following,  "  Other  Lords  have  had  dominion 
over  us  "  But  if  you  would  have  the  meaning  of  that  (or  any 
other  place  of  scripture,)  to  be  this,  "  that  God  doth  im?nediately 
and  irresistibly  produce  all  our  spiritual  works,"  (which  are 
works  as  well  of  duty  as  of  grace  in  us,)  and  "that  he  hath 
tied  himself  by  covenant  and  promise  so  to  do,"  (as  is  affirmed 
by  some,)  then  it  will  undeniably  follow,  that  God  himself, 
being  so  engaged,  ought  to  believe,  and  repent,  and  pray,  and  do 
all  other  necessary  good  in  us :  As  Servetus  said,  "  The  fire  burns 
*'  not,  the  sun  shines  not,  bread  nourishes  not :  but  that  God 
"  alone  doth  immediately  all  these  things  in  his  creatures,  with- 
"  out  having  given  them  such  properties."  And  then,  sure,  it  were 

*  1  Pet.  i,  22.— 1  Cor.  xv,  10. 


OF    TILENUS.  '85 

fitter  for  the  preacher  to  direct  his  admonitions  to  God  alone, 
that  he  would  perform  his  undertaken  work  in  men's  hearts, 
by  his  omnipotency,  unto  which  they  may  never  find  ability 
to  make  resistance.  But  the  truth  is,  it  standeth  not  with  God's 
wisdom,  neither  doth  he  ever  use  to  work  upon  the  will  of  man 
after  this  manner,  and  that  for  three  reasons. 

Dr.  Dubious. — I  pray,  let  us  hear  them  clearly  from  you. 

Til. — First,  then,  Though  (speaking  of  his  absolute  power,) 
God  can  compel  and  necessitate  the  will  of  man,  (and  so  we  do 
not  make  him  stronger  than  God,  as  is  very  weakly  concluded 
by  some,)  yet  he  will  not;  because  he  will  not  violate  that 
order  which  he  hath  set  in  our  creation.  He  made  man  after 
his  own  image,  invested  him  with  a  reasonable  soul,  having 
the  use  of  understanding  and  the  freedom  of  will.  He  endowed 
him  with  a  power  to  consider  and  deliberate,  to  consult  and 
choose ;  and  so,  by  consequence,  he  gave  him  dominion  over 
himself  and  his  own  actions;  that,  having  made  him  lord  of  the 
whole  world,  he  might  not  be  a  slave  to  himself,  but  imprimis 
animi  sui possesione  regnaret,  "  might  first  exercise  bis  sovereignty 
in  the  free  possession  of  his  own  mind,"  saith  TertuUian.  To 
force  his  will,  were  to  destroy  the  nature  of  his  creature,  (which 
grace  is  not  designed  to  do,  but  only  to  heal  and  assist  it,)  an^i 
therefore  God  deals  with  man  as  a  free  agent ;  by  instructions 
and  commands,  by  promises  and  threatenings,  by  allurements 
and  reproofs,  by  rewards  and  punishments.  So  true  is  the 
saying  of  that  father.  Nemo  invitusjit  bonus.  *  With  this  accords 
the  Son  of  Syrach :  "  God  made  man  from  the  beginning,  and 
left  him  in  the  hand  of  his  counsel.  If  thou  wilt  keep  the  com- 
mandments, and  perform  acceptable  faithfulness.  He  hath  set 
fire  and  water  before  thee  :  stretch  forth  thy  hand  unto  whether 
thou  wilt.  Before  man  is  life  and  death,  and  whether  him 
liketh  shall  be  given  him."  (Ecclus.  xv,  14 — 17.) 

Knowlittle. — That  text  is  Apocryphal,  and  therefore  will 
not  serve  your  turn,  if  you  produce  it  to  confirm  a  point  of 
faith. 

Til. — My  Second  Reason  shall  confirm  it  out  of  the  au- 
thentic canon,  and  it  shall  be  this:  viz.,  because  God  will 
have  our  faith  and  our  repentance,  and  his  whole  service  wherein 
we  engage  ourselves,  to  be  a  work  of  our  own  choice, — as  it  is 

*  "  No  man  is  made  good  iu  opposition  to  his  own  inclination." 


36  THE    EXAMINATION 

said  of  Maiy,  "  she  had  chosen  the  good  part ;"  and  hereupon 
our  Saviour  propounds  the  query,  "  Will  thou  be  made  whole  ?" 
(John  V,  6.)  And  so  the  Prophet  Jeremiah  before  him,  "  O 
Jerusalem,  wilt  thou  not  be  made  clean  ?  when  shall  it  once  be  ?" 
(xiii,  27.) — God  doth  not  necessitate  nor  irresistibly  determine 
his  people's  will,  but  only  directs,  and  conjures,  and  assists 
them  to  make  the  best  choice.  ' '  Behold  I  set  before  you  this 
day  a  blessing  and  a  curse ;"  (Deut.  xi,  26.)  and  more  fully, 
*'  See,  I  have  set  before  thee,  this  day,  life  and  good,  death  and 
evil;"  (xxx,  15.)  and,  "I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  this 
day  against  you,  that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  bless- 
ing and  cvirsing :  therefore  choose  life."  (verse  1 9-)  And  this 
is  rendered  as  the  reason  of  man's  rejection,  "  Because  ye  did 
not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord."  (Prov.  i,  29.) 

Narrowgrace. — By  this  reasoii  you  make  man  to  have  free- 
will. 

Til. — Under  favour.  Sir,  it  is  not  I,  but  it  was  God  that 
made  him  to  have  it :  and  he  that  denies  all  freedom  of  will 
to  man,  deserves  no  other  argument  than  a  whip  or  a  cudgel  to 
confute  him.  Sure,  the  smart  would  quickly  make  him  find 
liberty  enough  to  run  from  it.  Our  woful  experience  tells 
us,  we  have  too  much  fi*ee-will  to  do  evil;  and  Scripture 
teacheth  us  plainly,  that  we  have  liberty  in  moral  things  ;  *  and 
for  the  service  of  God  and  things  spiritual,  our  Saviour  Christ 
saith,  "  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,"  (John  viii,  36,)  (and 
he  doth  so  by  the  ministry  of  his  gospel,)  "  ye  shall  be  free 
indeed ;"  (verse  32.)  and  "  sin  shall  have  no  more  dominion 
over  you," — unless  ye  yield  yourselves  up  to  the  power  of  it. 
(Rom.  vi,  14,  16.)  Joshua  v/as  so  well  assured  hereof,  that 
he  puts  it  to  the  people's  choice,  t  (which  implies  their 
liberty,)  to  serve  the  Lord  or  other  gods.  %  Yourself  acknow- 
ledged even  now,  out  of  the  Philippians,  that  "  God  Avorketh 
in  us  to  will  and  to  do,"  which  signifies  a  liberty,  else  it  could 
not  signify  an  ability;  whereupon  St.  Paul  saith,  la-^vui,  ''I 
am  able  to  do,  or  suffer,  all  things."  (Phil,  iv,  13.) 

Narrowgrace. — The  Apostle addeth  in  that  place,  "through 
Christ  strengthening  me ;"  for  "  without  Christ  we  can  do 
nothing."  (John  xv.) 

«  Nunb.  XXX,  13.— 1  Cor.  vii,  36,  37.  f  Jos.  xxiv,  15. 

X  Yet  were  llicy  not  under  so  ^icat  means  as  wc  arc. 


OF    TILENUS.  37 

Til. — Nothing  spiritual,  that  puts  us  into  possession  of  hea- 
ven, or  accompanies  Siilvation.  But,  observe,  it  is  not  "  through 
Christ  FORCING,"  but  "  through  Christ  strengthening  me." 
The  grace  and  the  ability  are  from  Christ ;  but  it  is  our  part  and 
duty  to  actuate  that  ability,  and  co-operate  with  that  grace: 
And  therefore  it  will  be  worth  your  notice  to  observe,  that  what 
God  promiseth  to  do  himself  in  one  place,  He  commands  the  very 
same  things  to  be  do7ie  by  us  in  another;  to  intimate,  that, 
although  the  'power  of  acting  be  derived  from  his  assistance,  yet 
the  act  itself,  as  it  is  a  duty,  depends  upon  our  co-operation. 
Thus,  "  Circumcision  of  the  heart"  is  pi'omised,  as  from  God, 
in  Deut.  xxx,  6;  but  commanded,  as  to  be  done  by  us,  in  Deut. 
X,  16,  and  in  Jer,  iv,  4. — "A  new  heart  and  spirit"  promised  in 
Ezek.  xxxvi,  ^6  ;  but  commanded  in  Ezek.  xviii,  31.  * — "  I  will 
be  your  God,"  promised  in  Jerem.  xxxii,  38 ;  but  commanded 
Exod.  XX.  3  ;  and  "  if  ye  forsake  him,  he  will  cast  you  off  for 
ever."  (1  Chron.  xxviii,  9)  "  One  heart  and  one  way,"  pro- 
mised in  Jer.  xxxii,  39 ;  yet  commanded,  Ephes.  iv,  3,  4. 
1  Cor.  i,  10. — So  in  Jer.  xxxii,  40,  it  is  promised,  "  I  will  put 
my  fear  in  their  hearts ;"  yet  in  Prov.  i,  29,  ^it  is  said,^  "  be- 
cause they  did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord,"  and  1  Pet.  ii,  I7. 
— So  it  is  promised,  "  I  will  write  my  laws  in  their  inward 
parts,  and  they  shall  be  all  taught  of  God."  (Jer.  xxxi,  33, 
Isai.  liv,  13.)  Yet,  in  other  places,  it  is  commanded,  "Be  swift 
to  hear ;  take  heed  how  you  hear  ;  as  new-born  babes,  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word."  (1  Pet.  ii,  1,  2.  See  Prov.  vii,  1,3; 
and  Rom.  x,  8,  I7.) — So  it  is  promised  in  Isai.  i,  25,  "I  will 
purge;"  yet,  in  2  Tim.  ii,  21,  "He  that  purgeth  himself." — 
So  it  is  promised  in  Jer.  xxxiii,  8,  "  I  will  cleanse  them  from 
all  their  iniquity;"  yet  in  James  iv,  8,  Isai.  i,  16,  IS,  it  is  com- 
manded, "  Wash  ye,  make  ye  clean." — And  it  is  evident,  that 
God  many  times  fulfilleth  his  promise  and  performeth  his  part, 
when  man  altogether  neglecteth  his  part  and  duty.  "  I  have 
purged  thee  and  thou  wast  not  purged."  (Ezek.  xxiv,  13.) 
— See  Matt,  xi,  21,  Luke  vii,  30. 

Dr.  Dubious. — Enough  of  this  !  You  promised  us  a  third 
reason,  why  God  doth  not  (as  you  pretend,)  work  man's  con- 
version and  his  faith,  by  a  power  of  grace  irresistible  :  I  pray 
let  us  hear  that  also. 

*  Ephcs.  iv,  23. 


38  THE    EXAMINATION 

Til. — Sir,  you  shall  have  it  in  a  few  words,  and  it  is  this : 
Because  he  will  not  save  us,  (I  speak  of  the  adult,  who  have 
the  use  of  their  faculties,)  but  in  a  way  of  duty.  "  If  thou  do 
well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted  ?"  (Gen.  iv,  7.)  "  To  them 
who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory  and 
honour,  and  immortality,"  (Rom.  ii,  6,  7,)  to  them,  and  to  them 
only,  will  he  render  "eternal  life  ;"  and  therefore  He  is  said  to 
be  "  the  Author  of  eternal  salvation,  only  to  them  that  obey 
him."  (Heb.  v,  9-)  Now,  observe,  that  which  is  not  wrought 
by  the  omnipotent  impulse  and  irresistible  motion  and  operation 
of  God, — that  cannot  be  the  duty  of  a  poor  frail  creature.  Or 
thus,  what  is  a  work  of  Ahnightiness  in  God,  cannot  be  a  work  of 
obedietice  in  us;  if  it  were,  it  would  conclude  us  to  be  omni- 
potent. Besides,  the  act  could  not  be  an  act  of  duty ;  Christ 
could  do  nothing,  that  was  duty  for  us,  till  he  had  submitted 
himself  to  the  condition  of  our  nature;*  because  God,  sup- 
posed to  be  the  doer  of  it,  is  not  under  obedience.  But  repent- 
ance and  amendment  of  life,  &c.,  are  required,  as  a  duty,  of  us, 
and  as  pai't  of  our  obedience.  "  Amend  your  ways,"  (Jer.  vii, 
3,  5,)  "  and  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit."  (Ezek. 
xviii,  31.) 

Knowlittle. — By  this  doctrine,  you  seem  to  make  a  man  his 
own  saviour. 

Til. — If  I  should,  not  only  seem  to  do  so,  but  do  so  in  good 
earnest,  (so  it  be  in  a  way  of  suhordinalion  to  Christ,)  I  see  no 
harm  in  it.  St.  Paul  saith,  "Work  out  your  salvation."  Yea, 
St.  Peter,  exhorting  to  repentance,  saith  expressly,  "  Save  your- 
selves." (Acts  ii,  40.)  To  our  safety  our  own  sedulity  is  re- 
quired, according  to  that  trite  saying,  "  He  that  made  thee 
without  thyself,  will  never  save  thee  without  thyself." 

Dr.  Absolute. — Methinks,  this  doth  hardly  sound  like  that 
doctrine  which  the  Apostle  labours  so  earnestly  to  establish,  to 
shut  the  creature  for  ever  out  of  all  ground  and  occasion  of 
boasting.  Rom.  iii,  27. 

Til. — For  a  man  to  boast  himself  in  his  riches  is  vanity, — 
in  his  wickedness  is  impiety, — in  his  works,  performed  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  Moses,  or  out  of  the  strength  of  nature,  (as 
if  they  could  justify  and  save  hinti,)  is  arrogancy: — But  to 
glory  in  the  Lord,  and  rejoice  in  his  salvation,  is  not  only  allow- 

*  Phil,  ii,  7. 


OF    TILENUS.  39 

ed,  *  but  also  enjoined,  t  and  practised.  "  Our  rejoicing  (or 
glorying)  is  this,  the  testimony  of  our  conscience,  that  in  sim- 
plicity and  godly  sincerity,  not  by  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the 
grace  of  God,  we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world." 
(2  Cor.  i,  12.)  "Let  every  man  prove  his  own  works,"  (per- 
formed in  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  through  the  power  of  his 
grace,)  "  and  then  shall  he  have  rejoicing,  (glorying,  boasting,) 
in  himself."  (Rom.  xv,  17. — Gal.  vi,  4.) — Tt  is  the  same  word 
in  these  two  places,  with  that  in  the  text  objected,  Rom.  iii,  27. 

Dr.  Damman. — Are  these  your  tenets  consonant  to  the  Articles 
of  the  Stjnod  of  Dort  ?  What  opinion  have  you  of  that,  and  the 
doctrine  held  forth  by  the  Divines  in  that  assembly .'' 

Til. — I  have  had  as  great  a  reverence  for  that  Synod  as  any 
man  living;  the  principles,  therein  delivered,  being  instilled 
into  me  from  my  youth.  But,  I  thank  God,  studying  the  best 
method  for  the  cure  of  souls,  and  the  opportunity  of  reading 
better  books,  have  already  altered  my  judgment  quite. 

Dr.  Damman. — Do  you  think  you  have  changed  so  much 
for  the  better,  that  you  have  reason  to  give  God  thanks  for  it .'' 

Til. — Yes,  truly ;  and,  I  persuade  myself,  you  would  be  of 
that  mind  too,  if  you  would  patiently  attend  to  my  objec- 
tions against  their  doctrine,  and  weigh  them  without  preju- 
dice or  partiality.  But,  before  I  propound  those  objections,  it 
will  be  requisite  that  we  take  a  brief  view  of  that  doctrine ; 
which  I  shall  therefore  concisely,  yet  truly  and  clearly,  sura  up 
in  these  Five  Articles  following  : 

They  hold, — J .  That  God  by  an  absolute  decree  hath  elected  to 
salvation  a  very  little  number  of  men,  without  any  regard  to  their 
faith  or  obedience  whatsoever ;  and  \liatir\  secluded  from  saving 
grace  all  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  appointed  them  by  the  same  dt" 
cree  to  eternal  damnation,  without  any  regard  to  their  infidelity  or 
impenitency. 

2.  That  Christ  Jesus  hath  not  suffered  death  for  any  other,  but 
for  those  elect  only  ;  having  neither  had  any  intent,  ?ior  commandment 
of  his  Father,  to  make  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 

3.  That  by  Adam's  fall  his  posterity  lost  their  free-7vill,  being 
put  to  an  unavoidable  necessity  to  do,  or  not  to  do,  whatever  they  do 
or  do  not,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil ;  being  thereunto  predestinate 
by  the  eternal  and  effectual  secret  decree  of  God. 

*  Rom.  ii,  7.  f  1  Cor.  i,  31.— Phil,  iv,  4. 


40  THE    EXAMINATION 

4.  That  God,  to  save  his  elect  from  the  cor  nipt  mass,  doth  beget 
faith  in  them,  by  a  power  equal  to  that  whereby  he  created  the 
world  and  raised  up  the  dead ;  insomuch  that  such  unto  whom  he 
gives  that  grace,  cannot  reject  it ;  and  the  rest,  being  reprobate, 
cannot  accept  oj  it,  though  it  be  offered  unto  both  by  the  same 
preaching  and  ministry. 

5.  That  suck  us  have  once  received  that  grace  by  faith,  can  never 
fall  from  it  finally  nor  totally,  notwilhstatiding  the  most  enormous 

sifts  they  can  commit. 

Dr.  Damman. — I  confess  you  have  done  the  Divines  of  that 
Synod  no  wrong  in  setting  down  their  tenets.  But  what  ob- 
jections have  you  against  the  doctrine. 

Til. — I  shall  insist  only  upon  this,  (and  it  is  so  comprehen- 
sive I  need  mention  no  more,)  It  doth  not  only  evacuate  the 
force  and  virtue,  but  quite  frustrateth  the  use,  of  the  ministry 
of  the  word,  and  all  other  holy  ordinances  instituted  by  our 
Saviour  Christ,  and  commanded  to  be  continued,  for  the  edi- 
fication and  benefit  of  his  church,  to  the  world's  end. 

Dr.  Dubious. — How  can  you  make  that  appear  ? 

Til. — For  the  ministry  of  the  word,  it  is  employed  either 
about  the  wicked  or  the  godly.  The  wicked  are  of  two  sorts, — 
either  infdels  despising,  or  car7ial  persons  professing,  the  holy 
gospel.  The  godly  are  of  two  sorts,  or  two  tempers  likewise,  or 
we  may  consider  them  under  a  two-fold  estate, — either  as  remiss 
imd  tepid,  or  else  as  disconsolate  and  tempted :  so  that  the  minis- 
try of  the  word  is  designed  to  a  four-fold  end,  in  respect  of 
man : 

1.  The  conviction  and  conversion  of  an  infidel. 

2.  The  correction  and  amendment  of  the  carnal. 

3.  The  quickening  and  provocation  of  the  tepid  and  slothful. 

4.  The  comfort  and  consolation  of  the  afflicted  and  tempted. 
But  the  former  doctrine  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  is  so  far  from 

being  serviceable  to  any  of  these  four  ends,  that  it  is  directly 
repugnant  to  them  all,  and  therefore  not  consonant  to  that  holy 
Scripture  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  which  is  prof  table  for  all 
those  ends,  as  the  Apostle  saith, — "  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for 
correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man  of 
God,  who  is  a  helper  of  the  people's  joy,  *  may  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work."  (2  Tim.  iii,  15,  l6.) 

*  2  Cor.  i,  24. 


or    TILF.NLS,  4r 

That  tin's  may  the  more  evidently  appear,  I  desu-e  you  with 
Avhom  that  doctrine  is  in  so  high  esteem,  to  make  a  practical 
attempt  of  it :  Herein  I  desire  you  to  be  true  to  your  own  prin- 
ciples, and  not  to  shuffle,  as  usually  in  your  popular  sermons, 
wherein  the  Sijnodical  and  Calvinian  principle  in  your  Doctrine, 
is  always  confuted  by  an  Arminian  exhortation  in  your  Applica- 
tion. In  the  mean  while,  I  am  content  to  personate  successively 
those  four  sorts  of  men ;  and,  for  method's  sake,  I  pray  address 
your  discourse.  First,  for  the  conversion  of  Tilenus  Infidelis. 

I.  TILENUS  INFIDELIS. 

Dr.  Absolute. — Most  gladly  will  we  undertake  this  task; 
that  we  may  convince  you  of  the  errors  in  which  we  see  you 
are  immersed ;  pi-ovided  you  do  not  study  to  be  obstinate,  nor 
allege  any  other  reasons  to  justify  your  recusancy  and  averse- 
ness  to  the  Christian  faith,  than  what  you  clearly  deduce  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  Synod  and  the  Divines  thereof. — To  begin 
the  work  then,  we  will  take  it  for  granted  that  you  acknowledge 
a  Deity;  and  [^we]]  demand  of  you,  with  what  attributes  this 
Deity  is,  according  to  your  apprehension,  invested  and  clothed. 

Til.  Infidelis. — The  school  of  nature  hath  determined  that 
question  by  so  many  irrefragable  arguments,  that  I  am  convinced 
long  since,  that  there  is  a  Sovereign  Power  called  God  ;  and 
when  I  consider  such  beams  and  characters  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge  in  the  soul  of  man,  such  impressions  of  truth  and 
justice  upon  his  conscience,  with  so  great  a  variety  of  goodness 
in  all  creatures,  I  must  conclude,  that  God,  the  Maker  of  all 
these,  is  an  Eternal  Being,  inJiniteJy  wise,  good,  and  just.  I 
believe  further,  that  this  most  wise  God  in  communicating  so 
much  goodness  unto  man,  intended  hereby  to  oblige  him  to 
pay,  according  to  his  ability,  such  homage  and  service  as  is 
due  to  his  sovereign  excellency  and  bounty,  and  in  performance 
hereof  we  may  be  confident  to  find  protection  and  reward. 

SiMULANS. — The  God  whom  we  profess  and  worship,  and  he 
alone,  is  such  a  God  as  you  have  described ;  but  niore  merciful 
and  gracious,  hifinitcly,  than  you  have  been  acquainted  with ; 
to  whose  service,  therefore,  we  do  most  earnestly  invite  you. 

Til.  Infid. — I  thank  you  for  your  pretended  kindne.ss.  But 
if  you  can  produce  no  fairer  glass  to  represent  the  nature  of 
your  God,  than  the  doctrine  of  that  Synod,  I  must  tell  you, 
I  shall  have  no  temptation  or  inducement  at  all  to  believe  in 
him :  For  that  doctrine  is  so  for  from  exalting  the  attributes  of 

D 


42  THE    EXAMINATION 

wisdom,  goodnpss,  arid  justice  in  him,  that  it  doth  in  a  high 
measure  impeach  them  all. 

Fatality. — You  will  never  be  able  to  make  that  good. 

Til.  Infid. — I  beseech  you,  hear  me  patiently.  For  his 
WISDOM  first :  I  conceive  that  is  extremely  eclipsed,  in  that  he 
hath  made  choice  of  no  better  means  to  advance  his  own  honour, 
but  hath  stooped  to  such  mean  and  unworthy  designs  to  com- 
pass that  end,  as  all  but  tyrants  and  bankrupts  would  be 
ashamed  of. 

Dr.  Dubius. — How  so? 

Til.  Infid. — Your  doctrine,  if  it  does  not  belie  the  Majesty 
you  profess  to  worship,  supposeth  him  to  have  made  a  peremptory 
decree,  whereby  his  subjects  are  necessitated  to  trade  with  hell 
and  Satan  for  sin  and  damnation,  to  the  end  he  may  take  advan- 
tage out  of  that  commerce  to  raise  an  inconsiderable  impost  to 
augment  the  revenues  of  his  own  glory. 

Preterition. — We  have  his  own  word  for  it,  "  Is  it  not  law- 
ful for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine  own?"  (Matt,  xx,  15.) 

Til.  Infid. — (1)  Your  ,  Scripture  must  not  conclude  me, 
while  I  personate  the  Infidel. — But  (2)  We  are  not  now  argu- 
ing what  God  may  do  by  his  absolute  poiver  and  right  of  dominion, 
but  what  is  agreeable  to  his  infinite  wisdom. — And  (3)  Your  text 
speaks  of  a  free  disbursement  of  his  favours  :  but  our  discourse 
proceeds  upon  the  account  of  appointing  men  to  sin  and  punish- 
ment. Now  I  hope  you  will  not  call  sin  "  God's  own,"  though 
your  doctrine  concludes  him  fairly  to  be  the  Author  of  it;  and 
for  the  punishment, — he  is  pleased  to  call  that  opus  alienum,  not 
his  own  but  "  a  strange  work."  But  if  your  God,  for  his  mere 
pleasure  only,  and  to  make  demonstration  of  his  absolute  power, 
hath  appointed  to  eternal  torments  the  greatest  part  of  his  noblest 
creatures  without  any  respect  to  sin,  as  some  of  your  Synod  do 
maintain,  not  regarding  his  own  image  in  them, — what  is  this  but 
to  play  tlie  tyrant  ?  and  where  then  is  that  infinite  goodness,  which 
you  profess  to  be  in  your  God,  and  which  I  expect  to  be  in  that 
God  whom  I  fear  and  honour?  "  A  righteous  man  regardeth  the 
life  of  his  beast;"  (Prov.  xii,  10.)  yet  his  mercy  is  to  be  but  a 
a  copy  transcribed  from  that  original  in  God.  *  But  if  your 
God  be  of  that  temper,  the  righteous  man  may  very  well  be  a 
precedent  of  mercy  unto  him. 

Preterition — Indeed  some  of  the  Synod  do  maintain  that 
rigid  way ,  but  the  Synod  itself  determined  otherwise,  viz.  that 
*  Luke  VI,  36. 


OF  TiLENus.  ■  4:3 

Almighty  God,  looking  upon  mankind  as  fallen  in  the  loiii.t  of' 
Adam,  passed  over  the  greatest  pail  of  them,  leaving  them  in 
that  lapsed  estate,  not  affording  them  sufficient  gi'ace  for  their 
recover}',  ordaining  finallj'  to  condemn  them. 

Til.  Infid. — If  for  the  sin  of  another  man,  and  that  pardoned 
to  him  that  did  wilfully  commit  it,  but  imputed  to  his  posterity, 
(who  never  were  in  a  capacity  to  taste  the  pleasui'e  of  it,  to 
consents  unto  it,  or  protest  against  it,)  your  pretended  God 
deals  thus  cruelly  with  them,  depriving  them  for  ever  of  his 
grace  which  should  enable  them  to  repent,  and  sealing  them 
up  by  an  irrevocable  decree  under  an  irresistible  necessity  con- 
tinually to  sin  and  then  to  perish  everlastingly  for  so  sinning  ;— 
where  is  that  infinite  justice,  accompanied  with  that  super- 
abundant MERCY  and  graciousness,  [[which]]  you  affirmed  to  be 
in  him  ?  I  have  heard,  that  the  God  whom  Christians  do  adore, 
is  so  infinitely  merciful,  that  he  "  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved, 
and  none  to  perish  ;"  and  [[that^  not  able  to  swear  by  a  greater, 
[[he^  swears  by  himself,  that  he  "  wills  not  the  death  of  a  sin- 
nei-,  but  that  he  may  repent  and  live ;"  that  he  protesteth  the 
sufficiency  of  his  own  applications,  and  bewaileth  their  wilful 
obstinacy,  and  expostulateth  most  earnestly :  "  What  could 
have  been  done  more  that  I  have  not  done  }  O  that  there  were 
such  a  heart  in  you  !  Why  will  ye  die  ?"  Indeed  there  is  so 
much  grace  and  sweetness  in  these  expressions,  they  would 
bring  a  poor  wretch  presently  upon  his  knees  to  such  a  God. 

Dr.  Dubius. — These  are  all  the  very  expressions  of  that 
God  whom  we  serve,  into  whose  gracious  arms  and  bosom  we 
so  earnestly  desire  to  bring  you. 

Til.  Infid. — If  you  could  teach  me  how  to  reconcile  these 
expressions  to  the  doctrine  of  your  Synod,  I  should  say  some- 
thing :  but  I  conclude  that  impossible. 

SiMULANs. — I  shall  willingly  undertake  that  work,  as  hard  as 
you  make  it,  and  a  great  deal  more  too,  to  gain  your  soul  out 
of  the  state  of  infidelity.  There  is  a  three-fold  distinction  used 
amongst  our  Divines,  that  will  untie  the  knot  presently.  (1) 
Mr.  Calvin  (in  Ezek.  xviii,  23,)  hath  very  learnedly  observed, 
that  God  hath  two  wills  :  One  outward  and  revealed,  whereby 
he  doth  most  sweetly  invite  sinners  to  his  grace,  and  most 
graciously  calls  them  to  repentance,  seeming  as  though  he  were 
most  earnestly  desirous  of  their  salvation.  The  other  will  is 
imvard  and  secret,  which  is  irresistible  and  takes  effect  infallibly  ; 


44  THE    EXAMINATION 

and  by  this  he  brings,  through  ways  unavoidable,  to  an  estate 
and  course  of  sin  here,  and  then  to  eternal  damnation  and 
punishment  hereafter."  Now,  to  apply  this ;  you  must  under- 
stand those  places  of  scripture,  forementioned,  of  God's  outward 
and  revealed  will  which  is  uneifectual,  not  of  his  inward  and 
secret  will  which  is  unresistible. 

Til.  Infid. — A  very  useful  distinction,  and  tending  much  to 
the  honour  of  your  God,  as  you  have  applied  it !  I  see  you 
have  not  your  name  for  nought,  Mr.  Simulans !  But  for  my 
part,  I  think  Homer  was  much  more  honest  than  you  and  your 
God,  when  he  says,  that  Ep^Ggor  /x£v  i^oi,  &c.  "  Who  speaks 
contrary  to  what  he  means,  ought  to  be  held  as  a  common  ene- 
my, and  hated  as  the  very  gates  of  hell."  But  perhaps  your 
second  distinction  may  be  more  satisfactory.  1  pray  let  us  have 
that. 

Simulans. — We  must  make  use  of  distinctions  to  clear  our 
doctrines  from  contradiction  ;  and  if  that  doth  not  like  you,  we 
have  another  which  cannot  be  denied.  When  it  is  said,  that 
"  God  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved,"  the  word  "■  all"  is  to  be 
understood,  non  de  singulis  generum,  but  de  generibus  singulorum  : 
"  not  for  all  of  every  kind,"  but  "  for  some  few  only  of  every 
sort  and  nation." 

Til.  Infid. — Methinks,  Sir,  if  this  be  the  meaning  of  the 
words,  the  Scripture  might  have  said  with  far  more  reason,  that 
*'  God  will  have  all  men  to  be  damned,"  since  of  every  nation 
and  condition  the  number  of  the  damned  do  so  far  exceed  the 
number  of  the  saved,  according  to  your  doctrine ;  and  reason 
requires,  that  the  denomination  should  be  made  according  to 
the  major  part.  But  perhaps  your  third  distinction  will  help 
this  out. 

Simulans. — The  will  of  God  is  either  approhans  tanliim,  or 
else  approbans  et  efficiefis  simid.  *  God,  we  say,  will  have  all 
men  to  be  converted  and  saved  approbative,  non  effective  :  "  he 
approves  of  it  and  likes  it  well  in  himself  that  all  men  be  con- 
verted and  saved,  but  he  wills  it  not  effectively ;"  that  is,  he 
hath  decreed  the  contrary,  not  to  give  them  means  necessary 
to  the  attainment  of  it. 

Til.  Infid. — This  distinction  I  conceive  no  less  unreasonable 
and  absurd  than  the  former.     That  your  God  should  appoint  by 

*  God's  will  is  either  that  oi  approbation  alotie,  or  that  of  approbation  and 
efficiency  together. 


OF    TILENUS.  T^ 

a  secret,  absolute,  and  irrevocable  decree,  that  those  things 
which  he  doth  naturally  hate  and  abhor  should  be  most  prac- 
tised, and  those  which  he  naturally  loves  and  likes  should  be 
omitted  ; — this  is  so  inconsistent  with  that  infinite  wisdom  and 
goodness,  which  you  proclaim  to  be  in  him,  that  I  cannot  find 
myself,  in  any  measure  inclined  to  acknowledge  him  the  Go- 
vernor of  the  world.  I  suspect  rather,  that  you  have  a  design 
to  make  me  become  a  proselyte  to  the  Manichseans,  who  pro- 
fess two  principles, — a  wicked  one  as  well  as  a  good  one ;  and 
having  acknowledged  my  persuasion  of  a  good  God,  who  loveth 
righteousness  and  hateth  iniquity,  you  tempt  me  to  believe  a 
wicked  God  also,  which  is  the  Author  of  all  evil,  and  in  per- 
petual hostility  against  the  former.  It  were  so  great  an  impeach- 
ment of  his  sincerity,  that  no  civil  person  would  endure  to  have 
his  words  so  interpreted  as  you  interpret  those  of  your  gospel ; 
the  unavoidable  consequence  whereof  is,  that  your  God  is  the 
true  Author  of  all  the  sins  and  wickedness  of  this  world,  both 
past,  present,  and  to  come. 

Fatality. — We  say.  Dens  est  causa  cur  peccatum  existat,  sed 
non  cur  sit,  "  God  is  the  cause  of  the  existence,  but  not  of  the 
essence,  (if  I  may  so  speak,)  of  sin ;"  as  he  that  drives  a  lame 
horse  is  the  cause  of  his  halting,  but  not  of  his  lameness. 

Til,  Infid. — This  distinction  will  hardly  help  the  lame  dog 
over  the  style :  For,  he  that  drives  a  horse  unavoidably  into 
that  motion,  which  necessarily  causeth  his  first  halting,  is  cer- 
tainly the  cause  of  his  lameness:  and  so  did  your  God  drive 
Adam  (according  to  your  own  doctrine,)  into  the  first  sin ; 
which  made  him  and  his  posterity  halt  ever  since. 

Fatality. — You  must  distinguish  the  materiality  of  sin  from 
Xhe  formality  of  it ;  or  the  act  from  the  deformity.  God,  we  say, 
is  cause  of  the  act,  or  the  materiality  :  but  not  of  the  formality, 
the  defect,  or  obliquity  of  it. 

Til.  Infid. — I  reply,  (1)  That  there  are  sins  of  omission, 
which  happen  (according  to  your  doctrine,)  by  reason  the  offender 
is  deprived  of  necessary  and  sufficient  grace  to  perform  the  duty, 
and  these  sins  are  not  capable  of  that  distinction ;  and  if  the 
deficient  cause  in  things  necessary  be  the  efficient,  you  know  to 
whom  such  sins  are  to  be  imputed, — (2)  There  are  sins  of 
commission  not  capable  of  that  distinction  neither ;  as  in  blas- 
phemy, murder,  adultery,  wherein  the  act  is  not  to  be  distin- 
guished from  the  cxorbitayicy  ;  were  such  a  distinction  allowable 

D  3 


46  Till':     EVA  Ml  NATION 

before  God,  (and  if  it  be  not,  sure  it  is  not  to  be  alleged  on  his 
behalf,)  every  transgressor  might  shew  a  fair  acquittance,  and 
justly  plead  not  guilty.  The  adulterer  might  say,  he  went  in 
to  his  adultress  at  a  woman,  not  as  she  was  married  to  another 
tnan  ;  and  that  he  humbled  her  for  pi-ocreation,  or  for  a  remedy 
of  his  concupiscence,  not  for  injury  io  her  husband.  The  blas- 
phemer might  say,  what  he  spake  was  io  make  use  of  tlie  foicidly 
of  speech  which  God  had  given  him,  and  to  keep  his  tongue  in 
use,  not  to  dishonour  the  Almighly.  And  so  (might  every  offender 
have  leave  by  virtue  of  this  distinction  to  separate  his  siiiful  act 
from  the  enormity  of  it,)  every  sin  would  become  a  miracle, 
that  is,  it  would  be  an  accident  v/ithout  a  subject.  If  your  God 
stands  in  need  of  this  logic  himself,  there  is  all  the  reason  in 
the  world,  that  (when  he  sits  in  judgment)  he  should  allow 
the  benefit  thereof  to  others. — But  (3)  the  greatest  Doctors  of 
your  Synod  have  written,  that  "  God  doth  predestinate  men  as 
well  to  the  means  as  to  the  end  :"  but  the  natural  act  (granting 
your  distinction,)  is  not  the  cause  of  man's  damnation,  as  it  is 
an  act,  but  only  as  it  is  sin  ;  and  therefore  those  unfortunate, 
forlorn  Avretches  whom  the  absolute  pleasure  of  your  God  hath 
invincibly  chained  to  the  fatal  decree  of  Reprobation,  can  no 
more  abstain  from  following  sin  (the  means,)  than  avoid  damn- 
ation (the  woful  end,)  to  which  they  are  so  peremptorily 
designed. 

Fatality.— We  do  not  desire  that  you  should  launch  out 
any  further  into  that  unfordable  abyss  of  horror  and  astonish- 
ment,— the  decree  of  eternal  Reprobation.  It  is  more  for  your 
comfort,  to  "  make  your  calling  and  election  sure ;"  to  get  an 
interest  in  Jesus  Christ  through  faith;  by  whose  means  the 
eternal  decree  of  mercy  may  be  accomplished  to  you. 

Til.  In  fid. — If  the  decree  of  God  be  really  such  as  you 
propound  it,  my  endeavours  would  be  to  as  little  purpose  as 
your  instruction  is  like  to  be :  For  if  every  man  be  inrolled 
from  all  eternity,  (after  such  a  sort  as  your  Synod  hath  deter- 
mined,) in  one  of  those  two  fatal  books  of  life  or  death,  it  is 
as  impossible  to  be  blotted  out  of  either,  as  for  God  to  deny 
himself.     To  what  end  then  serves  all  your  importunity  } 

Impertinent. — It  were  too  great  an  arrogance  m  us  to  piy 
into  God's  secrets.  "  Till  he  gives  us  a  key  (of  his  own  making) 
to  unlock  that  cabinet,  we  must  not  undertake  to  read  the 
mysteries  [^which^   he  hath  locked  up  in  it.     'I'liere  are  visible 


OF    TILENUS.  47 

marks  by  which  we  may  discern  the  Elect  from  the  Reprobate, 
and  those  we  must  reflect  upon,  to  the  making  out  of  our 
assurance :  And  because  our  vocation  is  the  next  saving  benefit 
that  results  from  our  Election,  and  it  is  altogether  uncertain 
when  God  will  vouchsafe  it  to  us,  whether  at  the  third,  or  at 
the  sixth,  or  at  the  ninth,  or  at  the  last  hour  of  our  lives; 
therefore  every  one  ought  to  keep  himself  in  readiness,  to 
answer  when  God  knocks,  and  to  obey  when  he  calls.  What 
you  utter  in  your  ignorance  and  unbelief  is  capable  of  so  much 
alleviation  that  it  proceeded  from  you  in  such  a  state;  other- 
wise I  should  tell  you  it  savours  much  of  a  spirit  of  Reprobation, 
to  say,  "  that,  since  such  as  God  hath  elected,  are  elected  to  the 
means  as  well  as  to  the  end,  men  work  in  vain  to  believe,  and 
do  the  exercises  of  piety,  as  well  as  to  be  saved  ;  and  to  perform 
these  in  oi*der  to  their  salvation." 

Til.  Infid. — If  it  be  so  great  an  arrogance  to  pry  into  these 
secrets,  why  do  you  so  positively  define  in  them,  and  so  per- 
emptorily obtrude  your  definitions  upon  others  ? — But  (2)  If 
all  men  be  infallibly  enlisted  under  one  of  those  two  regiments, 
of  Election  or  Reprobation,  and  we  be  not  able  to  distinguish 
to  which  we  do  belong,  till  God  be  pleased  to  call  us  over  and 
give  us  our  special  marks  and  cognizance;  and  if  that  vocation 
be  not  in  our  own  power  to  procure,  all  our  works  and  endea- 
vours that  are  brought  forth  before  it,  being  born  in  sin  and 
children  of  wrath,  (as  your  doctrine  teacheth,)  and  so  not  con- 
ducible  to  that  purpose, — sure  it  were  a  piece  of  improvidence 
at  least,  if  not  a  huge  presumption,  to  attempt  thus  to  prevent 
the  will  of  God  and  anticipate  the  decrees  of  heaven ;  notwith- 
standing, it  is  a  part  of  our  faith,  (as  you  define  it,)  that  we 
must  needs  stay  till  that  saving  call  of  God  doth  ring  so  loud  in 
our  ears,  that  it  is  impossible  we  should  be  deaf  or  disobedient 
to  it. 

Dr.  Confidence. — None  but  a  Reprobate  would  argue  after 
this  manner. 

Til.  Infid. — If  you  be  of  that  opinion,  I  will  hear  no  more 
of  your  instructions :  For  I  understand,  it  is  one  of  your  tenets, 
that  "  the  gospel  is  preached  to  the  greatest  part  of  the  world, 
to  no  other  end  but  to  aggravate  their  condemnation ;"  as  it  is 
recorded  by  a  chief  professor  of  that  doctrine,  called  Mr.  Calvin, 
that  God  doth  direct  his  word  unto  such,  "that  they  may 
become  the  more  deaf;  and  that  he  doth  set  his  light  before 


48  Till-:    EXAMINATION 

t'lem,  ofpurj-o'^e  to  make  them  the  more  blind,"  (Instit.  Ill, 
chap,  xxiv,  sec.  13.)  And  it' this  be  the  infinite  wisdom,  good- 
ness, and  JUSTICE  of  your  God,  those  at  whose  ears  there 
never  arrived  any  inteHigence  of  him,  are  the  more  liappy,  or  at 
least  the  less  unfortunate  and  miserable,  than  those  who  are 
brought  into  some  acquaintance  with  him  and  yet  cannot 
believe,  because  the  notice  they  have  of  him,  through  his  own 
unprovoked  restraint,  is  not  attended  with  grace  necessary  to 
■work  belief  in  them. 

Impertinent. — We  advise  you  to  betake  yourself  to  your 
prayers,  "  that  these  thoughts  of  your  heart  may  be  forgiven 
you,"  and  that  God  would  put  you  into  a  better  mind. 

Til.  Infid. — I  am  weary  of  these  absurd  contradictions: 
for  if  the  best  works  of  the  unregenerate  be  not  only  unfruitful, 
but  noxious  and  hurtful,  (as  they  are  accounted  by  the  test  and 
scale  of  your  doctrine,)  and  if  it  be  "  impossible  to  please  God 
without  faith"  in  Christ,  and  that  faith  not  to  be  ushered  into 
the  soul  but  by  the  dead-aAvakening  call  of  the  Almighty,  my 
pra3'ers  in  this  state  of  infidelity  will  rather  provoke  and  ex- 
asperate that  God  unto  whom  you  advise  me  to  pray,  than 
propitiate  and  appease  him.  That  philosopher,  therefore,  gave 
those  wicked  passengers  whom  the  violence  of  a  tempest  had 
stormed  into  a  fit  of  devotion,  a  great  deal  better  counsel,  when 
lie  said,  Slide,  ne  dii  vos  7iebulones  hie  fiavigare  scntiant :  He  bid 
them  "  hold  their  peace,  lest  their  cries  should  give  the  Gods 
warning  to  take  their  advantage  to  shipwreck  and  destroy  them." 

By  this,  gentlemen,  you  see  with  what  success  you  are  able 
to  manage  your  plea  according  to  your  Synod's  principles,)  in 
behalf  of  your  God  against  an  Infidel;  perhaps  you  may  come 
off  better  in  your  attempt  to  correct  a  wicked  Christian :  I 
desire,  therefore,  in  the  next  place,  that  you  Avould  make  proof 
of  your  discipline  upon  Tilenus  Carnams. 

II.  TILENUS  CARNALTS. 
Fatality. — Herein,  methinks,  I  should  make  no  great  diffi- 
culty to  prevail,  if  the  power  of  reason  can  but  fasten  upon  your 
understanding,  or  the  tie  of  religion  upon  your  conscience,  or 
the  sense  of  gratitude  upon  your  heart  and  affections.  Do  but 
reflect  upon  those  obligations  Avhich  Almighty  God  hath  laid 
upon  you,  in  your  creation  and  redemption.  Fie  hath  a  fair 
title  to  J  our  best  obedience  by  right  of  dominion,  in  regard  of 
that  excellent  nature  and  being  which  he  freely  conferred  upon 


OF    TILENUS.  49 

you  ;  but  a  stronger  title,  (if  stronger  may  be,)  by  the  right  of 
a  clear  purchase,  maile  by  no  lower  a  price  than  his  own  blood. 
These  obligations,  as  common  equity  hath  drawn  them  up,  so 
(with  respect  to  the  benefit  that  would  accrue  to  you  hereby,) 
your  own  ingenuity  hath  drawn  you  on  to  subscribe  and  seal 
them.  You  have  been  solemnly  devoted  unto  God  and  listed  a 
sworn  soldier  under  the  banner  of  your  Redeemer.  Are  you 
imder  his  pay,  and  fight  against  his  interest  ?  Do  you  wear 
his  livery,  and  eat  his  provisions,  and  expect  his  reward, — and 
yet  spend  your  time  and  strength  and  talents  in  the  service  of 
his  mortal  enemy  ?  How  execrable  is  the  sacrilege  of  this 
ingratitude  and  rebellion  !  Remember,  it  will  not  be  long  ere 
the  justice  of  God  sends  the  trumpet  of  the  law,  (which  will  be 
so  much  the  shriller  if  it  be  sounded  by  the  hollow  lungs  of 
death,)  to  give  your  now-secure  conscience  a  hot  alarum.  And 
when  you  are  once  awakened  with  the  terror  of  those  dreadful 
threatenings,  you  will  be  amazed  at  the  horror  of  that  appre- 
hension, when  you  shall  behold  all  those  shoals  and  swarms  of 
sin  (you  are  guilty  of)  mustered  up  in  their  several  ranks  and 
files  to  charge  and  fight  against  you,  for  the  momentary  and 
trifling  pleasures  whereof  you  have  so  improvidently  forfeited 
all  the  comforts  of  a  good  conscience  and  refreshments  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  with  your  portion  in  heaven  and  your  interest  in 
God's  favour.  In  exchange  whereof,  like  a  foolish  merchant, 
you  have  procured  nothing  but  the  coals  of  eternal  vengeance 
and  the  flames  of  hell,  which  the  crowds  of  your  condensed  sins 
have  thrust  wide  open,  ready  to  swallow  up  and  devour  you, 
unless  you  presently  prevent  it,  by  an  unfeigned  repentance 
and  universal  reformation. 

Til.  Carnahs. — Sir,  I  beseech  you,  suffer  not  your  zeal 
of  a  holy  life  to  transport  you  beyond  the  rule  of  sacred  truth ; 
lest,  while  you  pretend  to  honour  God  on  earth,  you  cast  re- 
proach upon  his  eternal  designs  in  heaven.  I  am  jealous,  Tilenus 
Infidelis  hath  so  disturbed  your  passions,  that  you  know  not 
where  you  are  :  For  you  have  quite  forgotten  your  Synod  and 
your  principles,  and  (I  think)  your  own  name  too,  and  seem  to 
have  lost  your  creed  in  your  commandments.  Recollect  your 
senses,  and  recal  your  wandering  phantasy,  and  awaken  your 
judgment  to  consult  the  oracle  of  your  belief,  Cyour  Synod,)  and 
speak  accordingly,  for  "  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  will  be  sin" 
in  you.    And  is  it  not  one  of  the  articles  of  that  creed  which 


50  THE    EXAMINATION 

you  profess  ?,  that  "  all  the  good  and  evil  whatsoever  that  hap- 
pens in  the  world,  doth  come  to  pass  by  the  only  immutable 
and  ineluctable  decree  of  God,  and  by  his  most  effectual  ordi- 
nance; that  the  First  Cause  doth  so  powerfully  guide  and 
impel  all  second  causes,  and  the  will  of  man  amongst  the  rest, 
that  they  cannot  possibly  either  act  or  suffer  sooner  than  they 
do,  or  in  any  other  manner."  I  am  sorry  I  am  no  more  master 
of  myself  and  my  own  actions,  that  I  am  so  divested  of  my 
liberty  and  carry  a  nature  about  me  so  debauched,  that  I 
cannot  choose  but  suffer  myself  to  be  carried  captive  under  the 
power  of  those  sins  that  reign  in  me  :  But,  my  comfort  is,  I  am 
assured,  by  the  judgment  of  such  sound  Divines  as  yourself, 
that  the  secret  will  of  God  (which  procured  Judas's  treason  no 
less  than  Paul's  conversion,)  hath  so  decreed  it.  And  you 
know  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  procure  a  writ  of  ejectment,  to 
cast  out  that  sin  which  came  in  and  keeps  possession  by  the 
uncontrollable  order  of  the  Divine  Predestination.  I  cannot 
get  grace,  when  God  will  not  give  it  me  ;  nor  keep  it,  when 
he  is  pleased  to  take  it  aAvay  from  me.  I  have  no  lure  to  throw 
out,  that  the  Dove  of  heaven  will  vouchsafe  to  stoop  unto. 
The  Spirit  blows  where  He  pleases,  inspires  whom  He  pleases, 
retires  when  He  pleases,  and  returns  when  He  pleases.  And  so 
if  it  comes  with  an  intent  to  amend  me,  it  will  be  as  impossible 
then  to  put  him  back  as  it  is  now  to  draw  him  on.  It  were  an 
intolerable  presumption  in  me,  to  make  myself  so  much  a  task- 
master over  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  to  prescribe  him  the  time  and 
hour  when  he  shall  effect  that  work  for  me,  whereunto  I  am 
able  to  contribute  no  more  than  to  mine  own  birth  or  resurrec- 
tion. *  I  can  affirm  with  confidence,  I  never  was  so  much  an 
Atheist  as  to  entertain  the  least  distrustful  thought  of  the 
Divine  Power.  When  he  hath  been  four  days  dead  and  lies 
stinking  in  his  grave,  Lazarus  may  be  raised;  and  the  more 
putrid  I  am  in  my  corruptions,  the  triumphs  of  the  Divine 
grace  will  be  so  much  the  more  glorious  in  my  restitution ;  but 


*  Atque  licoc  est  ilia  tantopere  in  Scripturis  prcedicata  regeiieratio,  nova 
creatio,  suscitatio  e  mortuis,  et  vivificatio,  quam  Deus  sine  nobis  in  nobis 
opcratur. — Can.  12,  Art.  3  &  40,  Synodi  Dordracenae. — "And  this  is  that 
regeneration,  second  creation,  raising  from  the  dead  and  quickening,  (so 
often  inculcated  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,)  which  God  worketh  in  us,  but  not 
wnn  us." — Old  EniiUsh  Translation  :  Printed  by  John  Bill,  1619, — the 
very  year  in  which  the  Synod  of  Uorl  was  held. 


OF    TILENUS.  61 

it  may  be  the  last  hour  of  the  day  with  me,  before  the  Day- 
spring  cloth  thus  visit  me.  In  the  mean  while,  to  shew  my 
detestation  of  that  arrogant  doctrine  of  the  Arminians,  I  will 
not  strive  to  do  the  least  endeavour  towards  piety ;  lest,  by 
attributing  some  liberty  to  myself,  I  should  eclipse  the  glory 
of  God's  grace,  which  I  acknowledge  [[to  be]]  as  well  most  free 
in  her  approaches,  as  unresistible  in  her  working.  I  confess, 
for  the  present,  my  sins  have  brought  such  a  damp  upon  my 
grieved  spirit,  that  he  doth  not  afford  me  so  much  grace  as  to 
cry,  "Abba,  Father!"  Nevertheless  I  can  call  to  mind,  I  have 
sometimes  heretofore  had  such  heavenly  motions  and  gracious 
inspirations  in  my  heail,  as  could  be  breathed  from  no  other 
than  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty,  and  hereby  there  hath  been 
begotten  in  me  a  faith  in  Christ's  merits,  not  only  true  (which 
can  never  be  lost,)  but  so  firm  also,  that  I  am  even  now  "per- 
suaded nothing  shall  be  able  to  separate  me  from  the  love  of 
God  towards  me  in  Christ  Jesus."  This  faith  is  rooted  in  a 
rock,  which  all  the  powers  of  darkness  are  not  able  to  root  up, 
though  to  your  present  apprehension  (for  want  of  the  fruits  and 
blossoms  of  piety  and  devotion,)  it  be  as  ti'ees  and  herbs 
in  winter,  which  seem  dry,  dead,  and  withered,  but  are 
not  so.  Besides,  being  one  of  God's  Elect  (as  every  one  is 
bound  to  believe,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort,  or  is  declared  "  foresworn"  by  that  of  Alez,)  it  follows, 
by  the  same  doctrine,  that  my  sin,  though  never  so  abominable, 
doth  co-operate  to  my  salvation ;  yea,  and  that  my  pardon  is 
sealed  already  ;  and  this,  Mr.  Fatality,  you  intimate  yourself,  in 
your  exhorting  me  to  repentance  :  For  repentance  (you  know)  is 
of  no  worth  without  faith,  and  faith  itself  is  defective  except  it 
believes  the  forgiveness  of  all  sins,  past  and  to  come.  How- 
ever, if  I  be  a  Reprobate,  (which  no  temptation  shall  induce 
me  to  believe,  contrary  to  my  duty,  as  I  am  instructed  by  the 
doctrine  of  the  Synod,)  yet,  unless  you  have  a  commission  to 
disannul  the  decrees  of  heaven,  your  threatenings  and  exhort- 
ations cannot  avail  me :  but  may  do  me  this  disadvantage,  that 
they  may  anticipate  my  hell-terrors,  and  beget  a  worm  in  my 
bosom  to  torment  me  before  the  time. 

K  Take-o'-trust. — I  like  it  well,  you  are  so  fully  persuaded  of 
the  All-sufficiency  of  the  Divine  grace,  and  that  you  profess  so 
much  averseness  to  the  proud  conceits  of  the  Arminians,  (not 
daring  to  ascribe  any  thing  to  your  own  endeavours,)  and  that 


62  THE    EXAMINATION 

you  are  so  careful  to  avoid  the  comfortless  suspicion  of  your 
being  under  the  state  of  Reprobation.  But  I  much  bewail  your 
dangerous  error  in  one  thing,  and  must  endeavour  your  correc- 
tion in  that,  as  the  most  likely  foundation  of  all  your  practical 
miscarriages. 

Til.  Carnal. — I  beseech  you,  what  may  that  be  ?  I  should 
be  glad  to  have  it  discovered  to  me. 

Take-o'-trust. — Because  (as  you  argued  very  well  according 
to  the  mind  of  the  Synod,)  the  Holy  Spirit  doth  immediately 
produce  repentance  in  the  sinner's  heart,  therefore  you  seem  to 
set  light  by  the  ordinance  of  the  word;  and  this  is  a  very 
dangerous  error  in  you :  For  the  word  (preached  especially) 
with  threatenings  and  exhortations, are  the  means  and  instruments 
by  which  the  Holy  Ghost  worketh,  to  the  conversion  and  cor- 
rection of  a  sinner. 

Til.  Carnal. — When  we  take  our  principles,  without  any 
examination,  upon  the  credit  of  our  admired  authors,  we  are 
apt  to  embrace  their  contradictions  as  points  of  faith,  and  their 
absurdities  as  parts  of  our  belief.  And  so  it  hath  happened  to 
yourself  in  this  particular :  For  you  must  observe,  that  that 
manner  of  working  only  is  called  ''immediate"  Avherein  no 
means  do  concur.  Now,  if  the  repentance  and  conversion  of  a 
sinner  be  attributed  to  the  immediate  working  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
it  implies  a  manifest  contradiction  to  say,  that  "exhortations  and 
threatenings  are  the  instruments  and  mea?is  thereof."  Besides, 
the  very  essence  and  being  of  an  instrument  is  placed  in  the 
aptitude  and  fitness  which  it  hath  for  the  use  and  office  to 
which  it  is  designed  :  so  a  knife  is  a  knife,  in  that  respect  only 
—that  the  quality  and  form  of  its  matter  give  it  an  aptitude  to 
cut :  an  eye  is  therefore  an  eye,  because  it  is  apt  to  see.  So 
every  instrument  hath  a  suitable  fitness  to  that  office  for  the 
performance  whereof  it  is  designed  to  be  an  instrument ;  and 
tiierein  lies  its  subserviency  to  the  principal  efficient. 

Take-o'-trust. — By  this  very  reason  I  conclude,  the  ministry 
of  the  word  to  be  the  means  and  instrument  of  the  sinner's 
conversion  and  repentance :  For  it  is  most  apt  to  inform  his 
understanding  of  his  duty,  and  to  quicken  his  will  and  affec- 
tions to  pursue  and  follow  the  same. 

Til.  Carnal. — Sir,  you  are  much  mistaken  ;  indeed  if  a 
moral  efficiency  would  serve  the  turn,  there  are  most  excellent 
arguments  of  persuasion  to  work  upon  a  reasonable  creature : 


OF    TTI.ENUS.  53 

But  this  is  the  very  tiling  that  the  Arminians  do  plead  for. 
Our  Synod,  and  the  Divines  thereof,  teach  us  otherwise, — 
namely,  that  "  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  cannot  be  wrought  but 
by  a  physical  or  hyper-physical  action  ;  an  impression  of  grace 
that  is  irresistible ;  to  which  effect  the  ministry  of  the  word 
(as  exhortations  and  commands,  promises  and  threatenings,) 
can  no  more  avail,  (having  no  more  aptitude  thereunto,)  than 
to  the  raising  of  the  dead,  or  the  creation  of  the  world." 

Impertinent. — We  do  read,  at  the  raising  up  of  Lazarus, 
and  the  creation  of  the  world,  that  "  God  spake  the  word  and 
it  was  done."  (Gen.  i,  3,  6. — John  xi,  43.) 

Til.  Carnal. — The  word  that  produced  those  effects,  was 
not  the  word  of  exhortation,  such  as  we  speak  of;  no,  nor  yet 
that  outward  word  consisting  of  sound  and  syllables,  which  did 
but  signify  what  God  was  about  to  work  by  his  irresistible 
omnipotency.  But  it  was  the  word  of  his  power,  *  which  is 
said  to  be  his  Son.  t  And  as  there  could  be  no  resistance 
made  against  that  power,  exerted  and  put  forth  for  that  creation 
and  resurrection  ;  so  your  Synod  teach  us  to  believe,  that  "  that 
power,  which  is  employed  to  effect  the  conversion  of  a  sinner 
from  the  error  of  his  ways,  is  equally  irresistible ;"  but  that  the 
ministry  of  the  word  hath  no  svich  power  or  energy,  appears  too 
manifestly,  in  the  frequent  and  almost  general  contempt  and 
frustration  of  it.  This  therefore  having  no  aptitude  to  such  an 
use  or  office,  (which  nothing  but  an  irresistible  force  can 
accomplish,)  it  can  with  no  propriety  of  speech  be  said  to  be 
the  means  and  instrument  thereof. 

Knowlittle. — Then  you  will  allow  the  ministry  of  the  word 
to  be  of  no  use  at  all  in  the  Church  of  God. 

Til.  Carnal. — One  function  it  hath,  and  no  more,  according 
to  the  consequence  of  the  Synod's  doctrine ;  it  serves  for  a  sign 
or  object,  to  represent  outwardly  what  the  Spirit  works  inwardly, 
as  well  in  the  will  as  in  the  understanding.  But,  because  it  is 
like  the  raising  of  the  dead  and  the  creation  of  the  world,  it 
requires  an  omnipotent  and  irresistible  opei'ation ;  therefore  the 
Scripture,  though  it  represents  and  urgeth  conversion  so  many 
sundry  ways,  (as  by  way  of  command,  exhortation,  promise, 
and  threatening,)  yet,  to  speak  congruously  to  our  principles, 
it  can  imply  and  signify  it  but  a*  a  work  of  God's,  not  as  a  didy 

*  Heb.  i,  3.  f  Ibid,  verse  2,  compared  with  Col.  i,  16,  17, 


34  THE    K\  A  Ml  NATION 

ofour's.  And  then,  why  should  we  trouble  ourselves  about  it, 
any  more  than  Adam  troubled  himself  about  the  creation  of 
Eve,  or  Lazarus  about  his  own  resurrection  ?,  especially  seeing 
we  must  believe  it  is  nothing  in  our  power  to  help  it  forward, 
and  that  God,  in  pursuance  of  his  own  decrees,  will  infallibly 
perform  it,  though  we  be  cast  into  as  deep  a  sleep  (of  security) 
as  Adam  was,  or  lie  stinking  in  the  grave  of  our  corruptions 
(though  insensible  of  it)  as  did  Lazarus. 

Dr.  Dubius. — Do  you  then  think  the  use  of  the  ministry  a 
thing  indifferent,  and  purpose  to  decline  it  ? 

Til.  Carnal. — Seeing  the  most  the  word  can  do,  is,  to  make 
us  moral  men,  (if  yet  it  can  do  that !)  which  are  of  no  great 
esteem  in  God's  kingdom,  as  our  Divines  generally  have 
resolved ;  seeing  the  Spirit  is  no  more  bound  to  Avait  upon  the 
preaching  thereof,  than  to  be  at  our  command ;  and  seeing 
when  He  does  come.  He  needs  none  of  those  auxiliary  forces  to 
atchieve  his  irresistible  conquest  over  our  rebellions ;  and  yet 
God  hath  been  pleased,  (out  of  his  unsearchable  wisdom,  and 
to  shew  his  own  dominion  and  liberty,)  so  to  order  the  matter, 
that,  although  the  word  cannot  really  promote  our  spiritual 
good,  (which  is  a  work  far  above  the  sphere  of  its  power  and 
activity,)  yet,  receiving  it  in  vain,  (though  it  be  not  in  cur 
power,  confessedly,  to  receive  it  otherwise,)  it  will  aggravate 
our  condemnation; — for  this  cause  I  think  it  prudent  to  avoid 
the  certain  danger,  which  the  no-probable  good  that,  accord- 
ing to  those  principles  of  the  Synod,  will  accrue  by  it. 

Narrowgrace. — If  you  be  of  that  mind,  we  must  leave  you 
to  the  mercy  of  God  and  the  use  of  your  own  prayers,  Avhich 
are  the  only  reserve  we  can  commend  to  your  assistance  and 
benefit. 

Til.  Carnal. — Alas !  Sir,  you  are  as  much  out  of  the  story 
now  as  ever :  For  the  grace  of  prayer  (without  which  the  duty 
will  be  a  vain  oblation,  if  not  abominable,)  must  be  derived 
from  the  same  Supernal  Fountain  ;  and  we  cannot  pump  it  up 
ourselves,  it  comes  freely  ;  and  when  it  comes,  it  is  so  impetu- 
ous, and  overflows  the  soul  with  such  inundations  of  the  Spirit, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  resist  it.  And  since  you  see  me  altogether 
silent  to  this  office,  you  may  conclude,  that  this  silence  begins  in 
heaveji,  and  that  God  will  not  have  me  pray,  in  that  he  denies 
me  his  grace  to  that  effect.  But,  Sir,  you  do  well  to  take  your 
leave  of  me ;  for  it  is  e\ident  that  God  hath  not  employed  you. 


or    TTLENUS.  55 

as  intending  my  amendment  by  your  ministry  ;  since  I  find  the 
confusion  of  your  doctrine  more  apt  to  furnish  a  cushion  for 
the  secure  and  careless,  or  a  halter  for  the  doubtful  and  des- 
pairing, than  any  sacred  amulet  against  the  charms  and 
poison  of  impiety.  And  yet  because,  when  the  wheel  is  once 
in  motion,  a  little  strength  will  be  sufficient  to  continue  it,  and 
the  fire  is  easily  blown  up  after  it  is  once  kindled ;  therefore 
you  may  please  to  make  your  third  experiment  upon  Tilenus 
Tepidus.  I  am  afraid  you  can  produce  no  argument  to  quicken 
his  remissness  into  a  more  thorough-pace  of  devotion,  which 
the  dexterous  use  of  that  buckler  (of  the  Synod's  doctrine)  will 
not  be  able  to  put  by.  Let  us  hear  therefore  how  you  will 
urge  him  to  a  further  progress  in  piety. 

III.  TILENUS  TEPIDUS. 

Efficax. — Do  but  reflect  upon  Peter's  redoubled  exhortation, 
2  Pet.  i,  4.  He  supposeth,  that  "  they  had  escaped  the  (foul) 
corruption  that  is  in  the  v/orld  through  lust."  And,  "  Besides 
this,"  saith  he,  "giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your  faith  virtue," 
&c. ;  and  "  give  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election 
sure."  (verse  10.) 

Til.  Tepidus. — If  Saint  Peter  had  understood  "our  calling 
and  election"  in  the  same  sense  [[as  that  in  which^  the  Synod 
understands  them,  his  exhortation  had  been  to  little  purpose : 
For  (in  that  sense)  it  is  as  sure  already,  as  the  wisdom,  truth, 
and  power  of  God,  or  as  the  blood  of  Christ  or  the  seals  of  the 
Divine  decrees,  can  make  it.  "  The  foundation  of  God  standeth 
sure,  having  this  seal,  The  Lord  hioweth  them  that  are  his." 
(2  Tim.  ii,  19)  It  were  arrogance  to  go  about  to  lay  any  other 
foundation ;  and  a  folly  to  imagine  we  are  able  to  fortify  it  by 
our  endeavours. 

Simulans. — But,  Sir,  we  should  make  a  conscience  of  the 
duty,  though  there  were  no  other  necessity  of  it,  but  necessilas 
lircecepli,  "  because  it  is  the  will  of  Almighty  God." 

Til.  Tepid.— I  perceive.  Sir,  you  have  forgotten  your  own 
distinction,  though  it  is  so  little  while  since  you  used  it.  You 
told  us,  God  hath  a  two-fold  will, — an  outward  revealed  will, 
and  an  inward  secret  will. — His  outward  will  is  signified  by 
his  commands :"  "But,"  saith  Piscator,  "they  are  not  properly 
God's  will,  for  sometimes  he  nills  the  fulfilling  of  them.  As 
for  example,  *  He  commanded  Abraham  to  offer  up  Isaac,  yet 

*  Gen.  xxii,  2,  12 


60  THE    RXAMINATION 

he  nillecl  the  execution  of  it,"  But  his  secret  -will  is  the  will  of 
his  good  pleasure,  which  he  hath  therefore  decreed  shall  ever 
come  to  pass.  Whereupon,  one  of  your  Divines  concludes, 
"  there  is  a  kind  of  holy  simulation  in  God,"  Unde  percipitur 
esse  simulalioneni  qnandam  sanctam,  S^-c.  Now,  whereas  you  urge 
me  to  give  all  diligence  that  1  may  grow  in  grace,  if  this  were 
the  will  of  God's  heiieplaciture  he  would  move  and  impel  me 
indeclinably  to  effect  it.  But  if  it  be  only  his  outwai'd  will,  and 
improperly  so  called,  (He  having,  by  an  irrevocable  deci'ee, 
predetermined  my  not  doing  of  it,  though  it  be  outwardly  com- 
manded,) then  my  not  doing  his  outward  will,  is  the  perform- 
ance of  his  secret  will ;  and  this  being  his  proper  will,  wherein 
consists  his  good  pleasure,  my  compliance  therewith  must  needs 
be  the  more  acceptable ;  especially  since  to  this  he  affords  me 
his  providential  concurrence,  which  he  denies  me  towards  the 
accomplishment  of  the  other. 

Knowlittle. — We  are  taught,  that  there  are  degrees  of 
glory, — "  One  glory  of  the  sun,  another  of  the  moon,  and 
another  of  the  stars  ;"  and  so  there  shall  be  in  heaven.  (1  Cor.xv.) 
Now,  grant  that  you  are  secure  (as  you  presume)  as  to  the  estate 
of  glory ;  yet  you  should  be  earnest  in  your  endeavours  to 
capacitate  yourself  for  the  highest  degrees  of  it. 

Til.  Tepid. — There  are  some  [[who^  have  made  a  question 
of  those  different  degrees  of  glory.  In  the  parable,  every  one 
at  the  end  of  the  day  received  his  penny,  as  much  they  that 
had  wrought  but  one  hour,  as  they  that  had  "  borne  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day."  And  the  righteous  shall  all  shiiie  as  the 
sun  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Father  ;  and  everi)  one  shall  enter  into 
the  joy  of  the  Lord,  which  is  "fulness  of  joy."  But,  beside  this, 
"if  a  sparrow  falleth  not  to  the  ground  without  God's  provi- 
dence," and  if  "  the  hairs  of  our  heads  be  all  numbered,"  (as 
our  Saviour  saith  they  are,)  shall  we  not  think  as  well,  that 
every  degree  of  happiness  and  every  beam  of  glory  and  spark 
of  joy,  are  likewise  apportioned  and  predetermined  for  all  the 
Elect.? 

Dr.  Absolute. — It  is  true,  the  state  of  eternal  bliss,  as  to  all 
the  degrees  of  joy  and  glory  in  it,  is  firmly  and  irreversibly 
decreed  to  all  the  Elect;  but  yet,  through  your  remissness, 
and  especially  if  that  betrays  you  to  any  wasting  sin,  you  may 
dam^  your  hopes,  and  lose  the  sense  and  comfortable  appre- 
hension of  the  influences  and  effects  thereof,  which,  you  know, 
was  David's  case:   "O  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thine  anger. 


OF    TILENUS.  57 

neither  chasten  me  m  thy  hot  displeasure.  Have  mercy  upon 
me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  weak.  O  Lord,  heal  me,  for  my  bones 
are  vexed.  My  soul  is  also  sore  vexed;  but  thou,  O  Lord, 
how  long  ?  Return,  O  Lord,  deliver  my  soul :  O  save  me  for 
thy  mercies'  sake,  and  restore  to  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation !" 
(Ps.  vi.)  "  For  in  death  there  is  no  remembrance  of  thee." 
(Ps.  li.)  From  hence,  you  see,  there  is  ground  enough  for  the 
Apostle's  exhortation :  "  We  desire  that  every  one  of  you  do 
shew  the  same  diligence,  to  the  full  assurance  of  hope  firm  unto 
the  end."  (Heb.  vi,  11.) 

Til.  Tepid. — I  know,  Mr.  Diodati,  in  his  Annotations  upon 
the  fifth  verse  of  that  sixth  Psalm,  saith :  "  Hereby  is  shewn 
the  fear  of  God's  children,  anguished  and  pressed  by  the  feel- 
ing of  his  wrath,  lest  they  should  die  out  of  his  grace  unrecon- 
ciled ;  and  by  that  means  be  excluded  and  debarred  from  their 
desired  aim,  to  be  everlastingly  instruments  of  his  glory."  But 
it  is  probable  David  had  no  intelligence  of  that  comfortable 
doctrine,  (defined  by  the  Synod  in  this  last  age,)  as  appears  by 
his  fearful  complaint  and  expostulation,  (if  that  Psalm  were 
his,)  in  the  Seventy- seventh  Psalm  :  "  I  remembered  God  and 
was  troubled.  I  complained,  and  my  spirit  was  overwhelmed: 
My  soul  refused  to  be  comforted.  Will  the  Lord  cast  off  for 
.ever,  and  will  he  be  favourable  no  more  ?  Is  his  mercy  clean 
gone  for  ever?  Doth  his  promise  fail  for  evermore.?  Hath 
God  forgotten  to  be  gracious .''  Hath  he  in  anger  shut  up  his 
tender  mercies .''"  There  could  not  have  been  this  conflict  of 
diffidence  and  anxiety  in  him,  if  he  had  been  established  in  the 
principles  of  the  Synod :  For,  annexing  the  Lord's  public 
declarations,  (by  the  mouth  of  Samuel  touching  him,)  *  to  the 
conscience  of  his  own  integrity,  he  might  have  collected  a  cer- 
tainty of  his  present  regeneration,  (wiien  he  was  anointed  king,) 
and  from  thence  have  concluded  undeniably  his  election  from  all 
eternity,  and  consequently  the  impossibility  of  his  rejection 
from  God's  favour.  But  there  is  some  likelihood,  he  thought, 
that  in  the  designation  of  his  everlasting  mercy  towards  them, 
God  considered  men  as  faithful,  (according  to  the  way  of  the 
Arminians,)  and  as  persevering  in  their  faithfulness.  For  he 
saith,  "  Know  that  the  Lord  hath  set  apart  him  that  is  godly  for 
himself."  (Ps.  iv,  3.)     If  that  text  will  not  serve  the  turn,  yet 

*  1  Sam.  xiii,  14,  &  xvi,  6,  7. 
E 


58  THE    EXAMINATION 

there  is  one  unavoidable :  "  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting,  upon  them  that  fear  him  :  to  such  as 
keep  his  covenant:  and  to  those  that  remember  his  command- 
ments to  do  them."  (Ps.  ciii,  17,  18.)  And  "to  him  that 
ordereth  his  conversation  aright,  will  I  shew  the  salvation  of 
God."  (Fs.  1,  23.)  And  governing  his  persuasions  by  these 
principles,  there  is  no  wonder  he  was  so  exceedingly  transported 
with  a  fear  of  God's  displeasure.  And  that  such  were  his  prin- 
ciples, may  be  collected  also  from  hence,  in  that,  when  the 
pai'oxysm  of  the  temptation  was  soracAvhat  over,  he  doth  not 
make  his  recourse  to  the  invnulahle  decree  of  God's  Election,  to 
cure  the  remanent  palpitation  of  his  spirits ;  but  only  to  former 
experience  of  God's  merciful  dispensations  towards  his  people. 
*'  I  will  remember  the  works  of  the  Lord  :  Thou  hast  with  thine 
arm  redeemed  thy  people,  &c.  Surely  I  Avill  remember  thy 
wonders  of  old  :  &c.  Thy  way,  O  God,  is  in  the  sanctuary.  Who 
is  so  great  as  our  God  ?"  (Ps.  Ixxvii,  1 1 — 1 5.)  But  since  the  clear- 
ing up  of  this  soul-settling  doctrine  by  the  great  judgment  and 
piety  of  the  Synod,  he  that  hath  once  tasted  the  graciousness  of 
the  Lord  in  his  effectual  vocation,  and  firmly  believes  "  that  the 
things  concerning  his  everlasting  happiness  are  so  established 
and  carried  on  by  the  irresistible  power  of  an  irrespective  decree," 
(as  is  there  taught,) — he  may  cast  away  all  anxiety  and  care, 
and  repose  himself  with  confidence  under  the  wings  of  that 
security. 

Dr.  Absolute. — But  the  Synod  declares,  Fidelihus  perpctud 
esse  vigilandum  et  orandvm,  ne  in  tentationes  indiicantiir,  S)C.  "  That 
the  faithful  must  watch  and  pray,  lest  they  fall  into  temptations  ; 
and  that  when  they  grow  remiss  and  torpid,  quit  their  guard 
and  neglect  their  duty,  (as  you  do,)  they  are  many  times  sur- 
prised of  the  flesh  and  the  world,  and  carried  captive  into 
heinous  and  enormous  sins;  whereby  they  offend  God,  and 
grieve  the  Holy  Spirit^  and  incur  the  guilt  of  death,"  and  the 
like. 

Til.  Tepid. — It  was  well  you  stopped  there,  Mr.  Doctor. 
But  I  had  thought  your  worship  had  been  better  versed  in  this 
point.  For  ray  part,  such  Mormoes  and  bug-bears  never 
trouble  me.  lam  taught  by  the  Synod  to  believe,  "that  all 
THE  SINS  IN  THE  WORLD  sliall  ncver  be  able  to  separate  an  elect 
person  from  the  love  of  God ;"  but  [|shall]]  ratlier  make  for  his 
jireatcr  advantage. 


OF    TILENUS.  59 

Indefectible. — But,  suppose  by  your  sins  you  should  pro- 
voke God  to  anger,  so  far  forth  that  he  should  cut  you  off,  as 
our  Saviour  threatens  the  Jews :  "  Ye  shall  die  in  your  sins." 
And,  "  When  the  righteous  turneth  away  from  his  righteous- 
ness, and  comniitteth  iniquity,  and  doth  according  to  all  the 
abominations  that  tlie  Avicked  man  doth,  shall  he  Hve?  All 
his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done,  shall  not  be  mentioned :  in 
in  his  trespass  that  he  hath  trespassed,  and  in  his  sin  that  he 
hath  sinned, — in  them  shall  he  die."  (Ezek.  xviii,  24.) 

Til.  Tepid. — I  did  not  expect  such  a  supposition  or  objection 
from  you,  of  all  men  living :  For,  to  speak  properly,  God  is 
never  angry  but  with  the  Reprobates ;  and  I  know  it  is  your 
avowed  opinion,  "  that  the  Elect  can  neither  fall  finally  nor 
totally,"— and  all  the  Synodists  are  of  the  same  judgment. 
They  distinguish,  therefore,  of  righteousness,  into  that  which  is 
inherent  or  the  righteousness  of  works,  and  that  which  is  imputed 
or  the  righteousness  of  faith.  And  they  confess,  the  Elect  may 
forsake  his  inherent  righteousness,  and  fall  into  the  most  foul 
and  horrid  sins,  but  yet  he  doth  not  fall  from  his  imputed 
righteousness, — the  righteousness  of  Christ,  which  he  hath  by 
faith. — They  do  also  distinguish  between  death  temporal,  and 
death  eternal;  affirming  that  the  sins  of  the  Elect,  though 
never  so  many  or  heinous,  do  not  incur  the  guilt  of  eternal 
death,  but  only  temporal, — which  is  never  inflicted  upon  them, 
neither  as  a  curse,  nor  before  their  restitution :  For  if  you  ask 
them.  What  doom  had  David  lain  under,  if  death  had  surprised 
him  in  his  murder  and  adultery  ?  they  will  tell  you  roundly, 
"  It  was  impossible  he  should  die  without  repentance." 

Dr.  Dubius. — I  suppose  David's  case  was  extraordinary ; 
and  a  special  reason  is  given  by  them  of  the  Synod,  why  he 
could  not  die  before  repentance,  viz.  "because  after  his  sin 
he  was  to  beget  a  son,  of  whom  the  Messias  should  descend." 

Til.  Tepid. — I  conceive,  that  ground  is  too  loose  to  bear 
the  superstructure,  Cwhich;]  the  men  of  that  opinion  would 
raise  upon  it:  For  they  are  not  all  saints,  [[who  are  mentioned;] 
in  our  Saviour's  Genealogy ;  neither  did  David's  sin  bereave 
him  of  the  faculty  of  generation.  The  son  of  Jesse  might  have 
propagated  a  stem  for  the  Messias  to  branch  out  of,  and  yet 
have  died  in  his  sin  afterwards.  The  impossibility,  therefore,  of 
his  dying  without  repentance,  is  grounded  upon  a  more  solid 
and  impregnable  foundation,  viz.  the  eternal  decree  and  love  of 

E  2 


(50  THE    EX  A  ^]  IN  ATI  ON 

God,  which  equally  concerns  all  the  Elect.  That  immutable 
love  wherein  God  elected  them,  doth  exert  itself  and  prompt 
Him  infallibly  to  confer  the  grace  of  repentance  upon  them 
first  or  last,  into  how  great  and  how  many  sins  soever  they  run. 
And  if  men  had  the  will  to  improve  this  most  excellent  com- 
fortable doctrine,  the  advantage  of  it  would  be  unspeakable. 
Men  do  beat  their  brains  and  exhaust  their  treasure  in  experi- 
ments to  find  out  and  extract  the  Elixir  of  Paracelsus,  to  preserve 
them  in  life  and  health  to  perpetuity.  But  here  is  the  only 
ijifallible  medicine,  ten  thousand  times  more  sovereign  than  the 
poets'  fabulous  Ambrosia,  or  Medea's  charms  that  are  said  to 
Ijave  restored  Jason's  father  to  his  youth.  Here  is  a  moral 
antidote  against  death,  easy  to  be  made  and  pleasant  to  be 
taken;  a  receipt  to  niake  us  shot-free,  sword  and  pistol-proof; 
the  ingredients  are  not  many,  nor  chargeable,  nor  hard  to 
be  attained.  Let  a  man  get  a  firm  persuasion  tliat  he  is  elected, 
(which,  the  Synodists  say,  every  one  is  bound  to  believe,)  then 
let  him  be  sure  to  espouse  some  beloved  lust,  and  keep  it  very 
warm  hi  his  bosom,  being  careful  (as  he  hath  free-will  to  evil. 
Matt,  xvii,  12;  John  xix,  11  ;  Dan.  v,  19;)  not  to  cast  it  off 
by  repentance;  and  he  may  ventui'e  himself  securely  in  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  perils.  Let  such  elect  persons  take  up 
arms  against  their  lawful  governors,  in  the  pretended  defence 
of  their  religion,  rights,  and  liberties,  and  they  shall  hew  down 
thousands  of  their  enemies  before  them,  and  none  of  them  shall 
fall  in  the  attempt,  (for  they  cannot  die  in  sin,) — unless  some 
few,  whose  pusillanimity  and  cowardice  do  melt  their  hearts 
into  an  unseasonable  relenting  and  repentance  of  their  rebellion, 
while  they  are  in  pursuit  of  their  design. 

Impertinent. — But,  Mr.  Tepidus,  to  grant  you,  "that  the 
Elect  can  never  ftill  from  grace,"  (v^hich  is  our  avowed  tenet,) 
yet,  certainly,  we  are  bound  "to  be  rich  in  good  works,"  out 
of  gratitude,  that  God  may  have  the  more  glory. 

Til.  Tepid. — I  need  not  tell  you,  that  it  will  be  all  our 
business  to  glorify  God  in  heaven  ;  and  so  we  may  adjourn  that 
work,  till  we  come  thither  :  For  our  Divines  hold,  "  that  sin 
is  as  much  a  means  for  the  setting  forth  of  God's  glory  as  virtue 
is,  and  that  God  decreed  to  bring  it  into  the  world  to  that  pur- 
pose;" and  if  it  be  the  riches  of  his  grace  that  we  should  glorify, 
how  can  M'e  glorify  that  better  than  by  an  absolute  resignation 
of-oursjelves  up  to  it,  (in  despite  of  raging  sin,)  and  a  confident 


OF    TILENUS.  61 

depentlance  upon  the  free  pardon  thereof?  And,  doubtless,  if 
God  would  really  have  me  shew  my  gratitude  in  any  other  way 
of  service,  he  would  irresistibly  press  me  to  it :  For  "  what- 
soever the  Lord  pleases,  that  he  thus  efFecteth;"  (Ps.  cxxxv,6.) 
— for  to  that  purpose  this  text  is  alleged  by  our  Divines.  And 
therefore  it  is  the  resolution  of  Maccovius,  (he  instanceth  in 
David  committing  murder  and  adultery,)  "  that  if  we  consider 
the  power  of  the  regenerate,  in  respect  of  the  Divine  decree, 
and  in  respect  of  the  actual  Divine  providence,  and  in  respect 
of  the  permission  of  sin,  then  (and  in  these  respects,  which  are 
not  in  our  power,)  a  man  can  never  do  more  good  than  he  doth, 
nor  commit  less  evil  than  he  committeth."  His  reason  is,  "  that 
otherwise  the  will  of  man  might  be  said  to  act  independentlij  to 
the  will  of  God."  Now  if  it  be  thus  impossible  to  "add  one 
cubit  to  the  stature  of  the  new  man,"  it  will  (bj'^  our  Saviour's 
argument.  Matt,  vi,  27,)  be  impertinent  and  ridiculous  to  take 
thought  about  it.     See  Luke  xii,  26. 

Knowlittle. — Mr.  Tepidus,  Mr.  Tepidus  !  Vv'hatever  you 
say,  the  doctrine  of  the  Synod  doth  not  overthrow  the  practice 
of  piety  and  the  power  of  godliness,  as  you  go  about  to  infer 
from  it :  For  we  know,  the  Doctors  of  that  assembly  were  very 
worthy,  godly  men ;  and  so  are  many  (as  you  cannot  deny,) 
that  embrace  their  tenets. 

Til.  Tepid. — Though  the  persecution  and  banishment  of 
their  brethren,  (only  for  dissenting  from  them  in  these  opinions.) 
be  no  great  sign  of  godliness,  yet  I  speak  not  concerning  the 
quality  of  the  persons  that  hold  such  opinions,  but  of  the  nature 
and  tendency  of  the  doctrine,  the  conclusions  which  immediately 
and  necessarily  flow  from  it.  They  may  be  good  men :  But, 
then,  they  are  ill  logicians  at  least,  C^and^  order  not  their 
works  by  their  faith  or  principles :  and  their  godliness  is  not 
the  result  of  these  principles,  but  flows  from  some  other,  with 
which  these  are  inconsistent,  if  they  wei'e  rationally  improved 
and  practised, — as  is  now  evident  to  you  from  this  three-fold 
experiment  already  made. 

Impertinent. — The  power  of  grace  will  subdue  such  carnal 
reasonings. 

Til.  Tepid. — That  is,  in  those  men  who  suffer  their  reason  to 
be  debauched,  and  then  arrested  by  such  principles.  But  you 
have  yet  another  part  for  me  to  act :  I  shall  not  be  satis- 
fied till  that  is  over.     Another  main  end  of  the  offiCe  ministerial^, 

E ." 


62  THE    EXAMINATION 

is,  to  comfort  the  afflicted  and  doubtful ;  and,  I  am  persuaded, 
this  is  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Synod  and  its 
adherents,  as  well  as  the  other  fore-mentioned :  For  proot 
■whereof,  I  desire  I  may  now  have  leave  to  exhibit  my  com- 
plaints and  grievances  under  the  person  and  title  of  Tilenus 
Tentatus. 

IV.  TILENUS  TENTATUS. 

Dr,  Confidence.— Let  us  hear  what  they  are. 

Til.  Tentatus. — Time  was  when  I  did  walk  comfortably 
before  God  in  my  christian  profession,  feeling  such  inundations 
of  spiritual  consolation  flowing  into  my  soul  from  his  gracious 
presence,  as  put  me  in  mind  of  "the  hidden  manna,"  men- 
tioned Rev.  ii,  17,  whose  ravishing  sweetness  nothing  but 
experience  can  make  credible ;  and  hath  made  me  cry  out  in 
a  holy  extasy  of  admiration,  "  It  is  good  for  me  to  be  here !" 
But  now  I  feel  the  tide  is  turned,  my  wine  is  mixed  with 
water,  or  rather  my  joys  turned  into  extreme  bitterness :  For 
being  continually  alaruraed  by  the  cries  of  an  accusing  con- 
science, I  apprehend  the  terrors  of  the  Divine  vengeance  set 
in  battle-array  against  me,  and  the  curses  of  the  law  thundering 
out  my  sentence  of  condemnation,  and  the  mouth  of  hell  gaping 
wide  open  to  swallow  me  up  and  devour  me.  These  frightful 
apprehensions  are  my  constant  attendants  ;  they  lie  down  and 
rise  up  with  me,  and  pursue  me  so  uncessantly  that  I  am 
become  a  burden  to  myself. 

Dr.  Confidence. — This  is  some  sudden  storm  raised  in  your 
bosom  through  the  power  and  subtilty  of  Satan.  But  there  is 
refuge  at  hand, — an  immoveable  rock  to  anchor  on,  that  will 
not  suffer  you  to  be  overwhelmed.  Remember  that  ''  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  hath  purchased 
eternal  redemption  for  us."  By  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  "  He 
hath  purged  our  sins,  and  delivered  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law,  and  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  satisfied  the  Divine 
justice,  and  obtained  reconciliation  with  the  Father  for  us,'' 
Every  one  that  is  sensible  of  his  misery  by  reason  of  sin,  and 
understands  what  need  he  hath  of  a  Redeemer,  and  runs  into 
the  arms  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  embraceth  him  for  his  Saviour, 
and  depends  upon  his  merits  and  mediation,  and  pays  a  dutiful 
subjection  to  his  sceptre  and  authority,  by  a  true  and  lively  faith, 
—he  hath  an  interest  in  all  those  benefits,  (as  actually  applied  to 
him,)  he  receives  the  privilege  of  justification  and  adoption,  and 
"  being  justified  by  faith,  he  hath  peace  with  God."  (Rom.  v,  1.) 


OF    TII.ENIS,  G3 

Til.  Tent. — Sir,  I  know  these  are  excellent  cordials  to  the 
soul  that  is  persuaded  she  hath  a  real  interest  in  them  :  but 
they  are  designed  only  for  a  very  small  number,  as  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Synod  hath  determined.  For  those  Divines  tell  us, 
"  that  Almight}'  God  did  h^aii  ahsolule  decree  elect  certain  particu- 
lar persons  to  salvation, — neither  considering  the  death  of  his  Son, 
nor  the  faith  of  those  elect,  in  that  decree, — ^but  then  decreed 
to  give  his  Son  to  die  for  them,  and  irresistibli/  to  work  in  them 
a  saving  faith  to  lay  hold  upon  that  his  Son,  and  actually  to 
apply  all  the  said  benefits  to  themselves ;  for  whose  sahafion  ■ 
only  they  \\he  benefits^  were  all  prepared  and  designed.  Now 
all  the  promises  of  salvation  in  Christ,  how  universally  soever 
propovmded,  being  by  your  doctrine  restrained  only  to  these 
Elect,  (amongst  whom  that  I  should  reckon  myself,  neither 
any  particular  mention  of  me  in  Scripture,  nor  any  revelation 
by  Angel  or  Prophet  out  of  it,  doth  assure  me,)  and  the  number  of 
them  according  to  your  computation  being  so  small  in  proportion 
to  the  Reprobates,  there  is  so  much  odds  against  me,  that  I  have 
reason  to  be  afraid,  that  I  ana  enlisted  under  the  greater  multi- 
tude. When  Christ  said  to  his  Apostles,  "  One  of  you  shall 
betray  me,"  though  the  odds  were  eleven  to  one  on  the  inno- 
cent part3''s  side,  yet  it  raised  so  much  scruple  and  suspicion  in 
all  their  bosoms,  as  made  them  very  anxious  and  inquisitive : 
"  Master,  is  it  I  ?"  (Matt,  xxvi,  22.)  Were  the  number  of  the 
Reprobates,  "  for  whom,"  you  say,  "  Christ  died  not,"  far 
more  disproportionable  to  the  Elect;  j'^et  the  sad  apprehension 
of  those  eternal  torments  fatally  linked  to  the  end  of  that  hor- 
rible decree,  would  prompt  me  to  entertain  fears  and  jealousies 
more  than  enough,  lest  I  should  be  filed  upon  that  chain, 
having  no  assurance  to  the  contrary.  How  much  more  should 
"  fearfulness  and  trembling  surprize  me,"  Avhen  I  consider  how 
few  the  Elect  are,  even  among  the  vast  multitudes  of  such  as  are 

CALLED  ! 

Simulans. — Seeing  it  hath  pleased  the  wisdom  of  Almighty 
God,  to  keep  his  immutable  decrees, — as  well  that  of  repro- 
bation  as  that  of  election, — locked  up  in  the  secret  cabinet  of 
his  own  unsearchable  counsel ;  we  are  to  govern  our  judgment 
hy  the  rule  of  charity,  "  which  believeth  all  things,  and  hopeth 
all  things."  (1  Cor.  xiii.) 

Til.  Tent. — I  confess,  (1)  the  judgment  of  charity  is  a  tried 
and  equal  beam  in  many  cases ;  but  if  you  extend  it  generally 


64  THE    EXAMINATION 

and  apply  it  unto  all  particulars,  it  must  needs  be  very  false. 
And  I  am  confident,  you  dare  not  avouch  the  truth  of  it  in  such 
a  latitude ;  oi*,  if  you  dare,  you  are  no  more  able  to  maintain  it 
than  I  can  believe  these  two  contrary  propositions  at  once, — 
"that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  all,"  and  yet  "that  he  died  for  a 
very  small  number." — (2)  It  is  not  the  judgment  of  my  charity, 
but  the  certainty  of  my  faith,  that  must  give  me  assurance  and 
comfort  in  this  particular. — (3)  Charitable  judgment  is  a  fair 
standard  to  measure  the  doubtful  actions  of  our  neighbour  by, 
and  commands  us  to  cover  his  infirmities  and  stifle  the  too 
light  conception  of  suspicions  and  sinister  opinions  touching 
him,  but  binds  us  not  to  preach  falsehood  to  him,  to  induce 
him  (against  his  own  reason)  to  foster  too  good  an  opinion  of 
himself — When  I  see  a  man  present  himself  to  the  holy  Sacra- 
ment, the  judgment  of  charity  persuades  me,  (knowing  nothing 
to  the  contrary,)  that  he  addresses  himself  to  it  with  that  pre- 
paration of  heart  that  becomes  a  good  Christian.  But  that 
"  such  as  are  rightly  prepared  and  qualified,  do  partake  thereof 
to  their  salvation," — this  I  believe  by  the  judgment  of  faith, 
which  admitteth  nothing  that  is  or  can  be  false. — So  when  1  see 
a  sick  man  render  his  soul  up,  with  much  devotion  and  resign- 
ation, into  the  hands  of  Christ,  /  believe  charitably,  "  that  he 
dies  as  becomes  a  faithful  Christian."  But,  "  that  God  com- 
municateth  his  salvation  to  such  as  die  in  the  profession  and 
obedience  of  the  right  faith," — this  I  believe  by  the  certainty 
of  faith ;  Avherein  it  is  impossible  I  should  be  deceived, 
though  the  judgment  of  charity  deceives  us  very  often. — In  a 
word,  the  judgmetit  of  charity  is  a  good  standing  measure  be- 
twixt man  and  man;  but  it  is  not  current  betwixt  man  and  his 
own  conscience,  much  less  betwixt  him  and  God.  I  know, 
I  am  not  to  be  relieved  but  by  such  succours  as  are  levied 
upon  the  Divine  promises ;  and  those  promises  having  their 
foundation  and  infallibility  in  the  ujideceivable  truth  of  God, 
they  require  such  a  certainty  of  faith  as  will  admit  no  mixture 
of  any  thing  false  or  doubtful.  Besides,  when  I  do  enquire 
which  act  of  faith  hath  the  priority,  viz.  "  to  believe  in  Christ," 
or  "  to  believe  Christ  to  be  my  Saviour,"  (in  particular)  I  am 
taught  by  some  of  your  Divines,  (Maccovius  by  name,)  that 
I  "  must,  in  the  first  place,  believe  that  Christ  is  my  Saviour,  and 
that  is  the  cause  of  the  other  act,"  or  the  reason  why  I  place 
nvy  faith  in  him.     Now  if  Christ  died  only  for  a  few  particular 


OF    TILENUS.  65 

persons,  and  if  all  the  promises  (made  in  bim)  belong  to  those 
few  only,  unless  I  could  find  some  mention  of  my  name  amongst 
them,  or  could  receive  some  revelation  from  heaven  to  that 
effect,  how  can  I  with  any  certainty  or  assurance  build  my 
faith  upon  it,  that  I  am  one  of  them  ? 

Take-o'-trust. — We  are  bound  to  think,  every  one  is  of  the 
:;?mber  of  the  Elect,  till  it  appears  to  the  contrary. 

Til,  Tent, — This  is  but  singing  the  old  note  over  again.  This 
is  still  your  judgmcnl  of  charity  ;  which,  though  it  suppresseth 
all  suspicion  in  you  towards  me,  yet  can  it  not  cure  those  fears 
and  jealousies  which  I  have  (but  with  too  great  reason)  con- 
ceived of  myself.  As  for  your  appeai-ances  to  the  contrary,  I 
cannot  understand  them,  much  less  set  any  value  upon  them; 
For  "  by  such  outward  things,"  the  Synod  is  ready  to  tell  us, 
"  we  can  never  perceive  any  thing  of  what  belongs  to  the  state 
of  Election  or  Reprobation,"  I  am  beholding  to  you,  that, 
waving  the  severity  of  your  reason,  you  will  make  use  of  a 
charitable  supposition  to  flatter  me  into  an  opinion  that  I  am  one 
of  that  "  little  flock"  for  which  Christ  died.  But  there  is  no- 
thing can  secure  and  comfort  me,  but  a  full  and  certain  persiiasion 
that  I  am  one  of  them ;  which  you  will  never  be  able  to  work 
in  me,  denying  that  Christ  died  for  all,  unless  you  can  find 
some  particular  and  undeniable  evidence  of  my  interest  in  him. 

Indefectible, — You  should  reflect  upon  your  former  ex- 
perience of  God's  gracious  work  in  you.  That  Spirit  of  adop- 
tion sent  out  into  the  hearts  of  God's  Elect  "to  bear  witness  to 
their  spirits,"  though  he  may  become  silent,  and  not  speak  peace 
to  them  in  such  an  audible  language  of  comfort  as  is  alwa)'S 
apprehended  by  them,  yet  "abides  with  them  for  ever." 
Spiritual  enjoyments  are  different  from  these  outward  and 
carnal  ones :  We  may  lose  their  taste  and  relish,  as  to  sensible 
refreshment ;  but  not  their  real  presence,  as  infuencing  to  sal- 
vation. 

Til.  Tent. — Some  comfortable  apprehensions  might  be  awak- 
ened and  kindled  in  those  bosoms  that  have  been  Avarmed  with 
such  sweet  and  heavenly  experiences,  if  they  were  not  all 
overcast  and  darkened  again  by  other  black  and  dismal  clouds, 
which  the  observation  of  some  of  your  greatest  Divines  have 
spread  over  them.  For  Mi'.  Calvin  himself  saith,  "  The  heart 
of  man  hath  so  many  starting-holes  and  secret  corners  of  vanity 
and   lying,  and   is  clothed  with   so   many  colours  of  guileful 


66  THE    EXAMINATION 

hypocrisy,  that  it  oftentimes  deceiveth  itself.  And,  besides, 
experience  sheweth,  that  the  Reprobates  are  sometimes  moved 
•with  the  same  feelings  that  the  Elect  are,  so  that  in  their  own 
judgment  they  nothing  differ  from  the  Elect."  *  (Instit.  1.  3, 
chap,  ii,  sec.  10,  11.)  But  the  truth  is,  though  I  have  lived  a 
good  moi'al  life  hitherto,  and  in  a  way  of  duty  have  had  a 
comfortable  dependence  upon  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus, 
yet,  I  am  now  afraid,  I  have  had  none  of  those  extraordinary 
suavities  and  refreshments  of  God's  Spirit,  and  consequently 
have  no  assurance  of  the  presence  of  that  Comforter  who,  it  is 
promised,  shall  "  abide  with  us  for  ever." 

Knowlittle. — You  are  to  consider,  that  all  the  Elect  are  not 
called  at  the  same  hour. 

Til.  Tent. — I  should  not  stand  upon  the  hour;  I  could  be 
content,  that  God  may  take  his  own  time  to  call  me,  if  you 
could,  in  order  to  my  present  comfort,  insure  me  that  I  shall 
be  called,  though  it  be  but  at  the  hour  of  death.  But  this  is 
that,  for  [[whichj  I  am  afraid  you  have  no  grounds. 

Take-o'-trust. — You  may  be  confident,  that  Christ  is  dead 
for  you,  and  that  you  have  an  interest  in  him,  so  you  can 
believe  it. 

Til.  Tent. — I  would  desire  to  ask  but  these  two  questions : 
(1)  Whether  this  comfort  be  applicable  to  all  and  every  sick 
and  afflicted  persons? — And  (2)  Whether  it  be  grounded  upon 
the  truth  ?  For  if  it  be  not  to  be  applied  unto  all,  I  may  be 
amongst  the  excepted  persons,  and  so  am  not  concerned  in  it; 
or,  if  it  be  not  grounded  upon  the  truth,  you  offer  me  a 
delusion  instead  of  comfort. 

Take-o'-trust. — It  is  applicable  vmto  all  and  every  one,  and 
grounded  upon  the  unquestionable  truth  of  the  Holy  Gospel. 

Til.  Tent. — If  it  be  applicable  to  all  and  every  one,  as  j'ou 
affirm,  and  grounded  upon  the  truth,  (that  is,  as  I  conceive,  a 
truth  antecedent  to  their  believing,^  then  it  follows  undeniably, 
that  Christ  died  for  all  in  general  and  for  every  one  in 
special, — else  how  can  the  comfort  of  this  doctrine  be  so  ap- 
plied to  them,  as  you  would  have  it.^ — But  if  your  meaning  be, 
that  it  will  become  true  to  me  or  to  any  other  person  "  that 
Christ  died  for  us,"  by  that  act  of  faith  which  you  would  have 
me  or  any  such  other  person  give  unto  your  speeches, — then 

*  Sec  Heb.  vi,  4,  5, 


OF    TILENLS.  67 

you  run  into  a  manifest  absurdity,  maintaining,  "that  the 
object  of  faith,  or  the  thing  proposed  to  be  believed,  doth 
receive  its  truth  from  the  act  of  the  believer,  and  depend  upon 
his  consent;"  whose  faith  and  approbation  can  no  more  make 
true  that  vi'hich  in  itself  is  false,  than  make  false  by  his  unbelief 
that  which  in  itself  is  true.  Well  may  the  infidel  deprive 
himself  of  the  fruit  of  Christ's  death ;  but  he  cannot  bring  to 
pass,  by  his  unbelief,  that  Christ  hath  not  suffered  it  as  a  proof 
of  his  love  to  mankind.  On  the  other  side,  the  believer  may 
receive  benefit  from  the  death  of  Christ;  but  his  act  of  faith 
doth  not  effect,  but  necessarily  suppose  that  death  as  suffered 
for  him,  before  it  can  be  exercised  about  it  or  lay  hold  upon 
it.  Nay,  my  believing  is  so  far  from  procuring  Christ's  death 
for  me,  that,  on  the  contrary,  our  great  Divines  do  maintain, 
quod  nemo  unqiuun  fdem  hahcal,  nisi  morte  et  meritis  Christi  pro- 
curatam,  "that  I  cannot  have  faith,  unless  it  be  procured  for 
me  by  the  merits  and  death  of  Christ."  And  because  I  cannot 
find  this  faith  in  me,  I  may  conclude.  He  hath  not  prociired  it 
for  me,  and  consequently  that  He  hath  not  died  for  me,  neither : 
And  this,  you  know,  is  the  ground  of  all  my  trouble. 

Dr.  Dubius. — Sir,  I  wish  you  to  take  heed  of  that  "evil 
heart  of  unbelief,"  as  the  Apostle  calls  it;  (Heb.  iii.)  and  to 
that  end  remember  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  the  Son,  hath  everlasting  life :  and  he  that  believeth 
not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him."  (John  iii,  36.) 

Til.  Tent. — Sir,  instead  of  lending  me  a  clue  to  guide  me 
out  of  that  maze  of  difficulties  into  which  the  prodigious  di- 
vinity of  the  Synod  hath  led  me,  you  entangle  me  much  more 
in  it.  For  whereas  the  Apostle  saith,  that  "  God  sends  strong 
delusions  to  such  as  will  not  receive  the  love  of  the  truth,  that 
they  may  be  saved,"  (2  Thes.  ii,)  you,  governing  your  discourse 
by  those  principles,  would  first  persuade  men  to  believe  a  false 
proposition,  when  you  exhort  evert/  man  to  believe  that  Christ 
died  for  him,  which  is  false  according  to  that  doctrine ;  and  then, 
having  believed  this  falsehood,  they  are  punished  by  the  spirit 
of  error  to  believe  a  lie  !  I  beseech  you,  which  way  would  you 
have  me  turn  myself,  to  get  out  of  these  perplexities  ?  ;  having 
instructed  me  to  believe  a  doctrine,  that  turns  my  obedience 
into  punishment,  and  makes  my  following  the  truth  (according 
to  that  calculation)  the  sure  way  to  aggravate  my  damnation. 


68 


THE    EXAMTNATtON 


'  For  if  the  Synod  saith  true,  and  Christ  be  not  dead  for  them 
that  beh'eve  not  in  him,  how  do  they  deserve  to  be  punished 
for  not  believing  that  which  is  false?  And  those  that  do  obey 
the  commandment  and  believe  in  his  death,  (though  but  for  a 
time,)  Avhy  suffer  they  the  punishment  due  only  to  the  refrac- 
tory and  incredulous,  which  is  io  believe  a  lie  ? 

Knowlittle. — Sir,  you  must  not  think  to  beguile  us  with 
your  "  vain  philosophy."  We  are  too  well  established  in  these 
saving  truths,  to  be  perverted  by  such  sophistry. 

Til. — If  you  have  no  better  cordials  for  afflicted  consciences, 
nor  firmer  props  to  support  the  necessity  of  your  ministry,  than 
■what  the  doctrines  of  the  Synod  will  afford  you,  I  am  afraid 
the  most  vulgar  capacities  will  find  logic  enough  to  conclude, 
from  the  premises,  that  your  office  is  altogether  useless  and  im- 
pertinent.  Laying  aside  therefore  the  person  of  the  Infidel, 
Carnal,  Tepid,  and  Afflicted,  whose  parts  I  have  hitherto  acted, 
to  make  a  practical  trial  of  the  efficacy  of  your  ministry  upon 
them,  according  to  the  tenor  and  consequence  of  those  doc- 
trines, I  beseech  you  sadly  to  reflect  upon  what  hath  already 
passed  betwixt  us  ;  and  consider  fuither  what  a  vertiginous 
spirit  presided  in  that  Synod,  that  led  those  Divines  (raaugre 
all  the  reason  to  the  contrary,)  to  deny  some  things  which 
the  scripture  expressly  doth  affirm,  and  to  affirm  other  things 
which  the  Scripture  doth  as  expressly  deny. — They  deny  the 
universality  of  the  meiits  of  Christ's  death,  which  the  Scripture 
abundantly  proclaimeth;  and  yet  they  do  exhort  and  enjoin  all 
men,  upon  peril  of  damnation,  to  believe  in  him, — as  if  the 
Author  of  all  truth  did  not  only  allow,  but  also  command, 
some  men  to  believe  falsehood. — They  exhort  and  command 
every  one  to  believe  "that  he  is  elected  to  salvation,"  (though 
indeed  he  be  a  very  reprobate,)  and  "  that  he  cannot  lose  faith 
and  grace  once  received,"  which  the  Scripture  in  express  terms 
denieth.  And  as  the  denial  of  Christ's  universal  redeinption  takes 
away  all  the  solid  ground  of  comfort,  so  the  asserting  {^qf^  the 
Saints'  indefectibility  overthrows  the  necessity  of  exhortation, 
with  the  usefulness  of  promises  and  threatenings  to  enforce  it. 
For  who  will  value  such  admonitions,  *  when  he  is  instructed 
to  believe,  that  he  can  never  be  so  far  wanting  to  the  grace  of 
God,  nor  harden  his  heart,  nor  fall  from  his  standing,  so  far  as 

*  Harden  not  your  hearts,  take  heed  lest  ye  fall,  receive  not  the  grace 
of  God  in  vain. 


OF    TILENUS.  69 

to  endanger  his  salvation  ?     And  who  will  deny  himself  (upon 
the  assault  of  a  gallant  temptation  especially,)  the  present  satis- 
faction of  his  lusts  and  passions,  for  the  reversion  of  a  kingdom, 
who  is  persuaded  "  there  are  several  decrees  past  in  heaven  as 
well  to  necessitate,  as  secure  him  in  the  succedaneous  enjoy- 
ment of  them  both  ?"     And  who  Avill  be  frighted  from  the  plea- 
sures of  sin  with  the  threatened  danger  of  damnation,  (unless  a 
fit  of  Melancholy  transports  him  into  that  folly,)    which,  he 
believes,  it  is  no  more  possible  to  happen  to  him,  than  for  God 
to  lie,  or  his  immutable  decrees  to  be  rescinded?     In  brief, 
when  we  consider  the  consequences  of  that  doctrine,    "  that 
the  absolute  decrees  of  heaven  do  not  only  over-rule,  hut  also 
predetermine  every  individual  action  of  mankind,"  (so  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  endeavours  and  wit  of  man  to  make  any  one 
of  them  happen  at  any  other  time  or  after  any  other  manner 
than  they  do,;  may  we  not  (as  far  as  that  doctrine  can  warrant 
us,)  conclude,  that  it  is  God's  only  fault  that  so 'many  men 
prove  infidels  and  profane,  lukev.arm  and  desperate ?,  because 
it  is  He  that   doth  withhold  that  grace  which  is  absolutely 
necessary  to    work  an  effectual  alteration  and  change  in  them. 
And  [|may  we  not^  resolve,  that  it  were  therefore  fit,  that  all 
preachers  (forbearing  to  importune  the  weak  creature  to  attempt 
any  of  those  mere  impossibilities  to  which  he  hath,  at  most,  but 
a  passive  power,)  should  direct  their  admonitions  to  God  alone, 
that  he  would  perform,  what  is  his  own  work  only,  in  the 
hearts  of  men, — that  is,  to  convert,  correct,  provoke,  and  com- 
fort them,  by  such  an  invincible  arm  of  efficiency  as  cannot  be 
resisted  ? 

The  benefit  of  the  word  preached  being  thus  totally  evacu- 
ated by  these  doctrines,  we  shall  find  no  more  use  or  comfort  in 
the  sacraments,  but  so  far  forth  as  we  can  observe  the  very 
same  ministers,  in  the  very  administration  of  them,  to  overthrow 
their  own  unhappy  doctrine.  For  to  every  one  [^whom]]  they 
baptize,  they  apply  the  promises  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  con- 
trary to  their  own  tenet, — which  is,  "  that  they  belong  nothing 
at  all  to  the  Reprobates."  Likewise  the  Lord's  Supper  is  given 
to  all,  with  the  assurance,  Christ  died  for  all  them  that  receive  it, 
— though  their  own  tenet  is,  "  that  he  no  way  died  for  them 
who  receive  it  iinwortliily  and  to  their  condemnation ;"  whose 
number  is  not  small  among  our  Reformed  congregations,  even 
by  their  own  confession. — What  more }   The  very  exercises  of 


70  THE    EXAMINATION 

prayer,  wherein  the  pastor  and  the  flock  are  joint  petitioners, 
shall  be  found  of  no  use  or  comfort  unto  either,  since  they  all 
be  either  Elect  or  Reprobate:  For  the  Elect  obtain  no  new 
thing  by  this  means,  if  "God  hath  written  them,"  as  the 
Synod  says,  "  from  all  eternity  in  the  Book  of  Life,  without 
any  relation  to,  or  consideration  of,  their  faith  and  prayers ; 
and  that  it  is  impossible  they  should  be  blotted  out  of  it."  And 
the  Reprobates  can  never  cause  themselves  to  be  inrolled 
therein  by  any  exercises  of  faith  or  prayers,  no  more  than  they 
are  able  to  disannul  the  immutable  decree  of  God. 

Gentlemen,  I  beg  your  pardon,  and  shall  trouble  you  no 
further,  but  only  to  desire  you  to  ponder  those  many  preju- 
dices that  lie  against  such  a  religion,  as  is  rather  repugnant  than 
operative  to  the  conversion  of  an  infidel  and  the  correction  of 
the  carnal,  to  the  quickening  of  the  careless  and  the  consolation 
of  the  afflicted :  And  if  the  doctrine  maintained  and  delivered 
by  the  divines  of  that  Synod,  and  their  adherents,  doth  frus- 
trate and  nullify  the  preaching  of  the  word,  the  use  of  the 
Sacraments,  and  the  exercise  of  prayer ;  if  it  overthrow  the 
sacred  function  of  the  ministry,  (which  consists  in  the  faithful 
administration  of  wholesome  doctrine  and  good  discipline,) 
and  if  it  give  such  a  total  defeat  to  the  whole  design  of  the 
Divine  ordinances,  I  hope  you  will,  out  of  your  great  piety 
and  prudence,  not  think  it  reasonable  to  make  the  profession 
of  such  faith  or  doctrine,  your  Kpirxptov,  or  Shibboleth  *  to 
discern  your  examinats,  and  pass  them  in  the  account  of  the 
godly  ministers. 

Dr.  Absolute. 

Mr.  Fatality.  }■   Withdraw,  withdraw,  withdraw  ! 

Mr.  Fry-babe. 

Dr.  Absolute. — Brethren,  what  think  you  of  this  man,  now 
you  have  heard  him  discover  himself  so  fully  .'' 

Fatality. — The  man  hath  a  competent  measure  of  your 
ordinary  unsanctified  learning :  But  you  may  see  he  hath  stu- 
died the  ancient  Fathers, — more  than  our  modern  Divines,  such 
as  Mr.  Calvin  and  Mr,  Perkins.  And,  alas !  they  like  ancient 
Fathers]]  threw  away  their  enjoyments  (and  their  lives  too, 
some  of  them,)  for  they  knew  not  what.  They  understood 
little  or  nothing  of  the  Divine  decrees,  or  the  power  of  grace 

*  Judges  xii,  6. 


I 


OF    TILENUS.  71 

and  godliness :  This  great  light  was  reserved  for  the  honour  of 
after-ages,  to  be  held  forth  and  displayed  in. 

Efficax. — He  may  be  an  honest  moral  man ;  but  I  cannot 
perceive  that  he  hath  been  much  acquainted  with  sin,  nor  very 
sensible  of  the  nature  of  repentance.  I  confess  for  my  own 
part,  I  was  never  much  taken  with  these  Obadiahs,  that  cry, 
"  I  thy  servant  fear  the  Lord  from  my  youth  :"  (1  Kings  xviii,  12.) 
Give  me  your  ea'perimenlal  Divines.  The  burnt  child  will  dread 
the  fire ;  and,  as  Jude  adviseth,  "will  have  compassion"  upon 
their  brethren,  (having  been  tempted  themselves,)  and  will 
"  save  them  with  fear,"  using  a  holy  violence  to  "  pluck  them 
out  of  the  burning."  I  remember  Mr.  Calvin  confesseth,  in  an 
Epistle  to  Bucer,  "  that  he  had  a  great  conflict  with  that  wild 
beast  of  impatience  that  raged  in  him,  and  that  it  was  not  yet 
tamed."  He  would  frequently  reproach  his  brethren  (especi- 
ally if  they  dissented  from  him  in  the  matter  of  predestination, 
&c.)  by  the  name  of  "  Knave,"  "  Dog,"  and  "  Satan."  And  he 
so  vexcl  the  spirit  of  Bucer,  that  he  provoked  the  good  mild 
man  to  write  thus  to  him  :  Judicas  prout  amas,  vel  odisti :  amas 
autem  vel  odisti,  prout  Zibet.  "  That  his  judgment  was  governed 
by  his  passions  of  love  and  hatred,  and  these  by  his  lust." 
And  for  his  bitter  speeches,  Bucer  gave  him  the  title  of  "a 
fratricide." — Reverend  Mr.  Beza  confesseth  also  of  himself,  per 
quindecim  annorum  spalium,  quo  alios  docuit  justitiw  viam,  nee 
sohrium  se  factum,  nee  Uberalem,  nee  veracem,  sed  hcerere  in  luto  : 
"  That  for  the  space  of  fifteen  years  together,  wherein  he  taught 
others  the  way  of  righteousness,  himself  trod  neither  in  the  way 
of  truth,  nor  bounty,  nor  sobriety  :  but  stuck  fast  in  the  mire" 
(of  sin.)  Men  that  have  had  trial  of  the  powerful  workings  of 
sin  and  grace,  and  have  been  brought  upon  their  knees,  like  the 
great  Apostle,  with  a  bitter  complaint,  0  me  miserum !  "  O 
wretched  man  that  I  am  ! ;"  these  are  your  none-such  Divines, 
of  which,  methinks,  our  Saviour  gave  an  intimation,  in  that 
passage  to  Petei*,  et  tu  aliquando  conversus  conjirma  fratres  tuos.* 
(Luke  xxii,  32.) 

Narrowgrace. — He  attributeth  so  much  to  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel,  that  he  seems  to  be  superstitiously  addicted  to  it, 
and  turns  it  into  an  idol.  Whereas,  we  know,  of  itself  it  is  but 
a  dead  letter ;  and  therefore  Maccovius  handling  that  question, 

*  "  And  when  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren." 


72  THE    EXAMINATION 

Whetlter  the  word  of  God  may  he  savhigb/  heard  befo7-e  regeneration, 
concludes  negatively  ;  and,  to  avoid  his  adversaries'  argument, 
he  affirms,  "  tliat  that  hearing  of  the  word  which  produceth 
faith,  doth  presuppose  regeneration."  To  this  agrees  the  opinion 
of  some  Divines,  who  think  "  that  regeneration  is  effected  after 
another  manner  than  faith  is."  To  which  purpose  Johannes 
Rysius,  in  his  Confession,  saith  thus.  Fides  Dei  gratia  per  ver^ 
hum  concipiiur :  Regeneraiio  \\iero']  a  Deo  per  Chrisltivi  nine 
nllius  ret  creatce  intervenlu  projiciscitur :  "  Faith  is  conceived 
by  the  grace  of  God  through  the  word  ;  but  regeneration  pro- 
ceeds from  God  through  Christ,  without  the  intervention  of 
any  created  thing  whatsoever." 

Take-o'-trust. — I  conceive.  Sir,  when  we  see  the  ministry 
so  much  eclipsed  and  undervalued  as  it  is,  if  there  were  nothing 
else  in  it.  Christian  policy  should  teach  us,  not  to  vent  such 
doctrines  as  are  apt  to  bring  more  contempt  upon  it.  But  the 
Holy  Ghost  hath  set  it  at  a  higher  rate,  by  clothing  it  with 
titles  of  a  greater  reputation:  He  calls  it,  "the  word  of  grace, 
the  word  of  faith,  the  word  of  life,  the  word  of  reconciliation, 
the  ministration  of  the  Spirit,  the  word  that  is  able  to  save  the 
soul,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  the  word  of  God  that 
effectually  worketh  in  them  that  believe."  * 

Knowlittle. — I  conceive  the  ministry  of  the  word  hath 
these  excellent  titles  bestowed  upon  it,  in  regard  it  is  the  in- 
strument by  and  through  which  God  doth  infuse,  into  the 
Tinderstanding  and  heart,  his  special  grace,  or  rather  that 
regenerating  virtue  which  alone  doth  powerfully  effect  the  work 
of  regeneration  :  So  that  the  outward  word,  as  an  instrument, 
conferreth  nothing  at  all  to  that  effect,  but  is  only  as  the  tunnel 
whereby  water  is  poured  into  a  vessel;  and  yet  that  water 
receives  no  tincture  at  all  from  the  nature  or  quality  of  the  said 
tunnel. 

Take-o'-trust. — I  have  seen  this  alleged:  But  they  say,  we 
should  consider  that  the  nature  and  property  of  the  word,  is, 
to  be  intelUgible  (in  expression)  and  to  carry  such  a  sense  as  is  apt 
to  move  the  party,  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  by  working  upon  his 
understanding,  and  inciting  his  heart  to  love  or  hatred,  hope  or 
fear;  and  this  is  the  true  efficacy  the  word  is  endowed  with. 
But  if  the  word  contributes  no  more  to  our  conversion  or  re- 

*  John  vi,  63.— Heb.  iv,  12.— 1  Cor.  xiv,  24,  25. 


OF    TILENUS.  73 

g^eneration,  than  the  tunnel  (that  only  conveys  the  liquor,)  to 
the  filling  of  the  vessel ;  then  it  matters  not  whether  the  word 
be  intelligible,  yea  or  no :  For  that  regenerating  virtue  being  a 
distinct  power  infused  beside  it,  the  word  doth  not  woi-k  as  a 
verbal,  that  is,  a  rational  instrument,  but  only  concurs  as  an 
instrument  destitute  of  sense  and  reason.  And,  therefore,  as  it 
matters  not  what  metal  the  tunnel  be  made  of,  whether  wood, 
or  brass,  or  tin  ;  so  (had  the  word  no  other  kind  of  instrument- 
ality than  that  hath,)  it  were  all  one,  whether  the  language 
were  barbarous  non-sense,  (as  is  usual  amongst  some  sectaries,) 
or  significant.  And  to  what  end,  then,  did  God  confer  the  gijl 
of  tongues  upon  his  Apostles,  and  they  take  such  care  to  con- 
descend and  apply  themselves  to  the  capacity  and  apprehension 
of  their  hearers  ?  Besides,  if  the  word  hath  no  more  to  do  in 
this  work  than  is  pretended,  why  should  it  consist  of  precepts, 
and  those  established  with  promises  and  threatenings  ?  For  a 
precept  (so  established  especially,)  doth  prescribe  the  thing 
(under  command)  as  a  duty,  and  concurs  unto  that  duty  as  the 
reason  moving  and  obliging  a  man  to  perform  it.  But  if  that 
special  grace,  or  regenerating  virtue,  so  infused,  doth  alone 
effect  a  man's  regeneration,  (taking  nothing  at  all  from  the 
word,)  how  can  that  effect  be  said  to  be  "the  performance 
of  his  duty,  and  an  act  of  obedience  to  the  command  of  the 
word  ?" 

Knowlittle  — It  is  a  question,  whether  there  be  any  pre- 
cepts, properly  so  called,  under  the  new  covenant,  yea  or  no. 
Some  absolutely  deny  it.  But  we  confess  it ;  and  they  [^the 
precepts^  niay  be  said  to  concur  to  our  conversion  and  believing 
2}er  modum  signi,  "as  a  sign  or  object"  representing  what  God 
by  his  free  grace  is  said  to  effect  and  work  in  us.  Indeed  they 
declare  what  man  ought  to  do;  but  they  serve  rather  to  dis- 
cover and  convince  his  weakness,  than  to  promote  his  duty. 

Take-o'-trust. — This  doctrine  doth  cancel  the  very  formal 
reason  and  force  of  all  the  commands  of  Christ,  and  makes  the 
word  of  God,  intended  for  an  instrument  of  man's  conversion, 
to  serve  only  for  an  object  and  mere  doctrine  for  his  faith  and 
repentance  to  converse  with ;  for  they  are  not  to  be  wrought 
(it  seems)  by  this  means,  but  immediattli/  effected  and  wrought 
of  Almighty  God,  in  the  heart,  by  a  special  action  and  opera- 
tion :  and,  consequently,  makes  all  the  exhortations  and  pre- 
cepts, as  such,    all  the  promises  and  threatenings,  complaints 

F 


74  THE    EXAMINATION 

and  obtestations,  wherewith  the  word  of  God  aboundeth,  to  be 
nothing  else  but  empty  signs  and  busy  trifles,  (if  not  a  ludi- 
crous stage-play,)  conducing  nothing  to  that  effect  to  v/hich 
they  pretend  to  be  designed.  But,  that  faith  and  regeneration 
which  flow  from  it,  are  both  wrought  (in  a  rational  way)  by  the 
outward  ministry  of  the  word,  moving  and  inciting  the  under- 
standing and  heart  of  man, — will  evidently  appear  to  be  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 

First.  For  faith,  take  that  expression  in  our  Saviour's 
prayer,  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth  :  thy  word  is  truth. 
Neither  pray  I  for  these  (Apostles)  alone ;  but  for  them  also, 
which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word."  (John  xviii, 
17,20,  See  John  xx,  31;  1  John  v,  13.)  And  "Therefore 
faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God." 
(Rom.  X,  17.) — (1)  That  he  understands  faith  working  hy  love, 
which  the  gospel  determines  to  be  the  only  means  by  which 
we  may  and  ought  to  be  saved, — appears  in  the  9th  and  10th 
verses :  "  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  believe,  with  thy  heart,  that  God  raised  him  up  from  the 
dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  tongue  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation." — (2)  That  by  the  word  which  works  this 
faith,  he  understands  the  outward  word,  appears  by  the  whole 
contexture  of  the  chapter :  For  he  saith  (i)  "  This  is  that  word 
of  faith  which  we  preach."  (verse  8.) — (ii)  That  word,  which 
cannot  be  heard  unless  it  be  preached,  not  internally  by  God, 
but  externally  by  men,  sent  out  to  that  purpose.  * — (iii)  That 
word  which  is  heard  with  the  ears  of  the  body,  and  (iv)  may 
be  disobeyed,  t 

Secondly.  As  the  working  of  faith  is  attributed  to  the  mi- 
nistry of  the  word,  so  is  the  working  of  regeneration  too  : 
"  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of  truth  ;  where- 
fore let  every  man  be  swift  to  hear,  "  &c.  (James  i,  18,  19.) 
To  this  add,  "  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed  but 
of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God  which  liveth  and  abideth 
for  ever ;  and  this  is  the  word  which  by  the  gospel  is  preached 
unto  you."  (1  Pet.  i,  23,  25.)  Hereupon  St.  Paul  tells  the  Co- 
rinthians, not  only  that  he  was  a  minister  of  God,  "  by  whom 
they  did  believe ;"    but  tells  them  also,  that  "  He  was  their 

*  Verses  14,  15.  f  Verses  16,  18. 


OF    TILENUS.  75 

father;    for  in  Christ  Jesus  he  had  begotten  them,  through 
the  gospel."  (1  Cor.  iv,  14,  15.) 

Knowlittle. — The    Apostle   saith,    "I   have   planted   and 
Apollos  watered:  but  God  gave  the  increase."  (1  Cor.  iii,  6.) 

Take-o*-trust. — So  the  Apostle  saith,  "  God  giveth  to  every 
seed  his  own  body,  as  it  hath  pleased  him :"  (1  Cor.  xv,  38.) 
But  still  it  is  in  the  ordinary  way  of  husbandry ;  and  therefore 
the  sower  goes  out  to  sow  his  seed,  and  so  "  the  king  himself 
is  served  by  the  field."  (Eccles.  v,  9.)  But  "the  sluggard, 
who  will  not  plow  by  reason  of  the  cold,  shall  beg  in  harvest 
and  have  nothing."  (Prov.  xx,  4.)  In  these  natural  things,  we 
see,  God  doth  not  bring  forth  fruit  by  any  peculiar  divine 
action  distinct  from  that  of  planting  and  watering;  but,  by 
preserving  that  force  and  vigour  once  put  into  the  earth  and 
•water,  (wherein  and  whereby  such  plantation  and  watering  is 
made,)  he  concurs  to  make  the  labour  of  the  husbandman 
successful,  and  so  gives  the  increase.  "  Thou  visitest  the 
earth,  and  waterest  it :  thou  greatly  enrichest  it  with  the  river 
of  God,  which  is  full  of  water :  thou  preparest  them  corn  when 
thou  hast  so  provided  for  it :  Thou  waterest  the  ridges  thereof 
abundantly:  thou  settlest  the  furrows  thereof:  thou  makest  it 
soft  with  showers,  thou  blessest  the  springing  thereof.  Thou 
crownest  the  year  with  thy  goodness,  and  thy  paths  drop  fat- 
ness." (Psalm  Ixv.  9 — 1^0  So  it  is  here,  in  a  spiritual  sense : 
"Ye  are  God's  husbandry,  or  God's  tillage;"  (1  Cor.  iii,  90 
and  he  hath  instituted  a  ministry,  to  bring  you  unto  fruitfulness. 
"  I  have  planted," — laying  the  foundation,  or  first  principles, 
of  Christian  faith  among  you,  (of  heathens  making  you  believers  ;) 
"  Apollos  watered," — he  baptised  you,  and  promoted  that  faith 
to  some  further  growth  in  you  :  But  yet  there  is  no  great  mat- 
ter imputable  to  him  or  me,  that  you  should  make  a  schism  upon 
this  account,  as  if  either  of  us  were  the  author  of  your  faith; 
but  it  is  God  alone  who  gave  us  our  ability,  *  and  put  all  the 
force  and  efficacy  into  those  sacred  ordinances  which  we  admi- 
nister, and  so  gave  the  increase.  Thus,  I  say,  God  gives  the 
increase,  not  by  any  peculiar  special  action  distinct  from  that 
plantation  and  watering  of  Paul  and  Apollos ;  but  by  continu- 
ing to  prosper  that  vigour  and  efficacy  which  he  was  pleased  to 
put  into  that  ministry.     Hence  the  Apostle  saith,  "  We  are 

*  See  2  Cor.  iv,  6  ;  1  Cor.  iv,  7 ;  2  Cor.  iii,  4,  5,6. 
f2 


7G  THE    EXAMINATION 

labourers  together  with  God,"  (verse  9,)  and  "ministers  by 
vhorn  ye  believed."  (verse  5.)  To  this  purpose,  the  Apostle  is 
"  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles :"  (Acts 
ix,  15.)  And  his  commission  is,  "  To  open  their  eyes,  and  to 
turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
unto  God."  (Acts  xxvi,  18.)  And  he  doth  so  well  manage  and 
execute  this  commission,  that  he  is  confident  to  say,  "  I  have 
whereof  I  may  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ,  in  those  things 
which  pertain  to  God."  (Rom.  xv,  17.) 

Knowlittle. — There  is  a  promise:  "  Thine  ears  shall  hear 
a  word  behind  thee,  saying.  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  ifi  it,"  Sfc. 
(Isai.  XXX,  21.) 

Take-o'-trust. — {I)  That  promise  is  made  to  such  as  are 
already  converted,  *  and  signifies  no  more  than  what  is  more 
clearly  expressed  in  Isaiah  lix,  21.  t — (2)  If  the  word,  there 
promised,  be  a  thing  distinct  from  the  word  of  the  ministry, 
then  I  ask.  Whether  it  be  an  intelligible  word  or  not.  If  not, 
then  it  is  no  fit  mean  to  work  upon  a  reasonable  soul,  and  to 
bring  it  to  perform  to  God  a  reasonable  service,  as  ours  ought 
to  be.  I  If  it  be  an  intelligible  word,  then  either  it  hath  the 
same  sense  with  the  word  written  and  preached,  or  a  different 
sense  from  it.  If  it  be  of  the  same  sense  with  the  word  written 
and  preached,  then  it  is  to  no  purpose :  Fruslra  sit  per  plura, 
quodjieri  potest  per  pauciora,  et  entia  non  sunt  multiplicando  sine 
necessitate,  "  it  is  frivolous  to  multiply  means  without  cause."  If 
this  word  be  of «  different  sense  from  the  word  written  or  preach- 
ed, then  this  (to  the  dishonour  of  the  word!)  will  argue  the 
insufficiency  of  it  "to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  and  the 
man  of  God  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good 
work;"  and  this  will  lay  an  imputation,  not  only  upon  the 
veracity  and  truth  of  God,  but  also  upon  his  wisdom  and 
goodness,  for  commending  and  enjoining  the  use  of  his  written 
word  to  us,   for  an  end  and  purpose  to  which  it  is  insufficient. 

*  It  is  observed,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  (not  in  his  miraculous  gifts  only,) 
is  most  frequently  said  to  be  given  to  men  after  their  conversion.  (Luke 
xi,  13  ;  Acts  v,  32  ;  xix,  2.) 

f  "As  for  me,  this  is  my  covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord:  My 
Sjiirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words  which  1  have  put  in  thy  mouth, 
shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out 
of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  for 
£yer." 

X  Rom.  xii,  2. 


OF    TILENUS.  77 

But,  that  we  may  understand  the  Prophet's  meaning,  consider, 
that  we  are  commanded  to  "  walk  before  God ;"  (Gen.  xvii,  1.) 
according  to  which  expression,  we  are  to  think  God  always  at 
our  heels,  (as  we  say,)  observing  our  steps ;  and  consonantly 
to  that  metaphorical  expression,  if  we  step  aside,  what  means 
soever  his  providence  useth  to  set  us  right  and  direct  our  goings 
in  his  paths,  it  is  as  if  we  heard  "  a  voice  behind  us."  Not  that 
God  would  exempt  us  from  following  the  direction  of  the  mi- 
nistry :  No, — for  the  promise  is  thus  expressed  in  the  former 
verse,  "  Thine  eyes  shall  see  thy  teachers :"  *  And  that  we 
may  not  think  it  lawful  to  run  on  in  error,  till  the  enthusias- 
tical  charm  recals  us,  remember,  it  is  our  duty  to  seek  the  law, 
at  the  priest's  moidh.  (Mai.  ii,  7-)  Hence,  we  have  these  caveats, 
not  only,  take  heed  hojv  you  hear,  and  wliat  you  hear,  but  also, 
whom  you  hear ;  "  for  many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into 
the  world ;  and  therefore  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of 
God."  (1  John  iv,  1.)  What  need  of  all  these  caveats,  and  so 
much  ado,  if  the  ministry  ^of^  the  word  ha^h  no  influence  or 
energy  in  our  faith  and  regeneration,  and  the  work  of  grace 
in  us  } 

Knowlittle. — But,  we  see,  the  Scripture  every  where  as- 
cribes the  work  of  faith,  conversion,  and  regeneration  in  us,  to 
the  power  and  gift  of  God,  to  Christ,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Take-o'-trust. — The  Scriptures  do  attribute  to  Almighty 
God  that  which  he  doth  mediately  by  any  of  his  creatures  or 
Ministers.  In  John  iv,  1,  Jesus  is  said  to  have  baptized  more 
disciples  than  John  ;  yet,  in  the  next  verse  it  is  said,  that  "  Jesus 
baptized  not,  but  his  disciples."  t  Though  the  ministry  of  the 
word  be  instrumental  in  the  work  of  grace  in  us,  yet  must  we 
acknowledge  the  Blessed  Trinity  the  chief  cause  and  author 
thereof,  and  are  bound  always  to  render  them  the  honour  of 
that  efficacy  that  is  wrought  by  this  instrument ;  because  all 
the  light,  force,  and  efficacy,  which  appear  therein,  flow  from 
God  alone, — and  had  not  been  in  it  at  all,  if  he  had  not  (as  it 
were)  implanted  it  therein.  "  We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels,"  as  the  Apostle,  in  a  like  case.  (2  Cor.  iv,  6,  7.)  %  Cer- 
tainly there  we  have  it,  and  God  associates  what  other  divine 


*  See Deut.  xvii,  9,  11.  f  See  John  vi,  45,  4G.— With  Luke  x,  IC; 

2Cor.v,  19;  lThess.iv,8;  Heh.xii,25;  Acts  v,  39— vii,  51.  %  2Cor. 

iii,  3,  4,  5. 

I'  3 


78  THE    EXAMINATION 

internal  aids  he  pleaseth  with  it :  *  To  Him  therefore  we  must 
ascribe  the  glory,  who  hath  annexed  such  an  excellency  of 
power  to  such  (otherwise)  weak  and  feeble  instruments.  (2  Cor. 
X,  4.) 

Dr.  Absolute. — Leave  your  wrangling.  Gentlemen,  that  we 
may  despatch  Mr,  Tilenus  one  way  or  other.  Have  any  of  you 
any  more  objeciions  against  him  ? 

Indefectible. — He  holds  the  possibility  of  the  Saints'  Apos- 
tacy,  notwithstanding  the  decrees  and  promises  of  God  to  the 
contrary ;  and  concludes  David's  adultery  and  murder  to  be 
wilful,  wasting,  deadly  sins,  and  inconsistent  with  the  state  of 
regeneration.  So  that  should  a  godly  man  through  the 
frailty  of  the  flesh  suffer  the  like  infirmity,  he  would  be  ready 
to  discourage  and  grieve  his  spirit,  telling  him  "  he  had  for- 
feited his  interest  in  God's  favour,  and  lay  under  a  damnable 
guilt,  liable  to  the  wrath  of  God  and  the  torments  of  hell ;" 
and  so  in  danger  to  bring  him  to  desperation,  if  he  does  not 
forsake  his  sin  and  mortify  his  lust,  and  bring  forth  fruits  meet 
for  rei>entance  upon  his  admonition. 

Narrowgrace. — What  was  worse  than  that,  to  my  mind ; — 
he  flouted  the  Divines  of  the  Synod,  saying,  "If  their  doctrine 
were  well  improved,  it  would  prove  an  antidote  against  the 
power  of  death,  and  teach  a  man  how  to  become  immortal,  even 
in  this  life." 

Impertinent. — That  slipt  my  observation.  I  pray,  what 
was  it  he  said  ? 

Narrowgrace. — It  was  to  this  purpose:  "  If  the  elect  can- 
not be  cut  off  in  a  state  of  impenitency,  notwithstanding  they 
fall  into  most  grievous  sins ;  then,"  saith  he,  "  let  them  aban- 
don themselves  to  some  horrid  lust  or  course  of  impiety,  and 
they  shall  be  sure  to  be  immortal." 

Indefectible. — But  we  know  the  elect  cannot  do  so.  They 
have  a  principle  within  them,  and  a  guard  without  them,  to 
defend  and  secure  them  from  such  courses.  "  They  are  kept 
by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation."  (1  Pet.  i,  5.) 
There  is  their  guard  :  And  their  inward  principle  that  inclines 
and  moves  them,  you  have  in  1  John  iii,  Q.  "  Whosoever  is 
born  of  God,  doth  not  commit  sin  :  for  his  seed  remaineth  in 
him,  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God." 

Mark  xvi,  15,20;  Rom.  xv,  16,  19. 


OF    TTLENUS.  79 

Dr.  Dubius. — Under  correction,  Sir,  I  conceive  man  is  never 

immutably  good  till  he  arrives  in  heaven.  As  long  as  he  con- 
verseth  here  below  he  is  like  other  sublunary  things,  subject  to 
change.  *  The  reason  is,  beside  temptations  from  without  to 
allure  and  draw  him,  he  hath  a  two-fold  pi'inciple,  a  new  and 
an  old  man  within  him, — the  flesh  and  the  spirit  in  contestation  : 
"  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the 
flesh."  (Gal.  v,  17.)  This  conflict  is  in  the  regenerate:  And 
that  he  hath  liberty  to  side  with  either  of  these  parties,  and  so 
to  change,  I  think  cannot  be  denied.  He  hath  a  liberty  through 
God's  grace  to  side  with  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh ;  and  here- 
upon he  is  exhorted  to  "  abstain  from  fleshly  lusts,  to  mortify 
his  earthly  members,  and  to  walk  in  the  Spirit."  His  liberty  to 
side  with  the  flesh,  is  but  too  evident.  And  therefore  the  words 
"  CANNOT  sin"  must  be  taken,  not  physice  but  eihice,  "  Not  for 
a  natural  impotency  but  a  moral  one." — He  cannot  do  it  legally ;  f 
or  for  an  averseness  of  mind,  which,  notwithstanding,  is  capable 
of  being  altered.  It  is  said  of  Christ  sometimes,  that  "  He 
could  do  no  mighty  work."  (Mark  vi,  5.)  And  so  it  is  said, 
that  the  brethren  of  Joseph  "  could  not  answer  him."  (Gen. 
xlv,  3.)  And  the  angel  "  could  do  nothing  against  Sodom," 
till  Lot  were  escaped  into  Zoar.  :j;  (Gen.  xix,  22.)  And  it  is 
usual  in  our  common  speech  to  say,  "  We  cannot  do  a  thing," 
when  the  thing  is  not  impossible  to  be  done,  but  only  it  is  nnlan^ 
Jul  or  inconvenient  for  us  to  do  it :  If  we  set  aside  the  incou' 
venience  and  step  over  the  hedge  of  the  laiv,  (as  many  times  we 
do,)  we  can  find  power  enough  to  do  it.  And  so  it  is  here. 
Therefore  to  that  of  our  Saviour,  (Matt,  vii,  18.)  "A  good  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,"  St.  Jerome  addeth,  Quamdiu  in 
honitatis  studio  perseverat,  "  as  long  as  it  perseveres  in  the  study 
and  love  of  goodness."  Thus  "  he  that  is  born  of  God,"  while 
he  acteth  according  to  the  nature  of  the  principles  of  his  new 
birth,  and  studies  to  follow  and  resemble  his  Heavenly  Father, 
—cannot  deliberately  yield  to  any  kind  of  sin.  Hcec  nan  admittet 
omnino  qia  natus  e  Deojtierit;  nonfaturus  Deijllins  si  adniiserity 

*  Quod  Angelis  casus  honiinibits  mors.    "  That  which  is  a  fall  to  Angels, 
IS  DEATH  to  meu." 

f  Idpossumus,  quod  jure  possutnus.   "  VVe  can  do  that  which  may  lawftilli/ 
be  done." 

+  SecJos.  xxiv,  19,21. 


80  THE    EXAMINATION 

saith  Tertullian  ;  "  He  that  is  born  of  God,  will  not  at  all  admit 
such  sins  as  these ;  he  shall  not  be  a  child  of  God,  if  he  doth 
admit  them."  As  for  that  guard  you  mention  out  of  St.  Feter, 
"  They  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God:"  We  must  consider  that 
we  are  to  add  a  guard  of  our  own  to  it,  as  is  required,  fjude 
XX,  21.)  "  But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on  your  most 
holy  faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in 
the  love  of  God :"  And  St.  Peter  adds,  "  through  faith."  (1  Pet. 
i,  5.)  The  Psalmist  saith,  "  Except  the  Lord  keepeth  the  city, 
the  watchman  waketh  but  in  vain."  But  he  doth  not  say, 
"  The  Lord  will  keep  the  city,  whether  the  watchman  waketh," 
yea  or  no.  He  that  setteth  the  watch,  and  is  Captain  of  the 
guard  over  us,  saith,  "  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into 
temptation ;"  and  we  can  promise  ourselves  safety  no  longer 
than  [[while^  we  are  upon  our  duty.  "  He  that  is  begotten  of 
God,  keepeth  himself;  and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not." 
(1  John  V,  18.)  That  is  the  effect  or  event  of  his  dut}',  if  he  be 
careful  to  observe  it.  But  though  Christ  hath  freed  us  from  the 
dominion  of  the  enemy,  yet  if  we  do  voluntarily  render  our- 
selves up  again  to  his  power,  *'  his  servants  we  are  to  whom 
we  obey."  (Rom.  vi,  14,  l6.)  Or  if  we  quit  our  guard,  and 
suffer  ourselves  to  be  surprised  through  our  wilful  carelessness, 
we  are  involved  in  a  like  thraldom  ;  for  "  of  whom  a  man  is 
overcome,  of  the  same  is  he  brought  in  bondage."  (2  Pet.  ii,  I9.) 

Indefectible. — Sir,  the  Apostle  hath  taught  us  to  distin- 
guish betwixt  "  a  sin  unto  death,"  and  "  a  sin  not  unto  death." 
(1  John  v.)  We  confess,  the  regenerate  may  fall  into  sin,  but 
not  into  sin  unto  death.  "  Though  he  fall,  he  shall  not  be 
utterly  cast  down,  for  the  Lord  upholdeth  him  with  his  hand." 
(Psalm  xxxvii,  24.) 

Dr.  Dubius. — For  that  place  of  the  Psalmist,  the  context 
doth  clear  the  meaning  to  be  of  falling,  not  into  sin,  but  into 
ajffiiclion  and  misery.  Yet  I  do  not  deny,  but  God  out  of  his 
abundant  mercy  is  ready,  in  a  way  agreeable  to  liis  wisdom 
and  justice,  to  assist  such  as  fall  into  sin,  in  order  to  their  rising 
again.  But  I  am  in  some  doubt,  whether  the  regenerate  may 
not  "sin  a  sin  unto  death:"  and  that  as  well  if  you  consider 
the  event,  as  the  demerit  of  his  sin.  For  the  moderate,  and  those 
not  inferior  in  learning  to  the  more  rigid,  of  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
do  acknowledge,  "  that  the  regenerate  may  not  only  fall  from 
certain  degrees  of  grace,  and  intermit  the  acts  of  grace :  but 


OF    THEN  IS. 

likewise  that  they  may  fall  into  such  sins  as  leave  them  under 
a  damnable  guilt,  so  that  they  have  need  of  an  actual  renewal  of 
repentance,  and  a  new  absolution ;  that  they  lose  their  present 
aptness  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  into  which  no 
unclean  thing  shall  enter."  *  And  that  David  and  Solomon  fell 
thus  far,  will  be  evident,  if  you  consider  the  nature  of  their 
sins,  and  apply  these  following  Scriptures  to  them  :  1  Cor.  vi, 
9,  10  ;  Gal.  v,  21  ;  Apoc.  xxi,  7,  8 ;  1  John  iii,  1.5.  Now  let 
us  consider,  whether  it  be  not  possible  for  a  man,  that  is  fallen 
into  this  estate  and  condition,  to  be  cut  off  in  his  sins  before 
his  repentance  be  renewed,  and  his  new  absolution  received  to 
remove  his  guilt,  and  restore  him  to  an  aptitude  and  a  present 
actual  capacity  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If  it  be 
possible  for  him  to  be  cut  ofFin  this  condition,  then  it  will  follow, 
that  either  he  .shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  at  all; 
or  else  there  must  be  some  purgatory  after  this  life  Cfor  him  to 
pass  through)  to  cleanse  and  fit  him  for  heaven — of  which  Pro- 
testants will  not  admit.  But  if  we  say,  "  It  is  not  possible  for 
such  a  man  to  be  cut  off  in  his  sin  ;"  then  it  must  follow, 
(l.)  That  he  hath  a  lease  of  his  life  granted,  till  his  restoration; 
which  will  be  a  hard  matter  to  make  appear :  And  (2.)  That 
God  is  bound  by  some  covenant  or  promise  to  afford  him  as  well 
grace  as  time  to  repent;  and  this  will  be  as  hard  to  evidence  as  the 
former;  for,  I  presume,  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  there  is  re- 
quired a  greater  measure  of  grace  to  raise  up  such  a  sinner,  being 
fallen,  than  to  keep  him,  while  he  stood,  from  falling.  Now  if 
God's  covenant  and  promise  did  not  bind  him  to  give  that  less 
measure  of  grace  to  keep  him  actually  from  falling,  how  can  we 
persuade  ourselves  that  he  is  bound  by  it,  to  confer  that 
greater  measure  of  grace  whereby  he  shall  actually  arise.? 

Indefectible. — The  Apostle  tells  the  Philippians,  "  he  is 
confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which  hath  begun  a  good 
work  in  them,  will  perform  (or  finish)  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ."  (Phil,  i,  6.) 

Dr.  Dubius. — I  need  not  say,  the  Apostle's  persuasion  is  not 
always  an  infallible  argument  of  God's  purpose.  +  For  he  had 
a  persuasion  of  charity,  as  well  as  of  faith;  %  and  that  his  per- 


*  lid.  Si/nops.  pur.  Theo.  Disp.  31,  Tlies.  38,  Synod.  Dordra.,   Cap.v, 
Art.  4  and  5. 

f  Acts  xvi,  6,  7.  +  Heb.  vi,9. 


82  THE    EXAMINATION 

suasion  touching  the  Philippians  was  of  this  nature,  appears  by 
the  verse  following  that  which  is  alleged.  But  I  say,  God 
doth  as  well  carry  on  as  begin  the  Avork  of  grace  in  man's  heart, 
in  such  a  way  as  doth  not  evacuate  but  establish  the  necessity 
of  man's  duty;  and,  therefore,  he  backs  that  his  confidence, 
with  a  vehement  exhortation,  "  As  ye  have  always  obeyed, 
work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  with  trembling ; 
for  it  is  God,  that  Avorketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do,  of  his  good 
pleasure."  (Phil,  ii,  12,  13.)  And  we  may  observe  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Angel  of  the  Church  of  Philadelphia,  where  God 
makes  a  promise  to  preserve  him  in  a  time  of  trial  then  at 
hand ;  though  that  promise  was  something  of  the  nature  of  a 
reward,  being  made  to  him  upon  a  consideration  of  his  former 
fidelity,  yet  he  subjoins  an  obligation  of  duty  :  "  Thou  hast  a 
little  strength,  and  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my 
name  :  Because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also 
will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation,  which  shall  come 
upon  all  the  world  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth." 
(Rev.  iii,  8,  10.)  But  to  shew  that  his  own  care  and  constancy 
was  requisite  in  order  to  the  accomplishment  of  that  promise, 
he  adds,  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly ;  hold  that  fast  which  thou 
hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown."  (Verse  11.)  Notwithstand- 
ing God's  promise,  if  we  grow  careless,  we  may  forfeit  our 
reward  and  incur  damnation,  as  is  clearly  threatened  in  Ezek. 
xviii,  24 :  "  But  when  the  righteous  turneth  away  from  his 
righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity,  and  doth  according  to 
all  the  abominations  that  the  wicked  man  doth  ;  shall  he  live  ? 
All  his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done,  shall  not  be  mentioned : 
in  his  trespass  that  he  hath  trespassed,  and  in  his  sin  that  he 
hath  sinned,  in  them  shall  he  die." 

Indefectible. — How  can  this  consist  with  God's  covenant 
and  promise.?,  "I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with 
them,  that  I  will  not  turn  away  from  them  to  do  them  good ; 
but  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts  that  they  shall  not  depart 
from  me."  (Jer.  xxxii,  40.) 

Dr.  Dubius. — That  God  doth  not  engage  himself  in  that 
place  to  confer  upon  his  people  aii  irresistible  power  of  grace, 
infallibly  to  effect  the  gift  of  perseverance  in  them,  will  be 
manifest,  if  we  consider  that  the  covenant,  there  mentioned, 
concerned  the  people  of  the  Jews,  and  contained  the  favour  that 
God  would  vouchsafe  to  do  them  presently  upon  their  return 


OF    TILENUS.  83 

from  the  Babylonish  Captivity,  as  appears  clearly  in  the  fore- 
going and  following  verses  ;  and  yet,  through  their  fault  and 
want  of  compliance,  this  did  not  take  effect,  their  renewed 
defection  crossed  God's  promise,  and  the  event  happened  far 
otherwise.  For  if  you  consider  that  people  soon  after  their  re- 
turn from  that  captivity,  they  grew  worse  and  worse,  as  appears 
from  Neheraiah,  the  last  [^chapter]]  :  And  if  you  will  refer  the 
fulfilling  of  the  promise  till  after  the  exhibition  of  the  Messias, 
though  that  is  against  the  scope  of  the  words,  yet  then  they 
grew  worst  of  all.  "  They  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost,  (Acts 
vii,  5,)  and  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  against  themselves ; 
(Luke  vii,  30.)  and  judged  themselves  unworthy  eternal  life," 
blaspheming  and  persecuting  the  Author,  means,  and  ministry 
of  it ;  (Acts  xiii,  45,  46,  50.)  and  so  were  "  cut  off  for  their 
wilful  unbelief"  (Rom.  ix,  32.)  In  the  covenant  therefore  we 
are  to  consider  two  things:  (1.)  A  promise  on  God's  part; 
and  (2.)  A  stipulation  of  duty  on  their  part  who  are  concerned 
in  the  promise. — The  promise  on  God's  part  is,  "  I  will  be  their 
God,  and  I  will  not  (that  is,  of  myself ,  ov  without  provocation,') 
turn  away  from  them  to  do  them  good  ;  but  I  will  put  my  fear 
in  their  hearts."  But  to  what  end  is  all  this  >  Why,  "  that 
they  may  be  my  people,  and  fear  me,  as  my  people,  and  not 
depart  from  me,"  as  is  expressed  in  the  39th  and  40th  verses 
of  that  chapter. — This  then  being  a  voluntary  duty  which  God 
requires,  we  must  not  imagine  it  to  be  intimated  as  the  infallible 
effect  or  event  of  his  promise,  but  as  the  end  why  he  makes  that 
promise  to  them,  and  the  engagement  which  it  puts  upon  them. 
But  if  they  will  not  choose  to  have  "  the  fear  of  God  before  their 
eyes,"  and  to  excite  that  grace  which  he  puts  into  their  hearts, 
but  "  out  of  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  depart  from  the  living 
God,"  they  by  this  their  prevarication  and  apostacy  becoming 
Noji  pojmlus,  "  ceasing  to  be  his  people,"  he  ceaseth  likewise  to 
be  their  God.  Thus  the  Spirit  of  God  by  Azariah  hath  resolved 
it  to  Asa  and  all  Judah  and  Benjamin  :  "  The  Lord  is  with  you, 
while  ye  be  with  him  ;  and  if  ye  seek  him,  he  will  be  found  of 
you :  But  if  ye  forsake  him,  he  will  forsake  you  :"  (2  Chron. 
XV,  2.)  "  Yea,  and  cast  you  off  for  ever," — as  David  addeth  to 
his  son  Solomon.  (1  Chron.  xxviii,  9-)  So  that  there  is  a  kind 
of  reciprocal  engagement  betwixt  God  and  man,  and  something 
is  to  be  performed  by  either  party  in  order  to  salvation.  Now 
it  so  happens   many  times,  that  all  which  is  promised    to  be 


84  THE    EXAMINATION 

done  on  God's  part,  is  effectually  done  in  regard  of  the  sttfflcicncij 
of  it, — and  yet  nothing  done  that  is  I'equired  to  be  done  on 
man's  part,  in  respect  to  the  event.  *  Hence  it  is,  that  some- 
times God  is  said  to  have  done  all,  viz.  all  his  part.  "  I  have 
purged  thee,  but  thou  wast  not  purged;"  (Ezek.  xxiv,  13.) 
and,  "for  my  purl,  what  could  have  been  done  more  ?"  (Tsai. 
V,  4.)  Sometimes  again,  he  is  said  to  have  done  nothing  :  "  To 
whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed.?,"  (Isai.  liii,!,)  that  is,  in 
respect  of  the  effect,  or  the  eve?it:  For  God  was  not  wanting  in  send- 
ing his  Prophets  to  make  the  revelation.  So,  (Deut.xxix,4,)  "  The 
Lord  hath  not  given  you  an  heart  to  perceive,  and  eyes  to  see, 
and  ears  to  hear,  unto  this  day."  Not  that  God  was  wanting  in 
affording  necessary  means  and  assistance  hereunto :  For  then 
Moses  should  rather  have  upbraided  God's  illiberality,  than 
the  people's  obstinac}'^ ;  v.hich  he  had  no  reason  to  do,  God 
having  wrought  so  many  signs  and  miracles  of  mercy  for  them, 
and  of  justice  upon  their  enemies,  as  many  times  gained  credit 
and  acknowledgment  among  the  Egyptians,  and  other  nations 
as  they  passed  along,  and  captivated  the  understanding,  and 
subdued  the  will  and  affections  of  Joshua  and  Caleb.  But  God 
is  said,  "  not  to  have  given  them  hearts,"  &c.,  in  regard  of  the 
event;  because,  though  he  had  administered  abundant  means 
to  that  purpose,  yet  through  their  wilful  ohduration  he  could  not 
prevail  so  far  with  them.  They  had  frustrated  the  effect,  as  it  is 
said  of  our  Saviour's  countrymen  in  respect  of  his  ministry  ;t 
and  therefore  Moses  must  not  be  thought  to  excuse  them,  by 
laying  their  blindness  and  stubbornness  at  God's  door, — but  to 
upbraid  them,  that  they  had  made  their  hearts  so  impenetrable 
hitherto  to  all  those  gracious  and  powerful  dispensations,  that 
by  them,  though  sufficient,  God  had  not  effected  such  an  ad- 
vertency as  might  'have  begotten  a  willingness  thoroughly  to 
confide  in  him  and  obey  in  him.  ^  This  was  the  end,  which 
God  seriously  intended  and- aimed  at. 

Indefectible. — This  is  inconsistent  with  that  of  the  Apostle, 
"  The  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance."  (Rom. 
xi,  29.) 

Dr.  DuBius. — Sir,  It  will  be  a  very  hard  matter,  to  draw  an 
argument  from  that  scripture  to  infer  your  conclusion.  "  The 
gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance,"  Ergo,   JVhat  ? 

*  Sec2Tim.ii,  i:i.  f  Matt,  xiii,  58.  +  Iliid.  verse  G. 


OF    TILENUS.  85 

"The  regenerate  cannot  fall  from  grace,  and  their  interest  in 
God's  favour  ?"  Which  is  a  plain  non  sequitur,  "  It  does  not 
follow."  For  of  whom  speaketh  the  Apostle  that  ?  Doth  he 
not  speak  it  of  the  Israelites?  And  yet  he  tells  you,  but  ten 
verses  before,  "  that  they  were  broken  off  for  their  unbelief."— 
All  that  can  be  concluded  from  those  words  will  amount  but  to 
this,  that  God  is  so  faithful  and  tenacious  of  his  promise,  (where- 
with he  had  gratified  their  fathers,)  that,  (as  it  is  in  verse  23,) 
"  if  they  abide  not  still  in  unbelief,"  he  is  no  less  willing  and 
ready  than  "  able  to  graft  them  into  the  covenant  again."  And 
upon  this  occasion,  my  brethren,  give  me  leave  to  acquaint  you 
with  a  few  more  of  my  doubts  and  scruples,  in  order  to  my 
better  satisfaction  and  settlement  in  these  points.  For  I  hope 
you  will  not  mistake  me,  as  if  I  were  perem.ptory  in  my  asser- 
tions; for  I  speak  only  tentative,  to  try  whether  I  can  draw  out 
of  you  any  better  arguments  or  answers  to  objections,  than  I  have 
hitherto  met  with  in  those  that  have  handled  these  controversies. 
I  tell  you  then,  that  the  text  last  quoted,  with  some  other  pas- 
sages in  the  Ninth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh  Chapters  of  that  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  have  begotten  a  great  doubt  in  me,  Whether  the 
Apostle  in  his  discourse  (chap,  ix,)  treateth  at  all  of  that  absolute 
and  peremptory  decree  of  reprobation,  whereby  men  are  irrevo- 
cably excluded  from  salvation  and  all  the  necessary  means  that  had 
to  it.     Let  me  give  you  the  reasons  of  my  doubting. 

Preterition. — lam  afraid  we  shall  not  have  time  now  to 
examine  them;  yet,  seeing  you  are  so  desirous,  let  us  have  them 
briefly, that  we  maybe  the  better  prepared  to  deliver  our  opinion 
about  them  at  our  next  meeting. 

Dr.  DuBius. — Then  take  them  thus.  I  suppose  it  will  be 
granted,  that  the  Apostle  in  those  chapters  applies  his  discourse 
more  especially  to  the  case  of  the  Jews,  yet  haply  so  as  to  con- 
clude all  others  in  their  example.  If  so,  then,  that  he  speaks 
not  of  their  absolute  and  peremptory  reprobation,  is  very  probable, 
rot  only  from  his  way  of  arguing,  but  also  from  his  passionate 
sorrow,  hearty  prayer,  and  earnest  exhortations  to  them. 

I.  Let  us  reflect  upon  the  Apostle's  sorrow,  and  his  option  upon 
it ;  "I  have  great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart. 
For  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ,  for  my 
brethrer,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh."(ix,  2,  3.) — What 
is  the  ground  of  this  heaviness  and  his  vote  upon  it }  If  it  were, 
"  that  God,  by  an  absolute  decree  of  reprobation  and  out  of  his 


86  THE    EXAMINATION 

sole  beneplaciture,  had  excluded  them  from  the  grace  aud  power 
of  believing  unto  righteousness  and  salvation,"  (as  some  interpret 
it,)  then,  where  was  the  piety  of  the  great  Apostle  exprest  in 
this  sorrow  ?  Where  was  his  prudence  in  this  option  ?  For  if 
such  were  the  decree  of  God,  and  the  Apostle  knew  it,  and  was 
about  to  demonstrate  it  to  be  such,  he  must  grant  it  to  be  most 
wise  and  most  just,  and  much  conducing  to  the  illustration  of 
God's  glory ;  and  then  it  were  impiety  in  any  man  to  repine  and 
grieve  at  it, — much  more  in  him,  who  was  therefore  called 
**  a  vessel  of  election,"  because  he  was  designed  and  called  so 
eminently  to  be  instrumental  to  the  glory  of  the  Divine  dispen- 
sations. And  if  he  knew  such  a  Divine  decree,  to  be  immutably 
fixed  to  all  eternity,  it  was  against  prudence  to  interpose  such  a 
wish  for  the  avoidance  of  it.  If  the  common  opinion  be  true, 
"  that,  in  respect  of  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  glory,  it  is 
better  and  more  eligible  to  be  miserable  than  not  to  be  at  all;" 
and  if  it  be  "  out  of  an  erroneous  and  inordinate  judgment, 
that  the  very  damned  in  hell- torments  judge  otherwise,"  as  some 
great  school-men  maintain,  then  certainly  we  must  set  an  ill 
character  upon  the  Apostle's  sorrow  and  option,  if  we  make  that 
l^to  be^  the  cause  and  ground  of  it  [[which  is^  alleged  in  this 
supposition.  And  it  will  not  excuse,  to  say,  "  This  vote  past 
the  Apostle  in  the  hurry  of  his  passions,"  or,  "  that  it  was  but 
a  siidden  sally  of  his  affections,  in  their  eager  pursuit  after  the 
salvation  of  his  nation :"  For  all  the  circumstances  of  the  dis- 
course, and  that  solemn  preface  wherewith  it  is  ushered  in,  do 
manifestly  argue  that  it  was  uttered  considerately  and  with  great 
deliberation.  "  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience 
also  bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  (ix,  1.)  And  it  is 
a  sufficient  indication  of  his  calm  and  composed  mind,  that  he 
did  commit  this  option  to  writing  and  transmit  it  in  an  Epistle  to 
the  Churches. 

2.  To  this  let  us  add  his  prayer,  "Brethren,  my  heart's  desire  and 
prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might  be  saved."  (x,  1.;  What 
Israel  he  means,  is  expressed  in  the  third  verse :  "They  who  being 
ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  went  about  to  establish  their 
own  righteousness,  and  did  not  submit  themselves  to  the  right- 
eousness of  God."  How  can  this  prayer  or  option  of  the  Apos- 
tle consist  with  his  knowledge  or  belief  of  their  absolute  and  per- 
emptory reprobation  ?  For  his  prayer,  according  to  that  opinion, 
must  be  after  this  manner :  "  Lord,  I  know  by  Divine  revelation, 


OF    TILENUS.  87 

"  (and  am  now  declaring  it  in  an  epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  so 
"  to  all  the  world,)  that  it  is  thine  absolute  will  and  good  plea- 
"  sure,  utterly  and  irrevocably  to  abandon  this  people  under  an 
*'  immutable  decree  of  reprobation:  yet  I  do  most  heartily  desire 
"  and  beseech  thee,  to  grant  that  they  may  be  saved."  Such  a 
prayer  had  been  directly  against  his  faith,  and  therefore  [[had 
been^  sin,  (Rom.  xiv,  23.)  and  against  the  very  rule*  of  prayer, 
and  obedience  in  that  kind,  and  so  sin  too.  Sure  the  Apostle, 
after  his  conversion,  was  not  wont  thus  to  break  his  faith,  and 
cross  the  counsel  of  his  Maker. 

3.  To  this  we  may  add  all  other  his  endeavours  and  stratagems, 
to  gain  them  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  consequently  to  salvation, 
of  which  we  read  in  Rom.  xi,  14,  and  elsewhere.  All  which  had 
been  as  ridiculous  as  the  encounters  of  the  Knight-errant  in  Don 
Quixote,  if  the  Apostle  had  believed  these  men  to  be  absolutely 
excluded  from  all  possibility  of  salvation,  by  such  a  decree  as  some 
fancy  to  be  treated  of  in  that  Ninth  Chapter. 

4.  I  conceive  my  doubt  more  reasonable,  when  I  consider  the 
Apostle's  way  of  ai'guing,  in  Rom.  xi,  1.  For,  to  intimate  (at 
least  according  to  my  apprehension)  that  the  ground  of  his  sor- 
row was  not  their  absolute,  irrespective  and  irrevocable  reprobation^ 
but  the  danger  of  their  rejection  J'ro7n  the  covenant  and  divine  grace, 
wherein  they  had  hitherto  stood,  as  God's  pecvdiar  adopted  peo- 
ple, (J.)  He  makes  their  own  wilful  iinheliefxhe  cause  and  ground 
of  this  their  rejection  and  misery :  "  Because  of  unbelief 
they  were  broken  off;"  (Rom.  xi,  20.)  which  cannot  be  said  of 
the  decree  of  Reprobation.  For  the  maintainers  of  that 
decree  do  not  make  unbelief  the  cause  of  reprobation,  but  rather 
repi'obation  the  cause  of  unbelief. — (2.)  He  saith,  there  is  a  pos- 
sibility and  hope  of  their  restitution.  This  is  intimated  in  Romans 
xi,  1 1  and  29,  and  expressed  in  verse  23  :  "  If  they  abide  not 
still  in  unbelief,  they  shall  be  grafted  in ;  for  God  is  able  to  graft 
them  in  again."  And  this  cannot  be  said  with  respect  to  the 
decree  of  Reprobation  :  For,  "  the  decree  of  God  is  God  him- 
self," as  Maccovius  and  others  do  affirm ;  and  so  did  Gomarus,* 
till,  being  impugned  by  Arminius,  he  changed  his  opinion  in  this 
particular.  And  "  God  cannot  deny  himself."  (2.  Tim.  ii,  J  3.) 
Besides,  the  men  of  that  opinion  lay  the  foundation  of  all  mercy 
and  judgment  to  come,  in  those  their  absolute  decrees  of  election 

*  "  Thy  will  be  djne."  f  Vide  Gomar.  Tom.  3,  Disp.  9,  Thes.  28, 

&c. — See  them  ia  the  Preface  to  this  Examination  of  Tilenus,  page  20, 


88  THE    EXAMINATION 

and  reprobation  ;  and  make  Christ  but  a  part  of  the  superxlrtiction 
cr  the  Executor  of  those  decrees  ;  whereas  this  Apostle  saith, 
"  Other  FOUNDATION  can  no  man  lay,  than  that  is  laid,  which  is 
Jesus  Christ."  (1  Cor.  iii,  11.)  And  we  may  observe,  that,  con- 
sonantly hereunto,  he  shutteth  up  that  his  discourse :  "  What 
shall  we  say  then  ?"  (Rom.  ix,  30.)  Or,  What  is  the  sum  of  all  that 
hath  been  spoken  ?  Namely  this :  "  That  the  Gentiles,  which 
followed  not  after  righteousness,  have  attained  to  righteousness, 
even  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith,  ^ut  Israel,  which  fol- 
lowed after  the  law  of  righteousness,  hath  not  attained  to  the 
law  of  righteousness.  W^herefore  ?"  Not  because  they  were 
excluded  by  aii  absolute  and  irresistible  decree,  as  the  Apostle 
should  have  said  if  he  had  argued  regularly  according  to  that 
opinion  ;  but  "because  they  sought  it  not  by  faith,"  as  they 
were  taught,  enabled  and  obliged  to  do,  "  but,  as  it  were,  by  the 
works  of  the  law  :  for  they,"  quitting  the  only  foundation, 
"  stumbled  at  the  stumbling-stone ;  as  it  is  written.  Behold  I  set 
up  in  Zion"  the  deliverer  of  Jacob,  v;hom  they  shall  take  occasion 
to  make  "  a  stumbling-stone,  and,"  through  their  wilful  infide- 
lity and  perverseness,  he  shall  become  to  them  "a  rock  of  offence : 
but  whosoever  buildeth  upon  him,"  by  a  lively  faith  and  a  holy 
obedience,  "  shall  not  be  confounded."  (Verses  31,  32,  33.)  For 
"  as  he  hath  tasted  death  for  every  man,"  t  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  even  for  them  that  perish ;  and  bought,  with  the 
price  of  his  heart's-blood,  them  that  deny  him,  as  St.  Peter  saith, 
so  the  Father  "  would  not  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all 
should  come  to  repentance  and  be  saved."  (2  Pet.  iii,  9-  1  Tim. 
ii,  4.)  And  to  that  end  "  He  now  commandeth  all  men  every 
where  to  repent,"  (Acts  xvii,  30.)  and  to  "kiss  the  Son,"  (Psalm 
ii,  12.)  and  submit  to  his  sceptre,  who  is  "  the  propitiation  for 
their  sins,  and  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  (1  John  ii,  2.) 
having  made  our  atonement  and  our  peace,  (Col.  i,  20.)  and 
"  purchased  grace  and  eternal  redemption  for  us  ;t  sufficient 
abilities  and  glorious  privileges,  whereby  we  might  be  enabled 
and  encouraged  to  serve  him  "  acceptably,  with  reverence  and 
godly  fear,  who  is  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them  that 
obey  him."  (Heb.  v,  9)  These  are  all  express  parts  of  the  Divine 
Revelation,  and  therefore  part  of  the  object  of  our  faith,  and 

t  Hcb.  ii,  9.    1  Cor.  viii,  11.   2  Pet.  ii,  1. 
t   Rom.  V,  11.  John  i,  16".  Heb.  ix,  12.  2  Pet.  i,  3,  1.  Heb.  xii,  28. 


OF    TILENUS.  89 

therefore  infallible  assei'tions  of  Sacred  Truth.  What  slender 
distinctions  are  invented  and  what  texts  of  Scripture  wrested,  to 
elude  some  of  them,  I  shall  take  my  opportunity  to  represent, 
when  you  will  vouchsafe  to  give  me  a  friendly  meeting,  to  debate 
these  and  other  emergent  doubts  touching  these  great  points  of 
controversy.  In  the  mean  time,  I  could  wish  you  would  not 
exclude,  from  the  exercise  of  their  ministry,  men  legally  ordained 
thereunto,  if  they  be  otherwise  well-qualified,  though  they  differ 
somewhat  from  you  in  these  matters.  But  I  am  single,  and 
must  submit  my  vote  to  the  suffrages  of  my  brethren. 

Chairman, — Brother  Doctor,  we  may  think  upon  your  advice 
and  doubts  hereafter ;  but,  for  the  present,  we  must  agree  as  one 
man  to  carry  on  the  great  work  of  Reformation  [^which^  we  have 
in  hand ;  and  therefore,  gentlemen,  what  say  you  to  Mr.  Tilenus  ? 
Do  you  approve  of  him  as  a  man  well-gifted  and  fitly-qualified 
for  the  Ministry  ? 

Fatalitv.         "^ 

Preterition.     V  No  !    By  no  means  !  We  do  not  like 

Indefectible.  £  his  principles. 

and  the  rest.      i 

CALL  HIM  IN. 

Chairman. — Sir,  The  Commissioners  are  not  satisfied  in  your 
Certificate.  You  may  be  a  godly  man, — we  do  not  deny  ;  but 
we  have  not  such  assurance  of  it  as  we  can  build  upon ;  and, 
therefore,  we  cannot  approve  of  you  for  the  Ministry.  And,  that 
you  may  be  at  no  more  expence  of  purse  or  time  in  your  attend- 
ance, we  wish  you  to  return  home,  and  think  upon  some  other 
employment. 

Tilenus. — Sir,  I  could  wish  I  might  be  acquainted  with  the 
reason  of  this  my  reprobation,  unless  the  Decree  that  governs  your 
votes,  or  proceeds  from  them,  be  irrespective.  I  think  I  am  not 
so  ill-beloved  amongst  the  most  learned  of  the  Godly  Clergy, 
(though  differing  a  little  in  judgment  from  me,)  but  I  can  procure 
a  full  Certificate  from  the  chiefest  and  most  moderate  of  them. 

Chairman. — That  is  not  all  the  matter  we  have  against  you. 

What  have  we  to  do  with  moderate  men  }     We  see  your  temper 

and  want  of  modesty  in  that  expression,  and  therefore  you  may 

be  gone. 

G 


90  TUB    EXAMINATION    OF    TILENUS. 

TiLENUs. — Then,  jrentlemen,  I  shall  take  my  leave,  and  com- 
mend you  to  more  sober  counsels  and  resolutions. 

END    OF    THE     EXAMINATION    OF    TILENUS. 


The  leaders  of  this  people  \^Heb.  they  that  call  them  blessed^ 
came  f hem  to  err.  (Isa.  ix,  16'.) 

Therefore  behold,  I  am  against  the  Prophets,  saitk  the  Lord,  that 
steal  mi/  TV  or  d  ever  1/  one  from  his  neighbour.  (Jer.  xxiii,  SO.) 

Ye  take  away  the  key  of  knowledge.  (Luke  i,  52.) 

Behold  I  am  against  them  that  prophesy  false  dreams,  suilh  the 
Lord,  and  do  tell  them,  afid  cause  my  people  to  err  by  their  lies  and 
their  lightness.  (Jer.  xxiii,  32.) 

Thus  have  ye  made  the  word  of  God  of  none  effect  by  your  tradi- 
tion. (Mat.  XV,  6.  &  Mark  vii,  13.) 

The  diseased  have  ye  not  strengthened,  neither  have  ye  healed  that 
rvhich  was  sick,  iieiiher  have  ye  bound  zip  that  tvhich  was  broken, 
neither  have  ye  brought  again  (hat  which  was  driven  away,  neither 
have  ye  sotight  thai  which  was  lost,  but  with  force  and  with  crttelly 
have  ye  ruled  them.  And  they  were  scattered,  because  there  is  no 
shepherd.  (Ezek.  xxxiv,  4,  5.) 

If  any  man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to  wholesome  words, 
even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doctrine  which  is 

according   to  godliness, fro7n  svcJi  withdraw  thyself :  For  if 

the  blind  lead  the  blind,  they  shall  both  fall  into  the  ditch.  But  they 
shall  proceed  no  further  ;  for  their  folly  shall  be  manifest  unto  all 
men.  (1  Tim.  vi,  3—5.  Matt,  xv,  14.  2  Tim.  iii,  9.) 


THE 

FIVE   ARTICLES 

CONTROVERTED  BETWIXT 
THE 

REMONSTRANTS  AND  CONTRA-REMONSTRANTS, 

COMMONLY    CALLED 

ARMINIANS  AND   CALVINISTS. 

TO  THE  READER. 

When  those  points  of  doctrine  maintained  by  Melanc- 
thon  and  other  moderate  Lutherans,  came  to  be  managed  by 
the  acute  wit,  solid  judgment  and  great  learning  of  James 
Heumine,  Public   Reader   in    the   University  of  Leyden, 
they  appeared  to  the  unprejudiced  examiners  so  much  more 
consonant  as  well  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures  and  right  reason 
as  to  primitive  Antiquity^  and  so   much  more  agreeable  to 
the  Mercy,  Justice  and  Wisdom  of  ALMIGHTY  GOD, 
and  so  much  more  conducing  unto  Piety,  than  the  tenets 
of  the  rigid   Calvinists,  that  they  quickly  found  a  cheerful 
reception  and  great   multitudes  of  followers   in  the  Belgic 
Churches.     Hereupon  their  adversaries,  (having  so  passion- 
ately espoused   the   contrary  opinions,  and   being  so  vehe- 
mently carried  on  with  a  prejudice  against  these,)  that  they 
might  the  more  effectually  decry  and  suppress   the  propug- 
nators  of  them,  caused  some  of  their  confidants  to  represent 


92  THE    TENETS    OF 

them  and  their  doctrine  under  such  odious  characters  as 
were  indeed  proper  to  their  own  opinions.  It  was  given  out 
that,  among  their  heresies,  they  held :  First,  "  that  God 
was  the  author  of  sin,"  and  Secondly,  "  that  He  created 
the  far  greatest  part  of  mankind,  only  of  purpose  to  glorify 
himself  in  their  damnation,"" — with  several  others  of  like 
nature ;  which  indeed  are  not  only  the  consequence  and 
results  of  Calvin's  doctrine,  but  positively  maintained  and 
propagated  by  some  of  his  followers. 

That  thy  credulity,  good  Reader,  may  not  be  abused 
and  betrayed  by  such  practices,  the  following  papers  are 
hereunto  annexed,  to  give  thee,  in  a  short  view,  a  true 
account  of  the  difference  that  is  betwixt  the  disagreeing 
parties,  with  the  grounds  thereof. 

Farewell  ! 


THE    RKMONSTRANTS.  93 


THE  FIRST  ARTICLE 

TOUCHING 

PREDESTINATION 

WHAT     THE    REMONSTRANTS    HOLD. 

Tliat  God  to  ifie  glory  and  praise  of  his  abundant  good- 
ness, having  decreed  to  make  man  after  his  own  image.,  and  to 
give  him  an  easy  and  most  equal  law,  and  add  thereunto  a 
threatening  of  death  to  the  transgressors  thereof,  and  fore- 
seeing that  Adam  laould  xvilfully  transgress  the  same,  and 
tlierehy  make  himself  and  his  posterity  liable  to  condemnation  ; 
though  God  zaas,  notxoithstanding,  mercifully  affected  totcards 
man,  yet,  out  of  respect  to  his  justice  and  truth,  [Ae]  would 
not  give  way  to  his  mercy  to  save  man,  till  his  justice  should 
he  satisfied,  and  his  serious  hatred  of  sin  and  love  of  righte- 
ousness [should^  be  made  known.* 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  God  decreed  to  make  vian  after  his  own  Image.'"}  So  God 
created  man  after  his  own  image.  Gen.  i,  26,  27.  See  Col.  iii, 
1 0 ;  Eph.  iv,  24. 

*  These  Articles  are  not  exactly  thesame  as  those  which  were  exhibited  by 
the  Remonstrants  at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  and  which  are  found  in  the  Synodical 
Acts:  But  whatever  may  be  their  formal  ditference,  in  substance  they  are 
not  dissimilar.  In  transposing  some  of  them,  and  in  separating  the  affirm- 
ative from  the  negative  propositions,  Bishop  Womack  ap|-*ars  to  ha\e 
intended  the  introduction  of  a  more  logical  method,  or  a  more  perspicuous 
arrangement,  than  is  to  be  seen  in  the  original  Articles.  Indeed,  ihe  Re  - 
monstrants  had  particular  reasons  for  intermingling  their  own  sentimen  s 
with  those  of  their  adversaries  :  They  wished  to  present  the  tenets  of  ea'  U 
system  in  close  contrast,  being  confident,  that,  when  viewed  thus  in  oppos - 
tion,  the  common  sense  of  mankind  would  soon  decide  to  which  (■•  de  I'f 
doctrines  the  preference  must  be  given.  They  accordingly  prepared  \\v;  r 
First  Article  in  such  a  form,  as  to  make  one  half  of  its  Ten  Tenets  to  cons  st 

G  3 


94  THK    TENETS    OF  [aHT. 

"  And  to  give  him  an  easy  law,"  c^c.]]  Of  the  tree  of  know- 
ledge of  good  and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat.  Gen,  ii,  l6,  17.  See 
Rom.  ii,  14',  15;  Levit.  xviii,  5;  Ezek.  xx,  11;  Rom.  x,  5; 
Gal.  iii,  12. 

"Added  thereto  a  threatening  of  death."]  In  the  day  that  thou 
eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die.  Gen.  ii,  17, 

"  Foreseeing  that  Ada^n  would  wilfully  transgress  the  same.'"^ 
And  who,  as  I,  shall  call  and  shall  declare  it, — and  the  things 
that  are  coming  and  shall  come  ?  Isa.  xliv,  7.  See  Isa.  xli,  22, 
23, — Known  unto  God  are  all  his  works  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world.  Acts  xv,  18. 

"  And  all  mans  works  too.'"^  Thou  understandest  my  thoughts 
afar  off.  Psalm  cxxxix,  2.  Gen,  iii,  6 ;  2  Cor.  xi,  2 ;  1  Tim.  ii, 
13, 14;    Eccles.  vii,  29  ;   Isa.  xlv,  21. 

"  A?id  thereby  make  himself  afid  his  posterity  liable  to  condemna- 
tion." 1  All  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God. 
Rom.  iii,  23, — By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death 
by  sin.  v,  12,  18,  I9, — The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  vi,  23,  Acts 
xvii,  26;  Heb,  vii,  10;  Jobxiv,  l,  &c, ;  2  Cor,  v,  14,  xi,  3; 
Rev,  ii,  7;  Gen.  iii,  24;  Deut.  xxvii,  26;  Gal.  iii,  10;  James 
ii,  10. 

"  God  was  mercifully  affected  towards  man'"^  The  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious.  Exod.  xxxiv,  6.— He  loved  us  first.  1  John 
iv,  19;  see  verse  11. — Thou  art  a  God  gracious  and  merciful, 
slow  to  anger.  Jonah  iv,  2  ;  2  Chron.  xxx,  9. — For  thou.  Lord, 
art  good  and  ready  to  forgive — a  God  full  of  compassion  and 
gracious.  Psalm  Ixxxvi,  5,  15. — The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger.  As 
a  father  pitieth  his  children.  Psalm  ciii,  8,  13. — His  tender  mer- 
cies are  over  all  his  works.  Psalm  cxi,  4,  and  cxlv,  8,  9- — The 
riches  of  his  goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long-suffering.  Rom. 
ii,  4. — Be  ye  merciful,  as  your  Father  is  merciful.  Luke  vi,  36. 
Isa.  Iv,  7: "  Jer.  xxxi,  20;  Joel  ii,  13  ;  Numb,  xiv,  18,  19;  Neh. 
ix,  17;   Deut.  v,  9,  10;  Jer.  xxxii,  18. 

"  Out  of  respect  to  his  justice  he  would  not  give  ivay"  &c.)]  He 
will  by  no  means  clear   the   guilty.    Exod.  xxxiv,  '^. — For  thou 

both  of  an  affirmatiGti  and  a  neo:ation,  and  the  remainder  to  contain  entire 
negations.  For  this  mode  of  stating  their  opinions,  it  will  be  seen  by  a 
subsequent  note,  they  received  a  reprimand  i'rom  the  reverend  Fathers  in 
Synod  assembled,  who  regarded  Absolute  Reprobation  as  one  of  those 
sacred  things  which  might  woX  be  touched  by  hands  profane.  In  the  Four 
Articles  which  the  Remonstrants  afterwards  presented,  they  did  not  insert 
such  a  number  of  negatives,  and  there  is  consequently  less  variation  between 
them  and  the  Articles  here  inserted.  The  IJishop's  model  has  been  the 
regular  scholastic  arrangement  of  Tenkts  and  Rejections,  which  was 
adopted  by  the  British  Divines  and  others  of  "  the  Colleges,"  as  they  were 
termed,  at  the  Synod  of  Dort. 

The  title  which  the  Remonstrants  prefixed  to  their  Articles  was  the  follow- 
ing: "  These  are  the  sentiments  of  the  Remonstrants  concerning  the  First 
Article  on  Predestination,  which  in  their  conscience  they  have  hitherto 
thought,  and  still  do  think,  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God." — Editor. 


PIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  J>5 

art  not  a  God  that  hath  pleasure  in  wickedness,  neither  shall  evil 
dwell  with  thee.  Psalm  v,  4. — But  your  iniquities  have  sepa- 
rated. Sec.   Isa.  lix,  2. 

"  And  to  his  truth."']  Thou  shalt  die  the  death;  and  He  is  a 
God  that  cannot  lie,  nor  repent,  nor  deny  himself,  Gen.  ii,  I7. 
Tit.  i,  2  ;  Heb.  vi,  18 ;  Num.  xxiii,  19;  2  Tim.  ii,  13. 

"  Till  Justice  be  satisfied."  ]  The  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the 
iniquity  of  us  all ;  and  made  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin.  He  was 
Avounded  for  our  transgressions.  Isa.  liii,  5,  6,  10. — Thus  it 
behoved  Christ  to  suffer  ;  Luke  xxiv,  26,  4-6.-the  just  for  the 
unjust:  1  Pet.  iii,  18.-togive  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  Matt. 
XX,  28  ;  1  Tim.  ii,  6. — I  restored  that  which  I  took  not  away. 
Psalm  Ixix,  4.  Phil,  ii,  7,  8;  Matt,  iii,  15,  v,  17;  Gen.  iii,  15  ; 
Mark  x,  45  ;    1  »Tohn  iii,  8  ;  Luke  ii,  14. 

"  And  till  his  hatred  of  sin  be  made  A*«o//'??,"4'C.^  Thou  art  not 
a  God  that  hath  pleasure  in  wickedness ;  thou  hatest  the  workers 
of  iniquity ;  thou  abhorrest  the  bloody  and  deceitful  man,  &c. 
Psalm  V,  4 — 6'. — Thou  hatest  iniquity.  Psalm  xlv,  7- — The  fro- 
ward  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord.  Prov.  xi,  20. — Your  ini- 
quities have  separated  between  you  and  your  God,  and  your  sins 
have  hid  his  lace  from  you.  Isa.  lix,  2.  Psalm  vii,  11,  12; 
Isa.  Ixv,  12. 

"And  his  love  of  righteousness."  ]  Thou  lovest  righteousness. 
Psalm  xlv,  7. — Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  to 
declare  his  righteousness  ;  that  he  might  be  just,  &c.  He  is  the 
avenger  of  unrighteousness.   Rom.  iii,  24 — 26. 

And,  therefore, 

TENET  I. 

For  the  satisfying  of  Jus  justice,  he  did  ordain  the  Media- 
tor Jesus  Christ,  who  shoidd  he  made  a  sacrifice  for  shxful 
men,  suffer  death  for  them,  and  \sliould^  by  his  blood,  shedjor 
their  reconciliation,  obtain  light  of  saving  them  upon  terms 
befitting  mercy  and  justice. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Christ  ordained  the  Mediator."'2  To  us  a  Son  is  given.  Isa. 
ix,  6. — So  God  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten 
Son.  John  iii,  I6. — In  this  was  manifested  the  love  of  God 
towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only-begotten  Son  into  the 
world,  that  we  might  live  through  him.  Herein  is  love,  not  that 
we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins.  1  John  iv,  9>  10. — But  God  commcnd- 
eth  his  love  towards  us,   in  that,   wliile  we  were  yet   sinners. 


90  THE    TENETS    OF  [ART. 

Christ  died  for  us.  Rom.  v,  8,  &c. — For  there  is  one  God,  and  one 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who 
gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.  1  Tim,  ii,  5,  6.  See  Heb.  xii,  2, 
24,  25. 

"  Made  a  sacrifice,  and  suffered  death  for  sinful  men."'2  He 
became  obedient  unto  death.  Philip,  ii,  8.' — I  lay  down  my  life 
for  my  sheep.  John  x,  11,  15 — 18  :  see  John  xv,  13. — He  tasted 
death  for  every  man.  Heb,  ii,  9- — Christ  died  for  our  sins.  1  Cor. 
XV,  3. — He  died  unto  sin  once.  Rom.  iv,  25,  vi,  10. — Who  his 
own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  1  Peter  ii, 
24. — Christ  ourpassover  is  sacrificed  for  us.  1  Cor.  v,  7. — When 
thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin.  Isa.  liii,  10. — Who 
loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us,  an  offering  and  sacrifice  of  a 
sweet-smelling  savour.  Ephes.  ii,  2. — He  is  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins.  1  John  ii.  1,  2. — Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation through  faith  in  his  blood.  Rom.  iii,  25;  see  Heb.  v,  i, 
&c. ;  viii,  3,  &c. ;  ix,  11— -14,  22,  26—28  ;  x,  5,  10,  12,  14.— He 
is  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  takethaway  the  sin  of  the  world,  John 
i,  29, — He  gave  his  life  a  ransom,  Mark  x,  45  ;-and  purged  our 
sins.  Heb,  i,  3. — He  was  made  sin  for  us,  2  Cor,  v,  2 1  ;-and 
made  a  curse  ;  Gal.  iii,  13. — to  redeem  us  that  were  under  the 
Law  ;  and  delivered  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law.  Gal,  iii,  1 3 ; 
from  the  power  of  darkness,  Col.  i,  13  ;  from  the  fear  of  death, 
Heb.  ii,  14;  Hos,  xiii,  14;  1  Cor.  xv,  55:  and  from  the  wrath 
to  come;  1  Thes.  i,  10;  Rom,  v,  9  ;  and  obtained  eternal  redemp- 
tion for  us.   Heb,  ix,  12  ;    Luke  i,  68 ;  2  Tim,  1,  10. 

"  Bi/  his  blood  shed  for  their  reconciliation."  ]  This  is  my  blood 
of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission 
of  sins.  Matt,  xxvi,  28. — He  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
blood.  Rev.  i,  5  ;  see  Rev.  v,  6,  12  ;  1  John  i,  7  ;  1  Pet,  i,  18 — 
20, — God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself.  2  Cor. 
V,  18,  &c. — When  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to 
God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  Rom.  v,  10. — Having  made 
peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross.  Col.  i,  20 — 22  :  ii,  12 — 14. 
through   him  we  have  access  unto  the  Father.    Ephes.  ii,  13,  18. 

"  Should  obtain  right  of  saving  ihem.'"^  He  shall  see  his  seed 
and  justify  many.  Isa.  liii,  10.  11. — Ye  are  bought  with  a  price. 
1  Cor.  vi,  20. — Which  he  (God)  hath  purchased  with  his  own 
blood.  Acts  XX,  28  ;  1  Peter  ii,  9  ;  2  Peter  ii,  1. — All  are  deliv- 
ered unto  me  of  my  Father.  Matt,  xi,  27;  xxviii,  18. — The 
Father  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son  John  iii,  35  ; 
V,  22  ;  xvii,  2. — The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  save  that 
which  was  lost.  Matt,  xviii,  1 1  ;  Luke  xix,  10  ;  see  Heb.  ii,  14, 
^17. — In  whom  we  hare  redemption.  Col,  i,  14;  Ephes,  i,  7>  8; 
1  Cor.  i,  30;    1  Pet.  i,  2,  3 ;   Rev.  iii,  14, 

"  Upon  terms  befitting  mercy  and  justice."  \  For  this  purpose 
the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works 
of  the  Devil,    1  John  iii,  8, — For  he  shall  save  his  people  from 


FIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  97 

their  sins.  Matt,  i,  21  ;  see  Rom.  vi,  1,2;  Ephes,  i,  4,  6. — I  am 
come  to  call  sinners  to  repentance.  Matt,  ix,  13. — That  he  might 
redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  from  our  vain  conversation; 
Tit.  ii,  11 — 14;  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zea- 
lous of  good  works.  1  Peter  i,  18. — He  hath  redeemed  us  unto 
God,  that  we  might  become  servants  to  God,  Rev.  v,  9;  see  1 
Peter  iv,  1,  2  ;  might  have  our  fruit  unto  holiness,  Rom.  vi,  22  ; 
and  live  unto  righteousness ;  1  Peter  ii,  24  ;  that  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  Law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us;  Rom.viii,  3,  x,  4;  that 
the  Lord  God  might  dwell  amongst  us,  Psalm  Ixviii,  18  ;  and 
that  we  might  live  to  him,  2  Cor.  v,  14, 15  ;  Rom.  xiv,  9  ;  Heb. 
V,  9  ;  and  set  forth  his  pi'aise  and  glory.  1  Pet.  ii,  9 ;  1  Cor.  vi, 
30. — Therefore,  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature. 
2  Cor.  v,  17. 

TENET  II. 

Upon  ihe  consideration  of  his  blood,  as  shed,  he  decreed  that 
all  those  who  should  believe  in  that  Redeemer,  and  persevere  in 
that  faith,  shoidd,  through  mercy  and  grace,  by  him  be  made 
partalcers  of  salvation  ;  but  such  as  would  not  believe  in  him, 
but  die  in  injidelity,  shoidd  therefore  be  pimished  with  eternal 
death ;  repr'obation  being  decreed  upon  precedent  infidelity 
and  dying  tlierein. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Upon  the  consideration  of  his  blood  as  shed.'"^  The  Lamb 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Rev.  xiii,  8. — Behold  my 
servant  whom  I  uphold,  mine  elect  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth. 
Isa.  xlii,  1 ;  see  1  Peter  i,  20. — Thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in 
whom  I  will  be  glorified.  Isa.  xlix,  3. — According  to  his  own 
purpose  and  grace  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the 
world  began.    2  Tim.  i,  9. 

*'  Who  should  believe  in  that  Redeemer.'"^  That  whosoever  belie- 
veth  in  him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life:  He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life.  John  iii,  14 — 16',  3(). — 
And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one  which 
seeth  the  Son  and  believeth  on  him,  may  have  everlasting  life. 
John  vi,  40;  see  verses  47,  54,  58. — I  live  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God.  Gal,  ii,  20. — Whosoever  believeth  on  him  shall  not 
be  confounded.  1  Peter  ii,  6,  7  ;  see  Rom.  ix,  30,  33. — He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved.  Markxvi,  l6. — Who  are 
keptbythepower  of  God  throughfaithunto  salvation.  I  Peteri,2,5. 
Now  the  just  shall  live  by  faith.  Heb.  x,  38. — Thou  standest  by 
faith.  Rom.  xi,  20. — Therefore  it  is  of  faith,  that  it  might  be  by 
grace,  &c.  Rom.  iv,   l6, — The    Saviour   of  them   that   believe. 


98  THK    TENETS    OF  [aKT. 

iTim.  iv,  10. — Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  hearethmy 
word  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life, 
and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation ;  but  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life.  John  v,  24. — These  things  have  T  written  unto  you 
that  believe,  that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have  eternal  life.  1  John 
iv,  1 3. — We  believe  that  through  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  we  shall  be  saved.  Actsxv,  11. 

"  A?id  persevere  in  thai  faith,  should  he  made  partakers  of  salva- 
tion, <5'C.]]  To  them  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing, 
&c.  Rom.  ii,  7- — But  he  that  shall  endure  unto  the  end,  the  same 
shall  be  saved.  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord,  when  he 
Cometh,  shall  find  so  doing.  Matt,  xxiv,  15,  46;  1  Tim.  ii,  15. — 
He  that  abideth  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  hath  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  2  John  9- — If  that  which  ye  have  heard  from  the  be- 
ginning shall  remain  in  you.  1  John  ii,  24. — If  ye  continue  in 
his  goodness.  Rom.  xi,  22. — If  ye  continue  in  the  faith,  rooted 
and  built  up.  Col.  1,  23  ;  ii,  5 — 8. — If  ye  hold  fast  stedfastly 
unto  the  end.  Heb.  iii,  6,  12,  14. — If  ye  mortify  the  deeds  of 
the  body.  Rom.  viii,  13. — Cast  not  away  your  confidence.  Heb. 
X,  35.  to  the  end. — Hold  fast  till  I  come,  that  no  man  take  thy 
crown.  Rev.  ii,  25  ;  iii,  11. — Receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in 
vain.  2  Cor.  vi,  1. — Beware  lest,  being  led  away  with  the  error 
of  the  wicked,  ye  fall  from  your  own  stedfastness.  But  grow  in 
grace.  2  Pet.  iii  17,  18 — Workout  your  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling.  Phil,  ii,  12. — If  a  man  strive  for  masteries,  yet  is 
he  not  crowned  except  he  strive  lawfully.  If  we  deny  him,  he 
also  will  deny  us.  2  Tim.  ii,  5,  12. — To  him  that  overcometh 
vail  I  give  of  the  hidden  manna  and  grant  to  sit  with  me  on  my 
throne,  and  make  him  a  pillar,  and  he  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the 
second  death.  Rev.  ii,  11,  17,  26;  iii,  12,  21. — Be  thou  faithful 
unto  the  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life.  Rev.  ii,  10. — 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finiehed  my  course,  I  have 
kept  the  faith  ;  henceforth  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righte- 
ousness. 2  Tim.  iv,  7.  8;    see  Job  xxvii,  3 — 6;    Luke  viii,  \5. 

"  Such  as  would  not  believe,  but  die  in  injidelilii,  should  therefore 
he  punished  with  eternal  death.'"^  He  that  believeth  not,  sh.all  be 
damned.  Mark  xvi,  l6. — He  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
already,  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him.  John  iii,  1 8,  36. — 
Whosoever  transgresseth  and  abideth  not  in  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  hath  not  God.  2  John  v,  9 :  see  Isa.  xxvii,  11. — Because 
of  unbelief  they  were  broken  off.  Rom.  xi,  20. — For  the  wages 
of  sin  is  death,  Rom.  vi,  23. — The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 
hell.  Psalm  ix,  17. — Upon  the  ungodly  he  shall  rain  snares,  &c. 
Psalm  xi,  6. — But  the  fearful  and  unbelieving  and  abominable 
&c.,  shall  have  their  portion  in  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire 
and  brimstone.  Rev.  xxi,  8  ;  xxii,  15. — Because  of  these  things 
Cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  children  of  disobedience. 
Ephes.  V,  5,  G. — Be  not  deceived, — the  unrighteous  shall  ijot  in- 


FIRST.]  THE    REUONSTR.ANTS.  99 

herit  the  kingdom  of  God.  1  Cor.  vi,  9,  10;  see  Gal.  v,  19 — 21. 
Except  ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish.  Luke  xiii,  3,  5. — 
This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and 
men  love  darkness  rather  than  light.  John  iii,  19. — The  Lord 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  of 
them  that  know  not  God  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  2  Thess.  i,  7,  8  ;  see  Matt,  xiii,  41,  42,  49,  50  ; 
XXV,  41,  42. — Wherefore  if  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out. 
Mark  ix,  43 — 49-  See  Heb.  xi,  6,  xii,  14  ;  Rev.  xxi,  27  ;  Ezek. 
xviii,  26;  Matt,  iii,  10,  12,  v,  20. 

TENET  III. 

And  because  shifulman  could  not  possibly  of  himself ^  by  his 
natural  ability,  believe  in  this  Redeemer,  and  persevere  in  such 
faith,  he  decreed  to  affo7'd  man  means  sufficient  and  necessary y 
(as  he  saw  befitting  his  own  wisdom  and  Justice,)  for  the 
worTiing  of  faith  and  repentance,  whereby  man  might  be 
enabled  to  believe,  or  more  and  more  prepared  and  in  certain 
steps  or  degrees  brought  on  at  length  to  true  faith. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Sinful  man  coidd  not  of  himself,"  ^'c.'2  Which  of  you  by  tak- 
ing thought  can  add  one  cubit  unto  his  stature  ?  Matt,  vi,  27. — 
If  I  speak  of  strength,  lo !  he  is  strong.  Job  ix,  ]  9,  20. — Thou 
hast  destroyed  thyself,  but  in  me  is  thy  help.  Hos.  xiii,  9. — 
I,even  I,  am  the  Lord,  and  beside  me  there  is  no  Saviour.  Isa.  xliii, 
1  ;  xlv,  21. — Trust  in  the  Lord  with  all  thy  heart;  and  lean  not 
to  thine  own  understanding.  Prov.  iii,  5. — Woe  unto  them  that 
are  wise  in  their  own  eyes,  but  look  not  unto  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,  neither  seek  the  Lord!    Isa.  v,  21  ;  xxxi,  1. 

"  Could  not  believe  by  his  natjiral  abilihj,"  S)'C.'2  VVithout  strength. 
Rom.  V,  6;  viii,  3:  see  2  Cor.  iv,  6. — Not  that  we  are  sufficient 
of  ourselves.  2  Cor.  iii,  5.  See  Rom.  xi,  32  ;  Gal.  iii,  22;  John 
iii,  3,  5. — Make  the  tree  good,  and  (then)  the  fruit  good.  Matt, 
xii,  33,  35. — God  giveth  the  increase.  1  Cor.  iii,  4. — Unto  you  ic 
is  given.  Phil,  i,  29. — Whose  heart  the  Lord  opened.  Acts  xvi, 
14. — It  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do. 
Phil,  ii,  13;  see  Ezek.  xxxvi,  22. — Fiesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  this  unto  thee.  Matt,  xvi,  17. — Every  good  gift  is  from 
above,  &c.  James  i,  I7. — Except  the  Father  draw  him.  John  vi, 
44,  65. — Neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and 
he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  him.  Matt,  xi,  27. — With- 
out me  ye  can  do  nothing.  John  xv,  5. — No  man  can  eay,  that 
Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  1  Cor.  xii,  3. — For  by 
grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith,  *and  that  not  of  yourselves  ;   it 


100  THE    TENETS    OF  [aUT. 

is  the  gift  of  God.  Eph.  ii,  8  ;  see  Rom.  iv,  l6  ;  v,  15,  &c. ;  vi, 
23. — By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am.  1  Cor.  xv,  10  ;  Gal. 
iij  20. — Who  have  obtained  like  precious  faith  with  us,  according 
as  his  Divine  Power  hath  given  us  all  things  that  pertain  unto 
life  and  godliness.  2  Peter  i,  1,  3  ;  Eph.  iii,  14,  &c.,  vi,  23. — 
Grace  and  peace  from  God  the  Father,  &c.  Rev .  i,  4 — He  that 
glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord.  1  Cor.  i,  3;  see  Rom.  i,  8  ; 
1  Peter  i,    3. 

"  And  could  not  persevere  in  such  faith,"  t^-c.^  He  that  abideth 
in  me  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit :  for 
without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.  John  xv,  5. — Jesus,  the  Author 
and  Finisher  of  our  faith.  Heb.  xii,  2. — Now  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  and  God,  even  our  Father,  which  hath  loved  us 
and  given  us  everlasting  consolation,  and  good  hope  through 
grace,  comfort  your  hearts,  and  stablish  you  in  every  good 
word  and  work.  2  Thess.  ii,  16,  17- — The  God  of  all  grace  make 
you  perfect,  stablish,  strengthen,  settle  you.  1  Pet.  v,  10. — See 
Ephes.  iii,  14,  &c. ;  Phil,  i,  6;  Heb.  xiii,  20. 

"  He  decreed  to  afford  man  means  sufficient  and  necessary."^ 
He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son — how  shall  he  not  with  him 
also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  Rom.  viii,  32.  * — He  hath  blessed 
us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Christ.  Ephes.  i,  3. — That  thou 
mayest  be  my  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  to  open  the 
blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  prison,  and  them 
that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison-house.  I  will  give  thee  for 
a  covenant  to  the  people.  Isai.  xlix,  6,  8,  9 ;  xhi,  7- — To  perform 
the  promise — that  he  would  grant  unto  us  \\  power^  that  we 
might  serve  him  in  holiness  and  righteousness,  all  the  days  of 
our  life.  Luke  i,  72 — 76. — His  Divine  Power  hath  given  unto 
us  all  things,  that  pertain  to  life  and  godliness.  2  Pet.  i,  3. — 
He  gave  unto  them  his  talents.  Matt,  xxv,  14,  15,27,29. — 
To  you  it  is  given  to  know.  Matt,  xiii,  11,  12. — The  promise 
is  to  you  and  your  children.  Acts  ii,  4,  5,  S9,  41. — The  kingdom 
of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you.  Luke  x,  9. — I  was  made  mani- 
fest to  them  that  enquired  not  after  me.  Isai.  Ixv,  1  ;  Rom.  x,  20. 
— For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  unto  all  men 
hath  appeared : — the  reneAving  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is 
shed  on  us  abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.  Tit.  ii, 
11,  12  ;  iii,  5,  6.  t — Sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you,  for 
ye  are  not  under  the  law  but  under  grace.  Rom.  vi,  14. — To  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given.  Mark  iv,  23,  26  ;  Luke  viii,  18. — If 
any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine.  John 
vii,  17. — He  will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  and 
obey  him.  Luke  xi,  13  ;  Acts  v,  32. — What  could  have  been 
done  more  to  my  vineyard  that  I  have  not  done  in  it .''  Isai.  v,  4. 

»  See  Rom.  X,  14,  &c.;  2Tim.i,  9  10;  Isaiah  lix,  21. 
t  See  Heb.  iv,  12  ;  1  Cor.  xiv,  24,  25  ;  James  i,  18;  1  Cor.  iv,  15. 


FIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  101 

—Wherefore,  let  us  have  grace,  whereby  we  may  serve  God 
acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly  fear.  Heb.  xii,  28. 

TENET  IV.  f 

Wlience  ariseth  the  last  decree,  concerning  the  iah'a,i<'on  qf 
this  or  that  man  hi  particular,  rcho  by  these  tiieans  shouM 
be  brought  unto  faith  and  persevere  therein ;  this  bcir.g  the 
condition  required  in  every  one  that  is  to  be  elected  unto 
eternal  life,  and  the  consideration  of  this  or  that  man  in 
particular  who  should  die  in  unbelief 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  The  condition  required  in  ever?/  one  that  is  to  be  elected  unto 
eternal  life."'^  Hath  not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this  world,  rich 
in  faith?  James  ii,  5. — God  hath  from  the  beginning  chosen 
you  to  salvation  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief 
of  the  truth,  &c.  2  Thess.  ii,  13,  14. — Elect  according  to  the 
foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the 
Spirit  unto  obedience,  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.  1  Pet.  i,  2.  * — Whom  he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did 
predestinate.  Rom.  viii,  29- — If  a  man  therefore  purge  himself 
from  these,  he  shall  be  a  vessel  of  mercy  unto  honour,  &c.  Rom. 
ix,  32;  with  Tim.  ii,  21. — See  Psalm  iv,  3,  and  ciii,  17,  18; 
Rom.  X,  10,  11;  and  all  those  texts  cited  above  under  these 
heads,  "  W/io  should  believe  (page  97)  and  persevere  (page  98). 
Who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  unto  Baal.  See  Rom.  xi,  4,  5. 

"  And  the  consideration  of  this  or  that  man,  who  should  die  in 
unbelief. "'2  Whosoever  hath  sinned  against  me,  him  will  I  blot 
out  of  my  book.  Exod.  xxxii,  33. — As  truly  as  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord,  because  all  those  men  which  have  seen  my  glory  and  my 
miracles,  and  have  tempted  me  now  these  ten  times,  and  have 
not  hearkened  to  my  voice,  surely  they  shall  not  see  the  land 
which  I  sware  unto  their  fathers,  neither  shall  any  of  them  that 
provoked  me  see  it.  And  ye  shall  know  my  breach  of  pro- 
mise. Numb,  xiv,  21 — 35.  t — And  to  whom  sware  be  that  they 
should  not  enter  into  his  rest,  but  to  them  that  believed  not  ? 
So  we  see,  that  they  could  not  enter  in  because  of  unbelief. 
Heb.  iii,  18,  I9. — Now  these  things  happened  unto  them  for 
Qypes,:}:  or^  ensamples  unto  us.  1  Cor.  x,  6,  11. — Because  of 
unbelief  they  were  broken  off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith.  Be 
not  high-minded,  but  fear :  for  if  God  spared  not  the  natural 


*  Mark  xiii,  20.         f  The  very  form  of  actual  Reprobation, 
the  appUcatioa  Heb.  iv,  11. 


102  THE    TEMKTS    OF  [aRT. 

branches,  take  heed  lest  he  also  spare  not  thee.  Behold  there- 
fore the  goodness  and  severity  of  God  :  On  them  which  fell, 
severity  ;  but  towards  thee,  goodness ;  if  thou  continue  in  his 
goodness,  otherwise  thou  also  shalt  be  cut  off.  Rom.  xi,  20.— 
If  tJiou  KC'ik  him,  he  will  be  found  of  thee;  but  if  thou  forsake 
him,-^  be-  will  cast  thee  off  for  ever.  1  Chron.  xxviii,  9. — If  we 
deny  him,  h-s^  will  deny  us.  2  Tim.  ii,  12. — He  that  rejecteth 
ioe,'hath  jije  that  judgeth  him.  John  xii,  46,  48. — The  angels 
whicii  kept  not  their  first  estate,  and  Sodom — ^giving  them- 
selves over  to  fornication,  are  set  forth  for  an  ensample.  Un- 
godly men  turning  the  grace  of  our  God  into  lasciviousness, 
were  before  of  old  ordained  to  this  condemnation,  to  wdiom  is 
reserved  the  blackness  of  darkness  for  ever.  Jude  4,  6,  7,  13. 
See  1  Pet.  ii,  7,  8  ;  2  Pet.  ii,  4,  7  ;  and  2  Thess.  ii,  12  ;  &c.  See 
also  the  texts  cited  above,  under  this  head,  "  Such  as  would  not 
believe,"  S^c.  (Page  98.) 

TENET  V. 

Christ  is  not  only  the  Executor  of  election,  hut  thefound' 
ation  of  the  decree  itself. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Ch7ist  the  Executor  of  election.'"}  So  God  loved  the  world, 
that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son.  John  iii,  l6. — Neither  is 
there  salvation  in  any  other.  Acts  iv,  12. — This  is  life  eternal, 
to  know  thee,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.  John 
xvii,  3. — I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  John  xiv,  6.— 
Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you :  as  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of 
itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine,  no  more  can  ye,  except  ye 
abide  in  me.  John  xv,  4. — Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory. 
Col.  i,  27.     See  1  Cor.  ii,  2. 

"  Bid  Christ  is  the  foundation  of  the  decree  itself ."'^  According 
to  the  eternal  purpose,  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord:  Ephes.  iii,  11,  12. — According  to  his  own  purpose  and 
grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world 
began.  2  Tim.  i,  Q,  10. — Grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ, 
and  of  his  fulness,  &c.  John  i,  I6,  17- — God  was  in  Christ  recon- 
ciling the  world  unto  himself  See  Col.  i,  19,  20;  2  Cor,  v,  19. 
— By  whom  also  we  have  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein 
we  stand.  Rom.  v,  2. — Blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in 
Christ ;  God  has  chosen  us  in  him,  predestinated  us  by  him, 
made  us  accepted  in  him ;  in  whom  we  have  redemption,  for- 
giveness, and  an  inheritance. — See  Ephes.  iii,  11, 12,  and  i,  3,7,1 1. 
— Jesus  Christ  being  the  Corner-stone.  Ephes.  ii,  10,  21,  22.—- 
Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay.  1  Cor.  iii,  11. — See  the  texts 


FIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  103 

cited  above,  under  this  head,  "  Made  a  sacrifice  and  suffered 
death,"  4'C.  (Page  96.) 


WHAT    THE    REMONSTRANTS    DO    UTTERLY    DENY 
CONCERNING    PREDESTINATION. 

REJECTION  I. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  decreed  to  elect  some  to 
eternal  life,  and  to  reprobate  others  from  the  same,  before  he 
decreed  to  create  them." 

THE  REASON  OF  THIS. 

"  God  did  7iot.  decree  to  elect  some,"  &c.^  For  he  hath  chosen  us 
in  Christ.  Ephes.  i,  4. — But  in  Christ  we  cannot  be,  unless  we 
be  considered,  (1.)  As  Sinners.  (2.)  As  Believers,  and  there- 
fore Creatures. 

(1.)  As  Sinners.  For  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners.  1  Tim.  i,  15. — See  Matt,  i,  21 ;  John  i,  29;  Matt, 
xviii,  Jl ;  Luke  xix,  10;  John  vi,  5!  ;  Heb.  ii,  14,  &c. ;  2  Cor. 
V,  19,  &c.  See  all  the  places  cited  for  "  SalvatioTi  hy  faith." 
(Page  98.) 

(2.)  As  Believers.  For,  They  that  receive  him,  are  they 
that  believe  in  his  name.  John  i,  12. — See  Ephes.  iii,  17. 

"  And  not  to  reprobate  others."^  For  reprobation  is  an  act  of 
God's  hatred,  who  hateth  nothing  but  sin  and  for  sin,  which  the 
creature  could  not  be  guilty  o£ before  it  had  a  being. — Whosoever 
hath  sinned,  him  will  I  blot  out.  Exod  xxxii,  33.  * — The  soul 
thatsinneth,  it  shall  die.  Ezek.  xviii,  4,  20. — See  all  those  places 
where  damnation  is  said  to  be  for  sin,  especially  for  infidelity. 
(Page  Q8.)  See  also  those  places  cited  to  siiew  God's  hatred  of 
si.i,  and  his  inclination  to  mercy,  (page  94,)  as  Exod.  xxxiii, 
13,19;  xxxiv,  6,  7 ;  Lam.  iii,  S'3  ;  Pt.ahn  cxlv,  8,9;  Ezek. 
xxxiii,  11  ;  2  Pet.  iii,  9;  Ezek.  xviii,  23,  32. — Hell  made  for 
devils.  Matt,  xxv,  41. 

REJECTION  IL 

They  do  not  liold,  that  "  any  such  decreCy  in  order  before 
the  decree  of  Creation,  wa^  made  for  the  demonstration  of 
the  glory  of  God's  mercy  and  justice,  or  of  his  poiver  and 
absolute  dominion.'''' 

*  See  E/ck.  xviii,  23,  and  xxxiii,  11. 


104  THE    TENETS    OF  [ART. 

THE  REASON  OF  THIS. 

(1.)  The  vessel  that  he  made  of  clay,  was  marred  in  the 
hand  of  the  potter  ;  so  he  made  it  again  another  vessel,  as 
seemed  good  to  the  potter  to  make  it.  Jer.  xviii,  4, — See  to  the 
10th,  12th  verses.  * 

(2.)  I  will  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people,  to  restore 
the  preserved  of  Israel,  and  to  enlighten  the  Gentiles.  Isaiah 
xlix,  8,  5. — Thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  [^Christ^  in  whom 
I  will  be  glorified  :  Verse  3. — See  John  xv,  8,  and  Proverbs 
xiv,  28.  Consider  what  is  noted  before,  and  what  followeth, 
for  further  evidence  of  this. 

REJECTION  III. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  did,  with  this  intent, 
create  all  men  in  Adam,  ordain  the  fall  and  permission 
thereof,  withdraw  froin  Adam  grace  necessary  and  s,\x^~ 
c\ent,  or  procureth  the  gospel  to  be  preached,  and  men  to  be 
externally  called,  and  bestoweth  certain  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  upon  them, — and  all  this  with  this  intent,  that  these 
should  be  means  lohereby  he  woidd  bring  some  unto  life,  and 
disappoint  others  of  the  benefit  thereof  according  to  such 
decree.'''' 

THE  REASON  HEREOF 

In  the  several  branches,  is  to  be  collected  from  the  proof  of 
the  foregoing  and  following  articles.  Yet,  that  it  may  further 
appear, 

1.  "  That  God  did  not  create,"  &c..  Consider, 

(1.)  That  He  made  man  after  his  own  image:  Gen.  i,  27. 
(2.)  Gave  him  the  tree  of  life.  Gen.  ii,  9- 
(3.)  That  he  hates  sin :  Psalm  v,  4,  5  ;  Habak.  i,  13. 
(4.)  And  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil.  James  i,  17. 
(5.)  And  desirethnot  the  death  of  a  sinner:  Ezek.  xviii,  31 ; 
xxxiii,  11. 

(6.)  That  sin  was  from  the  suggestion  of  the  devil :  Gen.  iii,  I. 
(7.)  And  man's  voluntary  compliance  with  him:  Eccles.vii,29. 

2.  "  That  he  procureth  not  the  gospel,"  &c..  Consider, 

(1.)  He  is  merciful  to  all :  Psalm  clxv,  8,  9 ;  Acts  xiv,  l6, 17 ; 
xvii,  26,  27. — Would  not  that  any  should  perish  :  Ezek.  xviii, 
23,  31;  xxxiii,  ll.t — But  that  all  should  come  to  faith  and 
repentance  :  1  Tim.  ii,  4 ;  2  Pet.  iii,  9. — And, 

*  See  Isaiali  xxvii,  11,  the  last  part ;  Hosea  ix,  15. 
t  Sec  Juhu  iii,  17  ;  2Cbrou.  xxiv,  19. 


FIRST.]  THE    RKMONSTSANTS.  105 

(2.)  Christ  having  died  for  all :  2  Chron.  v,  I9,  20;  Heb.  ii,  9. 
— he  invites  all :  Matt,  xi,  28. — and  upbraids  such  as  wilfully- 
refuse  to  embrace  his  offered  grace  and  salvation.  John  v,  34,  40. 

REJECTION  IV. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  Christ  the  Mediator  is  only 
tlie  Executor  of  the  decree  of  Election,  and  not  the  Found- 
ation thereafT 

The  places  cited  (above)  in  proof  of  the  affirmative,  is  suffici- 
ent REASON  HEREOF.  And  note  here  once  for  all,  that  "  when- 
"  soever  the  affirmative  is  sufficiently  proved,  the  negative  is 
"  thereby  utterly  overthrown ;  because  both  parts  of  a  contra- 
"  diction  can  never  be  true." 

REJECTION  V. 

They  do  utterly  dexy,  that  "  the  cause  uhy  some  are 
effectually  called,  justified,  ■persevere  \n  faith,  and  are  glori- 
fied, is,  because  they  are  absolutely  elected  to  eternal  life." 

THE  REASON. 

God  is  no  respecter  of  persons :  but  in  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  with  him. 
Acts  X,  34-,  35.* — For  the  Scripture  saith.  Whosoever  believeth 
on  him,  shall  not  be  ashamed :  for  the  same  Lord  over  all,  is 
rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him.  Rom.  x,  11,  12. — See  James 
ii,  5  ;  2  Thess.  ii,  J  3,  and  all  the  rest  of  those  places  cited  above 
for  the  affirmative  Conditional  Election.  (Pages  97,  101.) 

REJECTION  VI. 

They  do  utteriy  deny,  that  "  the  cause  why  others  are 
left  in  the  lapse  [/?///]  and  Christ  not  given  to  them,  and  that 
they  are,  not  at  all,  or  uneffectually,  called,  and  so  hardened 
and  damned,  is,  because  they  are  reprobated  from  eternal 
life  by  an  antecedent  decree."" 

THE  REASON. 

His  own  iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked  himself,  and  he  shall 
be  holden  with  the  cords  of  his  sin.  Prov.  v,  22.  t — Rut  your 
iniquities  h^^ve  separated  between  you  and  your  God,  and  your 

*  See  Gen.  iv,  G,  7.  f  See  Micah  viii,  18. 

H 


106  THK    TEN  UTS    OF  [ART. 

sins  have  hid  his  face  from  you.  Isa.  xlix,  2. — See  the  places 
cited  above  for  the  affirmative,  viz.  for  Rcspcdivc  Reprobation. 
(Page  101.)  Also  the  texts  cited  for  Christ's  Satisfaction,  and 
the  Administration  of  Necessary  and  Sufficient  means  unto  sal- 
vation. (Pages  Q6,  100.) 

REJECTION  VII. 

They  do  utterly   deny,  that  "  God  did  decree,  without 
respect  unto  actual  sins  coming  between,  to  leave,  in  the 
fall  of  Adam,  the  Jar  greater  part  qfmanhind  shut  out  of  all 
hope  of  salvatimi.'" 

THE  REASON. 

Christ  is  promised  and  given  for  a  Covenant  and  means  of 
restoration.  Gen.  iii,  15;  ix,  8,  9;  xxii,  l6,  18;  Isa.  xlix,  8. 
See  Rom.  i,  18;  ii,  8;  Deut.  xxiv,  IG;  2  Kings  xiv,  6;  Eph. 
V,  7,  11.  See  the  texts  cited  for  his  satisfaction.  (Page  9^)' 
What  mean  ye  that  ye  use  this  proverb?.  The  Fathers  have  eaten 
sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge.  As  I  live,  saith 
the  Lord  God,  ye  shall  not  have  occasion  any  more  to  use  this 
proverb.  Behold  all  souls  are  mine,  as  the  soul  of  the  father, 
so  also  the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine  :  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall 
die.  Ezek.  xviii,  2,  3,  4.— They  shall  say  no  more,  The  fathers 
have  eaten  a  sour  grape  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge.  But 
every  one  shall  die  for  his  own  iniquity,  every  man  that  eateth  the 
sour  grape,  his  teeth  shall  be  set  on  edge.  Jer.  xxxi,  29,  SO.  See 
Isa.  xxvii,  11.  It  is  a  people  without  understanding,  therefore  he 
that  made  them  will  have  no  pity  on  them.  Gen.  iv,  6,  7.  The 
wrath  of  God  cometh  upon  the  children  of  disobedience.  Ephes. 
V,  5,  6.— Because  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused,  &c.  Prov.  i,  24, 
&c. — I  keep  imder  my  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection :  lest 
that  by  any  means,  when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself 
should  be  a  cast-away.  1  Cor.  ix,  27.  See  Proverbs  v,  22  ;  Isa. 
lix,  2. 

REJECTION  VIII. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  did  destine  by  an  abso- 
lute decree,  to  give  Christ  a  Mediator  only  to  the  elect,  and  to 
give  faith  to  them  alone  by  an  effectual  calling,  to  justify  and 
continue  them  in  thejaith,  and  glorify  them  alone. 

THE  REASON  OF  THIS 

Appears  in  the  texts  cited  above  for  Christ's  Satisfaction  (page 
95,),  and  those  which   follow  for  the    Universality  of  his  Merit, 


FIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  107 

in  tlie  Second  Article  or  Question,  (page  1 1 5,)  to  which  nothing 
is  needtul  to  be  added. 

REJECTION    IX. 

They  do  utterly  dexy,  that  "  many^  even  all  the  repro- 
hates,  are  rejected  from  eternal  I'lfe  and  from  means  sufficient 
thereunto,  by  an  absolute  and  antecedent  decree,  so  as  neither 
the  merit  of  Christ,  nor  vocation,  nor  any  gift  of  the  Spirity 
can  or  do  avail  unto  their  salvation.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

Because  God  created  man  after  his  own  image  and  approved 
him  to  be  very  good.  Gen.i,  27,  31.  And  to  the  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  the  righteous  are  not  (dealt  with)  as  the  wicked.  Gen. 
xviii,  25.  For  he  is  good  to  all  and  his  tender  mercies  are  over 
all  his  works.  Psalm  cxlv,  8,  f).  He  willeth  not  the  death  of  a 
sinner.  Ezek.  xviii  and  xxxiii,  almost  throughout.  See  Job 
xxxiv,  23  ;    1  Tim.  ii,  4  :  2  Peter  iii,  9- 

Man's  destruction  is  of  himself.  Hosea  xiii,  9  •'  Rora.  vi,  23,  i,  32. 
Forhe  despiseth  mercy.  Rom.  ii,  4,  5 :  Luke  vii,  30  :  Acts  xiii,  46. 
See  Matt,  xxii,  2— 15:  Lukexiv,24;  Heb.  x,  26  &c  :  John  iii,  19; 
2  Chron.  xxiv,  19,  xxxvi,  15,  l6.  This  is  the  condemnation, 
that  light  is  come  into  the  world;  and  men  love  darkness  rather 
than  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil.  Ezek.  xxiv,  13.  In  thy 
lilthiness  is  lewdness  ;  because  I  have  purged  thee  and  thou  wast 
not  purged,  thou  shalt  not  be  purged  from  thy  filthiness  any 
more,  till  I  have  caused  my  fury  to  rest  upon  thee.  2  Thess.  ii, 
10 — 12.  See  Prov.  i,  29 — 31;  Romans  ii,  8,  i,  18.  Because 
they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved: 
For  this  cause,  God  shall  send  them  strong  delusions,  that  they 
should  believe  a  lie  :  That  they  all  might  be  damned  who  be- 
lieved not  the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness.  See 
likewise  all  the  places  cited  for  the  affirmative,  viz.  Respective 
Reprobation,  page  101. 

REJECTION  X. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  hath  destined  Repro- 
bates ('a,?  Mt^  a?'^caZ/riZ,^  to  infidelity,  'imp'icty,  and  sins, 
as  means  and  causes  of  their  damnation." 

THE  REASON. 

1 .  God  himself  hath  stigmatized  Jeroboam  with  this  character, 
as  a  brand  of  infamy  :  "  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,    who  made 

II  2 


108  THE    TENRTS    OF  [aRT. 

Israel  to  sin."  2  Kings  xxiii,  1 5.— Wo  unto  him  that  giveth  his 
neighbour  drink,  that  pattest  tliy  bottle  to  him,  and  makest  him 
drunken  also  ;  that  thou  mayest  look  on  their  nakedness.  Hab. 
ii,  15. 

2.  If  a  Prince  should  make  a  decree  to  takeaway  the  life  of  his 
subject,  and  then  necessitate  him  by  force,  or  wind  him  in  by 
subtlety,  to  be  instrumental  (and  subservient  to  his  own  ends,)  in 
the  perpetration  of  an  act  which  tlie  said  prince  himself  had  made 
to  be  criminal,  that  the  execution  of  his  said  subject  might  appear 
to  be  just, — this  argues  clearly,  that  his  first  decree  against  him, 
even  by  the  verdict  of  his  own  conscience,  was  unjust,  and  so  is 
his  execution  also. 

3.  It  is  accounted  an  act  of  horrid  tyranny  in  Tiberius,  who, 
because  it  was  unlawful  to  strangle  virgins,  caused  the  hangman 
first  to  deflower  a  virgin,  and  afterward  to  strangle  her.— -See 
also  the  reason  of  the  next. 

REJECTION    XI. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  tliat  "  God  is  tJie  Author  of  ^i^i." 

THE  REASON. 

1.  Because  He  is  holy,  and  a  pattern  of  holiness.  Lev,  xi,  44, 
xix,  2;  1  Pet.  i,  15,  l6". 

2.  His  ways  are  right  and  equal,  and  he  can  do  no  iniquity. 
Ezek.  xviii,  25,  29;  Hosea  xiv,  19;  Psalm  xlv,  7,  xcii,  16; 
Zeph.  iii,  5  ;    Deut.  xxxii,  4. 

3.  He  hates  sin.  Psalm  v,  4,  5,  xlv,  7  ;  Prov.  xi,  20 ;  Isa.  lix, 
2  ;  Deut.  xii,  31  ;  Isa.  Ixi,  8  ;  Zech.  viii,  17  ;  Amos  vi,  S ;  Jer. 
xliv,  4;  Hab.  i,  13. 

4.  It  is  a  burden  to  him.    Isa.  vii,  13,  xliii,  24. 

5.  He  forbids  sin.  Exod.  xx,  1,  &c ;  Job  xxxvi,  21 ;  Ezek. 
xlv,  9  ;    Rom.  vi,  12  ;    1  Cor.  xv,  34. 

6.  He  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil.     James  i,  13—15. 

7.  He  is  provoked  to  anger  by  it.  Isa.  iii,  8;  Hosea  xii,  14  ; 
Exod.  xxiii,  21  ;  Mark  iii,  5. 

8.  It  is  enmity  to  him.  Romans  viii,  7. 

9.  It  is  the  work  of  the  Devil.  John  viii,  44;  Genesis  iii,  1. 

10.  He  sent  his  Son  to  destroy  it.  1  John  iii,  8  ;  Titus  ii,  14; 
1  Peter  i,  1 8. 

11.  He  doth  revenge  it  and  punish  the  sinner  for  it.  Jer.v, 
2.5,29;  Deut.  xviii,  12,  i3;  Rom.  i,  18  :  Eph.  v,  6;  Psalm  xi, 
5,6. 

12.  Man's  destruction  is  from  himself.  Hosea  xiii,  9;  Prov. 
V,  22. 


FIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  109 

REJECTION  XII. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  election  of  particular  pev 
sons  is  made  ^vithout  consideration  of  faith  and  perseverance 
therein,  as  ilie  condition  pre-recpnred  in  him  that  is  to  be  chosen 
\imto  glory. '\ 

THE  REASON. 

But  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  exerlasting  to  everlasting 
upon  them  that  fear  him  [^considered  as  such^.  Psalm  ciii,  17, 
18. — The  Lord  hath  set  apart  the  man  that  is  godly  for  himself. 
Psalm  iii,  3. — To  him  that  ordereth  his  conversation  aright,  will 
I  shew  the  salvation  of  God.  Psalm  1,  23. — Thou  hast  a  few 
names,  even  in  Sardis,  which  have  not  defiled  their  garments,  and 
they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white :  for  they  are  worthy.  Rev.  iii, 
4. — I  have  chosen  thee  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  Isa.  xlviii,  10. 
— Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temptation  :  for  when  he  is 
tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life,  which  the  Lord  hath 
promised  to  them  that  love  him.  James  i,  12. — Who  through 
faith  and  patience  inherit  the  promises.  Heb.  vi,  12.  See  Heb. 
X,  36';  Rev.  vii,  14,  15.  See  also  the  proofs  of  the  Second  and 
Fourth  affirmatives,  pages  97,   101. 

REJECTION    XIIL 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  ^'  pai-ticidar  men  are  repro- 
bated from  eternal  lije^  without  consideration  had  of  sin  and 
infidelity  and  perseverance  therein,  cls  going  before''' 

THE  REASON. 

Whosoever   sinneth — him  will  I  blot  out.  Exodus  xxxii,  33. 
See  the  Second  and  Fourth  Affirmatives,  pages  97.    101.  With- 
out are  dogs.    Rev.  xxii,    \5. — The  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God.    1  Cor.  vi,  9-     See  2  Thess.  ii,  12 ;   Luke 
xiv,  17.  21,  24. 

A  GENERAL  REASON 

OF 

BOTH  THE  FORMER  NEGATIVES. 

The  EXECUTION  of  God's  decree  sheweth  what  the  decree 
itself  was;  for  God  "  worketh  \j.n  time]]  all  things  accordino-  to 
the  counsel  of  his  own  wiil"  from  eternity.  Eph.  i,  11.  So  that 
man  must  be  considered  in  the  decree,  as  he  is  considered  in  the 
execution  of  it :   Otherwise  the  act  decreeing,  and  the  act  exccu' 

H  3 


116  THE    TENETS    OF  [aUT. 

ting  should  have  respect  to  different  objects,  and  consequently 
ihis  act  could  not  properly  be  called  the  execution  of  i/iot  deci'ee. 
For  instance :  If  a  decree  be  past  against  T.  B.  as  a  Malcfcc'or, 
and  R.  S.  doth  arrest  T.  B.  being  clear  and  innocciit ;  this  action 
cannot  be  said  to  be  the  execution  of  the  former  decree,  which 
was  made  against  T.  B.  the  Malefactor,  though  II,  S.  pretends  to 
do  it  in  piirsuance  of  the  same.  So  in  other  cases.  But,  in  the 
execution  of  the  Divine  decree  of  Election  and  Reprobation,  we 
see  men  are  looked  upon  according  to  their  several  qualifications. 
*'  Then  shall  the  King  say,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  Kin  ii,dom  prepared  for  you :  For  I  ivas  a7i  hungered,  and  yc  gave 
me  meat. — Go,  ye  cursed :  For  I  was  8fC.  Matthew  xxv,  31,  41. 
—He  shall  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works.  To  them 
who,  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory  and 
honour  and  immortality, — eternal  life  :  But  unto  them  that  are 
contentiovis,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness, 
■ — indignation  and  wrath.  Rom.  ii,  6' — [). — For  if  ye  live  after  the 
flesh,  ye  shall  die :  but  if  ye,  through  the  Spirit,  do  mortify  the 
deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live."  Rom.  viii,  13.  See  Psalm  xi, 
5  to  the  end  ;   an  emphatical  place  ! 


CONCERNING    CHILDREN 

THEY  HOLD. 

*'  That  all  tfie  children  of  the  Jhitliful  are  sanctified  in 
Christ ;  so  as  none  of  them,  departing'  this  life  before  tJtey 
come  to  the  use  of  reason,  can  perish.'''' 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

The  seed  of  the  woinan  shall  bruise  the  sei-pent's  head.  Gen. 
iii,  15.  This  seed  (which  is  Christ,)  v/as  promised  before  ever 
any  seed  of  mankind  was  conceived  :  Christ  came,  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost.  Matt,  xviii,  ]  1 ;  Luke  xix,  10  ;  see 
Matt,  xviii,  11,12,  He  came  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil. 
1  John  iii,  8. — As, by  the  offence  of  one,judgment  came  upon  all 
men  to  condemnation,  even  so,  by  the  righteousness  of  One,  the 
free  gift  came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life.  Rom.  v,  12, 
1 8. — For  as  much  as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood, 
he  also  himself  took  part  of  the  same,  that  through  death  he 
might  destroy  him  who  had  the   power   of  death,  that  is,  the 

Devil,  and  deliver and  make  reconciliation,    &c.   Heb.  ii, 

14,  15,  17. — Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid 
them  not ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  ox  God.  See  i'salm  cxxvii,  3. 
Consider'  1  John  ii,  12,  with  Matt,  xix,  14. 


FIRST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  Ill 


CONCERNING   CHILDREN,    WHAT    THEY    DO   UTTERLY    DENY. 

REJECTION  I. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  some  infants  (children)   of 
thejluthjulare  to  he  accounted  in  the  number  of  reprobates.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

For  if  the  first-fruits  be  holy,  the  lump  also  is  holy  ;  and  if 
the  root  be  holy,  so  are  the  branches.  Rom.  ii,  l6. — And  I  will 
establish  my  covenant  belween  me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after 
thee  in  their  generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  to  be  a 
God  unto  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee.  Gen.  xvii,  7. — The 
promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your  children.  Acts  ii,  SQ. — Words, 
whereby  thou  and  all  thy  house  shall  be  saved.  Acts  xi,  14. — 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and  thy 
house.  Acts  xvi,  31. — The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  by 
the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband ; 
else  were  your  chidren  unclean,  but  now  are  they  holy,  1  Cor.  vii, 
14. 

REJECTION  II. 

They  utterly  deny,  that  "  some  infants  of  the  faithful^ 
departing- this  life  in  tlie'ir  infancy ,  before  they  have  commit- 
ted  any  actual  sin,  in  the'ir  men  persons,  are  reprobated.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

That  be  far  from  thee,  to  do  after  this  manner — to  slay  the 
righteous  with  the  wicked,  and  that  the  righteous  should  be  as 
the  wicked,  that  be  far  from  thee  !  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right?  Gen.  xviii,  25. — Thou  hast  had  pity  on  the 
gourd,  for  the  which  thou  hast  not  laboui"ed,  neither  madest  it  to 
grow,  which  came  up  in  a  night,  and  perished  in  a  night :  And 
should  not  I  spai'e  Nineveh,  Avherein  are  more  than  six  score 
thousand  persons,  that  cannot  discern  between  their  right  hand 
and  their  left?  Jonah  iv,  11. — What  mean  ye  that  ye  use  this 
proverb,  saying.  The  Fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  chil- 
dren'slceth  are  set  on  edge?  (See Deut. xxiv,  l6;2  Kings xiv,  6.) 
As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  ye  shall  not  have  occasion  any 
more  to  use  this  proverb.  Behold  all  souls  are  mine:  as  the  soul 
of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine :  the  soul  that 
sinneth,  it  shall  die.  Ezek.  xviii,  2,  3,  4. — In  those  days,  they 
shall  say  no  more,    The  fathers  have  eaten  a  sour  grape,  and  the 


112  THE    TENETS    OF  [AHT 

cJdldren's  teeth  are  set  07i  edge.  But  every  one  shall  die  for  his 
own  iniquity,  every  man  that  eateth  the  sour  grape,  liis  teeth 
shall  be  set  on  edge.   Jer.  xxxi,  29,  30. 

REJECTION  III. 

The?/  do  utterly  deny,  tJiat  "  the  sacred laver  of  baptism 
and  the  prayers  of  the  Church,  can  iw  ways  avail  such  iiifants 
unto  salvation.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

"  The  sacred  laver  of  baptism,"  <^"r.]]  Go  ye  therefore,  and  dis- 
ciple all  nations,  baptizing  them,  &c.  Matt,  xxviii,  19. — The  like 
figure  whereunto  even  baptism  doth  also  now^  save  us.  1  Peter, 
iii,  2] . — He  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration.  Titus  iii,  5. 
Christ  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it ;  that  he  might 
.eianctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word. 
Ephes.  v,  25.  26. — Arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy 
sins  ;  for  the  promise  is  to  you  and  to  your  children.  Acts  ii,  38, 
39;  xxii,  16. — As  many  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have 
put  on  Christ ;  aifd  there  is  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that 
are  in  Christ  Jesus.  Gal.  iii,  27;  Rom.  viii,  1. 

"  And  the  prayers  of  the  Church,"  c^x.^  This  the  confidence  that 
we  have  in  him,  that  if  we  a&k  any  thing  according  to  his  will, 
he  heareth  us.  And  if  we  know  that  he  hear  us, — whatsoever 
we  ask,  we  know  that  we  have  the  petitions  that  we  desired  of 
him.  If  any  man  see  his  brother  sin  a  sin  which  is  not  unto 
death,  he  shall  ask,  and  he  shall  give  him  life,  for  them  that  sin 
not  unto  death.  1  John  v,  14 — 16.  And  shall  not  God  hear  the 
prayers  of  the  Church  in  behalf  of  Infants  } 

REJECTION  IV. 

They  do  utterly  JiTLtiY,  that  '■'■someofthefaHhfids''  child- 
ren., baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  wliile  they  live  in  the  state  of  their 
iiifancy,  are  reprobate  by  an  absolute  decree.''''^ 

THE  REASON  OF  THIS, 

Appears  sufficiently  in  the  Reasons  of  those  Negatives  fore- 
mentioned. 

*  At  the  close  of  their  First  Article,  the  Dutch  Remonstrants  thus  address 
the  niemdfrs  oft/,e  Siinod,  of  which  ihey  were  themselves  allowed  to  form  no 
part,  but  were  called  the  Citf.d  1'f.r.sons  ;  "Most  reverend  Fathers  and 
lirethren,  you  have  now  before  you  the  proposition  of  our  opinions  respect- 
ing' the  First  Article  on  Election  and  Reprobation.    These  sentiments  we  are 


FinST.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  113 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY 

TOUCHING 

PREDESTINATION,  OR  ELECTION  TO  ETERNAL  LIFE, 
OR  REPROBATION  THEREFROM. 


Whether  of  Divine  and  perempto7ij  Election  to  [ghry  or] 
eternal  Tife^  the  first  and  adequate  object  he  "  all  and  onlj 
"  those  zchich persevere  in  trne faith  unto  their  lives'  end,  as 
"  such:  or  certain  particular  persons  not  at  all  considered  a^ 
"  believing  and  persevering  injciith,  as  such.'''' 

See  all  the  Texts  alleged  for  Conditioned,  and  against  Absolute 
Irrespective  Election,  pages  95 — 110. 

prepared  to  defend  ;  we  are  also  prepared  to  combat  the  contrary  opinions, 
which  are  those  of  the  Contra  Remonstrants.  A\'e  thinl<.  it  greatly  concerns 
the  Truth  itself,  the  glory  of  God,  our  own  conscience,  and  the  edification 
of  the  Churches,  for  us  to  propose  these  opinions  in  this  order,  and  to  explain 
and  defend  them  as  much  as  we  are  able  and  as  tar  as  we  shall  think 
ueedful." 

In  the  Jets  of  the  Si/nod,  it  is  stated,  "  In  addition  to  this,  the  Synod 
declared  it  to  be  displeasing  tu  them,  '  that  the  Cited  Individuals,  in  the 
'  propositions  exhibited,  had  employed  themselves  more  in  rejecting  the 
•opinions  of  other  people  than  in  stating  their  own  ;  that  they  disclaimed 

*  those  senti7)ients  iihich  were  imt  their  ovn,  rather  than  asserted   what  were 

*  really  theirs ;  and  that  they  had  mixed  many  topics  in  their  First  Article, 
<  which  belonged  more  properly  to  those  which  had  to  succeed.'  it  was 
therefore  resolved  to  admonish  the  Remonstrants,  that  in  their  subsequent 
Articles  they  might  beware  of  these  grievances,  and  pay  a  stricter  attention 
to  the  commands  of  the  Synod." 

The  next  tiav,  which  was  the  14th  of  Dec.  Ifilft,  the  Remonstrants  were 
enjoined  to  have  their  other  Four  Articles  ready  to  exhibit  on  the  ITth  of  the 
same  month.  "  It  was  also  the  pleasure  of  the  Synod  ♦  to  warn  the  Cn  i:d 
'  Persons  to  prepare  their  propositions  in  an  aflirniative  rather  tlian  in  a 
'  neo-ative  manner,  that  a  judgment  might  be  the  more  easily  formed  con- 
'  cerning  their  sentiments  :  Were  it  aftei  wards  their  wish  to  refute  the  con- 
'  trary  doctrines,  thev  should  be  at  liberty  to  add  their  Rejections.'  When 
the  Remonstrants  ha'd  been  called  in,  they  received  these  injunctions  from 
the  Synod.    The  President  also  reminded  them,  ♦  that  they  ought  in  prefer- 

*  ence  to  apply  themselves  to  a  discussion  of  those  questions  w  hich  related 

*  to  the  sweet  doctrine  of  Election,  and  not  iti  an  odious  muiiner  agitate 
'  that  of  Reprobation.'  The  Remonstrants  answered,  that  '  they  would 
«  take  into  consideration  the  admonitions  which  had  been  given  by  the 
'  President.'" 

This  was  very  good  advice;  but  it  was  not  the  most  disinterested,  when 
proceeding  from  men  who  were  the  great  teachers  of  Lnconditional  Repro- 
bation. The  result  of  this  admonition  w  ill  be  seen  in  a  note,  at  the  close  of 
tlifise  Five  Articles.— Editor. 


114  THE    TENETS    OF  [aUT. 

11. 

Whether  of  peremptori/  Reprohathn  unto  everlasting  tor- 
ments,  thcjirst  and  adcqiiated  object  be^  "  all  and  only  unhe- 
*'  lievers  dying  in  their  unhellef^  as  such ;  or  certain 
*^ partictdar  persons  (the  greatest  part  of  manJcind,)  not  at 
"  all  considered  as  impenitent,  unbelievers  and  disobedient,  as 
"  such:' 

See  the  Texts  fore-cited  for  Respective  and  against  Irrespective 
and  Absolute  Reprobation:  (pagesQS-llO)  to  which  you  may  add 
Isaiah  xxvii,  11.  "  Because  this  people  have  no  understanding, 
therefore/' &c.  Ezek.xviii;,  13,  23. 


THE  SECOND  ARTICLE  CONTROVERTED, 

CONCEENTNG 

THE  UNIVERSALITY  OF  CHRIST'S  DEATH. 

WHAT    THE    REMONSTRANTS    HOLD. 

TENET  I. 

They  hold,  that  the  p?-ice  of  Redemption  which  Christ 

tendered  unto  his  Father,  zcas  not  only  in  itself  svPFiciviisiT 

for  the  Redemption  of  all  mankind,  but  was  also  (according 

to  the  decree,  the  will,  and  the  grace  of  God  the  Father,) 

PAID    FOR    ALL    and  EVERY    MAN. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  The  price  of  Redemption  Christ  paid  for  all  and  every  man."  ] 
For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men, 
the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all :  1  Tim. 
ii,  5,  n. — We  trust  in  the  living  God,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  all 
men.  iv,  10. — Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh>way  the 
sin  of  the  world.  John  iii  iQ;  i,  29. — We  have  an  Advocate 


SECOND.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  115 

with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  Righteous,  and  he  is  the  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins  :  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the 
sins  of  the  \yhoIe  world.  1  John  ii,  2.  See  John  vi,  33,  51. — 
He  tasted  death  for  every  man  :  Heb,  ii,  9- — For  the  unjust : 
1  Pet.  iii,  18,  &c. — For  the  ungodly,  for  sinners,  for  his  ene- 
mies. Rom.  V,  6,  8,  10. — See  the  places  cited  before  for  Christ's 
satisfaction.  (Page  QQ.) 

"  According  to  the  decree,  the  will,  and  the  grace  of  Cod,"  ^'C.'2 
So  God  loved  the  world,  &c.  John  iii,  l6. — We  have  seen  and 
do  testify,  that  the  Father  sent  the  Son,  to  be  the  Saviour  of 
the  world.  1  John  iv,  14. — He  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  de- 
livered him  up  for  us  all.  Rom.  viii,  32. — In  this  was  manifested 
the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only- 
begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him. 
Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us ; 
and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.  1  John  iv, 
9,  10. — For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world,  to  condemn 
the  world  ;  but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved  : 
John  iii,  17. — That  He  by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death 

for  every  man.  Heb.  ii,  Q. — It  pleased  the  Father by  him 

to  reconcile  all  things  to  Himself  Col.  i,  19;,  20,  21. — After 
that  the  kindness  and  pity  of  God  our  Savioiir  towards  man 
appeared.  Tit.  iii,  4. — For  1  came,  not  to  judge  the  world,  but 
to  save  the  world.  John  xii,  47. — Greater  love  hath  no  man 
than  this, — that  a  man  lay  down  his  lite  for  his  friend.  John 
XV,  13. — He  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
blood.  Rev.  i,  5. — The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us ;  because 
we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  &c.  2  Cor.  v,  14,  15. 

TENET  II. 

The?/  Jiold,  that  Christ  hy  the  merit  of  his  death,  hath  so 
far  forth  reconciled  God  the  Father  to  all  mankind,  that  the 
Father,  hy  reason  of  his  Soil's  merit,  both  could,  and  xvould, 
and  did  enter  [into]  and  establish  a  ncio  and  gracious  cove- 
nant with  sinful  man  liable  to  condemnation. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not 
imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them.  2  Cor.  v,  19- — And  you 
that  were  sometimes  alienated  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by 
wicked  works,  yet  nov/  hath  he  reconciled,  in  the  body  of  his 
flesh  through  death.  Col.  i,  21,  22. — I  will  give  thee  for  a  Cove- 
narit  of  the  people.  |^"  That  is,  a  Mediator  and  Foundation  of 
the  Covenant  of  Grace."  Dxodati's  Annot.'^  Isai.  xlix,  8. — When 
thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  lor  sin,  he  shall  see  his 


li(>  THE    TENETS    OF  [aIIT. 

seed and  tlie  pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  his 

hands:  By  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous    servant 

justify  many.  Isai.  liii,  tlie  whole  chapter,  10,  11,  12. — To  him 
give  all  the  Prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name,  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  him,  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.  Acts  x,  4.3. 
■ — He  is  the  Mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  which  was  estab- 
lished upon  better  promises,  viz.  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their 
mind  and  I  will  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness,  &c.  See 
Jer.  xxxi,   31,  34;  xxxiii,  8;  Micah   vii,  18,  19,  20  j  Heb.  viii, 

6,  Sec. — How  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ and  for 

this  cause  he  is  the  Mediator  of  the  new  Testament,  that  by 
means  of  death,  for  the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  that 
were  under  the  first  Testament,  they  which  are  called  might 
receive  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance.  Heb.  ix,  14,  15,  &c. 
—See  Heb.  x,  the  whole  chapter ;  vii,  22 ;  xii,  24,  25. 

TENET  III. 

The?/  hold,  that  though  Chi'lst  hath  merited  reconcUiation 
icith  God  and  pardon  of'  sins  for  all  and  every  man,  yet,  ac- 
cording to  the  tenor  of  the  new  and  gracious  Covenant,  none 
is  indeed  made  partaJcer  of  the  benefits  purchased  by  the 
death  of  Christ,  otherwise  than  by  faith :  A^or  are  a  man's 
sins  pardoned,  before  he  actually  believes  in  Christ. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  None  made  partakers  of  Christ's  benefits  otherwise  than  hy 
faith." "l  Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  re- 
demption that  is  in  Jesus  Christ :  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to 
be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood.  Rom.  iii,  24,  25. — 
But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  Heb.  xi,  6, — 
Whosoever  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  confounded.  Rom. 
ix,  33. — He  is  the  Saviour, — specially  of  those  that  believe. 
1  Tim.  iv,  10. — For  it  pleased  the  Father  by  him  to  reconcile 
all  things  unto  himself. — And  you  hath  he  now  reconciled — to 
present  you  holy  and  unblamable,  and  unreprovable  in  his  sight, 
if  ye  continue  in  the  faith,  &c.  Col.  i,  19 — 23. — We  are  made 
partakers  of  Christ,  if  we  hold  f^st  &c.  Heb.  iii,  6,  14. — He  is 
the  Mediator, — that  by  means  of  death  they  which  are  called 
\j:nm  eveiitii^  might  receive  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance. 
Heb.  ix,  15. — But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
his  name.  John  i,  12. — See  Gal.  iii,  22. 

"  Nor  are  a  man's  sins  pardoned  btfore  he  octiiallij  believes." 2 
To  him  give  all  th.e  Prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name, 
■whosoever  believeth  in  hun,  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.  Acts 


SECOND.]  THE    RE  MoN  SI  II A  NTS.  117 

X,  43. — See  Acts  xxvi,  18  ;  xlii,  39;  John  iii,  36. — The  right- 
eousness of  Gud,  without  the  law,  is  manifested, — even  the 
righteousness  of  God,  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  unto 
all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe.  Rom.  iii,  21,  22. — Abraham 
believed  God,  and  it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness ; 
and  it  shall  be  imputed  to  us  also,  if  we  believe.  Rom.  iv,  3,  2-i. 
See  the  whole  chapter. — We  have  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  that 
we  might  be  justified  by  the  faith  of  Christ.  Gal.  ii,  26*. — The 
just  shall  live  by  faith.  Gal.  iii,  11, — See  Gal.  iii,  22. — Being 
justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God.  Rom.  v,  1. — See 
Acts  ii,  3S  ;  Isai.  liii,  11. 

TENET  IV. 

Thet/  hold,  that  only  they  for  whom  Christ  died  are  hound 
to  believe,  that  Christ  died  for  them  ;  and  if  there  were  any 
Jhr  whom  Christ  died  not,  they  should  not  he  hound  to  believe 
he  died  for  them,  or  condemned  for  not  beheviiig  ;  yea,  if 
there  were  any  such  Reprobates,  they  should  rather  be  bound 
to  believe,  tJiat  he  died  not  for  them. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Only  they  for  whom  Christ  died  hound  to  believe"  c^-c.^  Ye 
were  redeemed  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  who  was 
manifest  for  you,  who  by  hiai  do  believe  in  God  that  raised 
him  up  from  the  dead,  and  gave  him  glory,  that  your  faith  and 
hope  might  be  in  God.  1  Pet.  i,  18,  19»  21. — Believe  also  in  me. 
Why.''  1  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,  and  I  will  receive  you 
to  myself  John  xiv,  1,  2,  3. 

See  1  Cor.  xv,  2,  3,  14.  Whence  it  follows,  that  "  they  for 
whose  sins  Christ  died  not,  and  for  whose  justification  he  rose 
not  again,  to  them  preaching  is  vain,  and  their  faith  is  vain  ;" 
for' they  do  but  believe  an  untruth,  and  lean  upon  the  staff  of  a 
broken  reed.  Accordingly  (as  was  alleged  above,)  Maccovius 
saitli,  "  A  man  must  first  believe  Christ  to  be  his  Saviour 
[^which  he  cannot  be,  unless  he  hath  died  for  him,]]  and  that 
must  be  the  reason  why  he  placeth  his  faith  in  him." 

"  And  such  Reprobates  should  rather  believe,  that  he  died  not  for 
them."  I  For  those  things  which  are  revealed  belong  to  us. 
Deut.  xxix,  29. — O  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that 
the  Prophets  have  spoken  !  Luke  xxiv,  25. — If  it  be  a  revealed 
TRUTH,  that  "  Christ  died  not  for  the  Reprobates  ;"  then  are 
they  bound  to  believe,  he  died  not  Jot  them.  But  if  it  be  not  a 
truth  revealed,  why  is  it  then  preached  and  urged  as  an  Article  of 
fuilh  ? 


118  THE    TENETS    OF  [aRT. 

WHAT    THEY    DO    NOT    HOLD,    TOUCHING    CHRIST's    DEATH. 

REJECTION  I. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  the  p?-ice  of  Redemption, 
which  Christ  tendered  unto  God  his  Father,  was  not  (accord- 
ing to  the  decree,  will,  and  grace  of  God  the  Father,)  paid 
for  all  and  every  man,  that  so  the  greatest  part  of  manlcind 
slwuld,  by  an  absolute  and  antecedent  decree  of  God,  he  pre- 
cisely shut  out  from  the  participation  of  the  benejits  qfCJirisfs 
death.''' 

THE  REASON. 

1 .  Christ  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  Matt, 
xviii,  11  ;  Luke  xix,  10. — God  was  in  Chi-ist  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself.  2  Cor.  v,  I9. — He  laid  upon  him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all.  Isai.  liii,  6. — And  Christ  died  for  all,  for  every  man, 
for  the  world,  for  the  Avhole  world,  for  the  unjust  and  disobedient, 
(finally  such,)  1  Pet.  iii,  18,  20; — for  the  ungodly,  for  sinners, 
for  his  enemies; — as  was  said  above.  (Page  96.) 

2.  Also  for  as  many  as  died  in  Adam.  1  Cor.  xv,  22. — As  by 
the  offence  of  one  man,  &c.  Rom.  v,  12,  18  ;  2  Cor.  v,  14. 

3.  For  as  many  as  are  bound  to  believe  in  him ; — as  was  de- 
clared above.  (Page  11 7-) 

4.  For  as  many  as  are  bound  to  adore  and  serve  him. — Ye  are 
bought  with  a  price,  therefore  glorify  God  in  your  &c.  1  Cor, 
vi,  20. — We  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  Avere  all 
dead  :  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that  he  vnight  be  Lord  of  all, 
that  they  which  live,  should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves 
but  unto  him  which  died  for  them.  2  Cor.  v,  14,  15 ;  Rom.  xiv,  9» 
See  Ephes.  i,  12. 

5.  For  as  many  as  we  are  bound  to  pray  for  in  Christ's  name. 

1  exhort,  that  supplications  be  made  for  all  men — For  there  is 
one  Mediator,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.  1  Tim.  ii, 
1,  5,  6. 

6.  For  such  as  crucify  him  afresh  to  themselves.  Heb.  vi, 
4,  5,  6 ;  X,  29. — For  such  as  deny  him,  and  finally  do  perish. 

2  Pet.  ii,  1.     See  Rom.  xiv,  15;  1  Cor.  viii,  11. 

REJECTION  II. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  the  immediate  fruit  of  the 
death  of  Christ  is  the  actual  pardon  of  sins  :''''  Or,  (zvhich  is 


second]  the  remonstrants.  119 

tJte  smne  in  effect,)  tJiat  "  sins  are  pardo7ied  unto  shiners^ 
before  they  do  actuaUij  hclicve  in  Christ.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness.  Rom. 
X,  10. — But  -without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  Heb. 
xi,  6.  See  Gal.  iii,  22. — He  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned. 
Mark  xvi,  l6. — He  is  condemned  already:  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him.  John  iii,  18,  36". — See  proofs  for  the  affirma- 
tive, page  116. 

REJECTION   III. 

The?/  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  Reprobates  (as  some  call 
them,)  for  lohom  Christ  died  not,  (if  there  xco-e  any  such,) 
are  bound,  notzciths{a7idinff,  to  believe  in  him,  and  to  believe 
that  tbey  are  elected  unto  glory  ;  and  that,  therefore,  those 
that  believe  not  shall  be  condemned  justly,  yea,  shall  therefore 
be  punished  with  more  grievous  torraents  by  Almighty  God.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

1.  Will  ye  speak  wickedly  for  God  ?  And  talk  deceitfully  for 
him.''  Job  xiii,  7- — He  is  the  God  of  truth.  Jer.  x,  10, — that 
cannot  lie.  Tit.  i,  2 ;  Heb.  vi,  18. — All  his  commandments  are 
truth,  righteousness,  and  faithfulness.  Psalm  cxix,  86,  151,  172. 
Christ  was  a  minister  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  no  lie  is  of  the 
truth.  Rom.  xv,  8  ;   1  John  ii,  21. 

2.  If  we  meet  with  false  Prophets  and  dissemblei's,  (for  all 
their  fair  speeches,)  he  bids  us  Believe  them  not.  Jer.  xii,  6; 
Matt,  xxiv,  23;  Prov.  xxvi,  25. 

3.  He  denounceth  grievous  judgments  against  such  Prophets 
as  go  about  to  induce  the  people  to  trust  in  a  lie.  Jer.  xxviii,  25  : 
xxix.  Si. 

4.  It  is  a  sore  judgment,  inflicted  only  upon  the  obstinate 
and  refractory,  (and  therefore  certainly  no  duty  of  them  that 
are  not  such,)  to  be  given  up  to  such  errors.  "  Because  they 
received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved  ; 
for  this  cause,  God  shall  send  them  strong  delusion,  that  they 
should  believe  a  lie  :  that  they  all  might  be  damned,  who  be- 
lieved not  the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness." 
2  Thess.  ii,  10,  12. — So  that  the  God  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness doth  not  bind  men  (as  a  pai-t  of  their  duty)  to  believe 
falsehood,  much  less  doth  He  punish  thera  with  "  more  grievous 
torments  for  not  believinrj  it." 


120  THE    TENETS    OF  [ART. 

5.  Doth  God  pervert  judgment?  or  doth  the  Almighty  per- 
vert justice  ?  Job  viii,  S. — Yea  surely,  God  will  not  do  wickedly, 
neither  will  the  Almighty  pervert  judgment,  xxxiv,  10,  l!2. 
He  will  not  lay  upon  man  more  than  is  right,  that  he  should 
enter  into  judgment  with  God.  Verse  23. 


THE  STATE  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY, 

TOUCHING 

THE  UNIVERSALITY  OF  CHRIST'S  DEATH. 

Whether  Christ  Jesus,  out  of  a  serious  and  gracious  pur- 
pose  and  decree  of  God  the  Father,  suffered  that  most  bitter 
and  shameful  death,  that  he  might  bring  into  Jctvour  with 
God  ONLY  SOME  FEW,  and  thosc formerly  and  iu  particular 
chosen  to  eternal  life  by  an  absolute  decree :  Or  that  hemiight 
merit  and  obtain  reconciliation  with  God,  for  all  and  every 
sinner,  without  difference,  by  doing  and  siiff'ering  those  things 
which  Divine  Justice,  by  sin  offended,  did  require  to  be  dune 
and  suffered  before  he  would  enter  \jnto'\  a  neio gracious  cove- 
nantwilh  sinners,  and  ojjen  the  door  of  salvation  to  them  ? 

THE    DECISION    IS    CONTAINED    IN    THE    FORMER   ASSERTIONS 
AND    NEGATIONS. 


I 


»      III    AND    IV.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  121 


THE  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  ARTICLES  CONTROVERTED, 
WHICH    ARE    TOUCHING 

THE  GRACE  OF  GOD  IN  THE  CONVERSION  OF  MAN- 

WHAT    THE    nEMOXSTBAXTS    HOLD. 

TENET  1. 

They  hold^  that  a  man  hath  not  saving Juith  of  himself^ 
nor  Jrom  the  power  of  his  own  free-will ;  seeing,  while  he  is 
in  the  state  of  sin,  he  cannot,  of  himself  nor  hy  himself, 
think,  or  will,  or  do,  any  saving  good,  (in  which  kind,Jaith 
in  Christ  is  eminent,)  hut  must  needs,  hy  God  in  Christ, 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  GJiost,  he  regenerated  and 
renexoed,  in  his  mind,  qffl'ciions,  will,  and  all  his  powers, 
that  he  may  aright  understand,  will,  and  meditate,  and  do 
that  which  is  savingly  good. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  A  man  hath  not  faith  or  any  saving  good  of  himself ,"  SfC.'^  Ye 
were  sometimes  darkness.  Ephes.  v,  8. — When  we  were  in  the 
flesh,  the  motions  of  sins,  which  were  by  the  law,  did  work  iv 
our  members,  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  death.  Rom.  vii,  5. — God 
hath  concluded  all  in  unbelief.  Rom.  xi,  32. — For  by  grace  are 
ye  saved,  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the 
gift  of  God.  Ephes.  ii,  8. — To  you  it  is  given — to  believe.  Phil, 
i,  8,  9- — None  can  say,  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  (who  is  therefore  called)  the  Spirit  of  faith.  I  Cor.  xii,  3. 
— Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to  think  any  thing,  as 
of  ourselves:  but  our  sufficiency  is  of  God.  2  Cor.  iv,  13; 
2  Cor.  iii,  5. — For  when  we  -were  yet  without  strength,  in  due 
time  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.  Rom.  v,  6. — Without  me,  ye 
Can  do  nothing.  John  xv,  5. — No  man  can  come  to  me,  except 
the  Father  draw  him.     Everv  man,  therefore,  that  hath  heard, 

i 


122  THE    TENETS    OF  [aRT, 

and  hath  learned  of  the  Fatlier,  cometh  unto  me.  John  vi, 
44,  45,  65. 

"  He  musi  needs  be  regenerated,"  c^-c.]]  That  which  is  born  of 
the  flesh,  is  flesh :  and  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood 
cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  John  iii,  6  ;  1  Cor.  xv,  50. — 
Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God.  John  iii,  3,  5. — But  ye  are  washed, 
but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God.  1  Cor.  vi,  11. — Not  by 
works  of  righteousness  which  we  had  done,  but  according  to 
his  mercy  he  sa-'cd  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.  Tit.  iii,  4,  5,  6. — The  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  begotten  us  again,  not  of  cor- 
ruptible seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God.  1  Pet. 
i,  3,  23      See  Ezek.  xxxvi,  26,  27. 

'•  He  must  be  renewed  in  tindersfandhig,  will,  affections"  t^'c] 
Eenewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  minds  :  Ephes.  iv,  23. — In  know- 
ledge. Col.  iii,  10.  See  1  Cor.  i,  4,  5. — To  whom  I  send  thee, 
to  open  their  eyes,  to  turn  them  from  dai'kness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  Tit.  ii,  11;  Acts  xxvi,  1 8. 
God,  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  purifying  their  hearts  by  faith. 
Acts  XV,  9. — The  blood  of  Christ  purge  your  conscience  from 
dead  works,  to  serve  the  living  God.  Heb.  ix,  14. — Seeing  ye 
have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the  truth,  through  the 
Spirit, — and  the  very  God  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly.  1  Pet. 
i,  22  ;   i  Thess.  v,  23. 

"  That  he  tmti/  do  that  which  is  savinsly  good"  Sfcr\  Make 
the  tree  good,  and  his  fruit  good.  Matt,  vii,  17;,  18  ;  xii,  33 — 35. 
But  now  being  made  free  from  sin,  and  become  servants  to 
God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  holiness,  and  the  end  everlasting 
life.  Rom.  vi,  22.     See  verse  18. 

TENET  II. 

They  Jiold,  that  the  grace  of  God  is  the  beginning,  pro- 
ceeding, and  FULFILLING  of  ALL  GOOD;  SO  as  even  the 
regenerate  man  himself,  without  grace  preventing,  ex- 
citing, FOLLOWING,  and  CO-WORKING,  cannot  thinJi,  will, 
or  do  good,  or  resist  any  temptation  to  ill :  so  that  the  good 
deeds  and  actions  zohicU  any  man  can  conceive,  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ. 

PHOOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  The  grace  of  God  is  the  beginning,"  c^r.^  Every  good  gift, 
and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above.  James  i,  17,  18.— If  the 


Ill    &.    IV.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  123 

Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed.  John  viii,  S6. 
See  2  Cor.  iv,  6.- Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty. 
2  Cor.  iii,  17- — It  is  God,  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  iii 
you,  which  worketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  plea- 
sure. Phil,  i,  6 ;  ii,  13. — The  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith. 
Heb.  xii,  2. — Whereunto  he  called  you  by  our  gospel.  2  Thess. 
ii,  U.  See  verses  15,  l6,  17;  1  Pet.  v,  10,  &c.— His  Divine 
Power  hath  given  us  all  things  that  pertran  to  life  and  god- 
liness. 2  Pet.  i,  1,  3. 

"  The  regenerate  man  himself  cannot,  tvithout  grace,  resist  any 
temptation  to  ill,"  S^c.'}  Wherefore  take  unto  you  the  whole 
armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  in  the  evil  day. 
Ephes.  vi,  13. — Watch  and  pray,  &c.  Matt,  xxvi,  41. — Lead  us 
not  into  temptation.  Matt,  vi,  13. 

"  The  good  we  do,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  grace  of  God  in 
Christ. "'2  By  the  grace  of  God,  1  am  what  I  am.  1  Cor.  xv,  10. 
— The  life  that  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God,  Gal.  ii,  20. — Blessed  be  God,  even  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which,  according  to  his  abundant  mercy, 
hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  &c.  1  Pet.  i,  3. — 
But  the  God  of  all  grace,  who  hath  called  us  unto  his  eternal 
glory,  by  Christ  Jesus ;  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever 
and  ever.  Amen!  1  Pet.  v,  10,  11. — See  Rom.  i,  8 ;  1  Cor.  i, 
4,  5 ;    Ephes.  i,  3,  &c. ;   Rom.  xvi,  25,  26,  27  ;   Rev.  i,  5,  6. 

TENET  III. 

They  hold,  that  to  hear  God's  word,  to  be  sorry  for  s'm 
committed,  to  desire  saving"  grace  and  the  Spirit  of  reno- 
vation, (nothing  of  which,  not-ioithstanding,  can  a  man 
DO  WITHOUT  GRACE,)  IS  profitable  and  needful  for  the  ob- 
taining (f faith  and  tJie  Spirit  of  renovation. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

Negotiamini  dum  venio :  "  Trade,  till  I  come ;"  for  whoso- 
ever hath,  to  him  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abun- 
dance. Luke  xix,  13,  26.  See  Matt,  xiii,  10 — 17;  Luke  xvi, 
11,  12  ;  xix,  17. — Every  man  that  hath  heard,  and  hath  learned 
of  the  Father,  cometh  unto  me.  John  vi,  45. — Faith  cometh  by 
hearing.  Rom.  x,  17. — They  (of  Berea)  received  the  word  with 
all  readiness  of  mind,  and  searched  the  Scriptures,  Therefore 
many  of  them  believed.  Acts  xvii,  IJ,  12. — If  any  man  will  do 
his  v/ill,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God. 
John  vii,  17.  See  Psalm  xxv,  12,  14;  cxi,  10;  Prov.  i,  7. — 
Godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  unto  salvation.  2  Cor.  vii,  10. 
See  Acts  ii,  37,  38  ;  xvi,  29,  30. — If  thou  wilt  incline  thine  ear 

I  2 


124  THE    TENETS    OF  [aKT. 

unto  wisdom,  and  apply  thine  heart  to  understanding if 

thou  seekest  her  as  silver then  shall  thou  understand  the 

fear  of  the  Lord.  Prov.  ii,  1 — 5. — I  love  them  that  love  me; 
and  they  that  seek  me  early,  shall  find  me.  Prov.  viii,  17- — 
Your  Heavenly  Father  will  give  the  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
him.  Luke  xi,  13. 

See  the  example  of  Sergius  Paulus,  Acts  xiii,  7,  12;  especi- 
ally that  of  Cornelius,  Acts  x,  1,2,  4,  5,  34,  35.  See  also  Gal. 
iii,  24;  Prov.  iii,  32;  Job.  xxviii,  28;  2  Tim.  ii,  21;  James 
i,  21  ;  2  Pet.  ii,  1,  2.  See  the  reason  of  the  negative  following, 
page  129. 

TENET  IV. 

Tkei/  Jwld,  thai  effectual  grace,  wlierehy  a  man  is  convertedy 
is  resistible  :  and  though  God  doth  so  worTc  upon  the  zvill  by 
his  word  and  the  inward  operation  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  as 
that  he  gives  both  power  to  believe  and  supernatural  abilities, 
and  makes  a  man  actually  to  believe,  yet  can  man,  of  him- 
self, despise  that  grace,  not  believe,  and  so,  through  his  oicn 
default,  'perish. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

I  will  take  the  stony  heart  out  of  their  flesh,  and  will  give 
them  an  heart  of  flesh,  that  they  ma)'^  walk  in  my  statutes,  and 

keep  mine  ordinances  and  do  them But  whose  heart  walk- 

eth  after  the  heart  of  their  detestable  things,  and  their  abomi- 
nations, I  will  recompense  their  way  upon  their  own  heads. 
Ezek.  xi,  20  compared  with  21. — Then  began  he  to  upbraid 
the  cities  wherein  most  of  his  mighty  works  were  done,  because 
they  repented  not.  "  Woe  unto  thee,  Cliorazin !  Woe  unto  thee, 
Bethsaida !  for  if  the  mighty  works  which  were  done  in  you, 
had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sydon,  they  would  have  repented 
long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  And  thou,  Capernaum, 
which  art  exalted  unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell  : 
for  if  the  mighty  works  which  have  been  done  in  thee,  had  been 
done  in  Sodom,  it  would  have  remained  until  this  day."  Matt, 
xi.  20-23. -I  have  purged  thee,  and  thou  wast  not  purged.  Ezek. 
xxiv,  13. — They  that  gladly  received  his  word,  were  baptized. 
Acts  ii,  41. — Ye  received  it,  not  as  the  word  of  man,  but  (as  it 
is  in  truth)  the  word  of  God,  which  effectually  worketh  also  in 
you  that  believe.  1  Thess.  ii,  13, 1  p.  See  verse  19  ;  Acts  xi,  21 ; 
Rom.  i,  16  ;  Acts  xiii,  46,  48. — He  sent  out  his  servants,  saying, 

"  AH  things  are  ready  :  come  unto  the  marriage."     But 

they  made  light  of  it.  Luke  xiv,  16,  &c.;  Matt,  xxii,  4,  5. — 
He  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me :  he  despiseth  not  man. 


Ill    &,    IV.]  THE    REMONSTKANTS.  125 

but  God,  who  hath  given  us  of  his  Spirit :  Luke  x,  16 ;  1  Thess. 

iv,  8. — How  often  would  I   have  gathered  thy  children  '. 

and  ye  would  not !  Matt,  xxiii,  37  ;  Luke  xiii,  34-. — These  things 
have  I  spoken,  that  ye  might  be  saved.  And  ye  will  not  come 
to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life,  Johin  v,  34,  40. — Because  I  have 
called  and  ye  refused,  I  have  stretched  out  my  hand  and  ye 
regarded  not,  &c.  Prov.  i,  24. — Despisest  thou  the  riches  of 
his  goodness  and  forbearance  and  long  suffering,  not  knowing 
that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance  ?  Rom. 
ii,  4,  5. — They  rebelled,  and  vexed  his  Holy  Spirit.  Isai.  Ixii,  10. 
See  Zech.  vii,  Jl,  13. — Ye  have  always  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace.  Acts  vii,  51 ;  Heb. 
X,  29. — And  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  against  themselves. 
Luke  vii,  30. — And  turn  the  grace  of  our  God  into  lascivious- 
ness.  Jude,  verse  4. — We  then,  as  workers  together  with  him, 
beseech  you  also,  that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain. 
2  Cor.  vi,  ]. — Looking  diligently,  iie  qiiis  desit  gratice  Dei,  lest 
any  man  be  wanting  to  the  grace  of  God.  Heb.  xii,  15.  See 
Psalm  Ixxviii,  40,  &c. ;  2  Cor.  iii,  15;  iv,  4.  Also  see  the 
reason  of  the  second  negative  following,  page  130.  See  Exod. 
xxi,  5,  6,  compared  with  Isai.lxi,  1,  2  ;  and  Rom.  vi,  14,  I6. 

TENET  V. 

They  hold,  that  though  grace  be  dispensed  in  drffering 
measure,  according  to  God''s  most  J^'ee-zvill,  yet  on  all  tlwse 
io  whom  the  word  qfjaith  is  preached,  the  Holy  Spirit 
bestows,  or  is  ready  to  bestow,  so  much  grace  as  is  sufficient, 
injitthig  degrees,  to  bring  on  their  conversion. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Though  grace  be  dispensed  in  differing  measure,"  t^'C.]]     God, 

■who    at    sundry  times,  and  in   divers  manners hath  in 

these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son.  Heb.  i,  1,  2. — A 
greater  than  Jonah  is  here.  Matt,  xii,  41. — I  came,  that  they 
might  have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly. 
John  x,  10. — How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great  sal- 
vation .f*  Heb.  ii,  2,  3. — To  one  he  gave  five  talents,  to  another 
two,  to  another  one.  Matt,  xxv,  15. — There  are  diversities  of 
gifts.  1  Cor.  xii,  4. — The  grace  of  God  is  manifold.  1  Pet.  iv,  10. 
— According  to  the  effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every 
part,  Ephes.  iv,  I6. — Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith,  receive 
you.  Rom.  xiv,  1. — There  is  not  in  every  man  that  knowledge. 
1  Cor.  viii,  7- 

"  The  Holy  Spirit  bestows  so  much  grace  as  is  sufficienl,"  Sfc.'^ 
God  having  raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in 


126  THE    ThNETS    OF  [aHT. 

tiirninn-  away  every  one  of  you  from  your  iniquities.  Acts  iii,  26. 
—Him  hath  God  exalted,  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for  to 
give  repentance  to  Israel  and  forgiveness  of  sins.  Acts  v,  31. — 
Christ  is  made  unto  us  wisdom  and  righteousness  and  sancti- 
fication  and  redemption.  1  Cor.  i,  30. — The  grace  of  God  which 
bringeth  salvation,  hath  appeared  unto  all  men,  &c.  Tit.  ii,  11,  12. 
See  2  Chron.  xxiv,  19- — To  whom  I  send  thee,  to  open  their 
eyes,  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins 
and  an  inheritauce,  &c.  Acts  xxvi,  18. — Our  sufficiency  is 
of  God  ;  who  also  hath  made  us  able  ministers, — not  of  the 
letter,  but  of  the  Spirit.  2  Cor.  iii,  5,  6". — Go  ye  and  teach— 
and  lo  I  am  with  you.  Matt,  xxviii,  19,  20.     See  Matt,  xviii,  20. 

, Now  then  we  are  Ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God 

did  beseech  you  by  us ;  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye 
reconciled  unto  God.  2  Cor.  v,  20. — Receive  not  the  grace  of 
God  in  vain.  2  Cor.  vi,  1. 

"  In  ^^'"'^  degrees,"  c^c.^  With  many  such  parables  spake 
he  the  word  unto  them,  as  they  were  able  to  hear  it.  Mark  iv,  33. 

And  delivered  to  his  servants  his  talents,  to  every  one  accoi-d- 

ing  to  his  several  ability.  [[Agreeable to  his  capacity, and  compe- 
tent to  his  office  and  employment,  and  the  exigence  of  business 
entrusted  to  him  of  his  Lord.^  Matt,  xxv,  15.     See  Heb,  v, 

13^   14. X^e  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that 

shineth  mor^  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  Prov.  iv,  18. — 
For  whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have 
more  abunda^^ce.  Matt,  xiii,  12. — He  that  is  faithful  in  that 
which  is  leasts  is  faithful  also  in  much:  If  therefore  ye  have  not 
been  faithful  i^  ^^e  unrighteous  mammon,  who  will  commit  to 
your  trust  the  true  riches  }  And  if  ye  have  not  been  faithful 
in  that  which  is  another's,  who  shall  give  you  that  which  is 
your  own  ? — Z}^  yu  be  not  faithful  in  the  use  of  things  tem- 
poral, howsliall  God  intrust  you  with  things  heavenly  and  spiri- 
tual.!"^ Luke  xvi,  10,  12. — Wherefore  let  us  have  grace  [[hold 
it  fast  by  employing  iC\  whereby  we  may  serve  God  accept- 
ably, Heb.  xii,  2,  8,— and  grow  in  it.  2  Pet.  iii,  18. 

TENET  VI. 

They  Ju)lcl,  that  a  man  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
may  do  more  good  than  indeed  he  doth,  and  omit  more  evil 
than  indeed  he  omitteth. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had  sin  : 
but  now  they  have  no  cloak  [[excuse]]  for  their  sin.     If  I  had  not 


Ill  &    IV,]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  127 

done  among  them  the  works  which  none  other  man  did,  they  had 
not  had  sin  :  but  now  have  they  both  seen  and  hated  both  me 
and  my  Father.  John  xv,  iJ2,  24. — The  times  of  this  ignorance 
God  winked  at.  Acts  xvii,  30;  1  Kings  xxi,  25 ;  Zach,  i,  15. 
— But  the  righteousness  wliich  is  of  faith,  speaketh  on  this  wise. 
The  word  is  very  nigh  thee,  in  ihy  mouth  and  in  thy  heart,  that  thou 
mayest  do  it.  Deut.  xxx,  14< ;  Rom,  x,  6,  8. — Wliere  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.  2  Cor.  iii,  17;  see  John  viii,  32,  3Q. 
—Being  then  made  free  from  sin,  ye  became  the  servants  of 
righteousness.  Rom.  vi,  18. — Thou  hast  a  little  strength,  and 
hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name.  Rev.  iii,  8.— 
I  am  able  to  do  all  things,  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth 
me.  Phil,  iv,  13. — If  the  mighty  works  which  have  been  done  in 
you,  had  been  done  in  Tyre,  Sidon  or  Sodom,  they  would  have 
repented.  Matt,  xi,  21,  23.  See  the  four  [^succeeding]]  negative 
propositions. 

TENET  VII. 

They  hold,  that  xvhomsoever  God  calls  unto  salvation^  lie 
calleth  him  seriously,  that  is,  with  a  sincere  and  iirifeigned 
intention  and  will  to  save  him. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

1.  His  COMMAND. — But  now  he  commandeth  all  men  every 
where  to  repent.    Acts  xvii,  30. 

2.  His  INVITATIONS. — And  the  Lord  sent  to  them  by  his  mes- 
sengers rising  up  betimes  and  sending.  2  Chron.  xxxvi,  14 — 16. 

See  xxiv,  IQ. — And  he  sent  out  his  servants and  he  sent  other 

servants,    saying,    Go  out  qtiickly and  compel  them  to  come  in. 

Matt,  xxii,  2,  4,  &c. ;  Luke  xiv,  21. — The  Spirit  and  the  Bride 
say.  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth,  say.  Come.  And  let  him 
that  is  athirst,  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water 
of  life  freely.  Rev.  xxii,  I7. — Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come 
ye  to  the  waters.  Isa.  Iv,  i. — Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock.    Rev.  iii,  20. — Wisdom  crieth  without :  she  uttereth  her 

voice  in  the  streets.     How  long,  you  simple  ones  ! Ttirn  yo\i  at 

my  reproof:  Behold,  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  unto  you,  Sfc  Prov. 
i,20,&c. 

3.  His  RECEPTION. — Him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out.  John  vi,  37. — Come,  and  I  will  refresh  you.  Matt,  xi, 
28. — He  shall  sup  with  me.  Rev.  iii,  20. 

4.  His  OPTIONS. — (1.)  For  the  time  past. — But  my  people  would 
not   hear.      O  that  my  people  had  hearkened  unto  me  !    Psalm 

Ixxxi,  9 — 14. — Thus  saith  the  Lord  thy  Redeemer 1  am  the 

Lord  thy  God,  which  teacheth  thee  to  profit,  which  leadeth  thee 
by  the  way  that  thou  shouklest  go,   O  that  thou  hadst  hearkened 


128  THK    TENETS    OF  [aKT. 

to  my  commandments !,  then  had  thy  peace  been  as  a  river,  and 
thy  righteousuess  as  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Isa.  xlviii,  I7 — 19. 
(2.)  For  the  Fului'e — O  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in  them, 
that  they  would  fear  me,  and  keep  my  commandments  always, 
that  it  might  be  well  with  them  !  Deut.  v,  29. — O  that  they  were 
wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their 
latter  end  !   Deut.  xxxii,  29. 

5.  His  PKECATioNs  and  beseechings. — I  have  spread  out  my 
hands  (a  posture  of  prayer.  Exodus  ix,  29;  Psalm  lxiii,5.)  all  the 
day  unto  a  rebellious  people.  Isa.  Ixv,  2  ;  Rom.  x,  21. — God 
doth  beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you,  in  Christ's  stead.  Be  ye 
reconciled  unto  God.  2  Cor.  v,  20. 

6.  His  OBTESTATIONS. — I  Call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  this 
day  against  you,  that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  blessing 
and  cursing :  therefore  choose  life,  that  both  thou  and  thy  seed 
may  live.  Deut.  xxx,  19- — Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O 
earth!  I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and  they  have 
rebelled  against  me.    Isa.  i,  2- 

7.  His  COMPLAINTS — O  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto 
thee,  and  wherein  have  I  wearied  thee .''  Testify  against  me. 
Micah  vi,  3. — What  iniquity  have  your  fathers  found  in  me,  that 
they  are  gone  far  from  me,  and  have  walked  after  vanity  and  are 
become  vain?  Jer  ii,  5- — Have  I  been  a  wilderness  unto  Israel  ? 
Wherefore  say  my  people,  fVe  will  come  no  more  unto  thee  ?  Jer. 
ii,  31. 

8-  His  LAMENTATIONS. — O  Jei'usalem,  wash  thine  heart  from 
wickedness,  that  thou  mayest  be  saved  !  How  long  shall  thy  vain 
thoughts  lodge  within  thee!  Jer.  iv,  14. — O  Jerusalem,  Jerusa- 
lem, thou  that  killest  the  pi'ophets  and  stonest  them  which  are 
sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children 
together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings, 
and  ye  would  not!  Matt,  xxiii,  37- — He  beheld  the  city  and  wept 
over  it,  saying,  "  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in 
this  thy  day,  the  things  that  belong  unto  thy  peace  !"  Luke  xix, 
41,  42. 

9.  His  EXPOSTULATIONS. — Cast  away  from  you  all  your  trans- 
gressions, and  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit :  for  why 
will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel.^  Ezekiel  xviiii,  31,  32-  See  Jer. 
xiii,  27- 

10.  His  iNCREPATioNSanc?  EXPROBRATioNS. — Thcsc  tilings  I 
say,  that  ye  may  be  saved.  And  ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye 
might  have  life.  John  v,  40,  34. — Despisest  thou  the  riches  of 
his  goodness — not  knowing,  that  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  leadeth 
thee  unto  repentance .''  Rom.  ii,  4. — Woe  unto  thee,  O  Jerusalem  ! 
wilt  thou  not  be  made  clean .''  When  shall  it  once  be?  Jeremiah 
xiii,  27, 

11.  His  coMMiNATioNs  and  THREATENiNGS. — Therefore  will 
J  judge  yoM,  O  house  of  Israel,  every  one  according  to  his  ways. 


III.    Sw    IV.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  129 

saith  the  Lord  God ;  repent  and  turn  yourselves  from  all  your 
transgressions:   so  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin.  Ezek.  xviii, 

30. — Now  therefore  go  to,  speak  to  the  men  of  Judah saying, 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold  I  frame  evil  against  3'ou,  and  de- 
vise a  device  against  you  :  return  ye  now  every  one  ti-om  his  evil 
way,  and  make  your  ways  and  your  doings  good."  Jerem,  xviii, 
10,11. 

12.  His  OATH  and  protestation. — As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord 
God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  detith  of  the  wicked,  but  that  the 
wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your 
evil  ways  :  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  Ezek.  xxxiii, 
11.     []  Are  not  these  arguments  of  seriousness?]]     If  the    Lord 

were  pleased  to  kill  us, he  would  not  have  shewed  us  all  these 

things,  nor  have  told  us  such  things  as  these.  Judges  xiii,  23. — 
See  the  reason  of  the  fifth  negative,  page  134. 


WHAT  THE  REMONSTRANTS  DO  NOT  HOLD, 

TOUCHIKG 

THE  SAID  ARTICLES, 
GOD'S    GRxiCE    AND     MAN'S    CONVERSION. 

REJECTION  I. 

Thei/  do  NOT  hold,  that  "  all  zeal,  care  and  study  Jir  the 

ohtalning  nf  salvation,    zchich  a  inayi  shall  use  before  he  hath 

faith  and  the  Spirit  of  renovatixm,  is  vain  and  to  no  purpose ; 

much  less,  that  it  is  ratlier  hurtful  than  profitable  andfrmtfid 

to  him.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

1.  The  neglect  hereof  is  complained  of . — There  is  none  that  stir- 
reth  up  himself  to  take  hold  of  thee.   Isa.   Ixiv,  7-  See  Isa.  xliv, 

19. — But    none   saith,      "Where    is  God  my    Maker, who 

teacheth  us  more  than  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and  maketh  us 
wiser  than  the  fowls  of  heaven  ?"  Job  xxxv,  10,  11. — No  man 
repenteth  him  of  his  wickedness,  saying,  "  What  have  I  done  .''" 
Jer.  V,  24,  viii,  6. 

2.  This  neglect  is  threatened. — He  that  is  unjust  in  the  least,  is 
unjust  also  in  much.     If  therefore  you  have  not  been  faithful  in 


130  THE    TEiNETS    OF  [aUT. 

that  which  is  another's,  &c.    Luke  xvi,    10,    12. — Because  when 
they  knew  Cod,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God.   Rom.  i,  21. 

3.  This  is  a  duty  expccled  even  of  the  Heathens. — That  they 
should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and  find 
him.  Acts  xvii,  27. 

4.  And  it  is  commanded. — He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him 
hear. — Remember  this,  and  shew  yourselves  men.  Isa.  xlvi,  8. 
—If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God.  James  i,  5. 
— Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate.  Prepare  the  way  of  the 
Lord.  Luke  iii,  4,  6;  Jer.  iv,  3  ;   Hos.  x,  12. 

5.  This  is  commended  as  a  disposition  and  preparative  to  faith  in 
Christ,  and  the  Spirit  of  renovation. — To  him  that  hath  shall  be 
given  :  To  you  it  is  given  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Matt,  xiii,  10 — 12. — Thou  hast  revealed  them  to 
babes.  Even  so.  Father,  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight.  Matt, 
xi,  5,  25,  26. — But  he  that  doth  truth,  cometh  to  the  light.  John 
X,  27,  iii,  21. — That  on  the  good  ground,  are  they,  which,  in  an 
honest  and  good  heart,  having  heard  the  word,  keep  it,  and  bring 
forth  fruit  with  patience.  Luke  viii,  15. — Of  such  is  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Mark  xix,  14. 

6*.  This  care  and  study  is  encouraged, — He  will  not  quench  the 
smoking  flax,  nor  break  the  bruised  reed.  Matt,  xii,  20. — Ho 
every  one  that  thirsteth,  that  labours !  Isa.  Iv,  1 ;  Matt,  xi,  28.— 
Draw  nigh  unto  God,  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.  James  iv,  8. 
— They  that  desire  to  fear  thy  name.  Nehemiah  i,  11:  Psalm 
xxxviii,  9- 

7.  He  adjourns  the  judgment  upon  Ahab's  humiliation. — 1  Kings 
xxi,  27,  29;  see  2  Chron.  xii,   12  ;  Exodus  i,  17,  20,  21. 

8.  He  sends  direction  to  stich  as  are  pricked  to  the  heart,  and  en- 
quire after  hirn. — Acts  ii,  37,  38.  To  the  publicans  and  soldiers. 
Luke  iii,  8,  10.  To  the  jailor.  Acts  xvi,  29,  30.  To  Cornelius, 
after  a  most  eminent  and  extraordinary  manner.  Actsx,  1 — 35. 

9-  He  gives  persons  of  such  study  and  inclination,  satisfaction  and 
a  hlcssi7ig.—B>\e&se(\  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness, for  they  shall  be  filled.  Matt,  v,  6;  see  Luke  i,  53.-— 
God  is  a  rewarder  of  all  them  that  diligently  seek  him.  Heb.  xi, 
6  ;  Matt.  xi,28. — Arise  therefore,  and  be  doing,  and  the  Lord  be 
with  thee.    1  Chron.  xxii,  l6. 

REJECTION  II. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  effectual  grace,  whereby  a 
man  is  converted,  is  an  unresistible  power.''''  * 

*  The  RKsiSTiBiLiTY  and  the  iRRESisrrBiLiTY  of  Divine  Grace,  are  the 
prand  questions  which  have  to  be  decided  between  the  Calvinists  and  the 
Armiiiians.    Were  it  impossible  to  resist  this  grace,  or  to  pervert  it  from  its 


HI.    &    IV.]  THE   REMONSTRANTS.  131 


THE  REASON. 

1.  Conversion  is  enjoined  (on)  us  as  our  duty,  and  we  are  ex- 
horted to  it  with  promises  and  threatenings.™Turn  j  e,  turn  je. 
Prov.  i,  22  ;  Ezek.  xviii,  30,  32  :   Jer.  vii,  3. 

2.  It  is  a  matter  of  choice.— Chuse  whom  ye  will  serve,  chuse 
life.  Deut.  xxx,  19;  Jos.  xxiv,  15.  See  2  Cor.  v,  20;  Isa.  i,  12, 
20. 

3.  The  duty  and  the  grace,  enabling  to  it,  maybe  neglected. 
—How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation .''  2  Cor. 
vi,  1 ;  Heb.  ii,  3  ;  Jer.  xxxvi,  6,  7- — Therefore  we  are  admonished 
"  Harden  not  your  hearts."  Heb.  iii,  7,  8 :  Psalm  xcv,  7,  8. 
— Some  temper  of  mind  better  qualified.  See  the  First  Nega- 
tive, page   129. 

4.  God  requires  our  endeavours  (1.)  by  way  of  preparatio7i.-— 
Laying  aside  the  vail,  (2  Cor.  iii,  15.)  prejudice,  (John  vii,  3—5, 
62.)  ambition,  (John  v,  44,  xii,  42,  43.)  all  malice,  and  all 
guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies,  and  all  superfluity  of  naugh- 
tiness ;  (see  Acts  xiii,  45;  Luke  xvi,  14.)  that  we  may  with 
meekness,  (Psalm  XXV,  9,  12,  14;  see  Acts  ii.  41.)  as  new-born 
babes  receive  the  ministries  of  grace.  (James  i,  21  ;  1  Peter  ii,  1, 
2.)  and  as  many  as  [^being  in  pursuit  of  the  world  to  come,]] 
were  [^thus^  ordained,  [[addicted,  disposed^  to  eternal  life,  be- 
lieved. Acts  xiii,  48. 

When  being  wrought  into  this  temper  and  frame  of  spirit,  by 
God's  preventing  grace,  we  are  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
Luke  ix,  62. 

5.  God  requires  our  endeavours,  (2.)  by  way  of  co-opera  I  mi, 
to  make  his  saving  grace  effectual,  which  argues  it  is  not  an  tin- 
resistible  power. — Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock;  if  any 
man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  (which  door  turns  upon 
two  hinges,  faith  and  obedience,  Rom.  i,  I6;  1  Thess.  ii,  13; 
Ephes.  iii,  17;  Rom.  vi,  17-)  I  will  come  in  to  him  &c.  Rev. 
iii,  20. 


proper  use,  the  warnings  and  threatenings  of  scripture  would  be  nugatory 
and  of  no  practical  effect:  Under  such  circumstances  there  would  be  no 
need  for  saying  to  sanctified  persons,  '  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spmt  of  God, 
whereby  VE  ARE  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption.'' 

The  Calvinists  are  unwilling  to  put  the  matter  upon  this  issue,  and  they 
always  try  to  evade  the  question.  Vet  that  part  of  the  Dkclauation  of  Ar- 
niinius  before  the  States  of  Holland  is  not  the  less  true,  in  which  he  says: 
"  The  whole  controversy  reduces  itself  to  the  solution  of  this  Question,  '  Is 
the  grace  of  God  a  certain  irresistible  force  /'  That  is,  the  controversy  does 
not  relate  to  those  actions  or  operations  which  may  be  ascribed  to  grace,  (for 
1  acknowledge  and  inculcate  as  many  of  these  actions  or  operations  as  any 
man  ever  did,)  but  it  relates  solely  to  the  mode  of  operation, — whether  it  be 
irresistible  or  not :  With  respect  to  which,  1  believe,  according  to  the  scrip- 
tures, that  many  persons  resist  the  Holy  Spirit  and  reject  the  grace  that  is 
otfered."  (A#^rA»- f/AK.^iiNics,  Vol.1,  page  GOO.) — EonoR. 


132  THE    TEXETS    OF  [aRT 

6.  That  this  grace  is  7iot  utiresistiblc,  appears  further,  by  God's 
option  :  O  that  tfiere  were  such  a  heart  in  them,  that  they  would 
fear  me  &c.  (as  above.) 

7-  He  complains  also  of  men's  peri)fr.y<?»e**  and  coH/M?n^Cj/,  ob- 
structing the  work  of  gi'ace  in  themselves. — What  could  have 
been  done  more  to  my  vineyard  that  I  liave  not  done  in  it?  Isa. 
V,  4  ;  see  Mark  vi,  6. — They  have  eyes  to  see  and  see  not :  they 
have  ears  to  hear  and  hear  not,  for  they  are  a  rebellious  house. 
Ezek.  xii,  2;  see  Matt,  iii,  15. — But  they  rebelled,  and  vexed  his 
Holy  Spirit.  Isa.  Ixiii,  7 — 10. — But  theyi*efused  to  hearken,  and 
pulled  away  the  shoulder,  and  stopped  their  ears,  that  they 
should  not  hear.  Yea,  they  made  their  hearts  as  an  adamant 
stone,  lest  they  should  hear  the  law,  and  the  words  which  the 
Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  in  his  Spirit,  by  the  former  prophets-  Zech. 
vii,  JO — 12. 

8.  Some  are  captivated  to  the  obedience  of  this  grace,  while 
others  stand  outinreieffio^zagainstthepower  of  it. — Some  gladly 
receive  it,  others  do  thrust  it  from  them,  contradicting  and  blas- 
pheming. Actsii,  41 :  xiii,  48,  45.  See  1  Thess.  ii,  ]3  :  2  Thess. 
ii,  10,  11. — Thou  art  not  sent  to  a  people  of  a  strange  speech — 
Surely  had  I  sent  thee  to  them,  they  would  have  hearkened  unto 
thee  ;  but  the  house  of  Israel  will  not  hearken  unto  thee.  Ezek. 
iii,  5 — 7. — Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  Sodom  would  have  repented  : 
but  you  will  not.  Matt,  xi,  20 — 22. — The  men  of  Nineveh  re- 
pented at  the  preaching  of  Jonah;  but  [you  resist  a  greater 
light  and  force  of  grace^  behold,  a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here. 
Matt,  xii,  41. — To  the  one,  we  are  the  savour  of  life  nnto  life; 
and  to  the  other,  the  savour  of  death  unto  death.  2  Cor.  ii,  14 — 16. 

9.  The  Lord  punisheth  the  refractory,  for  resisting  the  work  of 
his  grace  and  Spirit. — For  the  earth  which  drinketh  in  the  rain, 

and  bringeth    forth  fruit receiveth  blessing    from  God. 

But  that  which  beareth  thorns  and  briers,  is  rejected,  and  is  nigh 
imto  cursing,  whose  end  is  to  be  burned.  Heb.vi,  7,  8. ---Because 
I  have  called  and  ye  refused,  &c.  Prov.  i,  24  &c.— Therefore 
came  a  great  wrath  from  the  Lord.  Zech.  vii,  11-— 13. ---This  is 
the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  love 
darkness  rather  than  light.  John  iii,  19.— In  thy  filthiness  is 
lewdness  :  because  I  have  purged  thee,  and  thou  wast  not  purged, 
thou  shalt  not  be  purged  from  thy  filthiness  any  more,  till  I  have 
caused  my  fury  to  rest  upon  thee.  Ezek  xxiv,  13.  See  Matthew 
xiii,  15  &c. ;  Actsxxviii,  24  &c. ;  2  Chron.  xxiv,  I9,  20. — God 
resisteth  the  proud  but  giveth  grace  to  the  humble.  James  iv,  6. 
See  the  Fourth  and  Seventh  Affirmatives,  pages  124,  127. 

REJECTION   III. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  doth  bestoxo  grace  suffi- 
cient for  faith  and  conversion,  only  upon  those  whom,  accord- 


Ill    &-    IV.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  133 

ing'  to  the  decree  of  his  election,  hewiUeth  to  convey't  ^inresist- 
ihly ;  and  that  he  neither  doth  nor  zoilleth  to  bestow  on  the 
Reprobates  grace  necessciry  tojaithand  salvation!''' 

THE  REASON. 

1.  The  Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all 
his  works.  Psalm  cxlv,  8,  9- — He  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved. 
1  Tim.  ii,  3,  4 — He  will   not   that  any  perish.    2  Peter  iii,  f). — 

Go,  preach    the    Gospel    to  every  creature and  they  went 

forth,  and  preached  every  where,  the  Lord  working  with  them, 
and  confirming  the  word  with  signs  following.  Mark  xvi,  15,20. 
What  could  have  been  done  more  ?  Isa.  v,  4.  See  Mark  vi,  0" : 
Jer.  xxxvi,  6,  7. — Why  will  ye  die?  Ezek.  xviii,  31. — As  1  live, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked. 
Ezek.  xxxiii,  11.  See  the  proofs  for  Conditionate  Election,  ad- 
ministration of  necessary  and  sufficient  means,  (pages  97  and  ()'^.') 
and  the  seriousness  of  God's  call :  being  the  Seventh  Affirmative 
proposition  above,  page  127. 

2.  He  threatens  to  withdraw    his    grace    from  men,  otih\  for 

their  stubborness  and  rebellion  agai?ist  him  and  it. — Therefore 

the  kingdom  of  God  shall  he  taken  from  you.  Matt,  xxi,  41,  43. 
— Or  else  I  will  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of  his  place.  Rev. 
ii,  5. — None  of  those  men  who  were  bidden,  shall  taste  of  my 
supper.    Luke  xiv,  24. — How  often  would  I,  and  ye  would  not ! 

Bat  now  are  they  hidden   from    thine  eyes.  Luke  xiii,  34: 

xix,  42. — But  whosoever  hath  not  [  made  good  use  of  preventing 
grace,  ]  from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath.  There- 
fore speak  I  to  them  in  parables  ;  because  they,  seeing,  see  not : 
And  in  them  is  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Esaias,    by  hearing  ye 

shall  hear,  and  shall  not  imderstand for  their  eyes  have  they 

closed,  lest  at  any  times  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear 
with  their  ears,  and  should  understand  with  their  heart,  and 
should  be  converted  and  I  should  heal  them.  Matt,  xiii,  12 — 15. 
See  .\cts  xxviii,  26,  &c.     Who  hold  the  truth  in  unrighteousness 

and  turn   it    into  a  lie  ;   for  this  cause  God  gave  them  up  to 

vile  affections.  Rom.  i,  18,  21,  24,  25,  28. — Because  they  recei- 
ved not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved  ;  for  this 
cause  God  gave  them  up.    2  Thess.  ii,  10 — 12. — Because  I  have 

called,  and  ye  refused Ye  also    shall  call,  and  I  will  not 

answer  you  ;  I  will  laugh  at  your  calamities.  Prov.  i,  24,  &c. — 
God  resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  gi-ace  to  the  humble.  James 
iv,  6.  See  the  Texts  cited  againit  Absolute  Reprobation,  page 
103,  1  Chron.  xxviii,  9;  2  Chron.  xv,  2  ;  1  Peter  ii,  7,  8;  Zech. 
ix,  15,  17.  1  will  love  them  no  more,  because  they  did  not 
hearken- 


134  THE    TENETS    OF  [aUT. 

REJECTION  IV. 

They  do  utierly  deny,  that  "  God  is  simply  unwilling  that 

a  man  should  do  (1.)    more  good  than  he  doth,  or  (2 J  omit 

m,ore  evil  than  he  omittcth  ;  or  ihat  he  hath  precisely  decreed 

Jrometenvity,  thathoth  good  and  evil  should  be  so  dnne  as 

tliey  are?'' 

THE  REASON. 

1.  His  command. — Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  mind  and  Avith  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  strength.  Abstain  from  all  appearance  (kind)  of 
evil.  1  Thess.  v,  22. — Have  no  fellowship  with  unfruitful  works 
of  darkness.  Ephes.  v,  1 1 . — Wherein  have  I  wearied  thee  ?  Mi- 
cah  vi,  3.  See  Phil,  iii,  12—15.  My  yoke  is  easy.  Matt.  xi,29. 
Receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain.  2  Cor.  vi,  1. — Grow  in 
grace.  2  Peter  iii,  18. — Negoticnnini  dum  venio,  "  Trade  till  I 
come."  Wherefore  (hast  thou  kept  my  talent  in  a  napkin,  and) 
gavest  it  not  into  the  bank,  that  at  my  coming  I  might  have  re- 
quired mine  own  with  usury  ? Cast  that  unprofitable  servant, 

&c.    Lukexix,  12,  20. — Ye  did  run  well,  who   did   drive   you 
back  ?  Gal.  v,  7, 

2.  But  what  they  know  naturally,  as  brute  beasts,  in  those 
things  they  corrupt  themselves.  Jude  10. — Their  heart  is  fully 
SET  IN  THEM  to  do  evil.  Ecclcs.  viii,  11. — They  devise  iniquity 
upon  their  beds.  Micahii,  1. — They  rebel  against  the  light.  Job 
xxiv,  13.  Consider  verses  15,  \6,  17.  See  Rom.  i,  32  :  Isaiah 
XXX,  8 — 11.  See  also  the  proofs  of  the  Affirmative  in  the  Sixth 
Assertion,  page  126. 

REJECTION  V. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  doth  outwardly  call 
some,  whom  he  is  unwilling  inwardly  to  call  and  truly  to  con- 
vert, andthat  before  theyhaverejected  the  grace  of  conversion.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

1.  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  ihai  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners.  iTim.i,  15;  Luke  xix,  10. — To  call  sin- 
ners to  repentance,  (Matt,  xi,  13.)  to  call  them  to  the  obedience  of 
faith,  (Rom.  xvi,  25,  26.)  unto  holiness,  (1  Thess.  iv,  7)  out  of 
darkness  into  his  marvellous  light,  that  we  might  set  forth  his 
praise.  1  Peter  ii,  9;  Eph.  i,  12.  Why  should  he  not  be  serious 
in  all  this,  seeing  it  is  according  to  his  purpose  and  GR.'iCE.'' 
2  Tim.  i,  9. 


Ill    &    IV.]  THE     REMONSTRANTS.  135 

2.  And  the  motive  of  it  is  his  compassion. — The  Lord  sent  to 
them  by  his  messenj^ers :  because  he  had  compassion  on  his  peo- 
ple. But  they  mocked  the  messengers,  &c.  2  Chron.xxxvi,  15. 
See  2  Chron.  xxiv,  19  ;  Marl-i  xii,  6,  7  :  Beloved  and  called. 
Rom.  i,  7- — I  will  mention  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord. — 
He  was  their  Saviour ;  in  all  their  afflictions  he  was  afflicted  ;  in 
his  love  and  in  his  pity  he  redeemed  them.  But  they  rebelled 
and  vexed  his  Holy  Spirit.  Isa.  Ixiii,  7 — 10. — With  this  affection 
the  Lord  calls  such  as  are  finally  disobedient,  (See  1  Peter  iii,  19, 
iv,  6.)  till  they  provoke  him  to  wrath  that  there  be  no  remedy 
left.  2  Chron.  xxxvi,  l6-  This  affection  is  testified,  by  options 
and  intreaties,  by  expostulations  and  increpations,  by  his  lamen- 
tations and  oath.  See  the  proofs  of  the  Seventh  Affirmative,  page 
127. 

3.  His  CHARGE. — Son  of  man,  I  have  set  thee  a  watchman  unto 
the  house  of  Israel :  therefore  thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my 
mouth,  and  warn  them  from  me.  When  I  say  unto  the  wicked, 
O  wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die  !,  if  thou  dost  not  speak  to 
warn  the  wicked  from  his  way,  that  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his 
iniquity :  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand.  Ezek. 
xxxiii,  7  ;  Acts  xx,  28. 

4.  His  EXPECTATION. — He  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth 
grapes,  and  it  brought  forth  wild  grapes.  Isai.  v,  2.  See  1  Pet. 
iii,  20. 

5.  His  appeal  to  our  own  judgment  in  the  cases. — Judge,  I 
pray  you,  betwixt  me  and  my  vineyard.  What  could  have 
been  done  more  to  my  vineyard,  [  dare  any  man  alledge  the  want 
of  a  serious  inward  call?,]  that  I  have  not  done  in  it?  Where- 
fore, when  I  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes,  bnought 
it  forth  wild  grapes?  Isai.  v,  3,  4. —  [.See  Luke  xiv,  21.  He 
was  angry  at  their  refusal.^ — O  house  of  Israel,  are  not  my 
ways  equal  ?    Are  not  your  ways  unequal  ?  Ezek.  xviii,  29,  &c. 

6.  He  charges  their  non-conversion  (as  ivas  proved  above  J  tipon 
their  own  refractoriness:  and  punisheth  them  for  it. — Jer- 
XXV,  4  ;  xxxv,  15;  1  Sam.  ii,  30 — (1.)  With  desertion.  2  Chron. 
xxxvi,  16";  2  Thess.  ii,  10,  11,  12.  See  Rom.  i,  28 — And 
(2.")  With  destruction.  2  Thess.  i,  8 — See  the  proofs  of  the 
Seventh  Affirmative,  page  127. 

REJECTION  VI. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  there  is  a  secret  zvill  in 
God,  so  contrary  to  his  will  revealed  in  his  word,  that, 
according  to  his  secret  will,  he  nilleth  the  conversion  and 
salvation  of  the  greatest  part  of  those  whom,  hy  the  word  of 
his  gospel  and  revealed  will,  he  seriously  callcth  and  inriteth 
to  faith  and  salvation;  so  as  there  should  be  acknowledged 
in  God,  a  holy  simulation  and  a  double  person.'''' 


136  THE    TENETS    OF  [aBT. 


THE  REASON. 

1.  He  calls  us  out  of  compassion  and  according  to  his  purpose 
and  grace.  2  Chron.  xxxvi,  15  ;  2  Tim.  i,  9-  !5ee  2  Chron. 
xxiv,  19;  Mark  xii,  6. 

2.  He  is  a  God  of  truth,  and  adds  his  oath  for  confirmation  of 
our  faith  in  this  particular.  "  He  cannot  lie,  nor  deny  himself." 
Numb,  xxiii,  19;  Tit.  i,  2  ;  Heb.  vi,  18;  2  Tim.  ii,  i3. 

5.  He  condemneth  a  double  heart  and  punisheth  dissemblers 
and  hi/pocrites,  no  less  than  unbelievers.  Matt,  xxiv,  51  ;  Luke 
xii,  46. 

4.  And  besides,  our  conversion,  sanctification,  and  salvation, 
are  according  to  his  secret,  acceptable  atid  perfect  n'ill.  Ephes. 
i,  9;  1  Thess.  iv,  3  ;  Rom.  xii,  2.  See  the  proofs  of  the  Seventh 
Affirmative,  page  127.     See  1  Tim.  ii,  3,  4. 

REJECTION  VII. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  God  calletli  Reprobates  for 
these  ends,  viz.  that  he  may  harden  them  the  more,  make  them 
unexcusable, punish  them  the  more  grievously,  manifest  their 
weakness ;    and  not  for   this   end, — that   tkey  may  be 

CONVEUTED,    BELIEVE    AND    BE    SAVED."" 

THE  REASON. 

1.  See  it  in  the  Reasons  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Negatives, 
immediately  foregoing,  (page  134,)  to  which  add  Ephes.  iv,  1  : 
"  I  therefore,  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord,  beseech  you,  that  ye 
walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called."  *  And 
what  answer  doth  such  a  call  deserve,  as  is  given  to  no  other 
end  than  those  now  mentioned.''  But  God  calleth  us  with  an 
holy  calling.  2  Tim.  i,  9. — And  he  saith  unto  me,  write  :  Blessed 
are  they  which  are  called  unto  the  marriage- shipper  of  the  Lamb! 
And  he  saith  unto  me.  These  are  the  true  sayings  of  God.  Rev. 
xix,  9.     See  Luke  x,  24;  Matt,  xvi,  17. 

2.  He  upbraids  such  as  make  no  better  use  of  his  calls,  than 
to  aggravate  their  own  damnation.  Deut.  xxix,  2 — 6;  Ezek. 
ii,  5  ;  John  xv,  22,  24. — These  things  I  say,  that  ye  might  be 
saved.  And  ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  might  have  life. 
John  V,  34,  40- — Despisest  thou  the  riches  of  his  goodness — not 
knowing  that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance  ? 
But  after  thy  hardness,  and  impenitent  heart,  treasurest  up  unto 
thyself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath  ?  Rom.  ii,  4,  5.  See 
Proofs    of  the  Seventh  Affirmative,  page  127. 

•  See  2  Cliroi).  xxiv,  1!).    His  desig;ii  is  to  reduce  them  [bring  them  back].  • 
Mark  xii,  (j.    Beiovfd,  and  called   .Rom.  i,  7. 


III.    &    IV.]  THE   REMONSTRANTS.  137- 

REJECTION  VIII. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  by  the  force  and  efficacy  of 
the  secret  will  and  decree  of  God,  not  only  good  things  but 
\^also\  evil  do  necessarily  come  to  pass T 

THE  REASON. 

1.  It  is  man's  duty  to  eschew  evil  and  do  good  ;  1  Pet.  iii,  11  ; 
Psalm  xxxiv,  13  ;  (see  2  Sam.  xxiv,  12, 13  ;  1  Sam.xxiii,  11, 12  ;) 
good  being  commanded  upon  pi-omise  of  life,  and  evil  forbidden 
under  j)cril  of  damnation. — If  thou  wilt  enter  life,  keep  the 
commandments.  Matt,  xix,  17. — The  wrath  of  God  is  revealed 
from  heaven  against  all  unrighteousness  of  men,  who  hold  the 
truth  of  God  in  unrighteousness.  Rom.  i,  18.     See  verse  32. 

2.  The  good  and  evil  which  men  do,  are  matters  of  choice. 
See  John  xix,  11  ;  Josh,  xxiv,  15,  22. — If  ye  be  willing  and 
obedient,  &c.  But  if  ye  refuse  and  rebel,  &c.  Isai.  i,  19,  23. — 
AVhether  they  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear.  Sec. 
Ezek.  ii,  5.  See  Jer.  xxxvi,  6,  7. — Woe  to  them  that  devise 
iniquity,  and  work  evil  upon  their  beds :  when  the  morning  is 
light  they  practise  it,  because  it  is  in  the  power  of  their  hand. 
Mic.  ii,  l.^Let  him  do  what  he  will.  1  Cor.  vii,  36.  See  Matt, 
xvii,  12  ;  Deut.  xxx,  I9. 

3.  God's  exprobration.     Jer.  v,  22,  23,  under  different  laws. 

4.  Good  and  evil  are  attended  with  praise  and  dispraise, 
which  such  actions  deserve  not  as  come  to  pass  necessarily. — 
The  wise  shall  inherit  glory  :  but  shame  shall  be  the  promotion 
of  fools.  Prov.  iii,  35;  see  Rom.  ii,  29:  Phil,  iv,  8. — Do  that 
which  is  good,  and  thou  shalt  have  praise  of  the  same.  Rom. 
xiii,  3.  See  1  Cor.  iv,  5. — This  is  thank-worthy  with  God. 
1  Pet.  ii,  19,  20. — Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant  ! 
Luke  xix.  See  Gal.  vi,  4. — Who  seek  for  glory  and  honour 
and  immoi'tality.  Rom.  ii,  7. 

5.  God  propounds  examples  to  our  imitation. 

6.  That  is  omitted  which  God  loves,  and  that  comes  to  pass 
which  he  hateih.  See  Jer.  xliv,  4,  5. — They  did  evil  before 
mine  eyes,  and  did  choose  that  wherein  I  delighted  not.  Isai. 
Ixv,  12,  and  LWi,  4. — All  these  are  things  that  I  hate.  Zech. 
viii,  17.     See  1  Kings  xx,  42. 

7.  Lastly,  God  is  sometimes  said  to  expect  that  which  does 
not  come  to  pass.  See  Mark  xii,  6;  Ezek.  xxii,  30 — When  once 
the  long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah.  1  Pet. 
iii,  20. — He  looked,  that  it  should  bring  foj-th  grapes,  and  it 
brought  forth  wild  grapes.  Isai.  v,  2,  4. — See  the  places  cited 
for  God's  haired  of  sin,  and  against  absolute  antecedent  decrees, 
pages  9i  and  103. 

K 


138  THE    TENETS    OF  [aKT. 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY 

TOUCHIKG 

THE  WORK  OF  GRACE  IN  THE  CONVERSION  OF  MAN. 

Whether  a  man^  when  God  seriously  xcills  that  he  helkve, 
and  he  converted^  can  nill  to  believe  and  convert. 


THE  FIFTH  ARTICLE  CONTROVERTED 

IS    TOUCHING 

PERSEVERANCE. 


WHAT    THE    REMONSTRANTS    HOLD. 

TENET  I. 

They  hold^  that  God  doth  furnish  the  true  believers  with 
supernatural  power  of  grace^  as,  according-  to  his  Injinite 
IVisdmn,  he  judgeth  sufficient  Jbr  their  perseverance  and 
conquest  over  the  temptations  of  the  Devil,  the  Jlesh,  and  the 
•world ;  and  tlmt  he  is  never  the  cause  tvhy  they  persevere 

TWt. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  God  furnishes  true  believers  rvith  supernatural  powers  of  grace, 
siifficietit  for  their  perscvermice.'"^  Whosoever  is  born  of  God, 
doth  not  commit  sin  :  for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him,  and  he  can- 
not sin,    because  he  is  born  of  God.  1  John  iii,  9- — Whosoever 


FIFTH.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS,  139 

drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  never  thirst 
See  John  iv,  14,  and  vi,  53. — My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee. 
2  Cor.  xii,  Q. — I  am  able  to  do  all  things  through  Christ  which 
strengtheneth  me.  Phil,  iv,  13. — My  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  bur- 
den light.  Matt,  xi,  30  ;  1  John  v,  3. 

"  And  svfficient  for  their  conquest  over  temptations."'^  They 
shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them  out  of  my 
hand.  My  Father,  which  gave  them  m.e,  is  greater  than  all : 
and  no  man  is  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my  Father's  hand. 
John  X,  28,  29. — If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us .''  Rom. 
viii,  21. — God  is  faithl  d,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted 
above  that  you  are  able.  1  Cor.  x,  13.  See  Luke  xxii,  32. — 
Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine  own  name  those  whom  thou 
hast  given  me-  John  xvii,  11. — For  this  thing  I  besought  the 
Lord  thrice,  that  it  might  depart  from  me.  And  he  said  unto 
me.  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  !  2  Cor,  xii,  8,  9- — Who  shall 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?  Rom.  viii,  35. — For  what- 
soever is  born  of  God,  overcometh  the  world.  1  John  v,  4,  5. — 
I  have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are  strong, 
and  the  word  of  God  abideth  in  you,  and  ye  have  overcome  the 
wicked  one.  1  John  ii,  13,  14. — Because  greater  is  he  that  is  in 
you,  than  he  that  is  in  the  world.  1  John  iv,  4. 

"  He  is  never  the  cause  why  they  persevere  not.""^  Being  con- 
fident of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which  hath  begun  a  good  work 
in  you,  will  perform  it,  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ.  1  Cor. 
i,  8 ;  Phil,  i,  6. — The  Lord  is  faithful,  who  shall  stablish  you, 
and  keep  ye  from  evil.  2  Thess.  iii,  3-  See  1  Thess.  v,  23,  24. 
— Now  to  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling.  Jude  24. 
— Thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory,  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  1  Cor.  xv,  57. 

TENET  II. 

They  liold,  that  true  believers  may  fall  from  true  faith, 
and  into  those  sins  which  cannot  staiid  zaith  true  and  Justi- 
fying faith;  neither  is  this  only  possible,  but  oft  cometh 

TO    PASS. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  True  believers  may  fall  from  true  faith"  S^c^  They  on  the 
rock,  are  they  which,  when  they  hear,  receive  the  word  with 
joy  ;  and  these  have  no  root,  which  for  a  while  believe,  and,  in 
time  of  temptation,  fall  away.  And  that  which  fell  among 
thorns,  are  they  which,  when  they  have  heard,  go  forth,  and  are 
choked  with  cares  and  riches,  and  pleasures  of  this  life,  and 

K  2 


140  THE    TENETS    OF  [aUT. 

bring  forth  no  fruit  unto  perfection.  Matt,  xiii,  20,  21,  22,  and 
Luke  viii,  13,  14. — Because  of  unbelief  thoy  were  broken  off. 
Rom.  xi,  20,  21,  22. — Ye  did  run  well:  Ye  are  fallen  from 
grace.  Gal.  v,  4,  7. — Holding  faith  and  a  good  conscience, 
■which  some  having  put  away,  concerning  faith  have  made  ship- 
wreck. 1  Tim.  i,  18,  19 — Some  shall  depart  from  the  faith, 
iv,  1. — Some  are  already  turned  aside  after  Satan.  Having 
damnation,  because  they  have  cast  off  their  first  love,  v,  12,  15. 
— See  1  Tim.  vi,  10  ;  2  Tim.  i,  15  ;  ii,  17,  18  ;  Gen.  iii,  6,  24. 

"  7'nie  believers  mai/  foil  info  sins  which  cannot  stand  with  jus- 
tifying faith,"  S)xr\  They  allure  through  the  lusts  of  the  f^esh, 
through  much  wantonness,  those  that  were  clean  escaped  from 
them,  who  live  in  error. — It  hath  happened  unto  them  according 
to  the  true  proverb  :  The  clog  is  turned  to  his  otvn  vomit  again,  and 
the  sow,  that  was  washed,  to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire.  2  Pet. 
ii,  18.  See  verse  1,  &c. — Then  began  Peter  to  curse  and  to 
swear,  saying,  /  know  not  the  man.  Matt,  xxvi,  70,  72,  74. — 
David,  a  man  of  great  faith  and  integrity  ;  (1  Kings  xv,  5 ;)  yet 
he  committed  adultery  and  murder.  2  Sam.  xi,  4,  15;  xii,  9- 
— And  Solomon  was  beloved  of  the  Lord ;  (2  Sam.  xii^  25 ; 
1  Kings  iii,  10;)  yet,  through  the  love  of  strange  women,  his 
lieai't  was  turned  from  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, — which  had 
appeared  unto  him  twice,  and  went  after  other  gods.  1  Kings 
xi,  1 — 10 — And  that  these  sins  of  adultery,  rnnrder,  and  idolatry, 
are  inconsistent  with  true  justifying  faith,  see  Gal.  v,  19,  20 ; 
1  Cor.  vi,  9>  10;  Hev.  xxi,  8;  xxii,  15. — Demas,  one  of  St, 
Paul's  fellow-labourers,  (Philem.  24  ;  Col.  iv,  14,)  [j^was  one  of 
those^  whose  names  were  written  in  the  book  of  life;  Phil, 
iv,  3  ;  yet  he  embraced  this  present  world.  2  Tim.  iv,  10. — 
How  great  a  sin  that  is,  in  a  person  so  engaged,  (2  Tim.  ii,  3,  4,) 
see  James  iv,  4 ;  2  Pet.  ii,  20  ;  1  John  ii,  15. — My  people  have 
committed  two  evils :  they  have  forsaken  me  the  fountain  of 
living  water,  &c.  Jer.  ii,  13. — Jezebel  seduced  my  servants  to 
commit  fornication,  and  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols — and  they 
commit  adultery  with  her.  Rev.  ii,  20,  22. — When  the  unclean 
spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man,  he  walketh  through  dry  places, 
seeking  rest :  and,  finding  none,  he  saith,  /  ivill  return  Jinto  mine 
house  whence  I  came  out.  And  when  he  cometh,  he  findeth  it 
swept  and  garnished.  Then  goeth  he,  and  taketh  to  him  seven 
other  spirits,  more  wicked  than  himself,  and  they  enter  in,  and 
dwell  there.  Luke  xi,  24. 

TENET  III. 

They  hold,  that  trite  believers  mai/,  through  their  otcm  de- 
fault,  fall  into  crimes  and  heinous  offences,  continue  and  die 
in  thou,  and  so  finally  f (ill  away  and  perish. 


FIFTH.]  THE    RliMON  STR  A  >f  TS.  141 


PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

If  thou  forsake  him.  He  will  cast  thee  off  for  ever,  1  Chron. 
xxviii,  9- — Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit,  he  taketh 
away  ; — and  it  is  withered,  and  men  gather  them  and  cast  them 
into  the  tire,  and  they  are  burned.  John  xv,  2,  6. — When  the 
righteous  turneth  away  from  his  righteousness,  and  committeth 
iniquity,  and  doth  according  to  all  the  abominations  that  the 
wicked  man  doth,  shall  he  live  ?  all  his  righteousness  that  he 
hath  done,  shall  not  be  mentioned :  in  his  trespass  that  he  hath 
trespassed,  and  in  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  in  them  shall  he 
die.  Ezek.  xviii,  24.  See  verse  26;  and  xxxiii,  12,  13,  IS.— 
Then  his  Lord  said  unto  him,  0  f/ioii  wicked  servant,  I  forgave 
thee  all  that  debt,  hecanse  thou  desiredst  me :  Shoiddest  not  thou 
also  have  had  coiupassioii  on  thy  follow -servant,  even  as  I  had  pity 
on  thee  ?  And  his  Lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the 
tormentors.  Matt,  xvi,  26,  ad  Jincm. — See  the  reason  of  the 
Second  and  following  Negatives,  and  the  proofs  of  the  Second 
Affirmative,  pages  147  and  139. 

TENET  IV. 

They  hold,  that  true  believers,  though  they  Jlill  sometimes 
into  grievous  sins,  and  [iritoj  sueh  as  zcaste  the  conscience, 
yet  ftdl  not  from  all  hope  i)f  repentance ;  hut  that  God, 
according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies,  can  and  often 
DOTH  bring  them  bach  again,  by  his  grace,  unto  repent- 
ance ;  although  they  cannot  certainly  be  assured,  that  this 
sluill  certainly  and  undouhtedly  be  done.  * 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Believers  who  sometimes  foil  into  sins,  foil  not  foom  all  hope 
of  reventance.'"^     Repent    and  turn   yourselves   from  all   your 


*  This  Tenet,  and  the  two  which  succeed  it,  are  directed  ag:ainst  the  Cal- 
viuistic  perversion  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Assurance  of  Salvation.  "  In- 
stead of  allowing  it  to  remain  the  scriptural  criterion  of  a  believer's  actual 
enjoyment  of  God,  the  Calvinists  overcharg-ed  it  with  their  own  inventions: 
They  no  lone,-er  applied  it  to  ffie  jtrcsent  txpei-unce  of  the  j)eoplc  of  God ,  but 
to  a  very  different  and  unhaliowiu^  purpose, — to  the  creation  of  a  presump- 
tuous confidence,  that,  '  whether  in  tlie  way  to  the  kingdom,  or  by  the 
*  way-side,  they  should  never  fall  totally  and  finally  from  grace.'  In  the 
spirit  of  their  Creed,  they  did  not  make  it  hel|>ful  in  ascertaininir the  coi - 
scious  growth  of  their  Christian  graces,  the  perceptible  elevation  of  their 
religious  character,  or  their  actual  standing  in  the  Divine  Favour;  but  ibey 
employed  it  to  work  themselves  up  to  a  persuasion  of  their  individual  or 
personal  election,  (which,  according  to  their  doctrine,   was  determined  at 

K  3 


142  THE    TENETS    OF  [aIIT. 

transpfressions:  so  iniquity  shall  not  be  5'oiiv  ruin,  Ezek  xviii, 
30. — Thou  hast  played  the  harlot  with  many  lovers  ;  yet  return 
again  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  Turn,  O  backsliding  children  : 
I  will  not  cause  mnie  anger  to  fall  upon  you  ;  for  I  am  merci- 
ful :  I  will  not  keep  anger  for  ever :  For  I  am  married  unto 
you.  Jer.  iii,  1,  12,  14.     See   Rev,  ii,  4;   iii,  3;  Psalm  li,  17. — 

1  will  heal  their  backsliding,  I  will  love  them  freely.  Hos. 
xiv,  4. — Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son  ?  Is  he  a  pleasant  child  ? 
For,  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do  earnestly  remember  him 
still :  therefore  my  bowels  are  troubled  for  him :  I  will  surely 
have  mercy  upon  him,  saith  the  Lord.  Jer.  xxxi,  I9,  20. — 
Therefore  I  will  look  unto  the  Lord :  I  will  wait  for  the  God 
of  my  salvation:  my  God  will  hear  me.  Rejoice  not  against  me, 
O  mine  enemy:  when  I  fall,  I  shall  arise:  Mic  vii,  7,  8,  9. — 
How  oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him  ? 
Jesus  saith.  Until  seventy  times  seven.  Matt,  xviii,  21,22. — As 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  is  merciful.  Luke  vi,  36. — 
Aaron  makes  a  calf  and  provokes  the  Lord,  Exod.  xxxii,  2 — 10, 
—yet,  he  is  consecrated  to  the  Priest's  office,  xl,  13. — Hezekiah 
humbled  himself,  the  wrath  of  God  was  removed  from  him. 

2  Chron.  xxxvi,  26. — Peter  Aveeps  bitterly.  Matt,  xxvi  75. — 
David's  sin  is  put  away.  2  Sam.  xii,  13. — The  incestuous  Cor- 
inthian finds  indulgence.  2  Cor.  ii,  7,  10. — A  broken  and  a 
contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise.  Psalm  li,  17- 

"  Ahhough  they  cannot  certainly  he  assured,  that  they  shall  be 
brovght  again  hy  God's  grace  to  repentance.'"^  In  meekness  in- 
structing those  that  oppose  themselves,  if  God  peradventure 
will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth  ; 
and  that  they  may  recover  themselves  out  of  the  snare  of  the 
devil.  2  Tim.  ii,  25. — Who  knoweth  if  he  will  return  and 
repent,  and  leave  a  blessing  behind  him  ?  Joel  ii,  14.  See  Jonah 
iii,  9- — For  it  is  a  people  of  no  understanding :  therefore  he 
that  made  them,  will  not  have  mercy  on  them;  and  he  thnt 
formed  them,  will  shew  them  no  favour.  Isai.  xxvii,  11. — Then 
shall  they  call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not  answer :  they  shall  seek 
me  early,  but  they  shall  not  find  me.  Prov.  i,  28. — They  rose 
up  early  in  the  morning,  saying.  We  will  go  up  unto  the  place 
which  the  Lord  hath  promised :  for  we  have  sinned  [[viz.  in  re- 
fusing to  go  up  at  his  command^  :  And  Moses  said.  It  shall 
not  prosper.  But  they  presumed  to  go  up,  and  were  discom- 
fitted.  Numb,  xiv,  40,  &c.  See  1  Cor.  x,  6,  11;  Heb.  iii,  18; 
iv,  11. — Afterward  when  he  would  have  inherited  the  blessing, 
he  was  rejected ;  for  he  found  no  place  of  repentance,  [^in  his 

first  in  the  Divine  Mind,  without  any  regard  to  faith  or  holiness  in  the  par- 
ticular subjects  of  it,)  and  consequently  to  «  complete  certainty  o/'M«r 
FINAL  PERSEVERANCE."  For  a  curious 'liistory  of  the  variations  of  this  doc- 
trine, especially  among  the  rigid  Prcdcstiuarians,  see  tlw  ff'or/is  o/Armi- 
Nius,  Vol.1,  page  603.— Editor. 


FIFTH.]  THE    RK  MON  STR  A  N  TS.  143 

Father,  who  had  passed  away  the  blessing  from  him,^  though 
he  sought  it  carefully  Avith  tears.  Heb.  xii,  17. 

If  these  places  do  not  make  a  saving  repentance,  especially  after 
grievous  sins  (see  Acts  viii,  22.)  and  after  an  obstinate  continu- 
ance in  them,  somewhat  doublful,  yet  doubtless  they  imply  a 
difficuUij, — and  the  more  difficult  the  more  doubtful.  So  do  the 
places  following  : — He  taketh  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked 
than  himself,  and  they  enter  in  and  dwell  there.  And  the  last 
state  of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first.  Matt,  xii,  43 — 45. — For 
if,  after  they  have  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  through 
the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  they  are 
again  entangled  therein  and  overcome,  the  latter  end  is  worse 
with  them  than  the  beginning.  2  Peter  ii,  20;  compare  this  with 
verse  1,  c^-c. — For  it  is  impossible,  (that  is,  very  difficult,  asLvike 
xvii,  1,  or  xviii,  27-)  if  they  fall  away,  to  renew  them  again  unto 
repentance.  Heb.  vi,  4 — 6.  See  the  last  Negative  precedent. 
Concerning  propitiation,  be  not  without  fear  to  add  sin  unto  sin. 
Ecclesiasticus  v,  5. — Despisest  thou  the  riches,  c^-c.  Rom.  ii,  4,  5. 
Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  ;  for  many,  I  say  unto  you, 
will  strive  to  enter  in  and  shall  not  be  able.  Luke  xiii,  24. 

TENET    V. 

They  hold,  that  the  true  believer  may  for  the  present 
he  assured  of  the  integrity  of  his  faith  and  conscience,  and 
FOR  THAT  TIME  may  and  ougM  to  hc  assured  of  Ms  salvOr- 
Hon  and  the  savinglove  of  God  towards  Mm.* 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

If  we  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship 
one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth 


*  In  his  Declaration  before  the  States  of  Holland,  Arminius  says,  "  My 
opinion  is,  that  it  is  possible  for  him  who  believes  in  Jesus  Christ  to  be  cer- 
tain and  persuaded,  and,  if  his  heart  condemn  him  not,  he  is  now  in  reality 
assured,  that  he  is  a  Sun  of  God,  and  stands  in  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Such  an  assurance  is  wrought  in  the  mind,  as  well  b//  the  action  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  inwardly  actuating  the  believers  and  hy  the  fruits  of  faith, — as  from 
his  own  conscience  and  the  testimony  of  God's  Spirit  witnessing  together 
■with  his  conscience.  I  also  believe,  that  it  is  possible  for  such  a  person, 
with  an  assured  confidence  in  the  grace  of  God  and  his  mercy  in  Christ,  to 
depart  out  of  this  life,  and  to  appear  before  the  throne  of  grace,  without  any 
anxious  fear  or  terrific  dread  :  And  yet  this  person  siiould  constantly  pray, 
*  O  Lord,  enter  not  into  judgment  iiuth  thy  servant  ." — But  1  dare  not  place 
this  certainty  on  an  equality  with  that  by  which  we  icnow  there  is  a  God,  and 
that  Christ  'is  the  Saviour  of  the  world." — See,  in  page  155,  another  extract 
from  Arminius,  which  is  further  illustrative  of  his  sentiments. 

Such  were  the  holy  and  practical  views  of  that  great  man  on  this  impor- 
tant subject;  and  corresponding  with  them  are  those  of  Bishop  Worn ack 
and  the  Remonstrants,  in  this  and  the  next  Article. — Editor. 


144  THE    TENETS    OF  [ART. 

US  from  all  our  sin.  1  John  i,  7. — And  hereby  we  do  know  that 
we  know  him,  if  we  keep  his  commandments,  ii,  3. — We  know 
that  we  have  passed  from  death  to  life,  because  we  love  the  bre- 
thren, iii,  14. — By  this  we  know,  that  we  love  the  children  of 
God,  when  we  love  God  and  keep  his  commandments,and  his  com- 
mandments are  not  grievous,  v,  2,  3. — But  let  every  man  prove 
his  own  works  and  then  shall  he  have  rejoicing  in  himself.  Gal. 
vi,  4. — If  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  then  have  we  confidence 
towards  God.  1  John  iii,  21 — Our  rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimo- 
ny of  our  conscience,  that  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  not 
with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God  we  have  had  our 
conversation  in  the  world.  2  Cor.  i,  12. — Therefore,  being  justi- 
fied by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the 

glory  of  God. And  hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the 

love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts,  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
which  is  given  unto  us.  Romans  v,  1,  2,5. — Hereby  know  we, 
that  we  dwell  in  him  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us  of 
his  Spirit.  1  John  iv,  13. — The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with 
our  Spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God:  Rom.  viii,  l6 — For 
if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die ;  but  if  ye  through  the 
Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live.  For  as 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God. 
verses  13,  14. — And  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace; 
and  the  effect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  for  ever- 
Isa.  xxxii,  17- 

TENET  VI. 

They  hold,  that  the  true  believer  may  and  ought  to  he 
assured,  fob  the  time  to  come,  that,  in  the  use  of  •watch- 
%ng  and  prayer  and  other  holy  exercises,  he  may  persevere  in 
faith,  and  that  God's  grace  shall  never  he  wanting  thereto. 
But  hoza  he  may  be  assured,  for  the  time  to  come,  that 
*'  HE  HIMSELF  shoU  uot  be  wanting  to  do  his  duty,  but  that 
"  he  shall,  in  the  actions  of  fait] i,  piety  and  charity,  as  he- 
"  seems  the  faitlful,  persevere  in  this  school  of  Christian 
"  warfare,'" — they  see  not,  nor  thi?iJc  it  necessary  that  a 
believer  should  be  assured  thereof. 

PROOFS  OUT  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

"  In  the  use  of  rvatching  and  prayer  a  believer  may  persevere  in 
faith,  Sfc.'\  Put  on  the  wholearmour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able 
to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  Devil,  and,  having  done  all,  to 
stand.  Ephes.  vi,  1 1,  13 — 19 — Pray  without  ceasing.  1  Thess. 
V,  17. — Watch  and  pray.  Matt,  xxvi,  41  ;xxiv,  13j  42. — Let  your 


FIFTH.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  145 

loins  be  girded  about  and  your  lights  burning :  and  ye  yourselves 
like  unto  men  that  wait  for  their  Lord.  Luke  xii,  35-^37. — Take 
heed  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  surfeiting 
and  drunkenness^,  and  the  cares  of  this  life.  Watch  ye  therefore 
and  pray  always.  Luke  xxi,  34,  36. — Be  sober,  be  vigilant ;  be- 
cause your  adversary  the  Devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about, 
seeking  whom  he  may  devour;  whom  resist,  stedfastin  the  faith. 
1  Peter  v,  8,  9.— Resist  the  Devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you. 
James  iv,  7- — He  that  is  begotten  of  God,  keepeth  himself,  and 
that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not.  1  John  v,  IS- — And  we  desire, 
that  every  one  of  you  do  shew  the  same  diligence,  to  the 
FULL  ASSURANCE  OF  HOPE  uuto  the  end.  Hebrews  vi,  11- 

"  That  God's  grace  shall  never  he  wanting."'^  Surely  goodness 
and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life.  Psalm  xxiii, 
6". — For  I  am  persuaded,  that  ueither  death  nor  life  &c.  shall 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God.  Rom.  viii,  38. — He  which  hath 
begun  a  good  work  in  you.  Phil,  i,  6. — Every  branch  that  bear- 
eth  fruit  he  pui'geth  it,  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit.  If  ye 
abide  in  me  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will 
and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you.  (See  Luke  xi,  13  ;  Acts  v,  32.) 
If  ye  keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love;  even 
as  I  have  kept  my  Father's  commandments  and  abide  in  his  love. 
John  XV,  2,  7,  10. — For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you; 
for  ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  imder  grace.  Rom.  vi,  14. — 
My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee.  2  Cor.  xii,  9. — Ye  are  of  God, 
little  children,  and  have  overcome  them,  [|^the  false  teachers,] 
because  greater  is  he  that  is  in  you,  than  he  that  is  in  the  world. 

1  John  iv,  4. 

"  But  how  a  believer  may  be  assured  for  the  lime  to  come,  that  he 
himself  shall  not  be  tvanlitig  to  do  his  duty."  &c.^  For 

1.  Man  is  many  times  deceived  in  his  present  condition. — Thou 
say  est,  /  «?«  rich  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing: 
and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched  and  miserable  and 
POOR  and  blind  and  naked.  Rev.  iii,  I7  ;  Gal.  vi,  3. 

2.  Man's  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things.  Jer.  xvii,  9  ;  see 
John  xvi,  2. 

3.  It  is  God's  prerogative  to  know  future  contingencies. — Isa. 
xli,  22,  23. — The  righteous  and  the  wise  and  their  works  are  in 
the  hand  of  God  :  no  man  knoweth  either  love  or  hatred  by  all 
that  is  before  him.   Eccles.  ix,  1. 

4.  A  man  may  resolve  v/eU  for  the  present,  and  be  confident 
[^thatj  he  shall  stick  to  such  principles  and  resolutions  as  he  hath 
once  made  and  espoused;  and  yet  [|may^  fall  quite  off  from 
them. — Hazael    practised    afterward  what     he  then  abhorred. 

2  Kings  viii,  1 3. — Peter  said  unto  him.  Though  I  should  die  with 
thee,  yet  7vill  I  not  deny  thee.  I^ikewise  also  said  all  the  disciples. 
Matt,  xxvi,  ^^,  35  ;  see  Mark  xiv,  31. — But  he  denied  before 
them  all,  saying,  /  do  not  know  the  man.     And  again  he   denied 


146  THE    TENETS    OF  [aKT 

with  an  oath,  (verses  70,  72.)  Then  began  he  to  curse  and  to 
swear,  (verse  74.)  And  tliey  all  forsook  him  and  fled.  Mark  xiv, 
•^0. — So  Hezekiah  wroiight  that  v/hich  was  good,  and  right,  and 
truth,  before  the  Lord  his  God.  And  in  every  work  that  he  be- 
gan in  the  service  of  the  house  of  God,  and  in  the  law,  and  in 
the  commandments,  to  seek  his  God,  he  did  it  with  all  his  heart, 
and  prospered.  (2  Chron.  xxxi,  20,  21.)  But  Hezekiah  rendered 
not  again  according  to  the  benefit  done  unto  him.  For  his  heart 
was  lifted  up;  therefore  there  was  wrath  upon  him,  and  upon 
Judah  and  Jerusalem,   xxxii,  25. — See  David's  fall,  2  Samuel  xi. 

5.  Hence  "  Woe  to  him  that  is  wise  in  his  own  eyes  !"  Isa.  v, 
21 ;  Rom.  xii,  l6. 

6.  Our  life  is  a  warfare:  (Job  vii,  1.)  and  only  death  dischar- 
geth  us  from  that  service.  Rev.  xiv,  13. — Happy  is  the  man  that 
feai-eth  always.  Prov.  xxviii,  14. — For  thou  knowest  not  what 
a  day  may  bring  forth.  Prov.  xxvii,  1 . 

7.  Therefore  let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest 
he  fall.  1  Cor.  x,  12;  see  Rom.  xi,  20. — Watch  and  pray.  Matt, 
xxvi,  41. — Take  heed  lest  at  any  time,  ^c  (Luke  xxi,  34,  36.) 
and  work  out  your  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  Phil,  iij  13. 


Vv^IIAT  THE  REMONSTRANTS  HOLD  NOT, 

TOUCHING 

PERSEVERANCE. 

REJECTION  I. 

Thei/  HOLD  NOT,  that  "  a  Believer's  Perseverance  injuiih 
is  an  effect  of  that  absolute  decree,  wherein  God  is  said  to  have 
chosen  some  particular  persons,  zvithout  all  respect  to  any  con- 
dition of  obedience!''' 

THE  REASON. 

They  that  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  as  mount  Zion,  which  can- 
not be  removed,  but  abideth  for  ever.  Psalm  cxxv,  1. — Thou 
standest  l)y  faith.  Rom.  xi,  20. — Kept  through  faith  unto  salva- 
tion. 1  Pet.  i,  5. — As  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,  ex- 
cept it  abide  in  the  vine,  no  more  can  ye  except  ye  abide  in  me. 
If  ye  abide  in  me,  c^c.  John  xv,  4,  7- — If  ye  love  me,  keep  my 
commandments;  and  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give 
you  another  Comforter,  that  may  abide  with  you  for  ever.  John 
xiv,  15,  l6. — This  is  the  will  of  God,   even  your  sauctificalion. 


FIFTH.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  147 

1  Thess.  iv,  3,  4. — I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection ;  lest  that  by  any  means,  when  I  have  preached  to  others, 
"i  myself  should  he  a  cast-away,  1  Cor.  ix,  27. — If  ye  mortify  the 
deeds  of  the  body,  ye  sliall  live.  Rom.  viii  13,  iG. — But  grow  in 
grace  2  Peter  iii,  IS. — This  is  thank-worthy,  if  a  man  for  con- 
science towards  God  (not  of  necessity)  endure  grief.  1  Peter  ii, 
1(). — If    ye   do   these  things,  ye   shall  never  fall.   Psalm  xv,  .5 ; 

2  Peter  i,  10. — Take  unto  you  and  put  on  the  whole  armour  of 
God,  t^'C  Ephes.  vi,  10 — 19. — Give  dilicrence  to  make  your  call- 
ing and  election  sure.  2  Pet.  i,  5. — Fight  the  good  fight  of 
faith,  lay  hold  on  eternal  life.  1  Tim,  vi,  12. — I  pursue  hard  after 
IF  THAT  I  may  apprehend,  c^'c,   Phil,  iii,  12. 

REJECTION  II. 

Thei^  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  true  believers  cannot  sin  of 
deliberation,  but  only  of  ignorance  or  infirmity.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

1.  From  EXHORTATIONS, — Receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in 
vain,  2  Cor,  vi,  I. — Quench  not  the  Spirit:  1  Thess,  v,  19. — 
Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit.  Ephes.  iv,  30. — Cast  not  away  your 
confidence  ;  if  any  man  draw  back,  my  soul  shall  have  no  plea- 
sure iu  him.   Heb.  x,  S5,  37,  38. 

2.  From  EXPOSTULATION?  and  admiration,  &c. — Will  ye  also 
go  away  ?  John  vi,  67. — How  is  the  faithful  city  become  an  har- 
lot!  Isa.  i,  21. — Be  astonished,  O  ye  heavens,  at  this; — For 
my  people  have  committed  two  evils : — Yet  I  had  planted  thee 
a  noble  vine,  wholly  a  right  seed  :  how  then  art  thou  turned  into 
the  degenerate  plant  of  a  strange  vine  unto  me  !  Jer.  ii,  12,  21. 

3.  He  taketh  to  him  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked  than  him- 
self. Matt,  xii,  43 — 45  ;  Luke  xi,  24. 

4,  David's  example- — He  sent  messengers  for  Bathsheba,  and 
lay  with  her,  2  Sam.  xi,  4. — He  sends  for  Uriah  to  cover  the  fact, 
(verse  6.)  and  tempts  him  to  that  pui'pose.  (verse  8)  He  made 
him  drunk,  (verse  13.)  plotted  and  contrived  his  death,  (verses 
14,15. 

REJECTION    III. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  ^' trtie  believers  can  by  no  sins 
fall  from  thejuvour  of  God  ."" 

THE  REASON. 

If  thou  continue  in  his  goodness ;  otherwise,  thou  shalt  be  cut 
off.  Rom,  xi,  22. — The  thing  that  David  had  done  displeased  the 


148  Tiir.  trnu;ts  of  [aut. 

Lord.  2  Sam.  xi,  27.  See  xii,  10 — 12. — And  the  Lord  was  angry 
with    Solomon,   because   his   heart  was   turned  from  the  Lord. 

1  Kings  xi,  9-  See  1  Chron.  xxviii,  9  ;  Canticles  v,  2 — 6. — Be 
not  wroth  very  sore,  O  Lord,  neither  remember  iniquity  for 
ever  ;  behold,  see,  we  beseech  thee,  we  are  all  thy  people.  Isa. 
Ixiv,  5,  7,  9. — All  their  wickedness  is  in  Gilgal ;  for  there  I  hated 
them.  For  the  wickedness  of  their  doings,  I  will  drive  them  out 
of  mine  house,  I  will  love  them  no  more.  Hosea  ix,  [5, 17- — He 
8a\(\,  Surclij  they  are  my  people,  children  {hat  rvill  nol  He :  So  he 
was  their  Saviour.  But  they  rebelled,  and  vexed  his  Holy  Spi- 
rit :  therefore  he  was  turned  to  be  their  enemy,  and  he  fought 
against  them,  Isa.  Ixiii,  7 — 10. — There  was  wrath  upon  Hezekiah. 

2  Chron.  xxxii,  25. — When  the  Lord  saw  it,  he  abhorred  them, 
because  of  the  provoking  of  his  sons  and  of  his  daughters.  Deut. 
xxxii,    19. — I  will   spue    thee  out  of  my  mouth.     Rev.  iii,  I6. — 

Thine  own  wickedness  shall  correct   thee : Know  therefore, 

and  see,  that  it  is  an  evil  thing  and  bitter,  that  thou  hast  forsaken 
the  Lord.  Jer.  ii,  19. — But  we  are  not  of  them  who  draw  back 
unto  perdition :  but  of  them  that  believe  to  the  saving  of  the 
soul.  Heb.  X,  39;  see  verse  38. 

REJECTION  IV. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  every  man  is  bound  to  believe 
that  HE  IS  ELECTED,  uitd,  Consequently,  that  he  camiot  Jail 
from  that  election :  or  that  a  thousand  sins,  yea,  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world,  cannot  make  his  election  void.'''' 

THE  REASON. 

See  the  places  cited  for  conditional  Election,  (page  101,)  and 
the  Second  and  Third  Affirmatives  of  this  Article,  (p.nge  140,) 
and  the  Reason  of  the  foregoing  Negative.  To  which  add: — 
If  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die.  Rom.  viii,  13. — His  ser- 
vants ye  are,  to  whom  ye  obey,  vi.  If). — For  of  whom  a  man  is 
overcome,  of  the  same  is  he  brought  in  bondage.  2  Peter  ii, 
19.  If  a  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth,  as  a  branch,  and  is 
withered  ;  and  men  gather  them,  and  cast  them  into  the  fire,  and 
they  are  burned.  Johnxv,  6. — Remember  therefore  from  whence 
thou  art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  thy  first  works.  Rev.  ii,  5. — 
Bewatchful  and  strengthen  the  thingswhich remain, thatare  ready 
to  die,  c^-c.  iii,  2. — I  wovdd  thou  wert  cold  or  hot,  c^c  verses  15, 
If). — Judas,  being  one  of  those  whom  the  Father  had  given  to 
CHRIST,  was  lost.  He  had  power  over  all  devils ;  (John  xvii,  12.) 
yet  through  covetousness  he  made  way  for  Satan  to  enter  into 
his  heart.  (Luke  ix,  1.)  It  seems  that  he  had  some  title  also  to 
ONE  of  those  TWELVE  THRONES,  (Luke  xxii,  3,  ■i.     See   Matt. 


FIFTH.]  THE    REMONSTRANTS.  149 

xxvi,  14,  15.)     But  he  forfeited   his  interest  and  never  came  to 
sit  on  it.  (Matt,  xix,  28.) 

REJECTION  V. 

They  do  utterly  deny,  that  "  no  sins  of  the  faithjid,  hoio 
great  and  grievous  soever  they  be,  are  imputed  unto  them  ; 
or  that  all  their  sins, present  and  future,  are  forgiven  themP 

THE  REASON. 

When  the  righteous  turneth  away  from  his  righteousness,  all 
his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done  shall  not  be  mentioned ;  in 
his  trespass  and  sin  shall  he  die.  Ezek.  xviii,  24. — I  will  visit 
their  iniquity  with  rods.  Psalm  Ixxsix,  3(,  32;  2  Sam.  vii,  14. 
— Now  therefore  the  sword  shall  never  depart  from  thy  house. 
2  Sam.  xii,  10. — O  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thy  wrath;  thy 
hand  is  heavy  upon  me.  For  mine  iniquities  are  gone  over  my 
head  :  as  a  heavy  burden,  they  ai-e  too  heavy  for  me.  Make  me 
to  hear  joy  and  gladness,  that  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken 
may  rejoice.  Hide  thy  face  from  my  sins,  and  blot  out  all 
mine  iniquities.  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence,  and 
take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me.  Psalm  li,  8,  9j  iO;  see 
vi,  and  xxxviii. — I  have  somewhat  against  thee.  Rev.  ii,  4,  14. — 
For  this  cause  many  are  weak  and  sickly  amongst  you,  and 
many  sleep.  1  Cor.  xi,  30. — You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the 
families  of  the  earth:  therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your 
iniquities.  Amos  iii,  2 — See  the  reason  of  the  Third  Negative, 
page  147. 

REJECTION  VI. 

They  do  utterly  deky,  that  "  true  believers  falling  into 
deadly  heresies  arid  most  heinous  sins,  as  adulteries  and 
murders,  (for  which  the  Church,  according  to  Christ's  insti- 
tution is  freed  to  testify,  that  she  cannot  tolerate  them  in 
external  communion^  and  that,  unless  they  repent,  they  shall 
have  no  part  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,)  cannot,  notzoith- 
standing,  fall  totally  and  finally  from  faith^''  * 

THE  REASON. 

If  yoa  forsake  him,  he  will  cast  you  off  for  ever.  1  Chron. 
xxviii,  9 — Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take 

*  On  ihe  17th  of  Dec.  1C18,  according  to  appointment,  the  cited  Remon- 
strants delivered  to  the  Synod  of  Dort  the  remaining  Four  Articles,  and 
added  at  the  conclusion:  '"Most  reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  since  we 


150  THE    TENETS    OF  [aIIT. 

thy  crown.  Rev.  iii,  11. — Look  to  yourselves,  that  we  lose  not 
tliose  things  which  we  have  wrought.  2  John  8. — Have  ye 
suffered  so  many  things  in  vain  ?  Gal.  iii,  4. — And  I  will  give 
unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven.  Matt, 
xvi,  19- — For  it  is  impossible  [^the  laws  of  the  Church  permit  it 
not^  for  those  who  were  once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of 
the  heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  have  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the 
■world  to  come, — if  they  shall  fall  away, — to  renew  them  again 
unto  repentance;  seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of 
God  afresh,  and  put  him  to  an  open  shame.  Heb.  vi,  4,  5,  6"; 
and  X,  26,  &c. — Wherefore  giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your 
faith  virtue  ;  and  to  virtue  knowledge,  and  to  knowledge  tem- 
perance, and  to  temperance  patience,  and  to  patience  godliness, 
and  to  godliness  brotherly  kindness,  and  to  brotherly  kindness 
charity :  for  if  you  do  these  things,  ye  shall  never  fall.  For  so 
an  entrance  shall  be  ministered  to  you  abundantly  into  the 
everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
2  Pet.  i,  6",  8. — See  the  Second  and  Third  Affirmatives,  (page 
140,)  and  the  First  and  Third  Negatives,  page  147. 

*^*  These  Jive  last  Negatives  the  Remonstrants  do  reject 
•with  their  whole  heart  and  soul,  as  enemies  to  piety  and 
good  life. 


were  admonished  in  the  last  session  by  his  reverence  the  President,  '  that 

*  we  should  abstain  from  negative  propositions,  and  should  treat  on  Election 
'  rather  than  on  the  odious  subject  uiJiejjrobation,' — after  having  more  accu- 
rately examined  the  matter  as  we  promised, — we  have  now  proposed  our 
seutiraeuts  on  the  before-mentioned  Articles,  as  much  as  possible  in  atfirni- 
ative  terms.  Yet  we  have  occasionally  rejected  the  coutrarv  opinions,  where 
necessity  seemed  to  require  us  to  adopt  this  course.  That  this  may  not 
appear  to  have  been  done  without  weig'hty  reasons,  we  will  present  your 
Reverences  with  some  of  them  for  your  consideration,  which  nave  induced 
lis  sometimes  to  express  our  sentiments  in  a  neg^ative  form,  and  not  to  treat 
on  Election  alone,  (which  is  only  one  part  of  Predestination,)  but  also  on 
Reprobation  which  is  the  other  part." 

They  then  adduce  fifteen  powerful  reasons  why  they  should  be  allowed  to 
discuss  both  parts  of  Predestination,  and  seven  why  they  should  expose  the 
abuses  of  Absolute  Reprobation.  After  replying  to  some  objections,  they 
proceed  thus: — 

"  Of  one  thing  alone  we  desire  to  be  informed  by  this  venerable  Synod, 
that  is,  whether  they  own  for  their  doctrine  and  that  of  the  Church  those 
assertions  which  are  contradictory  to  our  propositions,  and  particularly 
those  which  affirm, — *  the  creation  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  human  race 
'  for  destruction;  the  reprobation  of  [some]  infants,  even  though  born  of 

*  believing  parents  ;  the  necessity  of  the  fall;  the  Divine  call  [given  to  some 
'  men  is]  inefficacious  througli  tlie  will  of  God  ;  the  inevitable  necessity  of 
'  all  sins  ;  the  secret  and  revealed  will  of  God  ;  the  operations  and  decrees 
'  of  God  i'or  tlie  existence  of  sm  ;  the  impossible  defection  of  believers  from 

*  justifying  faith,  even  when  they  fall  into  horrid  crimes  ;' — with  other  points, 
which  are  maintained  by  many  Conlra-Remonstrauts  and  those  who  are 


FIFTH.]  THE    RKWONSTRANTS.  151 

attached  to  their  opinions,  both  in  these  provinces  and  in  other  countries, 
but  which  are  rejected  and  disapproved  by  us  in  the  Articles  just  recited. 

"  We  acknowledge  with  his  reverence  the  President,  the  doctrine  of 
Election  to  be  '  sweet  and  full  of  consolation,'  and  that  of  Reprobation 
to  be  disagreeable.  But  we  consider  the  consolation  which  is  elicited  fronj 
an  Election  that  is  absolute  and  unconditional,  to  be  full  of  peril,  and,  if 
judged  according  to  its  nature,  to  grant  man  an  encouragement  to  commit 
sin.  We  also  consider  the  opposite  doctrine  of  Absolute  Reprobation  to  be 
truly  and  deservedly  odious,  because  it  is  pregnant  with  despair  and  con- 
trary to  Divine  Justice.  The  sole  employment  of  the  Pastors  of  the  C^hurch 
must  not  be  the  consolation  of  sinners  ;  but  it  ought  likewise  to  be  their  care 
and  study  to  warn  the  wicked  and  ungodly  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come 
which  is  consequent  on  Reprobation.  The  visible  Church  contains  the 
children  of  God  ;  it  also  contains  the  slaves  of  Satan,  although  thev  by  pro- 
fession seem  also  to  be  the  children  of  God.  In  this  state  of  things,  therefore, 
both  doctrines  are  needful :  To  the  children  of  God  must  be  announced  the 
inheritance  which  was  fore-ordained  by  an  eternal  Election;  and  to  the 
wicked  must  be  denounced  those  punishments  which  were  fore -ordained  by 
an  eternal  decree  of  Reprobation. 

"  Your  reverences  easily  perceive,  that  the  present  questions  and  contro- 
versies are  not  concerning  the  parings  of  nails  or  other  matters  of  trivial 
importance  :  But  they  relate  to  those  points  of  Practical  Divinity  which  tend 
greatly  to  illustrate  the  glory  of  God  and  to  promote  the  exercise  of  piety,  if 
correct  sentiments  concerning  them  be  entertained  ;  or,  on  the  contrary, 
if  incorrect  opinions  be  received,  they  detract  materially  from  the  Divine 
glory  and  impede  the  progress  of  true  piety. — Jt  is  the  duty  of  an  evangelical 
teacher  to  pursue,  above  all  others,  those  objects  which  promote  the  truth 
which  is  according  to  godliness  ;  and  to  banish  out  of  Christian  schools  and 
churches  those  dogmas  which  are  believed  to  be  capable  of  furnishing  exci- 
tation and  nourishment  to  ungodliness.  If  your  venerable  Synod  pass  by 
these  [erroneous]  dogmas  in  silence,  we  shall  conclude,  and  our  Churches 
will  form  the  same  judgment,  that  such  dogmas  are  approved  by  the  tacit 
assent  of  your  reverences.  Jf  they  do  obtain  your  approbation,  it  will  then 
be  our  duty  diligently  to  warn  the  flock  of  Jesus  Christ  that  is  committed  to 
our  trust,  seriously  to  avoid  and  guard  against  dogmas  of  this  description. 
But  if  those  dogmas  be  condemned  by  the  public  voice  of  the  .?ynod,  (which 
we  hope  will  be  the  result,)  we  will  return  thanks  to  God  Almighty  for 
having  begun  to  cleanse  and  purify  his  Church  from  such  tares  and  errors." 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  because  it  is  generally  known,  that  the 
result  did  not  accord  with  the  hopes,  but  with  the  fears,  which  the  Remon- 
strants expressed.  In  a  few  davs  afterwards,  that  Calvinistic  Synod  excluded 
the  Remonstrants  from  all  further  communication  with  their  choice  assernblt/  : 
and,  instead  of  employing  themselves  in  carefully  refuting  the  Five  Articles 
which  the  Remonstrants  had  delivered,  they  culled  sentences  and  expres- 
sions from  the  insulated  productions  of  ditferent  individuals  that  had  previ- 
ously written  in  defence  of  General  Redemption,  or  from  the  statements 
which  three  or  four  of  them  (unauthorized  by  the  remainder)  had  agreed  to 
make,  in  a  particular  Conference  between  them  and  as  many  of  the  Contra- 
Remonstrants.  It  is  amazing,  that  in  the  lucubrations  of  the  Synod,  which 
occupy  several  hundred  folio  pages,  very  slight  allusion  is  made  to  these  plain 
and  scriptural  Articles, — a  tolerably  strong  proof  of  the  distant  respect  which 
the  Synodical  members  felt  for  them,  and  of  their  unwillingness  to  attempt  a 
confutation.  It  was  not  therefore  without  reason,  that  Bishop  Womack  in 
the  title-page  of  this  pamphlet  emploj'ed  these  expressions:  "The  Tenets 
♦'  of  the  Remonstrants  touching  those  Five  Articles  voted,  stated,  and 
*'  imposed,  but  not  disputed,  at  the  Synod  of  Dort." — In  the  treatise  en- 
titled, "  Arcana  Dogmatum  Anti-Remonstrantium,  or  The  Calyinists' 
Cabinet  unlocked,"  which  is  a  Vindication  of  this  "  Exaimination  ofTi- 
lenus,"  our  author  has  most  ably  exposed  the  intolerant  conduct  and  the 
desecrating  doctrines  of  the  Dort  Sj-nodists. 

The  judicious  Mosheiivi  published  a  Latin  Dissertation  on  this  subject,  in 
1724,  which  he  entitled,  ^^  JJ  Consultation  respecting-  the  Autlioiity  of  the 
S\N0D  OF  Dort, — an  Assembly  destructive  of  Sacred  Peace ;"  and  which  lie 
prefixed  to  his  Latin  version  of  "  The  Rev.  John  Hales'.^  Letters  and  Ex- 


152  THE    TENETS    OF  [aHT. 

pi-esses  concerning  the  ^YSOD  of  Dort." — After  recounting  several  instances 
of  intemperance  and  inipetuositv  in  the  judgments  of  the  Foreign  and  Pro- 
vincial Afcmhers  of  the'  Synod,  Mosheim  says  :  "  But,  this  warmth  of 
spirit,  with  which  the  Fathers  of  the  Synod  were  inflamed  against  the  Armi- 
nians,  was  so  far  from  abating,  that,  ou  the  contrary,  some  of  them 
proceeded  to  such  a  length  as  to  determine  that  they  should  be  punished  by 
the  sword,  with  penalties  and  exile.  Omitting  the  decisions  of  those  who 
gave  similar  directions  but  in  a  manner  somewhat  more  obscure,  I  will  here 
quote  the  suffrages  and  judgment  of  the  Deputies  of  South  Holland,  and 
those  of  the  Guelderland  Divines,  from  both  of  which  this  fact  will  Le  ren- 
dered very  apparent.  The  former  of  them  address  the  Representatives  of  the 
States  Geiieral  who  were  present  at  the  Council,  in  these  words  :  '  We  turn 
'  to  you,  illustrious  delegates,  and  by  the  precious  name  of  Jesus  Christ  we 

*  beseech  you  strongly  to   insist  before  their  High  Mightinesses,  who  are 

*  your  Lords  and  ours,  that  those  persons  who  have  thus,  like  unskilful 
'  husbandmen  or  destructive  hirelings,  audaciously  mixed  tares  with  the 

*  good  seed,    may  be  restrained  by  ecclesiastical   censures,   and   may  be 

*  visited  with  a  lighter  or  more  severe  degree  of  punishment,  in  proportion 
'  to  the  extent  of  each  of  their  offences.'  (Acts  of  the  Synod,  pt.  iii,  330.) — 
Those  of  Guelderland  in  like  manner  suggest  inflicting  on  them  the  punish- 
ment of  perpetual  exile,  or  something  still  more  grievous  :  (Ibid.  32.5.)  'We 
'  arc  fully  persuaded,  that,  unless  all  and  each  of  these  Five  Articles  and 

*  those  who  teach  them  be  ordered  into  perpetual  banishment  from  the 

*  Dutch  Churches,  it  will  be  impossible  far  any  Christian  peace  to  be  estab- 
'  lished  among  us,  or,  if  once  established,  to  be  long  preserved.    ^  little 

*  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump.    Iviould  they  ivere  even  cut  off  which, 

*  trouble  or  have  hitherto  troubled  you  !  (Gal.  v,  'J,  12.)' — I  mentioned,  in  a 
preceding  passage,  that  '  only  some  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Synod  wished  the 
'  Arminians  to  be  visited  with  punishment :'  But  the  man  who  may  attribute 
such  a  disposition  to  the  whole  assejiblv,  will  be  guilty  of  no  great  error. 
For,  omitting  all  mention  of  the  actual  issue  of  the  matter,  (which  is  a 
sufficient  proof  of  the  wishes  in  which  all  the  members  indulged,)  it  has 
been  placed  beyond  all  doubt  or  controversy,  that  John  Bogerman  who 
presided  over  that  Synod,  and  several  others  who  were  present,  entertained 
the  same  sentiments  as  Beza  and  Calvin, — that  the  attempts  of  perverse 
teachers  must  be  avenged  by  fire  and  faggot.  Since  therefore  all  these  indi- 
viduals accounted  the  Arminians  to  be  little  superior  to  the  worst  of  heretics, 
there  is  no  reason  for  proposing  this  enquiry,  '  Did  they  [the  Synodists] 
'  desire  to  have  a  capital  punishment  inflicted  on  the  Arminians  .-''  \Ve  have, 
besides,  an  eminent  authority  in  Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  at  that  period  Ambas- 
sador from  the  King  of  Great  Britain  to  the  States  General,  from  whom  we 
learn,  that,  a  long  time  before  judgment  was  pronounced  on  the  doctrines  . 
of  the  Arminians,  the  punishment  of  exile  with  some  other  mark  of  infamy 
had  been  determined  against  the  principal  Divines  of  the  Arminian  party." 

After  having  quoted  the  Ambassador's  letter  to  Dr.  Abbot,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  Dr.  Mosheim  thus  proceeds  :  "  It  will  now  be  the  duty  of 
Protestants,  and  especially  of  those  among  the  Reformed  who  are  more 
celebrated  than  their  brethren  for  wisdom  and  moderation,  to  form  from 
their  own  feelings  an  estimate  of  ours  when  we  read  these  expressions,  and 
at  the  same  time  reflected,  that  the  men  from  whom  these  rigid  decrees 
proceeded  were  still  accounted  characters  in  no  respect  inferior  to  the  Am- 
bassadors OF  OUR  BLESSED  SAVIOUR  !  Thesc  are  not  the  sayin2:s  of  private 
persons,  but  of  a  Council  which  represented  the  whole  of  their  Church,  and 
the  decrees  of  which  they  considered  inviolable  and  on  no  account  to  be 
contemned.  We  do  not  deny,  that  some  persons  among  us  [the  Lutherans] 
have  acted  with  greater  vehemence  and  warmth  than  was  proper,  (which 
concession  has  probably  been  made  by  the  individuals  themselves,)  but 
their  violent  conduct  will  not  be  ascribed  to  the  whole  of  our  body  ;  and  I  do 
not  think,  there  is  one  even  among  the  violent  of  our  Divines  who  will  con- 
clude, that  men  are  to  be  molested  and  tormented  on  account  of  the  doc- 
trines which  they  hold  in  common  with  the  Calvinists.  But  that  Assembly 
of  the  gravest  and  most  respectable  Divines,  who  were  collected  together 
from  the  whole  of  their  Church,  expelled  meji  [from  their  communion] 
merely  in  consequence  of  those  Five  Points  which  nearly  coincide  with  our 


FIFTli.]  THE    REM  ON  ST  HANTS.  153 

doctrine,  and  classe'l  them  not  only  with  heretics,  but  with  malefactors 
and  the  worst  or'  criminals.  What  would  the  Reformed  [the  Calvinists] 
have  said,  if  we  ['he  Lutherans]  had  not  only  ordered  off  to  the  shades, 
but  had  also  sanctioned  an  order  for  punishing-,  the  followers  of  Jansenius, 
when  thej-  deserted  the  communion  of  the  Fajjiits  aud  placed  themselves 
under  our  protection, — ahhough  the  Calvinists  are  aware  that  the  dogmas  of 
the  Janseuists  are  not  on  many  points  much  disr.imilar  to  their  own  ?  The 
Calvinists  have  also  plainlj-  and  without  any  ambiguity  confessed,  that  not 
only  the  cause  of  the  Armir.ians,  but  ours"  [the  Lutherans]  likewise,  was 
adjudged  and  condemned  by  the  members  of  the  Dort  Synod.  At  the  very 
period  when  that  Synod  was  sitting;,  Peter  du  Moulin  became  the  bearer  of 
the  conditions  on  wiiich  peace  and  harmony  were  to  be  concluded  between 
the  Calvinists  and  the  Lutherans  :  But  John  Bog;erman,  the  President  of 
that  Assembly,  did  not  tliink  it  proper  tkat  even  a  ward  should  be  mentioned 
about  an;/  such  concord.  Of  this  fact  John  Hales  is  witness,  who  related  to 
the  Ambassador  of  theKinjof  Great  Britain  tliat  such  was  the  answer 
whieh  was  given  to  hiivi  by  Ljo2;erman.  It  was  scarcely  possible,  therefore, 
that  peace  could  have  been  rel'used  to  the  Arminiaus,  if  the  Lutherans  were 
received  into  covenant  and  sacred  alliance.  That  President  was  not  ignorant 
or  uncousciaus  of  the  kind  of  disposition  which  the  members  of  the  Synod 
felt  toward  us.  It  is  certain,  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  Uort  Fathers 
to  repel  from  themselves  a  great  part  of  that  hatred  which  they  incurred,  if, 
after  having  rejected  aud  condemned  the  disciples  of  Armiuius,  they  had 
manifested  a  disposition  inclined  to  cultix  ate  amity  with  our  body  :  For  tiie 
Remonstrants  had  always  asserted,  that  their  cause  aud  ours  were  identified 
together.  Since,  therefoie,  those  Fathers  acted  difterently,  and  chose  to 
procure  for  themselves  a  greater  portion  of  envy,  in  preference  to  the  culti- 
vation of  a  friendh'  aSection  for  us,  there  can  hardly  be  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt  that  the  hatred  which  they  evinced  towards  the  Armiuians  belonged 
also  to  us  in  no  inferior  degree.  The  same  fact  is  rendered  evident  from  the 
violent  molestation  which  the  Bremen  and  British  Divines  received  in  the 
Synod  from  the  rest  of  the  Fathers,  and  especially  from  those  of  the  United 
Provinces, who  treated  them  with  discourtesy,  abuse,  and  contumely, because, 
on  the  doctrines  of  Predestination  and  of  the  Grace  and  Merits  of  Christ, 
they  were  more  favourable  to  our  sentiments  than  to  those  of  Calvin. 

"  Although  they  [the  Calvinists]  may  believe,  that  the  difference  is  very 
little  betwixt  themselves  aud  us  on  those  matters  which  contain  the  found- 
ation of  religion,  what  man  will  engage  on  their  behalf,  that,  if  at  a  future 
period  they  obtain  the  supremacy,  the  same  punishment  rtill  not  be  inflicted 
on  us  as  on  the  Arminiaus,  for  sentiments  which  they  at  present  number 
among  errors  of  minor  importance  ?  The  fate  of  the  Arminiaus  w  ill  be 
understood  from  the  following  paragraph,  which  is  inserted  in  the  Preface 
to  their  own  Synodical  Aces  :  '  Those  of  the  Remonstrants  who  were  cited 
'  before  the  Synod  are  commanded  either  to  be  silent  like  dumb  dogs,  or  to 
*  be  banished  with  their  wives  and  children  out  of  their  native  country.  On 
'  the  rest  of  their  pastor^t,  nearly  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred,  perpetual 
'  c.vile  is  imposed,  or  they  are  reduced  to  a  monstrous  silence  in  a  free 
'  country.  That  nothing  maybe  wanting  to  gratify  the  hatred  of  their  adver- 
'  saries,  public  edicts  are  issued,  which  forbid  any  man  from  suiiplying 
'  these  exiled  aud  silenced  ministers  even  with  a  farthing,  with  whicn  they 
'  may  prolong  a  miserable  existence  in  banishment,  may  satisfy  the  cravings 
'  of  hunger  or  avoid  the  disgrace  of  beggary.  A  reward  of  Five  Hundred 
'  Guilders  is  placed  orr  the  head  of  each  of  the  Remonstrant  Ministers,  and 
'  t!iey  are  prohibited  from  returning  to  the  land  of  their  birth  under  the 
'  peualty  of  perpetual  imprisoument, — beside  other  culpable  instauces  of 
'  ,\ll)au!an  cruelty  which  are  at  this  juncture  brought  into  exercise!' — if 
the  Calvinists  consider  it  right  thus  to  wreak  their  vengeauce  ou  those  who 
are  separated  from  ihem  by  a  few  errors  of  trifling  importance,  we,  whom 
they  consider  as  involved  in  error,  should  deservedly  appear  foolish  and 
entirel}'  devoid  of  reason,  by  displayirrg  any  degree  of  solicitude  to  embrace 
thit  fellowship  which  they  otter.  Xnd  we  must  be  permitted  to  imagine, 
that  they  consider  their  persecuting  conduct  extremely  proper,  as  long  as 
they  persist  to  call  the  Synod  of  Dort  a  most  troLV  Assembly  !" 

In  a  preceding  paragraph.  Dr.  Mosheiin  had  said  :  "  The  sentiments  which 
the  Armiuians  defended,  at  the  comnienceiiient  of  these  controversies,  were, 

L 


154  THE    TEN  UTS    OF  [aKT. 

Ta.?:ct\os  proceedlnp:  from  faith  which  was  foreseen  hij  Gud,  the  Goou-wwx. 
and  hovi^  of  God  towards  all  men  jchatei'er,  </te  IJeath  of  Christ  m'/hV/j 
2>ussesses  saving  EFFiCArv  for  all  men  unlc,>s  the;/  resist  it,  the  Grace 
which  changes  and  converts  no  man  except  himwhnse  will  it  is  to  be  so  con- 
verted, and  the  Loss  or  Faith  and  Grace.  If  these  opiuioiis,  and  others 
which  arc  contained  in  their  well  known  Five  Points,  be  simply  reg-arded  by 
themselves,  no  man  can  deny  the  fact  that  they  are  the  same  as  those  which 
we  [the  Lutherans']  embrace  Jor  Divine  Verities  that  are  clearly  re- 
vealed. Siiice,  therefore,  it  is  certain,  that  the  Synod  of  Dort  not  only 
rejected  and  trampled  upon  these  doctrines,  but  reckoned  them  in  the  num- 
ber of  impious  dogmas  that  are  prejudicial  to  salcation  and  of  a  most  danger- 
ous description,  where  can  the  man  be  found  who  will  not  confess,  that  '  we 

*  [the  Lutherans]  were  wounded,  condemned,  and  excluded  from  salvation, 
'  through  the  sides  of  the  Arniinians?'  But  that  this  was  really  the  case, 
is  a  fact  placed  beyond  all  controvei'sy." — For  this  assertion  the  learned 
Afosheiin  quotes  authorities  from  the  judgments  of  the  Synodical  Divines, 
both  foreign  and  provincial. 

In  a  subsequent  chapter  he  states,  tbat  "  the  dogmas  of  the  Supra-lapsa- 
rians  are  injurious  to  the  Holiness,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  Perfections  of  the 
Supreme  Being-."  He  then  adds  :  "  I  know,  there  are  some  among;  the  C'al- 
vinists,  w  ho  admit  of  scarcely  any  ditterence  between  the  Sub-lupsarians 
and  the  Siipra-lopsarians,  and  who  assert,  that,  if  v\e  have  reg^ard  to  the 
foundation,  they  are  both  sutficiently  at  unity.  This  is  the  judgment  of 
Francis  Junius,  [the  predecessor  ofARMiMu.s  in  the  Divinity  Chair  at 
Leyden,J  one  of  the  most  celebrated  Divines  of  the  Cahinistic  School.  His 
words  are  these  :  '  Those  who  entertain  different  sentiments  from  each  other 
'  on  the  object  of  Predestinatiun,  do  not  differ  wiih  regard  to  the  circura- 
'  stances  so  much  as  many  people  suppose.  For  when  the  latter  [the  Sub- 
'  lapsarians]  declare,  that  man  already  fallen  iriis  considered  hy  God  as 
'  the  object  of  his  predestincdion,  they  have  not  properly  any  regard  to  the 

*  cause  of  Election  and  Reprobation,  but  to  the  order  a7id  series  of  causes 
'  upon  which  damnation  is  consequent.  But  when  the  latter  [the  Supra- 
'  lapsarians]  assert,  that,  in  the  act  of  pi-edesti?>afi}ig  God  regarded  7uan 
'  as  not  the7i  created,  they  do  not  on  that  account  exclude  God  from  the  con- 
'  sideration  of  man  as  fallen,  but  the  only  object  which  they  wish  to  obtain 
'  is, — to  find  erery  cause  of  predestination  in  God,   and  none  out  of  God  in 

'  MAN.       Thus,     THEY   AGREE   AS   TO  THE    MA1TER    ITSELF,   whilc    they    differ 

'  in  their  mode  of  explanation.'  [Theses  de  Prcdest.,  Cap.  x.) — Similar  to 
these  are  the  sentiments  delivered  by  Andrew  Rivet  in  his  '  Orthodox 
Catholic  :'  (Tract,  iv,  Quaest.  9.) — And  in  the  article  '  Paulicians'  [or 
Manichees]  in  his  Historical  and  Critical  Dictionary,  that  very  clever  and 
acute  man,  Peter  Bayle,  seems  to  be  of  the  same  opinion." 

It  is  remarkable,  that  three  great  Divines,  difiering  so  much  in  senti- 
f  nient  as  did  Junius,  (who  was  viewed  by  the  Dutch  Calvinisls  as  n)ucb  too 
moderate  in  his  Predestinarian  notions,]  Arminius,  and  Dr.  Tw  issE,  the 
famous  English  Supralapsariau,  should  all  agree  in  regarding  the  two 
schemes  as  most  intimately  allied  :  The  only  difference  between  them  which 
Dr.  Twisse  could  perceive,  was,  that  the  Supralapsarians  are  more  honest 
and  manly  in  boldly  avowing  their  high  notions,  tlian  their  timid  brethren. 

After  recounting  some  of  these  high  but  unhallowing  notions,  Mosheim 
thus  proceeds:  "  1  declare,  that  unless  the  man  who  wishes  toenter'ain  the  doc- 
trine which  I  have  now  exposed,  desire  likewise  to  be  completely  at  variance 
with  himself;  he  must  first  lay  aside  all  the  ideas  about  God,  justice,  holi- 
ness, equity,  and  other  matters,  which  we  have  derived  from  reason  and  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  This  is  not  my  ov,n  solitary  opinion,  but  that  of  many 
others,  even  of  the  Calvinistic  school,  who  are  in  high  and  deserved  repute 
for  their  wisdom.  I  will  give  a  quotation  equal  to  all  of  them  in  the  words  of 
that  very  ingenious  and  most  eloquent  man,  James  Saurin,  who  says:  *I 
'  frankly  'confess,  that  I  caimot  sufficiently  wonder  to  perceive  some  men,  who, 

*  with  much  coolness  and  gravity,  tell  us,    God  has Jormed thisworld with  the 

*  design  of  saving-  one  man  a7id  damning'  a  hu7id7-ed  thousand .     yVo  supplica- 

*  tions  or  prayers,  tears  or  sighs,  which  they  utter,  can  possihly  cause  this  de- 
'  cree  to  he  revokfd :  It  is  necessary  to  submit  to  the  sentence  of  God,  v.'hose 
'  glory  7equired  hi7n  to  create  all  these  nations  for  eternal  destruction.  I  can- 
'  not     be  sufficiently  astoiiis'hed  when  I  hear  these  people  maintain  their 


FIFTH.]  THE    KK  VIO  N  STU  ANTS.  155 

'  propositions  in  a  mamiertbus  crude  aud  riirid.  and  without  the  least  mitiga- 
'  tioK  or  exception  ^  and  viheu  they  ini mediately  add,  that  there  is  notlnug 
'  (U(jinilf  in  aiii/  of  thcaesenliinents,  and  that  all  those  objections  which  can  he 
'  urged  in  opposition  are  futile  and  unti'nrtki/  of  an  answer.'  (Sermons,  T.  1, 
srr.  4.)  Peter  PoiRKT,  [the  famous  French  Alystic]  who  certainly  was  not 
deficient  in  shrewdness  and  acuu\ea,  asserts,  in  his  'Divine  Economy,' 
('i"om.  vii,  chap  13, J  that  the  notion  of  the  Deitv  which  the  Supralapsaritrns 
obtrude  upon  us,  is  rather  that  of  an  infernal  demon.  To  the  preceding 
extract  from  Sanrivi  I  would  subjoin  Poiret's  entire  expressions,  were  I  not 
afraid  that  he  would  be  immediately  rejected  as  a  fanatic  ; — although,  in 
reference  to  this  particular  alfair,  he  is  any  thing' rather  than  a  fanatic. 

"  That  which  above  all  other  things  renders  the  cause  of  the  Supra- 
lapsarians  infamous  and  odious.,  is  this, — It  makes  God  the  sole  Cause  and 
yluthor  of  all  moral  evil  and  sin.  For  this  consequence  flows  so  manifestly 
from  their  sentiments,  that  it  has  often  seemed  most  surprising  to  nie  how 
it  wfis  possilile  for  men  of  learnirg  to  allow  themselves  to  contend,  '  that 
'  such  a  consequence  has  no  connection  whatever  with  their  opinions.'  1 
am  fuilj' persuaded,  that  no  man  would  be  so  dull  or  clownish,  (provided 
this  doctrine  were  correctly  explained  to  him,)  as  not  instantly  to  perceive 
that  the  origin  of  all  wiclced  actions  must  be  sought  in  the  Supreme  Being, 
whom, notwithstanding,  reason  itself  teaches  us  to  consider  as  endowed  with 
the  greatest  benignity  aud  holiness.  For  if  the  glory  of  Gad  demanded  an 
imniensa  multitude  of  men  to  be  adjudged  to  eternal  punishment, that  same 
glor}-  likewise  required  God  to  be  the  Author  of  sin  to  men,  '  without 
which,'  these  persons  say,  '  it  would  be  an  act  of  injustice  to  punish  them.' 
Therefore,  if  we  receive  these  men  as  interpreters,  '  to  cause  men  to  sin,  is 
'  so  far  from  being  an  act  derogatory  to  God,  that,  on  the  contrary,  (unless 

*  it  had  been  his  pleasure,  tor  his  glory  to  remain  in  concealment,)  he  could 

*  not  possibly  have  done  otherwise  than  instigate  men  to  the  perpetration  of 

*  crimes  and  offences.  Is  not  he  the  cause  and  author  of  the  deed  which  is 
'  done,  who  is  concerned  that  it  be  done,  or  who  aptly  disposes  every  circum- 
'  stance  for  its  accomplishment .'  But  it  was  of  consequence  to  [the  glory 
'  ofj  God,  that  a  great  number  of  mortals  should  fall  into  sin  and  should 
'never  be  delivered  from  that  calamity;  wherefore,'  if  we  may  give  credit 
to  this  sect,  'He  likewise  ordained  [or  disposed]  all  things  in  such  a  way, 
'  that  neither  could  our  first  parents  by  any  means  whate\  er  avoid  sin,  nor 
'  could  the  greater  portion  of  their  posterity  clear  themselves  from  the  stain 
'  which  they  had  contract^i!.' — What  therefore  remains,  but  that  we  refer 
this,  if  there  he  any  truth  in  it,  to  God,  as  the  origin  and  cause  of  all  sin  ? 
Unless  perhaps  we  may  wish  to  state,  what  a))j)ears  to  me  most  absurd  and 
inconsistent, — that  '  he  who  desires  the  death  of  an  enemy  and  lays  poison 
'  before  him,  who  also  persuades  or  even  compels  him  to  receive  that  deadly 
'  poison  into  his  stomach  as  a  salutary  medicine,  in  all  this  does  nothing 
'  amiss,  nor  is  the  cause  of  the  death  of  that  person  who  against  his  own 
'inclination  kills  himself.'  I  feel  a  pleasure  in  elucidating  this  toj.ic  bj'  a 
similitude  which  that  illustrious  individual,  the  late  G.  W.  Leibnitz,  whose 
testimony  the  Supralapsarians  are  less  likely  to  reject,  because  some  of  them 
have  expressed  their  confident  persuasion  that  he  was  favourable  to  the 
sentiments  of  their  faction.  He  says,  '  I  can  by  no  means  comprehend,  how 
'  he  can  possibly  be  acquitted  of  ail  blame  and  criminality,  who  not  only 
'makes  it  possible  for  man  to  fall,  but  who  likewise  disposes  of  all  circum- 
'  stances  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  them  to  conduce  tovmrds  his  fall .'' 
(Essais  de  Theodicee,  p.  418.)" 

The  reader  who  is  acquainted  with  the  high  character  for  candour  and 
impartiality  which  this  eminent  ecclesiastical  historian  has  obtained,  will 
know  how  to  appreciate  the  preceding  statements  and  remarks;  They  are 
all  corroborated  by  authentic  docnments,  and  were  written  above  a  hun- 
dred years  after  the  occurrence  of  the  transactions  to  which  they  allude. 
They  will  be  recognized  as  the  just  and  ob\iotis  reflections  of  a  cool  and 
accurate  observer,  who  calmly  looked  back  upon  the  events  connected  with 
the  Synod  of  Dort,  which,  whether  regarded  as  matters  of  history  or  of 
the()l(>gy,  reflect  merited  and  lasting  disgrace  on  the  chief  actors  iu 
that  memorable  Asseinblv. — Editor. 

l2 


liKJ  THE    TENEIS    OF    5CC. 


JACOBUS  ARMINIUS, 

IN     ARTICULIS    PERPENDENDIS,     SAITH     AS     FOLLOWETII. 

1.  That  opinion  which  denies,  that  "true  believers  can  or  ever 
do  fall  from  faith  totally  and  finally," — was  never  accounted  for 
Catholick  from  the  times  of  the  Apostles  to  these  our  times  ;  nor 
was  the  contrary  opinion  esteemed  heretical;  yea,  the  affirmative 
part  had  ever  more  for  it. 

2.  "  That  a  believer  can  be  assured,  without  special  revelation, 
that  he  shall  not  fall  from  faith," — and  "  that  a  believer  is  bound 
to  believe  that  he  shall  not  fall  from  faith,"  are  two  points, 
which  were  never  accounted  for  Catht)lick  in  the  Church  of 
Christ;  nor  was  the  denial  of  them  ever  judged  heresy  by  the 
Catholick  Church. 

3.  That  persuasion,  whereby  a  believer  doth  certainly  persuade 
himself  that  lie  cannot  or  shall  not  fall  from  faUli,  serves,  not  so 
much  for  comfort  against  despair,  as  for  to  breed  securiti),  direct- 
ly contrary  to  that  most  wholesome  fear,  wherewith  we  are 
commanded  to  work  out  our  salvation,  and  which  is  very  needful 
in  this  place  of  temptation.  * 

4.  He  that  thinks  he  may  fall  from  faith,  and  thereupon  fears  lest 
he  should  fall  therefrom,  is  neither  destitute  of  neeilful  comfort, 
nor  tormented  with  anxiety  of  mind:  t  It  being  sufficient  for 
comfort  and  freedom  from  anxiety  to  know,  that  he  shall  not 
by  any  power  of  Satan,  sin,  and  the  world,  or  by  any  affec- 
tion and  inifirmity  of  his  own  flesh  fall  from  faith,  unless  him- 
self shall  willhigly,  of  his  own  accord,  yield  to  temptation  and 
neglect  conscionably  to  work  out  his  salvation.  '^ 


This  docti'ine  (according  to  the  undeniable  consequence 
thereof)  will  uphold  the  necessity  of  an  industrious  duty,  and 
the  usefulness  of  a  settled  Ministry,  and  the  peace  of  a  good 
Conscience. 

And  as  maiiy  as  walk  according  to  this  rule,  peace  be  on  them  and 
mere}),  and  upon  the  Israel  of  God  !  Gal.  vi,  l6. 


*  See  Heb.  xii,  15;  Rom.  xi,  20  ;  1  Cor.  x,  12;  1  Thess.  v,  .3;  Heb.  vi,  II ; 
Gal.  vi,  1  ;  Phil,  ii,  13 ;  1  Peter  i,  17 ;  Rev.  iii,  11 ;  Job  i)t,  28  ;  1  Cor.  ix,  27  ; 
I  Cor.  iv,  4. 

^  He  that  gives  comfort  and  security  upon  any  other  terms  doth  sevi'  pil- 
lows, as  in  Ezek.  xiii,  18;  &e.  See  Jereiii.  vi,  14;  Ezek.  xiji,  10. 

+  See  John  x,  2«  ;  Rom.  viii,  35,  to  the  end  ;  1  John  v,  18;  James  iv,  7; 
Rom.  vi,  l(i ;  2  Peter  ii,  19. 


THE 


POSTSCRIPT 
TO  THE  FIRST  PART. 


TiLENUS  thinks  fit  to  give  this  further  account  of  his  design 
in  the  foregoing  paper  :  He  resolved  at  first  only  to  give  the  true 
slate  of  the  questions,  and  nakedly  to  lay  down  the  tenets,  as 
well  negative  as  affirmative,  in  as  few,  significant  and  clear  ex- 
pressions as  was  possible.  Afterwards  he  met  with  some  temp- 
tation to  affix  quotations  out  of  Scripture,  in  the  Margin,  to  prove 
the  several  branches  of  these  tenets.  Then  considering,  that 
most  men  pass  over  such  proofs  as  are  oily  referred  unto,  though 
they  have  their  bibles  Ij'ing  by  them,  (which  are  not  always  at 
hand,  neither  !)  rather  than  give  themselves  the  trouble  to  turn 
to  them  ;  he  thereupon  concluded,  it  would  be  for  the  reader's 
greater  ease  and  advantage,  if  he  cited  the  very  words  of  Scrip- 
ture, out  of  which  such  proofs  are  to  be  made  :  And  he  had  not 
gone  far  in  this  method,  but  it  came  into  his  mind  to  be  a  little 
more  distinct  in  setting  down  the  grounds  of  his  Proofs  and 
Reasons  for  his  affirmative  and  negative  tenets  respectively ; 
which  is  done  accordingly  in  the  later  Articles.  And  yet,  in 
the  former  as  well  as  these,  are  contained  such  topicks  and 
heads  of  arguments,  as  a  little  skill  (to  reduce  them  to  the  rules 
of  Art)  will  be  sufficient  to  improve,  to  thy  impi-egnable  esta- 
blishment in  the  present  truth. 

And  now,  reader,  before  Tilenus  can  dismiss  thee,  he  thinks 
himself  obliged  to  make  thee  satisfaction  for  having  imposed 
upon  thee  in  two  or  three  particulars,  when  he  personated  the 
Infidel  and  the  Carnal  man.  One  was  in  effect,  that  God  is 
not  serious  when  he  forbids  the  wicked  (  "  Reprobates"  as 
they  CiU  them)  to  sin,  and  invites  them  to  repentance  and 
amendment  of  life.  [^Pages  ii,  50.^" He  doth  this,"  they  say,  "  by 
his  revealed  w'ill,"  which  indeed  they  account  not  his  will ;  "  but 
by  his  secret  will  (which  is  his  will,  properly  so  called)  he  wills 
the  contrary."  Cclari  intcrdinn  a.  Deo,  saith  Eeza,  aUqiiid  ei, 
quod  in  verba  j)C!fefac'it,  rcptignans.  Resp.  ad  Acta  Colloq.  Monu 
pel.  Part  2.  p.  \~i3. — And  Piscator  in  his  Disp.  contra  Schaf'm. 
saith,  Dcum  intcrdum  verba  s'lgnijicare  se  telle,  quod  reverd   jion 


158  Till'.    POSTCR'.rT. 

vi/It  :  aid  nolle,  quod  rcvrrd  vi/lL*  Now  because  Go<Vs  intercourse 
with  Abraham  a'ooiit  bis  offering  up  of  Isaac,  (Gen.  xxii,)  is 
the  great  instance  usually  produced  to  prop  up  that  opinion,  (so 
dangerous  to  piety,  and  so  dishonourable  to  the  sacred  veracity 
and  sincerity  of  Almighty  God,  if  not  taken  airn  granosnlisy 
and  qualified  by  some  commodious  interpretation,)  according  to 
that  saying  of  I.uther,  Deus  dixit  ad  Abrnhamum :  Occide 
TiLivM  SiC.  Quowodo?  Ludendo,  sinudando,  rideudo:  And  a  little 
after,  Atqui  apiid  Deum  est  Uisiis,  et,  si  liceret  ita  diccre,  ruciula- 
ciiun  est  ?t  Therefore  Tilenus   thought  it  an  acceptable  service 

*  Beza  says,  "  God  occasioimlly  conceals  something  which  is  contrary  to 
that  which  he  manifests  in  his  word."— Piscaior  says,  "  In  his  word  God 
sometimes  intimates,  that  he  wills  what  He  in  reality  does  not  will ;  or,  that 
he  does  not  will  what  He  in  reality  does  will," 

f  Luther  was  a  bold  Divine,  though  not  always  one  of  the  most  discreet. 
It  was  a  remari<abie  instance  of  God's  kind  and  watchful  Providence  o^er 
the  rising:  interests  of  the  Protestant  Church,  when  He  vouchsafed  to  Luther 
the  assistance  of  such  a  mild,  enlightened,  ant'  judicious  compeer  as  Me- 
laucthon.  F^uther's  talent  lay  in  rou^h  handliug, — in  puHiu":  down  the 
strono'-holds  of  Satan :  Melaiicthon's  gifts  were  most  conspicuous  when 
employed  in  building  up  the  infant  Church,  m  establishing  believers,  and 
in  tendering  moderate  advice  for  the  progress  of  Reformation  in  oiher 
countries. 

The  intention  of  Luther  in  his  comment  upon  this  passage  of  scripture, 
was  vei'v  excellent;  but  his  curious  and  excursive  maimer  of  executing  that 
intention,  must  not  be  imitated.  It  becomes  us  indeed,  to  speak  of  God 
with  the  greatest  reverence,  and  only  as  he  is  pleased  to  reveal  hiinK;lf  in 
scripture.  The  connection  in  which  the  quotation  stands,  is  as  follows  :  "  Is 
God  then  contradictory  to  himself,  and  does  he  lie.'  At  first  he  commanded 
his  [Abraham's]  son  to  be  sacrificed,  now  he  forbids  it.  But  we  who  are 
christians,  must  both  think  and  speak  of  these  matters  with  reverence  and 
godly  fear  :  And  our  God  must  be  owned  to  be  such  a  Being  as  can  produce 
contrary  effects  in  things  that  are  contrary.  This  most  wonderful  government 
over  his  saints  atlbrd'i  to  us  several  sweet  topics  of  instruction,  and  is  replete 
with  consolation.  Yet  if  the  saints  were  allowed  to  speak  of  the  Divine 
Majesty  andTruth,  wiiha  St7Zi'fl  in  favour  of  reverence  [forthose  attributes]  , 
they  might  use  these  forms  of  speaking  :  '  God  feigns,  lies,  pretends,  and 
*  mocks  us.'  And  thus,  when  they  have  to  encounter  death,  they  might  say 
to  God,  [t  is  not  death,  but:  life.  'Thou  dost  tantalize  or  trifle  with  me,  as  a 
father  with  his  child:  for  while  thou  speakest  one  thing,  thy  thoughts  and 
intentions  are  about  another  ! — Such  a  species  of  falsehood  as  this  is  salutary 

t saving]  to  us.  Happy  indeed  shall  we  be  if  we  can  learn  this  art  from  God. 
!e  attempts  and  proposes  the  work  of  another,  that  he  may  be  able  to 
accomplish  his  own.  By  our  affliction,  he  seeks  his  own  gratilication  [or 
sport]  and  our  salvation.  Thus,  God  said  to  Abraham,  Slay  thy  son,  &c. 
How?  By  tantalizing,  pretending,  and  mocking.  This  sport  is  certainly 
of  a  happy  and  pleasant  kind. 

"  He  likewise  occasionally  feigns,  as  though  he  would  depart  to  a  great 
distance  from  us  and  kill  us.  AVhich  of  us  believes,  that  this  is  all  a  pre- 
tence /  Yet,  with  God,  this  is  otdy  sport,  and  (were  we  permitted  thus 
to  speak,)  it  is  a  falsehood.  It  is  a  real  death  which  all  of  \is  have  to 
suffer.  But  God  does  not  act  seriously,  according  to  his  own  showing  or 
representation.  It  is  dissimulation;  and  he  is  only  trying  whether  we  be 
willing  to  lose  present  things,  and  life  itself,  for  his  sake  or  on  his  account." 
Omitting  all  allusion  to  tVie  dangerous  and  unhailowing  tendency  of  Lu- 
ther's exposition,  we  must  account  it  a  clumsy  method  of  solving  a  difficulty, 
— esjecially  when  viewed  in  contrast  with  that  of  Bishop  Womack. — Editor. 

L  o 


THE    POSTSCRIPT.  159 

to  God  and  good  men,  if  he  could  offer  any  thing  to  clear  the 
reputation  of  that  passage  from  the  suspicion  of  being  accessary 
to  that  doctrine  in  whose  behalf  it  is  so  often  pleaded. 

To  this  end  let  us  examine  the  plea,  Gen.  xxii,  2,  "  God  said 
unto  Abraham^  Tahc  now  thy  son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  nhom  thou 
lovest;  and  get  thee  into  the  landqfMoriah:  and  offer  him  therefor  a 
burnt  offering,  vpon  one  of  the  mountatns  which  I  will  tell  thee  of." 
Where,  by  the  way,  the  reader  may  take  notice,  that  Abraham 
■was  to  expect  further  orders  from  Almighty  God  before  the  ut- 
most execution  of  this  affair.  But  to  the  plea,  "  Here,"  say  they, 
"  we  have  God's  revealed  will  signified  by  a  command,  that 
Isaac  should  be  slaifi  :  But  by  his  secret  will,  that  he  would  not 
have  it  so,  appears  as  well  by  the  event,  as  by  the  Angel's  voice, 
'Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad,'  &c.  Theretore  God  commands 
what  he  nilleth,"  &c. — But  Tilenus  sees  no  such  matter,  no  con- 
tradiction, no  opposition  betwixt  God's  secret  and  revealed  will 
in  this  passage,    being   confident   to   affirm   that   God  willed, 

WITH    HIS    secret    WILL,      ALL    THAT      WAS     COMMANDED    BY    HIS 

revealed;  which  was  not  the  occision  or  slaughtering  of  Isaac, 
(to  which  sitigle  act  they  usually  restrain  God's  revelation  and 
command,)  but  it  was  Abraham's  voluntary  and  free  obedience, 
in  devoting,  consecrating  and  rendering  up  his  son  for  a  sacrifice 
at  God's  command.  Some  particulars  whereof  are  set  down. 
Take  thy  son,  go  into  the  land  of  Moriali ;  carry  wood  and  Jire, 
make  an  altar,  and  bind  Isaac  and  expose  him  Jiponit.  That  God  will- 
ed this,  is  clear  by  the  event  according  to  the  adversaries'  own  rule. 
Ex  eventu  judicandum  est  de  Dei  J^ohintatc*  And  that  God's  com- 
mand, or  revealed  will,  intended  the  same  and  no  more,  ap- 
pears by  all  those  scriptures  which,  speaking  of  this  matter, 
do  positively  affirm,  that  Abraham  did  fully  perform  what  God 
had  commanded. — So  Hebr.  xi.  17;  "By  faith  Abraham,  when 
lie  was  tried,  offered  up  Isaac :  And  he  that  had  received  the  pro- 
mises offered  up  his  only  son," — So  James  ii.  21  ;  "  Was  not 
Abraham  our  father  justified  by  works,  when  he  had  offered 
Isaac  his  son  upon  the  altar .''"  And  so  God  himself  interprets 
it.  Gen.  xxii.  l6;  "Because  thou  hast  done  this  thing,"  &c. 
To  which  purpose  also  it  is  observable,  that  God  does  not  use 
the  same  phrase  of  speech  in  the  prohibition,  verse  12,  that  he 
used  in  the  injunction,  verse  2.  Here  God's  will  revealed,  is 
offer  cum  in  holocaustum  [^"  offer  him  for  a  burnt  offering''^  ;  but 
there  the  Avill  of  God  forbidding  is,  not  neofferas  "do  not  offer 
him,"  (for  that  [[the  offering^  was  done  already  according  to 
God's  interpretation  and  requiry,)  but  ne  injicias  manu?n  tuavi 
super  puerum,  \j'  lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad"^. 

Objection. — "  The  phrase  and  word  of  command  in  ordinary 
"  construction  seemed  to  imply  the  slaying  of  Isaac;  because 

*  "  \N'e  must  judge  of  God's  will  by  the  cvcui." 


IGO  THE    POSTSCRIPT. 

"  it  was  the  custom  to  slay  such  sacrifices  before  they  were  burnt 
"  upoii  the  altar." 

Response.— For  answer  to  this,  it  needs  not  be  replied,  that 
"  words  and  phrases  in  Holy  Scripture,  as  well  as  in  other  au- 
thors, are  used  in  diverse  senses."  But  the  answer  is,  that  tliere 
was  a  necessity  (upon  the  matter)  that  Almicjhty  God  should 
use  a  phrase  that  carried  such  an  obvious  sense  with  it,  because 
this  was  a  special  command  given  unto  Abraham  for  a  sienal 
trial  of  his  faith  and  obedience,  "  And  it  came  to  pass  that  God 
did  tempt  Abraham."  (Gen.  xxii.  1.)  Which  there  could  have 
been  no  proof  of,  if  God  had  expounded  to  him  the  sense  of  his 
command  after  this  manner,  "  Go,  take  tiiy  son,  &c.  But  thou 
"  neede-st  not  startle  at  the  imposition  ;  for  my  intent  and  pur- 
''  pose  is,  only  that  thou  slioiilde^t  bring  khn  into  the  land  of  Mo- 
"  riah,  ajid  bind  hi:n  and  expose  him  there  vpon  the  altar,  which 
"  thou  shaltm?ke  for  that  purpose,  and  then  I  will  accept  thy 
"  obedience,  and  rescue  thy  son  from  the  knife  by  a  voice  from 
"  Heaven."  IF  God  hadthusfar  revealed  his  will,  Abraham's  faith 
had  found  no  difficulty  to  contest  against,  and  [\C]  consequently 
had  not  been  capable  of  an  approbation.  The  upshot  therefore 
of  all  is  this, — that  in  this  intercourse  with  Abraham,  God  re- 
vealed his  will,  and  nothing  but  his  will,  but  not  his  whole  will, 
which  he  was  not  bound  to  do,  neither  could  the  doing  of  it  consist 
with  his  design  of  trying  the  sincerity  of  Abraham's  graces.  But 
this  is  not  to  be  drawn  into  example  when  we  speak  of  God's 
ordinary  external  intercourse  with  sinners,  inviting  and  calling 
them  to  repent,  believe  and  obey  the  Gospel,  upon  promise  of  life 
and  peril  of  damnation.     For, 

1.  This  would  make  the  Divine  Call,  not  only  a  continual 
temptation,  (which  is  absurd  enough  !)  but  also  ridiculous  :  for 
this  would  not  be  such  a  temptation  as  that  which  occurs  in 
Abraham's  example;  wherein  the  duty  commanded  was  not  only 
possible  to  be  performed,  but  was  also  actually  performed,  so 
far  forth,  that  God  declared  his  own  satisfaction  in  it  by  a  voice 
from  Heaven.  But  ^according  to  the  doctrine  of  those  men 
[^whom"]  we  oppose)  God  is  supposed  to  be  always  tempting  and 
trying,  whether  that  w  ill  come  to  pass  which  is  altogether  im- 
possible to  come  to  pass, — that  is,  [^according  to  them]]  he  tempts 
and  tries  again  and  again  ivhether  the  reprobate  will  believe  and 
convert,  that  is  whether  he  [Jhe  reprobate'^  will  do  that  which  God's 
own  decree  hath  retidered  impossible  for  him  to  do.  Which  is,  as  if 
one  should  be  very  solicitous  to  make  an  experiment,  ivhether 
the  blind  would  sec,  or  the  dead  walk. 

2.  This  would  make  God's  calling  of  reprobates,  which  is 
done  by  his  signant  will  alone,  (as  they  say)  not  only  an  act 
of  hypocrisy,  in  seeming  to  wish  them  well,  by  desiring  their 
repentance  and   salvation,    when  his   beneplacent  will  hath 


THE    POSTSCKIPT.  KJl 

decreed  otherwise:  but  also  an  act  of  cruelty;  because  by  this 
callinir,  God  is  not  only  the  occasion,  or  cause  of"  their  infidelity 
and  disobedience,  (it  being  impossible  for  reprobates  to  answer 
that  call,)  but  of  their  greater  punishment  likewise,  into  which 
tliey  do  necessarily  fall  for  that  their  necessary  and  unavoidable 
infidelity. — From  which  it  follows, 

3.  That  that  will  whereby  God  wills  not  to  give  to  reprobates 
sufficient  grace  to  enable  then  to  repent  and  believe,  (much  less 
irresistible  grace,  that  actually  they  must  do  so,)  should  not  be 
Vuliuitas  bencplacili,  but  ratlier  maleplac'Ui,  "  a  will  of  displea- 
sure rather  than  of  good  pleasure  ;"  because  it  is  an  affection  of 
the  greatest  hatred  and  aversation ;  whereas,  notwithstanding, 
God's  calling  unto  faith  and  to  salvation  (which  is  done  by  the 
word)  is  declared  to  be  an  act  of  his  good  pleasure  and  grace, 
(Ephes.  1.  9  ;  2  Thes.  1.  11  ;  2  Tim.  i.  9.)  and  an  evidence  of 
his  compassion  and  love,  as  may  easily  be  collected  out  of  Holy 
Scripture.  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  15  ;  Rom.  i.  7  ;  Hos.  ix.  15.)  Lastly, 
according  to  the  doctrine  of  that  distinction,  and  those  men 
that  make  use  of  it,  the  whole  revelation  and  ministry  of  the 
Gospel,  goes  for  no  more,  but  voluntas  signi,  "  the  will  of  God 
to  give  out  such  a  thing  for  a  sign  only,"  when,  indeed  it  is  ihe 
will  of  God's  beneplaciture  and  is  expressly  so  called,  as  shall  ap- 
pear in  the  second  particular,  wherein  Tilenus  offers  the  reader 
satisfaction,  which  is,  about  the  sense  of  another  text  perversely 
cited  by  him  above  upon  another  occasion. 

Maccovius,  (Colleg.  de  Predest.  disp.  2.)  to  prove  that  God 
would  not  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  (no,  not  voluntale  signi) 
"  according  to  his  revealed  will,"  contrary  to  the  most  express 
grammatical  sense  of  sci'ipture,  (1  Tim.  ii,  4;  2  Pet.  iii,  9;) 
saith.  Voluntas  signi  non  est  jiroprie  dicta  voluntas,  scd  est  verbiim 
Dei,  "  that  which  is  revealed  and  signified  (in  holy  Scripture) 
to  be  the  mind  of  God,  is  not  his  will  properly  so  called,  but 
it  is  the  word  of  God,"  as  if  it  were  consistent  with  his  sacred 
veracity  to  utter  something  disagreeable  to  his  own  will !  And 
he  affirms  furdiei*,  (disp.  5.)  that  "  God  doth  not  will,  that 
is,  not  delight  in  or  approve  of  any  thing,  but  what  he  doth 
effect;"  and  this  he  endeavours  to  prove  out  of  Psalm  cxv,.  3; 
a  parallel  place  to  which  we  have  [^in^  Psalm  cxxxv,  6" ;  against 
which  doctrine  these  two  assertions  are  clear: 

1.  That  God's  word  or  his  command,  revealed  in  holy  Scripture, 
is  his  WILL  properlij  so  called. — "  I  came  down  from  Heaven — 
to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me :  and  this  is  the  will  of  him 
that  sent  me,  &c."  John  vi,  38,  3^,  40  ;  "  Thou  art  called  a 
Jew, — and  makest  thy  boast  of  God,  and  knowest  his  will — be- 
ing instructed  out  of  the  law."  Horn,  ii,  18;  "This  is  the  will 
of  God,  even  your  sanctification."  1  Thes.  iv,  3  ;  "  But  he  that 
doth  the  will  of  my  Father,"  &c.  Mat,  vii,  21 ;  See  Mat,  xii, 
50;    John  vii,    17;    ix,  31 ;     Heb.   xiii,     21;    1  John  ii,  17. 


162  THE    POSTSCRIPT. 

It  is  "that  which  is  right  in  the  eyesof  the  Lord."(Deut.  vijlTjlS; 
Heh.  xiii,  21)  It  is  "that  good,  that  acceptable  and  perfect 
will  of  God."  (Rom.  xii,  2.)  And,  if  it  be  not  so,  how  can  we 
be  assured  that  we  do  please  him,  and  are  acceptable  in  his 
sight,  when  we  walk  according  to  this  rule.'' 

2.  This  iv'dl  of  God  is  not  alivays  done,  but  many  times  the 
contrar}]. — "When  I  called  ye  did  not  answer;  when  I  spake 
ye  did  not  hear,  but  did  evil  before  mine  eyes,  and  did  chuse 
that  wherein  I  delighted  not."  Isa.  Ixv,  12;  and  Ixvi,  4; 
So  Jer.  xix,  5  ;  and  chnp.  xxxii,  V,b  ;  "  They  have  built  also  the 
high  places  of  Baal,  to  burn  their  sons  with  fire  for  burnt-offer- 
ings unto  Baal,  which  I  commanded  not,  nor  spake  it,  neither 
came  it  into  my  mind." 

Now  to  come  to  those  passages  of  the  Psalmist  when  he 
saith,  "  The  Lord  doth  whatsoever  pleaseth  him,"  it  cannot  be 
understood  of  man's  work,  whether   we    mean   his   sin   or  his 

DUTY. 

(l.)  Not  of  his  SIN  ;  for  that  cannot  be  said  "  to  please  God." — 
For  "he  is  not  a  God  that  hath  pleasure  in  wickedness."  (Psalm 
V,  4.)  And  therefore  most  of  our  adversaries  are  ashamed,  di- 
rectly to  attribute  the  effecting  thei-eof  unto  God. 

(2.)  Nor  yet  can  it  be  understood  o/ man's  duty;  for  that 
pleaseth  God,  not  as  it  is  opus  operatum,  (Isa.  i,  12 ;  &c.)  but 
as  it  is  a  duty ;  and  a  duty  it  cannot  be,  if  it  be  God's  doing,  for 
a  DUTY  is  ''  a  Avork  performed  by  an  inferior,  in  obedience  to 
the  command  of  his  superior,  who  hath  authority  over  him ;" 
and  consequently  man's  duty  cannot  be  a  work  of  God's  only 
doing.  Besides,  he  that  commands  a  thing  would  have  that 
thing  which  he  command?,  to  be  done  by  him  to  whom  he  doth 
command  it.  But  he  that  does  that  thing  (supposed  to  be  under 
command;  himself,  wills  not  that  it  be  done  by  another:  Other- 
Avise  he  should  at  the  same  time  both  will  and  kill  it  to  be 
done  by  that  other.  The  Psalmist  therefore  is  to  be  understood, 
not  of  the  things  which  the  Lord  would  have  done  (in  a  way  of 
duty)  by  others ;  nor  yet  of  such  things  as  he  promises  to  pei-forra 
himself  upon  condition  of  man's  obedience, — which  through  de- 
fault hereof  many  times  are  not  accomplished,  as  Numb,  xiv,  SO; 
1  Sam.  ii,  30  ;  but  of  all  things  which  he  intends  absolutely  to  exe- 
cute and  bring  to  pass  himself,  as  Psalm  xxxiii,  Q.  And  so  we 
•may  observe,  that  his  power  in  these  works  is  opposed  to  the 
impotency  of  Idols,  who  are  able  to  do  just  nothing.  See  those 
two  Psalms  throughout,  viz.  cxv,  3  ;  &  cxxxv,  6  ;  &c. 

But  here  a  question  may  be  moved,  "  Whether  the  will  of 
God  can  at  any  time  be  defeated  }  "  To  which  the  answer  is, 
that  it  is  most  true,  in  a  good  sense,  that  the  will  of  God  is 
always  fulfilled.  For  the  understanding  whereof,  we  must  dis- 
tinguish of  God's  will  and  the  objects  of  it. 


THK    POSTSCRIPT.  1G3 

1.  Some  things  God  wills  absoluteiy,  and  thei/  must  of  t^e- 
CESsiTY  coine  to  pass,  otherwise  that  will  of  God  could  not  be 
truly  said  "  to  he  fit  [filled."  Thus  when  it  is  said,  "  God  will 
"  give  Christ  for  a  covenant  of  the  people;  whoremongers  and 
''adulterers  God  will  judge;  the  faithful  he  will  save:"  If 
Christ  were  not  so  givenj  or  whoremongers  and  adulterers 
could  avoid  judgment,  or  the  faithlul  fail  of  salvation, — God's 
will,  declared  in  those  promises  and  threatenings,  were  utterly 
broken.  Thus  also,  it  being  God's  absolute  will,  that  man,  be- 
ing a  reasonable  creature,  should  be  a  Free  Agent,  he  must  be 

so  OF   NECESSITY, 

2.  Other  things  God  wills  disjunctively  ;  and  they  come  to 
pass  CONTINGENTLY,  or  nol  at  all ;  otherwise,  if  they  should  come 
to  pass  OF  NECESSITY,  God's  will  should  be  crossed  in  them. 
For  in  these  things  his  will  is,  "  that  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other  particular  should  be  necessary,  but  either  that  they 
should  NOT  BE  at  all  or  be  contingent." 

This  distinction  may  be  seen  in  his  judgment  threatened  and 
propounded  toDavid:(2  Sam.  xxiv,  12,  lo;)"  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
I  offer  thee  three  things,  chuse  which  of  them  I  shall  do  unto 
thee.  Wilt  thou  that  seven  years  of  fimine  come  upon  the  land, 
or  wilt  thou  flee  three  months  before  thine  enemies,  or  that 
there  be  three  days  of  pestilence  in  thy  land  }" — Here  God  ab- 
solutely willed  to  send  a  judgment,  and  consequently  the 
coming  of  it  was  necessary  :  but,  which  of  the  three,  was  re- 
ferred to  David's  choice,  and  so  that  was  contingent.  But  this 
distinction  is  more  evident  in  God's  commands,  established  with 
promises  and  threateninjis,  relating;  to  man's  transs-ression  and 
obedience  I'espectively.  So  in  his  commands  for  temporal  safe- 
ty :  "  And  unto  this  people  thou  shalt  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
Behold  I  set  before  you  the  way  of  life,  and  the  way  of  death. 
He  that  abideth  in  this  city  shall  die  by  the  sword,  and  by 
the  famine,  and  by  the  pestilence :  but  he  that  goeth  out,  and 
falleth  to  the  Chaldeans  that  besiege  you,  he  shall  live,  and 
his  life  shall  be  unto  him  for  a  prey."  Jer.  xxi,  8,  9-  Here  God's 
"will  is  disjunctive,  and  whether  they  continued  in  the  city, 
and  perished  there,  or  fled  out  to  the  Chaldeans  and  were  pre- 
served by  them,  it  was  a  matter  of  their  own  free  choice  and 
so  contingent  ;  but  whichsoever  of  these  two  courses  they  took 
and  succeeded  accordingly,  God's  will  was  fulfilled. 

So  it  is  likewise  in  the  matter  of  life  and  death  eternal.  "  Be- 
hold, I  set  befoi'e  you  this  day,  a  blessing  and  a  curse  :  A  bles- 
sing, if  ye  obey  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  your  God  :  And 
a  curse,  if  ye  will  not  obey,  but  tvu-n  aside  out  of  the  way, 
■which  I  command  you."  (Deut.  xi,  26",  27,  28.)  And,  "  If  ye 
live  after  the  flesh  ye  shall  die  :  but  if  ye  through  the  Spirit, 
do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live."  (Rom.  viii,  13.) 
So  that  whether  they  live  by  one  means,  or   die  by  the  other. 


164  THE    POSTSCUH'T. 

Gofl's  will  is  necessarily  fulfilled  ;  because  his  will  is  not,  that 
they  shall  either  neccssarUji  observe  his  commands,  or  necessarily 
tratis^ress  them :  But  if  they  do  transgress,  (though  that  trans- 
gression be  coulingcnt,)  death  is  the  necessary  doom  awarded 
to  it.  And  if  they  do  observe  them,  (though  that  observation 
be  a  matter  of  choice  and  so  conVmgent  also,)  yet  is  life  the 
necessary  reward,  and  absolutely  designed  to  crown  that 
obedience. 

It  appears  by  this  discourse,  that  God  cannot  fail  of  accom- 
plishing such  an  end,  and  after  such  a  manner  as  his  wisdom 
thinks  fit  to  propound  in  his  intercourse  with  voluntary  and  free 
agents.  For  if  he  cannot  prevail  with  us,  (by  such  means,  and 
such  a  manner  of  working  as  is  agreeable  to  the  condition  of 
our  intellectual  nature,)  to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  saved  by  him, 
in  performing  that  service  to  which  his  goodness  hath  ordained 
us,  (which  his  good  pleasure  is  set  upon  in  the  Jirst  jilace,)  then 
his  good  pleasure  is  fulfilled  by  inflicting  upon  us  that  punish- 
ment, which  he  threatened  ;  according  to  that  saying  of  Saint 
Augustine,  Facit  Deus  Voluntatem  suam  de  eo,  a  gtio  volujitas 
ejus  facta  non  est* 

*  "  God  executes  his  own  will  concerning[or  through]  that  man  by  whom 
his  will  is  not  performed." 


ANNOTATA 

QU^DAM  IN  FUNDAMENTALES 

W-  THOM.E  PARKERI 

THESES 

DE  TRADUCTIONE  HOMINIS  PECCATORIS  AD  VITAM. 


SOME  ANNOTATIONS 

ON    THE 

FUNDAMENTAI.   THESES 

OF  MR.  THOMAS  PARKER, 

CONCERNING  THE  TRADUCTION  OR  DRAWING  OF  MAN, 
AS  A  SINNER,  TO  LIFE. 


I 


IGG 


AN  NOT ATA    IN 


LECTORI. 


SisTE  TE  parumper,  eriulite  lector,  ut  noris  cujam  et  qualem 
pagellam  comprimis,  hoc  scilicet  solo  nomine  redarguendanti, 
quod  sit  tota  gemmea.  In  historiis,  "  com])endia,  dispendia  ;" 
at  in  Theologia,  polemioa  salteni,  ixsyxXoci  Bi^mi,  ixsyaXcx.  'Sjy,iJ.3cra, 
atque  instar  montium,  qui,  quo  sublinnori  consurgunt  cacumine, 
magis  sterilescunt.  Optandum  ex  Theologorum  disceptationi- 
bus  et  colloquiis,  (ut  puta  Moinpelgartensi,  Hagiensi,  aliisque,) 
succum  et  sanguinem  exprimi,  responsionum  lacinias  abradi,  in 
personas  nominaque  (quas  vere  "  rabiem  &  rixas  Theologorum" 
vocavit  Melanchthon.)  lituras  expungi :  quibus  sarmentis,  siquis 
inter  niSDN  'VsJ3  (quos  vocat  Spiritus  Sanctus  §)  noraen  suum 
professus,  operam  daret  averruncandis,  plus  certe  quam  ex  alio 
quovis  scripto  elenctico  proficerent  lectoi-es.  Dicam  quod  res 
est: II  misere  ruspamur   in  controversa  Theologia,  et  si  quando 

§  Eccles.  xii,  1.  PcKpuSus,  magistros  coUectionum  sivepandectarum.    MERC. 
II  Vide  Consilium  J.  HOUNBECK  in  Sum.  ControverS'de  Papismo,  p,31C. 

TRANSLATION. 
ADDRESS  TO  THE  READER. 


Stop  a  little,  learned  reader,  and  learn  whose  pag^es  these  are  which  thou 
turncst  over,  and  what  is  their  quality. -f-  The  only  fault  with  wli.ich  they 
can  be  charged,  is,  t/iat  the;/ are  enf.irelu  studded  with  gems.  In  liistorica. 
■works,  abridgments  are  said  to  be  real  detriments.  But  in  Divinity,  at 
least  in  that  which  is  polemic,  "  great  books  are  great  evils,"  and  resem- 
ble mountains,  "  the  more  elevated  their  summits  are,  the  greater  is  iheir 
stciilit}'.  It  is  very  desirable,  that  the  juice  and  blood  were  extracted  out  of 
the  disputes  and  conferences  of  Divines,  (such,  for  instance,  as  those  of 
RIontbelliard,  the  Hague,  and  others,  :J;)  that  the  borders  of  the  answers 
were  cut  away,  aud  that  the  blots  upon  persons  and  names  were  expni'.oed, 
which  Melancthon  has  truly  called,  "  the  madness  and  squabbles  of  Di- 
vines." If  there  be  an}' one  that  has  placed  his  name  among  those  whom 
the  Holy  S>pirit  calls  "  masters  of  assemblies, "§  and  if  he  would  attcm])t  to 
remove  all  i hose  fragments  and  excrescence^,  he  would  perform  a  service 
from  which  a  far  greater  degree  of  profit  would  accrue  to  tlie  readers,  than 
from  any  other  argumentative  compositions  whatsoever.  Shall  1  slate  what 
is  reaiiy  the  fact .'  Unhappily  we  make  deep  researches  into  controversial 
theology;  II    and,  after  haviiig   been  almost  famished  through  our  pressing 

t  -See  Appendix  A.  i^  Ajip.  B- 

5  T.Jorocr  ra.l's  Ihpm,  "  Illj.jpsoitists,  m.H5ter*  of  the  eoUcciioiv!,  dipestsor  panr'.ecb." 

(  See  tlie  aJvieeof  Hornbcck  in  haHnmmarjj  ujllie  Controversies  respeciittg  Popery,  p;^;e  316. 


PAKKERI    THESES.  1G7 

veritatis    importunti    fame    cor.fecti,    margaritam    offendimus, 

Exclamare  libet,  populus  quod  daniat  Osyri 
Invento 

Nervosi  siquidem  sunt  et  aciiti  Theologi,  Camero  iibi  habet  TI- 
lenum  adversarium,  Twissius  iibi  Arminium,  Corvinum,  eun- 
demque  Tilenum  confodit;  at!  at!  postquam  puhnone"  in  ver- 
borum  cortice  extigitaveris,  vix  tandem  raedullam  sensus  potis 
eris  eruere,  anhelus  lector.  Inde  est  adeo  laudabile  institutum 
reverendi  viri  Thoraae  Parkeri,  authoris  Thesiutn  de  Traduciione 
peccatoiis  ad  vitam,  qui  eadem  premit  vestigia,  nee  tajdio  lector- 
em  enecat.  Neminem  suppilavit,  sugillavit  neminem.  Non 
habent  scriptores,  qaem  incusent  stellionatus,  nee  alii  verbera 
violentfE  linguae  patiuntur.  Ai-minii  et  Socini  nomina  reliquit 
intacta;  non  ita  causam,  et  argumenta.  Sentiunt  se  mori  tacito 
vulneve,  qui  in  argumentis  aut  conversionis  aut  satisfactionis 
periculose  et  infoeliciter  disputarunt. 

Hie  is  estj  si  nescis,  lector,  cujus  pater  Robertas  Parker,  o 
"M-xtLXfirvis  tarn  erudite  et  copiose  scripsit  de  Sigiio  Criicis,  Des- 
ceiisu  Christi  ad  Inferos,  et  Ecclesiaslica  PoUle'ia,  in  causa  religi- 
onis  patriae  exul,  qui  una  cum  Amesio,  notissimum  virum  I. 
Robinsonum,tt  ad  sobriam  in  disciplina  mentem  revocavit.  Dig- 
it Vide  eundem  Hombeckium  in  Brownismo,  p.  625. 

TRANSLATION. 

hiinsjer  for  the  truth,  if  we  find  a  pearl,  "  we  may  be  permitted  to  exclaim, 
as  the  people  of  Egypt  do,  when  they  find  Osiris,"  'IVel:<ive  made  a  discoven/  ! 
When  Ca:mf,ron  -f  has  Tilenus  for  his  adversary,  and  when  Tuisse  at  one 
bh)w  desjiatohes  Arminius,  Corvinus  and  Tiler.u;,  both  of  them  are  nervous 
and  acute  Divines.  But,  alas,  when  the  panting  reader  has  penetrated 
through  the  rind  of  their  word;  and  reached  the  kernel,  after  all  his  trouble 
he  will  scarcely  be  able  to  find  any  nutriment  for  his  understanding. 

This  is  the  reason  of  the  very  laud;ible  design  of  that  reverend  person, 
Thomas  Parker,  J  the  author  of  the  Theses  oh  the  frnduction  or  flrairing- 
of  nutn,  as  a  suiner,  to  Life.  He  treads  in  the  footsteps  of  Cameron  and 
Twisse,  but  he  does  not  tr}'  the  patience  of  hi=  reader  or  produce  weari- 
ness. From  no  man  has  he  purloineil,  and  he  has  not  cast  a  reproach 
upon  any  person.  There  are  no  writers  who  can  accuse  him  of  knavish 
practices  ;  nor  do  others  endure  from  him  those  stripes  which  a  violent 
tongue  can  inflict.  He  leaves  the  name  of  Armimus  and  of  SociNus  §  un- 
touched ;  but  he  encounters  their  cause  and  their  arguments.  Those  per- 
sons who  have  in  a  dangerous  or  inauspicious  manner  engaged  in  disputes 
concerning  the  arguments  of  Conversion  or  Sanctificatiun,  feel  themselves 
dying  through  the  secret  wound  which  they  here  receive. 

Reader,  if  thou  be  yet  unacquainted  with  the  ))arentage  of  this  young 
man,  know,  that  his  father  was  Robert  Parker  of  blessed  memory,  ||  who 
has  written  with  great  learning  and  copiousness  on  the  Sign  of  the  Cross, 
the  Descent  of  Christ  info  Hell,  and  on  Ecclesiastical  Polity';  and  who, 
while  an  exile  from  his  native  laud  on  account  of  religion,  united  with 
William  Ames  in  recovering  that  celebrated  person,  J.  Rohinson,  \  to  a 
sober  judgment  concerning  church-discipiiue.f  f     Our  author,   therefore, 

f  App    Cand  D-  %  App.  E. 

§  App.  F.  II  App.  G.  II  App.  H. 

tt  Sse  Hombeck  on  Bro'xnism  or  Indepcwkncy,  page  6'Jo. 


168 


AN. NOT AT A    IN 


nus  est  adeo  hie  nostcr  author  tam  istoc  patre,  quam  hac  prole. 
Id  unice  agit  vir  doctissimns,  ut  gratia;  Divinic  suus  constet 
honos  sartus-tectus ;  ut  gratia  prasveniens,  excitans,  pulsans, 
efficax  et  actuosa  habeatur,  noii  "  segnis,  et  vokintatis  nostra? 
pedissequa,"  qualem  adversarii  comminiscuntur,  qui  "  Gratiae" 
verbo  abusi  sunt,  (ut  Augustinus  jam  diu  notavit)  ^T  ad  frangeu- 
dam  invidiam. 

Si  cui  minus  arridet,  quod  a  styli  evangelici  simplicitate  abhor- 
rere  videatur  ;  et  (/-o^u,o>.vkcix  quajdam  tenriinorum  Philosophi- 
corum  interpolasse,  sciat  velim,  lectorem  dcsiderari  gravem,  et 
in  scholis  exercitatuni,  cui  si  sit  ingenium  tlieologicum, 
nihil  nocebit  stylus  metaphysicus ;  nee  omnino  desunt,  quod 
dixit  in  re  leniori  Antonius,  (lib.  y.  sect.  3.)  etiam  in  phrasi  tsu^x- 

Prodiere  ssepius  hae  ea?dem  Theses,  cum  aliis  ejusdem  com- 
mati.s  Amesii  Tractatulis  compactfe,  a  doctis  indoctisque  pro  Am- 
esianis  habitae,  et  citatas ;  sed  quod  dolendum  maxime,  mancae 
semper,  et  imperfecta?,  vnoZo'huj.xia.  nonnunquam  addita,  loca 
Scnpturje  foedi>sime  distorta,  et  transversa  tuentia :  quiiidecim 
integras  theses  nescio  cujus  sacrilegse  man  us  depeculabantur. 
Paucihasc  observarunt,  miratique  non  superesse,  qui  plagiarium 

51  Villi  quem  admodum  potuerit  (Pelagius)  etiam  gratiam  nominari  sub  ambigua  generalitate, 
quid  sentirct,  abscontlens,  gratijp  tamen  vocahulo,  frangens  invidiam,  offensionemque  decli- 
nans. — AUG.  de  Pecc.  Orig.  contra  Pelag.  et  Caled-  cap-  37. 

TRANSLATION. 

is  a  worthy  son  of  sucli  a  father,  and  is  himself  the  worthy  father  of  tliis 
productiou.  The  o!)ly  object  whicli  this  very  learned  inchvidital  has  in  view, 
is,  to  preserve  inviolate  the  just  honour  of  tivine  Grace, — that  frere/itinii-, 
e.vcU/ng,  jiropeUing-,  efficoclnus,  and  actuating  Grace  may  not  be  accounted 
idle  or  inojierative  and  tlieohseqiiious  attendant  of  the  }iuman  ivill,  according 
to  the  misrepresentation*  of  our  adversaries,  who,  as  St.  Aug'ustme  lung  ago 
observed,  abuse  the  term  "  Grace"  to  wipe  away  reproach,  f 

If  any  one  be  di-^pleased,  that  "  our  author  seems  to  dislike  the  simplicity 
of  the  style  of  the  gospel,"  and  that  "  he  has  interspersed  certam  J  tig/;  f/ir  I 
/igtnents  of  philosophical  terms,"  1  wish  such  an  objector  to  know,  that, 
to  understand  this  work,  a  deep  and  serious  reader  is  required,  one  who  is 
well-versed  iu  scholastic  lore,  and  who  possesses  a  theological  genius  :  'I'o 
a  person  thus  qualified  a  metaphysical  style  will  do  no  harm.  Yet  there  are 
ii')t  wanting  those  additions  which  Antoninus  has  desciiiicd,  (lib.  ix,  sect.  3,) 
under  tlie  phrase  of  "  precepts  that  produce  an  intiuence  on  the  heart." 

These  Theses  ha^e  been  frequently  published,  and  bound  up  with  other 
tracts  by  Ames  of  the  same  description:  They  have  likewise  been  cited 
and  esteemed,  by  the  learned  and  the  unlearned,  as  the  productions  of 
A.Mi-s.  But  it  is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  they  have  always  been  printed 
in  a  mutilated  and  imperfect  form,  sometimes  augmented  with  adulterated 
passages,  and  the  quotations  from  scripture  most  scandalously  distorted  and 
made  to  convey  a  different  signification.  I  know  not  whose  sacrilegious 
hands  they  are  which  have  plundered  this  disputation  of  fifteen  entire] 
Iheses.  +     Some  few  people  have  observed  these  defects  and  redundancies, 

t  "  I  perceived  in  what  way  it  w.ns  also  possible  for  grace  to  be  mentioned  under  nn  ambiguous 
generality,  and  what  .sentiments  i^cla^'tius  secretly  held  under  the  word  '  Grace'  to  break  the 
force  of  public  aversion,  and  not  to  give  oflence."  (.\UG.  dciPecat.  Origin,  contra  Pelag.  et 
Cielcit.,  cap.  37.) 

t  App.  1. 


PAUKEUI    THESES.  ]  G9 

et  stelHonem  insequeretur,  et  in  jus  vocaret.  Tu  igitnr,  ingenue 
lector,  asqui  bonique  consulas,  quod  ego,  qui  in  sacro  sum  satel- 
litio  ultimae  sortis,  in  extremis  Angliae  oris  ab  omnibus  paene 
bonis  Uteris  exul, 

Ai^-fxts  yap  of^E  Tp/To/,   01  Js  rirx^Tot^ 

GvSs   ovu/amxToi,   ovr    ev   Ao^Wj    ovt'   tv  occiVf/,u. 

Hanc  qualemcumque  opellam  dabam,  tribus  quatuorve  exempla- 
ribus  MSS.  et  impressis  fideliter  collatis,  ut  authorem  tibi,  au- 
thorique  suum  nomen  et  Tiieses  vindicarem. 

H.  S. 

TRANSLATION. 

and  have  been  amazed  that  there  is  no  one  left  to  prosecute  the  rascally 
plagiarist,  and  call  him  to  an  account  for  his  base  conduct. 

Do  thou  therefore,  ingenuous  reader,  put  a  just  and  favourable  interpre- 
tation upon  this  my  labour.  I  am  one  of  the  sacred  band  [of  preachers] 
and  of  the  lowest  condition,  residing  in  the  extreme  confines  of  England,  and 
doomed  to  almost  an  entire  exclusion  from  polite  literature  :  "  For  we 
have  neither  three,  fc'ur,  nor  twelve  [literary  friends]  ,  either  according  to 
conception  or  computation."  Under  these  circumstances  I  have  made  an 
eflFort,  trifling  though  it  may  appear,  to  restore  the  real  author  to  thee,  and 
to  claim  in  his  behalf  his  own  name  and  his  Theses,  which  I  have  faithfully 
collated  with  three  or  four  manuscript  and  printed  copies. 

H.  S. 


M 


170  A%'NOTATA    IN 


LECTORI. 


Ocyus  te  in  pedes  conjice,  lector  (pi\'x>.r,Sr,s,  iii  mavis  in 
haruvu  Thesiuin  Editoris  substrates  encomiorum  flosculis  casses 
incidere ;  vel  perplexis  earundem  Authoris  plagulis  irreliri. 
Neque  tarnen  ab  islo  metuendiim  esset,  Scholarum  inaniis,  ver- 
borumqiie c.-ptum  humanum  fugientium  involiuris  sensannentis 
intricante,  nisi  viam  ad  pcriculum  ///e,  incautus,  opinor,  Pra'falor 
sic  stravisset.  Vir  sane,  quicunque  is  est,  cordatus,  quern  nee 
hoc  nomine  tam  incusandum  censuerira,  quod  ab  Ecclesiae 
etiamnum  Anglicanas  doctriiia,  formnlisque  (ex  praejudiciis  im- 
bibitis)  abhorrere  videatur,  quam  jure  merilo  laudibus  effer- 
endum,  quod  placidum  se,  et  modesti  ingenii  virum,  indiciis 
niinime  obscuris,  nee  non  bonarum  literarum  bene  compotem 
preestiterit. 

Laudet  sane,  ut  sibi  gratum  faciat,  Cameronem  Scoto- Gal- 
ium, et  Twissium  Anglo-Britannum  ;  Arniiuium  autem  tt  Cor- 

TRANSLATION, 

BISHOP  WOMACirS  REMARKS 

ON    THE    PllECEDING 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  READER. 


SPKFnii.Y  betake  thyself  to  thy  feet,  my  reader,  if  thou  be  a  lover  of  truth  ; 
unless  thou  wouhlst  prefer  to  fail  into  the  toils  which  the  EnrroR  of  these 
Theses  has  bestrewed  with  encomiastic  flowerets,  or  to  be  entang-led  between 
the  intricate  and  confused  meshes  of  that  net  v\hich  has  been  .spread  by  the 
Author.  Yet,  because  the  laiter  has  involved  the  ^ conceptions  of  his 
unfledo-ed  mind  in  the  trifiiug:  inanities  of  the  Schools,  and  in  words  that 
scorn  fo  be  comprehended  by  the  human  intellect,  there  would  be  no  cause 
of  fear  on  his  account,  had   not  this  Prefacer,  to  whom  I  cannot  ascribe  the 

Erair.e  of  caution,  thus  paved  the  way  to  danger.  But  whoever  he  may  be, 
e  is  undoubtedly  a  person  of  some  discretion,  whom  I  do  not  consider  to  be 
blamtd  so  much  on  account  of  his  present  apparent  aversion  to  the  doctrine 
and  formularies  of  the  Church  of  Eng;land,  ftbrou°h  prejudices  which  he 
has  imbibed,)  as  he  is  entitled  to  ju.st  praise  for  shewing  himself  to  be  meek 
and  placid,  and,  h'l  tohens  fliat  cannot  he  mistaken,  a  man  of  modest 
genius,  and  possessed  of  «  nood  and  C(tiHj>elent  share  of  polite  learninj^.-f- 

Let  him  eulocjize  Caimekon  the  Scott isli  Frenchman,  that  he  may  render 
himself  agreeable  to  him,  and  'i'wisSF,  the  Englishman;  let  him  trample 
upon  Armimus  and  Corvinus  the  Dutchmen,  and  uponTiLENUS  the  French- 
roan,  X  the  three  men   whom  TwissE  conquered  ;  and,  on  the  olher  hand, 

\  Ajip.  K.  %  App.  L. 


TAl^Kr.RI    THESES.  17] 

vinum  Batavos,  Tiletium  etiam  Galium,  a  Twissio  scilicet  con- 
fossos  proculcet.  Rursus  Robertum  Parkerum,  Amesium,  Rob- 
insonum,  ad  coeliim  laudibus  vehat :  nee  tamen  effecerit,  ut 
Thomas  hie  tantopere  prEedicatus  Parkerus,  sanctissimum  Vnici 
nostri  Salvatoris  Benedicti  evangelium,  decretorum  Dei  de  salute 
et  interitu  humano  fundum  iion  subruerit,  aut  ipsi  justitias  soli 
tenebras  non  oifuderit.  Quasi  vero,  O  boni,  absque  vobis  esset 
defensoiibus  et  hyperaspistis,  ne  ipse  quidem  Deus  Socinum 
Arminiumque  (par  impar  paulo  invidiosius  Praefatori  conjunc- 
tum,  at  toto  coelo  disseparanduin)  non  esset  reftllendo. 

Nos  ad  Evangelium  ipsius  Dei  Patris,  Christique  Domini  ex 
ejussinu  prodeuntis,  et  Sancti  utriusque  Spiritus  inibi  clarissime 
loquentis  provocamus. 

Loquere  jam,  mi  Parkere,  verum  sicut  Dei  Christique  oracula. 
En  praesto  adsumus  ut  Divinis  Eloquiis  fasces  proni  submittamus. 
Nostrum  neutri  credatur  :  uni  Deo  fidei  obedientiam  praestare 
didieimus.  Age  ergo  :  arrectis  enim  auribus  documenta  coeles- 
tia  libenter  expectamus. 

TRANSLATION. 

let  him  laud  to  the  very  heavens  Robert  Parker,  Ames  and  Robinson; 
yet,  after  all,  he  will  not  prevent  this  Thomris,  so  highly  praised  for  bearin" 
the  surname  of  Parker,  friin  subverting  the  most  holyguspe)  of  our  blessed 
and  only  Saviour,  which  is  the  foundation  of  God's  decrees  concerning  the 
salvation  and  destruction  of  mankind, — nor  will  he  prevent  him  from"  ob- 
truding his  misty  darkness  before  the  rays  of  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness." 
All  this,  good  men,  seems  as  if  there  would  be  a  great  scarcity  of  defenders 
and  partisans,  were  we  deprived  of  your  aid;  and  that  God  himself  would 
ijeed  some  person  to  refute  SociNus  and  ArsiiNius, — two  names  between 
which  there  is  the  greatest  disparity,  and  though  our  Prefacer  has  rather 
too  invidiously  joined  them  together,  yet  they  must  be  separated  from  each 
other  as  far  as  the  earth  is  distant  from  the  heavens. 

We  appeal  to  the  gospel  of  God  the  Father,  of  Christ  our  Lord  who 
proceedeih  from  his  bosom,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  both  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son  who  speaks  most  clearly  in  those  sacred  pages. 

Now  commence  your  speech,  my  Parker;  yet  l^e  careful  to  "  speak  as 
the  oracles  of  God"  and  of  Christ.  Behold  we  are  waiting  here,  prepared 
to  lower  onr  fasces  in  token  of  veneration  for  I)i%ine  Eloquence.  Let 
credence  be  given  to  neither  of  us  :  For  we  have  learned  to  yield  the  obedi- 
ence of  faith  to  God  alone.  Proceed,  therefore;  for  we  are  waiting  with 
open  ears,  willingly  to  listen  to  these  heavenly  documents. 


M  2 


172  AiNNOTATA    IN 


THESES 


DE 


TRADUCTIONE  PECCATOllIS  AD  VITAM. 


THESIS  1. 


Deus  cum  sit  Ens  absolute  Primum^  (Exod.  Hi,  14i,) 
propterea  Primum  est  ac  Summum  Bontim  :  et  quia  Primuni 
Ens,  prohide  omnia  ah  ipso  sunt :  quia  vero  Summum 
Bojium,  Summus  est  Finis  ad  quem  tendunt.  Si  enim 
aliquid  esset,  quod  non  esset  ah  ipso,  plura  prima  essent,  et 
proinde  non  esset  absolute  Primum :  et  si  Summum  Bonum, 
Summus  Finis  est,  quia  bonum  Jinis  est ;  et  si  Summus 
Fims,omnia  ad  ipsum  tendimt,  alioqui  non  esset  absolute  Sum- 
mus.     Hinc  Deus,  «  oi^x"  >'*'  ''°  reXos,    (Apoc.  xxH,  13,^ 

TRANSLATION. 

THESES 

ON    THE 

TRADUCTION  OR  DRAWING  OF  MAN, 
AS  A  SINNER,  TO  LIFE. 


THESIS   I. 

"  Since  God  is  absolutely  the  First  Beins:,  [Exod.  iii,  14,)  he  is  therefore 
the  First  and  the  Chief  Good  ;  and  because  he  is  the  First  Being,  therefore  all 
thiuirs  are  from  him  ;  but  because  he  is  the  Chief  Good,  he  is\he  Chief  End 
to  wliich  ail  things  tend.  For  if  there  could  be  any  thing  that  was  not  from 
him,  there  would  then  be  many  First  Things  [or  Beings],  and  therefore  he 
would  not  be  absolutely  the  First:  And  if  he  be  the  Chief  Good,  he  is  also 
the  Chief  End,  because  the  Good  is  the  End  ;  and  if  he  he  the  Chief  End, 
then  all  things  tend  to  him,  otherwise  he  would  not  be  absolutely  the  Chief. 
On  this  accouutGod  is  called  "  the  Beginning  and  the  End,"  (Rev.  xxii,  13,) 


PAnKP:Ri  Tiii:sr.s.  173 

omnium  entium  nd  selpsum  Mutor  est.  I rrat'mnalium  qui- 
dcvi,  quia  sensinnn  conclusa  Umitibus,  mediate  duntaxat: 
rationalium  vero  selectee  mtdtiiiidinis  ad  Ji'iiendum  ipso. 
Cum  enim  proxime  per  intellcctum  et  voluntatem  ad  Deum 
accedant,  in-oximum  eorum  honain  erit  nnio  cum  eo  quod 
Summum  est,  seu  Jruitio  Dei :  qua  Divince  amicitia  et  Ja~ 
voris  est  adeptio. 

ANXOTATIONES. 

Ad  Thesin  pi-imara  paucula  haec  videntur  adnotanda.  1.  Vo- 
cem  "  omnia,"  lin.  2,  ad  eiilia  creuta  restringendam  (uti  Parkerum 
voluisse  fit  vero  simiielin.  8,)ne  autpeccatiim  ens  esse  negetur,aut 
de  numero  esse  creatnrarum,  &  sub  voce  "omnia"  comprehendi 
debere  affirmetur.  Quod  quorsum  tendat,  judicare  obvium  est, 
2.  Eadem  linea  et  sequentibus  intelh'gendus  videtur,  quasi  entia 
irrationalia  (mediate  licet)  ab  ipso  Deo  ad  ipso  fruendum  move- 
rentur:  Dilute  nimis.  S.  Cave  ne  hie  Dei  ipsius  (naturalem  an 
supernaturalem)  quoad  se,  cum  Dei  de  nobis  fine  libere  intento 
de  nostri  ipsius  fruitione  confundas.  Versailles  nam  sunt  hae  lo« 
cutiones. 

THESIS  II. 

Irdentio  finis  Jwjus,  p7-o  modo  independentis  ac  supremee 
voluntatis  ex  consilio  agentis  suo,  absoluta  est.  (Rom.  xi,  84  ; 

TRANSLATION. 

the  Mover  of  all  beiu^s  to  himself.  He  is  only  mediately  [by  second  causes} 
the  Mover  of  irrational  beings,  because  they  are  shut  up  within  the  limits  of 
the  senses  ;  but  he  is  the  Mover  of  a  select  multitude  of  rational  beings  to 
the  enjoyment  of  himself.  For  as  they  approach  the  most  nearly  to  God  by 
their  understanding  and  will,  their  nearest  good  will  be  union  with  him  who 
is  the  Chief  Good,  or  the  fruition  of  God,  which  is  the  obtaining  of  the  Di- 
vine friendship  and  favour." 

ANNOTATIONS. 

It  appears  necessary  to  note  the  following  few  things,  respecting  this  First 
Thesis.  (1.)  The  word  "fill,"  in  the  2nd  line,  must  be  restricted  to 
created  beings,  (as  it  is  very  probable,  from  line  8,  that  Parker  wished  it  so 
to  be,)  that  sin  may  not  be  denied  to  be  either  n  behiif,  or  of  the  number  of 
creatures,  and  that  it  may  be  affirmed  "  it  ought  to  be  comprehended  under 
the  word  all."  E^■ery  man  w'ill  easily  judge  of  the  intention  of  such  a 
jjiirase. —  (2.)  In  the  lOth  and  following  lines,  the  meaning  of  our  author 
appears  to  be,  that  even  irratinnal  beings  may,  although  mediatelj/,  be 
moved  by  God  to  the  enjoyment  of  himself:  Such  an  expression  is  too 
vague. — (;}.)  In  the  concluding  lines,  beware  lest  you  confound  God's  own 
en'joifment  of  himself,  (whether  natural  or  su])ernatural,)  with  the  end  of 
(rod  concerning  us,  which  end  he  freely  intended  respecting  our  enjoyment 
of  him  :  For  these  modes  of  speech  are  convertible. 

THESIS  n. 
"  The  intention  of  this  end  is  ausolutk,  according  to  the  mode  of  an 
independent  and  supreme  will  acling  irom  its  own  counsel.  (Rom.  xi,  34  j 

M  8 


174  ANNOTATA     IN 

Isai.  ii'l,  VS.)  Nee  cnim  ayxinos  potest  is  esse,  qui  a 
conditionc  detcrm'matin-  extrinsecd  :  cui  2>^(f-^eribitiir  oidinis 
ratio  ah  co  quod  ordinatur  ab  ipso ;  qui  discit  ah  homine 
agendi  modum  ac  Jinem,  adeoque  reg'dur  ah  ipso  id  mcnsu- 
7'ante  actum  suum.  Quin  contra  avxmos  homo  injinittts 
et  inordinatus  Joret,  quippe  disponeret  seipsum  ad  Jinem 
priusquam  disponatur  a  Deo. 

ANNOTATJONES. 

1.  Intentionem  "  finis  hujus,"  hoc  est  Sui  ipsius  duriuscule  di- 
citur,  nee  tamen  sano  sensu  acceptum,  pro  '■'  perfectionum  divi- 
narum  manifestatione/'  admodum  aversor  ;  sed  male  nuetuo  ne 
fallacia  sit  insidiarum  integumentum. 

2.  Ut  maxima  Consilio  Dei  (ex  citatis  Scripturae  commatis)  sua 
ab-omni-creato  independentia  astruatur,  non  stquitur  tamen  vol- 
untati  Divinae  ad  extra,  omnimodam  independentiara,  &  finis 
hujus,  hoc  est  sui  ipsius  absolutam  quoad  omnium,  speciatim, 
pei-fectionum  suarum,  omni  tempore,  manifestationem,  ascriben- 
dam  esse.  Non  quod  negetur,  sed  quod  ex  istis  locis  sequi  non 
constet.  Quid  !  quod  ex  ipsa  Dei  voluntate  alisoluta,  &  consilio 
sit,  ut  finis  adeptio  non  sit  absoluta,  nisi  m.edia  includantur  ? 

3.  "  Absolutam"  esse  istam  finis  hujus  intentionem  sano  sensu 
admittiinus,  &  libenter ;  nee  tamen  absonum  videri  debet  si  vol- 
untas Divina  "  dependere"  interdum  dicatur  a  coiiditione  aliqua 

TRANSLATION. 

Isai.  xl,  13.)  For  he  cannot  be  '*  without  cause"  who  is  determined  by  an 
extrinsic  condition,  to  whom  that  which  is  ordained  by  himself  prescribes 
the  terms  of  order,  who  learns  from  man  the  mode  unci  end  of  acting,  and 
■who  is  therefore  regulated  by  him  as  the  rule  of  his  acting.  But,  on  the 
contrary,  were  man  "  without  cause,"  he  would  be  infinite  and  destitute 
of  order,  because  be  would  dispose  himself  to  the  end  before  he  was  disposed 
[or  appointed]  to  it  by  God." 

JVNOTJTIONS. 

1.  "  The  intention  of  this  end,"  that  is,  "  of  himself,"  is  rather  a  harsh 
expressi^in  ;  yet  1  am  not. much  averse  to  its  being  received  in  a  sound  sense, 
for  "  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  Perfections."  But  I  am  sadly  afraid, 
that  a  fallacy  lurks  under  this  insidious  disguise. 

2.  In  order  to  establish  God's  independence  of  every  creatare  principally 
from  the  Divine  Counsel,  according  to  the  passages  of  scripture  whicn  are 
quoted, — it  does  not  follow  as  a  ccinstquence,  that  every  kind  of  iiulepeud- 
eiicy,  and  the  absolute  independency  of  this  end,  (that  is,  of  himself,J  espe- 
cially with  regard  to  the  manifestation  of  alibis  pcrl'ecticns  at  all  times,  must 
be  ascribed  to  the  l)i\  \iie  W  ill  ad  td(  in,  [in  its  motion  upon  something  beyond 
itself.]  It  is  not  intended  by  these  remarks  to  deny  the  assertion,  but  only 
to  shew,  that  the  proposed  inference  does  not  evidently  follow  from  those  pas- 
sages. What  is  that  inference.'  it  is  through  God's  absolute  will  and 
counsel,  that  the  obtaining  of  the  end  should  not  be  absolute  unless  the  means 
be  included. 

3.  We  willingly  admit  that  the  intention  of  this  end  is  absolute  in  a  sound 
sense.  Vet  it  ought  not  to  appear  an  absurdity,  if  the  Divine  Will  were  some- 
times said  "to  depend  on  some  condition,  which  Gcd  appoints  and  princi- 


rAKKlil'.I    THESIS.  175 

(quam  ipse  [^Deusj  &  statuit,  &  principaliter  efficit)  non  quidem 
(lependentia  cans  alitatis  utpnte  ocmxitios  seel  dependentiu  qua- 
dam  relationis,  uti  Palrcm  a  Jilio  dcpendere,  ut  sit  Pater,  nemo 
samis,  opinor,  ne^averit.  Nee  obstat  quod  sequitur.  Ipse  nam 
Deus  determinavit  se  hoc  sic  facturum,  &  homines  ad  finem 
(prout  novit  justitiam,  raisericordiam  &  sapientiam  suam  decere) 
dispositurum. 

THESIS  III. 

Hinc  multo  minus  ex  prfevisa  jidc  ;  Jiac  enim  medium  est 
ad  fruitioncm  Dei  qui  Jinis  est :  idcirco  non  anfecedit  inten- 
tionemjinis  ut  conditio. 

ANNOTATIONES. 

1.  Aliud  est  "  Prsevisa  fides,"  &  "  ex  ea" :  aliud  "  Prgescientia 
fidei,"  &  "  secundum  earn."  (1  Pet.  i,  2.)  Fides  nam  est  ''  act- 
us officii  nostri :"  Praescientia  "actus  perfectionis  Divine." 
"  Ex"  causam,  "  Secundum"  oi'dinem  notat.  "  Ex  jjrcescitd 
fide,  tanquam  cavisa,  dependere  Dei  intentionem  finis  seu  praemii 
nostri,"  nefjamus;  "  fieri  secundum  proescienliam,"  cum  sanctu 
scriptura  affirmamus. 

2.  Finis  hie,  scilicet  ad  Deum  unio  friiitioque,  (cum  perfecti- 
onum  divinarum,  viz.  misericordia?  glorificatricis  pariter  et  glo- 
riosae,  reliquarumque  manifestatione  plenissima  conjunctus)  in- 

TRANSLATION. 

pally  effects," — not  by  a  dependence  of  causaUti',  because  it  is  "  without 
cause,"  but  by  a  certain  dependence  of  relation  :  Thus,  I  am  of  opinion,  no 
rational  person  will  deny,  that  a  i'aflier  depends  on  Ins  Son  in  order  tj  liis  being; 
a  Fattier.  Nor  does  the  inference  [at  the  close  of  the  Thesis]  injure  this  |)o- 
sition  :  For  God  has  determined,  that  he  will  in  this  manner  perform  this  act, 
and  that  he  will  dispose  man  to  [the  accomplishment  of]  the  same  end, 
according  to  the  knowleug-e  which  he  possesses  respecting  what  is  most  suita- 
ble to  his  own  Justice,  Mercy  and  Wisdom. 

THESIS  III. 

"  Hence,  much   less  is   it  from  faitli  foreseen  ;  for  this  is  aMEANStotlie 

enjoyment  of  God,  who  is  the  End  :  Therefore  the  end,  as  a  condition,  does 
liot  precede  the  intention." 

ANNOTATIONS. 

1.  "Faith  foreseen"   and  ^'from  faith   foreseen,"    i^onethinj:  "The 

OREKNOWLEDGE 

auother.  (I  Peter, 


FOREKNOWLEDGE    of  faith,"     and  "  acciirding  to  that   foreknowledoje,"  is 
,i,  2  )  For  Faith  is  an  actuf  our  diiti;  ;  Puescience  or  Fore- 


knowledge is  an  act  of  Divine  Perfection.  "  Front  faith  foreseen"  marks  the 
(l-iusE;  ''■  According'  to  faith  foresee. i"  marks  the  okder.  Wedejy,  that 
(iod's  intention  of  t!ie  end  or  of  our  reward  depends  upon  faitfi.  foreseen, 
as  upon  thecause  ;  but  we  afrirm,  with  the  sacred  scriptures,  that  itis  formed 
ACCOROINC  TO  the  Dii'lne  Prescience  or  Forekniwledge. 

2.  Thii  end,  (union  with  God  and  the  fruition  of  him)  when  joined  with 
the  fullest  manifestation  of  the  Diviiic  Peri'ections, — that  is,  of  his  mercy 
which  glorifies  and  is  at  the  same  time   rendered  glorious,   and  of  his  other 


176  AN NOT ATA    IX 

telHgitur  vel  ut  finis  ex  consilio  voluntatis  nude  consuleratiis, 
de  quo  hic  non  qutpritur ;  vel  quasi  judicialiter,  et  politice,  ut 
praemium  et  merces  ex  beneplacito  Dei  miserentis,  raero,  libero, 
absoluto,  et  independente,  omnesque  causas  secundas  antegredi- 
ente  manans,  et  certis  legibus  promissa;  at  ex  Dei  veracitate  et 
constantia,  legum  seu  condition um  harum  observatoribus  pras- 
standa.  Hoc  modo  recte,  secundum  s.  scripturara,  Voluntatis  et 
Consilii  Divini  declaratricem,  affirmatur,  Jidem  etiam  in  Dei  in- 
tentione  (pra'scilam,  nondum  praestitani)  praemii  et  mercedis 
adeplionem  antecedere. 

3.  Notandum  authorem  sibi  non  satis  constare  in  fine  Dei  in- 
tentionis  assignando,  quern  interdum  scipsum  respicere  inlendeii'- 
tem,  interdum  hominem  inlentum  indicat. 

THESIS  IV. 

Via  adjinem  istnm  exhlhita  liominijint  in  statu primeevo, 
quo  virihus  instruebatur  idoneis,  quihus  Deo,  si  voluisset^ 
potuit  J'rid.  Verum  quia  finltus,  ideo  mutabiUs,  et  quia 
mutabilis,  seducente  diaholo  desc\vit  a  statu  illo :  zmde  summi 
boni  interrtipta  est  adeptio.  lis  tamen  quos  ad  finem  istum 
destinarat,  ex  mlsericordia  reconciliari  voluit  Deus ;  ita 
tamen  ut  simul  jiistitia  maneret  illasa :  quare  turn  pro 
qffensa  satisfacere    oportuit  prius,     quam    in   conditionem 

TRANSLATION. 

perfections, — this  end,  when  thus  conjoined,  is  understood,  (1.)  either  as  the 
End  nakedly  considered  through  the  counsel  of  his  will,  about  which  end  there 
is  no  question  in  this  place;  Or,  somewhat  in  aj'udicial  and pnlitical sense, 
as  a  reward  and  recompence  emanating  from  the  mere,  free,  absolute  and  in- 
dependent good-pleasure  of  a  merciful  God,  which  is  antecedent  to  all  second 
causes:  This  reward  is  promised  by  certain  laws;  but,  through  the  veracity 
and  constancy  of  God,  it  will  be  conferred  on  those  [only]  who  observe  these 
laws  or  conditions.  In  this  manner  according  to  the  Sacred  Scripture,  which 
is  the  declaration  of  the  Divine  Will  and  Counsel,  it  is  rightly  affirmed, 
that,  "  even  in  God's  intention,  /aith  precedes  the  obtaining  of  the 
recompence  and  reward  ;"  for  it  is  foreseen,  though  not  then  performed. 

3.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  author  is  uot  sufficiently  consistent  with 
himself  in  assigning  the  end  of  God's  intention  ;  for  he  sy  metimes  intimates, 
that  the  end  has  respect  to  himself  as  the  person  intending,  and,  at  other 
times,  that  it  has  respect  toman  as  the  object  intended. 

THESIS   IV. 

"Thewavto  this  end  was  shewn  to  man  in  his  primeval  condition,  by 
which  he  was  furnished  with  such  suitable  strength  or  power  as  rendered  him 
capable  of  enjoying  God,  if  such  had  lieen  bis  own  choice.  But  since  man 
was  a  finite  being,  be  was  also  mutable;  and  on  account  of  tliis  mutability, 
when  he  was  seduced  by  the  devil,  he  declined  from  that  state:  And  thus 
arose  an  interrujition  in  his  obtaining  the  Chief  Good.  But  it  was  the  will  of 
God  to  be  reconciled  through  mercy  to  those  whom  he  had  destined  to  this 
end  ;  yet  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  suffer  his  justice  to  sustain  any  injury. 
AVherefore  it  was  then  necessary  to  render  satisfaction  for  theoft'cuce,  before 
man  could  be  restored  to  a  condition  of  righteousness.    But  since  this  satis- 


PAIIKERI    THESES.  177 

justHia  restaurari.  Quia  vero  hoc  a  nobis,  quippe  "  md- 
larum  virium,''''  (Rom.  v,  6,)  cffici  non  potuit:  aut  per 
ctlium  effici  oportuit,  aut  de  reconciliatione  nostra  actum. 
Hoc  autem  quia  perjicere  non  debuit  alius  7iisi  Jiomo,  nee 
sufficere  potuit  nisi  Deus :  Mnc  Christus  SsavSjiUTroy 
mediator  designatus ;  qui  redemptioncm  a  peccatis  virtute 
satlsfactionis,  et  restaurationcm  virtute  justitice  procuians, 
reconciliationerii  impetravit  iis  qnibus  voluit  Deus. 

ANNOTATIONES. 

1.  Cavendum  est,  ne  prima  Theseos  hujus  verba  temere  de- 
glutiamus.  Viam  nam  ad  finem  istum,  Dei  fniitionem  (omni 
iTiodo  consideratum,  scilicet  ut  fruitio  etiam  Christi  Mediatoris 
existentis,  et  Judicis,  Remuneratorisque  futuri,  exmisericordia, 
justitia  temperata,  includatur)  non  fuisse,  homini  in  statu  pri- 
maevo  exhibitam,  nee  in  isto  statu,  viribus  ad  Deo,  hoc  modo 
consiclerato,  fruendum  hominem  instructum  fuisse,  fidenter 
asserimus.     Quod  est  Authoris  nostri  JJpuncv  ^ev^os. 

9..  Ut  facile  largiar  (quod  tamen  vix  quivis  capit)  "  hominem 
primaevum  ideo  mutabilem  quia  iinitura  {qnaxnv'is  Jiiiitum  et  mu- 
tabilem  fuisse  procul  sit  omni  dubio)  summique  boni  adeptionem 
ex  ista  sua  volunlaria  defectione,  seducente  diabolo,  interruptam 
fuisse ;"  non  sic  tamen,  ut  Christus,  Mediator  Judexque  noster, 
sub  ista  Surami  Boni  consideratione  veniat :  ne  (ut  caetera  infi- 

TRANSLATION. 

faction  could  not  be  eflfected  by  us,  because  "  we  were  without  strength," 
(Rom.  V,  6.)  it  must  either  have  been  effected  by  another,  or  there  was  an  end 
of  our  reconciliation.  But  because  no  one  except  a  man  ought  to  effect  this, 
and  because  none  but  God  could  be  sufficient  for  this,  Christ,  who  was  both 
God  and  man,  was  appointed  Mediator.  After  this  Metliator  had  procured 
redemption  from  sins  by  virtue  of  his  satisfaction,  and  restoration  liy  virtue 
of  his  righteousness,  he  obtained  reconciliation  for  those  on  whom  it  was  the 
will  of  God  to  bestow  it." 

JINNQTJTIONS. 

We  must  beware  not  to  receive  the  first  words  of  this  Thesis  with  too  much 
rashness.  We  confidently  assert,  that  "  the  way  to  this  end  was  not  exhi- 
bited to  man  in  his  primeval  state," — that  is,  the  wav  was  not  shewn  to  the 
enjoyment  of  God,  considered  in  every  respect  so  as  to  include  the  enjoyment 
of  Christ  who  then  existed  as  Mediator,  and  who  was  afterwards  to  be  the 
Judge  and  the  Rewarder,  through  the  Divine  Mercj'  and  Justice  which  wtre 
attempered  together.  We  also  assert,  "  in  that  state  man  was  not  furnished 
with  strength  or  power  to  enjoy  Ged  considered  in  the  manner  which  we  have 
just  described." — This  is  the  first  of  our  author's  falsehoods. 

2.  I  am  ready  to  grant,  what  scarcely  any  one  will  comprehend,  that  "  the 
first  man  was  therefore  a  mutable  being  6ec«?M<?  a  finite  one."  ('hough  it  is 
placed  beyond  all  doubt,  that  he  was  hoxhjinite  and  mutable,)  and  that  "his 
obtaining  of  the  Chief  Good  was  interrupted  through  this  his  own  voluntary 
defection,  and  the  seduction  of  the  devil."  Yet  this  concession  must  be  made 
so  as  not  to  let  Christ  our  Mediator  and  Judge  come  into  the  consideration  of 
this  Chief  Good;  lest  (omitting  the  mention  of  other  infinite  inconveniences,} 


178  ANNOTATA    IN 

nlta  incommoda  taceani)  Christus  noster  in  Adamo  primtevo, 
integro  censitus,  in  ipso  nobiscum  laberetur,  peccatoque  Origi- 
nali  se  alligaret,  aut  a  Deo  Patre  ejusdem  reus  censeretur,  unde 
satisfactio  (quam  eura  divina?  justitiae  praestitisse,  nemo  praeter- 
quam  qui  absolutas  Dei  intentiones  esse  omnes  crediderit,  ne- 
gare,  nisi  lajsis  principiis,  potest)  salusque  omnis  nostra  corruat 
necesse  est. 

3.  Si  per  "  eos  quos  ad  finem  istum  destinarat  Deus,"  intelligi 
vult  "  absoluta  et  precisa  salvandi,  seu  ad  summuni  finem  per- 
ducendi,  intentione  destinatos,"  non  video  ut  seipsum  sibi  in 
eadem  oratione  rcconciliet.  Mox  nam  subjungit,  "  iis  ex  miseri- 
cordia  reconciliari  voluit  Deus/'  &c.  t  Sed  cave,  mi  Parkere,  ne 
ejusmodi  absoluta  ad  finem  istum  destinatio  reconciliationi 
dictse  repugnet,  et  universam  Ciiristi  satisfactionis  necessitatem, 
vel  etiam  utilitatem  funditus  evertat  et  aboleat.  Quos  nam  ad 
finem  istum  destinarat  (intellige  ahuolute)  Deus,  iis  certe  jampri- 
dem  erat  reeonciliatus,  absque  hoc,  ut  Christi  interventu  fieret 
satisfactio,  et  inde  manans  reconciliatio.  Non  insto  ne  asperior 
paulo  videar. 

Csetera  de  satisfactione,  sana  existimo,  nisi  quod  qufedam  in 
fine  sint  obscura,  et  plirasis  idtima  "  reconciliationem  impe- 
travit  (^Christus)  iis,  quibus  voluit  Deus"  animadvertenda.  Quid 

\  En  Sublapsarium  !    Vide  qua;  ad  Thes.  10  de  "  suprapositia  fundamentis"  notavi. 

TRANSLATION. 

Christ  our  Lord,  after  being  reckoned  in  Adam  while  he  retained  his  primi- 
tive state  of  innocency,  should  afterwards  fall  with  us  in  hiai,  and  connect 
himself  with  orit^inal  sin,  or  should  be  accounted  jjuilt}' of  it  by  God  the 
Pather.  'J'he  satisfaction  which  Christ  rendered  to  Divine  Justice,  and  all 
our  salvation,  must  in  this  case  be  necessarily  involved  in  one  common 
destruction. —  That  Christ  made  such  satisfaction,  it  is  impossible  for  any  one 
to  deny  without  a  breach  of  his  own  principles,  except  he  be  a  person  who 
believes  all  God's  intentions  to  be  absolute. 

?>.  If  by  the  phrase  "  those  whom  he  had  destined  to  this  end,"  our  author 
wishes  us  to  understand  "  those  who  are  destined  by  an  absolute  and  precise 
intention,  to  be  saved  or  to  be  conducted  to  this  Chief  End," — I  do  not  per- 
crive  in  what  manner  he  can  reconcile  himself  to  himself  in  the  very  same 
sentence.  For  he  immediately  subjoins,  "  It  was  the  will  of  God  to  be  re- 
conciled throujjh  mercy  to  those,"  &c.-f-  But,  my  Parker,  stand  on  your 
guard,  Icstsuch  an  absolute  destination  should  be  contradictory  to  the  recon- 
ciliation which  had  been  previously  mentioned,  and  should  entirely  subvert 
and  destroy  the  universal  necessity  of  Christ's  satisfactipn,  or  even  its  utility. 
For,  undoubtedly  God  had  long  before  been  reconciled  to  those  whom  he  had 
absolutely  "destined  to  this  end,"  without  any  satisfaction  being'  made  by  the 
intervention  of  Christ,  or  without  any  of  that  reconciliation  which  emanates 
from  it. — But  1  do  not  pursue  these  arguments,  lest  I  should  seem  to  manifest 
too  much  severity. 

4.  I  consider  the  rest  of  the  expressions  concerning  the  satisfaction  of 
dhrist  to  be  sound,  with  the  exception  of  some  toward  the  close  which  are 
involved  in  obscurity. — Thus,  the  last  phrase  rc(iuircs  some  animadversion  : 
Jt  states,  that  "  Christ  obtained  reconciliation  for  those  on  whom  it  was  the 

t  Bi'holil  here  a  Su'i-lapsarian !    I  refsr  the  reader  to   my  annotations  oi!  the  tenth  Thesis, 
concerning  "  the  foundations  whicliare  placed  above." 


PARKKRI    THKSIS.  179 

nam  pro  quibus  voluit  Deus  ut  impetraret?  Pro  lapsis  ct  per- 
(litis  omnibus?  Non  opinor  dicturuni  te  cum  s.  scripturis. 
Pi'o  Reprobis  ?  Nequaquani.  Pro  Electis  ergo  ?  Fieri  non  posse, 
aut  esse  superfliium  videri  potest,  si  absolute  et  praecisead  finem 
summum  a  Deo  prius  destineniur,  quam  in  Christum  ponantur 
credituri,  imo  quam  Christus  satisfecisse,  aut  in  satisfactionis 
pretiuni  destinari  dicatur. 

THESIS  V. 

H'lnc  quotqiiot  reconcUiandi  fuerant,  propter  Christi 
merita  recondUari  oportuit :  pj-ohide  ut  applicetur  recon- 
ciliation merita  Christi  applicanda  prius.  AppJicandi  vero  , 
homini  cum  sint  qua  intellectu  ac  voluntate  pruEdito,  prop- 
terea  ut  ah  ipso  (^Scal.,  ex.  307,  sect,  xxvii,  lin.  9.,)  rcci- 
pienda,  appUcanda  sunt.  Hincjirdus  Dei  cum  electis  emer- 
g'it,  se  rccipientibus  Christum  recojiciliatum  iri.  Conditio  a 
parte  Dei,  reconciliatio  est,  in  qua  iamcn  debitor  non  nobis 
est  Deus,  sed  sibi,  qui  scipsum  ncgare  non  potest.  Ea  etiam 
Jinis  ipse  hominis  est,  non  quidern  quoad  rem  alius  a  fiui- 
tione  Dei ;  relatione  solum  distinctus  interi'uptionis  praviee. 
Conditio  vero  a  parte  nostra  est  Christi  receptio :  conditio 
autem  non  ut  ah  homine  dispensatore  actus  hujus,  sed  ut  in 
humine  quid  ad  reconciliationem  pruErequisitum. 

TRANSLATION. 

•will  of  God  to  bestow  it." — For  whom  then  was  it  the  will  of  God  to  obtain  this 
reconciliation  ? — Was  \tfor  nil  those  who  had  fallen  and  destroyed  themselves? 
1  do  not  think,  that  you  will  speak  thus,  with  the  holy  scriptures. — Was  it 
for  the  Reprobate  .''  By  no  means. — Was  it  then  for  the  Elect  .'  It  was  impos- 
sible for  this  to  be  done ;  or  it  may  seem  to  be  superfluous,  if  God  absolutely 
and  precisely  destined  the  elect  to  the  Chief  End  before  they  were  ccusider- 
ed  as  afterwards  believing  iu  Christ,  and  even  before  Christ  is  said  to  have 
rendered  satisfaction,  or  to  be  destined  for  the  price  of  satisfaction. 

THESIS  V. 

"  Hence,  as  many  ashad  to  be  reconciled,  must  have  been  reconciled  on 
acco\uit  of  the  merits  of  Christ :  Therefore  the  merits  of  Christ  must  be  first 
applied  in  order  to  the  application  of  the  rtrconciliation.  But  since  they  are 
to  be  applied  to  man  in  reference  to  his  being'  endo.ved  with  an  understand- 
ing and  will,  they  must  therefore  be  applied  as  to  he  received  by  him.  (Scalig. 
Exer.  307.  §  27.  lin.  2.)  Hence  arises  God's  covenant  with  the  Elect,  who 
betake  themselves  to  Christ  for  the  purpose  of  being  reconciled.  On  God's 
part  the  condition  is,  recoiiciUation  ;  yet  in  it  God  is  not  a  debtor  to  us  but  to 
himself,  since  he  cannot  deny  himself :  That  [recouciiiaticn]  alsoistheend 
of  man,  not  ditferiugas  to  substance  from  the  enjoyment  of  God  ;  it  is  dis- 
tinguished from  it.  Solely  in  relation  to  the  previous  interruption. — But  on  our 
part  the  condition  is,  t/te  reception  of  Christ;  yet  this  is  a  condition  not  as 
if  FROM  man  ti;e  dispenser  of  this  act,  but  as  being  in  man  a  certain  pre- 
requisite to  reconciliation. " 


180  ANNOTATA    IN 


ANNOTATIONES. 

1.  Nota  ut  hic  sei'monem  in  re  prorsus  eadem  licenter  variet. 
In  Thesi  quarta  legimus  "  Deum  reconciliari  voluisse  quibus- 
dam ;"  hic  "  homines  reconciliandi  et  reconciliari"  dicuntur, 
idque  "  propter  Chn'sti  merita."  Quid  ergo  ?  An  Christus  non 
meruit  ut  Deus  hominibus  reconciliaretur  ?  Non  dixeris, 
opinor.  At  tantundem  hie  dicitur.  Certe  Christus  Deo,  non 
hominibus  satisfecit.  VerissivTium  qnidem  est,  nos  recte  dici 
Deo  "  esse  reconciliandos,"  iit  applicetur  reconciliatio  merito 
Christi  impetrata:  ntinam  autem  apei-tius  et  liquidius  nos  docu- 
isset,  quo  pacto  "  merita  Christi  prius  applicanda"  fuerint. 

2.  Ex  meritorum  Christi,  ad  horainem,  qua  intellectu  et 
vohnitate  prseditum,  applicatione,  fa^dus  Dei  cum  Electis 
emergens,  hoc  esse  dicitur,  "  se  recipic.nlihis  Christum  reconcili- 
alum  iri,"  quod  oracularem  ambiguitatem,  ex  vocum  sono,  re- 
ferre  videtur.  Sed  prscstat  sic  intelligere,  ac  si  clare  affirmetur, 
"  Deum  reconciliatum  iri  recipientibus  Christum  :"  Quid  autem 
sit  hoc,  "  Christum  recipere,"  utinam  explicasset.  Sed  quid  si 
iioluit,  ne  quid  infirmum  subter  latens  exponeretur :  aut  non 
potuit,  Thesibus,  dicam,  an  hypothesibus  salvis  ? 

3.  Non  moror  sequentium  amphibolias  dictionmn,  nee  min.us 
exactas  loquendi  formas  vellico.  Conditiones  audio ;  placet. 
At  "  reconciliationem"  ad  Deum  non  esse  rem  aliam  ab    "  ejus- 

TRANSLATION. 

JNNOTJTION^. 

1.  Observe  with  what  licentiousness  he  varies  his  expressions,  in  this  place, 
on  a  matter  that  is  entirely  alike.  In  the  Fourth  Thesis,  we  read,  "It  was 
the  will  of  God  to  he  reconciled"  to  certain  individuals:  while  in  this,  men 
are  said  "to  be  reconciled,"  and  "the  subjects  of  reconciliation,"  "on 
account  of  the  merits  of  (Christ."  What  is  the  inference  ?  Has  not  Christ 
merited,  that  God  may  be  reconciled  to  men  ?  I  think,  you  would  not  ven- 
ture to  speak  thus:  Vet  in  this  passage  is  expressed  the  same  sentiment. 
Christ  has  undoubtedly  rendered  satisfaction  to  God,  and  not  to  men.  It  is  a 
grand  truth,  that  we  are  rightly  said  "  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  in  order  that 
the  reconciliation  obtained  by  the  merits  of  Christ  may  be  applied."  But  I 
wish  our  author  had  taught  us  in  a  clearer  and  more  luminous  manner,  by 
what  means  "  the  merits  are  first  to  be  applied." 

2.  "  From  the  application  of  the  merits  of  Christ  to  man,  considered  as  en- 
dowed with  an  understanding; and  vvili,  arises  God's  covenant  with  the  Fleet." 
This  is  said  to  be  "  a  betaking  themselves  to  Christ  to  be  reconciled  ;"  \\  hich 
seems,  from  the  soi'.nd  of  the  words,  to  be  the  rehearsal  of  an  o;acu!ar  am- 
biguity. But  it  is  better  to  understand  it  as  though  it  was  openly  athrmed, 
that  "  God  is  ready  to  be  reconciled  to  those  wiio  recei^'e  Christ."  1  wish, 
however,  that  he  had  ex])lained  what  he  means  by  "  receiving  Christ."  But 
if  he  be  unwilling  to  give  this  explanation,  it  is  lest  some  concealed  weakness 
should  lie  exposed  :  Or,  perhaps,  he  was  not  able  to  do  tliis  with  safety  to 
his — "  'I'lieses"  shall  I  call  them,  or  "  Hypotheses  .'" 

3.  I  will  neither  detain  myself  witli  the  equivocaficns  of  the  subsequent 
expressions,  nor  criticize  those  forms  of  sjjeaking  which  are  not  the  most  ac- 
curate. I  am  delighted  at  hearing  the  word  "  conditions."  »But  I  confess,  I 
cannot  sulhciently  comprehend  how  "  recondliaticn  to  God  is  not  a  ditlereut 


I'ARKF.Rl    TUKSKS.  181 

dem  fruitione,"  sed  idem  hominis  finis,  nisi  quod  "  relatione 
interruptionis  proeviae  distinguatur," — fateor  me  non  satis  ca- 
pere ;  non  quod  7}iinus  intdligam,  quam  quod  minus  samtm  esse 
judicem.     Sed  transeat. 

4.  "  Conditionem  a  parte  nostra,"  scilicet  "  Christi  rcccptionem, 
ab  homine  non  propriis  natiine  viribi/s  prsstari,  sed  a  Dei  prae- 
sertim  gratia,"  damns:  modo  "hominis  esse  actum,  a  nobis, 
mediante  Dei  evangelio,  per  Spiritus  Sancti  gratiam  productum," 
non  negetur. 

6.  Merainerit  lector,  ".  conditionem  banc,"  ab  authore  con- 
cedi,  "  esse  in  homine  quid  ad  reconciliationem  prcerequisitum. 

THESIS  VI. 

Applicatio  utriusque  conditionis  Jit  primo  per  deduc- 
tionem  earum  ad  acUim,  ut  sint :  deinde  per  conservationem 
in  actii,  id porro  s'lnt.  Deductio  antem  ad  actum  est  recep- 
tioni  Christi prius,  cum  ex  ea  tanqiiam  medio  prairquisito 
reconciliatio  ineatur.  Hcec  vero  vocatio  did  sold,  qua 
motus  est  a  Deo,  quo  Christi  reccptionem  clectis  ingenerat. 

ANXOTATIOXES. 

1.  Advertat  etiam,  quod  "  ex  ea,  tanquam  medio  prserequi- 
sito,  reconciliatio  ineatur,"  eodem  hie  fatente.  An  vero  "  base 
VOCATIO  dici  soleat,"  in  sacris  iiteris,  ambigo. 

TRANSLATION. 

matter  from  the  enjo7/7)ient  of  God,"  or  how  •'  it  is  the  same  end o{  man,  dif- 
fering from  it  in  relation  to  the  previous  interruption  :"  Not  so  much  because 
I  cannot  understand  some  part  of  his  meaning,  as  because  1  consider  it  to  be 
Vinsound.     But,  let  that  pass. 

4.  We  grant,  that  the  condition  on  our  part,  ("  the  reception  of  Christ,") 
is  not  performed  by  man  through  the  strength  of  his  own  nature,  but  that  it  is 
specially  performed  by  the  grace  of  God  .  Provided  that  it  be  not  denied  to 
be  the  act  of  man,  produced  by  us  through  the  medium  of  the  gospel  of  God, 
and  bv  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

5.  The  reader  must  recollect,  it  is  the  author's  own  concession,  that  •'  this 
condition  is  in  man  as  a  certain  pre-requisite  to  reconciliation." 

THESIS  VI. 

"  The  application  of  both  these  conditions  is  made,  First,  by  the  deduc- 
tion of  them  to  action,  that  they  may  be  ;  and,  Secondli/,  by  [their]  preser- 
vation in  action,  that  they  may  be  [proceed]  further.  But  deduction  to 
action  is  prior  to  the  reception  of  Clirist,  since  from  it,  as  from  a  mean 
pre-required,  reconciliation  is  commenced.  But  it  is  usual  to  call  it  Vo- 
cation, that  is,  a  motion  from  God,  by  which  he  produces  the  reception  of 
Christ  in  the  Elect." 

ANNOTATIONS. 

1.  Observe,  that  "  from  this  deduction,  as  from  a  mean  pre-required, 
reconcliation  is  commenced,"  is  the  author's  own  confession  in  this  passage. 
But  I  have  my  doubts  whether,  in  the  sacred  scriptures,  "  it  is  usual  to  call 
it  Vocation." 


J 82  A \ NOT AT A    IN 

2.  Reconciliatio  hie  dicitiir  vocatiu,  quas  "  motus  est  a  Deo, 
quo  Cliristi  receptionem  electis  ingenerat"  Quidaiulio?  "Re- 
conciliatio generat  receptionem,  quce  receptio  est  reconciliatione 
prior,  seu  quid  ei  praercquisitum  ?"  Annon  haec  sunt  valde 
operosum  nihil?  Capiat  qui  potest.  Fallor  ?  An  hasc  sibi 
contradicunt?  Certe  Robertas  Parkerus  pater  tuus  fuit,  non 
idem  tuus  filius. 

THESIS  VII.     I 

Mot'io  hominis  est:  idco  movcns  reguiritur,  et  mobile 
quod  movetur,  et  motus  movcntis  actus,  et  res  motu  facta : 
De  quihus  or  dine. 

ANNOTATIONES. 

"  Motio  hominis  est,"  inquis.  Cave  dixeris.  Quid  ?  An 
hominera  affirmas  actus  hujus  dispensatorem,  quod  modo  Thesi 
Quinta  negasti  ?  Rursus  haereo,  nisi  "  motio"  pure  pute  passive 
intelligatur.     Pergo. 

THESIS  VIII. 

Movcns  est,  qui  intendit  Jinem :  principium  et  Jinis 
Deus.  Movens  autem  est,  ut  consilio  agens ;  proinde  de- 
cretOy   quod  pariter   secundum  proportlonem   decreti  circa 

TRANSLATION. 

2.  Reconciliation  is  here  said  to  be  "  vocation,  that  is  a  motion  from  God, 
by  whicli  he  produces  tlie  reception  of  Christ  in  the  Elect."  What  do  I 
hear.'  Does  reconciliation  produce  reception,  which  reception  is  prior  to 
reconciliation  and  is  "  something  that  is  a  pre-requisite  to  it?"  Are  not 
these  very  operose  nullities  ?  Let  hiui  comprehend  them  who  is  capable. 
Am  I  deceived  .'  Is  each  of  these  expressions  contradictory  to  the  other.' 
Undoubtedly  Robert  Parker  was  your  father,  but  your  production  is  not 
of  the  same  lineage. 

THESIS  VII. 

"  Moving  is  the  duty  of  man  :  A  Mover  therefore  is  required,  as  well  as 
something  movable  that  may  be  moved,  amotion  as  the  act  of  moving,  and 
a  thing  produced  by  motion  :  Of  each  of  which  [we  will  treat]  in  its  order.", 

JNNOT^JTIOIVS. 

"Motion,"  you  say,  "  is  the  part  of  man."  Beware  of  what  you  assert. 
What',  do  vou  affirm  "  man  to  be  the  dispenser  of  this  act,"  which,  in  the 
Fifth  Thesis,  you  just  now  denied  .' — I  hesitate  again,  unless  "  moving" 
be  understood  purely  in  a  passive  sense.     But  I  proceed. 

THESIS  VIII. 

"  The  Mover  is  he  who  intends  the  end  ,  God  is  both  the  beginning  and 
the  end.  But  a  Mover  is  one  who  acts  by  counsel,  and  therefore  by  a 
decree,  which  is  absolute  at  the  same  time  according  to  the  proportion  of  the 


I 


PARKERl     THESES,  183 

^pnrm,  absohdum  est.     Ncc  cu'im  finis  absolute  ab   ipso  in- 
tcnti,  ex  falVihili  conditione  suspendi  eventus  potest. 
ANNOT.iTlONES. 

De  "  fine,"  qui  ipse  Deux  dicitnr  et  est,  litem  non  moveo. 
Sed  an  "  eodem  modo  Deus  intendat  se  utfinem  svuin,  et  homi- 
nix  Jincm,  seu  mcrcedem  viagnam,  consilio,  proinde  decreto," 
merito  ambigo.  Intendit  quippe  se  Jinetn  situm,  opinor,  natura  ; 
SE  autem  liominis  Jincm,  consilio.  Nee  satis  assequar,  nisi  statu- 
enduni  sit  "  Dei  decreta  esse  ipsiim  Deum,"  et  "  posse  seipsitm 
non  velle  sicut  dtcreta  potuisset  facere  non  volnisse;  et  Demn 
seipsmn,  sicut  decreta,  secundum  voluntatis  suje  consilium 
facere,"  arbitremiir. 

Non  tamen  negaverim  hominis  finem  Deum  (si  media  ad  eum 
assequendum  connotet,)  a  Deo  horaini  absolute  intendi.  Neque 
hinc  metuendum  est,  si  Dei  intentio  finis  liumani  sic  explicetur, 
ne  exfalUbili  (Deus  nam  ftdli  neqiiit,)  conditione  fnon  dico  vcccs- 
sitaia)  eventus  suspendatur,  quani  conditionem  srpra,  Thesi 
Quinta,  statuisti  esse  "  Christi  receptionem."  Hanc  nam  secun- 
dum Evangelii  vocem,  dicentis  Q.ui  credit  salvnbilnr,  in  decreto 
hoc  circa  hominem  includi  affirm o.  Adeo  ut  certo  certius  et  in- 
fallibiliter,  finis  hujusmodi  eventus  "ex  faliibili  conditione  non 
suspendatur." 

THESIS  IX. 

Et  sicut  in  comparatione  adjinem,  sic  qua  id  quod  dc- 

TRANSLATION. 

decree  concerning  the  end.     For  the  event  of  the  end  which  has  been  abso- 
lutely intended  by  him,  cannot  be  suspended  on  a  fallible  condition." 

ANNOTATIONS. 

1  enter  into  no  controversy  respecting  the  end,  which  is  stated  to  be  God 
himself,  and  is  so  in  reality.  Bat  I  entertain  some  just  doubts,  vvhetiier  in 
one  and  ths  same  manner  God,  by  his  counsel  and  therefore  by  his  decree, 
intends  himself  r/s  his  own  end,  and  ris  the  end  of  man,  or  [his]  "exceed- 
ing great  reward."  Because,  I  think,  he  intends  himself  as  his  own  end, 
by  [his]  nature;  hni  as  the  end  of  man,  by  counsel.  Nor  can  I  properly 
comprehend  [his  assertion],  unless  it  be  stated,  \h^t  the  decrees  of  God  are 
Himself,  and  that  it  is  possible /?»•  him  not  to  will  Himself ,  as  it  might  be 
possible  «c/  to  will  to  make  decrees ;  and  unless  we  suppose  that  God  mahes 
Himself,  as  he  does  his  decrees,  "  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will." 

Yet  I  have  not  denied,  that  God  absolutely  intends  himself  to  man  as  man's 
end,  if  he  points  out  the  means  to  obtain  it.  Nor  is  there  any  cause  to  fear, 
when  the  intention  of  man's  end  is  thus  explained,  lest  "  the  e^'ent  should 
be  suspended  on  a  condition  that  is  fallible,"  (for  (iod  is  not  fallible,) — I  do 
not  say  on  one  that  is  necessitated, — which  condition  you  have  stated  in  the 
Fifth  Thesis  to  be  the  reception  of  Christ.  For  I  alfirm,  that  this  condition 
["  the  reception  of  Christ"]  is  included  in  this  decree  concerning  man, 
according  to  the  expression  of  the  Gospel  which  sajs,  He  that  believeth  shall 
be  saved.  It  is  therefore  nivjst  certain  and  infallible,  that  "  the  end  of  an 
event  of  this  description  is  not  suspended  on  a  fallible  condition. 

THESIS  TX. 
"  And  a     in  conijiarison  to  the  end,  so   in  reference  to   what  is  decreed 


184  ANNOTATA    IN 

cernitur  est  effectus  cntis  j)7'imi ;  a  quo  sicut  omnium  ent'utm 
dependent  essentia,  virtuies,  actiones,  (Rom.  xi,  ?!)Q,)  sic 
pracipue  supernaturalis  honi.  (Jac.  i,  17.^  Hinc  vocati- 
onem  independente  consilio  producens,  turn  per  sapientiam 
de  forma  deliberate  turn  per  voluntatem  intendit  secundum 
illamjhrmam  ex  suppositiotie  jJoteiitiee.  Forma  ilia  exemr- 
plar  est  et  mensura  veritatis  in  re,  id  prout  ipsa  faerit,  sic 
rem  Jure  necesse  sit  dependeriter  ah  ea.  Hinc  ex  conditione 
in  re  non  vult  conversionem  Deus,  sed  secundum  deliheratio- 
nem  sapientia  sua,  voluntas  intendit,  et  potentia  excquitur 
immutabiUs.  Et  quia  secundum  sapientiam  et  honitatem 
vult  et  potest,  proinde  J'aturam  piravidet  virtualiter  a  volun- 
tate  pendentem. 

ANNOTATIONES. 

Sicut  decretum  circa  finem,  seu  "  decretum  secundum  pro- 
portionem  decreti  circa  finem,"  (stylo  et  phrasi  horridis,  hac- 
tenus  inauditis,  et  mortalium  captum  pene  superantibus,)  statim 
dixerat,  "  sic"  (quod  hoc  "  sic"  sibi  vult?)  "  id  quod  decernitur" 
(quid  tibi  est  "  id"  istud  ?  An  neque  rnoiio,  nee  movens,  nee 
mobile,  nee  motus,  nee  res  motu-fada  ?  Quanta  hie  confusio, 
quantus  tumultus !,)  "  sic  id  quod  decernitur/'  inquis,  "  est 
effectus   Entis    Primi ;    a    quo   dependere    omnium   essentias, 

TRANSLATION. 

"being  the  effect  of  tbe  First  Being,  on  whom  (Rom.  xi,  3fi,)  the  essences, 
•virtues,  and  actions  of  all  beings  depend,  and  principally  those  of  super- 
natural good.  (James i,  17.)  Hence  producing  vocation  by  [his]  indepen- 
dent counsel,  he  deliberates  concerning  the  form  by  his  wisdom,  ana  he 
intends  [purposes]  by  his  will  according  to  that  form  on  the  supposition  of 
power  :  That  form  is  the  exemplar  and  measure  of  truth  in  the  thing  ;  that 
as  it  [the  form]  was,  so  the  thing  itself  must  of  necessity  be,  dependently  on 
it.  Hence  from  the  condition  in  the  thing  God  wills  not  conversion  ;  but 
according  to  the  deliberation  of  his  own  irisdom  bis  will  intends,  and  his 
immutable  power  executes  [it]  :  And,  because  according  to  his  wisdom  and 
goodness  he  employs  his  will  and  his  power,  therefore  he  foresees  that  it 
[conversion]  will  afterwards  occur,  being  virtually  dependent  on  [his]  will. 

ANNOTJTIONS. 

After  having  said,  that  "  as  the  decree  concerning  the  end,"  or  "  the 
clecree  aecordinj'  to  the  proportion  of  the  decree  concerning  the  end,"  he 
immediately  adds,  (in  a  style  and  phraseologj'  that  are  most  barbarous,  that 
have  never  "before  been  heard,  and  that  nearly  transeend  the  comprehension 
of  mortals,)  "  so  in  reference  to  that  whichis  decreed  hein^  the  effect  of  the 
First  Bcin^,"  &c.  What  meaning  has  this  particle  "so?"  And  what  do 
you  do  with  the  phrase,  "  that  which  is  decreed  ?"  Is  it  neither  something 
moving,  a  Mover,  something  that  is  movable,  motion,  nor  the  thin^  pro- 
duced ny  motion  .'  [See  page  182.]  What  confusion  and  tumult  are  nere! 
You  slate,  that  "  what  is  decreed  is  an  eftcct  of  ihe  First  Being  ;"  and  I  do 


PAAKERI    TllKfiES.  185 

virtutes,  actiones  praecipue  boni  supernatural  is,"  nullus  dubito. 
Quid  ergo?  "  Hinc,"  inquis,  "  vocationem"  {reconciliationem 
supra  +  dixeras)  "  independente  consilio  producens,"  (in  Jieri 
intelligis  dum  producturus  est,  an  in  facto  esse  quandoproduxit? 
ambigua  nam  est  oratio,)  "  turn  per  sapientiam,"  inquis,  "  de 
forma  deliberat,  tum  per  voluntalem  intendit  secundum  illam 
formam  ex  suppositione  potentise."  Quid  audis,  lector  ?  Evan- 
gelium  an  schoiam  ?  Apostolos  an  Sorbonnam  ?  Tran seat  hoc 
omne.  "  Sapientia  Divnia  de  reconciliationis  forma  deliberat, 
Voluntas  secundum  formam  illam  intendit,  Potentia  exequitur:" 
Concedo.     Perge, 

Forma,  inquis,  ilia  exemplar  est,  et  mensura  veritatis  in  re, 
ut  prout  ipsa  fuerit,  sic  rem  fore  necesse  sit  dependenter  ab 
ea.  Audio,  sed  cave  me  raox  iJ-^Ta^aaei.  eis  awo  yev(^^  te  fallas 
et  incauto  lectori  scandalum  objicias.  Jam  metaphysica  Veritas 
sen  rei,  quasi  thematis  incomplexi  auditur,  postea  (ut  mihi 
etiam  liceat  griphos  loqui)  logicam  axiomatis  afFectionem,  veri- 
tatem  thematis  complexi,  quasi  formse  dictae  exemplaris  exem- 
platum,  Veritas  rei,  esset  veritatis  axiomaticae  exemplar, 
deducere  satages.  Fi'ustra.  Reconciliatio  sen  vocatio  (quando 
visum  est  sic  confundere)  sit  sane  res  a  forma  ista  dependens.  t 

t  Thes.  vi. 
■f  Hanc  rem  motufactam,  vocationem  seu  reconciliationem  non  esse,  sed  receptionem  Christi 
prserequisitam. — Thes.  6. 

TRANSLATION. 

not  doubt,  that  "on  Him  depend  the  essences,  virtues,  and  actions  of  all 
beings,  and  particularly  those  of  supernatural  good."  What  is  the  infer- 
ence ?  "Hence;"  you  say,  "producing  vocation  by  his  independent 
counsel,"  &c.  But,  in  the  Sixth  Thesis,  you  had  called  this  vocation  "  re- 
conciliation." Aud  when  you  mention  the  term  "producing,"  do  you 
understand  it  as  in  a  course  of  making ,  while  he  is  about  to  produce  it,  or 
as  being  actualli/  done,  when  he  has  produced  it  ? — for  that  phrase  is  ambi- 
guous. You  proceed,  "  Producing  vocation  by  his  independent  counsel,  he 
deliberates  concerning  the  form  by  his  wisdom,  and  he  purposes  by  his  will 
according  to  that  form  on  the  supposition  of  power."  Reader,  what 
expressions  are  these  which  you  hear  .''  Is  it  the  language  of  tlie  Oospel  or 
of  the  Scliools,  of  the  Apostles  or  of  the  Doctors  of  the  Sorbonue  .'  But 
suffer  all  this  to  pass. — "  Divine  Wisdom  deliberates  concerning  the  form 
of  reconciliation,  the  Divine  Will  purposes  according  to  that  form,  and  it  is 
executed  by  the  Divine  Power  "    This  1  readily  grant,  proceed  therefore. 

You  say,  "  That  form  is  the  exemplai  and  measure  of  truth  in  the  thing  ; 
that  as  it  [the  form]  was,  so  the  thing  itself  must  of  necessity  be  dependently 
on  it."  I  hear  all  this  ;  but  take  care  lest  you  soon  "  migrate  into  another 
region,"  deceive  yourself,  and  place  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  the 
incauiious  reader,  'i'he  metaphysical  truth,  or  the  truth  of  the  thing,  as  of 
a  simple  proposition,  is  already  heard  :  If  I  also  may  be  permitted  to  speak 
in  enigmas,  you  will  now  endeavour  to  deduce  the  logical  affection  of  the 
axiom,  the  truth  of  the  complex  proposition, — as  though  "  the  truth  of  the 
thing"  (which  is  a  copy  from  "  the  form"  called  "  the  exemplar  or  pat- 
tern,") were  the  pattern  of  the  axiomatic  truth.  But  vain  will  be  your 
attempt.  Let  reconciliation  or  vocation  be  "  the  thing  dependent  on  this 
form,"  since  it  is  your  pleasure  thus  to  confoimi)  the  two  terms,  -f-     But   no 

f  Vet  this  thing  produced  by  motion,  is  stated,  in  the  Sixth  Thesis,  to  be  neither  I'oca/iu/i 
jsua  rccuiiiiliaiion,  but  "  the  pre-required  reception  of  Christ." 

N 


186  AN NOT ATA     IN 

Non  quaeritur  verum  de  modo  et  ordine,  r[uem  satius  est  erudite 
ignorare,  quam  in  abscondita  Dei  ^ap^l  te  ingerere.  Hinc,  iiiquis  : 
Utide,  inqiiam  ?  "  Ex  conditione  i"  re  non  vult  conversionem 
Deus  ;"  (reconciliation  vocatio,  conversio,  Christi  reccptio,  idem 
tibi  sunt ;  verum  quo  Doctore  praeeunte  ?)  Ex  ?  Absit.  Quid 
si  secundum?  Non  affirmo:  Sine  conditione  non  vult.  Quid 
si  asseram  ?  Certe  bona  tua  cum  venia  fecero,  utpote  qui  "  re- 
ceptionem  Christi  esse  quid  reconciliationi  prserequisitum,"  modo 
bis  Svfnt>!ir,6-/ji,^  affirmaveras.  Sed  de  his,  post  opportuniorem  di- 
cendi  locum  inveniam. 

Quomodo  igitur  vult  Deus  conversionem  ?  "  Secundum  de- 
liberationem  sapientias  suie,  voluntas,"  inquis,  "  intendit,  et 
potentia  exequitur  immutabilis."  Recte,  si  dictio  "  immutabilis" 
pro  71071  mutanda  postquam  eve?dum  sortita  est,  vel  actu  svperavei'it 
humanam  resistentiam,  intelligatur.  Quid  balbutis  ?  Eloquere  : 
Potentiam  inteiligis  "  irresistibilem  ;"  et  "  hanc  Deum  exerere," 
clare  fatebor,  "  in  rebus,  actibusque  ab  ipso  solo,  nuUo  medi- 
ante,  productis."  Sed  an  conversio,  &c.,  sint  hujusmodi,  suo 
loco. 

2.  An  satis  has  voces  "  secundum  sapientiam  et  veritatem 
vult  et  potest"  ad  exactam  dicendi  rationem  et  obrussam  exegerit, 
lector  judicet.  "  Proinde  futuram,"  pergis,  "  pi-aevidet  et  vir- 
tualiter  a  voluntate  pendentem."  Futuram  scilicet  rem.  Quam  ? 
"  Conversionem,  Christi  receptionem,  praevidet  futuram."  Recte, 

TRANSLATION. 

enquiry  is  instituted  into  the  mode  and  order,  of  which  it  is  much  better 
for  you  to  observe  a  learned  ignorance,  than  to  obtrude  yourself  into  the 
hidden  depths  of  the  Deity.  "  Hence,"  you  say  ;  and  I  ask,  "  Whence?" 
"  Hence  trom  the  condition  in  the  thing,  God  wills  not  conversion."  Kecon- 
ciUation,  vocation,  conversion,  and  the  reception  of  Christ,  are  all  one  and 
the  same  thing  to  you  ;  but  what  Divine  is  your  precursor  in  this  mode  of 
speaking?  Do  you  say,  "  from  the  condition  ?"  Let  not  such  an  expres- 
sion escape!  What,  if  you  were  to  say,  "according  to  the  condition?" 
1  do  not  affirm  :  "  God  wills  it  not  ivithout  a  condition."  What  if  1  should 
make  such  an  assertion  !  With  your  good  leave,  1  certainly  will  do  it,  be- 
cause you  are  the  man  who  has  twice  affirmed,  that  "  the  reception  of 
Christ  is  a  certain  pre-requisite ."  (Thesis  5  and  6.)  But  I  shall  find  a  more 
suitable  opportunity  to  treat  on  these  topics. 

In  what  manner  then  does  God  will  conversion  ?  You  reply,  "  According 
to  the  deliberation  of  his  own  wisdom  his  will  intends,  and  his  immutable 
power  executes  it."  This  is  correct,  if  the  epithet  "  immutable"  be  under- 
stood to  mean  "  something  that  cannot  be  changed  after  it  has  appointed 
the  event,  or  has  actually  overcome  human  resistance."  Why  do  you 
stammer  or  hesitate  ?  Speak  out  plainly  :  By  this  expression  you  under- 
stand irresistible  power.  Such  a  power,  1  will  frankly  confess,  God  exerts  in 
things  and  actions  produced  by  himself  alone,  without  any  means  :  But 
we  will  enquire,  in  ihe  proper  place,  whether  conversion,  reconciliation,  &c., 
be  actions  of  this  description. 

2.  The  reader  must  judge,  whether  this  phrase,  "According  to  his  wis- 
dom and  goodness  he  employs  his  will  and  his  power,"  will  bear  examination 
by  the  method  and  test  of  exact  speaking. — You  proceed  to  say,  "  There- 
fore he  foresees  that  it  will  afterwards  occur,"  and  that  "  it  is  virtually 
dependent  on  the  will."  What  is  this  which  will  occur  ?  "  Conversion, 
the  reception  of  Christ:"  You  state  very  correctly,  "  He  foresees  that  it 


I 


PARKERI    THKSES.  187 

sed  vereor  an  sensu  tuo.  "A  voluntate  pendentem"  (Dei,  in- 
telligis,  opinor,)  recte,  "  praecipue,"  sed  quid  sibi  vult  '*  virtu- 
aliter  ?"     Nugae  ! 

Hactenus  fundamenta  operose,  in  metaphysicae  nescio  cujus 
arena,  et  scholarum  quisquiliis  jacta,  mole  quantum  vis  exigua 
ruunt  sua.  Qui  possunt  ergo  quae  superstruuntur  omnia  non 
labi,  non  concidere?  Tantum  abest  ut  "his  fundamentis 
positis  error  concidat,"  nisi  qui  istis  inaedificatur. 

THESIS  X. 

Ex  supra-positis  liiscefondamentis  concidit  error  in  gj-adu 
triplici. — Primus.  Decretum  Velleitatis,  quo  determina- 
tionem  ad  conversionis  actum,  ad  quern  necessitate  Iwminem 
non  posse  crediiur,  desiderare  solum  Jingitiir  Deus. — Secun- 
dus.  Desid€rat(Z  illius  defer minationis  pr.evisio  per  scientiam 
mediam,  qua  depende7itis  ah  homine. — Tertius.  Ex  pravisd 
determinatione,  conditionati  concursus  intentio  concomi- 
tanter  in  effectum. 

Et  Primo :  Velleitas  ilia  decretum  non  est :  hoc  enim  im~ 
pcraiitis  est  ex  suppositione  pote7itite ;  ilia  vero  purus  volun- 
tatis actus  cum  potent iee  defcctu.  Si  emm  quod  possum  voloy 
effectum  impei-o:  si  quod  non  possum,  desidero ;  assequi 
TRANSLATION. 

will  occur  ;"  but,  I  fear,  it  is  not  true  in  your  acceptation.  When  you  say, 
"  It  is  dependent  on  the  will,"  I  suppose  you  mean  "  on  the  will  of  God." 
This  is  ritcht,  if  you  add  the  word  "  principally."  But  what  meaning  has 
the  word  "  virtually'  "     Mere  trifling  ! 

The  foundations  which  have  hitherto  been  laid  with  such  great  labour  in 
the  sand  of  l-kuow-not  what  kind  of  Metaphysics,  and  in  the  rubbish  of  the 
Schools,  now  give  way  and  fall  down  under  their  own  weight,  however 
light  they  are  or  trifling.  How  is  it  possible,  therefore,  for  all  the  super- 
structure erected  on  these  foundations  to  avoid  falling  down  together  and 
being  completely  subverted  ?  So  far  is  fke/all  of  erro?- from  being  a  conse- 
quence of  the  laying  of  these  foundations,  that  no  error  is  overthrown 
except  that  which  is  built  upon  titem. 

THESIS  X. 

"  From  these  foundations  supra-posited  [placed  above] ,  error  falls  down 
together  in  three  degrees.  First.  The  Decree  of  Velleity,  by  which  God  is 
only  supposed  to  desire  a.  determination  to  the  act  of  conversion,  to  which 
he  is  believed  not  to  be  able  to  necessitate  man. — Secondly.  The  foresight 
or  prescience  of  that  desired  determination  by  means  of  Middle  science,  f 
with  regard  to  that  determination  being  dependent  upon  man. — Thirdlv. 
Through  the  foreseen  determination,  the  intention  of  a  conditional  concur- 
rence accompanying  the  efi^ect. 

"  And,  J4r*^,That  Velleiti/  is  not  a  decree  :  For  the  latter  is  the  part  of  one 
•who  commands,  on  a  supposition  of  power;  but  the  former  [velleity]  is  a 
pure  act  of  the  will,  with  a  defect  of  power.  For  if  I  will  that  which  I  am 
able  [to  obtain],  I  command  the  efi'ect :  But  if  I  will  any  thing  which  I  am 

t  App.  M. 

N  2 


188  AN. NOT  AT A    IN 

eHtm  non  possum  quod  volo.  Proinde  etiam  md'ignum  Deo : 
Nam  Omnipotknti  poieniiie  dcfechcm  adfingit,  et  assequendi 
voti  inccrtam  sjyem  F.elicis>simo.  Quid  emmjelicitas  uUud, 
nisi  boni  expetiti  certa  fruitio  ?  Qind  vera  omnipotentia, 
7iisi  jwtentia  omnium  in  omnibus  ?  Denique,  objecti  etiam 
ratione  impossihile.  Primmn  enlm  poientiam  transfert  in 
homlnem,  qui  creatura  est  et  ^u^ikoc. 

ANNOTATIONES. 

*'  Ex  supra-positis,"  inquis,  "hisce  fundamentis  concidit 
error  in  gradu  tripHci."  Quid  video — "  Fundainenta  snpra- 
posita?"  Certe  humi  sternatur  aedificiurn  necesse  est,  mox  t'un- 
damenta  concidunt.  Cave  ne  Jesus  Christus  inter  "  supra- 
posita  fundamenta"  subvertatur.t 

Sed  ad  rem  :  Neque  nam  in  vocabulis  moramur.  "  Ex  sitpra- 
dicfis,"  vis  dicere,  "fundamentis  error  triplex  concidit :  De 
vjelleitate,  prjevisione  per  scientiam  mediara,  ex  praevisa  deter- 
minatione  conditionati  concarsus  intentio  concomitanter  in 
effectum."  Laconice  satis !  Sed  quid,  si  nemo  mortalium  hos 
errores,  aut  eorura  aliquem  erraverit  sic  enunciatum  ?  Vellei- 
tatem  agnoscet  non-nemo    avepoivoiraews  Deo  recte  ascribi  posse ; 

t  1  Cor.  iii,  11.    Vide  Amiot.  ad  Thes.  4. 

TRANSLATION. 

not  able  [to  gain],  I  desire  it, — for  I  cannot  obtain  that  which  I  have  willed. 
Tberefore  it  [Velleity]  is  unworthy  of  God;  because  it  betokens  a  defect  in 
that  power  which  is  Omnipotent,  and  an  uncertain  hope  in  One  that  is 
Most  Happy  of  obtaining  his  wishes.  For  what  is  felicity,  except  the 
assured  fruitio7i  of  the  good  desired  ?    And  wliai  is  Omnipotence,  but  ^Ae 

frtwer  of  all  in  all  ? — Lustli/.  It  is  also  impossible  with  regard  to  its  object, 
or  it  [or  He]  transfers  the  first  [or  primary]  power  to  man,  who  is  a  crea- 
ture and  sensual." 

ANNOTATIONS. 

You  say,  '*  From  these  foundations  which  have  been  placed  above,  error 
falls  down  in  a  threefold  degree."  What  is  this  which  I  see  ?  "  Found- 
ations placed  above!"  The  edifice  must  undoubtedly  dispread  the  ground, 
as  soon  as  the  foundations  full  down  together.  Beware  lest  Jesus  Christ  be 
subverted  among  "  those  foundations  which  have  been  placed  above."  f 

But,  not  to  be  detained  by  mere  verbiage,  we  proceed  to  the  matter. 
Instead  of  "  foundations  placed  above"  and  "  an  error  in  three  degrees," 
you  wish  to  say,  "  From  the  foundations  above-named,  a  three-fold  error 
♦*  falls  down  :  (1.)  'J'hat  concerning  Velleity  ;  (2.)  that  concerning  foresight, 
"  by  means  of  middle  knowledge  ;  and  {'.\.)  that  concerning  the  intention, 
'•  through  the  foreseen  determination,  of  a  conditional  concurrence  accom- 
"  panyinc  it  into  an  elfect."  All  this  is  said  Laconically  enough.  But  of 
what  use  is  it,  if  no  mortal  man  ever  yet  fell  into  such  errors,  or  into  any 
one  of  them  as  it  is  here  described  !  Speaking  according  to  the  feelings  and 
affections  of  men,  anyone  will  acknowledge 'that  Velleiiy  may  be  correctly 
attributed  to  God  :  Yet  he  who  will  not  attempt  to  deny,  that   God  can  ne- 

1  i  Cor.  iii,  2.    See  Uw  Annotations  to  tlic  fourth  Thesis. 


PAUKEUl    Tfii.srs.  189 

qui  tamen  "  eum  ad  conversionis  actum  recessitare  potuisse" 
(absque  esset  decreto  suo  in  contrarium)  inficias  non  iverit; 
"  veile  autem  Deura,  ordine  decretorum  stante,"  aegre  conces- 
serit.  SciENTiAM  mediam  ex  permultis  sacras  scripturEe  periodis 
astruent  noniiiilli,  qui  lamen  "determinationem"  (nota  bene)  qua 
ab  homine  (solo,  aut  principcditer  "  dependentem")  rotunde 
negaverint.  Denique  vix,  aut  ne  vix  quenquam  reperias,  qui 
erroreni  tertium,  prout  hie  expressum,  intelligat,  nedum  teneat. 
"  Conditionatum  quendam  coiicursum  quidevn  concern itanter  in 
effectum"  recte  explicatum,  viz.  ut  "  post  Dei  gratiam  pulsan- 
tem,  prasvenientem,  operantem,  cum  co-operante/'  si  quis 
asserat  errare  eum  ostendendum  erat,  non  prjEstruendum,  ex 
fundamentis  (quid  dico  lahiUbus  ?)  corrutis  et  collapsis. 

Quid  si  "  decretum  velleitas  non  sit?"  Non  est  ergo  (ut 
hominum  more  et  ad  captum  mortalium  loquamur)  velleitas? 
Est  quidem  voluntatis  actus,  non  autem  (uti  affirmas)  "  in  Deo 
cum  potentiae  defectu."  Voluntas  Divina  a  me  supponitur  po- 
tentiam  Omnipotentis  quandam  habere  comitem,  et  executricem 
quoties  et  quatenus  voluntati  ejusdem  libet  earn  ex  consilio  suo 
exercere,  Non  autem  semper  per  pofejilicnn  Omnipotentle 
ubique  voluntatem  suam  exequitur  Deus  :  Prassertim  ubi  decre- 
tum est  (ut  formulis  tuis  utar)  "  iraperantis"  (scilicet  obedi- 
entiam)  aut  "  praerequisitum  quid"  (agnosce  phrases  tuas !) 
homini,  sub  praemii  et  poenae  spe  metuque.  Pergis.  "  Si  enim," 
inquis,  *'  quod  possum  volo,  effectum  impero  :  Si  quod  non  pos- 

TRANSLATION. 

cessitafe  to  the  act  of  conversmi,  (unless  it  be  contrary  to  his  own  decree,) 
will  scarcely  be  induced  to  grant,  that  God  can  will  [such  necessity]  as  lon|r 
as  the  order  of  his  decrees  remains  unchanged.  Some  persons  will  establish 
middle  knowledge  from  many  passages  of  scripture,  who  will  yet  roundly 
deny  tlie  detenu hiation  with  respect  to  its  being  "  solely  or  principally  de- 
pendent on  man."  Indeed,  you  can  scarcely  find  any  one  who  will  be  able 
to  understand  the  third  error  as  it  is  here  expressed  ;  much  less  can  you 
discover  a  solitary  individual  who  holds  such  an  error.  If  any  one  asserts, 
that  "  a  certain  conditional  concurrence,  ivhich  is  accompanied  into  cm  effect, 
is  rightly  explained  when  it  is  stated  to  operate,  after  the  propelling  and 
preventing  grace  of  God,  with  him  who  is  a  co-worker," — it  must  be  shewn, 
that  such  a  person  is  iu  an  error,  before  any  further  erections  be  placed  on 
foundations — shall  1  call  them  "liable  to  give  way,"  or  "  already  fallen 
dowu  and  collapsed  together  .'" 

If  ''  I'elleili/ he  not  a  decree,"  what  is  the  consequence.'  That  we  may 
speak  after  the  manner  of  men  and  in  accommodation  to  the  capacities  of 
mortals,  is  it  therefore  any  less  T'elleity  ?  It  is  truly  "  an  act  of  the  will ;" 
but  it  is  not,  as  you  assert,  "  an  act  of  the  will  in  God  ivith  a  defect  of 
poirer."  The  Divine  Will  is  supposed  by  me  to  have  a  certain  power  of  an 
Omnipotent  Being  accompanying  it,  and  executing  [or  acting]  as  often  and 
as  far  as  it  pleases  this  Divine  \\  ill  to  exercise  it  [the  power]  according  to 
its  own  counsel.  But  Gud  does  not  always  and  in  every  place  execute  his 
will  by  «  power  of  Oinni/wtence ;  especially  in  those  instances  in  which,  to 
employ  your  own  expressions,  "  the  decree  is  of  one  who  commands"  obedi- 
ence, or  as  "  some  pre-requisite  to  man,"  [you  will  recollect  your  own 
phraseology,)  under  a  hojie  of  reward  and  a  fear  of  punishuieut. — You  then 
proceed : — ''  For  if  I  will  that  which  I  am  able  [to  obtain],  1  command  the 
effect :  But  if  I  will  any  thing  which  I  am  not  able  [to  gain],  I  desire  it ; 

N  3 


190  ANNOTATA    IN 

sum,  desidero ;  assequi  enim  non  possum  quod  volo."  Quid 
mihi  et  tihi,  bone  vir,  quid  velis  aut  possis?  De  Deo  loquimur, 
qui  quod  vult  facit,  et  quod  velle  potest,  facere  vel  effectum  dare 
potest.  Quod  vult  facit,  quatenus  et  quousque  facere  vult. 
Quid  autera  si  non  semper  velit,  qucusque  tu  eum  velle  facere 
opinaris  ?  Noli  Deum  ayrelscrtov  et  Omnipotentem  tuo  mo- 
dulo metiri.  Et  tu  tamen,  nunquamne  experiris  voluntatem 
tuam  potentiae  tuae  non  imperare  ut  ad  extremuni  virium  ubi- 
que  et  semper  agat  ? 

Si  a  te  causa  solitaria  res  in  arbitrio  tuo  penitus  sita  agenda 
fuerit,  effectum  dabis :  Secus  opinor,  eveniet,  si  cum  causis 
sociis,  aut  instrumentalibus  (quae  ab  officio  cessare,  vel  te  desti- 
tuere  possint,  praesertim  si  hoc  ex  tuo  ipsius  instituto  sit  ut 
possint)  imperatum  sit  perducendum  in  actum.  Sed  quid  tibi 
vult  "  effectum  impero  ?"  Ambigua  locutio,  et  Anglicismum 
sapiens,  si  etiam  intelligatur  ut  significet  (uti  hie  videtur)  "  finem 
seu  effectum  intentum  assequor."  Praeterea,  "  si  volo,"  inquis, 
"  quod  non  possum,  desidero:"  Rursus  ambigua  dictio.  "  De- 
sidero," si  careo  significet,  recte  :  si  cupio,  male :  Quippe  doles, 
desperas,  irasceris ;  sic  homines  solent,  quando  quod  non  possvnit 
volunt.  At  "indignum  est  Deo,"  et  "proinde:"  Qu&re proi/ule  f 
An  quia,  quod  tu  vis  et  non  potes,  "  desideras .''"  At  Deu3 
quodcunque  vult,  quatenus  vult,  potest,  et  facit.     At   "  indigsi 


TRANSLATION. 


i 


for  1  cannot  obtain  that  which  I  have  willed."  Good  man !  what  have  you 
and  I  to  do  with  what  t/nu  will  to  be  done  or  what  j/oii  are  capable  of  doin^  ? 
We  are  speaking  about  God,  who  does  whatever  he  wills  ;  and  who  is  able 
to  do,  and  to  give  effect  to,  whatever  he  is  capable  of  willing.  He  does 
whatever  he  wills,  so  far  and  so  long  as  it  is  his  pleasure  to  do  it.  What 
harm  is  there,  if  he  does  not  always  will  to  act  so  far  or  so  long,  as  i/ott 
think  it  is  his  pleasure  to  do  ?  Allow  not  yourself  to  measure  God,  thft 
Independent  and  Omnipotent  Being,  by  your  own  small  and  slender  propor- 
tions.— And  yet,  on  reflection,  do  you  never  experience,  that  your  own  will 
does  not  command  your  power  to  act  in  every  case  and  on  all  occasions 
according  to  the  extreme  stretch  of  its  capabilities  .' 

If  a  thing,  placed  entirely  in  your  own  will  and  power,  is  to  be  performed 
by  yourself  as  a  solitary  cause,  r/ou  will  produce  the  effect :  But  this  wilt 
not  be  the  case,  I  think,  if  it  be  commanded  to  be  brought  into  performance 
by  associated  or  instrumental  causes,  that  can  cease  from  fulfilling  their  duty 
or  can  abandon  you, — especially  if  their  being  capable  of  cessation  or  aban- 
dnnment  be  in  accordance  with  your  design.  But  what  do  you  intend  by  the 
words,  "  I  command  the  effect  ?"  It  is  an  ambiguous  expression  that 
savours  of  an  Anglicism, — even  if  it  be  understood  to  signify,  what  it  seems 
to  do  in  this  place,  "  I  obtain  the  end  or  effect  intended." — You  next  say  : 
"  if  I  will  that  which  I  am  not  able  [to  gainj,  1  desire  it."  This  is  another 
ambiguous  expression.  If  desidero  signify  "  to  want"  or  "  to  be  without 
any  tiling,"  your  phrase  is  correct.  But  if  it  be  intended  to  convey  the 
meaning  of  "  I  long  for  it,"  or  "  I  covet  it,"  the  phrase  is  improper; 
because,  in  such  circumstances,  you  indulge  in  grief,  despair,  and  angjer, 
as  men  usually  do  when  they  will  what  they  are  notable  [to  obtain]. — Yoa 
then  say  :  "  It  is  therefore  unworthy  of  God."  But  why  is  this  Mord  "there- 
fore" used  .'  Is  it  because  ?/o?«  desire  that  which  you  will,  and  which  you 
are  not  able  [to  obtain]  .>  But  God  is  able  to  do  and  actually  performs  what- 
ever he  wills,  and  as  far  as  he  wills.    But,  1  ask,  '*  Why  is  it  unworthy  (tf 


PARKERI    THESES.  191 

numestDeo:"  Quare?,  inquam.  "  Quia  Omnipotenti  poten- 
tige,"  inquis,  "defectum  adfingit."  Minime,  inquam,  nee 
Omnipotentis  pofe/itice  cujuscunque  modi,  nedum  omnipotenti 
potentiae  cui  resisti  nequit.  Si  quern  defectum  adfingeret,  hie 
esset  voluntati  adfingendus  non  imperanti,  minime  autem  poteti' 
tice,  voluntatis  (ut  ita  dicam)  imperata  semper  facienti,  sed  secun- 
dum voluntatis  intentionem  et  irapprium,et  eorundem  mensuram. 
At  "  adfingit  etiara,"  inquis,  "  assequendi  voti  incertam  spera 
F^LicissiMo."  Noli  timere,  bone  vir,  salva  res  est.  Falli  aut 
incertus  esse  nequit  Deus :  Hoc  certo  certius  scio,  etiarasi  nee 
tu,  qui  metaphysica  tota  imbutus  es,  modum  explicare  potis 
fueris.  "  Nescire  velle  quae  Magister  Optimus  docere  non  vult, 
erudita  est  inscitia."  Quod  de  Fcelicitale  et  Omnipoie7itia  philo- 
sopharis,  prsetereo,  ne  actum  agam. 

"  Denique,"  inquis,  "  objecti  latione  est  impossibile."  Quid 
est  hoc  impossibile'?  Quid  objecti  raiione?  Scilicet,  opinor,  vis, 
"  velleitalem  (more  humano  loquor)  quandam  esse  in  Deo,  impos- 
sibile esse."  Quare .'',  inquam.  "  Primam,"  inquis,  "  poten- 
tiam  transfert  in  hominem,  qui  creatura  est  et  ^vxikos,"  Quis 
"  transfert  primam,"  &c. .''  Deus  }  Quid  primam  S^c.  iransfert  ? 
Hie  de  velleitate  error,  opinor.  Minime  autem  inquam  ego : 
sed  "hominem,"  non  negabit,  " quoad  sensum  gratiae  pulsantis 
et  praevenientis  esse  omnino  passivum,  quamvis  in  consensu" 
(dicam  et  assensu  interdum  ?)  "  esse  plerumque,  a  gratia  actum, 

TRANSLATION. 

God  ?"  You  reply,  "  Because  it  imputes  a  defect  to  that  Power  which  is 
Omnipotent."  It  ascribes  no  such  deficiency  to  any  species  of  Omnipotent 
Power,  much  less  to  an  Omnipotent  Power  that  cannot  be  resisted.  If  it 
betokened  any  defect  at  all,  that  defect  would  be  imputable  to  a  TF'illwhich 
did  not  issue  its  commands;  and  on  no  account  to  a  Power  which  olwai/s 
performs  (if  I  may  so  term  it,)  the  comjnands promulgated  by  the  will,  but 
which  executes  them  according  to  the  intention  and  mandate  of  the  will,  and 
according  to  the  measure  of  the  commands  themselves. — You  also  declare, 
that  "  it  attributes,  to  One  who  is  Most  Happy,  an  uncertain  hope  of 
obtaining  his  wishes."  Good  man!  never  fear;  that  matter  is  in  perfect 
safety  :  For  God  can  neither  be  deceived  nor  be  uncertain.  Of  this  truth  I 
am  persuaded  with  the  assurance  of  complete  certainty, — although  you,  who 
are  entirely  imbued  with  Metaphysical  lore,  may  not  be  capable  of  ex- 
plaining the  manner.  "  An  unwillingness  to  become  acquainted  with  those 
matters  which  the  Best  Master  is  unwilling  to  teach,  is  [a  good  trait  in] 
learned  and  skilful  ignorance."  That  I  may  not  appear  to  discuss  those 
points  upon  which  I  have  already  treated,  I  pass  by  all  that  you  are  pleased 
to  philosophize  about  Felicity  and  Omnipotence. 

You  tell  us,  "  Lnstli/,  It  is  impossible  wiili  respect  to  its  object."  What 
is  intended  by  "  impossible,"  and  what  by  "  relation  to  its  object?"  1 
think  you  wish  to  state,  that  "  it  is  impossible  for  such  a  thing  as  t'elleiti/ 
to  be  in  God," — speaking  after  the  manner  of  men.  Again  I  put  the 
question,  "Why?"  You  reply,  "For  it  [or  He]  transfers  the  first  [or 
primary]  power  to  man,  who  is  a  creature  and  sensual."  Is  it  God  that  is 
the  transferrer?  And  what  is  this  prima,-}/  jjoiver  which  he  transfers?  1 
think  this  must  be  erroneous — to  talk  oi'  primary  power  when  treating 
about  I'elleity.  But  1  say,  this  transferring  to  man  is  not  true,  and  he  will 
not  deny,  that  man  is  altogether  passive  with  regard  to  his  sense  or  per- 
ceptiou  of  propelling  and  preventing  grace ;  although,  when  acted  upon  by 


192  AN  NOT AT A    IS 

ACTivuM."  Sed  primavi  potcntiam  omnes,  certe  Christian!,  in 
Deum  transferunt,  eique  acceptam  ferunt  Facessant,  qui 
aliter  sentiunt. 

THESIS  XI. 

2.  Prohide  nee  ohservatur  determhiatio  ilia  scienti.e 
MEDi.E.  H'mc  enim  idea  rei  prins  in  creatura  esset,  quam 
in  Deo :  cognitionis  etiam  Divina  principium  a  re  Jinitd 
procederet :  ipsumque  adeo  Summuni  Bonum,  Omnipotejis, 
Infinitum^  Pjirus  Actus^  dependenter  a  voluntatis  creutae 
consilio  et  prov'identia  moveret.  Quinetiam  impossibile 
idem :  Quippe  sc'ihile  est  ante  scieniiam,  sicut  to  ov  ante  to  iiBfi. 
Priest  autem,  dum  preecedit  ipsius  e»va<,  «(r»a,  vTrap^tc.  At 
nihil  est  nee  existit,  quod  a  Dei  voluntate  non  est  nee  existit. 
Si  prascit  igitur  priiisquam  velit, pi'cescit  nihil.  At  si  aliquid 
esset  in  homine,  quod  sine  prceeunte  voluntate  prcesciy-et, 
quale  est  in  Jieri,  prasciretur  a  causa  dependens.  Causa 
vero  si  non  pj-iedeteiminetur  a  Deo,  mere  contingens  est. 
Hinc  incerta  vicissim  esset  Divina  cognitlo.  Quare  pra- 
scieniia  non  esset,  quee  effecti  est  non  contingentis  sed  neces- 
sariijudicium. 

TRANSLATION. 

grace,  he  is  generally  active  in  giving  his  consent — shall  I  also  call  it  his 
assent  sometimes  ?  But  all  true  Christians  transfer  the  yrimury  power  to 
God,  and  declare  that  it  is  received  by  him.  Let  those  persons  be  dismissed 
who  entertain  ditTerent  sentiments. 

THESIS  XI. 

"  Secondly.  That  determination  therefore  of  middle  knowledge  is  not 
observed.  For,  from  hence  the  idea  of  a  thing  would  be  in  the  creature 
before  it  was  in  God;  the  commencement  of  the  Divine  Knowledge  would 
also  proceed  from  a  thing  that  is  finite ;  and  thus  the  Chief  Good  itself, 
which  is  an  Oiiunpotent,  Infinite,  and  Pure  Act,  would  move  in  dependence 
upon  the  counsel  and  foresight  of  a  created  will.  Besides,  it  is  impossible; 
because  tliat  winch  is  capable  of  being  kiiou'n  must  be  in  existence  before 
the  hnow  ledge  of  it, — as  entity  itself  must  have  precedence  of  its  circum- 
stances. But  its  being,  essence,  or  existence,  wnile  it  has  the  precedence, 
enjoys  also  the  pre-eminence.  But  nothing  is  or  exists,  which  has  not  its 
being  or  existence  from  the  will  of  God.  If  therefore  he  foreknows  bel'ore  he 
wills,  he  foreknows  nothing.  But  if  there  was  any  thing  in  man,  which 
he  [God]  could  foreknow  without  the  aid  of  his  will  preceding,  (such  as  any 
thing  that  is  in  a  course  of  being  made,)  it  would  be  foreknown  as  dependent 
on  a  cause.  But  if  the  cause  be  not  predetermined  by  God,  it  is  merely 
contingent :  Hence,  of  course,  the  Divine  Knowledge  would  be  uncertain. 
"Wherefore,  it  would  not  be  foreknowledge,  which  is  the  judgment  of  an 
effect  is  not  contingent  but  necessary." 


FARKKKI    THESES.  193 

JNXOTATIONES. 

Qimmvis  milii  nulla  necessitas  incumbat  Sctentiam  Media m 
astruencH,  qiiasdara  tamen  non  obsciira  hujusmodi  scientiae 
rerum,  ex  siippositione  circumstaiitia?  hujiis  aut  illius  eventu- 
rarum  vel  secus,  vestigia  in  Facris  literi?  apparent.  Ut  exemplar 
mittam  de  Davide  in  Keilah  notissimum,  (Sam.  xxiii,  12,)  de 
Chorazin  etiam  et  Bethsaida  ;  (Matt,  xi,  21  ;  Luke  x,  13  ;)  con- 
sule,  inter  alia  ejusdem  nunieri,  dicta  Salvatoris  nostri  ad  sacer- 
dotes  et  scribas  sciscitantes,  Num  tu  cs  ille  Christus?  Die  tiohix : 
dicentis,  "  Si  vobis  dixero,  nequaquam  credetis."  Et  versa 
sequente,  "  Quod  si  etiam  interrofjavero,  nequaquam  respon- 
debitis  mihi,  neque  absolvetis."  (I^uke  xxii,  67,  68.)  En  tibi 
tres  eventus  non  eventuros  ex  suppositione  etiam  ipsius  Christi 
Domini  nostri !  Ctetera  niitto.  Frustra  ergo  a  te  quseritur, 
vel  jjotiussupponitur,  quid  prius  sit  aut  posterius  ;  frustra  etiam, 
(quod  non  capis)  "  impossibile"  affirmas.  Nee  rationes  a  te  pro- 
ductae  aliud  quid  probant,  quam  quod  plurimis  sacrce  scripturas 
affirmationibus  sole  clarioribus  oculos  obnubis,  ut  refrageris. 
Nee  minus  ideo  prcBscientia  Dei,  eaque  certa  de  efFectis  natura 

TRANSLATION. 

ANNOTJTIONS. 

Althoug-h  no  necessity  is  imposed  upon  nie  of  establishing;  AFiddle  Know- 
ledge, yet  in  the  sacred  scriptures  certain  not  obscure  vestiges  are  apparent 
of  this  iN.ind  of  Knowledge, — uf  thiug-s  that  will  happen  thus  or  otheiwise,  on 
the  supposition  of  the  occurrence  of  this  or  that  circumstance.  Omitting  the 
the  well-known  example  of  David  in  Keilah,  (1  Sam.  xxiii,  12,)  f  and  of 
Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  (Matt,  xi,  21  ;  Lukex,  \?>,]  consult,  among  other 
sayings  of  the  same  description,  the  answer  of  our  Saviour  to  the  Chief 
Priests  and  Scribes  who  had  asked,  "  Art  thou  the  Christ  ?  Tell  us."  And 
he  said  unto  them,  "  If  I  tell  you,  ye  will  not  believe."  In  the  subsequent 
verse  he  adds,  "  If  I  also  ask  you,  ye  will  not  answer  me,  nor  let  me  go." 
(Luke  xxii,  67,  68.)  You  have  here  three  events  specified,  which  yet  will 
not  occur  even  on  the  supposition  of  Christ  our  Lord  himself.  The  rest  of 
j'our  remarks  I  pass  l)y.  In  vain  therefore  is  the  question,  or  rather  the 
supposition,  which  you  raise  about  what  \s  prior  ot  \\\\dit\%  posterior ;  and 
useless  is  your  affirmation  respecting  "  the  impossibility  [of  middle  know- 
ledge]", which  you  do  not  comprehend.  Neither  do  the  reasons  produced 
by  you  tend  to  prove  any  thing  more  than  this, — that  you  shut  your  eyes 
against  several  of  the  affirmations  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  clearer 
tiian  the  sun,  for  the  purpose  of  contradicting  them.  The  foreknowledge  of 
God  would  be  no  less  certain  respecting  etfects  which  are  in  their  own 
nature  contingent,  although  it  may  appear  uncertain  to  you  who  measure 

t  This  case  is  very  remsykable :  David  had  ordered  Abiathar  the  priest  to  bring  the  ephod, 
and  enquired  of  the  Lord,  "Will  the  men  of  Keilah  deliver  me  up  into  the  hands  of  .Saul  ? 
Will  Saul  come  dovra,  as  thy  servant  hath  heard  ?  O  Lord  God  of  Israel,  I  beseech  thee, 
tell  thy  servant."  .*.nd  the  Lord  said,  "  He  will  comedo-vn.'"— Then  said  David,  "  Will  the 
m2n  of  Keilah  deliver  me  and  my  men  into  the  h.-ind  of  Saul?"  And  the  Lord  said,  "They 
will  deliver  thee  up." — Tiioii  David  and  his  men,  which  were  about  six  hundred,  arose  and 
departed  out  of  Keilah,  and  went  whithersoever  they  could  go.  And  it  was  told  Saul,  that 
David  was  esciped  from  Keilah  ;  and  he  forbore  to  go  forth. 

Respectmg  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  it  is  said  :  If  the  mighty  woiks  whie'i  were  done  in  you 
had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  loug  ajo  in  sackcloth  and 
shes— EDITOR. 


194  ANNOTATA    IX 

sua  conHngentihns  esset,  quamvis  tibi  Scientiam  Divinam  ex 
tua  finita  et  fallaci  omnium  mortaliura  metienti  ita  videatur. 
Quid  nos  scire  ex  suppositione  possimus,  vix  ipsi  cognoscimus : 
quid  autem  scire  possit  Deus,  vix,  ac  ne  vix ;  nisi  quod  Om- 
NisciuM  EUM  ESSE,  infallibiliter  scire  possumus,  ac  debemus. 

THESIS  XII. 

Denique.  Corruit  s'lmul  ex  conditione  'preeinsa  concursus 
intentlo,  quippe  qua;  turn  independenti  oiaturee  Dei  repngnat^ 
turn  vocatlonis  decretum  non  est,  ut  pustea  declarabimics. 

ANNOTATIONES. 

Quia  te  postea  declaraturum,  ais,  paucula  ista,  quae  de  errore 
tertio  dicenda  habuisti,  hie  istorum  examine  supersedebimus, 
te  illic  praestolaturi. 

At  at  talia  cogitanti  mihi  jam  subolet,  dum  sequentia  per- 
functorie  lustro,  qnamobrem  "  hte  Tlieses  totse,  scilicet  gemmcce, 
et  hoc  solo  nomine  redarguendae,"  (si  prajfatori  credimus,) 
Latine  etiamnum  prostent,  necdum  verimculum  calleant:  Nemo, 
opinorj  apte  et  ad  mortalium  captum,  Anglico  redderet,  aut  red- 
ditas  intelligeret,  Lectorem  baud  facile  invenissent,  quae  jam 
a  nonnemine,  nescio  quo,  eruditionis  laudem  captante,  immane 
quantum !,  allaudantur.  Quid  ais,  Clarissime  Prsefator,  "  Istasne 

TRANSLATION. 

the  DivtNE  Knowledge  by  your  own,  wbicli  is  finite, — or  by  that  of  mortals, 
which  is  fallacious.  We  ourselves  scarcely  understand  what  it  is  possible  for 
vs  to  know  on  supposition.  But  to  measure  the  extent  of  the  possibility'  of 
God's  hio%vledge,  is  beyond  our  power  :  The  only  thing  concerning  it  which 
we  may  and  ought  infallibly  to  know,  is,  that  he  is  Omniscient  I 

THESIS  XII. 

**  hastly.  The  intention  o^  a  concurrence  from  a  foreseen  condition  is  at 
the  same  time  destroyed,  both  because  it  is  repugnant  to  the  independent 
nature  of  God,  and  because  it  is  not  the  decree  of  vocation,  as  we  shall 
hereafter  declare." 

ANNOTATIONS. 

Because  you  say,  that  "  you  will  hereafter  declare  the  few  things  which 
you  had  to  say  about  this  third  error,"  we  will  now  cease  from  our  examin- 
ation of  them,  being  willing  to  wait  till  you  have  them  ready. 

But  while  1  slightly  cast  my  eyes  over  those  which  follow,  and  was  re- 
flecting upon  such  topics,  I  begun  to  suspect  the  reason  why  these  Theses 
are  still  sold  in  Latin,  and  why  they  have  not  yet  been  published  in  our 
native  language;  alihough,  if  we  may  credit  the  editor,  "  the  only  fault 
with  which  they  can  be  charged,  is,  that  they  are  entirdy  studded  uith 
gems  J"  The  reason  of  their  yet  remaining  untranslated,  is  this, — no  man 
could,  in  my  opinion,  render  "them  into  English  so  as  to  be  giasped  by  the 
comprehension  of  mortals,  or  could  himself  understand  them  when  trans- 
lated. A  single  reader  would  wiih  diflicuity  be  found  engaged  in  the  perusal 
of  a  production, that  has  been  thus  immoderately  extolled  by  some  one  whom 
nobody  knows,  and  who  plumes  himself  greatly  on  the  praise  to  which  he 
considers  himself  entitled  for  the  extent  of  his  erudition.  What,  most 
famous  Prefacer,  do  you  say,  "These  Theses  have  been  frequently  pub- 


PAKKEKI    THESP.S.  195 

eaedem  Theses  cum  Amesianis  tractatulis,  idque  saepius  com- 
pingebanlur?"  Quam  nollem  credere  virum  istum  tarn  gravem, 
tot,  tantaqiie,  tamdiu  (a  patria  exiilem  an  prqfugiim)  perpessum, 
ob  solam  sacrarum  literariim  (uti  pras  se  tulit)  confessionem  et 
defensionetn,  has  metaphysicas,  aerias,  a  Sancti  Spiritus  stylo 
penitus  abhorrentes,  Theses  cum  suis  ipsius  operibus  qiiicqiiam 
commercii  habere  permissuriim.  Verum  sic  usu  venit,  ut  hujus- 
raodi  scripta  se  in  Celebris  alicujus  Doctoris  clientelam  recipiant, 
enjus  ut  splendore  cohonestentur,  est  votorum  summa. 

Me  quod  attinet,  potui  hoc  trihorium  non  sic  perdere ;  nee 
libet  cum  juvenilibus  his  an  anilibus  larvis  luctari,  non  tam  quod 
difficiles  esse  nugas  duxerim,  quam  quod  inutiles  et  viris  gravi- 
bus  indignas.  Praetereo,  quod  supervacaneum  prorsus  fuerit  in 
superstriictis  "gemmis"  diutius  immorari,  quarum  "funda- 
menta  supra-posita"  corruisse  jam  vidimus.  Hoc  interim  sancte 
spondeo,  me  totum  in  veritatis  iideique  obedientiam  (Deo  bene 
juvante)  libentissime  transiturum  ;  eumque  me  esse  profiteer, 
qui,  ex  his  Thesibus  aut  alicunde,  veritatem  secundum  pietatem 
docenti,  cumprimis  herbam  porrigam. 

Restat,  ut  apud  Deum  Optiaium  Maximum  supplicibus  votis 
contendam,  ut  ue  porro  gliscat  inter  Christiani  nominis  profes- 
sores,   de  vocabulorum  minutiis,   qualis  hodieque  regiiat  con- 

TRANSLATION. 

lished,  and  bound  up  with  other  tracts  hy  A:mes  of  the  same  kind  ?'*  How 
unwilling  am  I  to  believe,  that  a  mau  of  so  much  gravity  [as  Ames],  who, 
either  as  an  exile  or  a  runagate  from  his  native  country,  has  long  endured 
such  a  number  and  such  a  weight  of  troubles,  solely  (as  he  pretends)  on 
account  of  his  confession  and  defence  of  the  sacred  writings, — how  can  I 
believe,  that  such  a  man  would  allow  thc'ie  metaphysical  and  light  Theses, 
which  are  utterly  abhorrent  to  the  style  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  have  any  con- 
nection with  his  productions  '.  But  this  is  now  a  common  practice, — to  place 
writingsOf  this  description  under  the  patrouage  of  some  celebrated  Doctor; 
and  vVli'eh  his  name  reflects  splendour  upon  theui,  [the  writers  have  attained] 
to  the  summit  of  their  wishes. 

With  reference  to  myself,  it  was  in  my  own  power  not  to  have  lost  these 
three  hours  [in  composing  annotation;]  :  For  there  is  no  pleasure  in  con- 
tending w  ith  these  phantomsf — shall  I  call  them  the  productions  of  a  hoy  or 
of  an  old  wnmun  ?  I  find  such  an  occupation  unpleasant,  not  because  I 
consider  trifles  to  possess  any  diflBculty,  but  because  they  are  useless  and 
unworthy  of  serious  men's  attention.  '  I  pass  them  by,  because  it  would  be 
quite  superfluous  to  remain  auy  longer  engaged  in  [c;>nieniplatingj  '|  the 
gems"  which  are  built  up,  when  we  have  already  seen  "  the  foundations 
supra-posited^'  (Ihess-x,;  fallen  down  [and  bleuded  in  one  common  ruinj. 
In  the  mean  tiniCj  I  enter  into  this  sacred  engagement,  that  1  will  most 
cheerfully,  by  God's  gracious  assistance,  devote  myself  entirely  to  the 
obedience  of  tbe  truth  and  faith  ;  and  I  profess  myself  to  be  among  the  fore- 
most of  those  who  yield  the  pre-eminence  to  the  man  that  teaches  us,  out 
of  these  Theses  or  from  any  other  source,  '  the  trutii  which  is  according  to 
godliness.' 

It  now  remains  for  me  humbly  and  earnestly  t;)  beseech  Almighty  God, 
that  the  contests  which  in  our  days  prevail  concerning  minute  expressions, 
may  spread  uo  further  among  professors  of  the  name  of  Christ.     Keep 

t  App.  N. 


I 


19G  AXNOTATA     IN    PARKEHI    TllKSES. 

tentio.  Tacete,  O  Parkere,  Twissi,  caeterique  Metaphysico-verbi- 
potentes  Logodaedali,  ut  aufliantur  Jksus  noster  in  Eeterniim 
benedictus,  et  a  Sancto  Spiritu  acti  Prophetae,  Evangelistse, 
et  Apostoli.  Ille  ex  ^etkuni  Patris  simi  al)  iiitima  inibi 
secretorum  intuitione'prodiit.  Hi  ab  Eo,  quicquid  apud  Patrem 
viderat  et  audiverat  didicerunt;  cumqvie  ecclesia,  qua  sermone 
qua  scripto,  communicarunt,  "  integrum  Dei  de  nobis  consilium 
secundum  beneplacitum  ;"  (Act.  xx,  27;  Eph.  i^  C) ;)  oinne 
voUmtatis  suae  circa  salutem  humanam  mysterium,  etiam  "se- 
cundum propositum."  Hoc  de  uno  S.  Paulo,  qui  utrobiqne  ad 
Ephesios  verba  facit,  in  sacris  literis  affirmatur.  Quid  attinet 
reliquos  Spiritus  Sancti  amanuenses  commemorare  ? 

Denique  rationum  momento  artificialium,  et  testimonia  hu- 
mana,  si  hie  adsint,  non  respuo ;  si  alisint,  non  desidero.  De- 
cidi  autem  quae  de  hominum  salute  et  interitu  lites  incidunt,  ex 
Sanctis  praesertim  Literis,  nominatim  Evangelio,  et  posse  et 
debere,  hoc  est  quod  contendo.  Vale,  mi  Parkere,  et  vivere 
malimus  quam  dispiitare ;  aut  saltem  sacris  scripturis  magis 
quam  futilibus  cerebri  nostri  argutiis  rixisque  mulieribus,  amice 
colloquamur. 

Raptim. 

SOLI  DEO  GLORIA. 

TRANSLATION. 

silence,  Parker,  Twisse,  and  the  rest  of  the  tribe  of  potent  metaphysical 
verbalists  and  expert  fabricators  of  learned  phraseology  !  Let  our  Jesus  be 
heard,  who  is  blessed  for  evermore  ;  and  let  the  Prophets,  Evangelists,  and 
Apostles  be  heard,  who  vvere  actuated  and  influenced  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Christ  proceeded  from  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal  Father,  from  the  intimate 
inspection,  in  that  [favoured]  place,  of  his  secrets.  His  Prophets,  Evangelists, 
and  Apostles  learnt  from  him  whatever  He  had  seen  and  heard  while  with 
the  Father  ;  and  have,  both  liy  their  discourses  and  writings,  communicated 
to  tlie  church  '  the  wJiole  counsel  of  God'  concerning  us  '  accorr/hiff  to  his 
gond  pleasure ;'  (Acts  xx,  27  ;  Ephes.  i,  9  ;)  '  all  the  mystery  of  his  will' 
respecting  human  salvation,  even  "■  according  to  his  own  purjiGse.'  This  is 
affirmed  in  the  sacred  writings  concerning  St.  Paul  alone,  who,  in  both  the 
passages  which  we  have  quoted,  addresses  himself  to  the  E|)hesians.  To 
what  purpose  is  it  to  recount  the  rest  of  the  Holy  Sisirit's  amanuenses  ? 

Lastly.  If  the  powerful  motives  of  arti/icial  reasons.,  and  if  htfnian  testi- 
monies, be  here  presented,  I  do  not  refuse  them  ;  if  they  are  absent,  I  do 
not  desire  them.  But  for  this  one  thing  I  contend, — that  these  controversies, 
which  arise  about  tiie  salvation  of  men  and  their  destruction,  boih  mat/  and 
ought  CO  be  decided  by  the  sacred  writings,  and  particularly  by  the 
Gospels. 

Farewell,  my  Parker,  and  let  it  be  our  choice  to  live  [well],  rather  than 
dis])!ite  ;  Or  at  least  lei  us  hold  friendly  colloquies  together  out  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  rather  than  indulge  in  foolish  and  subtle  devices  or  in  feminine 
squabbles. 

Written  in  much  haste. 

To  God  alone  be  all  the  glory  ! 


END  OF  BISHOP  \VOM.\CK'S  ANNOTATIONS. 


APPENDIX. 


A. — Page  166. 

The  history  of  these  Theses  is  very  curious.  To  understand 
it  aright,  the  reader  must  previously  be  introduced  to  the  liero, 
John  Makowski,  []^or  Maccovius,^  of  dubious  celebrity, 

Maccovius  was  born  in  1588,  at  Lobzenick  in  Poland.  His 
studies  were  neglected  in  early  life ;  but  after  he  had  seriously 
applied  himself  to  them,  he  soon  repaired  that  defect,  by  intense 
assiduity  and  the  natural  acuteness  of  his  genius.  He  made  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  Latin  language,  and  passed  through  a 
course  of  Philosophy,  at  Dantzic.  Under  the  instructions  of 
the  famous  Keckerman,  his  progress  in  academic  lore  was  con- 
siderable :  Among  his  fellow  students,  he  became  particularly 
distinguished  for  his  skill  in  the  management  of  extemporaneous 
arguments,  or  regular  scholastic  disputaiions.  On  his  return 
from  Dantzic  to  his  father's  house,  he  was  appointed  tutor  to 
some  young  gentlemen,  of  the  name  of  Sieninski.  With  them 
he  travelled  into  several  parts  of  Europe  ;  and,  at  every  oppor- 
tunity, cultivated  his  talent  for  popular  argumentation.  At 
Prague,  he  attacked  the  Jesuits  in  a  public  disputation.  At 
Lublin,  he  frequently  entei'ed  the  lists  against  the  Socinians. 
While  he  was  pursuing  his  studies  at  Heidelberg,  he  went  to 
Spire  to  dispute  with  the  Jesuits,  instead  of  Bartholomew  Cop- 
penius,  to  whom  they  had  transmitted  a  scholastic  challenge, 
but  who  could  not  obtain  leave  from  the  Elector  Palatine  to 
make  his  appearance  on  that  occasion.  Beside  the  Universities 
of  Prague  and  Heidelberg,  he  visited  those  of  Marpurg,  Leip- 
sic,  Wirtemburgh,  and  Jena,  At  length  he  arrived  at  Franeker 
in  Friezland,  and,  upon  the  8th  of  March,  l6l4,  he  had  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  conferred  upon  him.  His  pcailiar 
talents  were  highly  appreciated  in  that  University  ;  which  was 
then  famous,  if  not  infamous,  throughout  Europe,  for  the  wran- 
gling disposition,  the  dictatorial  conduct,  and  the  doctrinal 
vagaries  of  its  Professors.  To  such  men  the  endowments  of 
Makowski's  mind,  and  the  volubility  of  his  tongue,  were  at  first 
considered  great  acquisitions.  The  Curators  of  the  University 
therefore  resolved  to  retain  him  in  their  service ;  and  accord- 


196  APPENDIX     A. 

ingly  presented  him  with  the  honourable  appointment  of  Pro- 
fessor  Exlraordinary  of  Divinily,  on  the  1st  of  April,  l6l5.  In 
the  following  year  he  was  constituted  Professor  in  Ordinary; 
and  fulfilled  the  duties  of  that  office  nearly  thirty  years — till  his 
death  in  June  1644.  A  Funeral  Oration  was  pronounced  on 
him  by  his  colleague  Cocceius ;  who  relates  it,  as  a  trait  of 
goodness  in  Maccovius,  that  he  was  not  one  of  those  dogs  which 
are  afraid  of  barking  during  the  troubles  of  the  Church,  but  that 
he  fought  valiantly  for  the  true  failh.  He  adds,  "  As  this  kind 
of  warfare,  on  account  of  human  infirmity,  usually  produces 
suspicions,  enmities,  and  discords,  it  is  not  wonderful  if  this 
iveakness  of  Uie  flesh  caused  much  trouble  to  Maccovius.  It  is 
peculiar  to  people  of  warm  dispositions,  that,  while  engaged  in 
defence  of  the  good  cause,  they  seem  occasionally  to  throw 
themselves  into  transports  of  passion.  It  fares  with  them  as 
with  good  dogs,  that,  while  guarding  their  master's  house,  bark 
at  all  strangers,  not  excepting  the  best  friends  of  the  family. 
The  defenders  of  the  truth  are  commanded  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah  (Ivi,  10,)  to  bark  well;  but  while,  in  this  manner,  they 
attack  the  enemy,  and  have  all  their  thoughts  engrossed  with 
fighting,  they  are  frequently  too  unguarded  in  their  sallies,  and 
sometimes  vent  their  spleen  and  animosity  on  the  innocent." — 
Nicholas  Arnold,  a  Polish  Divine,  who  Avas  naturalized  in  Friez- 
land,  and  who  afterwards  succeeded  Cocceius  in  the  Professor's 
Chair  at  Franeker,  published  several  of  his  countryman's  pro- 
ductions. Among  the  rest  of  his  curious  compilations,  is  a  work 
entitled,  "  up'jiTov  VeuSos^  sive  oslensionem  Primi  Falsi  Armiiiian- 
orum."  It  is  in  allusion  to  this  title,  that  Bishop  Womack  says, 
in  his  Annotations  on  the  Fourth  Thesis,  (page  177,)  "  This  is 
the  First  of  our  author's  Falsehoods." — Indeed,  Maccovius 
himself  published  very  few  works,  most  probably  for  a  very 
good  and  sufficient  reason — because  lie  was  conscious  of  being  a 
grand  plagiarist.  Saldenus,  who  was  one  of  his  real  admirers, 
gives  the  following  relation   concerning  him  :  '  Among  our  Di- 

*  vines,    that   (otherwise)  most   acute  man,    John   Maccovius, 

*  cannot  be  entirely  acquitted  of  this  charge.     For  if  you  have 

*  no  objections  to  examine  his  Exercitations,  which  he 
'  opposed  some  years  ago  to  the  hypotheses  of  the  Remonstrants, 

*  your  own  eyes  will  teach  you,  that  a  very  large  portion  of 
'  them  are  compiled  from  the  famous  Peter  du  Moulin's  Anato- 
'  my  of  Arminianism, — not  only  with  respect  to  the  matter,  but 
'  likewise  with  respect  to  the  very  words  in  which  they  are 

*  composed,  and  which  have  been  translated  for  this  purpose 
'  out  of  Dutch  into  Latin.  I  have  often  wondered  at  this 
'  practice  in   a  Divine  who  in  another  respect  was  entitled  to 

*  the   greatest   honour   and   celebrity  for   his   extemporaneous 

*  acumen.'  {De  Libris,  p.  156.) — Saldenus  has,  in  this  last  sen- 
tence, given  a  reason  why  he  should  not  have  evinced  the  least 


Al'PCNDIX      A.  199 

wonder  at  Makowski's  plagiarism  :  This  Professor's  excellence 
lay  almost  exclusively  in  his  ready  enunciation,  and  in  the 
ability  with  which  viva  i)oce  he  could  form  a  syllogism  or  enforce 
an  argument.  How  dextrous  soever  he  might  shew  himself  to 
be  in  the  Schools,  his  productions,  when  perused  in  the  closet, 
do  not  display  any  of  the  grand  characteristics  of  an  origi  lal 
genius  or  of  an  accurate  and  deep  reasoner. 

The  popularity  which  he  gained  at  Franeker  by  his  ready 
wit,  and  by  the  violent  epithets  which  he  bestowed  on  all  adver- 
saries, especially  on  the  Arminians,  gave  vast  umbrage  to  that 
morose  and  bitter  old  Calvinist,  his  superficial  colleague  Sibran- 
Dus  LuBBERTUS.  Makowski  had  been  made  Professor  of 
Divinity  only  four  years  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort ;  and  as  the  Predestinarian  Controversy  was  about  that 
period  conducted  on  both  sides  with  much  spirit  and  ability, 
some  of  the  Calvinistic  Professors,  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
utter  the  wildest  and  most  deseci-ating  opinions  that  ever 
escaped  from  human  lips,  were  compelled  to  observe  greater 
reserve  and  caution,  lest  their  adversaries  should  expose  the 
irreverence  or  blasphemy  of  all  such  expressions.  But  Macco- 
vius,  who  appears  to  have  possessed,  none  of  the  subtilty  of 
Eiibbfertus,  continued  to  speak  and  to  act  in  the  same  fearless 
and  unguarded  manner  as  he  had  always  done  ;  and  the  Arjjii- 
nians,  as  might  have  been  expected,  quoted  several  of  his 
expressions  in  proof  of  the  demoralizing  tendency  of  Calvin's 
doctrines. 

This  served  as  an  opportunity  to  Sibrandus,  for  venting  his 
private  spleen  against  his  colleague,  while  he  discharged  a  pub- 
lic duty.  The  whole  Calvinistic  brotherhood  throughout  France, 
Germany,  and  the  Low  Countries,  had  received  warning  letters 
to  be  guarded  in  the  delivery  of  their  opinions ;  and,  as  Macco- 
vius  had  disregarded  this  caution,  the  Presbyterian  Class  of 
Franeker  prepared  a  charge  against  him  before  the  States  of 
Friezland,  who,  apparently  desirous  to  preserve  the  purity  of 
the  Calvinistic  Doctrine  in  their  University,  finally  empowered 
the  Lay  Commissioners  at  the  Synod  of  Dort  to  bring  the  case 
of  the  accused  Professor,  for  adjudication,  before  that  reverend 
tribunal.  No  doubt  was  entertained  by  the  best-informed 
members  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  that  Sibrandus  was  the  real 
mover  in  this  action  against  his  colleague;  but  when  he  was 
charged  with  it,  and  publicly  invited  to  come  forward  as  the 
chief  accuser,  with  consummate  art  he  refused  to  undertake 
that  odious  service,  and  declared  that  he  had  acted  ministerially 
and  not  personally,  when,  as  President  of  the  Class  of  Franeker, 
he  had  heard  the  charge  against  Maccovius,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  votes  of  the  Class,  had  as  their  accredited  organ  pro- 
nounced the  judgment  which  they  decreed :  That  is,  he  wished 
to  make  it  apparent,  that  he  had  been  an  impartial  chairman. 


I 


200  APPENDIX    A. 

The  whole  of  tlie  proceedings  ajrainst  Maccovius,  as  related 
by  that  eminent  Scotch  Calvinist  Walter  Balcanqual,  are  given 
in  the  Notes  to  the  Works  of  Arminius.  (Vol.  I,  p,  506,  &c.) 
An)ong  other  matters,  he  states,  that  "  a  letter  was  read  in 
the  Synod,  from  the  Professors  of  Divinity  at  Heidelberg,  to 
the  States  of  Friezland,  in  which  that  learned  and  reverend 
body  exhorted  their  Lordships  '  not  to  suffer  such  frivolous, 
'  melapht/sical,    obscure,  and  false  propositions  to  be  disputed  in 

*  their  colleges,  as  had   lately   been   done  in  the  University  of 
'  Franeker,  under  the  direction  of  Maccovius,  in  the  Theses  on 

*  the  Traduction  (^or  draivirig)  of  man,  as  a  sinner,  to  Life.'  " 
These  were  the  very  Theses  which,  in  the  preceding  pages,  are 
the  object  of  Bishop  Womack's  animadversions  :  And  the  charac- 
ter which  the  Heidelberg  Divines  here  attribute  to  them,  will 
not  be  found  to  be  inappropriate  or  overcharged.  The  same 
day,  the  different  members  of  the  Synod  gave  their  votes  con- 
cerning the  mode  of  proceeding  to  be  adopted  in  the  case  of 
Maccovius.  Balcanqual  says:  "When  Sibrandus  had  to  de- 
liver his  opinion,  he  inveighed  with  great  immodesty  against 
Festus,  upbraiding  him  with  the  height  of  his  ingratitude  to 
him.  He  also  recited  a  new  catalogue  of  the  opinions  of  Mac- 
covius, which  were  of  the  same  class  with  the  former.  Festus, 
having  obtained  the  President's  permission  to  speak,  answered 
Sibrandus  in  a  modest  manner,  and  stated,  that  those  Theses 
had  not  been  composed  by  Macfovius,  but  by  a  certain  very 
learned  yotmg  man  of  the  name  of  Parker,  who  was  removed 
far  above  the  slightest  suspicion  of  heterodoxy.  He  also  said, 
though  Sibrandus  might  now  refuse  to  sustain  the  part  of  a 
public  accuser,  yet  he  had  received  information,  from  some 
persons  in  every  respect  entitled  to  credit,  that  Sibrandus  had 
pillaged,  from  those  Theses  and  from  some  other  of  his  lectures, 
all  the  errors  which  had  been  objected  against  Maccovius. — 
When  Sibrandus  heard  all  this,  he  was  agitated  with  a  most 
violent  passion,  and  t7vice  i7ivoked  \^Deum  vindicem,^  the  vengea7ice 
of  God  upon  his  soul,  if  there  was  any  truth  in  those  statements! 
So  that  the  President  was  compelled  frequently  to  remind  him 
of  the  sacred  modesty  and  reverence  which  were  due  to  the 
Synod." — In  Bernard,  Birch,  and  Lockman's  edition  of  Bayle's 
Historical  and  Critical  Dictionary,  the  last  clause  is  thus  trans- 
lated :  "  This  put  Sibrandus  all  into  a  fume,  and  lie  swore  once 
and  again,  that  it  was  not  true."  Now,  though  the  Latin  ex- 
pressions admit  of  being  thus  construed,  yet  it  can  scarcely  be 
imagined,  that  a  grave  Professor  of  Divinity,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  sticklers  for  Calvinism,  would  utter  profane  oaths  and 
disgrace  hinself  before  the  whole  brotherhood.  I  am  aware, 
that  Balcanqual  has  represented  him  as  a  most  passionate  man ; 
^nd,  after  describing  one  of  "  his  fits  of  madness,"  he  adds,  "  I 
blame  him  and  Gomarus  no  more  for  these  ecstasies,  than  I  do 


APPENDIX    A.  201 

a  stone  for  ffoi'ncr  downvvai'd,  since  it  is  both  their  natural  con- 
stitution." This  excuse,  though  very  charitable,  is  rather  too 
extensive,  and  might  be  quoted  in  palliation  of  the  most  gross 
offences  and  criminal  conduct.  How  passionate  soever  men 
may  naturally  be,  if  the  grace  of  God  be  suffered  to  exert  its 
proper  transforming  influence  upon  them,  it  Avill 

Lay  the  roujh  paths  of  peevish  nature  even. 
And  opeu  in  their  hearts  a  little  heaven. 

Balcanqual  proceeds :  "  On  the  27th  of  April,  progress  was 
made  in  requiring  the  votes  and  opinions  of  the  members  on 
the  cause  of  Maccovius.  Many  persons  wondered  how  he  could 
possibly  be  accused  of  heresy  on  account  of  those  Theses ;  es- 
pecially since  one  of  the  members  for  South  Holland  declared, 
tliat  they  had  fonncrh/  been  seen  by  Mr.  Ames,  and  had  obtained 
his  approbation :  and  that  he  was,  even  now,  prepared  to  defend 
them."  Because  such  a  sound  Calvinist  as  Mr.  Ames  could 
swallow  and  digest  the  blasphemies  of  Maccovius,  the  majority 
of  the  members  ultimately  agreed  to  receive  the  whole  on  the 
credit  of  his  taste  and  digestive  powers,  and  suffered  the  heretical 
Maccovius  to  escape  with  scarcely  the  semblance  of  a  repri- 
mand. 

Before  this  notice  of  Maccovius  be  dismissed,  the  reader  may 
derive  some  faint  knowledge  of  the  glaring  errors  of  which  he 
was  guilty,  from  the  following  favourable  statement  by  Balcan- 
qual, himself  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Dort :  "  On  the  30th 
of  April,  was  read  the  Report  of  the  Synodical  Committee  on 
the  case  of  Maccovius,  the  sum  of  which  was,  '  that  Maccovius 
'  could  not  be  considered  guilty  of  any  thing  like  Heathenism, 

*  Judaism,    Pelagianism,    Socinianism,    or  any   other    kind    of 

*  heresy  ;  and  that  he  had  been  unjustly  accused;  but  that  his 

*  offence  consisted  in  employing  certain  ambiguous  and  obscure 

*  scholastic  phrases,  in  endeavouring  to  introduce  into  the 
'  Dutch  Lniversities  the  scholastic  mode  of  teaching,  and  in 
'  selecting  those  questions  for  disputation  which  were  accounted 

*  the  Pests  of  the  Dutch  Churches ;  that  he  ought  therefore  to 
'  be  admonished,  no  longer  to  employ  the  expressions  of  Bellar- 
'  mine  and   Suarez,   but  to  speak  in  the  language  of  the  Holy 

*  Ghost  ;  that  these  things  ought  to  be  considered  as  faults  in 

*  him — his  assertion  that  the  sufficiency  and  the   efficacy  of  the 

*  death  of  Christ  is  a  foolish  distinction, — his  denying  that  the 

*  human  race  considered  as  fallen  was  not   the  object  of  predes- 

*  tination, — and  his  maintaining,  that  God  has  both  willed  and 
'  decreed  sins,  that  God  has  by  no  means  willed  the  salvation  of  all 

*  men,  and  that  there  are  two  elections  ;  and  that,  according  to 
'  their  judgment,  the  slight  quarrel  between  him  and  Sibrandus 

*  ought  to  be  terminated,  and  no  person  ought  hereafter  to  pre- 

*  fer  i'-gaiust  him  any  more  such  accusations.'  " 

O 


202  APPENDIX     B. 

This  therefore  "is  the  history  of  Parker's  Theses,  which,  it 
will  be  observed,  are  of  infamous  celebrity,  since  they  were 
accounted,  even  by  the  high  Calvinists  of  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
extremely  reprehensible  and  fraught  with  dangerous  errors. 
Of  all  the  members,  Festus  Hommius  was  the  most  consummate 
politician ;  and  it  was  one  of  his  artful  contrivances  to  screen 
his  Supralapsarian  friend  Maccovius  from  a  more  severe  cen- 
sui'e,  by  attributing  the  composition  of  these  Theses  "  to  a  very 
learned  young  man  of  the  name  of  Parker."  To  every  one 
conversant  with  the  literary  history  of  that  period,  it  is  well- 
known,  that  even  in  the  best-regulated  Universities  the  students 
in  Divinity  were  accustomed  to  compose  propositions,  for  pub- 
lic disputation  in  the  Schools :  This  was  a  good  exercise  for 
those  among  them  who  were  possessed  of  the  requisite  quali- 
fications ;  but  prior  to  such  Theses  being  announced  for  dispu- 
tation, they  were  revised  and  amended  by  the  particular  Pro- 
fessor under  whom  the  youthful  metaphysicians  severally 
studied,  but  who  was  not  always  the  Moderator  jiro  tempore  in 
the  Divinity  Schools.  The  Theses  under  discussion  must  be 
regarded  as  the  joint  production  of  the  youthful  Parker  and 
his  profound  instructor  Makowski ;  the  latter  of  whom  was  not 
only  consulted  respecting  the  composition,  but  was  the  Mode- 
rator under  whom  they  were  disputed.  Between  these  two 
worthies,  therefore,  the  consequent  disgrace  of  them  must  be 
divided. — How  artful  soever  this  contrivance  of  Hommius 
might  be,  it  would  be  viewed  by  the  learned  members  of  the 
Synod  as  a  subterfuge  that  was  exceedingly  disreputable. 


B— Page  166. 

This  is  a  very  good  hint.  If  such  a  principle  of  compression 
and  abridgment  were  applied,  by  a  man  of  competent  attain- 
ments, to  some  of  the  ancient  polemical  treatises  in  our  own 
language,  the  religious  public  would  have  good  reason  to  bless 
the  abbreviator's  memory.  It  ought,  however,  to  be  a  stipu- 
lation, either  expressed  or  implied,  that  no  Calvinist  should 
attempt  to  abridge  the  works  of  an  Arminian,  and  vice  versa. 


C— Page  167. 
John  Cameron,  or  C^mero,  was  born  at  Glasgow  in  Scot- 
land, in  1579.  When  little  more  than  twenty  years  of  age,  he 
read  lectures  on  the  Greek  language  in  the  University  of  his 
native  city.  Feeling  an  inclination  to  travel,  in  J60O  he  went 
to  Bourdeaux,  when  the  Protestant  ministers  of  that  city  were 
so  captivated  with  the  behaviour  and  accomplishments  of  the 
young  man,  as  to  appoint  him  Master  of  a  College,  which  they 


AI'PKNDIX      C.  203 

had  founded  at  Bergerac,  for  instruction  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages.  From  that  situation  he  was  removed,  at  the  instance 
of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  to  Sedan,  and  made  Professor  of  Phi- 
losophy. At  the  end  of  two  years  he  resigned  his  Professorship, 
went  to  Paris,  and  soon  aftervvards,  in  l604,  he  returned  to 
Bourdeaux.  The  Church  of  that  city  gave  a  stronger  proof  of 
their  attachment  to  Cameron,  (in  a  manner  that  was  very  com- 
mon at  that  period  and  worthy  to  be  more  generally  adopted  in 
modern  times,)  by  offering  to  defray  his  expenses  for  four  years 
while  he  completed  his  studies  in  Divinity  at  any  of  the  contigu- 
ous Universities.  He  accepted  of  these  proposals,  which  wei-e 
accompanied  with  the  usual  condition,  that  he  should  at  the  end 
of  four  years  serve  the  Church  of  Bourdeaux  hi  the  capacity  of 
Pastor.  The  first  year  he  spent  in  preparatory  studies  at  Paris, 
in  the  house  of  Calignon  Chancellor  of  Navarre,  to  whose  sons 
he  became  tutor,  and  accompanied  them  to  the  University  of 
Geneva,  in  which  he  devoted  two  years  to  theological  pursuits. 
His  fourth  year  was  passed  in  the  University  of  Heidelberg.  In 
l60S,  he  was  recalled  by  the  Church  of  Bourdeaux,  and  chosen 
to  supply  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  removal  of  M.  Renaud, 
one  of  their  Pastors.  In  this  new  sphere  he  acquitted  himself 
during  ten  years  with  singular  reputation ;  and  was  in  high 
esteem  among  all  ranks,  till  in  l6l7  he  incurred  the  censure  of 
the  parliament  of  Bourdeaux,  who  had  condemned  to  death  two 
captains  convicted  of  piracy. — Cameron  had  been  permitted  to 
visit  the  unhappy  culprits  in  prison,  and  to  administer  the  con- 
solations of  religion  to  them  at  the  place  of  execution.  They 
evinced  great  courage  as  well  as  resignation  when  broken  alive 
on  the  wheel;  and  Cameron  thought  it  right  to  record  their 
penitence  by  an  account  of  the  befitting  manner  in  which  they 
met  their  doom.  He  accordingly  published  a  pamphlet,  en- 
titled, "  Constancy,  Faith,  and  Resolution  at  the  moment  of 
death,  displayed  by  Captain  Blanquet  and  Gaillard  ;"  but 
instead  of  making  his  publication  a  vehicle  of  religious  instruc- 
tion and  moral  warning  to  survivors,  he  contrived  to  introduce 
indirect  reflections  on  the  constituted  authorities  of  his  adopted 
country.  The  two  condemned  captains  were  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  and  had  addressed  a  petition  to  the  Parliament,  praying 
that  their  cause  might  be  heard  before  the  Chamhre  Mipartie, — a 
court  of  justice  in  which  one  half  of  the  Judges  consisted  of 
Roman  Catholics,  and  the  other  half  of  Protestants.  Thi'i  was 
one  of  the  important  privileges  which  were  granted  by  the 
Edict  of  Nantz  to  the  Protestant  community ;  but  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Bourdeaux  determined  that  this  privilege  could  not  be 
claimed  by  the  pirates.  On  this  alleged  infringement  of  Pro- 
testant rights,  Cameron  animadverted  in  his  pamphlet ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  a  decree  was  passed  by  the  Parliament,adjudging 
the  libel  to  be  burnt  bv  the  common  executioner.     The  same 


204  APPENDIX    C. 

decree  interdicted  Cameron  *'  from  writing  or  publishing  in 
future  any  such  letters  as  were  calculated  to  raise  a  sedition,  to 
misrepresent  the  decrees  of  Parliament,  to  exasperate  the  King's 
subjects  against  the  sovereign  Courts  of  Judicature,  and  to 
render  his  officers  despicable, — under  the  penalty  of  being 
punished  in  an  exemplary  manner  and  prosecuted  as  a  disturber 
of  the  public  peace."  But  by  his  prudent  conduct  he  outlived 
the  odium  which  he  had  incurred  by  this  publication. 

In  consequence  of  his  great  talents  he  was  elected  Professor 
of  Divinity  by  the  University  of  Saumur,  in  the  place  of  Goma- 
rus,  who,  after  the  death  of  Arminius,  had  refused  to  remain  at 
Leyden  as  an  associate  to  the  newly-elected  Professor  Vorstius. 
Cameron  began  the  exercise  of  his  functions  in  l6l8,  and 
remained  at  his  post  in  the  University  till  it  was  dispersed  in 
]621  by  Ihe  Civil,  or  rather  the  Iteligious  Wars  with  which 
France  was  soon  afterwards  distracted. 

It  was  during  his  abode  at  Saumur  that  he  had  the  argu- 
mentative encounter  with  the  celebrated  Daniel  Tilenus  to  which 
our  Prefacer  alludes.  Tilenus  had  been  previously  deprived  of 
his  Professorship  at  Sedan  by  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  on  account 
of  some  differences  which  had  arisen.  The  Duke  had  married  the 
sister  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and,  with  the  obsequiousness 
which  was  then  displayed  in  all  directions  by  every  branch 
of  that  family,  the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  at  the 
instigation  of  Peter  du  Moulin,  were  soon  afterwards  im- 
posed by  the  French  Synod  of  Alez,  as  the  only  regular  test  of 
orthodoxy  for  the  Protestant  ministers  and  Professors  in  France. 
Tilenus  retired  to  Paris;  and  v/hile  he  resided  in  that  city,  an 
appointment  was  made  for  a  Conference  between  him  and 
Cameron.  It  was  accordingly  held  at  LTsle,  the  country-seat 
of  M.  Groslot,  near  Orleans  ;  it  commenced  on  the  24tlj  and  was 
concluded  on  the  28th  of  April,  J()20,  having  continued  five, 
days.  The  disputation  was  oral ;  and  an  account  of  it  was 
taken,  at  the  time,  by  Lewis  Capellus  and  De  la  Milletiere,  (or 
Mileterius,)  both  of  whom  were  Cameron's  disciples.  Indeed, 
it  does  not  appear,  that  Tilenus  had  any  one  present  to  do 
justice  to  his  arguments  ;  and  we  know,  that  such  accounts, 
iniless  approved  and  signed  by  each  of  the  parties  at  the  close 
of  the  dispute,  are  generally  amended  and  embellished  by  the 
party  that  afterwards  publishes  the  statement  and  claims  the 
victory  for  itself.  This  was  the  case  with  regard  to  the  meeting 
between  Cameron  and  Tilenus;  an  account  of  which  was  pub- 
lished at  Leyden  in  l621,  and  is  entitled,  Arnica  CoUatio  de 
Gratia;  el  VoliDitatis  Hiimnna;  concursu  c^r.  "  An  amicable  Confer- 
ence between  those  two  famous  men,  Daniel  Tilenus  and  John 
Cameron,  concerning  the  Concurrence  of  Grace  with  the 
Human  Will  in  the  Vocation  [^of  Men  to  Salvation^,  and  on 
certain  other  topics  connected  with  that  .subject."  It  is  inserted 
among  the  works  of  Cameron ;  and  when  a  man  tells  his  own 


APPENDIX    C.  205 

tale,  or  when  (as  in  this  Instane)  his  warm  partizans  do  it  for 
him,  we  must  not  be  surprised  to  hear  such  a  sound  Calvinist 
as  the  Editor  of  Parker's  Theses  exclaim,  as  in  page  I67,  "  When 
Cameron  has  Tilenus  for  his  adversary,  he  is  a  nervous  and 
acute  Divine." 

After  the  dispersion  of  the  University  of  Saumur,  he  retired 
with  his  family  into  England,  and  settled  in  London,  where  he 
obtained  leave  id  give  lectures  on  Divinity  at  his  own  house. 
He  was  soon  afterwards  appointed,  by  royal  authority.  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  His  prede- 
cessor, Robert  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  was  a  mighty  favourite  with  the 
Puritans ;  and  though  Camero  had,  in  early  life,  assented  to  the 
lax  and  pernicious  sentiments  respecting  civil  government 
maintained  at  that  period  by  nearly  all  the  Calvinists  throughout 
Europe,  yet,  being  a  man  of  good  sense  and  of  a  peaceable 
disposition,  he  had  at  length  been  induced  to  entertain  such 
sentiments  on  that  subject  as  were  more  in  accordance  with  the 
scriptures  of  truth.  His  affair  with  the  Parliament  of  Bour- 
deaux,  and  the  obstinate  and  turbulent  conduct  of  the  men 
among  whom  he  had  been  doomed  to  dwell,produced  a  most  salu- 
tary revolution  in  his  political  opinions  ;  and,  like  numy  other 
men  of  strong  minds  in  that  age,  he  refused  so  far  to  pamper  the 
base  passions  of  the  multitude  as  to  dignify  every  effervescence 
of  popular  feeling,  or  seditious  tumult,  with  the  elevating  title 
of  Patriotism.  On  this  account,  therefore,  Camero  was  in 
A'ery  low  repute  with  his  factious  countrymen,  who  were  in- 
fected with  as  vile  a  spirit  of  insubordination  as  any  of  their 
brethren  on  the  Continent:  He  soon  quitted  Scotland  and 
returned  to  France,  caiTying  with  him  the  reputation  of  enjoy- 
ing the  friendship  of  King  James,  who  certainly  was  an  excellent 
judge  of  literary  merit,  though  he  had  not  always  the  means  of 
being  its  most  liberal  rewarder.  In  aUusion  to  this  trait  in  the 
King's  character,  one  of  Cameron's  adversaries  says,  in  a  work 
which  he  published,  in  l6.')7,  against  the  Ceremonies  of  the 
Church  of  England,  "  He  departed  with  an  empty  purse  from 
his  friend  the  King,  who  was  otherwise  a  profuse  monarch." 

On  his  arrival  in  France,  he  repaired  to  Saumur  again,  and 
delivered  private  lectures  on  Divinity,  because  the  Court  of 
France  had  forbidden  any  to  be  taught  in  public.  When  he 
had  remained  a  year  at  Saumur,  he  was  chosen  Professor  of 
Divinity  at  Montauban,  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  his  voca- 
tion at  the  close  of  1624.  The  next  year  he  lost  his  life  in 
consequence  of  his  strenuous  opposition  to  the  democratic  and 
litigious  opinions  of  the  French  Calvinists,  whose  restless  spirits 
were  at  that  time  excited  by  the  emissaries  of  the  Duke  de 
Rohan,  to  engage  again  in  an  armed  confederacy.  The  follow- 
ing account  of  this  tragical  event  was  given  by  Peter  du 
Moulin,  whose  principles  and  conduct  were  not  equally  pacific  : 

o3 


20G  APPENDIX    C. 

"  When  Camero  inveighed  in  that  city  afrainst  those  who  were 
opposed  l^to  him  in  political  principles,^  and  endeavoured  to 
stem  the  ton-ent  of  popular  fury  by  chiding  or  admonishing 
those  persons  whotn  he  encountered,  the  populace  contracted 
such  a  hatred  against  him  that  at  length  one  of  the  citizens, 
who  was  a  passionate  man,  attacked  him  in  a  horrid  manner 
both  with  his  fists  and  with  cudgels,  and  almost  killed  him. 
Removing  the  covering,  he  offered  his  naked  breast  to  the  man 
who  was  beating  him,  and  said.  Wretch,  strike  here !  After 
having  been  thus  mal-treated,  he  retired  from  Montauban  to 
the  contiguous  town  of  Moissac,  to  recruit  his  shattered  frame. 
In  a  short  time  he  returned  to  Montauban,  where,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  days  afterwards,  he  died  through  grief  of  mind,  and 
peacefully  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord."  {Jud.  de  Amyraldi  Lib., 
p.  229.)  In  Andrew  Rivet's  Works,  {torn.  3,  p.  898,)  the  cir- 
cumstance of  baring  his  breast  is  thus  related :  "  To  one  of 
those  persons  who  had  uttered  threats  against  Cameron  he  in- 
stantly exposed  his  naked  breast,  as  soon  as  he  had  unclasped 
the  vestment  which  covered  it,  and  cried  out.  Wretch,  strike 
here!  He  had  scarcely  spoken  these  words  before  the  villain 
threw  him  on  the  ground  with  great  violence,  and  would  have 
killed  him,  had  not  a  female  run  up  to  Cameron  and  leaned 
over  him  while  he  lay  upon  the  ground  ;  by  thus  covering  his 
body  with  hers,  she  protected  him  from  blows."  But  this  im- 
proved version  of  the  fatal  catastrophe  must  be  received  with 
much  caution :  It  was  written  a  long  time  afterwards,  as  a  sort 
of  popular  palliation  of  that  horrid  tragedy,  and  an  answer  to 
the  just  animadversions  of  Grotius.  In  it  Rivet  evidently 
wishes  to  tax  Cameron  with  great  imprudence  in  braving  dan- 
ger, by  opening  his  waistcoat  to  the  villain  who  had  employed 
threats  against  him.  Indeed,  in  both  productions,  a  feeling  of 
malevolence  towards  the  memory  of  Cameron  is  displayed. 
Peter  du  Moulin  had  incurred  the  censure  of  the  French  Court 
for  liis  violent  proceedings  and  seditious  conduct :  By  him, 
therefore,  the  example  of  Cameron,  in  opposing  the  bad  princi- 
ples and  infuriate  behaviour  of  the  misguided  populace,  would 
not  be  viewed  with  complacency,  or  represented  with  adequate 
justice. 

The  death  of  a  Calvinistic  pastor,  who  was  half  murdered  while 
in  the  act  of  warning  the  populace  against  the  crime  of  rebellion, 
was  a  circumstance  of  such  an  uncommon  complexion  among 
the  Divines  of  that  school,  as  to  be  the  subject  of  general  as- 
tonishment in  the  civilized  and  religious  world.  The  very  lax 
interpretation  which  the  early  pastors  of  the  Genevan  school 
gave  to  the  doctrine  of  civil  obedience,  as  contained  in  the  13th 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  is  matter  of  history  ;  and 
many  of  them  have  not  hesitated  to  bestow  upon  those  who 
refuse  thus  to  explain  away  some  of  the  express  commands  of 
scripture,  the  opprobrious  epithets  of  "  the  patrons  of  the  Divine 


I 


APPENDIX    C.  207 

Right  of  Kings  and  the  slaves  of  Passive  Obedience."  The  quib- 
bles which  are  necessary  to  the  very  foundation  of  Calvinism, 
contributed  their  aid  to  soften  down  the  scriptural  obligations 
of  subjects  to  their  rulers ;  and  the  most  ignorant  mechanic  or 
husbandman  in  a  Calvinistic  congregation  soon  comprehended 
the  doctrine  of  conditional  obedience, — the  only  trace  of  con- 
DiTioNALiTY  which  is  to  be  found  throughout  their  fatal  system. 
Most  apposite  therefore  was  this  address  of  the  venerable 
Hooker  to  the  men  of  that  school :  "  For  whereas  the  name  of 
Divine  Authority  is  used  to  countenance  these  things  which 
are  not  the  commandments  of  God,  but  your  own  erroneous 
collections,  on  Him  ye  must  father  whatsoever  ye  shall  after- 
wards be  led  either  to  do  in  withstanding  the  adversaries 
of  your  cause,  or  to  think  in  maintenance  of  your  doings. 
And  what  this  may  be,  God  doth  know.  In  such  kinds  of 
error,  the  mind  once  imagining  itself  to  seek  the  execution  of 
God's  will,  laboureth  forthwith  to  remove  both  things  and  per- 
sons, which  any  way  hinder  it  from  taking  place ;  and  in  such 
cases,  if  any  strange  or  new  thing  seem  requisite  to  be  done,  a 
strange  and  new  opinion,  concerning  the  lawfulness  thereof,  is 
withal  received  and  broached  under  countenance  of  Divine 
Authority." 

Grotius  thus  alludes  to  the  death  of  Cameron  in  his  Wishes 
for  the  Peace  of  the  Church  :  "  I  said,  in  my  annotations  at  the 
close  of  the  First  Book  On  the  Laws  of  War  and  Peace,  that  the 
Canons  which  prohibited  the  Clergy  from  the  use  of  arms  have 
been  observed  with  greater  strictness  in  the  East  than  in  the 
West.  That  remark  was  undoubtedly  true,  both  as  applied  to 
those  and  to  other  Canons";  because  dispensations  are  unknown 
in  the  East,  except  in  some  few  and  trifling  affairs.  This  busy 
intermeddling  with  other  men's  matters  has  already  produced 
disastrous  consequences  to  several  persons ;  and  if  we  enquire 
into  the  cause  of  those  wars  by  which  Europe  has  now  for  a 
long  time  been  desolated,  we  shall  find  this  flame  to  have  been 
principally  excited  by  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  be  the  heralds 
of  peace.  I  can  require  no  testimony  of  greater  validity  than 
that  which  is  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  Kings,  Nobles,  and 
People,  when  I  affirm,  that  many  of  the  civil  wars  in  France 
have  been  excited  by  those  who  style  themselves  *  ministers  of 
the  gospel.'  No  stronger  proofs  can  be  required  than  those 
furnished  by  several  letters  from  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  and  of 
Philip  Mornay  Lord  du  Plessis  Marli,  in  which  both  of  them 
complain  of  this  circumstance :  In  addition  to  which,  might  be 
quoted  the  Commentaries  on  the  last  of  those  wars,  which  were 
composed  by  the  Duke  de  Rohan.  Yet  [^frora  such  ministers  of 
the  gospel^  I  except  Cameron,  who  always  entertained  other 
sentiments,  and  on  that  account  endured  much  hard  usage.  If 
in  this  respect  there  were  others  who  resembled  him,  they  also 
have  my  warm  applauses.     There  were  some  pastors  who  kept 


208  APPKN'DIX    C. 

themselves  quiet,  becaue  they  were  in  those  situations  in  which 
it  was  impossible  for  ihem  to  make  any  attempts.  The  faults 
of  the  adverse  party  do  not  operate,  in  their  behalf,  as  an 
excuse.  We  have  in  these  days  beheld  a  prodigious  circum- 
stance,— we  have  seen  troops  enlisted  and  regiments  embodied, 
arms  and  warlike  engines  assembled  together,  under  the  name 
of  the  Reformed  Churches.  Had  this  power  its  origin  in 
lieaven  or  on  earth  ?" 

Grotius  then  adverts  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Com- 
mentary of  old  David  Parseus  of  Heidelberg  on  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  transaction  to  which  Grotius 
alludes  was  the  following:  "On  the  14th  of  April,  l622,  being 
Palm  Sunday,  it  happened  that  a  certain  clergyman  [^Mr. 
Knight,  of  Pembroke  College^  preaching  at  Oxford  upon  these 
words.  Let  every  soul  he  subject  to  the  higher  powers,  among 
other  positions  advanced  the  following,  '  that  in  case  the  King 

*  should  misbehave  himself,  inferior  magistrates  had  a  right  to  in- 
'  form  him  better,  and  to  correct  or  amend  him.'  For  the 
explanation  of  this  doctrine,  he  made  use  of  the  words  of  the 
Emperor  Trajan,  which  he  spoke  to  the  captain  of  the  guards, 

*  Take  this  sword,   and   if  1    reign   well,    draw  it  for  me ;  if 

*  otherwise,  draw  it  against  me.'  Hereupon  this  preacher  was 
summoned  by  Dr.  Pierce,  one  of  the  Canons  of  Christ  Church 
and  at  that  time  Vice-Chancellor,  to  appear  at  his  Court.  He 
was  then  ordered  to  deliver  a  copy  of  his  sermon,  which  he  did. 
The  King  having  heard  of  this  matter,  sent  for  him  up  to  Lon- 
don, where  he  was  strictly  examined  about  his  sermon,  and 
asked  how  he  came  to  preach  it  ?  He  laid  all  the  blame  upon 
certain  modern  Divines  of  the  foreign  Churches,  especially  on 
Parfsus,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Heidelberg,  who,  in  his  Ex- 
positions on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  had  advanced  the  same 
Theses  and  quoted  likewise  that  passage  of  Trajan.  Upon  this 
confession  the  king  forgave  the  minister  his  fault,  he  being  a 
young  Divine  who  might  easily  be  misled  by  such  a  famous 
writer.  But  his  Majesty  ordered  the  said  book  of  Paraeus  to  be 
publicly  burnt,  not  only  in  both  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  but  also  at  London  on  a  Sunday  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross:"*  This  royal  mandate  was  duly  executed.  To  remove 
every  seditious  imputation  from  their  body,  the  University  of 
Oxford,  in  a  full  Convocation  on  the  25th  of  June,  l622,  con- 
demned four  of  the  most  obnoxious  propositions  of  Parasus,  and 
added  to  each  of  them  a  scholastic  censure. 

*  A  loyal  old  English  writer,  in  reference  to  this  public  burning  of  the 
books  of  Parfeus,  calls  it  •'  an  accident  much  complained  of  by  the  Puritan 

fiarty  for  a  long  time  after,  who  looked  upon  it  as  the  funeral  pile  of  their 
lopes  and  projects  ;  till  by  degrees  they  got  fresh  courage,  carrying  ou 
their  designs  more  secretly,  by  consequence  more  dangerously,  than  before 
they  did.  'I'he  icrriljle  effects  whereof  we  have  seen  and  felt  in  our  late  Civil 
VVars  aud  present  confusions." 


APPENDIX    C. 

Grotius  quotes  this  decree  of  the  University  which  conta^ 
the  positions  condemned,  and  then  subjoins:  "  If  these  exce 
tions  of  Paraeus,  that  is,  if  so  many  subversions  of  St.  Paul's 
rule  be  admitted,  I  declare  that  no  empire  will  be  in  safety  any 
longer  than  while  those  who  hold  such  principles  are  destitute 
of  power.  But  because  it  is  not  sufficient  to  know  the  evil 
unless  at  the  same  time  its  sources  be  made  known,  I  will  dis- 
close those  sources  as  far  as  I  have  been  permitted  to  penetrate 
into   their  mysteries.     These  then  are  their  sentiments :  '  In 

*  every  country  there  is  a  certain  covenant  between  God,  the 

*  King,  and  the  People;  and  it  is  formed  on  this  condition,  that, 

*  if  the  King  forsakes  God,  it  is  also  lawful  for  the  people  to 

*  forsake  the  King.'  Those  who  have  forsaken  God,  they  con- 
sider to  be.  First,  '  Those  who  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 

*  the  Pope  in  the  Church;  for  they  have  by  that  means  fallen 
'  from  the  power  which  they  delivered  to  the  beast' — Secondly, 
'  Those  who  attempt  any  reconciliation  with  that  Church  which 
'adheres  to  the  Church  of  Rome;  that  is,  with  the  synagogue 
'  of  Satan,'  as  they  are  pleased  to  express  themselves. — Lastly, 
'  Those  who  retain  any  portion  of  their  [^ancient^  rites,  not 
'  only  such  as  are  retained  in  England,  but  in  other  kingdoms 
'still  further  northward;    for  all  those  rites  are   Popish  and 

*  therefore  idolatrous.' 

"  2.  Another  of  their  sentiments  is  this :  '  In  the  Revelations 

*  (xviii,  6,)  it  is  written,  Reward  Babylon  double  according  to 
'  her  works.  But  this  Babylon  is  that  Church  which  is  con- 
'  nected  with  the  Roman  See.     In  this  passage  every  believer 

*  receives  a  Divine  command,  to  demolish  altars  and  the  images 

*  of  saints,   and  to  remove  all  this  worship  together  with  the 

*  worshippers ;  for  unless  this  be  done,  Babylon  can  neither  be 
'  destroyed  nor  receive    double  according   to   her  works.       And 

*  cursed  be  they  who  do  this  work   of  the  Lord  negligently ! 

*  f  Jer.  xlviii,  10.)' 

"  3.  Another  of  their  opinions  is  that  which,  they  say, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  (vii,  18,  22,)  '  All 
'  Kings  and  rulers  whatsoever  are  bound  to  serve  the  saints  of 
'  the  Most  High;  that  is,   the  saints  of  the  Reforyned  [[or  Calvin- 

*  istic^    communion. — This   prediction   is   so  evidently  written, 

*  that  those  persons  must  be  blind  who  cannot  see  it.' 

"  4.  To  these  sentiments  some  of  them  add,  'All  things  belong 

*  of  right  to  the  elect,  all  the  rest  are  robbers.'  Who  these  elect 
are,  is  a  point  which  with  them  admits  of  no  controversy,  by 
placing  themselves  in  the  elect  number ;  '  because  Christ  died 

*  for  them  in  particular ;  and  of  this  circumstance  they  are  well 
'  assured,  because  they  believe  it,  or  because  by  faith  they  appre- 
'  he?id  this  benejit  I'  This  is  sad  trifling;  but  it  is  such  as  con- 
duces to  serious  evils." 


210  APPENDIX    C. 

The  reader  who  is  conversant  with  the  writings  of  the  vene- 
rable Hooker,  will  perceive  a  great  co-incidence  between  this 
statement  by  Grotius,  and  that  given  in  the  Preface  to  the 
"  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity."  It  must  also  again  be  observed, 
that  the  term  Reformed  is  assumed  by  the  Calvinists  on  the 
Continent,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  epithet  Evangelical  is 
claimed  by  their  brethren  in  England. 

Rivet,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Leyden,  wrote  an  answer  to 
these  statements  ;  and  Grotius  thought  it  necessary,  for  the  de- 
fence of  truth,  to  expose  the  quibbling  of  his  adversary,  which 
he  did  in  his  Discussion  of  Rivet's  Apology,  from  which  the 
following  is  a  very  instructive  extract  containing  another  allu- 
sion to  the  case  of  Cameron :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  the  man  who 
is  studious  of  the  peace  of  Christians,  to  destroy  those  dogmas 
which  disturb  the  peace  of  society.  A  man  must  become  a  good 
citizen,  before  he  is  a  good  Christian,  Subversive  of  civil  peace 
is  the  dogma  of  those  who  call  themselves  the  Reformed, 
which  declares  it  to  be  '  lawful  for  subjects  to  rise  in  arms 
'  against  their  Kings  or  rulers ;'  which  that  most  noble  man, 
Philip  Mornai  Lord  du  Plessis  Marli,  inserted  in  his  last  will  as 
a  sentiment  agreeable  to  piety.  From  this  source  arose  the  insur- 
rection at  Amboise,  when  the  Reformed  Renaudiere  convened 
some  persons  like  himself  to  a  private  conclave,  and  delivered 
to  them  the  power  over  the  States  of  the  realm.  From  the  same 
source  arose  Beza's  seditious  and  warlike  orations.  *     This  also 


*  The  phrase  in  the  text  is,  Hinc  Bezce  condones  fro  classico ;  which  was  an 
allusion  well  understood  at  that  period.  It  will  be  illustrated  by  the  subjoined 
quotation  from  the  History  of  Thuanus,  (lib.  53,)  who,  in  giving  an  account 
of  the  letter  of  the  Protestant  Charpentier  concerning  the  causes  which  con- 
duced to  the  bloody  French  tragedy  of  St.  Barthplomeiv's  Day,  says  :  "  Char- 
pentier declares,  '  that  there  were  two  parties  amongst  the  Protestants, — the 
'one  consisting  of  peaceable  persons,  who  acted  with  sincerity  and  from  a 

*  religious  principle,  and  who  followed  the  maxims  of  the  religion  which  they 

*  professed, — the  other  consisting  of  persons  who  acted  from  a  spirit  of  faction, 

*  and  vvho  were  seditious  men  and  enemies  to  the  public  peace  and  tranquillity; 

*  that  each  of  those  parties  had  at  its  head  particular  pastors  ;  and  that  the 

*  moderate  leaders  were  obnoxious  to  the  more  violent, and  especially  to  Beza,' 
whom  he  calls  the  trumpet  of  Seba,  and  against  whom  he  utters  in  his  book 
the  most  bitter  exclamations. — Charpentier  not  only  excuses  the  massacre, 
but  likewise  proves,  at  great  length  and  in  a  very  artful  manner,  '  that  it  was 
'just  and  necessary,  in  order  to  subdue  an  impious  faction,  whose  sole  design 
'  was  to  subvert  the  royal  authority,  to  withdraw  the  chief  cities  of  the  realm 

*  from  the  allegiance  which  was  due  to  their  sovereign,  and  to  disturb  the  pub- 

*  lie  tranquillity  ; — a  faction  that  seemed  to  have  been  formed  for  the  ruin  of 

*  the  Protestant  religion  itself,  by  some  seditious  individuals  vvho  were  the  ene- 
'  niies  of  their  country.'  " 

Seba,  in  the  phrase  The  trumpet  of  Seba,  is  an  anagram  ujion  the  name  of 
Bf.za,  and  refers  to  the  following  passage  of  Scripture  :  "  And  there  hap- 
pened to  be  there  a  man  of  Belial,  whose  name  was  Sheba,  the  son  of  Bilcri, 
a  Benjamite  :  And  he  bleir  a  trumpet,  and  said,  '  We  have  no  part  in  David, 
'neither  have  we  inheritance  in  tne  son  of  Jesse.    Every  man  to  his  tents, 

*  O  Israel !' — So  every  man  of  Israel  went  up  from  after  David,  and  followed 


APl'KNDIX    C.  211 

gave  origin  to  the  impudence  of  the  Convention  of  Rochelle, 
■which  declared  that  all  the  Papists  in  the  Kingdom,  and  even 
those  among  the  Reformed  who  adhered  to  the  authority  of  the 
King,  were  to  be  removed  from  all  public  honours  and  offices  ; 
it  likewise  appointed  to  the  government  of  the  provinces  through- 
out the  kingdom  whatever  persons  it  thought  proper.  Theoplii- 
lus  Milletiere,*  a  nobleman  who  is  exceedingly  well-inclined. 

Sheba,"  &c.  (2  Sam.  xx,  i.)  This  allusion  to  the  political  meddlinj^  of  the 
early  divines  of  the  Genevan  School,  but  particularly  to  those  of  them  who 
adopted  \\ie  platform  as  well  as  the  doctrine  of  Calvin,  was  peculiarly  appro- 
priate, and  became  a  standing;  proverb  in  all  countries  in  which  such  injudi- 
cious pastors  endeavoured  to  excite  seditious  movements,  for  the  purpose  of 
introducing  what  they  called  The  Lord's  Discipline.  With  what  degree  of 
justice  this  charge  was  preferred  against  them,  the  reader  may  easily  learn, 
by  the  various  apologetical  or  palliative  writings  published  by  the  offending 
parties  themselves,  were  there  no  other  equally  valid  documents  in  existence. 

*  The  memory  of  Tlienpldle  Bracliet  Sieur  de  la  Jirdletiere  has  been  greatly 
traduced  by  the  French  Calvinists.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Cameron, 
after  whose  death  he  published  some  of  the  enlarged  religious  views  of  the 
man  whom  he  admired,  in  the  book  which  Du  Moulin  wrote  against  Amy- 
raut,  he  speaks  thus  of  Milletiere  :  "  After  Cameron's  removal  from  things 
terrestrial,  an  affair  happened  which  brought  a  grievous  stain  upon  that 
great  man's  reputation.  For  a  short  time  after  his  decease,  IVIilletiere,  his 
Achates  and  sole  companion,  who  always  paid  the  most  devoted  attention  to 
what  he  spoke,  produced  those  monsters  which  he  had  conceived  under  Ca- 
meron's tuition.  For  he  published  a  book  against  Du  Moulin,  who  expected 
nothing  of  that  description,  in  which  he  defends  merits  aud  jiistijication  by 
works,  and  speaks  in  such  a  manner  about  tlie  Sacrameiit  of  the  Eucharist  as 
betokens  a  person  far  too  much  inclined  towards  transubstantiation.  He  also 
makes  honourable  mention  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  declares  she  has  pre- 
served all  the  capital  articles  of  the  christian  faith  pure  and  untainted,  al- 
though in  some  things  she  may  have  wandered  from  the  right  path.  All  these 
novelties  he  professes  to  have  received  from  that  incomparable  man,  Mr. 
Cameron  ;"  &c. 

But  it  must  be  recollected,  that  these  are  the  exaggerated  statements  of  a 
violent  adversary,  who  hated  him  for  his  approaches  towards  Armiuianisni, 
which  had  formerly  been  an  object  of  his  greatest  aversion.  In  quality  of 
elder  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Paris,  Milletiere  was  deputed  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  that  church  at  the  seditious  assembly  at  RocheHcjto  which  he  was 
appointed  secretary,  and  wrote  an  answer  to  Tilenus,  who  had  reprehended 
the  conduct  of  the  Calvinists  on  that  occasion.  He  was  afterwards  seized  at 
the  Court  of  France  as  one  of  the  most  outrageous  partizans  of  the  Duke  de 
Rohan  ;  after  having  been  put  to  the  rack  and  suffered  a  long  imprisonment, 
he  was  at  length  liberated.  Like  his  friend  Cameron,  he  became  more 
moderate  in  his  politics  and  more  charitable  in  his  religious  principles  ;  and, 
placing  Camei-ovism  as  the  basis  of  his  scheme,  he  tried  by  it  to  effect  a  uuioa 
fcetween  the  Protestants  and  the  Papists.  This  attempt  only  tended  to  increase 
the  hostility  of  the  French  Calvinists  against  him.  Several  of  his  writings 
were  condemned  by  the  National  Synod  of  Alencon  in  1637  ;  and  "  a  letter 
was  addressed  to  him  by  this  assembly,  informing  him,  that,  unless  he  gave 
a  satisfactory  declaration  of  his  penitence  to  the  Consistory  of  Paris  within 
six  months,  he  would  not  be  accounted  a  member  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
After  several  warnings,  which  proved  of  no  service  to  him,  the  Synods  declared 
him  to  be  no  longer  a  member  of  the  churches,  and  not  one  of  them  would 
admit  him  into  its  communion  :  So  that  he  became  a  Catholic  of  necessity, 
that  he  might  be  of  some  religion."  He  was  rejected  from  the  bosom  of  tlie 
Reformed  Church  in  lfi45,  during  the  session  of  the  National  Synod  of  Cha- 
renton.  It  is  related  of  him,  that,  when  he  began  to  attend  the  service  of  the 
Romish  Church,  he  heard  a  sermon  preached  by  a  Popish  Bishop,  who,  iu 


212  APPENDIX    C. 

towards  those  -who  call  themselves  '  the  Reformed,'  testifies  that 
Peter  du  Moulin  was  the  author  of  such  counsels.  But,  because 
the  King  pardoned  the  criminality  of  those  very  wicked  attempts, 
let  not  M.  Rivet  suppose,  that  on  this  account  historical  and 
other  writers  are  deprived  of  all  the  right  of  recording  such 
transactions,  even  when  their  sole  purpose  is — to  teach  people 
to  avoid  Divines  of  this  description. 

"  With  regard  to  the  decrees  of  the  Pope,  it  is  the  opinion  of 
both  the  [^FrenchJ  King  and  Parliament,  that  they  are  not 
bound  by  those  of  them  which  are  repugnant  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures  as  interpreted  by  the  common  consent  of  the  Ancient 
Fathers,  or  if  they  be  contrary  to  those  constitutions  of  Coun- 
cils or  of  the  Fathers  which  have  been  received  in  France.  The 
man  who  inspects  the  Acts  of  the  French  Parliament,  will 
perceive  several  decrees  of  this  kind  to  have  been  rejected  both 
now  and  formerly,  by  the  Parliaments  at  the  advice  of  Bishops 
and  Divines,  when  such  rejection  was  required  by  circum- 
stances. No  reason  therefore  exists  for  any  one  to  veil  his 
encouragement  of  party-disputes  under  a  pretended  dread  of 
the  Pope's  omnipotency.  *  Grotius  has  not  made  mention  even 
of  local  constitutions  without  some  design :  For  when  many 
speak  of  them  as  of  burdens  oppressive  beyond  measure  to  the 
conscience,  it  was  necessary  to  shew  the  estimation  in  which 
real  Catholics  hold  such  constitutions,  and  the  nature  of  the 
obligation  arising  from  them,  which  is  by  no  means  intolerable. 

"  The  Pastors  of  the  Church,  whatever  may  be  the  title 
which  they  bear,  act  contrary  to  the  Canons,  in  the  opinion  of 
Grotius,  when  they  are  in  warlike  actions :  This  opinion  he 
recorded  long  ago  in  writing,  at  the  close  of  his  First  Book  On 
the  Laws  of  IVar  and  Peace.  He  also  thinks,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  ministers,  not  to  excite  the  flame  of  new  wars  between 
Christian  princes, — a  practice  which  too  many  of  them  pursue, 

drawing  a  parallel  between  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  adjudged  the 
superiority  to  the  Virgin  :  This  gave  Milletiere  such  a  shock,  that  he  declared, 
with  his  usual  frankness,  rather  than  be  frequently  compelled  to  hear  sermons 
of  that  kind  he  would  return  to  the  bosom  of  the  Protestant  Church. — In  fa- 
vour of  his  plan  of  pacification  and  re-union  between  the  two  churches,  he 
continued  for  some  years  to  write  books,  which  are  commended  by  many  of 
the  moderate  members  of  both  communions.  Some  further  account  of  him 
■will  be  found  iu  the  subsequent  extracts  from  the  letters  of  Grotius. 

*  But  what  good  effects  did  all  these  checks  produce  on  "  the  omnipotence 
of  the  Pope,"  when  the  realm  was  governed  by  an  imbecile  Monarch,  whose 
prime  minister  was  a  Cardinal  ?  The  horrid  massacre  of  the  Protestants  of 
France  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  and  the  cruel  as  well  as  impolitic  Revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantz,  are,  of  themselves,  sufficient  answers  to  this 
question. 

No  considerate  Protestant  can  approve  of  all  the  palliations  which 
Grotius  offers  in  behalf  of  Popery.  On  this  point  he  was  evidently  misled 
by  his  great  learning,  by  which  he  traced  some  of  the  originally  innocent 
observances  of  the  Romish  Church  up  to  the  purest  ages  of  Christian  Anti- 
quity. At  that  period,  too,  he  saw  the  Catholic  Religion  assume  a  milder  aspect, 
and  supported  by  such  moderate  reformers  of  it  as  Thuanus,  Cassander,  &c. 


APFEXDIX    0.  213 

to  the  great  injury  of  nations;  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  extin- 
guish those  which  have  ah*eady  arisen  :  This  topic  likewise  he 
has  briefly  noticed  in  the  Second  Book  of  the  work  just  men- 
tioned, chap.  23. — If  M.  Rivet  entertains  a  different  opinion,  he 
gives  a  demonstration  that  he  either  is  or  has  been  in  the  num- 
ber of  those  pastors  who  excite  wars ;  if  his  opinion  is  not 
different,  then  why  does  he  carp  at  expressions  uttered  with  a 
pious  intent.'*  Though  M.  Rivet  is  sufficiently  audacious  when 
fortune  favours  him,  yet  we  could  not  have  conceived  that  he 
would  venture  to  deny  those  facts  which  have  transpired  in  the 
view  of  all  men,  and  the  recollection  of  which  is  still  vivid  in 
the  minds  both  of  Governors  and  People. — *  Who  are  the  indi- 
viduals that  compelled  sixteen  thousand  men  to  perish  by  famine 
at  Rochelle,  rather  than  experience  the  clemency  of  their  King  ?' 
They  were  ministers  who  called  themselves  Reformed. — '  Who 
are  they  that  inflamed  all  Languedoc  and  the  contiguous  pro- 
vinces with  addresses  and  libels  ?'  They  were  the  same 
ministers. — '  Who  are  they  that  brought  down  the  hatred  of 
the  populace  upon  Cameron,  because  he  was  not  equal  to  them 
in  madness  and  extravagance,  and  thus  caused  him  to  be  treated 
in  such  a  cruel  manner  as  produced  disease  and  death  V  They 
were  men  who  call  themselves  Ministers  of  the  word  of  God. 
The  chariot  steeds  have  heard  too  many  of  the  smacks  of  these 
l^exciting^  whips. 

"  But  the  dogmas  of  Parseus  are  injurious  to  M.  Rivet  for 
this  reason — because  he  attempts  to  defend  them  by  interposing 
the  person  of  Parseus  junior;*  those  dogmas  will  likewise 
injure  the  reputation  of  that  society  into  which  he  has  been 
adopted,  since  he  denies  that  the  extracts  were  made  in  every 
instance  with  fidelity.  But  the  colour  with  which  the  younger 
Parfeus  paints  his  father's  writings,  is  evidently  false  and 
adulterated.  He  says,  '  his  father  was  there  treating  about 
'  those  potentates  who  were  admitted  [X.o  the  exercise  of  sove- 
'  reign  power^  under  conditions.'  But  the  elder  Paraeus  was 
not  discussing  the  laws  of  Germany.  Yet  even  that  country 
contains  many  princes  who  denied  that  they  were  admitted  j^to 
the  sovereignty^  under  limitations  :  But  the  knowledge  of  this 
matter  is  not  the  occupation  of  a  Divine,  but  of  lawyers.  Pa- 
raeus did  not  engage  in  the  interpretation  of  Paul  the  Professor 
of  Law,  but  of  Paul  the  Apostle,  Avho  ti'eats  about  all  the  higher 

*  Hhilip  Parous  was  alive,  and  Principal  of  the  Colleg:e  of  Hanau  in 
1646,  when  Rivet  wrote  a  most  viruient  reply  to  these  animadversions, 
interspersed  with  the  most  gross  slanders  concerning  the  life  and  death 
of  Grotius.  Like  a  dutiful  son,  he  tried  various  methods  to  vindicate 
the  memory  of  his  pious  father.  In  doing  this,  particularly  with  respect 
to  his  father's  Exjjosition  on  the  Roinavs,  he  vindicated  the  positions 
of  the  old  gentleman,  according  to  M.  Aruaud's  statement,  "  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  Jesuits  defend  themselves  when  accused  of  corrupting  Christian 
Murals, — h/  s/iewing  that  they  are  neitlwr  the  Jirst  nor  the  only  persons  wii/t 
have  inculcated  any  jjarticular  doctrine." 


214  APPENDIX    C. 

powers.  The  elder  Paratus,  in  his  explanations,  by  various 
methods  overturns  the  expressions  of  the  apostle ;  and  he  allows 
to  Christian  subjects,  even  to  those  in  private  stations,  the  very 
things  of  which  the  apostle  deprives  such  subjects.  This  has 
been  demonstrated  correctly  and  with  the  greatest  fidelity  by 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  by  King  James  himself,  who 
declares,  that  he  '  was  always  hated  by  the  Puritans  for  no 
'  other  reason  than  that  of  his  being  a  King.'  * 

"  But  granting  that  Grotius  during  former  days  may,  in  some 
instances,  have  exceeded  the  bounds  of  moderation,^ — either 
through  the  inexperience  of  youth,  the  influence  of  his  great 
attachment  to  the  station  in  which  he  was  born  and  educated, 
or  through  his  adherence  to  other  writers  of  great  reputation, — 
and  granting  also,  that  he  may  have  spoken  some  things  in  too 
general  a  manner,  which  ought  on  the  contrary  to  have  been 
uttered  with  restrictions,  or  that  he  has  employed  exam- 
ples which  have  not  been  at  perfect  agreement  with  each 
other;  yet,  after  all  these  concessions,  Grotius  may  now  surely 
be  permitted  to  amend  and  grow  better,  after  he  has  by  a  more 
extensive  coui'se  of  reading  and  continued  meditation  become 
older,  and  attained  to  a  state  of  life  that  is  uninfluenced  by 
party-interests.  He  undoubtedly  always  disapproved  of  the 
violence  used  in  breaking  images  and  altars,  of  warlike  assem- 
blies, and.  of  those  armed  forces  that  were  raised  among  the 
Dutch  prior  to  any  decree  of  the  States,  and  merely  by  private 
enterprize.  Yet  these  were  the  deeds  which  are  called  '  the  com- 
mencement of  this  reformation,' — a  kind  of  commencement  with 
which  neither  Christ,  his  apostles,  nor  the  Christians  of  the  best 
ages  were  acquainted.  Such  actions  as  these  accord  most  com- 
pletely with  the  writings  not  only  of  Philip  Mornai  Lord  of 
Plessis  Marli,  Hottoman,  and  Buchanan,  but  also  with  those  of 
Peter  Verrailius  surnamed  the  Martyr,  (on  the  third  chapter  of 
the  Book  of  Judsfes,)  Csesman,  Althusius,  Lambert  Danaeus  in 
the  passages  quoted  by  Arnisaeus,  and  of  as  many  more  of  this 
description,  whose  writings  have  never  been  contradicted  by 
any  of  that  tribe.  From  the  words  and  deeds  of  these  men  we 
imderstand  what  is  the  signification  of  that  part  of  the  Confes- 
sion, belonging  to  those  who  style  themselves  the  Reformed, 
which  says,  '  Tribute  and  obedience  are  due  to  kings,  p/-o- 
'  vided  God's  stipreme  milhority  re7nains  safe  and  secure'  For  by 
this  phrase  God's  supreme  autliorittj,  they  understand  '  the  liber- 
ty of  their  own  religion,' — but  such  a  liberty  as,  when  they  are 
the  prevailing  party,  they  do  not  grant  to  others. 

*  "  And  for  this  cause,  there  never  rose  faction  in  the  time  of  my  minority, 
nor  trouble  sen-syne,  ijut  they  that  were  upon  that  factious  part,  were  ever 
careful  to  persuade  and  allure  these  unruly  spirits  amonfj  the  ministry,  to 
spouse  that  quarrel  as  their  own  :  Wherethrough  I  was  oft-times  caluin- 
niated  it)  their  pojjular  sermons,  not  for  any  evil  or  vice  in  me,  but  because  1 
was  a  Kivic  which  they  thought  the  highest  evil." — BasiUkon  Doron,  lib.  2. 


'    APPKXDIX    C.  215 

"  M.  Rivet  dare  not  declare  which  of  those  fountains  of  evils 
that  Grotius  has  here  indicated,  he  will  acknowledge  for  his 
own,  and  which  of  them  he  will  disavow.  The  reason  of  his 
hesitation  undoubtedly  is,  lest  he  should  either  desert  such 
great  defenders  of  his  own  cause,  or  lest  he  should  expose  his 
colleagues  [the  Professors^  in  France  to  great  and  deserved 
hatred  by  openly  explaining  the  meaning  of  their  expressions. 
On  this  account  therefore  he  throws  dust  into  the  eyes  of  his 
readers,  to  prevent  them  from  seeing  through  the  whole  matter. 
He  is  desirous,  indeed,  to  defend  the  saying  of  M.  du  Moulin  :* 
But  the  client  exclaims  against  his  advocate.  He  who  does  not 
worship  God  is  not  a  Just  man,  because  the  worship  of  God  is 
a  great  part  of  justice  [|or  righteousness]]  :  But  such  a  person  is 
the  Just  possessor  of  those  things  which  he  holds  by  that  title 
which  the  laws  approve.  To  discuss  the  righteousness  of  pos- 
session, is  one  thing  ;  and  the  righteousness  of  the  person,  is 
another.  Yet  Du  Moulin  must  not  be  accounted  the  inventor 
of  this  contrivance,  which  confounds  two  things  [[that  are 
different^  ;  for  the  same  sentiment  was  one  of  those  which  were 
condemned  in  Wicliffe,  and  with  great  propriety.  Because  if 
the  Elect  have  now  a  right  to  those  things  which  the  Repro- 
bates possess,  it  follows,  that  they  may  claim  such  things  for 
themselves." 

But  though  much  and  deservedly  blamed  for  the  open  man- 
ner in  which  he  evinced  the  Genevan  antipathy  to  the  regal 
authority.  Parous  seems  actually  to  have  considered  that  he 
was  imparting  greater  stability  to  a  proviso  in  Calvin's  Insti- 
tutes by  propounding  it  in  a  more  scholastic  form,  and  de- 
ducing some  of  its  legitimate  consequences.  Calvin  had  intro- 
duced it,  with  that  consummate  art  which  he  evinced  on  some 


*  This  expression  occurs  in  that  furious  publication  i\\c  Jjiatome  of  Ar- 
mbiianlsm,  which  was:  published  by  Peter  du  Mouliu  in  1()19  ;  and  which  was 
ably  answered  by  Corvinus  in  1621.  Prior,  however,  to  the  appearance  of  this 
Reply,  the  banished  Remonstrants  addressed  a  letter  to  Moulin,  of  which 
the  subjoined  paragraph  is  an  extract  : 

"  There  are  some  persons  who  also  place  a  black  mark  of  disapprobation 
upon  the  following  axiom  which  you  have  derived  from  the  school  of  Machi- 
avel :  '  He  who  is  destitute  of  faith  in  Christ,  is  not  a  child  of  God  ;  and, 
•consequently,  he  cannot  be  the  heir  and  just  possessor  of  earthJii  benefits, 

*  whatever  may  be  the  civil  virtues  with  which  he  is  adorned.'  If  this  be  not 
plotting'  ag'ainst  the  sceptres  0/  Kings,  we  cannot  certainly  perceive  in  what 
that  crime  consists.  Are  you  theu  beginning  to  accommodate  the  Reformed 
[Calvinistic] Theology  to  seditions, rebellions  and  demands  upon  Kings  .'  What 
insanity  is  this  of  yours  ! — that  Princes  who  do  not  believe  in  Christ,  are  7iot 
the  rightful  lords  of  their  own  kingdoms  and  dominions  .'  By  what  law  is  this 
just  title  of  possession  invalidated  ?  Relying  on  the  strength  of  this  axiom, 
you  presumptuously  claim  for  yourself  and  the  princes  of  your  religion  the 
kingdom  of  France  :  For  the  answers  to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  teach, 
'  that  the  Roman  Catholics  (of  whom  the  King  of  France  is  one,}  do  in  reality 

*  deny  Christ.'    He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear  ."' 

To  this  seditious  sophism  Grotius,  in  the  text,  returns  an  appropriate 
answer. 


216  APPENDIX    C. 

other  occasions,  into  the  doctrine  which  he  delivers  concerning 
the  duty  of  subjects  to  their  Princes  and  Rulers,  thus :  "  For  if 
the  vengeance  of  the  Lord  is  the  correction  of  unrestrained 
domination,  we  must  not  on  this  account  instantly  suppose  that 
such  vengeance  is  committed  to  us,  who  have  received  no  other 
command  than  to  obey  afid  suffer.  I  am  {jn  this  chapter^ 
always  speaking  about  men  in  private  stations.  In  former  days 
there  were  popular  magistrates,  who,  as  EpJiori,  were  placed  in 
opposition  to  the  Spartan  Kings  ;  as  Tribuues  of  the  People, 
were  opposed  to  the  Roman  Consuls;  or,  as  Demarcki,  to  the 
Athenian  Senate :  And  the  same  kind  of  power  perhaps  is 
exercised,  in  the  present  state  of  society,  throughout  different 
kingdoms,  by  the  three  Estates  of  each  realm  when  they  hold 
their  grand  assemblies.  If  there  be  now  any  such  popular 
magistrates  appointed  to  I'estrain  the  licentiousness  of  Kings,  I 
am  far  from  forbidding  them,  in  accordance  with  their  duty, 
to  obstruct  l^or  oppose^  the  ferocious  liberty  of  Kings  :  So  that 
if  they  should  connive  at  Kings  when  conducting  themselves 
tyrannically,  and  when  they  insultingly  lord  it  over  the  humbled 
people,  I  would  declare  that  their  dissimulation  []or  connivance^ 
is  not  devoid  of  nefarious  perfidy,  since  they  thus  deceitfully 
betray  the  liberty  of  the  people,  of  which  they  knew  themselves 
to  have  been  appointed  the  protectors  by  God's  ordination." — 
Among  other  improvements  on  Calvin's  doctrine,  Paraeus  ascribes 
to  these  subordinate  magistrates  "  a  power  to  defend  them- 
selves, the  Commonwealth,  and  the  Church,  even  by  arms, 
against  the  superior  magistrate."  Buchanan  carried  this  doc- 
trine still  further,  by  asserting,  "  that  the  whole  body  of  the 
people  have  as  much  authority  over  the  persons  of  their  kings 
as  they  have  over  every  one  of  their  own  number;"  and  he 
thinks  it  "  unreasonable  and  absurd,  that  kings  are  not  made 
amenable  to  the  ordinary  judges  of  their  several  kingdoms,  as 
often  as  any  of  their  subjects  may  accuse  them  of  murder,  adul- 
tery, neglect  in  government,"  &c.  In  proof  of  this  reforming 
position,  Buchanan  then  quotes  twelve  instances  of  Scottish 
Kings,  that  had  either  been  condemned  to  perpetual  imprison- 
ment, or  had  by  voluntary  death  or  exile  escaped  the  punish- 
ment due  to  their  crimes. — Cambden  tells  us,  that  John  Knox, 
the  Calvinistic  Reformer  of  Scotland,  delivered  this  as  a  political 
axiom,  "  It  is  the  duty  of  the  nobles  to  take  away  idolatry  by 
their  own  authority,  and  to  reduce  Kings  by  force  within  the 
prescribed  bounds  of  the  laws."*  To  every  unprejudiced  reader, 

*  In  a  letter  addressed  by  Grotius,  in  I608,  to  the  Rev.  Sampson  Johnson, 
he  says  :  "  Those  neig;hbours  of  yours  [the  Scotch]  are  actuated  by  the 
spirit  of  the  flock  to  which  they  belong  :  And  unless  some  method  be  dis- 
covered for  dissolvius;  the  unlawful  coufederacy,  I  entertain  apprehensions 
of  a  great  wound  being  inflicted,  I  will  not  uow'say  upon  tlie  KnscorAL,  but 
itjjon  </re  Regal  .A.l  ihoritv.  1  cannot  express  the  solicitude  which  this  affair 


APPENDIX    C.  217 

the  turbulent  character  of  Knox  will  not  appear  to  much 
advantage,  after  all  the  ingenious  palliations  of  Dr.  Mc'Crie, 
who,  like  a  devoted  friend,  is  at  once  his  biographer  and 
apologist. 

Dr.  Thomas  Pierce,  vv'ho  was,  during  the  Inter-regnum,  one  of 
the  most  intrepid  champions  for  the  genuine  doctrines  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church  of  England  in  those  her  days  of  mourning 
and  depression,  speaks  thus,  in  his  Divine  Pldlanthropy  De~ 
fended,  which  Avas  published  a  few  years  prior  to  the  Restora- 
tion :  "  What  shall  we  think  of  the  Aerian  or  Presbyterian 
'  flaunt,'  which  denieth  a  suprcmacji  to  all  civil  power,  in  all  cases 
and  over  all  persons  as  well  ecclesiastical  as  civil,  and  for  this 
very  reason  were  never  known  to  be  quiet  any  longer  than  they 
were  flittered  or  kept  in  awe  ?  The  power  to  excommnnicalc  the 
supreme  civil  Magistrate  was  never  arrogated  by  any,  except  the 
Pope  and  the  Presbyterian,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Thirty 
Nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  to  the  Protestant 

fives  me,  on  account  of  the  g^reat  affection  which  I  feel  for  your  nation, 
'hat  [seJilious]  trumpet  of  Knox  and  Buchanan  possesses  uncommon  in- 
fluence in  exasperating  and  inflaming  ignorant  and  inexperienced  men, 
especially  when  they  have  before  their  eye's  examples  of  successful  revo- 
lutions." 

This  is  the  language  of  a  kind  friend  and  of  a  true  prophet.  But,  though 
thus  laudalily  anxious  forour  national  prosperiiy  and  tor  the  duemaintenant  e 
of  the  regal  authority,  he  v,  asa  decided  enemy  to  all  harsh  and  imprudent 
measures,  as  will  appear  hy  the  subjoined  extract  from  one  of  his  letters  at 
that  period  to  the  Swedish  Ambassador  at  the  Hague  :  "These  conmiotions 
in  Scotland  occur  most  unhappily  at  a  very  bad  juncture.  I  wish  both 
parties  may  possess  sufficient  prudence  and  motleration  of  mind  to  discover 
some  remedj' for  such  a  dangerous  evil.  Of  this  I  am  well  assured,  that  if 
any  thing  be  extorted  by  force  from  the  King  in  Scotland,  the  infectious 
example  will  extend  to  England,  since  there  arc  in  that  kingdom  not  a  few 
individuals  to  whom  the  present  stale  of  affair*  is  exceedingly  displeasing." 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  same  personage,  about  a  month  afterwards, 
he  gives  the  following  just  and  statesman-like  views  of  our  national  con- 
cerns at  that  crisis  ;  wiiich,  let  it  be  observed,  are  the  more  valuable  because 
they  are  the  views  of  an  impartial  person  who  was  competent  to  form  a  cor- 
rect opinion  concerning  their  causes  and  issue,  long  before  the  civil  wars 
commenced.  To  a  historian  of  those  events,  such  brief  notices  are  worth  a 
thousand  pages  of  those  combined  reasonings  and  statements,  which  have 
since  been  written  by  prejudiced  j)artizans  :  "  The  affairs  of  Scotland  fill 
me  with  anxiety.  I  think,  if  that  nation  had  received  the  English  Liturgy 
and  the  ceremonies  which  are  agreeable  to  antiquit}',  as  it  had  already 
received  Bishops,  it  vvoukt  not  have  committed  any  oflence,  and  such  a  con- 
formity in  public  rites  might  likewise  have  been  of  service  in  cementing 
together  the  two  nations  who  are  under  the  rule  of  the  same  sovereign. 
But  now,  when  they  have  evinced  an  aversion  of  mind,  which  probably 
does  not  arise  so  much  from  things  themselves  as  from  mere  suspicions, 
the  deliberation  is  altered,  and  becomes  truly  diRieult  through  the  commo- 
tions of  the  people  and  the  diminution  of  the  royal  authorily  :  I  humiilj' 
beseech  God  that  the  plan  adopted  may  be  such  as  will  be  salutary  to  the 
Monarch  and  to  both  nations.  'I  he  University  of  Aberdeen,  in  Scotland, 
has  condemned  these  commotions  as  illegal  and  disgraceful  to  Christians. 
But  1  entertain  serious  doubts,  whether  such  [an  Academic  decree]  can 
possibly  assuage  or  pacif}-  people  that  are  thus  higlily  excited  and  inflamed." 
— Many  other  equally  pertinent  extracts  might  be  here  adduced  :  Hut  these 
will  shew  Grotius  to  have  i)eeii  a  good  man  and  an  able  poliliciaii. 

P 


218  API'KNDIX    C. 

Heirarchy  by  whom  they  were  composed,  and  who  never  were 

known  to  beard  Iheir  Sovereigns, — a  thing  as  natural  to  the  Scot- 
tish Presbytery  as  eating  and  drinking  to  other  men.  And  what 
affinity  (or  identity  rather)  there  is  betwixt  the  Scottish  and 
English  followers  of  Aerius,  their  League  and  Covenant  hath 
made  apparent." — The  venerable  Hooker  has  shewn,  in  his 
Preface  to  the  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  the  progress  which 
the  English  Calvinists  made  in  this  kind  of  learning;  and, 
among  other  "methods  of  winning  the  people's  affections  unto 
a  general  liking  of  the  cause"  of  the  Genevan  Discipline,  he 
adduces  the  three  following :  "  First.  In  the  hearing  of  the 
multitude  the  faults  especially  of  higher  callings  are  ripped  up 
with  marvellous  exceeding  severity  and  sharpness  of  reproof^ 
&c. — The  next  thing  hereunto,  is  to  impute  all  faults  and  cor- 
ruptions, wherewith  the  world  aboundeth,  unto  the  kind  of 
ecclesiastical  government  established,  &c. — Having  gotten  thus 
much  sway  in  the  hearts  of  men,  a  Third  step  is  to  propose 
their  own  form  of  church-government  as  the  only  sovereign 
remedy  of  all  evils,  and  to  adorn  it  with  all  the  glorious  titles 
that  may  be,"  &c. — Most  justly  therefore  might  Dr.  Heylin 
say  :  "  As  for  points  of  practice,  should  we  look  that  way, 
what  a  confusion  should  we  find  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  oc- 
casioned by  no  other  ground  than  the  entertainment  of  these 
principles,  and  the  scattering  of  these  positions  among  the  people  ! 
— And,  to  say  truth,  such  is  the  genius  of  the  sect,  that  though 
they  may  admit  an  Equal,  (as  parity  is  the  thing  most  aimed 
at  by  them  both  in  Church  and  State,)  yet  they  will  hardly  be 
persuaded  to  submit  themselves  to  a  Superior,  to  no  superiors 
more  unwillingly  than  to  Kings  and  Princes ;  whose  persons 
they  disgrace,  whose  power  they  ruinate,  whose  calling  they 
endeavour  to  decry  and  blemish  by  all  means  imaginable.  The 
designation  of  all  those  who  bear  public  office  in  the  Church, 
the  calling  of  Councils  or  assemblies,  the  presidency  in  those 
Councils,  ordaining  public  fasts  and  appointing  festivals,  (which 
anciently  belonged  unto  Christian  Princes  as  the  chief  branches 
of  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  which  is  vested  in  them,)  are 
utterly  denied  to  Kings  and  Princes  in  their  Boohs  of  Discipline. 
— As  for  their  power  in  temporal  or  civil  causes,  by  that  time 
Knox's  Peers  and  Buchanan's  Judges,  Parseus's  Inferior  Magis- 
trates and  Calvin's  Popular  Ojficers,  have  performed  their  parts, 
(in  keeping  them  within  the  compass  of  the  laws,  arraigning 
them  for  their  offences  if  they  should  transgress,  opposing  them 
by  force  of  arms  if  any  thing  be  done  unto  the  prejudice  of  the 
Church  or  State,  and,  finally,  in  regulating  their  authority  after 
the  manner  of  the  Spartan  Ephori  and  the  Roman  Tribunes,) 
all  that  is  left  [^of  the  regal  authority^  v^ill  be  by  much  too 
little  for  a  lioi  d'lvitot,  or  for  a  King  of  Clouts,  as  we  English 
phrase  it." 


APPENDIX    C. 


219 


But  leaving  the  Genevan  Fathers,  from  whose  writings 
might  be  quoted  passages  still  more  olgectionable  than  these, 
we  proceed  to  observe  some  of  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of 
Caineron,  which  caused  him  to  be  greatly  maligned  by  the 
violent  Predestinarians.  Like  his  great  cotemporary,  Piscator, 
he  rejected  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  imputed  righteousness  ;  and 
was,  on  this  account,  objected  against  by  the  Synod  of  Poitou, 
when  in  l6lS  he  "accepted  the  Divinity  Professorship  at  Sau- 
mur.  But,  two  years  at\erwards,  this  objection  was  declared  to 
be  untenable,  by  th^  National  Synod  held  at  Alez.  He,  and 
many  other  good  men^  had  viewed  with  grief  the  obloquy  and 
persecution  to  Avhich  the  pious  Arrainius  had  voluntarily  ex- 
posed himself  by  asserting  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  concur~ 
rcncc  of  the  human  will  ivith  the  grace  of  God,  &c. ;  and  they 
endeavoured,  by  lopping  off  some  of  the  rotten  and  unfruitful 
branches  of  Calvinism,  to  accommodate  doctrinal  matters  so  as  to 
preserve  themselves  free  from  ecclesiastical  censures,  while 
they  imparted  to  the  rigid  Predestinarian  scheme  a  greater 
show  of  probability,  and  exhibited  it  in  a  form  less  liable  to 
exception.  Among  the  doctrines  thus  discarded  was  what  is 
often  called  "  the  imputation  of  the  active  righteousness  of  Christ :" 
For  they  perceived,  that,  by  admitting  such  a  tenet  and  allowing 
it  to  be  carried  onward  to  its  legitimate  consequences,  they 
opened  the  flood-gates  to  every  species  of  imrighteousness. 
When  men  were  taught  to  consider  their  righteousness  as  being 
only  imputed,  they  soon  inferred  that  no  attempts  were  neces- 
sary on  their  part  for  the  attainment  of  actual  holiness  :  So  that, 
except  in  the  idea  itself,  (which,  when  unaccompanied  by  holy 
endeavours,  has  a  tendency  to  puif  up  rather  than  to  humble,) 
those  persons  who  gave  it  entertainment  had  no  personal  experi- 
ence of  that  transforming  power  of  Divine  Gi-ace  which  the 
Scriptures  describe.  In  their  erroneous  account,  Christ  had 
repented  for  them,  had  believed  for  them,  and  had  been  clothed 
with  the  Spirit  of  holi  less  for  them,  (or  rather,  instead  of  them,') 
what  need  therefore  had  they  to  take  any  thought  about  repent- 
ance, faith,  and  holiness?  Several  churches  had  become 
infected  with  this  iynputation-mania ;  and  the  Calvinistic  pastors 
had  not,  among  their  treasures  of  things  new  and  old,  aiiy 
doctrine  which  they  could  employ  in  counteraction  :  For,  in 
other  parts  of  their  heterogeneous  system,  they  had  represented 
all  the  striving  and  endeavours  of  man,  though  undertaken  and 
prosecuted  at  the  express  command  of  God  himself  in  his  blessed 
word,  to  be  nothing  better  than  legality.  Cameron,  therefore, 
Piscator,  and  a  few  other  celebrated  Divines  of  that  age,  fully 
aware  of  the  sad  and  desecrating  effects  of  such  a  doctrine, 
totally  discarded  it  from  their  systems,  and  taught  their  hearers 
to  estimate  their  standing  in  religion  by  their  actual  progress  in 
holiness,  and  in  humilitj- — its  inseparaljle  attendant. 

V  2 


220  APPENDIX    C. 

But  Cameron,  who  was  a  man  of  vast  comprehension,  eX" 
ceeded  Piscator  in  his  endeavours  to  render  Calvinism  popular, 
if  not  invulnerable.  It  was  not  because  he  did  not  understand 
Arminianism,  but  hecatisc  he  wished  to  avoid  the  fate  of  Arrninius, 
that  he  and  his  famous  disciples  in  France  chose  to  misinterpret 
some  of  tlie  tenets  of  the  Leyden  Professor,  in  order  to  prepare 
a  way  for  their  own  inventions.  Cameron  was  the  founder  of 
that  theological  system  which  in  England  is  generally  known 
under  the  name  of  "  Baxterianism  :"  He  bori'owed  the. doctrine  of 
General  Redemption  and  the  Universal  Offer  of  Grace  from  Ar- 
rninius, but  it  will  be  subsequently  seen  that  these  points  v/ere 
completely  neutralized  by  the  other  appendages  of  his  amended 
scheme  of  Calvinism.*  Baxter  says,  in  the  Preface  to  hli  Saiiiis' 
Rest :  "  The  middle  way  v/hich  Camero,  L.  Crocius,  Martinius, 
Amyraldus,  Davenaiit,  with  all  the  Divines  of  Britain  and 
Bremen  in  the  Synod  of  Dort  go, — I  think,  is  nearest  the  truth 
of  any  that  I  know  who  have  written  on  those  points  of  Re- 
demption and  Universal  Grace."  In  this  manner  Baxter  quotes 
Cameron  perpetually,  as  the  inventor  of  this  reputed  "  middle 
way." 

Amyraut,  or  Amyraldus,  of  whom  some  mention  is  made  in 
a  preceding  page,  (l6,)  was  in  France  the  great  patron  of  this 
more  specious  mode  of  Calvinism.  He  had  studied  Divinity 
under  Cameron  at  Saumur,  and  had  imbibed  from  his  great 
master  tlie  principles  of  his  religious  and  political  creed.  On 
the  latter  subject  it  is  a  pleasure  to  quote  the  following  para- 
graph from  Bayle :  "  In  the  Apology  which  Amyraut  pub- 
lished in  iG-iJ  in  behalf  of  the  Protestants,  he  excuses,  as  well 
as  he  can,  the  civil  wars  of  France  :  But  he  declares  at  the  same 
time,  that  he  by  no  means  intends  to  justify  the  taking  up  of 
arms  against  one's  lawful  sovereign  upon  any  pretence  wiiat- 
ever;  and  that  he  always  looked  upon  it  as  more  agreeable  to 
the  nature  of  the  gospel  and  the  practice  of  the  primitive 
church,  to  use  no  other  arms  than  patience,  tears,  and  prayers. 
*  And  whenever   I  reflect,'  says  he,  *  on  the  history  of  our  an- 


*  This  epithet  seems  to  be  contradictory  to  the  following  remark  by  Dr. 
Mosheim  .  "  The  more  I  examine  this  recoiiciiirg'  system  [of  the  French 
Universaiist^i],  the  mi. re  lam  persuaded,  that  ii  is  no  Uiore  than  Armi- 
nianism or  I'liLAGiANisM  arlliiUy  dressed  up,  and  ingeniously  covered  with 
a  half-transparent  veil  of  specious  but  ambiguous  expressions  ;  and  this 
iudnment  is  contirmed  by  the  language  that  is  used  in  treating  this  subject 
Dy  the  modern  followers  of  Amyraut,  who  express  their  sentiments  with  more 
courage,  plainness,  and  perspicuity,  than  the  spirit  ol' the  times  permitted 
their  master  to  do." 

But  both  these  statements  are  reconcilable  ;  for  the  Doctor's  observation 
applies  only  to  those  Universalists  who  were  the  successors  of  Amyraut, 
ana  who  had  been  gradually  liberated  from  the  trammels  imposed  upon 
them  by  the  Dort  Synodists  and  tlieir  intemperate  French  Partizans. 

Moshcim's  description  is  also  contirmatory  of  the  results,  which  Pro- 
fessor Poelenburgh  has  ably  detailed,  page  226. 


ATPr.xDix  c.  221 

*  cestors,  I   cannot  avoid  being  grieved  that   they   have    not 

*  crowned  so  many  other  noble  virtues,  which  they  have  pro- 

*  posed  for  our  example,  with  the  imitation  of  the  primitive 

*  Christians  in  the  invincible  patience  with  which   they   bore 

*  the  persecutions  of  the  Emperors,'  "  These  were  the  political 
principles  of  all  the  Universalists  or  Cameronists  of  France ; 
and  they  were  under  no  small  obligation  to  Grotius  for  his 
Wishes  Jor  the  Peace  of  the  Chiirch,  and  others  of  his  apologetical 
pieces,  which  taught  them  a  more  excellent  way  than  that  which 
their  turbulent  predecessors  had  trodden.  After  the  Revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantz,  they  carried  these  and  their 
enlarged  religious  principles  into  Holland,  much  to  the  regret 
of  the  rigid  Dutch  Calvinists,  who  openly  complained,  that  the 
French  Refugees  had  imported  into  that  country  a  refined 
species  of  Arminianism. 

But,  on  examinstion,  the  scheme  of  Cameron  will  not  be 
easily  mistaken  for  Arminianism.  After  Grotius  had  been 
appointed  the  Queen  of  Sweden's  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of 
France,  he  informs  his  brother,  that  several  of  the  French  Pro- 
testant ministers  had  waited  on  him  and  given  him  a  pressing 
invitation  to  join  their  communion  in  Paris.  Among  the  rest, 
he  states,  M.  Rivet's  brother  had  called  upon  him,  and  then 
adds :  "  Amyraut,  a  Pastor  and  Professor  at  Saumur,  has  also 
written  in  a  most  honourjible  manner  concerning  me  to  Mar- 
baud,  and  has  subjoined  a  hope  that  I  will  produce  some  degree 
of  moderation  in  these  controversies.  He  has  written  on  those 
questions  which  have  been  discussed  in  Holland.  He  says, 
that  '  the  design  of  God  in  the  creation  of  man,  was,  to  bless 

*  man  by  the  knowledge  of  himself;  that  Christ  died  .  simply 
'  for  all  men  ;  and  that  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  all  men  be 
'  savec17  but  under  the  condition  of  faith.' — Yet  this  doctrine  is 
weakened  in  no  small  degree  by  his  asserting,  *  that  faith  itself  is 

*  bestowed  through  a  decree  which  has  in  it  no  condition,  and  no 
'  respect  to  any  thing  that  either  is  in  man  or  from  him  ;  and  that, 

*  when  this  faith  has  been  once  imparted,   it  cannot  be  over- 

*  thrown.' — He  adopts  the  sentiment  of  Cameron,  as  do  also 
many  Others,  '  that  the  actions  of  the  will  in  determining  de- 
'  Eendj  by  an  inevitable  necessity,  upon  a. mode  of  the  under- 

*  standing ;'  from  which  flows  this  consequence,  acknowledged 
by  himself,  '  that  the  first  man  did  not  possess  powers  sufficient 

*  to  repel  the  suggestions  of  the  devil.'  With  this  likewise  agrees 
this  other  consequence,  which  he  does  not  express,  '  that  even 
'  the  fall  of  the  devil  was  inevitable.'  It  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive, how  the  men  who  hold  such  sentiments  can  explain  the 
sins  against  conscience,  and  particularly  that  which  is  called 
the  sin  against  the  Holj/  Ghost." 

In  another  letter  to  his  brother,   Grotius   communicates  the 
following    most  interesting  information  :    "  I  had  with  me  to- 


222  AI'I'KN'DIX     C. 

day  (Aug.  2,  \()35,)  three  of  the  most  learned  of  the  Reformed 
Pastors, — Foucheur  of  Montepelier,  and  Mestrezat  [^Mctresa- 
tus^  and  Daille  of  this  church  {jit  Paris^.  They  intreated  me 
to  join  their  communion;  and  said,  'that  the  resohitions  of  the 

*  Synods    of  Alez    and    Charenton  had   been  altered  by    new 

*  decrees,  and  that  communion  had  been  offered  to  the  Luther- 

*  ans.  They  hoped  we  accounted  theirs  to  be  a  Christian  Con- 
'  fession ;  they  entertained  this  opinion  about  that  of  the 
'  Remonstrants.  They  recollected  this  expression  of  mine  in 
'  answer  to  Sibrandus — If  St.  Chrijsoslom  or  Melancthon  ivcre  to 
'  come  to  them  [Jhe  Calvhmt.s^,  I  ivonder  whether  they  would 
'  deny  them  the  right  of  communion.  They  had  read  my  book  on 
'  the  Truth  of  the  Christian  Iielis:ion,  and  my  lafst  counsels  for 

*  concord,  both  of  which  excited  their  high  approval.' — la 
reply,  I  commended  these  sentiments  as  being  most  consonant 
to  the  designs  which  I  had  always  cherished,  and  said,  that  I 
had  never  concealed  the  wonderful  pleasure  which  I  derived 
from  the  opinions  of  Melancthon.  In  reference  to  the  peace  of 
the  churches,  I  knew  that  it  ought  not  to  be  disturbed  by 
violent  modes  of  acting,  and  that  the  conferences  between 
learned  men  ought  to  be  unfettered. — They  said,  '  that  they 
'  were  labouring  for  the  reception  of  the  Dutch  Remonstrants 
'  into  communion  with  them,  and  had  written  to  Rivet :  Since 
'  they  had  themselves  been  rendered  more  prudent  by  time, 
'  they  hoped  the  Dutch  [^Calvinists^  would  do  something  in 
'  their  favour,  after  they  had  maturely  considered  their  reasons.' 
— When  this  conversation  had  passed  between  us,  I  added, 
that  I  was  prepared,  by  those  external  symbols  which  had  been 
instituted  for  this  purpose,  to  testify  the  communion  of  spirit 
which  I  had  always  held  with  them ;  and  that  I  had  at  no 
period  determined  to  abstain  from  communion.  If  I  should  go 
into  a  country,  in  which  the  Lutherans  might  be  desirous  to 
admit  me  to  communion  with  them  after  knowing  my  senti- 
ments on  the  Lord's  Supper,  I  would  act  there  in  the  same 
manner. — Of  this  mode  of  procedure  they  also  approved. — I 
thank  God,  that  the  counsels  of  moderation  have  been  so  far  of 
service,  as  to  cause  gentle  breezes  to  blow  from  that  quarter 
from  which  in  former  days  the  most  furious  blasts  proceeded. 
I  have  no  doubt,  that  not  a  few  of  these  men  entertain  similar 
sentiments  to  ours  on  this  subject.  You  will  be  able  to  speak 
about  this  affair  with  those  of  the  Remonstrants  who  contain 
themselves  within  the  bounds  of  modesty  and  of  wishes  for  a  fair 
and  honourable  concord  ;  communicate  it  likewise  to  Uiten- 
bogardt ;  that  both  he  and  they  may  may  understand,  that 
what  I  do  is  done  for  the  most  equitable  reasons, — these  reasons 
indeed  are  of  such  a  description  as,  were  I  not  to  comply 
with  them,  would  cause  the  crime  to  recoil  upon  me  from  those 
persons  [|the  Dutch  Calvinists^  by  whom  we  luul  been  unjustly 


APPKXDIX    C.  22;J 

condemned.^ — The  [^French]]  Pastors  requested  me  to  publish 
my  notes  on  the  New  Testament." 

No  person  in  modern  times  can  form  a  just  idea  of  the  viru- 
lence with  which  Amyraut  was  attacked,  by  the  rigid  chiefs 
of  Calvinism,  when  he  began  to  propound  and  explain  the 
doctrines  of  his  deceased  preceptor.  Those  who  did  not  ap- 
prove of  his  hypothesis  were  alarmed  at  it  as  a  novelty,  pai'ticu- 
larly  when  they  saw  Peter  du  Moulin  enter  into  a  contest  with 
him,  for  teaching  doctrines  contrary  to  the  Synod  of  Dort  and 
favouring  Arminianism.*    Not  content  with  defaming  Amyraut 

*  The  intelligent  reader  will  require  no  assurance  from  nie  respecting  this 
fact, — that  the  history  of  these  contests  is,  in  the  perusal,  exceedingly  irksome 
to  a  benevolent  mind.  Yet  irksome  as  such  an  employment  is,  one  cannot 
fail  of  being  occasionally  amused  on  instituting  a  few  comparisons  between 
the  combatants. — The  Remonstrants  had  stated  their  sentiments  at  theSyuod 
of  Dort,  and  they  are  recorded  in  a  former  part  of  this  pamphlet :  D,u  Moulin 
the  quondam  pacificator,  to  whom  an  allusion  is  made  in  page  15i3,  com- 
posed a  refutation,  which  he  entitled  "  The  Anatome  of  Arminianism,"  and 
in  which  he  bestowed  the  most  opprobrious  epithets  on  his  unoB'ending  vic- 
tims. This  was  the  reward  which  the  Armiuians  obtained  for  asserting  the 
Universal  Good-tvill of  God  to  man. — Amyraut  and  his  Cameronists  arose,  and 
taught  the  same  doctrine  in  appearance^— hni  with  such  a  cunning  salvo  in 
favour  of  Calvinism,  as, when  properly  understood,  leaves  that  rigid  system  iu 
the  state  in  which  it  was  from  its  commencement.  They  too  decried  Armi- 
nianism ;  and,  as  a  proof  of  their  predestinarian  orthodoxy  distorted  its  doc- 
trines. Du  Moulin  became  again  a  combatant,  and,  because  his  co-pastors 
would  not  express  their  Calvinism  in  the  very  terms  which  he  employed  he 
became  far  more  furious  against  them  than  against  the  Armiuians. — Du 
Moujlin,  however,  ought  not  to  have  been  thus  severe  against  his  brethren  ; 
for  lie  had,  in  his  Anatome  of  Arminianism,  been  guilty  of  rejorming  "  the 
received  doctrine."  He  thought  that  Calvinism  would  be  rendered  more 
attractive  when  divested  of  the  obnoxious  branch  of  Absolute  Reprobation — 
the  idea  of  which  separation,  Calvin  himself  had  before  very  justly  ridiculed. 
On  this  topic  Du  Moulin  had  used  strong  expressions  :  "  How  abhorrent, "says 
he,  "  is  this  from  the  benignity  and  the  justice  of  God,  to  give  an  infinite  evil  to  a 
creature  on  whom  he  had  bestowed  2l  finite  good, — and  to  create  man  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  destroying  him,  that  he  may  acquire  glory  to  himself  by  such 
destruction!"  For  this  offence  he  was  dreadfully  mal-treated  by  our  cele- 
brated countryman  Dr.  Twisse,  who,  in  his  Vindication  of  the  Grace,  Power _ 
and' Providence  of  God,  reprehends  in  a  most  caustic  style  Du  Moulin's 
sctieme,  and  declares  most  solemnly,  that,  by  it,  "  he  imported  into  the 
*'  Reform-id  Churches  pure  and  unsophisticated  Arminianism."  Heavier 
charges  than  these  are  urged  against  him  in  eight  chapters  ;  beside  wliich  he 
receives  occasional  flagellation  in  common  with  others,  whom  the  old  Doctor 
attacks  for  the  yearning  of  their  natural  aflections. — Doctor  Twisse  himself 
has  been  blamed  for  some  concessions  which  he  made  to  innovators  in  cer- 
tatfi  parts  of  his  high  Calvinistic  production.  Ent  this  accusation  has  been 
preferred  by  men  who  have  not  carefully  perused  the  doctor's  huge  volume. 
For,  read  in  whatever  part  we  may,  if  we  think  he  has  made  an  important 
concession,  he  will  not  leave  us  lon^  in  doubt,  but  with  a  happy  inconsistency 
will  resume  in  another  shape  what  ne  had  previously  granted. 

Here  then  are  four  kinds  of  professing  Christians :  Those  who  appear  in 
the  eyes  of  the  other  three  the  basest  and  most  ignoble,  receive  in  this  instance 
the  mildest  species  of  correction.  The  petulance  and  visible  irascibility 
gradually  ascend  through  Amyraut  and  Du  Moulin,  till,  like  a  chaplet  of 
ill-scented  flowers,  they  find  a  station,  and  rest  on  the  brow  of  the  renowned 

Dr.  Twisse,  encircling  his  learned  temples.     Palmani  qui  meruit  ferat  ! 

How  weak  and  ignorant  is  human  reason  when  it  begins  to  frame  for  itself 
as  these  quarrelsome  Calvinists  did,  a  system  of  Predestination  which  finds 
no  countenance  in  scripture,  and  concerning  which  they  couid  not  agree 
among  themselves. 


224  API'EKDIX    r. 

and  Mi'letiere,  in  his  book  entitled  Dc  Mosis  Ajwjraldi  Libra 
Judichuu  Da  Moulin   inveighed  against  the  character  of  their 
deceased  preceptor  with  all  the  acrimony  of  an   unregenerate 
spirit,  a  th  )ugh   Cameron  had  once  been  his  intimate  friend. 
The  following  are  a  few  specimens    of  his    objectionable  per- 
foi'manee:    "Cameron  was  never  tired  of  talking:    He  was  an 
i  icessant  chatterer   that  would   have  wearied   even  Bollanus  to 
death.     For  if  he  had  found  a  man  that  would  give  him  undi- 
vided attention,  he  would  prosecute  his  discourse  from  an  early 
hour  in  the  morning  till  late  at  night  without  the  least  inter- 
mission.    When  I  was  at  Paris,  he  frequently  visited  me,  and 
was  always  accompanied   by    Milletiere  his    admirer.     Sitting 
down    by    my   side,  he  generally   comm.enced    a   harangue   of 
infinite  length,  while  I  listened  to  him  in  the  deepest  silence, — 
for  he  could  not  endure  any  one  to  interrupt  him.     When  on 
one  occasion  I  had   ventured  to  speak  a  few  words,  wrinkling 
his    brow  he  exclaimed  with  indignation.  Do  not  give  me  such 
iiikri'uption :  Allow  me  to  speak  !     Yet  he  talked  about  nothing 
except  his  own  words  or  deeds, — Vk'hat  conversations  he   had 
held  at  different  times  with  this  or  that  merchant,  counsellor, 
or  divine, — how  he  composed  a  copy  of  verses  iarpromplu  after 
having  left  one  of  them,  and  sent  it  to  him  immediately, — 
then  would  he   repeat  those  verses  from  memory,    to  the  great 
weariness  of  his  auditors."     What  criminality  can  be  attached 
to  all  these  circumstances,  and  to  fifty  others  still  more  minute, 
which  Du  Moulin  relates  ?     Nothing  is  more  natural  than  for 
a  learned  man,   after  being  secluded  from  society  for  weeks 
tosrether,  to  disclose  his  mental  stores  to  the   first  person  with 
whom  he  meets,  and  whom  he  considers  to  be  possessed  of 
sufficient  sense  to  appreciate  the  value  of  such  a  communication. 
The  want  of  modesty  is  but  in  appearance,  and  the  egotism  is 
only  temporary  ;  yet  these  healthful  overflowings  of  genius  are 
intellectual    treats,  which  no   man    of  letters   would  willingly 
forego. — But  Du  Moulin  had   more  serious  charges  to  produce  : 
"  Cameron  was  a  man  of  a  restless  disposition  ;  and  was  always 
revolving  in  his  mind  and  talking  about  some  novelty.     Among 
his  friends,  of  whom  I  v/as  one,  he  did  not  conceal,  that  there 
were  many  things  in  our  \jthe  Calvinistic'2  religion  which  he  wished 
to  see  changed. — He  made  a  similar   confession  in  a  letter  to 
Lewis  Cappel,  in  which  he  says :    /  have  met  with  many  things 
which  I  have  no  wish  to  disclose,  and  which  the  state  of  the  times 
does  not  allow  me  to  commit  to  paper."     He  then  gives  an  extract 
from  a  letter,  which  a  London  Calvinist  sent  to  a  French  Di- 
vine at  Nerac,  and  in  vifhich,  having  related  that  he  had  seen 
Cameron  pass  through  the  Metropolis,    he  subjoins,  *'  He  is  a 
man  of  profound  melancholy,  and  one  that  would  be  capable  of 
defending   a    heresy."     This    was    the  grievance    of  which    Du 
Moulin  had  the  greatest  reason  to  complain  :     He  thought  that 


APPENDIX    C.  225 

no  man,  after  himself,  ought  to  innovate  on  Calvinism,  in 
order  to  accommodate  it  to  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  or 
to  the  increasing  knowledge  and  liberality  of  the  age.  Cameron 
had  been  prematurely  removed  to  a  better  world,  without  in- 
structing mankind  in  all  the  amenities  of  his  system  ;  but  his 
disciples  Amyraut  and  Milletiere  had,  in  different  ways,  di- 
vulged them ;  and  they  had  been  embraced  by  many  warm 
Calvinists  as  the  best  and  most  plausible  antidote  to  Arminianism, 
"which  taught  men  to  consider  God  as  a  Being  of  infinite  ve- 
racity,— an  attribute  of  Divinity  that  seems  to  have  been 
overlooked  by  many  of  the  Cameronists. 

To  shew  that  all  the  colours  which  he  had  displayed  were 
intended  only  for  a  lure  to  the  unwary,  Amyraut  published  a 
work  entitled  A  Specimen  of  the  Doctrine  of  Calvin,  in  which  he 
proved  that  Calvin  himself  maintained  Universal  Grace  ! 
Atthe  National  Synod  of  Alen^on,  in  l637,  he  was  attacked 
by  Du  Moulin  and  the  unruly  men  of  that  party  ;  but  Amyraut 
explained  his  doctrine  and  defended  himself  with  so  much 
ability,  that  he  was  honourably  acquitted,  and  silence  was 
imposed  on  both  sides  with  regard  to  the  further  discussion  of 
these  questions.  At  a  subsequent  Synod,  a  complaint  was 
preferred  against  him  for  not  having  observed  this  silence  ;  but 
he  complained,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  had  not  been  observed 
by  his  opponents.  The  orders  for  silence  were  re-iterated ; 
yet  Amyraut  was  allowed  to  answer  some  foreigners  that  had 
written  against  his  system.  At  the  National  Synod  of  Charen- 
ton,  in  1645,  he  was  employed  by  that  assembly  to  reclaim 
Milletiei'e  from  his  errors.  For  several  days  they  conferred 
together,  but  could  not  come  to  an  amicable  conclusion.  Amy- 
raut was  a  man  of  great  eloquence  and  discretion ;  and  the 
loyally  which  he  inherited  f.om  Cameron  was  of  the  greatest 
benefit  at  that  period  to  the  French  Protestants.  The  Court  of 
Fi'ance  found  Amyraut  to  be  a  person  of  integrity  upon  whose 
allegiance  some  reliance  might  be  placed;  and  he  was  accord- 
ingly treated  with  much  distinction  both  by  Cardinal  Richelieu 
and  Cardinal  Mazarine,  and  others  of  the  illustrious  among  his 
countrymen  who  were  of  the  Romish  Communion.  He  fought 
his  theological  battles  with  great  spirit  and  success.  Caraeronism, 
as  interpreted  by  Amyraut,  soon  obtained  the  conquest  over  all 
its  opposers  in  France  and  the  neighbouring  States.*  Indeed, 
the  sect  of  the  Universalists,  or  Cameronists,  prevailed  to  a  far 
greater  extent  among  the  Calvinists  on  the  continent,  than  did 

*  "  For  the  sentiments  of  Amyraut  were  not  only  received  in  all  the  Univer- 
sities of  the  Hugoiiots  in  France,  and  adopted  by  Divines  of  the  hiifhest  note 
in  that  nation,  but  also  spread  theiii^ehes  as  far  as  (ieueva,  and  were 
afterwards  disseminated  by  the  French  Protestants,  who  tied  from  the  rage 
of  persecution,  through  all  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Europe.  And  they 
now  are  so  sjenerally  received,  that  few  have  the  courage  to  oppose  or  decry 
them." — MbsUEiiM. 


226  APPENDIX    C. 

the  kindred  sect  of  Baxterians  in  England.  It  is  to  this  pleasing 
state  of  theological  affciirs  to  which  Poeleliburgh  alluded  in  l659, 
when  he  said :  "In  this  age,  after  that  unbridled  passion  for 
contending  has  subsided  which  usually  transports  into  opposition 
even  the  most  excellent  men,  by  degrees  the  great  mass  [[of 
professing  Christians^  acquiesce  in  this  opinion  of  ours  on  Pre* 
destination,  or  in  one  equally  moderate." — Bayle  refers  to  the 
same  peaceful  aera,  when,  on  recording  the  wish  of  several 
members  of  the  Synod  of  Alen^on  to  depose  Amyraut,  he  adds  : 
"  If  these  men  had  lived  30  or  40  years  longer,  I  do  not  com- 
prehend how  they  could  have  shewn  their  faces :  For  the  doc- 
trine, which,  in  their  opinion,  deserved  the  most  thundering 
anathemas,  was  at  length  embraced  by  the  greatest  men  that 
served  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France, — M.  Mestrezat,  Blon- 
del,  Daille,  Claude,  &c.  The  Particularists  were  forced  to 
acknowledge  as  their  brethren,  and  as  faithful  Ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  those  who  had  maintained  the  doctrine  of  Universal 
Grace.  The  ministers,  who  took  shelter  in  Holland  and  signed 
a  Formulary  at  the  Synod  of  Rotterdam,  in  16"86,  were  not 
compelled  to  make  any  declaration  that  seemed  to  strike  at  the 
system  of  Amyraut." 

On  the  progress  and  defect*  of  Cameronism,  several  inter- 
esting notices  occur  in  the  letters  of  Grotius.  On  the  29th  of 
Dec.  16'J6,  he  writes  thus  to  his  brother:  "  It  is  now  a  year 
and  upwards  since  Milletiere,  who  was  formerly  the  great 
champion  of  the  Rochelle  party  and  the  opponent  of  Tilenus, 
published  a  book  in  the  French  language  which  relates  to  the 
union  of  the  Roman  Catholics  with  the  Refoi'med  :  But  what  his 
design  may  be,  I  cannot  tell.     Some  persons  say,  '  that  being 

*  a  man  who  possesses  much  self-complacency,  of  which  he 
^  gives  many  tokens,  he  is  desirous  of  obtaining  glory  by  a 

*  great  undertaking.'     Others  say,  '  that,  being  in  a  state  of 

*  poverty,  he  is  supported  by  the  kindness  of  the  Cardinal 
'  [[Richelieu],  for  whom  he  exerts  himself,  and   to  whom   he 

*  dedicates  his  labours.'  But  those  who  have  a  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  man,  give  a  milder  interpretation  to  his  de- 
sign, and  say,  *  that,  his  spirit  having  been  humbled  by  adver- 
'  sity,  he  had  turned  away  his  mind  from  factious  and  warlike 

*  counsels  to  peaceful  desires.'  Salmasius  is  one  of  his  friends, 
and  has  no  bad  opinion  of  the  man.  It  is  now  some  months 
since  he  published  a  book  in  Latin,  in  which  he  explains  those 
things  which  he  had  formerly  declared  with  some  degree  of 
obscurity,  and  yet  not  without  some  reservations,  especially  in 
that  part  in  which  he  treats  about  the  Ecclesiastical  Supremacy 
and  the  Eucharist.  Various  have  been  the  judgments  formed 
by  those  Avho  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  by 
those  who  are  stern  followers  of  Calvin,  and  by  some  of  the 
most  moderate  in  each  of  the  two  parties.    Du  Moulin  has 


APPENDIX    C.  227 

entertained  the  copy  of  the  book  which  was  sent  to  him,  with 
a  severe  answer  that  has  been  long  expected,  as  both  he  and 
Rivet  acted  towards  the  former  production.  Milletiere  has  written 
a  tolerably  smart  reply  to  Du  Moulin,  because  it  is  in  the 
French  language,  of  which  he  has  a  better  knowledge,  and  has 
said  some  things  that  are  not  inapplicable  to  Du  Moulin.  In 
his  Latin  book,  among  other  things  on  which  he  treats,  at  great 
length  and  with  much  plainness,  is  Cameron's  opinion  concern- 
ing Predestination  and  Grace:  Of  that  opinion  he  so  far 
approves  as  to  amend  it ;  and  says,  it  is  agreeable  to  that  will 
of  God  concerning  the  salvation  of  all  men  which  Camei'on 
acknowledges, — that  there  might  he  sorriething  in  those  mho  are 
converted,  which  it  was  possible  for  them  to  avoid.  Yet  he  does 
not  wish  to  appear  as  an  approver  of  the  Arminians  ;  for  he 
says,  that  '  Camero  was  the  only  man  who  awed  them  into 
'silence:  After  the  chief  man  of  that  tribe  had  been  subdued, 
'  (he  means  Tilenus,)  no  person  durst  rise  up  and  shew  him- 

*  self  except  one  individual  under  a  feigned  name,  who  is  un- 

*  derstood  to  be  Episcopius.' — Daille  has  opposed  Milletiere's 
last  production  in  an  answer  composed  in  purer  Latin  than  that 
of  his  adversary,  and  which  is  not  deficient  in  tartness  and 
acrimony.  I  am  surprised  at  his  extolling  the  decrees  of  the 
Synod  of  Dort :  Yet,  with  wonderful  evasions  and  inconsisten- 
cies, he  wishes  to  make  those  decrees  coincide  with  God's  will 
to  save  all  men. 

"  This  is,  I  think,  a  proper  occasion  for  the  men  who  are 
learned  in  those  parts  to  consider,  if  they  cannot  elicit  some 
portion  of  light  from  this  society  of  men  who  are  sufficiently 
hardy.  I  undertook  to  transmit  to  Episcopius,  some  time  ago, 
what  Amyraut  and  Testard  had  written  on  this  topic,  both  of 
whom  are  Cameron's  disciples ;  and  I  was  of  opinion,  that  he 
ought  now  to  print,  with  a  few  alterations,  those  arguments 
which  he  formerly  v/rote  while  Cameron  was  living,  in  defence 
of  his  pamphlet,  which  had  been  published  anonymously,  and 
which  after  Cameron's  death  he  had  suppressed,  that  he  might 
not  seem  to  contend  with  a  shadow.  Such  a  publication  is 
required,  principally  for  the  purpose  of  exposing  the  fallacy  of 
that  smooth  varnish,  about  the  immutability  of  the  will  except  so 
far  as  it  is  determined  hij  the  understanding,  by  which  God  is 
undoubtedly  constituted  the  inevitable  cause  of  all  offences,  and 
even  of  the  first :  Some  persons  will  probably  then  be  enabled 
clearly  to  see  through  this  argument,  Avhich  is  a  matter  not  so  ob- 
scure in  itself,  as  through  the  fault  of  those  who  enter  into  its 
discussion.  Milletiere  has  waited  upon  the  English  ambassador 
extraordinary.  He  has  not  seen  me,  because  I  think  he  is  afraid 
of  the  old  offence,  which  I  had  obliterated  from  my  recollection  : 
For  I  am  now  daily  intent  upon  this  object — to  dismiss  all  pri- 
vate thoughts  from  my  mind  and  to  devote  my  whole  attention 


228  ArpKNDix    c. 

to  the  public.  By  the  pvhlic,  I  mean,  *  the  general  good  of  the 
Christian  world.' — It  seems  necessary  to  demonstrate,  that  the 
serious  ivUl  of  God  concerninrr  the  salvation  of  all  men,  awAthe 
pains  of  death  which  Christ  endured  for  all  men,  are  inconsistent 
Avith  his  absolute  ?inll  of  not  alJhrding  to  the  greater  part  (f  them 
such  means  as  are  indispensabltj  necessary  to  their  salvation.  On 
this  subject,  the  distinction  which  is  adopted  of  the  will  of 
precept,  and  the  will  of  complacenci/,  is  a  vain  one.  It  will  be 
likewise  needful  to  answer  those  arj^uments  by  which  Cameron 
wished  to  establish  the  dependence  of  the  will  in  ever?/  respect  upon 
the  understanding,  and  to  vindicate  the  arguments  adduced  to 
the  contrary. — I  perceive  Milletiere's  assertions  about  the  liberty 
of  man  in  the  work  of  conversion,  differ  very  little  from  those  of 
many  Protestants  in  Germany  :  A  foolish  species  of  evasion, 
that  A  MORAL  IMPOSSIBILITY,  although  it  be  attracted  from 
another  quarter,  affords  no  kind  of  excuse  !  May  not  this 
impossibility  be  a  physical  one,  particularly  in  infants? — It  will 
be  requisite  to  shew,  that  Daille  and  his  associates  are  the  men 
who  deceive  their  readers  by  words  which  express  one  thing 
but  signify  another,  and  who  ascribe  to  God  a  similar  course 
of  conduct." 

In  March,  l637,  Grotius  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
his  brother:  "  Within  these  few  days,  I  have  seen  a  book  by 
Du  Moulin  which  is  not  yet  published,  and  in  which  he  se- 
verely censures  the  opinions  of  Testard  and  Amyraut.  His 
discussion  of  this  subject  is  worthy  of  perusal.  I  do  not  blame 
him,  v/hen   he   says,    '  Arminius   possessed   a   more  vigorous 

*  judgment  than  Cameron  and  his  followers  :  Arminius  therefore 

*  uttered  such  truths  as  agreed  perfectly  with   each  other,  and 

*  as  were  consistent  v/ith  the  principles  which  he  had  once  laid 
'  down ;  while  Cameron  and  his  followers  utter  doctrines  that 

*  are  mutually  conflicting.      For    the  man  who   believes    that 

*  God  seriously  desires  the  salvation  of  every  man,  ought  likewise 

*  to  pcknoAvledge  that  God  bestows  gifts  by  which  man  may  con- 

*  quer  the  impossibility  of  converting  himself:  He  declares  that  it 

*  is  of  no  consequence  whether  this  impossibility  be  called  natural 
'  or  moral,  while  the  force  remains  the  same.' — He  frequently 
employs  very  bitter  expressions  against  those  brethren  of  his : 
For,  he  asserts,  '  there  are  several  of  their  positions  which  he 
'  could   not   read   without   horror ;    that,    through  them,    the 

*  foundations  of  true  piety  are  overthrown,  and  the  Christian 
'  Religion  turned  into  smoke  ;  that  not  a  grain  of  reason  can 
'  be  found  in  some  of  their  expressions;  and  that  they  attribute 

*  to  God  injustice,  cruelty,  and  misanthropy.' 

"  The  principal  reason  of  this  great  wrath,  on  the  part  of  Du 
Moulin,  is  because  he  perceives  their  doctrines  disannul  a  great 
part  of  the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort;  of  which  he,  although 
absent,  was  one  of  the  chief  fabricators  and  the  sole  cause  why 


APPICNDIX      C.  221> 

that  Synod  []and  its  conclusions^  were  approved  in  France 
without  examination.  He  denies,  that  '  any  of  God's  decrees 
'  are  conditional ;  he  is  on  this  account  desirous,  that  both  the 
'  promises  and  the  precepts  should   be  without  decrees  of  per- 

*  forming  or  of  affording  strength.     He  accuses  these  men,  and 

*  not  without  good  reason,  for  denying  that  Adam  was  endued 
'  with  power  or  strength,  by  the  aid  of  which  it  was  possible 

*  for  him  to  avoid  temptation ;  and  he  shews,  to  some  purpose, 

*  that  the  impossibility,  which  they  call  moral,  is  in  reality, 
'  according  to  their  own  positions,  a  natural  impossibility.  ,  Uni- 

*  versa.1  Grace,  as  expounded  by  Arminius,  is  of  some  utility ; 
'  but,  when  explained  by  tiiem,  it  is  totally  useless.' — These 
are  extracts  which  I  have  made  in  the  course  of  reading  the 
book,  and  of  which  I  accounted  it  necessary  to  certify  you  : 
Mercier  is  now  transcribing  the  vrork,  that  he  may  forward 
a  copy  to  Episcopius.  Du  Moulin  wrote  it  after  he  had 
been  prohibited,  by  the  Rectors  of  the  University  of  Sedan, 
from  writing  any  thing  on  that  subject.  He  consented  to  be 
silent  in  future  ;  and  he  now  declares,  that  he  has  not  composed 
this  book  with  the  design  of  publishing  it,  but  in  order  to  ren- 
der the  adjudication  of  this  matter  more  easy  in  the  National 
Synod  which  is  expected.  Testard  complains,  that,  since  Da 
Moulin  began  to  write  against  him.  Rivet  has  also  abandoned 
the  sentiment  which  he  formerly  entertained — that  Ihis  diversitif 
of  opinions  miglit  be  ioleratecl.  Yet  the  Senators  of  the  Reformed 
Religion  assure  me,  that  they  will  endeavour  to  have  nothing 
fixed,  but  to  allow  a  liberty  of  thinking,  and  to  repress  among 
the  people  this  licentiousness  of  disputing." 

In  a  subsequent  letter,  written  on  the  30th  of  April,  he  says: 
"  A  Rector  of  the  University  of  Sedan  called  upon  me  yesterday, 
who  occasionally  officiates  as  a  minister,  when  a  supply  is 
required.  He  states  it  as  his  opinion,  that  all  those  among  the 
Reformed  who  are  eminent  for  acuteness,  will  come  over  to  the 
sentiments  of  Arminius;  but  that  the  followers  of  Cameron  will 
perceive  themselves  compelled  to  take  refuge  there,  if  they  wish 
to  speak  agreeably  to  their  own  positions,  and  not  to  destroy 
what  they  have  themselves  erected." 

On  the  8th  of  July,  he  writes  thus :  "  No  messenger  offers 
himself,  or  I  would  send  you  Milletiere's  new  book,  in  which 
he  boldly  replies  to  Daille,  and  openly  defends  the  opinion 
concerning  Justification  which  is  maintained  by  the  Remon- 
strants, and  indeed  by  all  the  Ancients.  Milletiere  frequently 
comes  to  me,  and  talks  in  a  moderate  and  polite  manner  about 
various  controversies.  How  greatly  changed  from  the  Hector 
which  he  once  was!" 

On  the  IStb  of  July,  Grotius  again  writes:  "  In  the  Synod 
of  Alen9on,  Testard  and  Amyraut  were  heard,  but  only  before 


230  APPENDIX    C. 

a  committee,  lest  the  larger  assembly  should  be  divided  into 
parties.  Both  of  them  explained  tlieir  sentiments,  and  purged 
themselves  from  the  stain  of  Arminianism :  They  were  then 
slightly  admonished,  not  to  utter  before  the  people  certain  un- 
necessary questions.  Thus  was  the  matter  passed  over,  with- 
out any  more  rigid  censure  agsinst  them  or  wounding  of  their 
consciences." 

He  gives  his  brother  a  more  complete  account  on  the  8th  of 
August:  "  In  the  Synod  of  Alencon,  such  was  the  intemperate 
fury  of  certain  of  Du  Moulin'spartizans,  that  they  wished  all  the 
men  who  were  suspected  of  Cameronism  to  be  ejected  from  their 
situations,  and  particularly  the  whole  of  the  ministers  that  com- 
posed the  Paris  consistory,  on  account  of  their  dubious  purity. 
It  appeared,  that  a  great  part  of  the  pastors  then  began  to 
exhibit  a  decided  leaning  towards  the  sentiments  of  Cameron. 
Du  Moulin  was  greatly  ridiculed  for  having  said,  '  They  who 
'  ascribe  to  God  a  desire  to  save  all  men,  ascribe  to  him  human 

*  affections/  Amyraut  produced  five  of  Du  Moulin's  sermons, 
in  which  he  had  uttered  the  very  same  sentiment,  [^that  God 
willed  the  salvation  of  all  men^  :  He  jocosely  added,  '  that  he 
'  himself  deserved  to  be  pardoned  though  he  had  fallen  into 
'  such  an  erro?;  because  he  had  not  perceived  ihe  dreadful  conse- 
'  quc7icef!  which  followed  !  But  Du  Moulin,  who  was  very  certain, 
'  that  such  frightful  consequences  ensued  from  that  position, 
'  and  yet  in  sight  of  them    had  spoken  exactly  in   the    same 

*  manner,  had  thus  become  at  once  a  critic   upon  himself  and 

*  a  teacher  of  noxious  doctrines.' — The  warmth  of  Rivet  *  was 
likewise  displeasing  to  many  of  the  members  :  For  after  acquit- 
ting Amyraut  and  Testard  by  letter  from  all  the  charges  which 
Du  Moulin  had  preferred  against  them,  with  the  exception  of 
two  articles  which  were  by  no  means  of  a  capital  nature,  he  had 
notwithstanding  inquisitively  asked  the  opinion  of  all  the  Uni- 
versities, Schools,  Churches,  and  principal  persons  in  the 
United  Provinces,  concerning  Amyraut  and  Testard :  But 
several  of  the  answers  vihich  he  received,  were  more  temperate 
than  he  wished.     For  they  say,  he  does  not  perfectly  under- 

*  Rivet  was  Du  Moulia's  brother-in-law  ;  and,  according  to  the  laudable 
rules  of  affinity,  these  two  relations  seemed  to  have  covenanted  ton^ether  to 
hold  similar  opinions,  and  to  unite  their  polemic  forces,  which  were  emi- 
nently diversified  and  brawling,  against  all  opposcrs.  This  explanatioH 
accounts  for  the  rancour  which  Rivet  exhibited  towards  Grotius,  against 
whose  character  he  invented  all  kinds  of  ialsehoods  for  many  years.  He,  at 
length,  accused  him  of  Socinianism.  Our  countryman,  the  Rev.  Sampson 
Johnson,  was  on  terms  of  great  intimacy  with  Grotius,  and  the  latter  grate- 
fully acknowledges  the  benefit  which  he  had  derived  from  his  friend's 
"  very  learned  and  pious  discourses,"  while  at  Hamburgh.  At  the  close 
of  a  letter,  which  Mr.  Johnson  addressed  in  16.i5  to  Dr.  Haniniond,  be  says, 
"  For  the  Socinian  opinion,  1  know  he  [Grotius]  was  free;  and  it  was 
</te  ;«fl//'c^  oy/^/i'p^  to  bring  him  in  ((uestion,  as  he  did  many  otliers,  out  of 
pride  and  siipercilium,  unfitting  such  a  professor." 


APPENDIX    0.  231 

stand  the  French  language,  and  is  therefore  disqualified  from 
passing  a  clear  and  unbiassed  judgment.  You  can  form  no 
conception  how  the  followers  of  Cameron  celebrate  their 
triumph." 

In  a  subsequent  letter,  (22d  Aug.j  he  says:  ''  Since  I  last 
wrote  to  you,  I  have  seen  the  Acts  of  the  Synod  of  Alen^on, 
and  their  contents  in  reference  to  Testard  and  Amyraut.  Every 
thing  was  transacted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  them  to 
repeat  their  approbation  of  the  Synod  of  Alez  and  Charenton, 
the  mere  echoes  of  that  of  Dort,  |^the  Canons  of  which]]  they 
were  prepared  to  sign  with  their  blood,"  &c. 

Thus,  it  appears,  that  many  of  these  apparently  liberal 
Frenchmen  who  espoused  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Grace, 
were  at  length  dragooned,  by  the  unceasing  importunity  of  their 
Calvinistical  brethren,  into  an  unqualified  approbation  of  the 
doctrinal  vagaries  of  the  Dort  Synodists  ;  and,  for  a  long  time 
afterwards,  it  was  an  important  part  of  their  ingenious  occu- 
pation to  demonstrate  the  affinity  which  subsisted  between  the 
principles  of  Universal  and  Restricted  Grace, — an  affinity 
which  every  man  of  common  understanding  will  own  to  have 
no  existence  in  the  nature  of  the  things  predicated,  but  which 
was  attempted  to  be  instituted  by  means  of  the  most  refined 
Jesuitical  equivocations  that  the  mind  of  man  ever  invented. 
The  following  brief  character  of  the  Frenchmen,  as  delineated 
by  the  able  hand  of  Grotius,  is  equally  applicable  to  Richard  Bax- 
ter, who,  on  this  point,  was  one  of  the  warmest  of  Cameron's  disci- 
ples :  "  Testard  and  Amyraut  do  nothing  more  than  varnish  over 
had  doctrines  with  foil-  tvords  ;  and  they  tahe  away  Avith  the  one  \ 
hand  whatever  they  have  been  compelled  by  the  light  of  the  scrip-  / 
tures  to  deliver  with  the  other." — Some  of  them  were  undoubtedly  J 
npright  and  pious  individuals,  and  appear  to  have  been  at  heart 
real  Arminians.*  But  such  was  the  overwhelming  influence  of  the 
specious  Calvinism  which  had  been  fabricated  at  Dort,  that  no 
doctrines  could  betolei'ated  in  the  French  Churches  except  those 
which  could  plausibly  trace  their  legal  descent  from  that  prolific 
Synodical  parent.  As  soon  as  the  leaders  of  Cameron's  party, 
who  may  be  safely  complimented  for  Gallic  astuteness,  but  not 
for  Christian  sincerittj,  had  sacrificed  the  great  and  immoveable 
principles  on  which  the  more  moderate  among  them  wished  to 

*  Mosheim  styles  Louis  Le  Blanc  and  Claude  Pajon,  "  the  most  eminent 
of  the  reconcilinif  Divines  in  the  French  Protestant  Church." 

On  this  clause,  Dr.  Maclaine,  his  learned  Commentator,  has  introduced 
the  following  remark  :  "  It  is  difficult  to  conceive,  what  could  engage  Dr. 
Mosheim  to  ])lace  Pajon  in  the  class  of  those  who  exjdained  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  diminish  the  difference  between  the 
doctrine  of  the  Reformed  and  the  Romish  Churches.  Pajon  was,  indeed,  a 
moderate  Divine,  and  leaned  somew/tat  towards  the  Anninian  systein  ;  and 
this  propensity  was  not  uncominnn  among  the  French  Protestants.  But  few 
Doctors  of  this  time  wrote  with  more  learning,  zeal,  and  judgment  against 
Popery,  than  Claude  Pajon." 


232  APPENDIX    C. 

see  tlieir  system  founded,  and  wlien  they  bad  established  the 
much-desired  affinity  between  their  doctrines  and  those  of  the 
Dort  Synodists,  all  further  ecclesiastical  enmity  ceased.  To 
swear  eternal  hatred  against  the  scriptural  doctrines  of  Armi- 
nius,  was  considered  a  test  in  every  respect  adequate  to  the 
establishment  of  a  man's  character  for  Calvinian  orthodoxy ; 
and  the  Cantieronists  were  not  at  all  backward  in  expressing 
their  abhorrence  of  every  subsequent  movement  which  beto- 
kened a  closer  approximation  to  the  doctrin is  of  General  Re- 
demption. They  commenced  an  attack  upon  Arminianism  ;  but 
their  polemical  attempts  in  that  direction  were  viewed  by  all 
parties  as  a  kind  of  convenient  ruse  chi  guerre,  which  served  to 
ward  olTfrom  themselves  the  very  semblance  of  suspicion.* 

In  this  vapid  and  inefficient  manner  terminated  the  struggle, 
between  the  high  Calvinists  and  those  who  had  at  first  evinced 
a  decided  bearing  towards  the  tenets  of  the  Dutch  Remon- 

*  Stephen  de  Courcelles,  as  Reformed  minister  at  Amiens  in  Picardy, 
had,  at  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Charenton,  in  lfi'2l,  opposed  the  imposition 
of  the  Canons  of  Dort  on  the  French  Clergjy,  as  a  rule  of  faith,  and  found 
many  of  his  hrethren  in  the  ministry  ready  to  give  support  to  his  opposition. 
He  succeeded  I'jpiscopius  in  the  Divinity  Professorship  at  Amslerdam,  in 
1643  ;  and  two  years  afterwards  published  the  following  brief  account  of  one 
of  Amyraut's  recent  productions,  at  the  commencement  of  his  own  Reply 
to  it : 

"  When  the  greatest  part  of  the  preceding  Examination  of  the  Theses  of 
Gotnarush?n\  been  printed  off  under  my  superintendence,  a  friend  presciited 
me  very  opportunely  with  Four  Theological  Disse^-tations  by  Moses  Amiiriiiit, 
Professor  of  Divinity  ul  Sdumur.  The  Second  of  them  is  entitled,  The 
Right  and  Jurisdictio7i  which  God  possesses  over  his  Creatures,  and  is  op- 
posed to  my  opinion  and  to  that  of  Arminius  :  After  I  had  perused  it  with 
.some  avidity,  I  met  with  a  scanty  return  for  my  labour  ;  on  the  contrary, 
J  discovered,  throughout  the  production  several  foul  errors.  But  that  which 
most  displeased  nie,  was,  the  violent  munner  in  which  the  man  is  borne 
along  by  his  passions,  being  seized  with  an  excessive  propensity  for  contra- 
diction, and  even  to  cavil  at  those  things  which  are  truths  the  most  mani- 
fest. On  this  account,  I  thought  something  ought  instantly  to  be  written 
in  reply. 

"  A  Treatise  on  Predestination,  which  Amyraut  published  in  the  French 
language  ten  j'ears  ago,  was  the  original  cause  of  this  dispute.  For  in  that 
publication  he  contends,  that  Christ  suffered  deatii  e()ually  for  all  men, 
and  inculcates  some  other  doctrines  which  seem  to  be  nearly  allied  to  the 
sentiment  of  the  Remonstrants.  This  circumstance  gave  such  great  um- 
brage to  Peter  du  Moulin,  Professor  of 'llieology  in  the  University  of  Sedan, 
that  he  undertook  the  task  of  examining  Amyraut's  Treatise  in  a  separate 
pamphlet.  Having  shortly  afterwards  obtained  a  copy  of  Dn  Moulin's 
Examination,  1  publicly,  yet  anonymously,  delivered  vny  Senfitnents  on 
the  dogmas  in  controversy  between  them  ;  and  in  that  small  work  1 
shewed  myself  addicted  to  neither  of  the  parties,  hut  fr«-ely  gave  my 
suffrage  first  to  the  one  and  then  to  the  other.  But  this  I  did  in  such  a  man- 
ner, as  more  frequently  to  be  opposed  to  Du  Moulin  than  to  Amyraut,  the 
latter  of  whom  had  in  my  estimation  the  better  cause.  But  since  Du  Mou- 
lin was  wishful  to  leave  nothing  undiscussed  in  the  book  of  his  adversary, 
■while  indulging  this  disposition  he  not  only  car[)ed  at  those  expressions 
which  ajjproached  in  the  slightest  degree  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Remon- 
stiants,  but  likewise  at  those  which  were  at  the  greatest  possible  distance 
froiTithem,  and  which  were  quite  of  an  opposite  character.  Among  other 
instances   of  this    kind,    the    following   occurs   in   the   Fourth  Chapter   of 


APPKN'DIX    C.  233 

strants ;  and  though  the  hopes  of  all  lovers  of  consistency  were 
frustnited  in  the  issue,  yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  some 
good  effects  ensued  from  the  controversy  :  These  beneficial 
results  are  judiciously  summed  up  in  the  followmg  liberal  re- 
marks which  occur  in  one  of  Professor  Poelenburgh's  letters, 
dated  the  19th  of  Oct.  1655,  and  which  prove  that  the  writer 
was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  genius  of  Cameronism  : 

"  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  the 
Popish  writers,  who  much  too  frequently  deviate  from  the 
scriptures,  by  ascribing  too  great  an  authority  to  traditions, 
occasionally  evince  a  far  better  knowledge  of  Divine  things, 
than  do  our  Calvinists  who  acknowledge  the  scriptures  as  the 
sole  rule  of  their  faith.     What  can  be  more  evident  than  this 

Amyraut's  Treatise  :  "  If  immediately  after  the  creation  of  man,  God  had 
'  pliitiged   hira  into  the  bottomless  infernal  abyss,  without  having  regard 


either  to  his  jjood  or  to   his  evil  actions,  l)ut   only  for  the  purpose  of  dis 

,  it  was  maa's  duty  to  acquiesce 
n  such  severity  without  au\'  unwillingness  ;  because  he  is  the  creature  of 


'  playing  his  supreme  right  over  his  creatures,  it  was  maa's  duty  to  acquiesce 


'  his  Creator  according  to  an  absolute  and  indefinite  right.' — To  this  reason- 
ing Du  Moulin  replies  :  *  The  absolute  right  of  the  Creator  does  not  extend 
'  itself  to  unjust  things,  nor  can  He  employ  it  in  hating  his  own  work,  or 
'a  just  and  innocent  creature.  For,  in  addition  to  the  injustice  of  such  a 
'  punishment,  God  would  by  this  means  render  man  wicked,  and  would 
'  excite  him  to  hatred  and  murmuring  against  him  :  Because  it  is  impossible 
'  for  man  to  feel  any  other  disposition  towards  God,  of  whose  love  towards 
'  him  he  would  perceive   no  fruit  so  long  as  he  was  hated  by  God  and  eter  ■ 

*  nally  tormented.'  " 

Courcelles  then  details  his  own  remarks  on  these  two  contradictory  state- 
ments, and  adds  :  "  I  afterwards  retorted  Du  Moulin's  [generalj  argu- 
ments upon  himself,  and  the  other  jiatrons  of  Absolute  Reprobation,  but 
principally  upon  those  who  are  styled  Supra-lapsarknix  ;  and  I  demonstrated, 
that  Amyraut's  opinion  was  more  worthy  of  being  tolerated  than  that  which 
they  espoused.     For  they  teach,  '  that  God,  through  the  pure  good-pleasure 

*  of  his  will,  and  without  any  consideration  of  sin  as  the  moving  cause,  for 
'  afiCSst  without  any  regartf  to  what  deserves  really  to  be  called  sin,)  has 
'  destined  and  created  by  far  the  greatest  portion  uf  mankind  for  eternal 
'  torments."  What  they  without  any  obscurity  thus  ascribe  to  God,  is  said 
by-Armyraut  ti>  be  only  possible  for  God  to  do;  but  he  plainlj'  denies  that  God 
ever  in" reality  acts  in  any  such  manner. 

"  This  is  asnmniary  of  what  1  then  wrote  on  this  topic  ;  and  throughout 
the  whole  discussion  1  conducted  myself  vvith  the  greatest  possible  mode- 
ration towards  Amyraut.  I  was  therefore  much  astonished  when  I  saw 
myself  treated  with  very  great  asperity  in  his  recent  Treatise ;  in  which  he 
not  only  styles  my  small  production  a  virulent  crnnjiosition,  but  he  also  calls 
me  a  calumniator,  and  charges  me  with  petulance  and  other  faults  of  the 
same  nature.  For  after  I  had  defended  him,  in  many  articles  of  doctrine, 
against  Du  Moulin's  accusations,  with  such  fidelity  as  could  not  make  him 
wish  to  have  a  better  advocate  for  his  cause,  it  was  nothing  more  thau 
equitable  that,  if  he  was  unwilling  to  return  me  the  thanks  which  I  had 
deserved,  (which  would  only  have  been  the  act  of  an  ingenuous  mind,)  he 
might  at  least  have  refrained  from  invective  and  reproach.  Was  he  angry, 
because  I  disapproved  of  his  dogmas  in  some  passages,  which  were  in  my 
judgment  not  agreeable  to  truth,  and  because  I  expressed  my  concurrence 
with  Du  xMoulin  when  he  refuted  them  .'  Is  Amyraiitso  angry,"  self-complai- 
sant, and  haughty,  as  not  to  be  able  to  endure  faithful  ailmonitious  .•'  Or, 
rather,  did  he  not  suppose,  that,  17/  treatinif  me  with  contiimely,  he  miiiht 
be  able  to  purge  himself  from  the  suspicion  o/ Akminianism,  which  ho  has 
incurred  among  the  men  with  whom  he  associates  ?" 

Q 


234  APPENDIX    C. 

truth — Christ  died  for  all  men  ?  What  doctrine  is  more  fre- 
quently propounded  in  the  sacred  writings  ?  Yet  this  truth, 
plain  as  it  appears,  is  frittered  away  by  these  brethren  under 
the  veil  of  a  h-ivolous  distinction.  *  But  it  is  a  happy  circum- 
stance, that  many  eminent  men  have  lately  arisen  in  France, 
who,  havinor  imbibed  better  sentiments,  openly  profess  it  to  be 
the  will  of  God  that  all  men  he  saved,  and  assert  that  Christ  shed 
his  blood  Jar  all  men  without  a  single  exception.  On  this  subject 
you  ai*e  accustomed  to  dissent  from  me  in  our  familiar  conversa- 
tions togethei",  when  you  contend,  '  that  from  this  discussion 
'  [^between  the  foUowei-s  of  Cameron  and  those  of  Calvin,^  we 
'  gain  nothing  in  favour  of  the  truth,  because  those  disciples  of 

*  Cameron  openly  differ  from  us  on  other  primary  articles  in  the 
'  controversy, — such  as  tite  Jixed  number  of  those  who  are  abso- 
'  luteli/  predestinated,  the  irresistibility  of  grace,  the  damnation  of 
'  those  who  die  in  infancy,  Sfc.'  This  fact  1  confess  and  lament. 
Yet  they  seem  to  assert  this  last  dogma  with  some  degree  of 
hesitancy ;  and  they  do  not  inaintain  it  on  the  principle  of  their 
belief  of  its  truth,  so  m  uch  as  on  that  of  being  conducted  to  it  by  other 
dogmas  which  require  its  assistance.'^'  But  those  other  dogmas 
will,  I  hope,  on  this  very  account  be  soon  discarded,  because 
such  dreadful  consequences  flow  from  them. 

"  But  it  must  be  granted,  that  at  least  a  gradual  advance  has 
thus  been  made  towards  a  closer  inspection  of  the  truth.  This  is 
sufficiently  apparent  to  me  at  present — (1)  From  the  circum- 
stance of  their  very  accurate  exposition,  according  to  our  senti- 
ments, of  all  those  passages  of  sciipture  by  which  we  contend 
for  Universal  Grace. — (2)  Because,  in  arranging  the  Divine 
Decrees,  they  follow  nearly  the  same  order  as  our  Divines 
have  adopted. — (3)  This  fact  likewise  must  not  be  overlooked 
—their  adversaries  the  Calvinists  openly  contend,  and  press  it 
upon  them  as  a  necessary  consequence,  that,  '  if  they  wish  all 
'  THEIR  SENTIMENTS  or  Writings  to  be  in   complete  harmony, 

*  they  ought  to  entertain  opinions  similar  to  ours  on  the  other 

*  controverted  dogmas.' — (4)  Lastly,  If  we  gain  nothing  else  by 
the  affair,  this  advantage  at  least  will  accrue  to  us — it  will  be 
conceded,  that  respecting  these  and  similar  discrepancies  in  the 
explanation  of  sentiments  and  expositions  of  passages  of  scrip- 
ture,   A    MUTUAL    TOLERATtON    MUST    BE    EXERCISED.       Nay,    if  I 

*  The  distiticliou  to  which  Poeleuburgh  here  alludes,  seems  to  be  that 
mentioned  with  two  (fibers,  in  theprecetiiiiu;exauii!iation  of  Tileiius,  page  44  : 
"  The  word  All  is  to  be  understood,  not  i'or  all  of  every  kind,  but  for  some  feiv 
onbi  of  every  sort  and  nut'ion." 

f  This  clause  contains  a  reason  for  the  retention  of  one-half  of  the  absurd 
contradictions  of  Calvinism  and  Baxleriauisra.  The  followers  of  these  two 
discordant  predestinarian  schemes  propound  some  of  their  dogmas,  noton  the 
pr'n\c\p\e  oi  a  belief  in  t/ieir  truth,  as  sejiarate  projiositii.ns,  but  on  that  of 
tliuir  necessiti/  ns  su/iports  to  otiier  dogmas,  vldch,  ivit/wut  them,  could  not 
he  maiiita'uied.  There  is  abundance  of  materiais,  in  the  private  corre- 
epondciice  of  such  men,  to  prove  this  fact  beyond  all  controversy. 


I 


may  be  allowed  to  jirognosticate  concerning  futurity,  I  would 
say,  *  After  our  adversaries  have  been  taught  a  sufficient  length 
'  of  time  to  bear  in  their  communion  these  learned  Frenchmen, 

*  Christ  the  Prince  of  Peace  will  cause  them  at  length  to  exhibit 
'  a  similar  equanimity   of  disposition    toward  us  who  ask  for 

*  peace  with  importunity.'  " 

Some  of  the  most  glaring  inconsistencies  of  Cameron  or  Bax- 
ter's system  have  been  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  extracts 
from  Grotius.  In  opposition  to  Amyraut's  improved  edition  of 
Cameronism,  Stephen  de  Courcelles  composed  a  treatise  entitled, 
Vindicicc  de  Jure  Dei  in  Crealvras,  to  which  Bishop  V/omack 
adjudges  this  equitable  commendation,  (page  14,)  "  It  is  of 
small  price  and  of  great  profit."  After  premising,  that  Cour- 
celles" opinions  on  some  points  were  neither  soorthodoxnor  evan- 
gelical as  those  of  Arminius,  I  subjoin  the  following  quotation 
from  the  13th  Chapter  of  his  work,  as  an  able  exposure  of 
several  of  the  fallacies  employed  by  the  French  Universalists, 
which  have  been  repeated  by  their  friends  the  Baxterians  in 
England : 

'•'  But  I  hear  Amyraut  replying  thus :  '  The  inconveniences 

*  with  which  you  charge  the  tv/o  preceding  systems  on  the  ob~ 
'J eat  (>f  Reprobation,    |^those  of  the  Supra  and  Sub-lapsarians,]] 

*  do  not  attach  to  me.  For  1  teach,  that  God  seriously  wills 
'  the  salvation  of  all  men  ;  that  Christ  has  endured  the  cursed 

*  death  of  the  cross  for  all  men  equally ;  that  to  all  men  to 
'  whom  the  gospel  is  proclaimed,   a  possibility  is  granted  of 

*  believing  in  Christ,   if  they  will ;  and  that  none,  except  the 

*  finally  impenitent  and  unbelieving,  are  rejected  from  salvation.' 
— These  docti-ines,  I  confess,  have  an  imposing  appearance ; 
and  when  I  peruse  them  in  Amyraut's  book,  I  can  scarcely 
refrain  from  exclaiming,  17iou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of 
God.  My  sole  wish  is,  that  he  would  constantly  persist  in 
them,  and  not  overturn  them  by  doctrines  of  a  contrary  ten- 
dency :  This,  it  appears  to  me,  he  does  when  he  asserts,  *  that 
'Adam  sinned  nccessarilij ;  and  that  from   his  offence  such  a 

*  great  corruption  has  pervaded  all  men,  that  although,  if  they 

*  will,  they  n^.ay  believe  on  Christ  when  preached  to  them,  yet 
'  to  fifill  such  an  act  is  impossible  to  any  one   except  he  be  im- 

*  pel  led  btj  the  unco?iqnerable  force  of  the  Hoh/  Spirit,  which  God 
'  communicates  to  a  certain  small  number  of  elect  persons'  By  such 
a  mode  of  teaching,  that  which  seems  to  be  bestowed  by  one 
hand  is  instantly  withdrawn  by  the  other." 

Courceljes  having  combatted  with  great  ability  Am3'^raut's 
doctri^ie  of  the  necessity  of  Ada^n's  sin,  proceeds  thus  :  "  Since 
therefore,  by  asserting  tlic  necessity  ofthcfrst  sin,  Amyraut  has 
so  shamefully  stumbled  at  the  very  entrance,  it  was  impossible 
for  the  other  doctrines  to  be  immaculate,  which  he  raised  as  a 
superstructure  on   this  bad  foundation.     Of  this  faulty  descrip- 

y2 


236  A-PPKNDIX    C. 

tion  is  that  which  he  holds  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  Re- 
formed,— '  Such  great  corruption  has  flowed  from  this  first  sin 

*  upon  the  whole  of  the  human  race,  that  we  are  all  born  the 
'  slaves  of  sin,  with  propensities   to  evil  and  with  an  inaptitude 

*  to  every  good  thing ;  and  without  special  grace,  which  is  bes- 

*  towed  on  a  few  only  that  are  absoliiteli/  elected,  it  is  as  utter  an 

*  impossibility  for  us  to  free  ourselves  from  this  state  of  bondage, 

*  as  for  an    Ethiopian  to  change  his  skin,  or  a  Leopard  its 

*  spots.' — If  this  dogma  be  once  admitted,  the  benefits  of  Re- 
demption are  converted  into  a  cruel  tragedy,  although  the  Holy 
Scriptures  testify  that  in  those  benefits  God  has  unfolded  all 
the  treasures  of  his  grace  and  mercy.  Tell  me,  wliat  kind  of 
grace  or  mercy  is  this — to  cast  the  whole  of  the  human  race 
into  an  unavoidable  necessity  of  sinning  and  of  perishing,  that 
he  may  liberate  a  few  only  from  such  thraldom  ? 

"  But  Amyraut  teaches,  '  that  Christ  died  for  all  men  equally, 
'  and  that  the  remedy  which  he  has  procured  is  as  extensive  as 
'  the  disease,  according  to  that  expression  of  St.  Paul,  God  hath 
'  concluded  all  in  unbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all.' 
(Rom.  xi,  32.)— If  this  were  really  the  case,  the  absurdity  of 
his  opinion  would  be  somewhat  diminished,  and  he  would  frame 
a  God  not  altogether  merciful,  but  one  less  cruel,  because  those 
■whom  he  had  wounded  he  would  afterwards  heal,  and  those 
whom  he  had  precipitated  into  a  pit  he  would  draw  out  again  : 
But  this  supposition  is  far  from  the  truth."  He  then  shews  the 
incompatibility  of  this  doctrine  with  the  rest  of  Amyraut's 
theory,  and  says:  "  But  I  ask.  Has  not  Christ  paid  a  most 
complete  and  full  satisfaction  to  God  his  Father  for  all  that  was 
due  to  Divine  Justice  on  the  part  of  infants  newly  born? 
They  owe  nothing  except  with  respect  to  the  sin  and  guilt 
which  they  contracted  from  Adam :  For  they  have  not  yet 
committed  any  actual  transgression.  Since  payment  has  been 
made  []on  their  part  through  Christ^,  they  must  be  restored  to 
the  same  state  in  which  Adam  stood  prior  to  his  fall :  But  they 
are  not  thus  restored,  according  to  Amyraut.  God  therefore 
acts  towards  them  with  cruel  injustice  ;  for,  by  such  a  procedure 
as  this,  he  has  not  mercy  upon  all  those  whom  he  has  concluded  in 
unbelief" — After  some  other  reasoning  on  this  subject,  Cour- 
celles  continues  his  refutation  in  the  following  manner: 

"  Besides,  since  faith  is  necessary  in  order  to  make  us  pai'- 
takers  of  the  benefits  which  are  procured  by  the  death  of  Christ, 
and  since  no  one  can  obtain  it  by  his  natural  powers,  (for  it  is 
imparted  through  a  special  gift,  from  which  God  by  an  absolute 
decree  has  excluded  the  greatest  portion  of  mankind,)  of  what 
avail  is  it  that  Christ  has  died  for  those  to  whom  faith  is  denied? 
Does  not  the  affair  revert  to  the  same  point,  as  if  he  had  never 
entertained  an  intention  of  redeeming  them  ? — '  But,'  says  Amy- 
raut, '  all  men  may  believe  in  Christ  if  they  will :  For  he  is 
*  proposed  to  them  in  the  gospel ;  and  they  are  endued  with  an 


APrKNuix  c.  237 

*  nnderstanding  and  a  will,  which  are  the  organs  of  belief     It 

*  remains  therefore  solely  with   themselves  whether  they   will 

*  believe  or  not.' — If  this  be  not  a  mere  trifling  with  words, 
what  is  ?  As  though  that  man  who  has  not  the  ability  even  to 
tvill  any  thing,  may  do  it  if  Jie  will!  And  if  [[according  to 
Amyraut]3  ^^  ^^  impossible  for  him  to  will  any  thing,  it  is  like- 
wise out  of  his  power  to  nill  it ;  much  less  is  it  possible  for  him 
by  an  effort  of  unwillingness  to  implicate  himself  in  some  griev- 
ous crime,  as  they  do  who  refuse  to  believe  the  gospel.'     *  For 

*  he  only  has  the  power  of  nilling  who  also  enjoys  the  power  of 
'  willing,'  as  it  is  stated  in  Digest,  de  Reg.  Juris. — leg.  3.  If 
therefore  the  reprobates  have  not  the  ability  of  willing  to  believe 
in  Christ,  neither  have  they  the  ability  of  being  unnilling ;  and 
on  account  of  such  unwillingness,  [[which  according  to  Amy- 
raut  is  inevitable,]]  they  commit  no  offence.  Their  being  en- 
dowed with  an  understanding  and  a  will,  is  not  of  the  least 
consequence  :  For  since  those  faculties  have  been  corrupted  by 
the  hereditary  sin  which  they  contract  from  Adam,  and  since 
they  are  not  adapted  to  form  that  faith  which  is  required  from 
thejin,  it  cannot  be  imputed  to  them  as  a  crime  that  they  do 
not  believe,  '  But  they  excel  greatly  in  other  matters  which 
'  relate  to  the  present  life.'  Of  what  avail  is  this,  if  they  [[the 
understanding  and  will]]  be  deficient  and  completely  fetteretl 
in  this  the  chief  concern,  in  which  they  are  most  needed  .-*  For 
this  circumstance  was  not  unknown  to  God  when  he  willed, 
that  Christ  should  offer  himself  to  death  for  them  ;  nor  was  it 
unkhown  to  Christ  when  he  yielded  obedience  to  the  will  of  his 
Father.  In  vain  therefore  did  both  of  them  display  such  trans- 
cendent benevolence  towards  these  miserable  creatures,  if  it 
was  not  their  pleasure  to  heal  this  original  malady  and  to 
restore  their  understandings  and  wills  to  that  integrity  which 
was  lost   in  Adam. — '  But,    [[Amyraut  rejoins,]]  it  proceeds  en- 

*  tirely  from  their  own  malignity,  that,  after  God  has  mercifully 
'  bestowed  on  them  these  natural  endowments,  they  do  not  em- 
'  ploy  them  in  believing  on  Christ.'  Let  this  be  conceded  :  Yet 
thejBialignity  here  described  has  been  implanted  in  them  by 
nature ;  and  it  is  more  impracticable  for  them  to  lay  it  aside, 
than  to  divest  themselves  of  their  sex  or  to  carry  a  huge  moun- 
tain upon  their  shoulders. 

"  Amyraut  proceeds  to  say  :     '  But  this  impotency  is  of  two 

*  kinds, — the  one  physical,  the  other  ethical.  The  former  occurs, 

*  when  any  one  is  destitute  of  the  members  or  faculties,  which 
'  are  requisite  for  the  performance  of  any  thing ;  but  the  latter 

*  []a  moral  impotency []]   consists  of  some  depraved  habit,  which 

*  creates  within  a  man  an  inability  to  obey  the  Divine  Will  or 
'  Pleasure.'  And  he  allows,  *  that  an  impotency  of  the  former 
^  description  is  excusable;  and  that  a  man  cannot  justly  be 
■*  required  to  fly  in  the  air  like  the  birds,  or  to  live  in  the  water 

Q  3 


2^S  ArrKXDix  c. 

*  like  fishes.'     But  he  says,  *  the  'atter  species  of  impotency, 

*  wliieh  has  maligiiiiy  united  with  it,  is  completely  inexcusable.' 
But  it  is  absurd,  as  well  as  repugnant  to  the  usage  of  correct 
speaking,  to  call  tl>at  a  moral  impotency  which  cleaves  to  every 
man  from  liis  mother's  womb,  and  which  cannot  be  removed  by 
any  one,  except  by  (xod  alone,  the  Autlior  of  nature.  For 
although  that  malignity  is  opposed  to  natural  innocence,  yet  it 
is  no  less  jj//j/.v/ai/ than  the  blindness  or  the  deafness  which  some 
pei'sons  derive  from  their   birth.     '  But,'  you  will   reply,    '  it 

*  consists  of  morals,  and  every  thing  of  this  description  is  cor- 
'  rectly  called  etliical.'  By  no  means ;  for  that  alone  is  ethicd 
or  moral  which  proceeds  from  a  voluntary  usage  or  habit.  This 
malignity,  by  which  we  are  rendered  incapable  of  willing  to 
believe  in  Christ  when  he  is  announced  to  us,  is  said  to  be  im- 
])lanted  in  us  from  the  biith  in  the  same  manner  as  cruelty  and 
rapacity  are  implanted  in  wolves:  It  is  therefore  evidently 
physical.  But  it  is  in  the  power  of  no  man  to  eradicate  innate 
vices :  For  the  poet  has  properly  asserted, 

Dame  nature  once  expell'd,  you  soon  will  learn 
No  barriers  can  prevent  her  quick  return. 

Yet  those  things  which  are  ethical  and  contracted  by  habit, " 
may  be  set  aside  by  a  contrary  habit.  Nor  do  they  take  away  all 
capability  of  doing  what  is  opposed  to  them  ;  they  only  render 
such  an  adverse  course  extremely  difficult  and  incommodious- 
Wherefore  God  can  with  justice  require,  from  those  who  have 
corrupted  themselves  by  vicious  indulgences,  that  they  desist 
from  such  evil  courses ;  and  tliat,  unless  they  do  desist,  he  will 
punish  them  with  severity.  But  imagine  God  to  have  created 
them  corrupted  individuals,  and  to  have  left  them  in  that 
state, — so  that,  according  to  the  common  expression,  it  is  as 
impossible  for  them  to  amend  themselves  as  to  raise  the  dead, 
■ — He  would  be  acting  unjustly,  were  he  to  issue  a  similar  re- 
quisition, \jvilhout  furnisliing  the  adequate  jmivcrs,  according  to 
Amyraut's  theory,"]  and  were  he,  in  case  of  their  disobedience, 
eternally  to  punish  them  in  the  torments  of  hell. 

"  From  these  premises  it  follows,  in  the  last  place,  that 
God  does  not  seriously  desire  the  conversion  or  salvation  of 
many  of  those  for  whom  he  provides  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  that  he  adopts  a  hypocritical  conduct  towards  them, 
since  [^according  to  Amyraut^  it  is  not  his  pleasure  to  remove 
from  them  that  innate  disability  under  whicii  they  labour  of 
believing  in  Christ.  For  he  must  be  accounted  not  to  have 
willed  the  end,  who  has  7iot  milled  the  means  without  which  the 
end  can  on  no  account  be  obtained.  I  am  aware,  that  Amyraiit 
litters  this  exception:   '  God  n>ills  the  conversion  of  certain  men, 

*  only  in  such  a  manner  as  to  approve  of  it;  but  he  wills  the 


APPKXDIX   c.  239 

'  salvation  of  others,  so  as  likewise  to  effect  it.  Towards  the  former 

*  class  of  men,  he  acts  as  a  Legislator  ;  but  his  conduct  towards  the 

*  latter,  is  that  of  a  Father.'  But  this  objection  is  devoid  even  of 
common  speciousness.  For  it  is  the  province  of  a  tijrant,  and  not 
of  an  equitable  legislator,  to  command  impossibilities,  and,  in 
consequence  of  disobedience,  to  subject  the  offending  parties  to 
a  cruel  punishment.  Much  more  tyrannical  still  must  it  be,  if 
he  is  himself  the  cause  why  those  things  which  he  commands 
are  impossible  to  be  performed ;  as  if  he  should  ordt-r  a  man  to 
run  after  he  had  broken  his  legs,  or  should  command  another 
man  to  read  whose  eyes  he  had  plucked  out.  Yet  this  is  exact- 
ly the   doctrine  which   Amyraut's  opinion  inculcates :    that  is, 

*  God,  under  the  penaltj'^  of  eternal  damnation,  enjoins  the  per- 
*formance  of  good  works  on  those  men  whom,  on  account  of  the 
'  sin  of  their  first  parents,  he  has  created  in  such  a  state  of  cor- 

*  ruption  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  do  any  otherwise  than 
'  commit  iniquiti/.'  Nor  is  it  of  any  importance,  that  they  are 
ssiid  to  have  merited  such  punislimcnt ;  for  although  they  might 
have  been  most  deserving  of  it,  that  could  not  in  equity  be 
required  from  them  which  he  had  under  a  penalty  rendered 
impossible  to  be  done. — '  Nevertheless,"  says  Amyraut,  *  God 
'  would  be  pleased  with  their  conversion,  if  they  would  con- 
'  vert  themselves  at   the  external  hearing  of  the  Gospel :     For 

*  this  would  be  a  matter  that  would  be  wonderfully  agreeable  to 

*  him  !'  Is  this  the  expression  of  one  who  seriously  wills  con- 
version, or  is  it  not  rather  that  of  one  who  mocks  and  trifles 
with  the  misery  of  another.?  For  since  the  external  preaching 
of  the  word  is  insufficient  for  this  purpose,  and  since  God  knows 
for  a  certainty  that  without  the  aid  of  his  determining  grace  no 
person  can  either  will  or  effect  this  [^conversion]],  the  perform- 
ance of  it  cannot  be  pleasing  to  the  Divine  Mind  so  long  as  He 
does  not  bestow  such  grace :  In  the  same  manner  as  it  cannot 
be  pleasing  to  him,  that  a  dead  person  to  whom  he  has  not  re- 
stored life  should  rise  out  of  the  tomb.  For  he  who  alone  has  in 
his  own  hand  all  those  means  which  are  necessary  to  the  per- 
formance of  any  thing,  and  denies  them  to  another,  cannot  pos- 
sibly (except  with  deep  dissimulation)  command  that  other 
person  to  perform  it :  Under  such  circumstances,  the  more 
earnest  and  frequent  the  exhortations,  promises,  and  threats 
which  he  employs,  the  more  completely  does  he  betray  his  own 
hypocrisy,  malice,  or  folly.  Suppose  me  now  to  be  on  an 
island  with  some  servants,  and  that  only  one  ship  is  there, 
which  is  solely  in  my  own  pov.'er  :  Suppose  me  then  to  com- 
mand all  those  servants  to  sail  over  the  sea  from  the  island  to  the 
distant  continent,  and  to  grant  the  use  of  that  single  ship  to  ojcn; 
of  them  only,  but  absolutely  to  deny  to  all  the  rest  any  such  ac- 
commodation :  In  this  case,  who  will  be  so  foolish  as  to  sup- 
pose it  to  be  my  serious  will  or  intei^ition,  that  those  persons 


240  APPKNDIX    C. 

to  whom  I  deny  the  use  of  the  ship,  should  sail  over  to  the 
continent  ?  Were  I,  in  addition  to  all  this,  to  employ  magnifi- 
cent promises  and  atrocious  threatenings,  should  I  not  be  called 
a  dissembling  a?i(l  vtijnst  inav,  who  was  mocking  those  unhappy 
servants  whom  I  hated,  and  was  seizing  an  opportunity  of 
treating  them  with  cruelty  ?  But  this  is  precisely  the  kind  of 
conduct  which  Amy raut  ascribes  to  God:  From  which  it  is 
evident  how  egfegioush/  he  extols  the  Divine  Mercy  in  procuring 
the  salvation  of  the  whole  human  race ;  and  in  what  manner  he 
teaches  us,  that  God  acts  towards  us  witlioiit  tlie  least  dissivm- 
lation  and  in  perfect  sincerity  !!" 

As  the  preceding  elucidations  of  the  political  and  religious 
creed  of  the  early  French  Protestants  have  been  derived  princi- 
pally from  such  sources  as  have  not  been  pointed  out  by  the 
learned  Mosheim,  I  here  quote  from  him  the  following  Propo- 
sitions, in  which  he  has  briefly  and  judiciously  summed  up  the 
peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Universalists  : 

"  That  God  desires  the  happiness  of  all  men,  and  that  no  mor- 
tal is  excluded  by  am/  divine  decree,  from  the  benefits  that  are 
procured  by  the  death,  sufferings,  and  Gospel  of  Christ. 

"  That,  however,  none  can  be  made  a  partaker  of  the  bless- 
ings of  the  gospel,  and  of  eternal  salvation,  unless  he  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

"  That  such,  indeed,  is  the  immense  and  universal  goodness 
of  the  Supreme  Being,  that  he  refuses  to  none  the  power  of 
believing ;  though  he  does  not  grant  unto  all  his  assistance  and 
succour,  that  they  may  wisely  improve  this  power  to  the  at- 
tainment of  everlasting  salvation, 

"  And  that,  in  consequence  of  this,  multitudes  perish  through 
their  own  fault,  and  not  from  any  want  of  goodness  in  God." 

I  am  also  much  pleased  with  the  candour  and  moderation 
which  breathe  in  the  following  observations  on  this  topic,  and 
which  are  the  more  remarkable  as  proceeding  from  Dr.  Mac- 
laine,  a  Presbyterian  Calvinist :  "  This  mitigated  view  of  the 
doctrine  of  Predestination  has  bnly  one  defect  ;  but  it  is  a  capital 
one.  It  represents  God  as  desiring  a  thing  (that  is,  salvation  and 
happiness)  for  all,  which,  in  order  to  its  attainment,  requires 
a  degree  of  his  assistance  and  succour,  which  he  refuseth  to 
MANY.  This  rendered  grace  and  redemption  universal  only 
in  words,  but  partial  in  reality  ;  and  therefore  did  not  at  all 
mend  the  matter.  The  Supralapsarians  were  consistent  with 
themselves ;  but  their  doctrine  was  harsh  and  terrible,  and 
was  founded  on  the  most  unworthy  notions  of  the  Supreme 
Being.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  system  of  Amyraut  was 
full  of  inconsistencies :  Nay,  even  the  Sublapsarian  doctrine 
has  its  difficulties,  and  rather  palliates  than  removes  the  horrors 
of  Supralapsarianism. 


APPENDIX     D.  241 

"  What  then  is  to  be  done  ?  From  what  quarter  shall  the 
candid  and  well-disposed  Christian  receive  that  solid  satisfac- 
tion and  wise  direction,  which  neither  of  these  systems  is 
adapted  to  administer  ?  These  he  will  receive  by  turning 
his  dazzled  and  feeble  eye  from  the  secret  decrees  of  God, 
which  were  neither  designed  to  be  rules  of  action,  nor  sources 
of  comfort,  to  mortals  here  below ;  and  by  fixing  his  view 
upon  the  mercy  of  God,  as  it  is  manifested  through  Christ, 
the  pure  laws  and  sublime  promises  of  his  Gospel,  and  the 
respectable  equity  of  his  present  government  and  his  future 
tribunal." 

But  Dr.  Maclaine  was  not  aware,  that  in  the  last  paragraph 
he  has  given  a  good  description  of  Arminianism,  or  he  would  not 
thus  have  committed  himself.  His  decided  partiality  for  the 
Dutch  Calvinists  is  apparent  throughout  his  annotations  on 
Mosheim's  Histoi-y  ;  for,  in  whatever  part  any  mention  is  made 
of  the  persecuted  Remonstrants,  he  shews  that  he  has  little 
acquaintance  with  their  principles  or  their  conduct,  except  such 
as  he  collected  from  the  statements  of  their  enemies.  But  when 
he  delivers  his  own  opinion  about  the  bigoted  conduct  of  the 
Calvinistic  opposers  of  Am5'^raut,  he  was  less  guarded  in  his 
expressions;  and,  after  informing  his  readers,  that  neither 
Supra  nor  Sublapsarianism,  nor  even  "  the  system  of  Amyraut 
full  of  inconsistencies,"  has  furnished  them  with  "  worthy 
notions  of  the  Supreme  Being,"  he  advises  them  "  to  turn  their 
dazzled  and  feeble  eyes  from  the  secret  decrees  of  God,  and  to  fix 
them  upon  the  mercy  of  God,  as  it  is  manifested  through  Christ 
pn]  his  Gospel,"  &c.  Now  this  is  exactly  the  course  which 
Arminius  wished  every  man  to  pursue  ;  and  the  sole  crime  with 
which  his  adversaries  could  justly  charge  him,  after  all  their  sub- 
terfuges, was  this,— his  paramomit  desire  for  all  men  to  leave 
under  the  Divine  raianagement  "  the  secret  tkings  which  belong 
unto  the  Lord  our  God  alone,"  and  to  engage  them  in  the  study 
of  "  those  truths  which  are  revealed,  and  which  belong  unto  us 
and  to  our  children  for  ever."  (Deut.  xxix,  29.) 


D.— Page  167. 

William  Twisse,  D.  D.  was  born  at  Spenham  Land,  near 
Newbury,  in  Berkshire,  in  1575.  He  received  a  good  classical 
education  at  Winchester  School;  and,  after  passing  through  his 
eai'ly  academic  degrees  at  Oxford,  with  considerable  reputation, 
was  chosen  Fellow  of  New  College,  in  that  University.  His 
great  learning,  and  popular  talents  as  a  preacher,  gained  him 
high  applause. 

He  remained  at  the  University  till  he  was  chosen,  by  King 
James  L  to  attend  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  as  her  Chaplain,  to 


242  APPKNDIX    D. 

the  Court  of  the  Electoi'  Palatine,  to  whom  she  was  given  in 
marriage,  in  l6l3,  and  who  was  the  nephew  of  Maurice,  Prince 
of  Orange,  and  of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  the  latter  of  whom,  on 
account  of  the  Calvinistic  connections  of  his  family,  expelled 
from  the  Divinity  Professorship,  at  Sedan,  the  celebrated 
Daniel  Tilenus  after  his  conversion  to  Arminianism.  While 
the  Doctor  was  in  attendance  at  the  Court  of  Heidelberg,  he 
witnessed  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  and  baneful  effects  of 
the  Synod  of  Dort  which  can  be  imagined- 

King  James,  as  an  important  branch  of  the  family,  sent  a 
deputation  of  respectable  British  Divines  to  that  Synod,  for  the 
double  and  undisguised  purpose  of  condemning  the  Remon- 
strants, (but  especially  Vorstius,  whom  his  Majesty  had  long 
before  exposed  to  the  world  as  an  arch-heretic,)  and  of  assisting 
the  Prince  of  Orange  in  his  design  of  usurping  the  liberties  of 
the  United  Provinces,  and  assuming  the  supreme  authority. 
The  Elector  Palatine  sent  his  Heidelberg  Divines  for  the  same 
family  purposes ;  and  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  employed  all  his 
influence  with  the  chief  pastors  among  the  French  Reformed, 
one  of  whom,  though  not  permitted  to  appear  at  Dort,  sent  a 
violent,  but  very  superficial,  letter  to  the  Synod,  in  which  he 
assured  them,  that  he  condemned  Arminius  and  his  followers, 
though  he  had  never  heard  them,  and  knew  little  about  their 
writings.  But  it  was  a  part  of  King  James's  infelicity,  that  his 
deepest  designs,  though  displaying  considerable  ingenuity  in 
their  formation,  frequently  miscarried,  or  only  partially  suc- 
ceeded. Thus  the  Remonstrants  and  Vorstius  were  con- 
demned (unheard)  at  the  Synod ;  but  Prince  Maurice  was  not 
crowned  Ki7ig  of  the  Netherlands.  The  failure  of  this  part  of 
the  Prince  of  Orange's  scheme  was  a  circumstance  about  which 
our  great  historian,  Camden,  expressed  his  great  satisfaction : 
but  though  that  was  ultimately  its  fate,  yet,  at  the  period  to 
which  we  allude,  (when  Dr.  Twisse  resided  at  the  Court  of 
Heidelberg,)  its  success  was,  to  all  human  appearance,  inevit- 
able and  certain. 

For  his  part  in  these  services,  Frederick  the  Fifth,  the  Elector 
Palatine,  very  naturally  considered  himself  entitled,  in  return, 
to  some  effectual  assistance  from  his  relations.  Soon  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  the  crown  of  Bohemia  was 
offered,  by  the  Protestants  of  that  kingdom,  to  this  young 
Prince,  in  consequence  of  some  dissension  between  them  and 
their  fellow-subjects,  the  Roman  Catholics.  His  competitor  for 
the  kingdom  was  Ferdinand,  Arch-Duke  of  Austria,  who  was 
soon  afterwards  elected  Emperor  of  Germany.  Brandt  informs 
us,  (book  52,)  "  This  matter  Qthe  offer  of  the  crown]]  seemed 
to  have  been  long  concerted ;  for  it  is  said,  that  the  Advocate 
Olden  Barnevelt  opposed  it  when  he  was  in  the  ministry,  and 
that  he  had  been  heard  to  presage,   with  great   concern,  its, 


Al'l'ENDlX    D.  243 

dismal  issue.  The  Electoi*  Palatine  had  likewise  been  earnestly 
dissuaded  from  accepting  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  and  fore- 
warned of  the  unpleasant  consequences,  by  the  Electors  of 
Mentz,  Triers,  Cologne,  and  Saxony,  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and 
the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  at  Catsnellebogen.  Among  those 
who  promoted  this  design,  are  reckoned  Prince  Maurice  and 
the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  and  particularly  his  own  consort,  the 
Electress,  [[daughter  of  the  British  Monarch,]  who  is  stated  to 
have  employed  the  following  expressions  to  him  :     '  Had  you 

*  the  courage  to  become  suitor  to  the  daughter  of  a  King,  and 

*  have  you  not  now  the  heart  to  accept  of  a  crown  ?'  Con- 
cerning Prince  Maurice  it  is  related,  that,  hearing  of  a  certain 
nobleman,  at  Heidelberg,  having  propounded  this  question. 
Ought  the  Elector  Palafine  to  be  advised  to  accept  of  the  crown 
of  Bohemia  ?  he  rejoined,  '  I  would  have  asked  that  gentleman, 
'  Is  there  any  green  cloth  to  be  purchased  at  Heidelberg  ?'  And 
when  some  one  enquired,  for  what  purpose  he  would  have 
ashed  that  question,  the  Prince  replied,  *  To  make  caps  for  the 
'  heads  of  those  men  who  asked  such  foolish  questions !'  The 
Elector,  having  resolved  to  improve  such  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity, accepted  the  crown  which  was  offered  to  him  by  the 
Bohemians,  and  proceeded  to  Prague,  the  capital  of  that  king- 
dom, where  he  and  the  Electress  were  crowned  with  great 
pomp  and  ceremony.  But  his  father-in-law,  .Tames,  King  of 
Great  Britain,  an  enemy  to  all  wars,  was  decidedly  opposed  to 
his  acceptance  of  the  crown,  and  said,  '  It  was  a  rash  and  too 

*  precipitate  a  resolution,  proceeding  from  bad  counsel.'  He 
ordered,  that  his  son-in-law  should  not  be  styled  King  in  the 
public  prayers,  but  only  the  Elector  Palatine."  But  the 
British  Monarch's  refusal  of  assistance  to  his  son-in-law  may  be 
traced  to  another  more  potent  cause  than  his  love  of  peace,^-^ 
to  his  absurd  tampering  with  the  Court  of  Spain,  of  which 
proud  house  Ferdinand  the  Second,  poor  Frederick's  rival,  was 
a  powerful  branch. 

King  Frederick,  immediately  after  his  coronation,  published 
a  manifesto,  in  which  he  stated  the  reasons  which  had  induced 
him  to  accept  of  the  proffered  kingdom.  Many  persons,  how- 
ever, were  surprised  to  find  in  it  the  following  sentiments  con- 
cerning religion,  especially  when  they  proceeded  from  a  man 
who,  through  his  agents  at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  had  scarcely  a 
year  before  professed  sentiments  the  most  co-ercive,  and  whose 
immediate  predecessors  had  expelled  the  Lutherans  from  the 
Palatinate :  "  Now,  in  these  latter  times,  and  among  so  many 
"  different  opinions  in  matters  of  faith  and  religion,  it  has  been 
*'  effectually  discovered,  that,  according  to  the  contents  of  the 
"  Holy  Scriptures,  and  agreeably  to  those  established  prin- 
"  ciples  of  doctrines,  which  are  of  the  greatest  antiquity,  men 
"  will  not  be  led,  driven,  or  forced,  with  respect  to  conscience ; 


244  APPENDIX    l>. 

"  and  that,  whenever  such  force  or  co-ercion  has  been 
"  attempted,  though  in  the  most  private  manner,  it  has  always 
"  produced  pernicious  consequences,  and  occasioned  great  revo- 
"  lutions  in  the  most  considerable  kingdoms  and  provinces," 

Abraham  Schultetus,  as  one  of  the  Palatine  deputies  at  Dort, 
the  preceding  year,  had,  been  most  violent  in  his  conduct 
against  the  Arminians ;  but,  in  the  capacity  of  Chaplain  to  the 
new  King,  he  then  directed  his  talents  to  a  more  grateful  occu- 
pation to  serve  his  royal  master.  In  the  treatise  entitled  Curri- 
culum Vitce,  or  "  A  Relation  of  the  course  of  his  Life,"  Schul- 
tetus says,  "  King  Frederick,  having  promised  liberty  of  con- 
"  science  to  all  the  people  of  his  kingdom,  strictly  observed 
"  that  promise  as  long  as  he  was  possessed  of  the  crown  ;  and 
**  he  did  not  retain  any  church  for  the  exercise  of  his  own  re- 
"  ligion,  except  that  of  the  Castle  at  Prague,  which  he  purged 
*'  from  Popish  idols." — Brandt  says,  "  This  purgation  was 
made  at  the  pressing  instance  of  the  said  Schultetus,  who,  in 
a  sermon,  which  he  preached  for  that  purpose,  in  the  chapel 
belonging  to  the  Court,  said,  that  such  images,  which  he  called 
idols,  'ought  neither  to  be  made  nor  worshipped,  nor  the 
worship  of  them  tolerated.'  He  afterwards  published  his 
sermon,  which  gave  grievous  offence,  not  only  to  those  Bohe- 
mians that  were  Papists,  but  even  to  the  Lutherans  themselves, 
who  allowed  the  use  of  images.  The  Divines  of  Wurtembergh, 
Tubingen,  and  Leipsic,  and  those  of  Mentz  and  Ingolstadt, 
wrote  in  defence  of  images  ;  but  Schultetus  was  vindicated  by 
one  Theophilus  Mosanus.  Some  persons  have  thought,  that 
this  abolition  of  images  ought  not  to  have  been  thus  attempted 
at  the  commencement  of  King  Frederick's  reign ;  but  that  they 
should  first  have  been  rooted  out  of  the  people's  hearts,  and 
then  cast  out  of  their  churches.  It  was  likewise  believed,  that 
this  unseasonable  zeal  gave  a  check  to  the  King's  affairs,  and 
alienated  the  minds  of  many."  On  the  15th  of  April,  162O,  the 
confederacy  was  renewed  between  the  kingdoms  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia;  on  which  occasion,  Schultetus,  before  King 
Frederick  and  the  Deputies  of  the  two  kingdoms,  main- 
tained in  his  sermon,  '  that  fraternal  love  and  unity  might  be 
'  established  between  the  Lutherans  and  the  Calvinists,  not- 

*  withstanding  their  disagreeing  on  a  few  points ;  and  tliat  he 
'  was  well  assured,  from  the  word  of  God,  that  the  sanctity  of 
'  mutual  prayers,  and  the  sincerity  of  brotherly  love,  found 

*  more  favour  in  the  sight  of  God  than  all  the  contentions  about 

*  the  ubiquity  and  the  carnal  manducation  of  Christ's  body.' 
This  would  have  appeared  very  tolerant  and  catholic,  had  it 
been  uttered  fourteen  months  before,  at  the  Synod  of  Dort ;  but 
as  it  now  seemed  to  be  spoken  only  to  serve  a  political  purpose, 
it  did  not  captivate  the  Lutherans.  Indeed,  the  grand  instance 
of  Calvinistic  intolerance  at  that  Synod  was  long  remembered 


APPENDIX     D.  245 

by  the  Lutherans,  who  refused,  for  many  years,  to  hold  com- 
munion with  them,  thou^fh,  at  several  subsequent  periods,  soli- 
cited, in  various  parts  of  Europe,  to  enter  into  fraternal  con- 
cord. See  the  preceding  important  extract,  from  Mosheim's 
small  treatise,  page  152 — 1.55. — On  mentioning  the  sermon  of 
Schultetus,  Brandt  adds,  "  But  these  fair  words  could  not  so 
far  work  upon  the  Lutherans  as  to  remove  all  jealousies  and 
suspicions  from  their  minds ;  for,  M'hen  they  considered  what 
had  befallen  the  Remonstrants  in  Holland,  they  expected  the 
same  fate,  as  soon  as  the  Calvinists  should  be  once  fixed  in  the 
saddle.  These  and  similar  considerations  caused  several  of  the 
Lutheran  Princes  to  stand  neuter  between  the  contending 
parties,  and  even  induced  others  of  them  to  embrace  the  party 
of  the  Emperor,  the  Pope,  the  King  of  Spain,  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  and  the  other  Potentates  of  the  Romish  Church,  and 
to  oppose  the  new  Monarch.  He  could  not,  therefore,  with- 
stand the  force  that  overwhelmed  him  on  every  side,  while  he 
was  supported  only  by  the  assistance  of  this  state,  [^Bohemia,^ 
and  the  few  Princes  who  had  espoused  his  cause.  One  part 
of  the  Palatinate  was  taken  from  him  tliis  summer,  (l620,)  by 
the  Spanish  General  Spinola ;  and  the  Bohemian  army  was  de- 
feated by  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  upon  the  White  Hill  near 
Prague,  and  was  totally  dispersed  on  the  8th  of  November,  the 
very  Sunday  on  which  it  was  usual  to  expound  that  gospel  in 
which  we  find  the  expression  of  '  Render-  unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Ccesar's.'  That  defeat  was  followed  by  the  flight  of 
King  Frederick  and  his  Queen,  and  by  the  loss  of  the  capital 
and  all  the  kingdom.  When  the  report  of  this  misfortune 
reached  Holland,  for  some  weeks  no  credit  was  given  to  it  by 
the  Contra- Remonstrants.  And  I  remember  to  have  frequently 
heard,  in  my  youthful  days,  that  when  Peter  Plancius  (^of 
Amsterdam^  was  preaching  in  the  tabernacle,  on  the  Keysers- 
gracht  where  the  Western  Church  now  stands,  he  cried  pub- 
licly in  the  pulpit.  The  report  of  the  taking  of  Prague  is  one  of 
those  lies  which  the  Papists,  Arminians,  and  other  enemies  of  the 
church,  have  circulated!  and  that  a  certain  waterman  laid  his 
barge  as  a  wager,  tliat  Prague  could  not  be  surrendered ,  for  he  had 
heard  Plancius  say  so  from  the  pulpit.  Such  an  assertion  the  man 
considered  a  good  demonstration  of  the  truth ;  but  he  found 
himself  mistaken." 

At  this  period  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth's  misfortunes,  the  pre- 
vious excellent  instructions  of  Dr.  Twisse  are  represented  to 
have  been  very  beneficial  to  her,  and  to  have  enabled  her  to 
endure  the  greatest  adversity  with  undaunted  courage.  The 
good  Doctor,  during  this  excursion,  became  acquainted  with 
such  men  as  Schultetus,  Pelargus,  Ames,  &c.,  from  whom  he 
imbibed  all  their  accumulated  malevolence  against  Arminianism, 


!246  APPENDIX    D. 

which,  soon  after  his  return  to  England  he  concocted  with  his 
own,  and  embodied  in  his  famous  publications. 

But  leaving  the  Doctor  at  present,  we  proceed  to  notice  a 
few  remarkable  circumstances  attendant  on  the  Elector's  ac- 
ceptance of  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  which  imparted  an  uncom- 
monly enthusiastical  aspect  to  Calvinism,  and  which  had  great 
influence  upon  the  affan-s  of  this  country  in  the  time  of  the  Civil 
Wars  and  the  Commonwealth. 

Though  the  personal  sufferings  of  King  Frederick  and  his 
Queen  could  not  descend  much  lower  than  to  the  point  to 
which  they  Avere  at  first  reduced — the  loss  of  Bohemia  and  of 
their  hereditary  dominions,  the  acceptance  of  an  asylum  at 
the  Hague,  and  a  dependance  upon  the  English  Court  during 
many  subsequent  3'ears  for  pecuniary  aid  in  regaining  their 
former  possessions,  from  which  unfortunately  they  were  doomed 
to  be  perpetual  exiles, — yet  those  Protestants  who  had  identi- 
fied themselves  in  their  fate  by  the  warm  interest  with  which 
they  espoused  their  cause,  were  doomed  to  be  great  sufferers, 
in  consequence  of  the  change  of  affairs  in  favour  of  Ferdinand 
the  Second,  Emperor  of  Germany.  Many  thousand  persons  in 
Bohemia  and  the  Palatinate  were  compelled  by  the  Popish  con- 
queror to  forbear  the  exercise  of  their  religion  and  become 
Papists,  or  to  be  banished  from  their  native  country.  This 
persecuting  scourge,  within  a  few  months,  extended  itself  to 
other  Provinces  of  Germany,  and  especially  to  those  which  bad 
deputed  their  Divines  to  Dort  to  condemn  the  innocent  Re- 
monstrants. The  latter  must  have  been  very  unobservant 
spectators  indeed,  had  they  not  perceived  in  several  of  these 
occurrences  that  just  retribution  of  Divine  Providence  which  is 
frequently  inflicted,  even  in  this  life,  on  offending  communi- 
ties and  associations.  We  accordingly  find  Professor  Barlaeus 
thus  expressing  himself,  in  that  very  elegant  and  spirited  ad- 
dress to  the  States  General,  entitled  Fides  ImbelUs,  or  "  Unre- 
sisting Faith,"  which  he  published  in  August,  I62O:  'Mahomet 

*  the  Turkish  Emperor  is  said  to  have  derived  from  the  Christi- 

*  ans  a  knowledge  of  the  modes  in  which  persecutions  were 
'conducted:  And  the  cruelty  which  the  Roman  Catholics 
'  exercised  not  long  since  against  the  Reformed,  has  been 
'  returned  by  the  latter  in  various  places  against  tlie  Catholics. 
'  The  Calvinistic  ministers  have  been  lately  expelled  from  the 

*  country  of  the  Gi-isons;  from  whence  they  had,  only  a  few 
'years  before,  expelled  the   Papists:     And   the  same  body  of 

*  men  are  now  destitute  of  Churches  themselves  in  Aix  la 
'  Chapelle,  although  it  is  not  long  since  they  were  filled  with 
'  envy  at  the  Jesuits  possessing  their  own  Churches  in  that 
'  city.  In  Bohemia  and  its  confederate  States,  the  Catholic 
'places  of  worship  have  been  seized;    but  now,  such  is  the 


ArrENDix   D.  247 

*  change  which  God  efFects  in  human  affairs,  they  are  forcibly 
'  wrested  from  their  recent  possessors,  and  agpin  restored  to 
'  their  former  occupants:     At  the  first  seizure  the  Jesuits  were 

*  compelled  to  become  exiles ;  and  now,  at  the  second  seizure, 

*  the  Calvinislic  Divines  are  banished  from  the  same  country. 
'  Most  wonderful  are  the  judgments  of  God,  who  by  the  secret 

*  movements  of  his  Providence  thus  checks  and  represses  the 

*  too  lofty  aspirings  and  insolent  ambition  of  those  who  assume 
'  to  themselves  the  title  of  the  Reformed  Churches  ;  and  this  he 
'  does,  lest  they  should  cease  to  be  Chrisliuns,  while  they 
'  covet  for  themselves  the  sceptres  of  princes,  and  endeavour 
'  by  the  basest  arts  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  their  confined 

*  dominions.     Those   foreign    Divines  who  were  present  at  the 

*  Synod  of  Dort,  and  who  contributed  their  share  of  advice  and 
'  labour  towards  the  oppression  of  the  Remonstrants,  had 
'  themselves  scarcely  returned  to  their  several  habitations  be- 
'  fore  they  were  overtaken  by  Divine  Justice,  which  is  the 
'  avenger  of  insolence  and  pride — The  Divines  of  the  Palatinate 
'  are  banished  from  their  country,  and,  among  the  rest,  that 
'  leader  of  the  Synodical  band,  that  slave  in  the  ecclesiastical 
'  farce,  Abraham  Schultetus.  The  Divines  from  the  Correspon- 
'  dence  of  Wetteraw  are  afflicted  ;  those  of  Hesse  are  in  mourn- 
'  ing  ;  the  Swiss  Divines  tremble;  and  the  Divine  of  Charenton 
'  [^Peter  du  Moulin]],  who  in  his  recent  Anatomy  poured  forth 
'  the  torrents  of  his  rage  against  the  banished  Remonstrants,  is 

*  himself  compelled  to  consult  the  safety  of  his  own  life  in  flight. 
'  God  forbid,  that  the  public  enemies  of  our  country,  should 

*  hereafter  repay  in  equal  measure,  to  the  Contra-Remonstrants, 

*  the    same    injurious  treatment   which  the  Remonstrants  have 

*  experienced  from  those  domestic  foes,  and  which  they  con- 
'  tinue  daily  to  experience  !  It  is  a  proverb  among  the  follow- 
'  ers  of  Pythagoras,  He  who  endures  the  same  degree  of  pain  as 
'  he  had  previously  itiflictcd  on  another,  is  treated  with  equitable 
'  retribution.     With  this  agrees  the  oracular  sentence  of  Christ, 

*  With  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again. 
'  (Matt,  vii,  2.) — Seeing  it  is  a  righteous  thing  with  God,  to  re~ 
'  coinpense  tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you,  and  rest  to 
'you  who  are  troubled.  (2  Thess.  i,  (i.)' 

In  a  French  letter,  which  the  imprisoned  Remonstrant  minis- 
ter Charles  de  Nielles  addressed,  in  1627,  to  Uitenbogardt,  he 
pursues  the  same  train  of  reflections:  '  I  likewise  understand  by 
'  report,  that  those  Calvinists  who  had  deputed  their  Divines 
'  to  the  Synod  of  Dort,  have  been  themselves  banished  out  of 
'  the  Correspondences  of  Nassau  and  of  Wetteraw.  They  have 
'  all  been  compelled  to  become  exiles,  as  have  also  those  of 
'  Hesse,  with  the  exception  of  such   of  them  as  are' Milling  to 

*  abjure  Calvinism  and  to  embrace  Popery  or  Lutheranism.  I 
'  deplore  the  calamity  in  which  a  great  number  of  upright  men 


248 


APPENDIX     D. 


*  are  involved ;  but  the  truth  is,  tliese  people,  after  having  en- 
'  joyed  for  many  years  the  peaceable  exercise  of  their  religion 

*  under  the  protection  of  the  Augsburgh  Confession,  *  con- 
'  ducted  themselves  so  outrageously  against  us  at  the  Synod  of 
'  Dort,  as    to    have  afforded  to    the  Lutherans  just  cause  for 

*  dreading  their  higher  advancement  in  Germany.  They  came  to 

*  Dort  for  the  purpose  of  lending  their  aid  to  persecute  us  ;  and 
'  they  condemned,  in  our  persons  at  that  Synod,  the  Augs- 
'  burgh  Confession,  which  they  had  promised  under  the  sanc- 
'  tity  of  an  oath  to  maintain  :  And  these  very  persons  are  now 
'  expelled  from  their  native  country,  as  we  have  been. — I  am 
'  afraid,  that  those  of  Bremen  and  Embden  [[who  likewise  had 

*  deputies  at  Dort]]  will  have  reason  to  be  apprehensive  that 

*  this  calamity  will  extend  itself  as  far  as  to  them,  if  the  Em- 

*  peror  can  possibly  accomplish  his  designs.  But  it  is  likewise 
'  my  belief,  that  in  the  end  the  Emperor  will  attempt  to  banish 

*  the  Lutherans  as  well  as  the  rest ;  this  he  has  already  done  in 
'  Austria    and  Bohemia.     The   Jesuits  will    incite  him,  not  to 

*  allow  the  exercise  of  any  other  religion  than  that  of  Popery, 

*  as  the  Calvinists  do  in  every  country  in  which  the  Sovereigns 
'  will  follow  the  advice  of  their  ecclesiastics ;  this  we  may  behold 
'  in  England,t  Scotland,  and  in  all  other  States  in  which  the 
'  Magistrates  have  manifested  a  willingness  to  believe  that  they 

*  ought  not  to  suffer  any  religion  except  Calvinism. — In  this 

*  manner  do  they   [[the   Papists  and  Calvinists]]   endeavour  to 

*  expel  each  other,  and  contend  which  of  them  may  be  per- 
'  mitted  to  have  dominion  over  consciences.' — These  prognosti- 
cations concerning  the  Lutherans  were  soon  afterwards  verified : 
For  in  the  Marquisate  of  Brandenburgh,  where  the  Lutherans 
had  formerly  been  turned  out  of  their  churches  by  the  Calvin- 
ists, the  latter  were  expelled  and  the  former  re-instated  in  their 
previous  possessions.  But  it  was  not  long  before  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  II,  elated  with  his  victories  and  instigated  by  the 
Pope  and  Jesviits,  turned  his  arms  against  the  Lutherans.  His 
successes  against  them  were  very  great,  till  the  celebrated  King 
of  Sweden,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  whohad  married  the  daughter^ 
of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburgh,  undertook  the  cause  of  the  Lu- 
therans, marched  an  army  into  the  heart  of  Germany,  and 
finally  humbled  the  proud  house  of  Austria. 

*  See  the  similarity  which  subsisted  between  theConfessiou  of  the  Luther- 
ans and  that  of  the  Remonstrants  on  the  Five  Pohitu,  as  expressed  by  Mos- 
heim,  himself  a  Lutheran,  in  the  precedingpages  152 — 154. 

f  In  allusion  to  the  encouragement  given  to  Calvinism  under  Archbishop 
Abbot. 

X  The  name  of  this  Princess  was  Eleanora.  She  was  the  mother  of  the 
famous  Christina,  afterwards  Queen  of  Sweden,  in  whose  service  Grotius 
was  subsequently  retained  as  Ambassador. 


APFENniX    D.  249 

As  this  interference  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  a  circum- 
stance which  subsequently  became  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  the  House  of  Brandenburgli,  and  as  the  successes  which  at- 
tended that  monarch's  spirited  incursion  into  Germany  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  Prussian  Monarchy,  it  may  be  useful,  in 
tracing  the  artful  ramifications  of  Calvinism,  to  quote,  for  the 
reader's  better  information,  the  following  paragraphs  from  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  historians  of  that  period  : 

"  Of  greater  consequence  were  the  agitations  about  Cleve  and 
Gulick,  occasioned  by  a  difference  between  the  Marquess  of 
Brandenburgli,  and  the  Duke  of  Newburgh,  about  the  partage 
of  the  Patrimony  and  estates  of  the  Duke  of  Cleve:  for  John 
William,  the  last  Duke  of  Cleve,  deceasing  without  issue,  in 
the  year  l6]0,  left  his  estates  between  the  childi-en  of  his  sis- 
ters ;  of  which  the  eldest,  called  Maria  Leonora,  was  married 
to  Albert  of  Brandenburgh,  Duke  of  Prussia;  whose  daughter 
Ann  being  married  to  John  Sigismund,  the  elector  of  Branden- 
burgh, was  mother  of  George  William,  the  young  Marquess 
of  Brandenburgh,  who  in  her  right  pretended  to  the  whole 
estate.  The  like  pretence  was  made  by  Wolfgangus  Guilielmus, 
Duke  of  Newburgh,  descended  from  the  electoral  family  of  the 
Princes  Palatine,  whose  mother  Magdalen  was  the  second  sister 
of  the  said  John  William.  The  first  of  these  pretenders  was  wholly 
of  a  Lutheran  stock  ;  and  the  other  as  inclinable  to  the  sect  of 
Calvin  ;  though  afterwards,  for  the  better  carrying  on  of  their 
affairs,  they  forsook  their  parties. 

"For  so  it  happened,  that  the  Duke  of  Newburgh  finding  him- 
self too  weak  for  the  house  of  Brandenburgh,  put  himself 
under  the  protection  of  the  Catholic  King;  who  having  concluded 
a  Truce  of  twelve  years  with  the  States  United,  wanted  em- 
ployment for  his  Army  ;  and,  that  he  might  engage  that  King 
with  the  greater  confidence,  he  reconciles  himself  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  and  marries  the  Lady  Magdalen,  daughter  to  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  the  most  potent  of  the  German  Princes  of 
that  Religion ;  which  also  he  established  in  his  own  dominions 
on  the  death  of  his  father.  This  puts  the  young  Marquess  to 
new  counsels ;  who  thereupon  calls  in  the  forces  of  the  States 
United ;  the  war  continuing  upon  this  occasion  betwixt  them 
and  Spain,  though  the  scene  was  shifted.  And  that  they  might 
more  cordially  espouse  his  quarrel,  he  took  to  Wife  the  sister  of 
Frederick  the  fifth,  Prince  elector  Palatine,  and  niece  of  Wil- 
liam of  Nassau,  Prince  of  Orange,  by  his  youngest  daughter; 
and  consequently,  cousin-German,  once  removed  to  Count  Mau- 
rice of  Nassau,  Commander-General  of  the  forces  of  the  States 
United,  both  by  sea  and  land.  This  kept  the  balance  even  be- 
tween them  ;  the  one  possessing  the  estates  of  Cleve  and  Mark ; 
and  the  other,  the  greatest  part  of  Berge  and  Gulick.     But  so 

R 


250  APPENDIX    D. 

it  was,  that  the  old  Marquess  of  Brandenburgh  having  settled 
his  abode  in  the  Dukedom  of  Prussia,  and  left  the  manaj;,ement 
of  the  Marquissate  to  the  Prince  his  son,  left  him  -withal  unto 
the  plots  and  practices  of  a  subtile  lady :  who  being  throughly- 
instructed  in  all  points  of  Calvinism,  and  having  gotten  a  great 
empire  in  her  husband's  affections,  prevailed  so  far  upon  him  in 
the  first  year  of  their  marriage.  Anno  l6l4,  that  he  renounced 
his  own  Religion,  and  declared  for  her's;  which  he  more  cheer- 
fully embraced,  in  hope  to  arm  all  the  Calvinians  both  of  the 
higher  and  the  lower  Germany,  in  defence  of  his  cause,  as  his 
competitor  of  Newburgh  had  armed  the  Catholicks  to  preserve 
his  interest. 

"  Being  thus  resolved,  he  publisheth  an  edict  in  the  month  of 
Februar}',  Anno  l6l5;  published  in  his  father's  name,  but  only 
in  his  own  authority  and  sole  command,  under  pretence  of 
pacifying  some  distempers  about  Religion  ;  but  tending,  in  good 
earnest,  to  the  plain  suppression  of  the  Lutheran  forms  :  For, 
having  spent  a  tedious  and  impertinent  preamble  touching  the 
animosities  fomented  in  the  Protestant  Churches,  between  the 
Lutherans,  and  those  of  the  Calvinian  party,  he  first  requires 
that  all  unnecessary  disputes  be  laid  aside,  that  so  all  grounds  of 
strife  and  disaffection  might  be  also  buried.  Which  said,  he  next 
commands  all  Ministers  within  the  Marquissate,  to  preach  the 
word  purely  and  sincerely,  according  to  the  writings  of  the  holy 
Prophets  and  Apostles,  the  four  creeds  commonly  received 
(amongst  which  the  Te  Deinn  is  to  go  for  one),  and  the  Confes- 
sion of  Augsburgh,  of  the  last  correction  ;  and  that,  omitting  all 
new  glosses  and  interpretations  of  idle  and  ambitious  men,  af- 
fecting a  primacy  in  the  Church  and  a  power  in  the  State,  they 
aim  at  nothing  in  their  preachings,  but  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  salvation  of  mankind.  Pie  commands  also,  that  they  should 
abstain  from  all  calumniating  of  those  Churches  which  either 
were  not  subject  to  their  jurisdiction,  or  were  not  lawfully  con- 
victed of  the  crime  of  heresy  ;  which  he  resolved  not  to  con- 
nive at  for  the  time  to  come,  but  to  proceed  unto  the  punish- 
ment of  all  those  who  wilfully  should  refuse  to  conform  them- 
selves to  his  will  and  pleasure. 

"  On  which  I  have  insisted  the  more  at  large,  to  show  the 
difference  between  the  Lutheran  and  Genevian  churches  ;  and 
the  great  correspondence  of  the  first,  with  the  church  of  Eng- 
land. But  this  Calvinian  pill  did  not  work  so  kindly,  as  not  to 
stir  more  humours  than  it  could  remove.*  For  the  Lutherans 
being  in  possession,  would  not  deliver  up  their  churches,  or  de- 
sert those  usages  to  which  they  had  been  trained   up,  and  in 

*  Under  the  Prussian  Monarchy  the  remembrance  of  this  Calviiiistic  at- 
tempt at  despotic  sway,  has  been  cherished  down  to  the  present  limes  ;  within 
the  last  five  years,  it  has  been  the  ^vill  of  the  reigning  Monarch,  which  is 
aljsolute  within  his  own  dominions,  that  both  denominations  should  partake 
together  of  the  sacred  memorials  of  our  Saviour's  passion,  and  should  each 
present  to  the  other  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 


APPEXDIX     D.  251 

which  they  were  principled,  according  to  the  rules  of  their  first 
reformation.  And  hereupon  some  rupture  was  like  to  grow  be- 
twixt the  young  Marquess  and  his  subjects,  if  by  the  interven- 
tion of  some  honest  patriots  it  had  not  been  closed  up  in  this 
manner,  or  to  this  effect :  that  the  Lutheran  forms  only  should  be 
used  in  all  the  churches  of  the  Marqiiissate,  for  the  confentation  of 
the  people  ;  and,  that  the  Marquess  should  have  the  exercise  of  his 
new  reUgiou,  for  himself,  his  lady,  and  those  of  his  opinion,  in 
their  private  chapels." 

The  connection  which  existed  between  this  change  in  Brand- 
enburgh,  and  the  assumption  of  the  regal  dignity  by  the  Elec- 
tor Palatine,  Avill  be  seen  by  the  succeeding  extracts  from  the 
same  able  historian.  Speaking  of  the  Elector's  marriage  with 
the  daughter  of  King  James,  he  says,  "  Had  he  adventured  no 
further  on  the  confidence  of  that  power  and  greatness  which 
accrued  to  him  by  contracting  an  alliance  with  so  great  a  Mo- 
narch, it  had  been  happy  for  himself  and  the  peace  of  Christen- 
dom. But  being  tempted  by  Scultetus,  and  some  other  of  the 
divines  about  him,  not  to  neglect  the  opportunity  of  advancing 
the  gospel,  and  making  himself  the  principal  patron  of  it,  he 
fell  on  some  designs  destructive  to  himself  and  his.*  Who,  though 
•  One  of  our  English  Poets  has  well  observed. 

In  other  men  we  faults  can  spy 
And  bl;ime  the  mote  that  dims  tfieir  eye, 
F^eh  little  speck  and  bkniish  find. 
To  our  own  stronger  errors  blind. 

This  seems  to  have  been  Richard  Baxter's  state  of  mind  when  he  wrote  the 
following;  animadversions  on  poor  Schultetus  ;  the  whole  paragraph  indeed  is 
itiObt  important,  considering  the  party  from  whom  the  reflections  proceed, 
some  of  which  are  exceedingly  judicious  : 

"  I  am  farther  thp.n  ever  I  was  from  expecting  great  matters  of  unity, 
splendor,  or  prosperity  to  the  church  on  earth,  or  that  saints  should  dream  of 
a  kingdom  of  this  world,  or  flatter  themselves  with  the  hopes  of  a  golden 
age,  or  reigning  over  the  ungodly,  till  there  be  a  netv  heaven  and  a  neiv  earth 
wherem  dwelleth  righteousness.  And  on  the  contrary  ;  I  am  more  apprehen- 
sive that  sufferings  must  be  the  church's  most  ordinary  lot,  and  Christians 
indeed  must  be  self-denying  crossbearers,  even  where  tbere  none  hnt  formal 
nnminfti  christians  to  be  the  cross-makers  :  and  though  ordinarih'  God  would 
have  vicissitudes  of  summer  and  winter,  day  and  night,  that  the  church  may 
grow  extensively  in  the  summer  of  prosperity,  and  intensively  and  radicated- 
ly  in  the  winter  of  adversity  ;  yet  usually  their  night  is  longer  than  their  day, 
and  that  day  itself  hath  its  storms  and  tempests.  For  the  prognostics  are 
evident  in  their  causes  :  The  church  will  be  still  imperfect  and  sinful,  and 
will  have  those  diseases  which  need  this  bitter  remedy.  The  tenour  of  the 
gospel-predictions,  precepts,  promises,  and  threatenings,  are  fitted  to  a  peo- 
ple in  a  suffering  state  ;  and  the  graces  of  God  in  a  believer  are  mostly 
suited  to  a  state  of  suffering.  Christians  must  imitate  Christ,  and  suffer  with 
him  before  they  reign  with  him  ;  and  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world. 
The  observation  of  God's  dealing  hitherto  with  the  church  in  every  age  con- 
firmeth  me  :  and  his  befooling  them  that  have  dreamed  of  glorious  times.  It 
was  such  dreams  that  transported  the  Muuster  Anabaptists,  and  the  fol- 
lowers of  David  George  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  Campanella  and  the  Illu- 
■7«i««i'/ among  the  Papists,  and  our  English  Anabaptists,  and  o</ier_/an«<^/c5 
here  both  in  the  armv,  and  the  city  and  country.     When  they  think   the  gol- 

R   2 


252  AprtNDix  D. 

he  were  a  Prince  of  a  phlegmatick  nature,  and  of  small  activi- 
ty ;  yet  being  prest  by  the  continual  solicitation  of  some  eager 
spirits,  he  drew  all  the  provinces  and  Princes  which  profest  the 
Calvinian  doctrines,  to  enter  into  a  strict  league  or  union 
amongst  themselves,  under  pretence  of  looking  to  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  the  true  religion.  It  much  advantaged  the  design, 
that  the  Calvinians  in  all  parts  of  Germany  had  begun  to  stir, 
as  men  resolved  to  keep  the  saddle,  or  to  lose  the  horse." 

Describing  the  progress  of  the  war  in  Bohemia,  he  adds:  "But 
their  new  governours  (or  directors,  as  they  called  them)  being 
generally  worsted  in  the  war,  and  fearing  to  be  called  to  a  strict 
account  for  these  multiplied  injuries,  resolve  upon  the  choice 
of  some  potent  Prince,  to  take  that  unfortunate  crown  upon 
him.  And  who  more  like  to  carry  it  with  success  and  honour, 
than  Frederick  the  fifth,  Prince  Elector  Palatine,  the  head  of 
the  Calvinian  party.  Son-in-law  to  the  King  of  England,  de- 
scended from  a  davighter  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  by  his 
wife  allied  to  the  King  of  Denmark,  the  Dukes  of  Holstein 
and  Brunswick,  three  great  Lutheran  Princes.  These  were  the 
motives  on  their  part  to  invite  him  to  it;  and  they  prevailed  as 
much  with  him  to  accept  the  offer,  to  which  he  was  pushed  for- 
ward by  the  secret  instigation  of  the  States  United,  whose  truce 
with  Spain  was  now  upon  the  point  of  expiration ;  and  they 
thought  fit,  in  point  of  state-craft,  that  he  should  exercise  his  ar- 
viy  further  off,  than  in  their  Dominions.  Upon  which  motives 
and  temptations,  he  first  sends  forth  his  letters  to  the  estates  of 

den  ag;e  is  come,  they  shew  their  dreams  in  their  extravagant  actions  ;  and, 
as  our  tifth-monarchy  men,  they  are  presently  upon  some  unquiet  rebellious 
attempt  to  set  up  Christ  in  his  king^dom,  whether  he  will  or  not.  1  remem- 
ber how  Abraham  Scultetus  in  Curriculo  Vitce  svce  confesseth  the  common 
vanity  of  himself  and  other  Protestants  in  Germany,  who  seeing  the  princes 
in  Ena:land,  France,  Bohemia,  and  many  other  countries,  to  be  all  at  once 
both  great  and  wise,  and  friends  to  reformation,  did  presently  expect  the  gol- 
den age  :  but  within  one  year  either  death,  or  ruins  of  war,  or  back-slid- 
ings,  had  exposed  all  their  expectations  to  scorn,  and  laid  them  lower  than 
before." — Narrative  of  his  Life  and  Times. 

No  one  would  suppose  that  the  old  man  who  wrote  this  had  been  in  early 
life  as  great  a  stickler  as  any  of  his  brethren  for  the  seditious  schemes  of  tlie 
levellers  inChurch  and  State,  or  thai  he  had  attended  the  Parliamentary /bred* 
as  Chaplain  to  a  regiment.  I  could  produce  (juotations  from  the  earliest  even 
of  his  practical  works,  which  would  prove  his  hopes  to  have  been  extremely 
sanguine  about  the  appearance  of  "  a  golden  age.  — Expressions  of  the  disap- 
pointment which  he  felt  at  the  failure  expectations  are  equally  numerous  in 
nis  writings.  Nor  was  it  quite  fair  for  a  chciplnin  hi  the  gTand  7-eiiellion  to 
brand  "  the  Fifth-Monarchy  men"  as  the  only  persons  "  who  were  present- 
ly upon  some  unquiet  rebellious  attempt  to  set  up  Christ  in  his  kingdom  !" 
Baxter  had  discovered,  in  the  practice  of  the  Triers  and  Ejectors,  and  of 
other  select  assemblies  of  gospel  ministers  under  the  Protectorate,  as  many 
erounds  of  dissatisfaction  and  complaint  as  in  the  practice  of  those  who 
had  previously  held  the  supremacy  in  affairs  ecclesiastical.  The  inference 
■which  he  deduces,  is  exceedingly  instructive  :  "lam  much  more  sensible 
of  the  evil  of  schism,"  says  he,  "'*  and  of  the  separating  humour,  and  of  ga- 
thering parties,  and  making  several  sects  in  the  Church,  than  I  was  here- 
tofore.   For  theeffects  have  shewedus  more  of  the  mischiefs." 


APPENDIX    D.  253 

Bohemia,  in  which  he  signified  his  acceptance  of  the  honour 
conferred  upon  him,  and  then  acquaints  King  James  with  the 
proposition,  whose  counsel  he  desired  therein  for  his  better 
direction.  But  King  James  was  not  pleased  at  the  precipitancy 
of  this  rash  adventure,  and  thought  himself  unhandsomely 
handled,  in  having  his  advice  asked  upon  the  post-fact,  when 
all  his  counsels  to  the  contrary  must  have  come  too  late.  Be- 
sides, he  had  a  strong  party  of  Calvinists  in  his  own  dominions, 
who  were  not  to  be  trusted  with  a  power  of  disposing  of  king- 
doms, for  fear  they  might  be  brought  to  practise  that  against 
himself  which  he  had  countenanced  in  others.  He  knew  no 
Prince  could  reign  in  safety,  or  be  established  on  his  throne 
with  peace  and  honour,  if  once  religion  should  be  made  a  cloak 
to  disguise  rebellions. 

"Upon  these  grounds  of  christian  prudence,  he  did  not  only 
disallow  the  action  in  his  own  particular,  but  gave  command 
that  none  of  his  subjects  should  from  thenceforth  own  his  son- 
in-law  for  the  King  of  Bohemia,  or  pray  for  him  in  the  liturgy, 
or  before  their  sermons,  by  any  other  title  than  the  Prince  Elec- 
tor. At  which  the  English  Calvinists  were  extreamly  vexed, 
who  had  already  fancied  to  themselves  upon  this  occasion  the 
raising  of  ajiflh  Monarchy  in  these  parts  of  Christendom,  even  to 
the  dethroning  of  the  Pope,  the  setting  up  of  Calvin  in  St.  Pe- 
ter's chair,  and  carrying  on  the  war  to  the  walls  of  Constanti- 
nople. No  man  more  zealous  in  the  cause,  than  Arch-bishop 
Abbot,  who  pressed  to  have  the  news  received  with  bells  and 
bonfires,  the  King  to  be  engaged  in  a  war  for  the  defence  of 
such  a  righteous  and  religious  cause,  and  the  jewels  of  the 
crown  to  be  pawned  in  pursuance  of  it,  as  appears  plainly  by 
his  letters  to  Sir  Robert  Naunton,  principal  secretary  of  estate. 
Which  letters  bearing  date  on  the  12th  of  December,  Anno 
161  9j  are  to  be  found  at  large  in  the  printed  Cabala,  p.  J  69,  &c. 
and  thither  I  refer  the  reader  for  his  satisfaction.  But  neither 
the  persuasions  of  so  great  a  prelate,  nor  the  solicitations  of 
the  Princess  and  her  public  ministers,  nor  the  troublesome  in- 
terposings  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  a  following  parliament, 
were  able  to  remove  that  King  from  his  first  resolution.  By 
which,  though  he  incurred  the  high  displeasure  of  the  English 
Puritans,  and  those  of  the  Calvinian  party  in  other  places ;  yet 
he  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  just  and  religious  Prince 
with  most  men  besides,  and  those  not  only  of  the  Romish,  but 
the  Lutheran  churches.  And  it  is  hard  to  say  which  of  the  two 
Qhe  Papists  or  the  Lutherans]]  were  most  offended  with  the 
Prince  Elector,  for  his  accepting  of  that  crown  ;  which  of  them 
had  more  ground  to  fear  the  ruin  of  their  cause  and  party,  if 
he  had  prevailed ;  and  which  of  them  were  more  impertinently 
provoked  to  make  head  against  him,  after  he  had  declared  his 
acceptance  of  it. 


254  AiTicxnix   l>. 

"  For  when  he  was  to  beinaugurated  in  the  church  of  Prague 
he  neither  would  be  crowned  in  the  usual  l^rnij  nor  by  the 
handsof  the  Arch-bishop,  to  whom  the  performing  of  that  ce- 
remony did  of  right  belong  ;  but  after  such  a  farm  and  manner 
as  wa-s  digested  by  Scultetus,  his  domestic  chaplain,  who  chiefly 
governed  his  affairs  in  all  sacred  matters.  Nor  would  Scultetus 
undertake  the  ceremony  of  the  coronation,  though  very  ambi- 
tious of  that  honour,  till  he  had  cleared  the  church  of  all  carved 
images,  and  defaced  all  the  painted  also.  In  both  respects  a- 
like  offensive  to  the  Romish  clergy,  who  found  themselves  dis- 
priviledged,  their  churches  sacrilegiously  invaded,  and  further 
ruin  threatened  by  these  innovations. 

"  A  massy  crucifix  had  been  erected  on  the  bridge  of  Prague, 
which  had  stood  there  for  many  hundred  years  before ; 
neither  affronted  by  the  Lutherans,  nor  defaced  by  the  Jews, 
though  more  averse  from  images  than  all  people  else :  Scultetus 
takes  offence  at  the  sight  thereof,  as  if  the  brazen  serpent  were 
set  up  and  worshipped ;  persuades  the  King  to  cause  it  present- 
ly to  be  demolished,  or  else  he  never  would  be  reckoned  for  an 
Hezekiah ;  in  which  he  found  conformity  to  his  humour  also, 
and  thereby  did  as  much  offend  all  sober  Lutherans,  (who  re- 
tain images  in  their  churches,  and  other  places,)  as  he  had  done 
the  Romish  clergy  by  his  former  follies.  This  gave  some  new 
increase  to  those  former  jealousies  which  had  been  given  them 
by  that  Prince:  First,  by  endeavouring  to  suppress  the  Lutheran 
forms  in  the  churches  of  Brandenburgh,  by  the  arts  and  prac- 
tices of  his  sister.  [  She  was  married  to  the  Marquis  of  Branden- 
burgh: see  page  249.  |  And  Secondly,  by  condemning  their  doc- 
trine at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  (in  which  his  ministers  were  more 
active  than  the  rest  of  the  foreigners)  though  in  the  persons  of 
those  men  whom  they  called  Arminians.  But  that  which  gave 
them  greatest  cause  of  offence  and  fear,  was  his  determination 
in  a  cause  depending  between  two  sisters,  at  his  first  coming  to 
tlie  crown  ;  of  which,  the  youngest  had  been  married  to  a  Cal- 
vinian,  the  eldest  to  a  Lutheran  lord.  The  place  in  difference 
was  the  castle  and  seignoury  of  Gutscin,  of  which  the  eldest  sis- 
ter had  took  possession,  as  the  seat  of  her  ancestors.  But  the 
King  passing  sentence  for  the  younger  sister,  and  sending  cer- 
tain judges  and  other  officers,  to  put  the  place  into  her  actual 
possession,  they  were  all  blown  vip  with  gun-powder  by  the 
Lutheran  lady,  not  able  to  concoct  the  indignity  offered,  nor  to 
submit  unto  judgment  which  appeared  so  partial." 

It  may  be  necessary  to  introduce  the  account  of  the  Calvin- 
istic  prophecies  by  the  following  quotation  from  Brandt's  His- 
tory, in  which,  after  relating  the  conduct  of  Peter  Du  Moulin 
and  other  violent  Calvinists  in  imposing  the  Canons  of  Dort 
upon  the  French  Churches,  he  says :    "  Some  of  the   Remon- 


APPENDIX    D.  305 

strants  were  of  opinion,  that  there  was  some  mystery  of  Slate 
concealed  under  these  proceedings  at  Alez  in  relation  to  the 
Canons  of  Dort,  and  that  the  secret  spring  of  all  these  motions 
Was  in  Holland ;  that  some  of  the  Contra-Remonstrants  had 
been  the  first  to  commence  this  matter,  by  instituting  a  corre- 
spondence between  the  Reformed  of  Geneva  and  those  of 
France,  not  without  having  privately  concerted  it  with  Du 
Moulin  and  others  ;  and  that  by  thrusting  the  Canons  of  Dort 
down  the  throats  of  the  French  Clergy,  and  by  compelling 
them  to  swear  to  their  observance,  they  endeavoured  to  commu- 
nicate additional  strength  to  their  party,  as  had  been  already 
done  in  Holland,  and  at  the  same  time  to  favour  the  designs  of 
the  Elector  Palatine  or  new  king  of  Bohemia.  For  it  seemed  as 
though  some  project  of  a  confederacy  was  forming  among  those 
of  the  Reformed  religion  j^the  Calvinists^,  not  only  to  subdue 
the  little  hand-full  of  the  Remonstrant  party,  but  even  some  of 
the  members  of  that  great  body,  the  Romish  Church  ;  from 
which  confederac)',  the  author  of  the  Bohemian  Trumpet,  whom 
we  shall  hereafter  mention,  imagined  great  consequences  would 
ensue.  Thus  did  they  aim  at  a  kind  of  Reformed  Monarchy; 
and,  as  they  viewed  all  objects  with  a  magnifying  glass,  the 
smallest  Ji'iger  Avhich  promoted  the  work,  appeared  to  be 
apotve)Jul  arm: — So  easily  do  men  deceive  themselves  with  vain 
hopes !" 

The  Prophetical  Book,  to  which  allusion  is  made  in  the 
preceding  paragraph,  is  thus  described  by  the  same  historian : 
"  The  Contra-Remonstrants  also  published  several  pieces  this 
same  year,  [^1620,1*^** The  Bohcmiati  Trumpet,  printed  at  Am- 
sterdam, by  leave  of  the  Burgo-masters.  The  author,  who 
styles  himself  Ireno;us  Philaletiiius,  was  in  reality  Ewout  Telingh, 
the  Treasurer  of  Zealand,  brother  to  William  Teelingh  minister 
of  Middelburgh,  and  a  great  zealot  for  his  own  party.  He  ex- 
pressed himself  to  this  effect :  '  That  it  seemed  as  if  the  Lord 
'  had  certainly  invited  many  Kings    and    Princes  thither    [[into 

*  Bohemia^  to  make  a  great  sacrifice ;  and  that  he  did  not  enter- 

*  tain  any  doubt  that  God  would  take  vengeance  of  the  great 
'  violation  of  the  public  faith,  of  which  both  the  one  and  the 
'  other  beast    Qhe   Emperor  and   the  Pope^    had  been  guilty 

*  towards  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  with  regard  to  the 
'  safe-conduct  for  their  appearance  at  the  Council  of  Constance. 
'  He  represented  the  war  in  Bohemia,  as  a  war  which  could  not 
'fail  of  success,  because  it  was  waged  against  the  Pope,  whom 

*  he  calls  Antichrist   and    the  man  of  sin.     He    added,  that  God 

*  had  unexpectedly  bestowed  upon  the  Elector  Palatine  such  a 
'  noble  kingdom  as  that  of  Bohemia,  and  had  brought  it  home 

*  to  him,  as  it  were,  whilst  he  slept,  by  a  people  who  had  a  right 
'  to  dispose  of  it ;  and  therefore  that  it  must  not  be  doubled, 
<  that  the  Lord,  who  had  entrusted   him  with   the  keys  of  that 


256  .  APPEND  JX    D. 

'  kingdom,  would  likewise  establish  liim  upon  that  throne  which 

*  he  had  himself  prepared  for  him,  and  would  fix  him  as  a  sure 

*  nail,  upon  which    all  the   Reformed    [^Calvinistic*]    churches 

*  might  in  future  depend.'  " — This  luminous  prophecy  was  deli- 
vered while  the  Elector's  affairs  were  in  a  state  of  prosperity ; 
but  the  following  narrative  refers  to  a  subsequent  period  when 
the  ejected  royal  family  of  Bohemia  were  exiles  in  the  United 
Provinces : 

"  And  yet  after  they  were  fully  assured  of  the  King's  misfor- 
tune, and  saw  that  he  and  the  Queen  were  forced  to  seek  an  asy- 
lum at  the  Hague,  some  of  the  greatest  bigots  among  the  Contra- 
Remonstrants  still  cherished  the  hopes  which  they  had  conceived 
of  him — such  a  strong  persuasion  had  they  of  his  success,  which, 
they  believed,  would  be  the  certain  precursor  of  the  downfall 
of  Popery.  Some  people  thought,  that  almost  all  the  Protestant 
kings,  princes  and  states  of  Christendom,  would  have  armed 
themselves  in  order  to  verify  their  idle  dreams.  Nay,  even  after 
a  longer  series  of  that  prince's  losses,  and  nearly  two  years  after 
Heidelberg  and  the  principal  part  of  the  towns  in  the  Lower 
Palatinate  had  been  besieged  and  taken,  either  by  the  Bavarians 
or  by  the  Imperial  and  Spanish  forces,  William  Stephanus,  a 
Doctor  in  Divinity  and  one  of  the  ministers  of  Karapen,  publish- 
ed a  treatise  under  the  following  title  :  The  Trumpet  of  the 
Holy  War,  revealed  hy  St.  John  against  the  Great  Jtifichrist,  the 
Pope  of  Rome:  The  deep  and  till-this-day  concealed  Prophecies  of 
this  Apostle  are  now  clearly  earplained  according  to  the  true  Meaning 
of  them,  from  the  Twelfth  to  the  Twentieth  C/mpter  of  his  Book  of 
the  Revelations. — Almost  all  the  prophecies  contained  in  those 
chapters,  were  applied  to  the  expelled  monarch.  In  the  20th 
verse  of  the  Fourteenth  Chapter,  St.  John  says,  he  saw  in  a  vision 
that  the  blood  proceeding  from  the  wine-press  of  God's  wrath 
came  even  to  the  bridles  of  the  horses,  for  the  space  of  a  thousand 
and  six  hundred  furlongs :  The  Doctor  explained  it  thus  :  *  Fre- 
'  deric,  the  king  of  Bohemia,  shall   at   the    command  of  God 

*  fight  a  great  battle.     He   was   the  man  who  had   the  sharp 

*  sickle  in  his  hand  and  who  was  commanded  to  reap  :    He  shall 

*  defeat  the  enemies  ;  and  the  sixteen  hundred  furlongs  denote 

*  the  way  between  Heidelberg  and  Prague.' — Upon  the  20th  and 
21st  verses  of  the  Nineteenth  Chapter,  the  doctor  made  the  fol- 
lowing  comment :  *  The  Emperor  Ferdinand  and   the  king  of 

*  Spain   shall  be  taken   prisoners,  brought  before  the  Supreme 

*  Court  of  their  judge  Frederic,  and  condemned  to  suffer  the 

*  most  extreme  punishments,  that  is,  cast  alive  into  the  lake  of 
'fire  burning  with  brimstone,  that  is,  to  a  perpetual  torment  or 
'  else  to  a  shameful  death.     As  for  the  rest  of  the  princes  and 

*  potentates  of  the  earth,  they  shall  likewise  be  punished  accord- 
'  ing  to  the  directions  of    King   Frederic,  and   deprived   of  all 

*  their  lands  and  titles,  for  having  assisted  the  Emperor  and  the 


APPENDIX    D.  257 

'  King  of  Spain.  Upon  which  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  all  the 
'fowls  of  the  air  shall  be  satiated  with  their  fiesh,  that  is,  all  the 
'  faithful  Achates  and  confederates  of  King  Frederic,  having  re- 

*  ceived  the  conquered  countries   as  a  reward  for  their  labours, 

*  shall  sit  down,  every  one  well  contented  with  his  portion,  and 

*  shall  possess  it  with  gladness.'  Such  were  the  predictions  of 
this  doctor,  who  adhered  to  them  with  great  pertinacity.  Bau- 
dart  Qhe  great  Calvinistic  Historian "]  owns,  that  he  had  fre- 
quently  heard   him    declare,    '  I  am   very  certain   all  will  be 

*  accomplished  ;  and  I  have  neither  said  nor  written  any  thing 
'  but  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  plainly  deducible  from  the  text 

*  of  the  Apostle.'  " 

This  prophesying  humour,  it  is  seen,  was  indulged  by  men 
occupying  stations  of  respectability.  David  Herlicius,  Professor 
of  Natural  Philosophy  in  Lubec,  who  died  in  I606,  was  ano- 
ther of  the  prophetic  race,  who,  like  our  English  Lilly,  promised 
great  conquests  to  those  who  gave  him  good  fees.  De  Witte, 
in  his  Account  of  Celebrated  Physicians,  says :  "  People  of  dif- 
ferent nations  frequently  resorted  to  him  :  and,  on  account  of 
his  numerous  experiments  and  the  celebrity  of  his  name,  the 
Germans  and  foreigners  asked  his  judgment  about  their  horo- 
scopes. But  above  all  others,  he  extolled  the  liberality  of  the 
Bohemians  and  the  Poles."  The  reader  will  not  require  a  formal 
statement  of  the  reasons  why  the  Bohemians  asked  his  advice, 
since  many  of  them  were  then  exiles  through  the  cruelty  of  the 
proud  conqueror  of  their  native  land. — On  the  15th  of  October, 
l66'5,  James  Thomasius,  the  Lutheran  Professor  of  Divinity  at 
Leipsic,  delivered  an  oration,  on  occasion  of  a  solemn  thanks- 
giving to  God  for  the  peace  then  concluded  between  the  Empe- 
ror of  Germany  and  the  Ottomai  Porte.  The  sanguine  believers 
in  the  speedy  commencement  of  the  Millennium  were  much  cha- 
grined with  that  peace,  because  they  had  foretold  that  the  reign 
of  the  Crescent  was  near  its  decline.  On  these  prognosticators 
and  D.  Herlicius,  Thomasius  makes  the  following  just  reflec- 
tions :   '  Furnished  with  such  arms  as  these,  those  persons  sallied 

*  forth  who  have  been   desirous  of  late  that  we  should  believe 

*  speedily  to   behold   the  destruction  of  the   Ottoman    Empire. 

*  "This  has  been  done,  I  think,  through  great  profanation  of  the 

*  holy  scriptures,  which  they  associate  with  predictions  of  a  na- 

*  ture  entirely  different,  and  compel  them  to  become  interpreters 

*  to  the  dreams  framed  in  their  own  imaginations. — But  perhaps 

*  nothing  affords  a  more  powei'ful  stimulus  to  this  species  of  cu- 
'  riosity,  than  a  persuasion  of  I-know-not-wliat  kind  of  golden 

*  age  which  will   continue  a  thousand  years,  and  during  which, 

*  after  God  has  overthrown  his  enemies  in  all  directions,  the  be- 
'  loved  flock  shall  live  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  ease  and  delight. 
'  We  are  all  captivated  by  the  desire  to  exist  in  a  land  abounding 
'  with  these  blessings.     If  therefore  any  report  promise  to  us 


258  APPENDIX    D. 

*  such  a  state  of  society,  we  imbibe  the  very  sound  of  it  with 
'  the  greatest   earnestness,  and  vigilantly  look  out  for  all   those 

*  particular  junctures  which  seem  to  favour  these  feelings.'  He 
then  informs  his  audience,  that  during  the  17th  century  there 
never  was  any  considerable  war  against  the  enemies  of  the  true 
church  without  some  predictions  being  delivered  respecting  the 
complete  discomfiture  either  of  the  Pope  or  the  Turks,  or  of  both. 

*  Some   persons,'    he   adds,  '  ascribed    the    achievement  of  this 

*  great  [^future^  conquest  in  the  former  German  war  to  Frede- 

*  luc  the  Elector   Palatine,  while  others  claimed  this    laurel  for 

*  Gustavus  Adolphus   King  of  Sweden,  and   others  for  Charles 

*  Gustavus  when  nine  years  ago  he  was  carrying  on  his  devast- 
'  ations  in  Poland. — D.   Herlicius,  who  was  probably  in  some 

*  other  predictions  a  more  felicitous  astrologer  than  in  this,  wrote 

*  a  pamphlet  full  of  such  predictions  as  these,   and  published  it 

*  some  time  about  the  close  of  the  last  century.     In  it  I  behold 

*  Daniel,  the  Revelations,  the  saying  of  Elias,  the  prognostica- 
'tionsof  John  Hiltenus,  of  Anthony  Torquatus  of  Ferrara,  and 

*  of  the  Turks  themselves,  the  courses  of  the  stars,  and  the  con- 
'  junctions  of  the  planets:  All  these  he  has  enlisted  and  formed 
'  into  one  army,  by  which,  iii  the  minds  of  men,  the  Turks  may 

*  be  despatched  in  the  last  battle.' 

But  the  prophecies  of  Christopher  Kotter,  a  native  of  Sprot- 
tau  in  Silesia,  are  the  most  remarkable  specimens  of  the  art. 
He  received  his  first  angelic  communications  in  I619,  and  conti- 
nued to  divulge  his  rhapsodies  for  several  succeeding  years.  He 
introduced  the  Elector  Palatine,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  into  his 
visions :  This  afforded  him  a  pretext  for  waiting  upon  his  majes- 
ty at  Breslau  in  1620,  to  acquaint  him  with  his  yet  higher  eleva- 
tion and  success.  He  also  visited  some  of  the  minor  German 
courts;  for  in  those  days  of  rapid  changes,  he  contrived  to  pro- 
phesy smooth  things  to  those  who  had  full  purses.  But  as  he 
was  exceedingly  patriotic,  his  presages  generally  promised 
increasing  felicity  to  the  affairs  of  the  Fleeter  Palatine,  and 
accumulated  misfortunes  to  the  Emperor  Ferdinand.  In  the 
benighted  regions  of  Moravia,  Hungary,  Silesia  and  Bohemia, 
our  prophet's  predictions  became  very  popular  ;  and  were  circu- 
lated, viva  voce,  and  in  manuscript,  for  political  purposes.  He 
was  at  length  seized  by  the  Emperor's  Attorney  General  in 
Silesia;  and  after  having  been  long  immured  in  a  prison,  he  was 
exposed  on  the  pillory  with  this  inscription  over  his  head :  This 
is  that  false  prophet,  who  predicted  events  which  have  never  hap- 
pened !  This  enthusiast  then  retired  into  Lusatia,  and  died 
there  in  1 647. 

The  fame  of  Kotter's  prophecies  was  greatly  enhanced  when 
they  fell  into  the  hands  of  that  ingenious  man  and  elegant  scho- 
lar, the  Rev.  John  Amos  Comenius,  the  author  of  that  very 


AITKNDIX      D.  259 

useful  book,  Janua  Linguarum  Restaurata,  which  was  soon 
translated  into  twelve  languages.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Protes- 
tant Church  in  the  city  of  Fulneck  in  Moravia ;  and,  after  the 
great  success  of  the  Imperial  arras  against  King  Frederic  in  those 
regions,  he  and  all  other  Protestant  ministers  were  compelled 
to  retire  from  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  In  his  route  to  Poland, 
in  1625,  he  heard  of  Kotter,  visited  him  at  Sprottau,  and  took  him 
into  Poland.  Comenius  translated  into  the  Bohemian  language 
one  of  this  enthusiast's  revelations,  which  foretold  the  speedy- 
overthrow  of  Antichrist,  and  of  which  the  manuscript  copies 
were  soon  multiplied,  for  the  consolation  of  the  Refugees,  since 
they  promised-unnumbered  triumphs 'to  King  Frederic.  On  his 
return  from  Poland,  Comenius  left  Kotter  in  Silesia,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Berlin,  where  he  found,  even  among  the  refugees  of 
Bohemia  and  Moravia  various  judgments  had  been  formed  about 
the  new  prophet:  For  while  some  considered  him  a  true  prophet, 
and  especially  when  the  post  brought  intelligence  that  the  king 
of  Denmark  was  raising  an  array ;  others  declared  Kotter  to  be 
a  knave,  who,  having  consumed  all  his  substance,  had  in  despair 
devoted  himself  to  the  vocation  of  a  lying  prophet. — This  dif- 
ference in  judgment  gave  Comenius  some  uneasiness:  But  the 
assurances  of  the  famous  Christopher  Pelargus,*  who  had  recently 
left  the  communion  of  the  Lutherans  and  become  a  Calvinist, 
and  who  was  then  Superintendant  General  of  the  Churches  of 
Brandenburgh,  revived  his  drooping  spirits :  For,  having  ex- 
amined Kotter  at  Berlin  by  order  of  the  Elector,  he  declared  to 
Comenius,  that  he  ought  neither  to  indulge  in  any  doubts  res- 
pecting the  truth  of  the  man's  extraordinary  mission,  nor  to  re- 
pent of  having  translated  his  Revelations  into  the  Bohemian  lan- 
guage. In  the  History  which  Comenius  gave  of  these  Revela- 
tions, he  says,  that  Pelargus  afterwards  addressed  him  in  the 
following  language :  "  *  You  behold  this  collection  of  books,' — for 
that  very  eminent  man  was  famous  throughout  all  Germany  for 
possessing  a  well  furnished  library,  into  which  he  had  intro- 
duced me  when  I  desired  a  moi'e  private  conference  with  him, — 
'  You  behold  this  library  of  mine;  1  have  consulted  the  works  of 
'  all  the  authors  composing  it,  both  ancient  and  modern,  for  the 
'  purpose  of  knowing  what  opinion  we  ought  to  form  concern- 
*  ing  this  question — Are  any  new  revelations,  divine  or  angelical, 
'  to  be  admitted  offer  the  time  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  after 
'  the  sealing  of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testainent  ?  But  not  one 
'  of  them  could  resolve  my   scruples.     I  therefore  betook   my- 

•  For  some  account  of  this  man,  consult  the  notes  to  the  Works  of  Jrmi- 
nius,  vol.  I,  p.  419,  450  ;  in  which  is  inserted  an  interesting  letter  from  his 
colleague  Bergius. — Pelargus  was  one  of  those  who  veered  about  from  Lu- 
theranism  to  Calvinism,  when  the  young  Marquis  of  Brandenburgh,  at 
the  instigation  of  his  wife,  (page  250.J  changed  his  party  :  This  divine  had, 
unfortunately  for  bis  reputation,  previously  published  several  books  an  favour 
of  the  peculiarities  of  Lutheranism. 


260  APPENDIX    D. 

'  self  to  prayer,  and  most  ardently  beseeched  God  not  to  suffer 
'  his  church  to  he  deceived:  This  was  the  practice  "which  I  adopt- 

*  ed,  rising  frequently  from  my  bed  in  the  night  and  prostrating 

*  myself  upon  my  face.     But  at  length,  after  all  my  musings 

*  and  divine  suggestions,  I  have  nothing  more  than  this  to  say 
'  on  the  subject — The  Lord  God  of  the  holy  prophets  hath  sent 
'  his  angel  to  shew  unto  his  servants   the  things  which  must  short- 

*  ly  he  done !' ,  which  are  the  very  expressions  that  the  angel 
employed  in  the  22nd  Chap,  of  the  Revelations." — This  is  as 
dangerous  an  instance  of  tempting  God,  as  that  recorded  con- 
cerning the  bigotted  Festus  Hommius,*  who  asked  the  Divine 
Being  to  shew  Jiim  whethe?'  Ar?ninianism  or  Calvinism  was  the 
tridh,  and  who,  after  a  single  prayer  to  this  effect,  received  what 
he  interpreted  into  a  supernatural  intimation  to  persevere  stead- 
fastly in  those  opinions  which  were  generally  received,  that  is,  in 
those  of  Calvin ! ! 

Comenius  says,  at  that  period,  in  1626,  the  dowager  Electress 
Juliana,  the  mother  of  King  Frederic,  informed  a  Moravian 
nobleman  of  high  distinction,  who  as  well  as  herself  was  then  a 
refugee  in  Berlin,  that  she  had  received  a  letter  from  the  king 
her  son,  enquiring  whether  it  was  possible  to  obtain  a  manu- 
script copy  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Silesian.  The  nobleman 
procured  one ;  but  not  being  able  to  present  it  himself  on  ac- 
count of  indisposition,  he  commissioned  Comenius,  who  was 
still  at  Berlin,  to  perform  that  service  for  him.  Instead  of  de- 
livering it  into  the  hands  of  the  old  Electress,  Comenius  pro- 
ceeded without  delay  to  KingFi-ederic  at  the  Hague,  from  whom 
he  obtained  an  audience,  and  delivered  a  luminous  speech,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract:     *  Since  all  the  prognostica- 

*  tions  of  Kotter  have  been  committed  to  writing,  and  since  in 
'  them  your  Majesty  and  your  royal  offspring  are  introduced  as 

*  the  principal  personages  of  this   Divine  Comedy,  it  seemed  an 

*  absurdity  to  those  persons  who  have  till  now  preserved  these 

*  prophecies  in  their  own  hands — to  withhold  them  from  the 
'  knowledge  of  your  majesty.     They  are  not,  however,  deliver- 

*  ed  to  your  Majesty  with  the  design  of  imposing  upon  you  a 
'  necessity  of  absolutely  helieving  them,   but  for  these  two  pur- 

*  poses:     First. — That  they  may  be   preserved  in  your  majes- 

*  ty's  possession  as  in  sacred  archives,  to  be  produced  at  some 
'  future  period  as  a  testimony ;    in  that  case,  after  these  predic- 

*  tions  have  been  completely  and  openly  fulfilled,  it  will  not  be 

*  in  the  power  of  any  man  to  suspect,  or  calumniously  to  report, 
'  that  they  had  been  formed  stihsequently  to  the  occurrence  of  the 
'  events  predicted.  Secondly. — That  an  opportunity  may  be 
'  thus  afforded  to  you  of  observing,   whether  it  is  not  probable 

*  that  Divine  Providence  may  dispose  of  such  concerns  as  these, 
'  and  mature  them  into  events.     For  if  we  do  not  refuse  to  lis- 

*  The  Works  of  Armiiiius,  vol.  1,  p.  405. 


APl'KNDIX    D.  261 

'  ten  to  political  disquisitions,  astrological  predictions,  or  simi- 

*  lar  conjectures  of  men  of  prudence,  and  to  learn  what  their 
'  sentiments  are  respecting  any  impending  change   in   public 

*  affairs,  why  should  we  reject  these  prophecies  which  are  derived 

*  from  a  higher  origin  ?     The   persons   therefore,  in   whose 

*  custody  they  were,  have  taken  the  liberty  to  transcribe  from 

*  the  authentic  manuscript  an  exact  copy  which  they  now  pre- 
'  sent  by  me  to  your  majesty  with  their  most  humble  and  res- 
'  pectful  services' — Being  the  bearer  of  such  golden  promises  as 
these,  Comenius  was  graciously  received  by  the  Ex-King  Fre- 
deric, and  dismissed  with  a  handsome  present. 

Comenius  was  invited  by  the  English  Parliament,  in  1641,  to 
assist  in  the  reformation  of  the  public  schools  of  this  kingdom  ; 
but,  on  his  arrival  in  London,  he  found  his  patrons  too  much 
occupied  with  the  ebullition  of  the  political  troubles  which  had 
then  begun  to  display  themselves.  The  knowledge,  however, 
which  he  then  gained  of  our  domestic  affairs,  was  of  service  to 
him  in  his  subsequent  prophetic  enterprizes.  In  l657,  he  pub- 
lished at  Amsterdam,  where  he  then  resided  under  the  pa- 
tronage of  the  opulent  house  of  De  Geer,  a  large  collection  of 
prophecies  entitled,  L.ux  in  Tenebris,  "  Light  in  Darkness." 
This  book  contained  Kotter's  prophecies,  those  of  Christina 
Poniatovia,  a  female  enthusiast,  and  those  of  Nicholas  Drabi- 
cius,  a  minister  and  prophet  in  Moravia :  It  promised  miracles  to 
those  heroes  who  should  engage  in  the  extirpation  of  the  House 
of  Austria  and  the  Pope.  Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden, 
Cromwell  in  England,  and  Ragotski  of  Transylvania,  were 
among  the  number  of  the  mighty  warriors,  to  whom  Comenius, 
in  this  and  subsequent  extravagant  publications,  promised  the 
high  honour  of  achieving  splendid  triumphs  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Calvinism,  which  should  become  the  universal  religion, 
and  be  made  a  praise  in  the  earth. 

I  was  gratified  to  find  from  Comenius's  own  account,  that  a 
few  of  the  Bohemian  ministers  disapproved  of  the  pi-omulgation 
of  Kotter's  early  Revelations.  "  Two  of  these  ministers,  with 
some  of  the  elders  of  their  church,  requested  that  the  manu- 
script might  be  suppressed,  whether  it  was  the  Jiction  of  some 
ingenious  man,  or  the  production  of  a  fanatic.  It  was  dangerous 
for  two  reasons:  First. — It  was  injurious  to  the  consciences 
of  men,  if  they  suffered  themselves  to  be  seduced  by  it  from 
the  sure  word  of  God,  to  uncertain  figments  of  this  description. 
Secondly. — It  exposed  the  Reformed  to  the  loss  of  their 
liberties  or  their  lives,  if  such  predictions  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  their  adversaries." — The  Professor  Nicholas  Arnold,  to 
whom  we  have  already  alluded,  page  198,  v^^rote  an  able  reply 
to  the  second  production  of  Comenius,  and  shewed  the  extreme 


262  APPENDIX   n. 

jeopardy  in  which  he  had  most  reprehensibly  placed  all  the 
Reformed  in  Bohemia,  Silesia,  Poland,  &c. — The  famous  Mare- 
siusof  Groningen  also  answered  Comenius  in  l657,  and  described 
him  as  "  not  deficient  in  genius,  but  a  fanatic,  a  visionary,  and 
an  enthusiast  in  folio,  who  pretended,  that  the  prophecies  of 
Drabicius  would  furnish  labour  for  all  the  princes  in  Europe. 
He  addressed  letters  to  the  Pope,  the  emperor,  to  kings  and 
cardinals,  recommending  this  work  to  them  as  the  rule  and 
standard  by  which  they  ought  to  regulate  their  proceedings." 
Maresius  also  declared,  that  "  Comenius  and  other  millenary 
fanatics  had  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  excite  people  to 
rebellion,  and  that  he  had  omitted  no  endeavours  to  persuade 
Cromwell  to  foment  disturbances  in  Bohemia.  He  had  long 
before  concluded,  that  since  the  event  did  not  answer  to  the 
predictions  of  Felgenhaverus,  they  had  not  a  Divine  origin. 
But  now,  with  regard  to  those  of  his  three  seers,  he  defends 
them  from  all  attacks,  although  they  have  been  completely  fal- 
sified by  the  event ;  and  he  has  the  audacity  to  compare  them, 
in  a  manner  the  most  impious,  profane,  and  sacrilegious,  with 
the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament."  It  is  also  pleasing  to 
learn,  that  Comenius,  after  all  his  elaborate  defences  of  these 
false  prophets,  was  finally  sensible  of  the  vanity  of  his  labours, 
and  of  the  unnecessary  trouble  which  he  had  given  himself 
since  he  had  been  forced  to  leave  his  native  country.  This 
appears  from  a  treatise,  which  he  published  at  Amsterdam  in 
1668,  entitled  "  The  One  Thing  Needful,"  and  in  which  he 
confesses  the  futility  of  all  his  prophetic  toils,  and  states  his 
determination  to  devote  all  his  future  thoughts  to  his  personal 
salvation. 

But,  before  we  close  this  article  on  the  Calvinistic  Prophets, 
an  extract  from  the  celebrated  M.  Jurieu's  book,  entitled  The 
Accomplishment  of  the  Prophecies,  and  published  in  J  686,  may 
be  of  some  service,  in  showing  the  contemptible  nature  of  those 
enthusiastical  compositions,  and  the  temporary  political  pur- 
poses to  which  they  had  been  previously  applied  by  many 
learned  and  sober  Calvinists,  in  various  parts  of  Europe.  In  the 
preface,  M.  Jurieu  said,  '  I  found  in  the  prophecies  of  Kotter, 

*  Christina,  and  Drabicius,  which  were  published  by  Comenius, 

*  something  great  and  surprizing.     Kotter,  the   first   of  these 

*  three  prophets,  is  grand  and  lofty.     The  images  of  his  visions 

*  are  likewise  noble  and  majestic ;  in  this  respect,  they  are  not 
'  exceeded  by  those  of  the  ancient  prophets.  All  of  them  are 
'  wonderfully  well-concerted  and   indited  ;  they  are  all  uniform 

*  and  consistent.  I  cannot  imagine  how  it  was  possible  for  a 
'  mere  mechanic  to  form  such  exalted  conceptions  without 
'  Divine  Assistance. — The  two  years  of  Christina's  prophecy 
'  are,  in  my  o])inion,  a  series  of  as  great  miracles  as  have  hap- 


AITENDIX    r>.  203 

*  pened  since  the  time  of  the  apostles.  Nay,  I  have  not  met 
'  with  any  thing,  in  the  lives  of  the  greatest  prophets,  more 
'  miraculous  than  what  has  befallen  this  young  woman. — 
'  Drabicius  also  has  his  loftinesses;  but  then  he  is  much  more 
'_  difficult  and  obscure. — These  three  prophets  agree  in  fore- 
'  telling  the  fall  of  the  Anti-christian  empire,  as  an  event  which 
'  must  soon  occur :  But,  on  the  other  hand,  one's  heart  is  rather 
'  averse  to  them,  for  they  contain  many  circumstances  that  give 
'  offence.' — The  last  clause  is  a  piece  of  French  badinage,  for 
the  author  shows  his  approbation  of  these  romantic  writers  by 
the  use  to  which  he  afterv/ards  applies  their  predictions.  In 
one  part  he  says,    '  There  are  some  people  who  believe,   that 

*  the  hopes  which  I  hold  out  of  a  restoration  in  a  few  years, 

*  may  be  of  great  prejudice.  It  is  certain  that  prophecies, 
'  whether  true  or  fictitious,   have  frequently  inspired  those  for 

*  whom  they  were  formed  with  the  resolution  of  undertaking 
'  such  enterprizes  as  had  been  assigned  to  them.'  In  another 
passage  he  says,  *  With  respect  to  the  remark  which  many 
'  people  have  made,  that  I  speak  too  conjidenthj  about  things, 
'  which,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  have  proposed  only  as  weighty  con- 
'  jectures, — the  world  will  probably  one  day  be  informed  of  the 
'  chief  motive  which  prompted  me  to  deliver  my  sentiments  in 
'  such  a  decided  manner,  and  with  so  much  confidence  on  the 
'  explanation  of  the  prophecies.' — M.  Jurieu's  improper  motives,  in 
resuscitating  this  exploded  nonsense,  have  been  ably  exposed  by 
M.  Pelisson  in  his  Reflections  on  the  Disputes  concerning  Religion, 
and  by  M.  Brueys,  in  his  History  of  the  Fanaticism  of  these 
times.  The  latter  says, '  Jurieu  knew  perfectly  well,  that  he  was 
'  not  a  prophet ;  but  he  was  desirous  of  imposing  on  the  people, 
'  that  he  might  excite  them  to  take  up   arms  and   raise  a  civil 

*  war  in  the  heart  of  this  country,  in  order  to  favour  the  de- 
'  signs  of  our  enemies.  So  full  of  this  detestable  project  was  he 
'  when  he  wrote  his  Book  on  the  Prophecies,  that  he  could  not 
'  avoid  discovering  it  to  a  reader  of  the  least  penetration. — This 
'  minister  promised  the  Calvinists,tliat  Popery  should  haveaspee- 
'  dy  downfal,  and  predicted  the  approaching  deliverance  of  their 
'  church.     He  promised  these  things  as  if  from  God,  by  inlorm- 

*  ing  the  people  that  they  were  contained  in  the  oracles  of  the 
'  Revelations.' 

M.  Bayle,  who  on  many  occasions  acts  the  part  of  M.  Jurieu's 
apologist,  and  who  on  some  points  in  the  present  instance  has  not 
deserted  hira,  thus  delivers  his  opinion  :  "  What  I  have  said  of 
Comenius,  I  apply  to  a  famous  divine  of  Rotterdam,  [^Jurieu,  ] 
who  has  explained  the  scripture  prophecies  under  an  extremely 
bold  pretence  of  being  inspired.  I  do  not  assume  authority  to 
judge  his  heart,  and  I  will  allow  it  to  be  supposed  that  he  did 
not  act  against  his  conscience.    But  no  one  ought  to  be  offended 


264  APPENDIX     D. 

when  I  declare,  that  he  has  been  suspected  of  harbouring  no 
other  design  than  that  of  exciting  people  to  take  up  arms  and  to 
embroil  all  Europe.  The  ground  of  their  suspicion  is  this — his 
not  evincing  any  signs  of  confusion  after  the  event  had  falsified 
the  prophecy  in  a  manner  that  was  beyond  all  dispute.  Ano- 
ther ground  of  their  surmise  is  this — that,  in  imitation  of  Com- 
enius,  he  has  attempted  to  re-unite  the  Lutherans  and  Calvi- 
nists,  in  hopes,  it  is  said,  of  increasing  the  number  of  troops  to 
attack  Antichrist." 

Concerning  Comenius  also,  the  latter  author  has  observed ; 
"  These  persons  fortel  the  things  which  they  desire  to  see  at- 
tempted, and  then  they  set  all  their  machinery  to  work  in 
order  to  engage  all  those  in  their  enterprize  whom  they  consi- 
der suitable  partizans.  It  is  very  probable,  that  the  great  ap- 
plication which  Comenius  employed  in  trying  to  unite  all  the 
Protestants  in  one  body,  proceeded  from  a  desire  which  he  en- 
tertained of  forming  a  powerful  party,  that  might  fulfil  the  pro- 
phecies with  temporal  weapons.  Another  circumstance  did  Co- 
menius an  injury  :  He  was  a  man  of  parts  and  learning;  on 
other  matters  he  argued  very  ably,  and  on  these  like  a  man  of 
genius  and  nothing  in  his  person  gave  him  the  appearance  of 
an  enthusiast.  This  caused  the  world  to  infer,  that  he  did  not 
believe  the  things  which  he  uttered.  There  may  be,  and  some- 
times there  is,  imposture  in  ecstatic  grimaces :  But  those  who 
boast  of  being  inspired,  without  evincing  by  the  countenance 
or  expressions  that  their  brain  is  disordered,  and  without  doing 
any  act  that  is  unnatural,  ought  to  be  infinitely  more  suspected  of 
fraud,  than  those  who  from  time  to  time  fall  into  strong  convul- 
sions as  the  Sybils  did  in  a  greater  or  less  degree.  I  am  willing 
to  have  it  tliought,  that  Comenius  did  not  harbour  any  sinister 
design.  But  what  shall  we  answer  to  those  who  censure  him 
for  having  published  Kotter's  prophecies,  even  when  the  event 
had  demonstrated  their  falsity  ?  I  will  own,  that  this  appears 
to  me  quite  inexcusable."  But,  omitting  all  mention  of  Come- 
nius with  his  two  prophets  and  prophetess,  what  excuse  can  be 
framed  for  such  men  as  the  Treasurer  Teelingh,  Dr.  William 
Stephanus,  and  Professor  Herlicius,  each  of  whom  assumed  the 
prophetic  character;  and  for  Dr.  Pelargus  and  M.  Jurieu,  the 
grave  and  reverend  apologists  of  such  enthusiasts  }  We  only 
know,  that  the  greatest  part  of  them  were  violent  Calvinists,  who, 
notwithstanding  the  adverse  stream  of  providential  occurrences 
and  in  the  absence  of  all  facts  in  their  favoui*,  chose  to  argue 
propitiously  concerning  the  ultimate  and  speedy  establishment 
of  that  Calvinian  universal  Monarchy  about  which  all  that  san- 
guine party  had  dreamed ;  and,  to  keep  alive  these  high  expec- 
tations in  others,  they  or  their  hirelings  prophesied  smooth  and 
delightful  things  to  the  people. 


APPENDIX    1>.  265 

Bat  after  all  these  auspicious  predictions,  which  had  their 
origin  in  the  partially  successful  experiment  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort,  and  after  all  their  strenuous  endeavours  to  cause  those 
predictions  to  ripen  into  facts,  the  Calvinists  of  the  United 
Provinces  saw  Prince  Maurice  advanced  no  higher  in  the  scale 
of  sovereign  princes,  their  darling  King  Frederic  neither  became 
Emperor  of  Germany  nor  regained  Bohemia  and  the  Palati- 
nate, Du  Moulin  and  the  Rochelle  Calvinists  did  not  succeed 
in  their  seditious   attempts   against   the    King  of  France,*  and 

*  The  daring-  conduct  of  these  men  has  been  already  described  by  Grotius. 
in  the  preceding  Appendix  C.  But  as  a  succinct  account  of  it  is  necessary 
to  complete  the  view  of  the  enterprizes  in  which  the  Calvinists  were  en- 
couraged to  engage  liy  ilieir  success  at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  1  here  furnish  that 
account  in  the  language  of  Dr.  Heylin,  a  writer,  who,  from  his  situation,  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  events  of  that  age  : — 

"  Such  was  the  miserable  end  of  the  war  of  Bohemia,  raised  chiefly  by  the 
pride  and  pragmaticalness  of  Calvin's  followers,  out  of  a  hope  to  propagate 
their  doctrines,  and  advance  their  discipline  in  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Nor 
sped  the  Hugonots  much  better  in  the  realm  of  France;  where,  by  the 
countenance  and  connivance  of  King  Henry  the  4th  who  would  not  see  it, 
and  during  the  minority  of  Lewis  the  13th  who  could  not  help  it,  they  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  some  whole  countries,  and  near  two  hundred  strong 
towjs  and  fortified  places.  Proud  of  which  strength,  they  took  upon  them 
as  a  commonwealth,  in  the  midst  of  a  kingdom;  summoned  assemblies  for 
the  managing  of  their  own  affairs,  when  and  as  often  as  they  pleased  ;  gave 
audience  to  the  ministers  of  foreign  churches;  and  impowered  agents  of  their 
own  to  negotiate  with  them.  At  the  same  meetings  they  consulted  about 
religion,  made  new  laws  for  government,  displaced  some  of  their  old  officers, 
and  elected  new  ones  ;  the  King's  consent  being  never  asked  to  the  altera- 
tions. These  carriages  gave  the  King  such  just  offence,  that  be  denied  them 
leave  to  send  Commissioners  to  the  Synod  of  Don,  to  which  they  had  been 
earnestly  invited  by  the  States  of  the  Netherlands.  For  being  so  trouble- 
some and  imperious  when  they  acted  only  by  the  strength  of  their  provincial 
or  national  meetings,  what  danger  might  not  be  suspected  from  a  general 
confluence,  in  which  the  heads  of  all  the  faction  might  be  laid  together.* 
But  then,  to  sweeten  them  a  little  after  this  refusal,  he  gave  them  leave  to 
hold  an  assembly  at  Charenton,  four  miles  from  Paris,  there  to  debate  those 
points,  and  to  agree  those  differences  which,  in  that  Synod,  had  been  agi- 
tated by  the  rest  of  their  party  ;  which  liberty  they  made  such  use  of  in  tlie 
said  assembly,  that  they  approved  all  the  determinations  which  were  made 
at  Dort,  commanded  them  to  be  subscribed,  and  bound  themselves  and 
their  successors  in  the  ministry  by  a  solemn  oath,  not  only  steadfastly  and 
constantly  to  adhere  unto  them,  but  to  persist  in  maintenance  thereof  to  the 
last  gasp  of  their  breath. — But  the  Hugonots  were  not  to  be  told,  that  all  the  \ 
Calvinian  Princes  and  estates  of  the  empire  had  put  themselves  into  a  posture 
of  war;  some  for  defence  of  the  Palatinate,  and  others  in  pursuance  of  the 
war  of  Bohemia,  of  which  they  gave  themselves  more  hopes  than  they  had 
just  cause  for.  In  which  conjuncture,  some  hot  spirits  then  assembled  at 
Rochelle,  blinded  with  pride,  or  hurried  on  by  the  fa taliti/  ot  those  decrees 
which  they  maintained  to  be  resolved  upon  by  God  before  all  eternity,  reject 
all  offers  tending  to  a  pacification,  and  wilfully  run  on  to  their  own  de- 
struction.— Next,  let  us  look  upon  the  King,  who,  being  brought  to  a  neces- 
sity of  taking  arms,  first  made  his  way  unto  it  by  his  declaration  of  the 
second  of  April,  published  in  favour  of  all  those  of'that  religion  who  would 
contain  themselves  in  their  due  obedience.  In  pursuance  whereof,  he  caused 
five  persons  to  be  executed  in  the  city  of  Tours,  who  had  tumultuously  dis- 
turbed the  Hugonots,  whom  they  found  busied  at  the  burial  of  one  of  their 
dead.    He  also  signified  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  the  Princes  of  the 

S 


266  APPKXDIX     D. 

many  more  imaginary  Calvinistic  triumphs  terminated  in  the 
hopelessness  of  despondency.  Y^et,  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years, 
a  great  door  of  liope  was  opened  to  the  party  in  England  :  They 
seizetl  upon  the  opportunity  of  the  quarrel  between  King 
Charles  I  and  his  Parliament,  introduced  Calvinism  as  the  only 
religion  to  be  tolerated  in  these  realms,  and  overturned  the  mon- 
archical government  of  the  country.  I  know  it  is  usual  for 
vv^riters  on  this  subject  to  expose  the  clashing  designs  and  in- 
terests of  the  different  parties,  who,  either  as  principals  or  acces- 
saries, were  concerned  in  that  religious  and  political  revolution. 
But  let  them  be  called  Presbyterians,  Independents,  or  Episcopal 
Puritans,  they  were  all  animated  by  the  same  paramount  desire 
of  crushing  Arminianism  :*  and  the  genius  of  Presbyterianism 
and  Independency  will  be  allowed  by  all  moderate  men  to  point 
towards  a  Republican  form  of  government  in  the  State  as  well  as 

empire,  and  the  States  of  the  Netherlands,  that  he  had  not  undertook  this 
war  to  suppress  the  religion,  but  to  chastise  the  insolencies  of  rebellious 
subjects.  And  what  he  signified  in  words,  he  made  good  by  his  deeds  ;  for 
when  the  war  was  at  the  hottest,  all  those  of  that  religion  in  the  city  of  Paris 
lived  as  securely  as  before,  and  had  their  accustomed  meetings  at  Charenton, 
as  in  times  of  peace." 

After  alluding  to  the  very  imprudent  act  of  King  Charles  I.,  in  assisting 
the  French  Calvinists  in  1626  and  1628,  Dr.  Heylin  thui  proceeds  :— 

"  Which  being  observed  by  those  of  Rochelle,  who  were  then  besieged  to 
landward  by  the  King  in  person,  and  even  reduced  unto  the  last  extremity 
by  plagues  and  famine;  they  presently  set  open  their  gates,  and,  without 
making  any  conditions  for  their  preservation,  submitted  absolutely  to  that 
mercy  which  they  had  scorned  so  often  in  their  prosperous  fortunes.  The 
King,  thus  master  of  the  town,  dismantleth  all  their  fortifications,  leaves  it 
quite  open  both  to  sea  and  land,  commands  them  to  renounce  the  name  of 
Rochebe,  and  to  take  unto  the  town  the  name  of  Mary  Ville,  or  Boure  de 
St.  Mary."  ^  ^ 

*  Strong  and  irrefragable  proofs  oi  this  assertion  will  be  found  in  many 
of  the  subsequent  parts  of  this  Appendix.  Indeed,  it  was  a  subject  about 
which,  in  a  short  time,  the  English  and  Scotch  Calvinists  used  no  kind  of 
disguise,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  quotation  from  one  of  the  letters 
of  Grotius  to  his  brother,  dated  March  .30th,  1641  :— '«  It  is  supposed  that 
[the  Earl  of  Strafford]  who  has  been  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  will  clear 
himself  from  all  charges.  Far  greater  hatred  is  displayed  by  the  populace 
against  the  Archbishop  [Laud],  as  was  very  apparent  when  he  was  com- 
mitted prisoner  to  the  Tower  :  For  a  seditious  tumult  was  raised  against 
him,  as  though  he  was  not  then  sufficiently  unfortunate.  Yet,  on  that  un- 
happy occasion,  he  quoted  these  lines  of  Juvenal,  and  applied  them  with  the 
greatest  propriety  to  the  outrageous  mob :  at  quid  turha  /re- 
mit ?    sequitur  fortunam,  ut  semper,   et  odit  damnatos,   ike— Sat.  x. 

"  Good  I   what  think  the  people  .'" — They  ! 

They  follow  fortune,  as  of  old  ;  and  hate. 
With  their  whole  souls,  the  victim  of  the  state. 

.      .  ,        ,  ^        ^  GiFFORD. 

A  short  Apology  by  the  Scotch  has  been  published  here,  in  which  they  de- 
clare, that  they  have  not  taken  up  arms  against  the  King  or  the  English 
nation,  but  against  the  ArcIibisJiap  and  the  rest  of  ihe  Arminian*  !  You 
perceive  what  uncommon  hatred  is  manifested  against  the  truth,  that  is, 
agamst  sentiments  that  are  moderate,  and  can,  in  their  origin.  Jay  claim  to 
antiquity."  ■' 

In  niy  early  theological  studies,  it  was  frequently  a  subject  of  wonder  to 
me,  that  Arminianism  should  be  called  Popenj  by  some  of  its  early  op- 
ponents :     I"or  this  reproachful  epithet  I  could  never  discover  a  cause.    One 


APPKXDIX     D. 


267 


in  t]ie  Church.  Besides  those  who  reflect  on  the  peculiar  con- 
dition of  the  great  European  fomily  at  that  juncture,  will  per- 
ceive that  the  Dutch  Republic,  which  had  then  so  lately  ren- 
dered the  most  important  services  to  Rigid  Predestmation,  was 
the  only  country  in  which  the  Calvinists  were  in  a  flourishmg 
condition  :  This  was  a  circumstance  which  was  not  forgotten 
in  the  harangues  and  publications  of  the  various  Puritanic  emi- 
grants who  had  found  an  asylum  in  the  United  Provinces,  and 
who  flocked  to  England  in  large  companies  as  soon  as  they 
learnt  the  probability  of  a  commotion  being  raised  m  their  fa- 
vour. These  men  imported  into  this  country  all  the  visionary 
enthusiasm,  to  which,  after  the  Synod  of  Dort,  they  had  been 
accustomed  in  the  Low  Countries.  _         i   •   •    • 

A  hundred  instances  might  be  produced  of  their  Calvinistic 
extravagancies ;  a  few  may  here  suffice :  "  The  bishops  had 
been  about  this  time  voted  out  of  the  house  of  parliament,  and 
some  upon  that  occasion  sent  to  the  Tower,  which  made  many 
covenanters  rejoice,  and  most  of  them  to  believe  Mr.  Brightraan 
(who  probably  was  a  well-meaning  man)  to  be  inspired  when 
he  writ  his  Comment  on  the  Apocalypse ;  a  short  abridgment  of 
which  was  now  printed,  cried  up  and  down  the  streets  and  cal- 
led Mr.  Brightman's  Revelation  of  the  Bevelation,  and  both 
bought  up  and  believed  by  all  the  covenanters.  And  though 
he  was  grossly  mistaken  in  other  things,  yet,  because  he  had 
there  made  the  churches  of  Geneva  and  Scotland,  (which  had 
no  bishops)  to  be  Philadelphia  in  the  Apocalypse,  that  angel 
that  God  loved;   and  the  power  of  prelacy  to  be  Antichrist,  the 

good  and  sufficient  reason,  applicable  to  the  case  of  the  English  Arminians, 
is  given  by  Grotius  in  a  preceding  page,  209  ;  for  unless  the  Calvinists  had 
coustautly  infused  into  the  minds  of  the  common  people  a  persuasion,  that 
"  Episcopacy  and  Jyminianism  were  nothing  better  than  specious  modifi- 
catmis  of  Popery,"  they  could  not  have  inspired  them  with  a  belief,  that 
"  the  prophecies  in  the  Revelations,  relative  to  the  subversion  of  the  Auti- 
christian  kingdom,  are  as  applicable  to  Arminianism  as  to  Popery." 

Yet  I  discovered,  that,  whenever  it  suited  their  convenience,  these  virulent 
Calvinistic  accusers  could  congratulate  themselves  on  the  congruity  which 
several  of  their  own  doctrines  held  with  those  of  the  Papists.  John  Goodwin 
said,  in  1658,  to  one  of  his  adversaries  :  "  For  doth  he  not  know,  that,  as  the 
"  market  of  reproach  and  disgrace  now  ruleth  in  this  angle  of  the  world,  call 
"  a  man  an  Arminian,  and  vou  have  called  him  constructively,  yea  emi- 
'«  nently.  Thief,  Traitor,  Murderer,  Heretic,  False  Prophet,  and  whatso- 
"  ever  else  souudeth  infamy  or  reflection  upon  men  ?— Dr.  John  Owen  ac- 
<'  knowledgeth,  and  doth  little  less  than  triumph,  that  his  doctrine  ofPerse- 
"  verance  is  owned  and  asserted  by  the  two  great  Popish  Doctors,  Bellar- 
"  MINE  and  SUAREZ.  May  not  1  then,  or  any  other  man,  upon  as  reasonable 
"  an  account,  stigmatize  such  a  doctrine  with  the  imominious  character 
"  of  Popish  or  Jesuitical,  as  the  said  Doctor,  or  any  oiher  partisan,  cast  the 
"  reproach  of  ^rwim<art  upon  the  tenets  argued  for  bv  me  m  these  contro- 
"  versies  ?  Yea,  the  truth  is,  that  such  a  doctrine  of  Perseverance  as  the 
"  said  Doctor  abetteth,  would  make  a  more  connatural  and  suitable  member 
«'  in  the  crazy  body  of  Popish  Divinity,  than  in  the  body  of  the  doctrine 
"  maintained  bv  Protestants." 

s  2 


2C8  APPENDIX    D. 

evil  angel  which  the  House  of  Commons  had  now  so  spued  up, 
as  never  to  recover  their  dignity  :  therefore  did  those  covenan- 
ters rejoice,  approve,  and  applaud  Mr.  Brightman,  for  discover- 
ing and  foretelling  the  bishops'  downfall ;  so  that  they  both 
railed  at  them,  and  at  the  same  time  rejoiced  to  buy  good 
penny-worths  of  all  their  land,  which  their  friends  of  the  House 
of  Commons  did  afford  both  to  themselves  and  them,  as  a  re- 
ward for  their  zeal  and  diligent  assistance  to  pull  them  down." 
(Isaac  Walton's  Life  of  Bishop  Sanderson.  ) 

The  next  personage  introduced  does  not  appear  as  a  pros- 
pective but  rather  as  an  encouraging  retrospective  prophet.  "  Dr. 
Owen  also,"  says  the  judicious  biographer  of  John  Goodwin, 
"in  a  strain  of  genuine  fanaticism,  which  would  have  disgraced 
the  most  despicable  of  Cromwell's  preaching  officers,  compared 
the  outrageous  proceedings  of  the  Regicides  to  the  valorous 
achievements  of  the  Man  after  God's  own  heart,  in  subduing  the 
enemies  of  his  country,  and  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  nati- 
onal glory  and  prosperity  by  which  the  reign  of  Solomon  was 
distinguished.     Speaking  of  Ireton,  the  Doctor   says,  '  He    was 

*  an  eminent  instrument  in  the  hand  of  God,  in  as  tremendous 
'  alterations,  as  such  a  spot  of  this    world  hath    at  any   time  re- 

*  ceived,  since  Daniel  saw  in  general  them    all As   Daniel's 

'  visions  were  all  terminated  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  so  all  his 
'  (^Ireton's^  actions  had  the  sameaimand  intendment.  This  was  that 

*  which  gave  life  and  sweetness  to  all  the  most  dismal  and  black 

*  engagements  that  at  any  time  he  was  called  out  unto.  It  was  all 
'  the  vengeance  cf  the  Lord  and  his  temple  !  A  Davidical  prepara- 

*  tion  of  his  paths  in  blood,  that  he  might  for  ever  reign  in  righte- 
'  ousness  and  peace.'  Isaac  Walton  says,  in  his  Life  of  the  vene- 
rable Hooker,  about  some  malecontents  at  an  earlier  period  :  Yet 
these  very  men,  in  their  secret  conventicles,  did  covenant  and 
swear  to  each  other  to  be  assiduous  and  faithful  in  using  their 
best  endeavours  to  set  up  the  presbyterian  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline ;  and  both  in  such  a  manner  as  they  themselves  had  not 
yet  agreed  on,  but  up  that  government  must.  To  which  end, 
there  were  many  that  wandered  up  and  down,  and  were  active 
in  sowing  discontents  and  sedition  by  venomous  and  secret  mur- 
mui'ings,  and  a  dispersion  of  scurrilous  pamphlets  and  libels 
against  the  church  and  state,  but  especially  against  the  Bi- 
shops ;  by  which  means,  together  with  venomous  and  indiscreet 
sermons,  the  common  people  became  so  fanatick,  as  to  believe 
the  Bishops  to  be  Antichrist,  and  the  only  obstructers  of  God's 
discipline ;  and  at  last  some  of  them  were  given  over  to  so 
bloody  a  zeal,  and  such  other  desperate  delusions,  as  to  find 
out  a  text  in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  that  Antichrist  was  to 
be  overcome  by  the  sword." 

The  same  spirit  was  alive  and  in  mighty  operation  during  the 
Civil  WarS:  Grotius  has  alluded  to  it  in  a  preceding  page.  (209) 


ArrKNDiJ^    D.  269 

On  the  l6th  of  February,  1641,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Gro- 
tiu3  writes  thus  concerning  the  imprisonment  of  Archbishop 
Laud  ; — "  I  pray  God  in  behalf  of  the  Archbishop,  that  he  may 
obtain  more  favourable  judges  than  we  [  the  Dutch  Arminians,^ 
did  formerly.  It  is  beyond  the  range  of  human  prudence  to 
foresee  every  thing  that  may  afterwards  occur.  Yet  God  mani- 
fests a  regard  towards  us ;  and  he  solaces  with  a  better  hope 
those  who  are  treated  injuriously."  In  a  letter  addressed  to  his 
brother,  a  week  afterwaids,  he  repeats  the  same  pious  wishes, 
and  adds : — "  I  think  the  Archbishop's  purpose  has  been  such, 
as  ought  to  cause  him  not  to  be  afraid  of  having  God  for  the 
Judge  of  his  intentions.  But,  if  in  any  age,  undoubtedly  in  this 
all  things  are  managed  by  factions.  Those  persons  sport  too  much 
with  Divine  subjects,  who  suppose  that  they  discover,  in  the 
name  of  the  Archbishop,  the  number  which  is  expressed  in  the 
Revelations  :  After  the  same  manner,  Feuardent  *  has  declared 
that  the  same  number  expresses  Martin  Lauter. — Respecting 
the  Synod  of  Dort,  I  think  those  persons  are  of  the  third  order 
who  attempt  that  which  you  describe :  But,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  understand  the  affair  by  comparing  the  judgment  of  ma- 
ny persons  together,  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  that  neither  the 
major  part  of  the  Bishops  nor  the  Nobility  will  approve  of  that 
scheme,t  but  that  all  things  will  be  brought  back  to  the  same 
form  as  that  which  was  established  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth. 
It  was  this  Queen  who  stifled  in  their  very  origin  the  Lambeth 
Articles,  which  were  a  kind  of  prelude  to  the  Synod  of  Dort."— 
To  shew  that  some  of  those  passages  in  the  New  Testament 
which  were  then  interpreted,  for  party-purposes,  to  apply  to  the 
Papal  tyranny,  had  been  otherwise  applied  by  many  great  and 
good  men,  Grotius  wrote  his  Commeyitatio  de  Antichristo  ;  in  which 
he  offers  a  conjecture,  that  Ulpius,  the  cognomen  of  the  Empe- 
ror Trajan,  as  it  answered  in  Greek  numerals  to  6C6,  was  the 
person  there  signified.  He  refers  to  Eusebius  for  proof,  that  this 
Emperor  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign  revived  the  persecutions 
against  the  Christians ;  and  quotes  Augustine's  City  of  God, 
Sulpitius  Severus,  and  Orosius,  as  authorities  for  calling  Trajan's 
cruel  measures  the  Third  Persecution  of  the  Christians.  He  adds, 
"  both  Irenteus  and  Arethas  consider  it  a  matter  placed  beyond 

*  Feuardent  was  a  Franciscan  Friar,  and  one  of  the  most  virulent  adver- 
saries that  ever  wrote  against  the  early  Protestants.  Daill6  says,  that  "  he 
was  highly  deserving  of  his  name," — Feuardent  signifying  in  French  a  brislt 
or  blazing  fire.  Like  all  other  dabblers  in  prophetic  matters,  he  was  not 
very  scrupulous  about  the  alteratioa  of  a  few  letters  in  Luther's  name,  in 
order  to  adapt  it  to  the  sacred  number. 

f  This  is  an  allusion  to  tlie  Committee  of  Accommodation  appointed  by  the 
Long  Parliament  at  the  close  of  1640,  some  account  of  which  will  he  given  in 
the  subsequent  pages.  The  persons  whom  Grotius  calls  of  the  tldrd  order , 
were,  1  suppose,  the  Sub-committee  of  Divines,  who  were  empowered  to  pre- 
pare matters  of  debate  for  the  other  Committee,  which  consisted  of  ten  earls, 
ten  bishops,  and  ten  barons. 

S  3 


270 


APrEXDTX    n. 


all  controversy,  that   a  Roman  Emperor    was  designated  by  this 
number."     This   pamphlet  was  answered    in   1640,  by  Samuel 
Marets,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Boisleduc  in  Brabant,  who  vin- 
dicated in  a  passionate  style  the  common  interpretation  of  those 
passages  of  scripture.     Contrary  to  his   usual  practice,    Grotius 
did  not  make  any  mention  of  the  name  of  Marets  in  the  Appen- 
dix   to    his    tract   De   Aniichristo,  which    he  published  early  in 
16'41  ;  but,  sportii :g  with  the  French  ntiode  of  pronouncing   this 
man's  name,  which  is  exactly  the  same   as    that  o(  marais,  "a 
swamp,"    Grotius    styled  his    malevolent   adversary    Borborita, 
"  dirty  fellow,"  in  allusion  to  the    Greek  word  Vto^&o^os,  and  its 
French  derivative  bourbe,  "  mud"  or  "  slime."     The  reader  may 
judge  how  well  this  term  suited  Marets,  by  perusing  the  first  sen- 
tence of  his  Preface,  which  originally  commenced  in  the  follow- 
ing manner,  till  the  Amsterdam  printer  refused  to  prostitute  his 
types  by  giving  publicity,  in  the  very  first  sentence,  to  what  he 
regarded  as  an  untruth:  "  A  small  work  on  Antichrist  has  lately 
"  been  pi-inted,  the  author  of  which  is  he  who  was  the  editor  of 
**  the   book  of  those   two    Socinians,  Crellius   and   Volkelius." 
Marets  is  the  person  who  had  the  famous  dispute  with  Voetius, 
whether   the  Synod  of  Dort  decided  in   favour  of  the    Supra- 
lapsarians  or  the  Sub-lapsarians.  He  was  a  man  of  good  sense,  yet 
rather  deficient  in  classical  learning,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  mis- 
taking Borborita  for  a  word  of  Latin  extraction :  Grotius  says  in 
one  of  his  private  letters,  "  that,  when  he  heard  of  the  course  of 
life  which  Marets  had  pursued  in  France,  he  perceived  that  this 
Greek  appellative  was  not  misapplied."  In  his  two  works  against 
Grotius,  he  was  assisted  by  the  rest  of  the  Calvinian  brotlierhood 
■ — a   practice  very  usual   with    the  French   pastors  of  that  age. 
But,  though  professedly  a  reply  to  Marets,  and  to  an  author  who 
had  written  against  him  under  the   fictitious  name  of  Fronto, 
this  Appendix,  it  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extract  of  a  letter 
to  his  brother,  was  designed  by  Grotius  to  operate  as  a  check  to 
the  English  and  Scotch  Ptiritanic  Levellers,  who,  according  to  the 
prophetic  annunciation  of  their  own  seers,  had  begun  to  hail  the 
arrival  of  the  days  when  they  could  reward   Babylon   double  ac- 
cording to  her  works,  in  the  persons  of  the  English  Arminians. 
This   letter  is  dated  January  5,    l64i  :   "I  am  now  afraid  lest, 
through   the   tardiness  of  the  printer,  a  longer  delay  should  be 
disagreeable  to  those  who  with  the  greatest  justice  expect  a  sight 
of  my  answer  to  Marets  and  Fronto.  Since  this  answer  was  due 
from  me,  the  very  necessity  of  the  argument  led  me  to  shew  that 
many  things  are  placed  among  the  marks  ofAiitickrist,  which  can 
plead   antiquity   in   their  favour.     But  this  very  circumstance 
smooths  the  way  to  concord,  if  at  any  period  Kings  and  Bishops 
be  wishful  to  indulge  serious  considerations  about  it.     In  com- 
pleting this  work,    it  was  necessary  incidentally  to  demonstrate, 
that  the  party  which  thus  severely  chastises  other  people,   is  not 


APPENDIX    D.  271 

itself  without  fault :  Vet  I  have  shewn  this  with  such  modera- 
tion, as  not  even  to  subjoin  the  names  of  those  whom  I  intend 
to  point  out  by  this  description.     But  though  that  turbulent  spi- 

*  The  Calvinists  thouffht  that  much  moderation  was  displajed  in  every  part 
of  the  Appendix,  except  at  its  conclusiou,  a  quotation  from  which  is  here 

subjoined : — 
"  1  do  not  deny,  that  the  sayings  which  are  recorded  in  the  Revelations, 

although  they  may  have  been  truly  fulfilled,  are  of  great  service  to  our  own 

times, — not  only  by  creating  witliin  us  a  more  confirmed  belief  of  God's 
providence  and  foreknowledge,  after  we  have  beheld  the  predictions  and  the 
ei'e«<^s  which  exactly  corresponded  with  them, — but  likewise  by  teaching  us 
to  beware  of  those  persons  who  contract  a  portion   of  that  spirit  which  is 
censured  in  the  Revelations :    For,  mankind  are  accustomed  frequently  to 
relapse  into  offences,  thai   are  either  the  very  same,  or  nearly  equal.     It  is 
my  hearty  desire,  that  all  the  Roman  [CatHolics],  who   are  placed  on  the 
chief  watch-towers  of  their  church,  may  derive  this  kind  of  instruction  ;  and 
that  Borborita  [Marets]  and  his  associates  may  be  benefitted  by  similar  re- 
flections.    I  will  not  accuse  them  of  idolatry  who  much  too  frequently  evince 
their  abhorrence  even  of  rites  that  are  excellent  and  have  been  long  re- 
ceived ;   and  yet,  if  the  name  be  deduced  from  things  to  their  resemblances, 
there  is  something  allied  to  idolati-y  in  addicting  themselves  to  the  opinions 
of  new  masters  in  such  a  manner,  as  neither  to  venture  on  an  accurate  ex- 
amination of  such  opinions  themselves,  nor  permit  them  to  be  examined  by 
others.     But  undoubtedly,  many  of  this  party  [the  Calvinists]  cannot  clear 
themselves  from  the  criminal  charge  of  attacking  the  rights  of  kings,  and 
of  seeking  the  horns  of  the  bull  rather  than  those  of  the  lamb, — whether  we 
have  regard  to  the  [seditious]  dogmas  of  Junius  Brutus  and  many  others,  or 
to  the  factions,  seditions,  conspiracies,  and  the  private  assumption  of  arms, 
under  the  surreptitious   name  of  the  Chiisiiau   Religion.      The  kings  of 
France  and  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  other  kings  and  legitimate  authorities, 
have  declared,  that  such  foul  deeds  seem  to  have  derived  their  origin  from 
those  dogmas,  or  to  have  received  from  them  the  greatest  encouragement. 
But  bow  is  it  possible  for  them  to  repel  the  charge  of  cruelty  agaitist  those 
who  differ /rom  them,  when  they  are  of  opmion,  that  the  laws  of  Moses  con- 
cerning punishments     [against  idolaters,    &c.]     ought  to  be  adopted    by 
Christian" princes,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they   themselves  reckon  in  the 
number  of  idolaters  all  the  Pope's  adherents .'     It  is  unnecessary  to  state 
the  fatal  consequences  that  would  ensue  from  such  a  doctrine,  if  they  were 
possessed  of  strength  equal  to  their  inclination.      Besides,   how  can  the  very 
offences  objected  against  others  be  removed  from  themselves  by  the  disciples 
of  Beza  and  Calvin,  both  of  whom  have  written  hooks  on  punishing  heretics 
with  the  sword  /    Beza's  book  was  translated  even  into  the  Dutch  language 
by  [two]    ministers,    [Bogerman  and  Geldorp,]    and  recommended  to  the 
magistrates  :    Look  also  at  the  comment  of  this  same  Beza  on  Titus  iii,  10, 
in  relation  to  this  subject.      But  when  Servetus,  prior    to   his  coming  to 
Geneva,  had  desired  to  obtain  Calvin's  opinion  about  his  writings,  Calvin 
was  the  person  who  wrote  to  Farel,{and  his  own  hand-writing  is  yet  extant  at 
Paris,]  that,  if  his  authority  was  of  any  avail,  he  would  prevent  Servetus 
from  returning  alive.    He  adhered  to  his  promise  :    For,  having  auborned 
his  own  baker  as  the  accuser,  (of  which  fact  he  makes  great  boasts  in   his 
printed  correspondence,)   by   the  authority  which   he  possessed   he  easily 
caused  Servetus  to  be  burned  alive, — a  very  dangerous  example,  according  to 
tke  judgment  of  the  famous   Father  Paul,    [author  of  the  History  of  the 
Council  of  Trent ,1  and  one  which  might  readily  be  quoted  as  a  precedent 
against  its  authors,  and  recoil  upon  themselves. 
"  But  it  is  objected,  '  Servetus  held  sentiments  about  the  Trinity  that  were 

*  not  correct  in  every  particular.'  This  is  very  possible;  because  a  mistake 
is  easily  committed  in  matters  that  so  greatly  transcend  the  grasp  of  the 
human  understanding. — '  Is  not  he,  who  was  the  cause  of  Servetus  being 
'burnt,    the  real  burner'      And  have   all  men   been  satisfied  with   those 

*  opinions  on  the  Trinity  which  were  held  by  this  burner  of  Servetus  /' — By 
BO  means  -.  Many  of  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  impute  heretical  opinions 


272  APPENDIX     D. 

rit  will  excite  j^reat  commotions  not  in  Scotland  only,  but  like- 
wise in  England  ;  yet,  if  I  do  not  deceive  myself,  I  think  I  ought 
not  any  longer  to  delay  my  answer,  lest  I  be  considered  as  hav- 

to  Calvin  ;  and  nearly  all  the  Lutherans  accuse  him  of  Arianism.  He  must 
therefore  have  been  burnt  himself,  if  he  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  judges 
on  whose  minds  the  authority  of  the  Doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  or  of  the 
Lutherans  had  as  much  influence  as  Calvin's  had  on  those  of  Geneva. 

"  That  we  may  not  imagine  Calvin  to  have  been  unmerciful  on  the  subject 
of  the  Trinity  only,  he  himself  relates,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Farel  in  15;5(i, 

*  that  a  certain  Anabaptist  had  been  seized,  at  his  instigation,'  (this  is  his 
own  expression,)  and  he  adds  the  reason,  '  For  he  liad  promulged  the 
execrable  axiom, — that  the  Old  Testament  unts  abolished.'  He  then  subjoins 
another  reason  by  saying,   I  '  declared  that  [  brought  a  capital  accusation 

*  against  him  for  stealing ;  and  I  ottered  [to  lose]  my  head  if  he  denied  the 
'  charge.'    What  can  he  the  sum  of  this  grievous  crime  ?     Calvin  explains  it: 

*  it  was  made  evident  that  he  had  sold  for   two  shilling s  and  sixpence  four 

*  leaves  which  had  only  cost  him  four-pence.  Therefore,'  such  is  the 
phraseology  of  the  letter,  '  when  this  Anabaptist  had  sufficiently  displayed 
'  his  obstinacy,  he  was  driven  into  banishment.'  Weil,  what  besides  ? 
Calvin  adds,  '  Two  days  afterwards  he  was  caught  in  the  city,  and  received 

*  a  public  whipping.' 

•'  Melancthon  had  heard  only  of  the  former  part  of  this  transaction, 
about  the  imprisonment  of  the  Anabaptist.  But  he  had  a  right  understand- 
ing of  the  case  when  he  wrote  about  the  same  time  to  the  very  excellent 
Camerarius,  and  said :  ♦  Behold  the  fury  of  the  times  !    The  Genevan  con- 

*  tests  about  Stoical  Necessity  are  so  high,  as  to  inclose  in  a  prison  a  cer- 

*  tain  person  who  differs  from  Zeno.' — I  believe  you  know,  Borborita,  who 
this  Zeno  is :  But,  on  this  point,  Melancthon  thus  explains  himself,  in  his 
Reply  to  the  Bavarian  Articles:  '  For  I  openly  reject  and  detest  the  Stoical 
'  and  Manichean  furies,  which  affirm  that  all  things  happen  necessarily ,  both 

*  good  actions  and  those  which  are  evil.  On  these  subjects  I  omit  all  further 
'  discussions,  for  they  are  reproachful  towards  God  and  pernicious  to  good 
'  morals.'  1  repeat  the  same  admonition  to  those  who  may  peruse  these  and 
others  of  my  productions  ;  and  I  pray  God,  that  all  dogmas  which  are 
reproachful  to  him  a7id  injurious  to  good  manners  may  be  extirpated,  and 
that  a  way  may  thus  be  opened  for  an  equitable  peace,"  &c. 

In  tliis  extract,  the  reader  will  find  a  second  mention  of  the  book  en- 
titled J^indiciw  contra  Tyrannos,  sive  de  Principis  in  Populum,  Populique  in 
Principeni  legitima  Potestate,  Ab  Stephano  Junio  Bruto  ;  which  fur- 
nished the  Calvinists  of  that  age  with  many  of  the  dangerous  political  prin- 
ciples on  which  they  acted.  It  was  printed  by  Guarin,  at  Basle,  in  IS/i); 
and  being  translated  into  French,  in  1581,  it  served  as  a  kind  of  political 
text-book  to  the  Calvinists,  in  their  various  insurrections  in  that  kingdom, 
till  Rochelle  was  reduced  and  taken,   and  Cameronism  succeeded  to  the 

Elace  of  Calvinism.  On  the  28th  of  February,  1643,  Grotius  informed  his 
rotherof  the  real  author  of  that  seditious  publication  :  "  I  think  I  formerly 
told  you,  that  Philip  Mornay,  Lord  du  Plessis  Marli,  was  the  author  of 
Junius  Brutns,  and  that  the  editor  of  it  was  Louis  Villiers,  Loiselerius.  I 
repeat  this,  because  Marets  says,  that  this  Brutus  is  an  unknown  writer, 
when  the  author's  name  is  a  circumstance  well  known  to  multitudes  :  And 
the  same  Du  Plessis,  in  his  last  will  and  testament,  exhorted  his  sons-in- 
law  and  his  friends  to  rise  in  arms,  if  the  edicts  [in  favour  of  the  Reformed] 
■were  not  observed."  Another  reference  to  the  will  of  Du  Plessis  is  made  in 
a  preceding  page  (210) ,  by  Grotius.  In  a  subsequent  letter,  dated  March  21, 
he  says  :  "  The  account  which  I  gave  you  about  Mornay  Du  Plessis,  I  re- 
ceived from  those  who  lived  with  liim  :  And  his  last  will  plainly  agrees  with 
themaxims  contained  in  that  book."  It  is  not  improbable,  that  M.  DaillS, 
the  celebrated  Gameronist,  was  his  informant :  For  he  was  the  Pastor  of 
the  Reformed  Church  at  Paris,  had  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Grotius, 
(page  222,}  and  had  resided  several  years  in  Mornay's  family  as  tutor  to  his 
cnildren  ;  he  was  also  present  when  that  nobleman  died. — Bayle,  whose 
excusable  partiality  for  the  French  Calvinists  is  no  secret,  has  written  a 


jM'ricNDix  D.  273 

ing  nothing  to  oppose.  Besides,  I  do  not  despair  that  some  of 
the  Puritans,  after  obtaining  a  sight  of  my  production,  may 
make  a  nearer  approach  to  sanity,  if  they  be  not  entirely  cured. 

Dissertatiou  on  this  seditious  production,  in  which  he  leaves  it  doubtful 
whether  Beza  or  Philip  Mornay  was  the  real  author, — thousjh  in  one  part  he 
endeavours  to  convince  his  readers,  from  certain  documents,  that  it  was 
written  by  Hubert  Laug'uet,  of  Franche  Comte,  a  great  politician  and  the 
Duke  of  Saxony's  ajent  in  France.  One  of  Bayle's  Commentators  has 
written  a  lon^  and  able  Critique  to  shew,  that  the  proofs  adduced  for  Du 
Plessis  being-  the  author  are  incontrovertible,  and  that  it  is  very  probable 
Lauguet  was  the  editor  and  the  writer  of  the  Preface.  Rivet,  who  was  him- 
self a  Frenchman,  does  not,  in  his  answer  to  the  DL<:cussion  of  Grotius,  deny 
this  circumstance,  but  offers  an  apoloi^y  for  Du  Plessis,  on  account  of  his 
age  and  the  persecutions  to  which  the  French  Protestants  were  then 
exposed. 

Grotius  has  also  brieP.y  stated  the  ease  of  Servetus.  As  this  is  a  topic  on 
which  many  Calvinists  betray  their  indiscretion,  I  subjoin  a  few  extracts 
from  the  answers  of  Grotius  to  Rivet.  One  of  the  late  biographers  of 
Melaucthou  has,  in  his  Preface,  given  his  readers  the  following  information  : 
"  No  one  surely  can  mistake  the  purpose  of  this  volume  so  much  as  to  sup- 
pose, that  the  author  pledges  himself  to  believe  the  creed,  or  to  vindicate  all 
the  opiuions  of  its  illustrious  subject."  Those  persons  who  "  suppose  that 
the  author,"  who  is  a  Calvinist  Minister,  "  pledged  himself  to  believe  the 
creed"  of  the  moderate  Melancthon,  will  indeed  have  "  mistaken  the  pur- 
pose of  his  volume  ;"  for,  in  one  part  of  it,  the  prominent  purpose  seems  to 
be,  the  partial  exculpation  of  Calvin's  foul  deed  against  Servetus,  by  ad- 
ducing the  authority  of  Melancthon  in  its  favour.  By  not  "  believing  Me- 
lancthon's  creed,"  the  author  may  have  had  regard  to  the  more  mature 
sentiments  of  that  great  man  ;  but  a  Calvinist  would  find  no  great  difficulty 
in  adopting  the  early  creed  of  Melaucthou,  by  which  he  and  Luther  gave 
the  reins  to  those  enthusiasts,  the  German  Anabaptists.  Melancthon  soon 
perceived  his  error,  discarded  the  iaXaX  Ao^\.nne.s  oi  Unconditional  Ulection 
and  Reprobation,  begun  sedulously  to  teach  all  men  to  prove  their  faith  by 
their  works,  frequently  blessed  God  for  having  instructed  him  in  this  more 
excellent  ivai/,  aud  continued  throughout  life  a  greater  assertor  of  the  powers 
of  the  human  will  than  Arminius  or  any  of  his  evangelical  followers.  It  is  this 
amended  "  creed"  which  Melancthon's  biographer  does  not  "  pledge  himself 
to  believe ;"  but  though  it  was  not  strictly  in  his  line  of  duty  to  "  believe" 
it,  it  was  his  paramount  duty,  as  an  honest  man  and  a  faithful  narrator  of 
facts,  to  state  this  change,  which  was  mo^t  honourable  to  the  character  of  his 
author.  This  gentleman,  and  other  modern  Calvinistic  dabblers  in  that 
odious  affair,  will  derive  some  instruction  from  the  following  interesting 
quotation:  "  Among  the  Dutch,  those  who  were  condemned  at  the  Sxnod 
of  Dort,  and  afterwards  banished  out  of  the  country,  had  previously  delivered 
to  their  rulers  a  statement  of  their  sentiments,  which  are  the  same  as  those 
of  Melancthon,  and  which  always  had  in  those  parts  many  defenders.  They 
were  not  the  first  to  make  a  secession,  but  their  adversaries. — The  authority 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  would  not  have  appeared  so  formidable  to  [Bishop]  Hall, 
as  on  that  account  to  cast  away  all  hopes  of  reconciliation,  had  he  known 
how  easily  the  remedies  may  be  procured,  both  in  France  and  Spain,  to 
prevent  the  Popes  from  invading  the  rights  either  of  kings  or  bishops  ;  and 
especially  if  he  had  considered,  that  the  king  of  Great  Britain  exercises  no 
jurisdiction  over  ecclesiastical  affairs  and  persons,  that  is  not  likewise  exer- 
cised by  the  king  of  the  Two  Sicilies. — But,  to  return  to  the  business  of  Dort, 
it  was  the  principal  objection  which  the  Lutherans  urged  against  the  plan 
of  John  Durseus,  who,  when  attempting  with  the  best  intentions  to  establish 
concord  among  all  Protestants,  received  this  reply  from  the  divines  of  Stras- 
burgh  and  Sweden,  tliat  they  [the  Lutiierans^  were  as  mucli  coJidemned  at 
that  Synod  as  the  Jrminians. — In  former  days,  when  any  quotations  from 
Calvin,  Beza,  and  other  writers,  were  pressed  as  objections  against  those 
who  account  themselves  better  reforined  than  other  people,  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  answer,  '  These  are  but  the  private  opinions  of  teachers  :'    But  all 


374  AI'l'ENDIX     D. 

I  have  also  the  same  reasons  to  expect  a  similar  result  from  the 
more  moderate  Papists,  especially  when  the  most  learned  men 
of  their  party  have   already  expressed   their  approbation  of  my 

the  men  of  that  party  [the  Calvinists]  are  now  bound  down  by  the  public 
voice  of  their  own  Synod.  They  have  no  means  of  escape  :  For  there  is  not 
a  man  among;  them  that  is  not  bound  to  defend  those  '  horrible  decrees,'  as 
Calvin  himself  calls  them  ;  nor  can  any  one  believe,  that  the  fraternal  hind- 
MCM  expressed  by  Calvin's  disciples,  is  employed  with  any  other  design,  than 
to  serve  for  ingratiating  themselves  by  some  means  or  other.  When  they 
have  [in  any  country]  become  sufficiently  powerful,  they  will  banish  other 
people,  as  they  acted  in  Holland  against  those  individuals  of  whom  we  have  al- 
ready spoken  :  They  have  likewise  twice  ejected  Luther's  disciples  out  of 
the  territory  of  the  Elector  Palatine. — Let  men  of  prudence  now  judge, 
whether  I  uttered  a  useless  wish  when  1  said,  '  that  men  of  such  a  dis- 
'  position,  who  openly  avow  that  the  Israel  of  God  must  dwell  alone,  ought 

*  to  be  kept  under  restraint  by  kings  and  magistrates,  lest  they  should  make 

*  those  attempts  against  others  which  may  probably  recoil  on  themselves.' 
But  the  causes  which  I  produced,  why  those  dogmas  ouglit  not  to  be  approved 
which  were  formed  at  Dort,  and  then  re-formed  in  the  mountains  of  Ce- 
vennes,  [at  the  French  National  Synod  of  Alez,]  were  not  produced  solely 
from  my  own  judgment  about  them,  but  from  the  judgment  of  all  who 
dissent  from  them, — such  as  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Greek  Church,  and 
the  Protestants  who  adhere  to  the  Augsburgh  Confession.  God  forbid,  that 
I  should  give  my  assent  to  Calvin  and  Beza,  for  burning  or  punishing  with 
death  those  who  err  about  the  Trinity  :  For  an  error  is  easily  committed  iu 
that  very  difficult  doctrine  ;  but  the  punishment  of  the  man  who  thus  errs, 
should  be  suvh  instruction  as  may  cause  him  to  acknowledge  his  herety.  For 
if  the  magistrates,  according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  which  Calvin  and  Beza 
adduce,  ought  to  kill  those  wlw  do  not  accurately  distinguish  the  Divitie 
Persons  [in  the  Trinity],  which  is  the  only  thing  objected  by  Melancthon 
against  Servetus, — what  hinders  the  same  magistrates  from  killing  those  also 
V'ho  confound  the  [^u»o]  natures  of  Christ,  the  error  which  Calvin's  disciples 
charge  upon  the  followers  of  Luther  .'^  &c. 

"  Rivet  says,  on  the  first  article,  that  he  and  his  associates  are  led  hy  the 
public  authority  of  the  Spirit  in  his  oum  word,  which  is  common  to  all 
Christians.  Just  such  an  assertion  has  been  made  by  Menno  and  Socinus, 
by  Bruno  and  many  others.  The  reader  will  perceive  the  perplexities  in 
which  the  minds  of  men  are  involved  when  they  hear  resounding  on  every 
side.  This  is  the  pure  and  sincei'e  word  of  God,  according  to  the  meaning  of 
the  Holy  Spii'it !  They  know  not  whither  to  betake  themselves,  except 
that  the  greatest  part  of  them  remain  in  the  lot  assigned  to  them  by  their 
birth  or  education,  or  stand  still  in  the  place  to  which  they  have  been  con- 
veyed by  their  hopes  of  honour  and  advantage,  while  their  associates  like- 
wise express  aloud  their  unanimous  and  high  approval.  If  any  one  can 
extricate  mankind  out  of  this  labyrinth,  will  he  not  perform  an  acceptable 
service?  The  learned  Girmans,  who  published  the  remarks  of  the  Patriarch 
Gennadius  on  the  Trinity,  which  may  be  considered  those  of  the  Greek 
Church,  had  discovered  no  discrepancy  between  them  and  the  contents  of 
the  Nicene  Creed.  I  am  not  certam,  that  on  this  subject  other  people  cannot 
see  as  far  as  Frenchmen,  though  the  latter  possess  a  more  subtle  genius. 
But  let  them  beware  lest  they  fall  into  the  same  snare  as  Calvin  did,  who 
brought  upon  himself  the  most  grievous  accusations  by  his  refined  subtleties. 
It  is  not  every  man  that  can  readily  declare  what  things  they  are  which  diflfer 
in  reality,  in  relation,  or  in  modality ;  or  that  can  speedily  discern  whether 
it  is  more  correct  to  say,  The  Father  begat,  or  The  Father  is  always  pro- 
creating;  whether  Keckerman  spoke  with  propriety  when  he  said.  Persons  are 
not  entities;  whether  Calvin  spoke  with  perfect  correctness  when  he  asserted, 
that  persons  are  properties ;  and  why  it  was  displeasing  to  the  same  indi- 
vidual to  hear  the  Son  called  God  of  God.  When  1  peruse  such  expressions 
as  these,  and  revolve  them  in  my  mind,  1  applaud  that  saying  of  Irenaeus: 
*  If  therefore  any  person  ask  us.  In  what  manner  is  the  Son  produced  by  the 
'Father?,  we  answer.  No  one  knows  this  production,  generation,  naming, 


APFKNDIX    D.  275 

labours  as  displaying  sufficient  liberality  and  moderation.  But 
it  is  my  desire  to  render  myself  serviceable  to  all  men,  as  well 
as  to  the  English  and   the  Scotch,  not  to  those  of  our  own  times 

*  unfolding  or  disclosing,  or  by  what  name  soever  he  may  choose  to  call 
'  the  Son's  generation  that  cannot  be  declared.'  (Isai.  liii,  8.) 

"  The  books  of  Servetus  were  through  the  assiduity  of  Calvin  burnt,  not 
only  at  Ueneva,  but  likewise  at  other  places  :  I  confess,  that  during  tlie  whole 
of  my  life  I  have  never  yet  seen  more  than  one  copy  of  his  book  in  Latin  ;  ia 
which  I  certainly  did  not  discover  those  allegations  which  were  urged  against 
him  by  Calvin.  Michael  Servetus  was,  by  Calvin's  management,  burnt 
alive  at  Geneva,  in  the  year  1553  ;  Melauclhon  received  from  Calvin  whatever 
he  afterwards  wrote  about  Servetus.  Before  that  period  G2colampadius  seems 
to  have  been  acquainted  with  him  in  Switzerland  ;  but  he  considered  him  a 
proper  subject  for  rejection  and  exposure,  though  not  to  be  murdered.  Cal- 
vin, however,  could  declare  :  '  I  freely  confess  and  avow,  that  I  provided  the 
'accuser  myself.'  He  adds:  '  The"  magistrates  are  not  only  permitted  to 
'  inflict  punishment  on  the  corrupters  of  the  heavenly  doctrine,  but  they 
'  have  the  Divine  command  thus  to  act,  how  unwilling  soever  ignorant  per- 
'  sons  may  be  to  grant  them  such  a  liberty.'  And,  in  his  letter  to  Farel,  con- 
cerning the  same  Servetus,  he  says  :  '  I  hope  he  will  at  least  receive  a  capital 

*  punishment.' — But  the  courteous  and  humane  treatment  which  Calvin  usu- 
ally bestowed  on  those  who  differed  from  him,  is  evident  in  his  writings.  He 
calls  Castellio  akttave&uA  Satan,  because  he  opposed  that  Piedestination 
which  Calvin  inculcated  ;  Koornhert,  both  a  knave  and  a  dog  ;  and  the  au- 
thor of  '  The  Duty  of  a  Pious  Man  in  the  Midst  of  this  Religious  Dissension,' 
(who  was  Cassander,  but  whom  Calviu  thought  to  be  Baldwin,)  is  called 
a  fello^v  of  an  iron  front,  devoid  of  piety,  profane,  impudent,  an  impostor, 
without  natural  aff'ection,and  devoted  to  petulance.  When  Baldwin  had 
written  an  answer  to  this  production,  Calvin  called  him  a  man  of  no  charac- 
ter, an  obscene  dog,  a  disreputable  falsifier,  a  fellow  that  cunningly  plots 
wicked  devices,  and  that  enters  into  a  cotispiracy  with  wicked  knaves,  a  cynic, 
a  buffoon,  a  perfidious  and  infatuated  wretch,  of  beastly  madness  and  devoted 
to  Satan.  He  called  Cassander  self-complaisant  and  Tnorose,  a  sorcerei-, 
ghost,  serpent,  plague,  and  hcmgman  !  I  will  again  declare  the  truth,  how 
displeasing  soever  it  may  prove  to  Rivet :  These  circumstances  so  vexed  Bii- 
cer  as  to  compel  that  mild  man  to  address  him  in  the  following  words,  which 
are  by  far  too  true  :  '  You  form  your  judgment  according  to  the  love  or  the 
'  hatred  which  you  have  conceived  ;  but  your  love  or  hatred  is   formed  ac- 

*  cording  to  the  pleasure  of  your  passions.'  Nay,  on  account  of  his  atrocious 
sayings,  Bucer  bestowed  on  him  the  name  of  Fratricide.  In  a  letter  to 
Bucer,  Calvin  calls  this  passion  for  evil-speaking  by  the  softened  epithet  of 
'impatience;'  and  says,  'that  he  maintained  a  great   conflict  with  it,   and 

'  that  he  had  obtained  some  advantages  over  it,  but  they  were  not  such  as  ; 
'  completely  to  tame  the  monster.'  If  any  one  will  read  what  Calvin  wrote 
after  that  period,  he  will  find  that  the  advantages  said  to  have  been  obtained 
were  all  on  the  wrong  side;  so  mightily  was  he  pleased  with  that  passage, 
J  do  that  which  I  would  not .'  (Rom.  vii,  16.)  Thus  likewise  does  Beza  con- 
fess, that  for  the  space  of  fifteen  years,  during  which  he  had  instructed 
others  in  the  way  of  righteousness,  he  was  himself  neither  rendered  sober, 
liberal,  nor  addicted  to  speaking  the  truth,  and  that  he  still  remained  fast 
in  the  miry  clay. — 1  do  not  adduce  these  things  as  though  it  were  at  all 
pleasing  to  me  to  maintain  a  contest  with  the  dead  ;  the  reason  why  I  state 
them  is,  because  1  perceive  it  generally  happens,  that  every  one  imitates  the 
manners  of  himwJwm  he  chooses  for  his  master.  You  may  commonly  see  the 
followers  of  Melancthou  and  John  Arndt,  men  of  good  and  kind  dispositions; 
and,  on  the  contrary,  tbe  disciples  of  Calvin  are  full  of  asperity,  and  mani- 
fest such  a  disposition  as  they  imagine  God  entertains  towards  the  greatest 
portion  of  mankind.  Of  what  immense  consequence  therefore  is  it  to  be  ju- 
dicious in  the  choice  of  the  teacher  whom  you  employ  !  I  advise  all  those  who 
have  leisure,  to  read  both  Cassander's'and  Baldwin's  answer  to  Calvin : 
For  they  are  of  great  service  in  exhibiting  the  man's  real  disposition." 


276  APPENDIX   D. 

alone,  but  I  bestow  the  chief  part  of  my  attention  on  posterity  ; 
and  if  I  should  refuse  to  avail  myself  of  those  opportunities 
which  are  constantly  occurring,  a  proper  season  for  declaring  the 

Such  were  the  expressions  of  Grotius  in  his  fVishes  for  the  Peace  of  the 
Church,  irom  which  we  have  already  (page  208)  given  some  iiiiercsting  ex- 
tracts. In  his  Discussio7i  of  Rivet's  Jpology,  he  introduces  some  judicious 
re  narks  on  the  railing  to  which  the  Calvinists  had  accustomed  themselves. 
He  adduces  the  instance  of  the  Commonitory  of  Vinceutius  Lirinensis,  a 
new  edition  of  which  and  of  St.  Augustine  on  the  Christian  Doctnne,  had 
then  been  recently  published  in  Germany  by  the  famous  Lutheran  Diviue, 
George  (,'alixtus,  for  which  pacific  deed  lie  obtained  a  plentiful  share  of 
abuse  from  the  doctors  of  the  Genevan  School,  who  were  always  remarkable 
for  their  aversion  to  antiquitj'.  On  this  subject  Grotius  says:  "  Those  per- 
sons in  France,  who  were  desirous  of  making  such  an  assertion,  have  late- 
ly said,  that  Vincentius,  the  author  of  f/ie  Commonitory, viz.s  a  Semi-Pelagian; 
but  they  have  produced  no  proof  except  from  theirown  judgment.  For  they 
account  all  those  who  do  not  agree  with  Calvin,  as  Pelagians ;  or,  when 
inclined  to  a  more  lenient  course,  they  call  them  '  Semi-Pelagians.'  If 
Rivet  be  not  terrified  with  the  epithet  Sesqui-Manicheism,  no  reason  what- 
ever exists  for  real  Catholics  being  afraid  of  the  term  Semi- Pelagianism. 
The  Manichees  declared,  that  evil  actions  proceeded  from  necessity.  For 
they  were  deniers  of  the  freedom  of  the  human  will,  like  some  other  persons 
in  this  age.  But  since  they  durst  not  deny  that  God  is  good,  they  preferred 
to  deduce  that  necessity  of  evil  actions  from  some  other  origin  than  from  the 
Deity.  Yet  men  have  been  found,  who  proceeded  far  beyond  this  point; 
and,  while  they  agreed  with  the  Manichees  respecting  that  inevitable  neces- 
sity, they  had  the  audacity  to  ascribe  the  cause  of  it  to  no  other  source  than 
to  our  gracious  God  :  These  are  the  men,  who,  for  the  best  reason  in  the 
world,  are  called  Sesqui-Manichees.  It  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  say, 
whether  or  not  Rivet  be  one  of  their  number:  Fortheyare  accustomed  to 
varnish  over  their  sentiments  in  a  marvellous  manner,  whentheysee  them 
liable  to  incur  odium  from  good  men.  And  they  manage  all  this  with  such 
consummate  art,  as  never  openly  to  condemn  or  to  acknowledge  the  objec- 
tions made  against  them.  i 

"Baldwin  has  quoted,  from  Beza's  answer  to  Castellio,  the  expressions 
■which  Beza  uses  when  he  says,  that  for  the  space  of  fifteen  years  he  was 
neither  rendered  sober,  liberal,  nor  addicted  to  speaking  the  truth,  but  that 
he  still  remained  in  the  miry  clay.  Such  a  confession  ought  not  to  be  con- 
sidered disgraceful  to  those  persons  who  suppose,  that  St.  Paul,  even  after  he 
had  become  an  Apostle,  was  brought  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  by 
means  of  the  law  in  his  members  ;  and  that  he  was  '  carnal  and  sold  under 
sin  ;'  (Rom.  vii,  14,  23.)  and  who  declare,  '  that  certain  sins  have  dominion 

*  over  the  regenerate,  and  that  the  most  holy  persons  on  earth   daily  sin 

*  against  their  own  consciences.'  Holy  men  do  not  utter  against  themselves 
such  calumnies  as  these  phrases  import;  St.  Paul  declares  himself  tobe 
'  the  chief  of  sinners ;'  but  this  expression  refers  to  the  period  before  his  con- 
version when  he  was  a  persecutor  of  the  Church.  But,  after  receiving  '  the 
knowledge  of  salvation,'  St.  Paul  and  those  who  resemble  him,   do  not  say, 

*  that  they  live  without  sin  ;'  neither  do  they  say,  '  that  they  are  held  captive 
by  theirsins,'  which,  as  we  have  before  declared,  are  destroyed  at  a  single 
blow.  St.  Augustine  is  himself  a  witness  that  such  sins  as  sacrilege,  murder, 
adultery,  false  testimony,  theft,  rapine,  pride,  envy,  avarice,  and  even  anger, 
itself  though  long  cherished,  and  drunkenness  after  frequent  indulgence, — 
are  all  destroyed.  How  many  of  Rivet's  associates,  who  style  themselves 
the  elect,  have  been  detected  in  the  commission  of  wicked  actions  and  flagi- 
tious crimes  1     He  will  say,  '  These  evil  deeds  are  also  found  among  other 

*  denominations.'  He  will  speak  the  truth  :  But,  among  those  others,  there 
are  likewise  causes  which  nourish  vicious  conduct.  Cardinal  Gropper  also 
spoke  truly,  when  he  said,  in  the  Institution  of  Catechumens,  '  It  cannot  he 

*  denied,  for  facts  proclaim  this  truth,  that   by  the  neglect  of  penitence  all 

*  ecclesiastical  discipline,  which  is  the  sole  foundation  of  religion,  is  at  once 
'forgotten  and  grown  into  disuse;  and  that,  in  its  stead,  the  foulest  and 


APPENDIX    D.  277 

truth  would  never  arrive.  Then,  since  the  term  of  life  is  uncer- 
tain, I  act  in  this  production  and  in  others,  so  as  to  leave  nothing 
to  the  diligence  of  my  heirs,  of  whose  neglect  I  am  daily  a  wit- 

*  most  scandalous  offences  have  in  a  body  inundated   the  Church,  and  are 

*  the  causes  of  the  disturbances  that  ag^itate  the  present  times.'  But  among 
the  fofiowers  of  Beza,  no  cause  is  more  powerful  than  the  opinion,  that  a 
man  who  is  regenerate  maj'  fall  into  such  sins  and  yet  not  fall  from  grace  on 
that  account,  that  his  salvation  is  sure  and  certain,  and  that  he  ought  to 
indulge  in  no  doubts  concerning  it.  Is  it  any  thing  wonderful,  if  these 
people  are  precipitately  hurried  into  crimes,  when  the  flesh  allures  them, 
and  they  are  restrained  by  no  fear  ?  The  man  who  admonishes  others  about 
these  matters,  does  not  hate  men,  but  loves  God  and  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind. 

"  The  Edicts  which  have  been  published  in  France  in  favour  of  those  who 
call  themselves  the  Reformed,  Grotius  does  not  wish  to  see  either  rescinded 
or  curtailed,  but  to  be  most  scrupulously  observed  ;  and  of  this  fact  he  has 
numerous  and  great  witnesses. 

"  With  regard  to  Servetus,  those  who  have  perused  him  will  not,  I  think, 
be  persuaded  that  he  agreed  in  sentiment  with  Paul  Samosatenus.  But  it  is 
true,  as  Melancthon  states,  that  Servetus  does  not  sufficiently  explain  his 
thoughts  of  those  things  which  he  discusses.  He  had  undoubtedly  become 
involved  in  error  :  But  he  did  not  go  to  Geneva  for  the  purpose  of  instilling 
bis  own  notions  into  the  minds  of  the  people  ;  nor  did  he  remain  in  that 
city  in  order  to  collect  together  a  new  denomination.  He  had  come  with  the 
express  intention  of  consulting  Calvin  :  But,  long  before  his  arrival,  Calvin 
had  predestinated  him  by  a  horrible  decree  to  a  death  of  infamy.  In  proof 
of  this  maybe  cited  Calvin's  letter  to  Farel,  in  which  he  declares,  that  if  his 
authority  possessed  any  validity,  he  would  take  care  that  he  should  not  depart 
alive.  It  is  sufficient  to  have  stated  these  things:  And  nothing  need  be 
added,  except  this,  that  magistrates  are  with  the  greatest  propriety  warned 
by  Grotius  to  be  on  their  guard  against  tlie  men  who  defend  these  maxims. 
For  it  is  only  necessary  to  look,  and  instantly  to  discover  how  they  destroy 
christian  love  and  gentleness,  and  all  the  bonds  of  human  society.  Princes 
who  hold  erroneous  opinions,  do  not  account  themselves  heretics  ;  neither 
do  those  subjects  who  differ  from  their  rulers,  number  themselves  among  the 
favourers  of  heresy.  Now  if  Princes  should  believe  that  they  ought  to  kill 
heretics,  and  if  subjects  should  foster  the  opinion,  that  they  ought  to  resist 
by  arms  the  operation  of  those  edicts  which  take  away  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion,  what  shall  we  have  but  civil  wars  in  all  directions,  without  any 
hope  of  intermission  .'  Because  foreigners,  under  the  influence  of  the  same 
maxims,  will  unite  themselves  either  to  these  Princes  or  to  their  subjects, 
as  their  own  sentiments  may  accord  with  the  one  party  or  the  other,  and  will 
thus  prevent  those  whose  cause  they  espouse  from  being  subdued  by  their  ad- 
versaries. Grotius  is  easily  persuaded,  that  Rivet's  associates  in  France  do 
not  approve  of  the  Genevan  dogma  of  *  punishing  heretics  with  the  sword.' 
For  they  know  how  dangerous  such  a  proposition  is  to  themselves  ;  not  be- 
cause they  account  themselves  to  be  heretics,  no  more  than  Servetus 
thought  himself  one;  but  because  they  are  conscious,  that  they  are  viewed 
as  heretics  by  their  sovereign,  nay  as  blasphemers,  on  that  point  especially 
iu  which  they  make  God  to  be  the  author  of  sin. 

"  Grotius  has  no  wish  to  exasperate  kings  and  all  orders  of  men  against 
Rivet  and  his  party  ;  but  he  admonishes  them  to  beware  of  dogmas  that  not 
only  disturb  the  peace  of  the  church,  but  likewise  the  peace  of  society.  If 
they  will  receive  this  admonition  and  act  accordingly,  they  will  raise  them- 
selves to  a  greater  height  in  the  estimation  of  kings  and  men  of  all  ranks, 
than  that  to  which  they  have  ever  yet  attained.  This  is  no  trifling  point  of 
safety,  which  Grotius  is  desirous  to  procure  for  them.  The  busmess  of 
peaceJsJhe  concern  of  Christ  himself.  The  light  is  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
understood  according  to  their  ancient  meaning  and  interpretation  :  Prejudices 
and  passions  diffuse  darkness  over  the  mind.  Grotius  is  not  among  the 
number  of  those  who,  through  covetousness  and  with  feigned  words,  make 
merchandize  of  the  souls  of  men  ;   (2  Pet.  ii,  .3.)    and  it  is  njt  his  endeavour 


278  APPRNDIX   D. 

ness."  This  was  courageous  discourse  and  a  noble  attempt  for  a 
man  that  had  nearly  attained  to  sixty  years  of  age  ;  but  he  had 
to  complain,  that  his  endeavours  to  reconcile  the  great  body  of 
Protestants  together,  and  then  to  effect  a  union  between  them  and 
the  Papists,  was  not  supported  by  many  of  his  friends,  as,  in  his 
opinion,  it  ought  to  have  been  at  that  juncture.  He  says,  "  If 
Erasmus  and  Cassander  had  waited  until  there  had  been  no  sedi- 
tious movements  of  tlie  people,  they  might  have  imposed  on  them- 

hy  this  labour  to  obtain  either  advantag'e  or  honour.  Neither  is  he  so  im- 
prudent as  not  to  have  foreseen  the  odium  wiiich  would  be  excited  by  this 
pacific  attempt.  He  wishes  to  see  all  dishonest  gains  removed  from  the 
church  ;  and  he  will  never  repent  of  having  intreated  God  and  admonished 
men,  for  the  conipletiou  of  this  purpose.  The  dogs  that  lie  in  the  manger, 
[in  allusion  to  ^Ksop's  fable,]  are  not  only  unwilling  to  enjoy  peace  them- 
selves, even  that  inequitable  kind  of  peace  which  was  established  by  the 
decrees  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  but  they  likewise  divert  from  peaceful  obser- 
vances other  people  that  do  not  belong  to  their  party.  In  the  mean  time, 
they  view  themselves  with  such  complacency,  as  to  lay  claim  to  the  pecu- 
liar title  of  '  the  sheep  and  the  spouse  of  Christ ;'  they  place  the  fact  beyond 
all  controversy,  that  they  are  God's  people  and  heritage  ;  and  on  these 
foundations,  as  though  they  were  well  laid,  they  erect  grand  superstruc- 
tures, for  trophies  to  themselves  as  the  conquerors  of  all  other  people.  Such 
a  degree  of  confidence  do  these  carnal  weapons  impart,  with  which  they  see 
themselves  on  every  side  defended  !  Their  spirits  swell,  like  the  sails  of  a 
ship  that  have  long  been  filled  with  prosperous  breezes.  When  they  obtain 
access  to  the  ears  of  men  in  power,  they  close  them  against  all  men  besides  ; 
they  are  not  content  with  having  imposed  silence  on  other  people,  but  add 
reproaches  and  insults,  while  they  scornfully  sing,  TVoe  betide  the  van- 
quished /  They  are  without  a  single  rival,  and  will  remain  so;  for  their 
conduct  is  such,  as  to  cause  them  to  indulge  in  self-love  unto  desperation, 
while  none,  except  their  own  dear  selves,  can  manifest  towards  them  any 
tokens  of  affection." 

This  description  of  the  Calvinists  of  1643,  was  drawn  by  the  hand  of  one 
of  the  greatest  men,  and  certainly  the  most  accomplished  and  universal 
scholar,  of  that  learned  age  ;  and  the  opinions  avowed,  in  the  two  treaties 
from  which  it  is  quoted,  are  supported  throughout  by  stubborn  facts.  This 
description  is  the  more  interesting  on-account  of  the  author's  wishes,  ex- 
pressed fully  in  the  text,  (page  272,)  to  render  these  pamphlets,  which  were 
among  the  very  last  of  his  literary  labours,  a  sedative  to  the  turbulent  spirits 
of  the  Calvinists  in  this  country.  He  enjoyed  better  opportunities  of  know- 
ing the  concerns  of  every  religious  denomination  than  any  other  man  in 
Europe  ;  his  information  is  therefore  the  more  valuable.  On  every  occasion 
he  displays  a  strong  desire  to  benefit  Englishmen,  hy  infusing  a  better  dis- 
position into  the  Puritans.  In  the  last  pamphlet  which  he  wrote,  he  says  : 
"  Many  persons  both  at  Paris  and  throughout  France,  in  Poland  and  Ger- 
many, and  not  a  few  in  England,  w  ho  are  mild  men  and  lovers  of  peace, 
know,  that  the  labours  of  Grotius  for  the  peace  of  the  church  have  not  been 
dipleasing  to  several  equitable  and  competent  judges.  For  what  man,  who 
is  not  infected  with  the  same  poison,  will  require  one  to  please  the  Brownists 
[Independents],  who  are  indulging  their  frantic  humours  to  the  extent 
which  we  now  behold,  and  others  that  resemble  them,  if  any  such  there  be, 
with  whom  Rivet  will  enjoy  more  complete  concord  than  with  the  English 
Bishops  !"  This  great  and  good  man  died  four  years  prior  to  the  beheading 
of  King  Charles  the  First,  and  was  mercifully  taken  away  from  a  sight  of  the 
evils  which  were  then  impending,  and  which  would  have  wounded  his  bene- 
volent spirit.  Only  a  few  months  prior  to  his  decease,  he  made  the  following 
remark  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  :  "  The  events  which  have  transpired  in 
England  are  just  such  as  I  predicted, — the  number  of  sects  has  increased  to 
immensity.  The  English  has  always  been  esteemed  by  men  of  learning  as 
Tiir;  RKsr  LrrtuGv." 


ArPF.xDix   n.  279 

selves  an  eternal  silence.  Those  vipers  always  hiss,  especially 
when  they  are  invigorated  by  the  gales  which  blow  from  the 
Lake  of  Geneva.  Bearing  these  things  with  patience,  I  am  un- 
willing to  defer  the  completion  of  those  labours  which  I  consider 
it  a  part  of  my  duty  as  a  Christian  to  undertake.  Life  itself  is 
not  in  our  own  hands  :  *    Our  toils  will  be  profitable  either  to 

*  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Grotius,  at  this  juncture,  began  to  enter- 
tain,/b»-  the  first  time,  the  godlike  design  of  uniting  the  difl'ereut  denomi- 
nations of  professing  Christians  into  one  body.  In  the  first  edition  of  his 
treatise  on  the  Truth  of  the  Christian  Religion,  published  several  years 
before  his  pamphlet  on  Antichrist,  he  closes  the  eleventh  chapter  of  his 
sixth  book,  by  an  eloquent  and  pious  exhortation  to  Christian  unity  and  con- 
cord, and  ])roves  that  the  soldiers  of  Christ  ought  to  employ  arms  of  a  dif- 
ferent description  to  those  of  the  Mahoraedans.  How  well  that  evangelical 
counsel  had  been  approved  by  those  who  were  then  most  celebrated  for  their 
moderation,  learning,  and  piety,  may  be  seen  in  the  subjoined  quotation 
from  one  of  his  letters  to  his  brother,  in  1641  -. — 

"  I  am    much  pleased   that  your  business   allows  you  leisure  to   go  to 
Amsterdam;   for  your  presence  will,   I  hope,  cause  those  additions  which 
must  be  made  to  the  Annotations  on  the  Gospels,  to  be  correctly  published. 
If,  while  I  live,  they  do  not  produce  the  effect  which  I  desire,  and  to  which 
(if  I  maybe  permitted  so  to  express  myself)  I  consider  myself  to  have  been  des- 
tined from  my  mother's  womb,  yet  it  will  prove  of  the  utmost  consequence 
to  have  planted  trees  that  may  be  serviceable  to  a  future  generation. — A  few 
days  ago,  a  very  learned  Englishman  called  upon  me  :    He  has  lived  a  long 
time  in  Turkey,  and  has  translated   my  book  on  the  Truth  of  the  Christian 
Relision  into  Arabic  ;  and  he  will  endeavour,  if  it  be  possible,  to  have  his 
translation  of  it  printed  in  England.     He  thinks  no  book  can  be  more  useful, 
either  for  the  instruction  of  the  Christians  in  that  part  of  the  world,  or  for 
the  conversion  of  the  Turks  who  reside  in  Turkey,  I'ersia,  Tartary,  Barbary, 
or  the  East  Indies.    This  very  pious  man  earnestly  intreated  me  to  persist  in 
the  purpose  which  I  had  expressed  at  the  end  of  that  treatise,   and  not  to 
suffer  my?elf  to  be  deterred,  by  any  factions  and  calumnies  whatever,  from 
offering  to  the  acceptance  of  al!  Christians  the   cup  of  concord.    Nothing 
creates  a  greater  aversion  to  Christianity  amon^  '  those  wlio  are  without,' 
than  a  sight  of  the  numerous  denominations  divided  among  themselves.     I 
returned  such  answers  as  the  occasion  suggested.    Beside  the  Christians  in 
Turkey,  there  are,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  many  others,  I  do  not  doubt, 
who   are  under  similar  oppressive  influence.     I  have  fully  determined,  as 
much  as  in  my  power,   to  shew  both   the  causes  of  these  clivisions  and  the 
remedies.     But  1  beseech  you  not  to  imagine,  that  it  concerns  ray  reputation 
to  render  satisfaction  to  the  Calvinists,    (nearly  all  of  whom  are  seditious 
persons,)  in  preference  to  other  denominations  that  are  not  less,  but  perhaps 
are  much  more.  Christian.     God  has  bestowed  on  me  this    [Swedisn]  em- 
bassy, that  I  maybe  able  to  speak  frtely;  and  should  I  even  resign  this 
oOice,  I  would  use  the  same  freedom  of  Speech  in  some  other  situation.     I 
entreat  you  therefore,  my  dear  brother,  neither  to  be  yourself  alarmed,  nor 
to  suppose  that  I  shall  by  any  means  be  alarmed,  if  my  enemies  call  me 
no  member  of  the  Church,   a   Papist,  a  Socinian,  or  whatever  name  they 
please.    The  French  Bishops  and  a  majority  of  Divines  oppose  superstitions, 
and  openly  profess  a  desire  of  restoring  that  union  of  the  Church  which  we 
owe  to  Christ.    Shall  I  shew  myself  a  loiterer,  or  inactive  in  such  a  good 
work  as  this,  when  God  has  imparted  to   me  those  gifts  for  which  I  shall 
never   be  able  to  lender  him  sufficient  praise  and  thankfulness?     May  I 
banish  from  my  mind  all  such  fear  and  indolence  !" 

No  one  can  withhold  the  tribute  of  admiration  from  the  noble  frankness 
displayed  in  this  acknowledgment  of  the  talents  which  God  had  commu- 
nicated. I  have  always  viewed  such  an  avowal,  on  proper  occasions,  to  be 
equally  distant  from  the  effrontery  of  braggardism,  and  from  the  obtruding 
meekness  of  a  specious  humility,  which  often  seeks,  by  a  voluntary  self- 
degradatiou,  to  obtain  unmerited  applause. 


280  APTEXniX    D. 

our  coteraporaries  or  to  our  successors." — In  a  most  interesting 
letter,  dated  Feb.  2,  1641,  he  thus  addresses  his  brother:  "  Those 
objections  undoubtedly  which  the  Lutherans  make  against  the 
Calvinists,  as  stated  in  the  letter  of  Vossius,  are  not  empty  ex- 
pressions ;  they  have  in  them  much  truth  and  reality.  I  also  con- 
sider  his   remark  very  just,  that  if  the    Swedish  and  Danish 

The  person  whom  Grotius  here  styles  "  a  very  learned  Englishman,"  was 
no  other  than  the  celebrated  oriental  scholar,  lir.  Edward  Pocock,  the  able 
co-adjutor  of  Bishop  Walton  in  that  greut  national  undertaking,  the  London 
PoLVGLOTT  Bible.  He  had  been  five  years  Chaplain  to  the  English  Factory 
at  Aleppo ;  and  he  and  the  learned  Greaves  were,  soon  after  his  return  to 
this  country,  appointed  to  travel  in  the  East.  They  spent  nearly  four  years 
at  Constantinople,  studying  the  Eastern  languages,  and  purchasing,  by 
Archbishop  Laud's  order,  all  the  valuable  manuscripts  which  they  could  dis- 
cover. Both  these  eminent  men,  as  well  as  several  of  the  most  pious  and 
LEARNED  INDIVIDUALS  that  any  nation  ever  produced  in  one  age,  were  vexed 
and  disturbed  by  those  semi-barbarians,  the  Parliamentari/  Visitors  and 
the  Triers  and  Ejectors,  who,  with  the  great  majority  of  the  Calvinian  party, 
were  decided  enemies  to  learning.  Bishop  Womack  has  presented  us  with 
an  excellent  specimen  of  their  Puritanic  cant  on  this  subject,  in  the  speech 
oi Mr.  Fataliti/,  page  70,  in  which  he  says,  "  The  man  hath  a  competent 
measure  of  your  ordinary  unsanctified  learning,"  &c. 

The  reader  will  be  gratified  by  a  perusal  of  the  following  quotation  from 
Twells's  Life  of  Dr.  Pocock,  which  contains  a  circumstance  that  is  highly 
honourable"  both  to  our  author  and  to  Grotius.  After  stating,  that,  early  in 
1641,  Dr.  Pocock,  in  his  route  to  England,  called  at  Paris,  and  visited 
Gabriel  Sionita,  the  famous  Maronite,  and  Hugh  Grotius,  his  biographer 
proceeds  to  say  :  "  To  the  latter  he  could  not  but  be  very  acceptable,  as  on 
several  accounts,  so  particularly  on  that  of  the  relation  he  stood  in  to  a 
person  for  whom  Grotius  had  all  imaginable  esteem  and  reverence,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  And  doubtless,  the  troubles  which  had  lately 
begun  to  fall  on  that  great  Prelate,  and  the  black  cloud  which  now  hung 
over  the  Church  of  England  in  general,  were  the  subject  of  no  small  part  of 
their  conversation. — But  there  were  other  things,  about  which  he  was  willing 
to  discourse  with  this  great  man.  Mr.  Pocock,  while  he  continued  in  the 
East,  had  often  lamented  the  infatuation  under  which  so  great  a  part  of  the 
world  lay,  being  enslaved  to  the  foolish  opinions  of  that  grand  impostor 
Mahomet.  He  had  observed,  in  many  who  professed  his  religion,  much 
justice  and  candour  and  love,  and  otlier  excellent  qualities,  which  seemed 
to  prepare  them  for  the  kingdom  of  God;  and  therefore  he  could  not  but 
persuade  himself,  that,  were  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  but  duly  proposed 
to  them,  not  a  few  might  open  their  eyes  to  discern  the  truth  of  it.  Some- 
thing therefore  he  resolved  to  do  towards  so  desirable  an  end,  as  he  should 
meet  with  convenient  leisure ;  and  he  could  not  think  of  any  thing  more 
likely  to  prove  useful  in  this  respect,  than  the  translating  into  Arabic,  the 
general  language  of  the  East,  an  admirable  Discourse  that  had  been  pub- 
lished in  Latin,  some  years  before,  concerning  the  Truth  of  Christiiinity . 
With  this  design  he  now  acquainted  (Jrotius,  the  author  of  that  treatise  ; 
who  received  the  proposal  with  nmch  satisfaction,  and  gave  him  a  great  deal 
of  encouragement  to  pursue  it. — And  Mr.  Pocock's  aim  in  this  matter  being 
only  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls,  he  made  no  scruple  at  all  to 
mention  to  that  learned  man  some  things  towards  the  end  of  his  book, 
which  he  could  not  approve,  viz.  certain  opinions,  which,  though  they  are 
commonly  in  Europe  charged  on  the  followers  of  Mahomet,  have  yet  no 
foundation  in  any  of  their  authentic  writings,  and  are  such  as  they  them- 
selves are  ready  on  all  occasions  to  disclaim.  With  which  freedom  of 
Mr.  Pocock,  Grotius  was  so  far  from  being  displeased,  that  he  heartily 
thanked  him  for  it ;  and  gave  him  authority,  in  the  version  he  intended,  to 
expunge  and  alter  whatsoever  he  should  think  fit." 

Dr.  Pocock's  esteemed  Arabic  translation  of  this  treatise  of  Grotius  was 
published  at  Oxford  in  IGGO,  immediately  after  the  Restoration. 


APPKXDIX     D.  '2Sl 

Churches  could  unite  with  that  Church  which  does  not  acknow- 
ledge Luther  for  its  founder,  it  would  be  possible  for  them  to  en- 
ter into  a  union  with  the  Church  of  England,  on  account  of  cer- 
tain rites  which  are  common  both  to  it  and  them,  aud  because 
the  English  are  not  equally  ready  to  adopt  that  dark  kind  of 
argumentation  against  other  people.  The  misfortune  of  the 
Archbishop  excites  my  warmest  sympathies:  He  is  an  excellent 
man,  very  learned,  and  a  passionate  lover  of  the  peace  of  the 
Church.  But  we,  who  have  ranged  ourselves  under  the  banners 
of  Christ,  ought  not  to  refuse  the  cross.  God  tries  his  own 
people  where,  when,  and  as  far  as  he  phases :  And  it  is  our  duty, 
not  to  be  terrified  at  the  sight  of  temporary  evils.  On  those 
"who  thus  act  in  every  respect,  God  will  bestow  strength  and 
power;  and  I  pray  God  of  his  infinite  goodness  to  communicate 
them  to  the  good  Archbishop.  If  it  be  allowed  to  urge  the 
meanness  of  their  extraction  as  an  objection  against  pious 
bishops,  what  will  become  of  the  Apostles,  and  what  will  be  the 
fate  of  Onesimus  and  others,  who  were  servants  before  they  were 
constituted  bishops  ?  So  far  am  I  from  believing  this  Archbishop 
to  be  a  Papist  :  There  is  indeed  throughout  France  scarcely  a 
single  Archbishop  or  Bishop  to  whom  that  epithet  justly  belongs. 
I  consider  my  writings  on  the  subject  of  Antichrist  to  be  true, 
and  not  merely  true  but  of  the  greatest  utility  !  Since  such  is  my 
full  conviction,  and  since  God  has  placed  me  in  this  asylum  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  promotion  of  his  truth  and  peace, 
do  you  suppose  that  I  ought  to  be  afraid  of  the  virulent  pens  of 
Marets,  Du  Moulin,*  and  of  the  rest  of  that  party  ?     If  I  be  fa- 

*  Grotius  mijht  have  called  Du  Moulin's  pen  hi/pocritical,  as  well  as  viru- 
lent, hi  opposition  to  the  interpretation  which  Grotiu*,  in  his  treatise  De 
.^ntichristo,  bad  put  upon  several  passages  in  the  New  Testament,  Du 
Moulin  published  a  book,  in  1640,  entitled  Vates,  sen  de  Prcecognitionc 
Futurorum,  et  bonis  malisque  Prophetis. — This  is  really  a  curious  and  enter- 
taining- work:  1  perused  it  with  some  satisfaction  many  years  ago;  and 
-have  always  been  of  opinion,  that  the  interpretation  whicn  he  and  many 
other  Protestant  writers  give  to  these  apostolical  expressions,  the  man  o/shi 
and  Antichrist,  is  more  correct  than  that  of  Grotius.  Du  Moulin's  book 
contains  an  account  of  magicians,  conjurors,  astrologers,  interpreters  of 
dreams,  the  sortes  or  lotteries  of  the  ancients,  physiognomy,  oniens,  pre- 
sages, &c.  It  is  to  this  curious  admixture  of  subjects  that  Grotius  pleasantly 
alludes,  in  the  following  quotation  from  a  letter  to  his  brother  in  1641, 
which  is  interesting  to  philosophers,  on  account  of  the  description  which  it 
gives  of  an  aerolite  :  "  1  have  learnt  to-day,  from  the  published  testimonies 
of  several  persons  who  were  eye-witnesses,  that  a  stone  weighing  fifty-four 
pounds  fell  from  the  clouds  to  the  ground,  on  the  29th  of  November,  1637, 
in  the  confines  of  Provence  and  Savoy,  between  the  villages  of  Dauvise  and 
Peanne.  The  sound  emitted  by  its  faU  was  greater  than  the  noise  caused  by 
the  firing  of  three  hundred  cannons  at  once,  and  during  its  descent  the  sky 
was  perfectly  serene.  An  immense  furrow  was  formed  in  the  ground, 
in  which  the  stone  was  discovered.  A  sulphureous  smell  was  perceptible  to 
a  considerable  distance  around  ;  and  the  stones  in  contact  with  it,  were  con- 
verted into  lime,  [or,  in  calcem  versos,  were  calcined] .  The  shape  of  the  stone 
was  completely  out  of  proportion.  I  am  engaged  in  consulting  the  na- 
turalists respecting  the  origin  of  this  unshapeu  mass,  and  by  what  means  it 
remained  suspended  in  the  sky,  and  was  moved  about ;  and  I  must  consult 

T 


282  Ari'EXDix   D. 

voured  with  longer  life,  I  will  defend  what  I  have  written :  And 
when  I  die  I  shall  find  defenders,  perhaps  not  those  of  the  timid 
class,  but  those  who  will  act  somewhat  more  boldly."  The  en- 
such  Divines  as  Drj  Moulin,  to  know  th^  portciitotis  events  o/ivJiich  it  is  tJie 
liCtrbhisier .'" 

But  ilie  mystery  of  iniquity  in  such  Calvinistic  publications  as  this,  was, 
the  olivious  (lesijjn  of  associating  in  one  class  some  of  the  innocent  obser- 
vances and  scriptural  doctrines  that  were  common  both  to  Popery  and  to  the 
Episcopal  Cliurch  of  England,  and  of  bringing  them  into  public  contempt. 
But,  as  by  the  favour  of  the  late  King,  (James  I,)  Du  Moulin,  though  re- 
siding in  the  confines  of  France,  held  preferment  in  the  Metropolitan  Church 
of  Canterbury,  he  did  not  consider  it  veri/  polite  openly  to  impugn  the 
Church  of  England,  or  to  write  professedly  against  any  of  the  sentiments  of 
Grotius.  By  either  of  these  acts,  he  would  have  given  just  offence  to  Arch- 
bishop Laud  ;  and  by  the  latter  deed  especially,  he  would  have  again 
art'routed  the  King  of  France,  to  whom  he  had  rendered  himself  suspected 
by  his  former  seditious  practices  at  Roehelle,  &c.  for  which  he  was  then 
a'voluntary  exile.  To  remove  all  apparent  cause  of  obloquy,  he  expressed 
himself  on  many  points  with  all  the  cunning  subtlety  of  his  master  Calvin. 
Thus,  in  lib.  2,  cap.  vii,  speaking  of  the  rite  of  confirmaiion  in  the  Church 
of  Rome,  he  quotes,  among  others,  a  saying  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  (Summae, 
pt.  iii,  quaest.  72,  art. !),)  "  T/iis  sacratnent  is  perfective  of  baptism,"  and 
immediately  subjoins,  "  Thomas  thus  intimates,  thai  baptism  is  imperfect 
Viithout  the  addition  of  co!!/fV)H«^iu?j.  If  we  may  give  credit  to  the  Bishops, 
they  communicate  the  Holy  Spirit  by  this  sacrament.  The  effect,  therefore, 
which  they  produce  ought  to  be  this — the  children  whom  they  confirm 
would,  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  begin  to  speak  in  divers  languages  and 
to  perform  miracles,  if  the  Bishops  have  succeeded  to  the  office  and  the pmver 
of  the  Apostles.  But  the  children,  after  confirmation,  immediately  depart 
to  their  sports  and  pastimes;  and  are  not  by  this  rite  rendered  either  wiser 
or  more  learned.  Besides,  according  to  the  confession  of  the  Papists  them- 
selves, not  a  few  ol  the  Bishops  are  dissolute  in  their  lives,  and  licentious  in 
their  conduct ;  since  therefore  these  Bishops  are  under  the  influence  of  an  evil 
spirit,  a  man  will  with  great  diiliculty  induce  himself  to  believe,  that  such 
persons  can  bestow  the  Holy  Spirit :  For  no  one  can  communicate  that  of 
which  he  is  not  himself  possessed." — It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  explain  to 
a!iy  of  ray  readers  the  evident  hearing  of  this  passage.  Confirmation  is  a 
rite  retained  by  the  Church  of  England  ;  and,  though  we  have  very  properly 
expunged  it  from  the  number  of  the  sacraments,  yet  our  very  retentivn  of  it 
in  a  modified  form  was  sufficient  caijse  of  exasperation  to  such  a  malevolent 
mind  as  that  of  Du  Moulin,  and  he  adopted  this  sly  method  of  disclosing  his 
antipathies  against  it  and  the  Apostolic  succession  of  Bishops. — Several  si- 
milar instances  might  be  quoted. 

But,  in  his  Dedication  of  the  Book  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  the  Metro- 
politan Church  of  Canterbury ,  this  design  is  manifested  with  still  greater 
cunning.  Describhig  his  pious  feelings  on  taking  a  review  of  the  state 
of  diu'ereut  countries,  he  says,  "  The  lamentable  condition  of  whole  nations 
presents  itself  to  my  view,  whom  Satan  has  oppressed  with  his  yoke  of  iron, 
and  involved  in  the  gross  darkness  of  errors;  among  whom  piety  is  ac- 
counted a  crime  and  truth  a  heresy,  and  who  have  to  maintain  a  struggle, 
not  only  against  vices,  but  even  against  laws, — and,  in  the  conflict  between 
the  hostile  parties,  the  church  of  God  has  scarcely  power  to  breathe.  Those 
places  are  very  rare  in  which  Christ  can  find  room  enough  to  lay  his  head. 
As  often  as  I  revolve  these  circumstances  in  my  mind,  1  cannot  sufficiently 
describe  the  admiration  which  I  feel  at  the  happy  lot  of  your  Britain,  1  may 
also  add  mine,  which  it  has  been  the  will  of  God  to  make  a  singular  example 
of  his  care  and  benevolence.  For  a  long  time  has  now  elapsed  since,  in  your 
country,  the  idol  [PoperyJ  fell  down  before  the  ark  of  God,  and  was  broken 
in  pieces,  and  since  the  Church  of  God  commenced  its  halcyon  days  under 
the  auspices  cf  the  best  and  most  powerful  monarchs."  After  enlarging  a 
little  on  this  subject,  he  thus  proceeds :  "  God  has  crowned  this  spiritual 
emancipation  with  earthly  blessings,  having  bestowed  the  additional  gifts 
of  peace,  riches,  and  splendour,  while  your  adversaries  have  fruitlessly 


APPENDIX    D.  283 

deavonrs  of  Grotius  to  check  these  British  prophets,  who  under 
a  pretence  of  overturning  the  foundations  of  Popeiy  wished  to 
subvert  Arminianism  and  Episcopacy,  procured  for  him  the  ill- 
will  and  petulance  of  the  French  and  Dutch  Calvinists,  whoem- 

vonted  their  malevolence.  I  should  be  utterly  unworthy  of  life,  if  I  did  not 
bv  assiduous  prayers  implore  this  favour  from  God,  that  you  may  enjoy  these 
blessings  in  perpetuity :  For  your  prosperity  is  consolatory  to  us  who  are 
oppressed  with  adversity.  Though  we  are  ourselves  in  the  greatest  difficul- 
ties, yet  we  are  peculiarly  anxious  for  the  safety  of  your  church.  And  we 
are  not  destitute  of  causes  for  indulging  in  this  fearfuluess  and  anxiety  :  For 
the  Papists  have  beheld  the  inhabitants  of  your  island  at  variance  with  each 
other,  and  the  sight  has  atforded  them  matter  of  rejoicing  secretly  in  heart, 
because  they  now  promise  themselves  an  immense  increase  of  converts  to 
Popery,  andthe  healing  of  that  wound  which  has  been  inflicted  on  the  beast. 
But  the  wisdom  and  zeal  of  your  most  excellent  king  will  prevent  this  evil; 
for,  as  a  bee  born  in  honey,  his  gracious  majesty  has  imbibed  the  doctrine 
of  the  Gospel  almost  with  the  milk  of  his  royal  mother,  and  testifies  by  daily 
proofs  his  piety  and  virtue.  This  evil  will  proceed  no  further,  if  those  whom 
God  has  placed  at  the  head  of  such  a  flourishing  church,  will  use  their  en- 
deavours to  keep  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  untainted  :  For  they  are  not 
ignorant  of  Satan's  devices,  who  frequently  comes  unawares  upon  the  in- 
cautious, and,  sewing  the  skin  of  t lie  fox  upon  that  of  tlie  lloti,  tries  to 
ensnare  those  by  deceit  whom  he  cannot  destroy  by  violence  :  He  breaks 
and  enervates  through  listlessness  the  pastors  of  the  church,  either  by  feeding 
them  with  eager  desires  after  earthly  riches,  or  by  sowing  among  them  envy 
and  emulation,  from  which  usually  spring  up  dissensions  in  religion  itself. 
It  is  to  me  therefore  a  matter  of  congratulation  to  the  church  of  Canterbury, 
that  it  is  favoured  with  pastors  endowed  with  great  learning  and  much  faith  ; 
who  have  received  a  better  education  at  the  feet  of  Paul,  than  Paul  himself 
did  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel ;  and  concerning  whom  the  same  testimony  may 
be  borne  as  that  which  David  bore  to  Ahimaaz,  the  son  of  Zadok,  He  is  a 
good  man,  and  cometh  with  good  tidings!  (2  Sam.  xviii,  27.)  The  apostle 
requires  these  two  things  from  a  faithful  servant  of  God, — that  he  be  an 
example  of  the  believers,  in  ivord  and  in  conversation.  (1  Tim.  iv,  12.)  This 
thought  is  refreshing  to  me,  and  induces  me  to  account  it  an  honourable  dis- 
tinction bestowed  upon  me — to  be  a  member  of  your  sacred  order,  and  to  gain 
admission  into  your  society." 

All  this,  the  reader  will  perceive,  is  very  good  and  pious.  But  when  he 
reflects  upon  the  condition  of  the  Church  and  State  in  1640,  he  will  detect 
Du  Moulin's  sophistry.  He  had  amply  shewn,  in  the  days  of  Archbishop 
Abbot,  that  by  "  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel"  he  understood  "  the  predes- 
tinarian  peculiarities  of  Calvinism."  It  is  from  the  pious  king  that  he  ex- 
pects the  prevention  of  civil  discord  ;  and  the  ungracious  allusion  to  Arch- 
bishop Laud  is,  that  "  the  evil  will  proceed  no  further,  if  those  whom  God 
"  has  placed  at  the  head  of  such  a  Jlourishing  church  will  ime  their  en- 
"  deavours  to  keep  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  untainted," — that  is,  if  they 
will  suffer  Calvinism  to  hold  that  pre-eminence  to  which  it  aspires,  and 
which  it  eiyoyed  under  the  auspices  of  Dr.  Abbot.  An  explanation  of  the 
other  sinister" allusions  in  this  paragraph  is  unnecessary;  for,  within  the 
brief  space  of  twelve  months,  Du  Moulin  explained  himself  with  marvellous 
clearness.  In  a  letter  which  Grotius  addressed  to  the  learned  Vossius,  la 
September,  1641,  he  makes  the  following  mention  of  it:  "  I  suppose  you 
will  have  seen  a  book  published  in  England,  and  afterwards  at  Geneva, 
under  the  title  of  Iri^nteus  Philadelphus,  concerning  the  commotions 
which  have  arisen  in  England.  This  publication  openly  aims  at  the  throat 
of  his  Grace  the  Archbishop :  May  God  impart  consolation  to  him  under 
this  cross  !  The  authors  of  it  are  the  two  Du  Moulins,  the  father  and  son  ; 
the  latter  of  whom  has  inserted  in  different  parts  of  the  narrative  the  English 
relations  [of  these  affairs].  The  Ri-natus  Ferdceus,  to  whom  it  is  dedi- 
cated, is  [au  anagram  on]  Andreas  Rivetus.  Behold  what  ferocity  is  here 
displayed  !" 

T    2 


284  AFPENUIX     D. 

ployed  as  their  accredited  organ  Andrew  Rivet, .  professor  of 
Divinity  at  Leyden,  who  was  brother-in-law  to  Peter  du  Moulin, 
Rivet  commenced  his  polemic  career  early  in  16'42,  soon  after 
Grotius  had  published  his  famous  Fin  ad  Paccm  Ecclesiasiicam, 
which  contained  Cassander's  scheme  for  the  union  of  Protestants 
and  Papists,  and  which  so  far  excited  the  splenetic  indignation 
of  Richard  Baxter,  sixteen  years  afterwards,  as  to  cause  him  to 
publish  his  celebrated  Philippic  entitled,  the  Grotian  Religion 
discovered.  Grotius  wrote  three  able  and  dignifie(t  replies  ta 
three  of  Rivet's  pamphlets,  the  latter  of  whom  was  aided  by  the 
whole  Calvinian  phalanx  in  Europe.  *  There  are  few  literary 
enterprizes,  the  execution  of  which  would  yield  me  greater  plea- 
sure than  the  translation  of  the  productions  of  Rivet  and  Gro- 
tius into  English,  printed  in  parallel  columns :  the  systems  of 
Arminius  and  Calvin,  with  their  evident  effects  and  tendency, 
would  by  that  method  be  brought  into  fair  competition,  and  the 
British  public  would  not  be  tardy  in  deciding  their  relative  poli- 
tical and  religious  merits.  The  titles  of  the  three  Grotian  pam- 
phlets are,  Atiimadversions  on  the  Animadversions  of  Bivet,  Wishes 
for  the  Peace  of  the  Chinch,  A  Discussion  on  Rivet's  Apology  for 
Schism.     They  were  written  after  the  Appendix  to  his  pamphlet 

The  Son,  to  whom  Grotius  refers,  was  Louis  Du  Mouliu,  who,  notwith- 
standing his  own  and  his  father's  avowed  antipathy  to  Arminianism,  was 
made  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  patronized  by  the 
Court.  Yet,  in  imitation  of  many  other  Calvinistic  ingrates,  as  soon  as  the 
Established  Church  was  laid  waste  by  barbarians,  he  shewed  himself  one  of 
the  most  scatidalous  of  her  adversaries.  Even  after  the  Restoration,  he  had  the 
effrontery  in  one  of  his  pamphlets  to  charge  Bishop  Stillingfleet  and  several 
other  eminent  episcopal  di\iues  with  a  design  to  introduce  Popery.  If  any 
shade  of  doctrine  failed  to  elevate  itself  as  high  as  Supra-lapsarian  Calvin- 
ism, he  regarded  it  (so  far)  as  making  approaches  towards  Popery.  In  the 
same  pamphlet  he  traduces  his  uncle  Rivet,  because,  in  one  of  the  French 
Synods,  he  had  manifested  a  lesning  towards  Cameronism  before  he  was 
called  to  the  Professorship  at  Leyden  :  But  the  elder  Du  Moulin,  it  is  seen, 
(page  229,)  kept  his  good  brother-in-law  sound  in  the  faith  of  Calvin.  The 
scurvy  treatment  which  the  father  received  from  Dr.  Twisse,  for  having 
written  against  reprobation  in  his  Anatomy,  has  also  been  stated,  page 
223.  Yet  the  son  could  perceive  no  wrong  in  all  that  Dr.  Twisse  had  written. 
In  reference  to  this  subject  an  able  author  said,  in  lti80:  "O  how  dear  are 
some  opinions  to  him  !  In  which  whosoever  dissents  from  him,  he  will  tear 
them  in  pieces:  But  let  those  who  agree  with  them  say  what  they  please  of 
his  best  friends,  nay  of  his  own  father,  they  shall  not  fail  to  have  his  good 
word.  This  raised  his  spleen,  and  put  him  into  a  new  fit  of  raving  at  our  di- 
vines, who  jump  not  with  him  in  seme  ojAnions  which  are  falsely  called  Armi- 
nianism. If  they  were  but  as  rigid  as  he  in  some  beloved  dotirines,  for  which 
be  doted  upon  Dr.  Twisse,  we  should  not  have  heard  a  word  of  their  inclina- 
tion to  Popery,  but  he  would  have  found  some  excuse  orother  for  all  their 
faults  ;  nay,  would  have  been  so  kind  as  to  magnily  and  praise  them  whom 
be  now  abominates." 

This  last  sentence  is  a  good  key  to  the  feeling  of  those  times  :  In  nil  the 
grades  of  Genevan  divinity,  from  that  of  Richard  Baxter  upward  to  that  of 
Dr.  Owen,  the  several  professors  defended  the  arguments  of  Dr.  Twisse  ; 
and,  when  hard  pressed  by  the  Arminians,  quoted  his  Supra-lapsarianism 
as  overwhelming  authority. 

*  See  in  page  213,  the  aid  which  the  younger  Paraus  afforded  iu  vindication 
of  his  father's  sentiments. 


APPKNDIX    D.  585 

vn  Antichrist,  while  the  established  institutions  of  this  country 
were  tottering,  and  ready  to  fall  before  the  overwhelming  force 
of  the  reforming  Goths  and  Vandals.  To  a  Briton  they  are 
particularly  interesting,  as  all  of  them  incidentally  exhibit  the 
same  generous  design, — to  bring  the  English  and  Scotch  Calvinists 
to  a  belter  state  of  mind,  and  to  give  them  more  correct  and  scrip- 
tural notions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty .t 

Any  one  that  has  attentively  read  the  private  letters  of  Grotius 
at  that  period,  may  form  a  just  estimate  of  the  difficulty  which 
he  had  to  encounter  in  procuring  the  publication  of  these  three 
works  and  of  his  Appendix  de  Anlichristo.  The  famous  house  of 
De  Bleau  were  his  printers  and  publishers ;  and  the  nearly-as- 
famous  house  of  Jansson  printed  the  works  of  Rivet.     Both  of 

f  The  animosity  of  Rivet  against  Grotius  has  been  briefly  stated,  pa^ 
230.  He  was  not  content  with  virulently  defaming  the  living,  but  gave 
utterance  to  the  vilest  calumnies  against  bis  .dead  opponent.  Courcelles 
furnishes  us  with  the  following  account  of  one  of  his  falsehoods  :  "  Andrew 
Rivet  has  acted  with  a  little  more  openness,  when  he  spoke  about  that  illus- 
trious individual,  Hugh  Grotius.  For  he  says,  '  He  seems  to  many  persons 
'  to  have  expired  in  the  act  of  breathing  out  menaces,  while  he  lay  entirely 

*  engrossed  with  passion,  in  the  very  gall  of  bitterness,  and  without  exhi- 

*  biting  the  least  sign  of  penitence,'  &c.  To  this  statement,  nothing  more 
was  necessary  to  be  added,  except  that  7io  hopes  could  be  entertained  of  his 
salvation;  though,  to  soften  such  a  harsh  and  unmerciful  sentence  as  this 
would  be,  he  concludes  thus  :  '  But  3et  we  do  not  judge  another  man's  ser- 
'  vant,  who  to  his  own  master  hath  stood  and  fallen.'  But  for  what 
purpose  does  he  assume  this  semblance  of  moderation  respecting  the  con- 
sequence, when  the  whole  difficulty  lies  in  the  antecedent  ?  On  the  contrary, 
had  1  been  certain,  that  either  Grotius  orBlondel  had  expired  in  any 
grievous  crime  without  repentance,  I  would  not  have  been  afraid  to  declare 
concerning  him,  though  with  sorrow,  He  is  damned  !  For  in  that  case  1 
should  not  myself  have  passed  sentence  upon  him  ;  but  it  would  have  been 
the  sentence  of  God  in  his  own  word,  which  is  firmer  than  both  heaven  and 
earth!" — These  animadversious  are  quoted  by  Marets,  without  any  dis- 
approbation of  Rivet's  conduct.  Bayle  says,  "  It  can  be  nothing  but  a 
gross  artifice,  to  say  Such  a  man  died  without  repenting  of  his  enormous 
crimes,  and  yet  I  ivill  not  pretend  to  pronounce  what  was  his  fate." 

Whoever  has  read  Coxe's  Relation  of  the  Death  of  Dr.  Andrew  Rivet, 
and  will  compare  it  with  the  death  of  Grotius  as  related  by  Dr.  John  Quis- 
torpius,  Proiessor  of  Divinity  at  Rostock,  who  attended  him  in  his  last 
moments, — and  will  at  the  same  time  consider,  that  the  one  died  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family  and  surrounded  by  his  friends,  the  other  had  narrowly 
escaped  from  shipwreck  with  his  life,  and  was  proceeding  homewards  by 
laud,  when  sickness  suddenly  assailed  him  among  strangers, — whoever  will 
read  the  two  accounts,  will  be  at  no  loss  to  decide  which  of  these  men  made 
the  most  pious  and  edifying  confession.  With  evident  complacency,  Rivet 
makes  mention  of  his  own  labours  in  defence  of  the  truth,  that  is,  of  CaJ- 
viuisra,  though  he  does  not  dissemble  the  contrition  he  felt  on  account  of 
having  maltreated  many  of  his  opponents,  but  especially  the  French  Came- 
roiiists,  towards  whom  he  undoubtedly  acted  with  very  bad  faith.  The 
letter  of  Quistorpius  is  familiar  to  general  readers:  It  v^as  published  by 
Dr.  Hammond,  in  1654.  No  one  can  read  the  commencement  of  it  without 
being  affected  :  "  Having  mentioned  the  publican,  who  acknowledged  him- 
self to  be  a  sinner,  and  beseeched  God  to  be  mercitul  to  him,  Grotius  an- 
swered, /  am  that  publican  ! — I  proceeded,  and  directed  him  to  Christ 
■without  whom  there  can  be  no  salvation  ;  lie  replied.  On  Christ  alone  all  my 
hopes  are  placed ;"  &c. — Bayle  was  no  friend  to  Arrainianism,  yet  his  re- 
flections on  this  subject  are'very  just :    "It  would  be  ridiculous  in  any  mau 

T  S 


286  APPENDIX    W. 

these  houses  had  their  extensive  establishments  in  the  free  city 
of  Amsterdam,  which  had  a  pecuh'ar  jurisdiction  of  its  own,  and 
was  therefore  the  less  liable  to  be  under  external  dictation.  Yet 
such  was  the  implacable  spirit  of  the  Calvin ists,  and  so  minute 
and  extensive  were  their  subtle  arrangements,  that,  rather  than 
have  their  prophesying  propensities  resti'ained,  they  chose  to  ex- 
pend all  their  artifice  and  prowess  to  suppress  these  productions 
of  Grotius.  The  friendly  understanding  Vv'hich  then  subsisted 
between  the  two  great  printing-houses  was  also  injurious  to  the 
speedy  execution  of  the  noble  designs  of  this  aged  peace-maker. 
Of  these  circumstances  he  makes  frequent  complaints  in  the  let- 
ters to  his   brother,  from  which    I  here  subjoin  a  few  extracts : 

to  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  Quistorpius.  He  could  not  be  prompted  by  in- 
terest to  tell  a  falsehood  ;  and  it  is  well  known,  that  the  Lutheran  ministers 
felt  as  much  dissatisfaction  as  the  Calvinists,  at  the  particular  opinions  of 
Grotius.  The  testimony  of  the  Professor  of  Rostock  is  therefore  an  au- 
thentic proof :  Let  us  consider  it  then  as  indisputably  true,  (1)  That  Grotius, 
in  his  expiring^  moments  was  in  the  same  frame  of  mind  as  the  publican  in 
the  gospel :  {2)  That  he  placed  all  his  hopes  in  Jesus  Christ  alone  :  (3)  That 
his  last  thoughts  were  those  contained  in  the  prayers  of  dying  persons,  ac- 
cording to  the  Ritual  of  the  Lutherans.  Now,  in  my  opinion,  no  other 
prayer  can  be  found  that  includes  more  pious  thoughts,  and  such  as  a  true 
Christian  ought  to  entertain  when  he  is  preparing  to  appear  before  the 
Divine  Tribunal." 

Rivet  appears  to  have  been  a  consummate  sycophant,  and  desirous  of  cul- 
tivating an  acquaintance  with  persons  in  exalted  stations.  When  Dr.  Ste- 
phen Goffe  was  at  the  Hague  in  1636,  he  addressed  the  following  lines  to 
Gerard  Vossius  :  "  1  should  be  unwilling  for  you  to  anticipate  the  officious 
Rivet.  According  to  his  owe  manners,  or  the  usages  of  his  country,  he  is 
accustomed  to  prostrate  himself  at  the  feet  of  all  the  nobility.  No  ambas- 
sador is  received  at  this  court,  of  whatever  [political]  party  or  [religious] 
profession  he  may  be,  but  his  house  is  instantly  visited  by  Rivet  in  the  pro- 
digality of  his  obsequiousness.  It  is  now  a  long  time  since  our  treasurer 
received  from  him  letters  of  congratulation  ;  yet  he  does  not  know  whether 
be  is  black  or  white  [in  his  opini»asJ,  unless  perhaps  he  has  by  his  writings 
rendered  himself  more  notorious  than  is  agreeable." 

Grotius  has  refuted,  page  277,  Rivet's  milicious  allegation,  that  he  ivishedto 
exasperate  the  French  monarch  against  his  Calvinistic  subjects.  In  one  of 
his  letters  to  his  brother  in  1643,  he  says  :  "  I  saw  Mondeve,  Rivet's  son,  at 
the  church  of  St.  Dionysius  [in  Paris] .  I  told  him,  his  father  indulged  very 
unjust  suspicions  against  me,  by  asserting  that  Iivished  to  injure  the  French 
Calvinists;  when  I  had,  on  the  contrary,  employed  all  the  interest  I  pos- 
sessed, to  have  additional  liberty  granted  to  them  by  a  new  edict. — From 
this  conversation,  he  spread  a  report  that  1  am  now  a  greater  Hugonot  than 
I  ever  was." 

Thirteen  years  before,  Grotius  had  made  the  following  remark  to  his  bro- 
ther:  "  Daillfe,  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Charenton, 
had  several  questions  lately  addressed  to  him  in  a  letter,  by  a  certain  Roman 
Catholic.  Among  the  rest  was  this,  TV hy  did  you  condemn  the  Arminians? 
Dail)&  replied  :  '  It  was  Arminianism,  rather  than  the  Arminians,  that  we 

*  condemned  ;   for  we  have  frequently  made  offers  of  peace  and   concord  to 

*  the  Lutherans,  who  hold  the  same  sentiments  as  the  Arminians.' — I  have 
my  fears, Pest  those  who  are  in  this  country  more  powerful  than  they,  should 
some  time  or  other  say  :    '  ^Ve  do  not  banish  the  Calvinists  from  France,  but 

*  Calvinism.     1  pray  God,  that  this   catastrophe  may  not  happen  to  them- 

*  selves  in  the  same  measure  as  they  have  meted  to  others." — Ihe  reader  does 
not  require  to  be  reminded,  that  this  event  actually  occurred  in  1685,  at  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantz. 


APPENDIX  D.  2S7 

"  With  respect   to  my  Appe?idix,   you   know  what  reproaches, 
sneers   and  calumnies,    I,  who  had    done    no   man  any  injury, 
received  from  two  individuals,   one  of  whom  has  published  my 
name,  and  the  other  is  not  ignorant  of  my  person:  I  knew  nothing 
about  Marets   till  the   present  time ;  concerning  Du  Moulin,  I 
could    declare    many  truths  that  would    attach  to  him.     But  I 
have  abstained  ;  and  have  not  exposed   their  ignorance,  except 
on  those  points  about  which  they  accused  me  of  the  same  defect 
without  just  reason.      If  I  have  displayed  any  asperity,  it  will 
not  be  abated  by  a  mitigation  of  the  expressions  v.'hich  I  employ : 
Facts  are  the  stings  which  wound  them,  by  what   expressions 
soever   they  may  be  conveyed.     But,  unless   I  entirely  deceive 
myself,  this  asperity  affects  those  persons  alone  kIio  are  lovers  of 
schism,  and  who  in  a   refractory  manner   refrse   all  remedies ;    in 
order  to  accomplish  these  purposes,    such  men  produce  reasons 
that  are  either  very  feeble,  or  exceedingly  unjust.     This  asperity 
also  touches  those  who  suspend  all  things  on  fate,  so  as  to  promise 
iomanki}id  a  complete  licence  for  sinning;  and  those  who,  under 
the  name  of  the  Gospel,    excite  the  arms  of  individuals    against 
kings  or  other  legitimate  authorities,  and,  when  they  have  succeeded 
in  their  enterprize,    they  forcibly  oppress  other  men, — and  thus 
do  exactly  the  same   things   as   those  of  which  they  accuse  the 
Popes.     Those  who  withdraw  themselves  from  such   persons, — 
•which  course  will  undoubtedly  be  adopted  by  great  numbers, — 
will  have  no  complaints  to  make  about  my  asperity. — There  is 
nothing  in   that  work  which  can  possibly  injure   the  Dutch  Re- 
public ;  but  many  things  may  be  found  in  it,  which  relate  to  the 
defence  of  the  just  authority  of  rulers,  popular  quiet,  and  civil 
concord.     Let  not   the   publication   be  hindered ;   it   ought,    I 
think,  rather  to  be  hastened,  as  soon  as  it  is  begun.  Should  these 
men  hereafter  exercise  their  Stentorian  lungs  in  bawling  against 
it,  as  they  assuredly  will  do,  it  will  then  be  the  duty  of  the  De 
Bleaus    to    declare,  that  they   have  perceived  710  reason  why  they 
should  refuse  that  profit  which  the  Parisian  publishers  ivould  other- 
wise  receive;*  and  that  they  have  good  ground  for  believing,  that 
no  work  would  proceed  from  the  Swedish  ambassador,   which  could 

*  This  would  appear  a  good  and  sufficient  reason  to  a  Dutch  trader  of 
that  day  for  many  acts  of  whien  he  could  not  altog-ether  approve.  lu  that 
strange  book.  Dr.  Heylin's  History  of  the  Sabbath,  it  is  staled,  in  reference 
to  the  better  regulations  for  enforcing  a  proper  observance  of  the  Lord's  day, 
■which  were  suggested  by  the  British  Divines  at  the  Synod  of  Dort :  "As  for 
the  great  towns  [in  Holland] ,  there  is  scarce  any  of  them  wherein  there  are 
not  fairs  and  markets,  Kirk-masses,  as  they  used  to  call  them,  upon  the 
Sunday  ;  and  those  as  much  frequented  in  the  afternoon,  as  were  the 
churches  in  the  forenoon  :  A  thing  from  which  they  could  not  hold,  not  in 
Dort  itself,  what  time  the  Synod  was  assembled.  Nor  had  it  now  been 
called  upon,  as  it  is  most  likely,  had  not  A:\iEsius  and  some  other  of  the 
Knglish  mal-conteiits  scattered  abroad  Bound's  principles  amongst  the 
Netherlands,  which  they  had  sown  before  in  England:  And  certainly  they 
bad  made  as  strong  a  faction  there  before  this  time,  (their  learned  men  be 
ginning  to  bandy  one  against  the  other  in  the  debates  about  the  Sabbath,) 
But  that  the  livelihood  of  the  States  consisting  most  on  trade  and  trathtk. 


288  APvr.Nuix  d. 

jyoss'ibly  injure  that  cause  {^l/ie  Protestant  interest^  in  which  the 
Swedes  thcmsehrs  were  engaged.  But  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the 
Amsterdam  magistrates  to  defend  a  citizen  in  an  equitable  mat- 
ter. Calvin  ought  not  to  be  held  up  for  an  idol.  It  is  most  ini- 
quitous, that,  in  a  city  which  I  hold  in  the  highest  estimation, 
Jansson  should  be  allowed  to  do  that  against  Grotius  which,  to 
omit  all  mention  of  other  circumstances,  the  De  Bleaus  are  not 
permitted  to  do^br  Grotius.  If  these  reasons  be  not  sufficient 
for  tlie  De  Bleaus,  it  will  be  my  province  in  future  to  select 
other  publishers  :  This  precaution  I  should  have  adopted  with 
respect  to  the  present  productions,  had  1  supposed  that  the  pub- 
lication would  be  prejudicial  to  their  interests.  But  their  advan- 
tage must  not  operate  upon  me  so  far,  as  to  compel  me  on  that 
account  to  contend  with  my  adversaries  on  unequal  terms,  or  not 
allow  me  to  shew  my  enemies  that  they  ai'e  so  blind  as  not  to 
perceive  in  the  conduct  of  their  own  party  those  traits  which 
they  censure  in  other  people  as  marks  of  Antichrist." — "  I  have 
lately  been  much  grieved,  that  the  De  Bleaus,  who  formerly 
■were  remarkable  for  their  quickness  and  despatch,  should  now 
proceed  at  such  a  slow  pace  and  afford  abundance  of  leisure  to 
those  men  who  neither  wish  well  to  us  nor  to  the  truth  :  I  re- 
quest that  they  be  urged  to  make  as  rapid  a  progress  as  possible. 
If  such  writings  as  these  cannot  be  published  at  Amsterdam, 
where  Roman  Catholic  Missals  and  Breviaries  are  suffered  to 
make  their  appearance,  on  receiving  notice  of  this  circumstance 
I  would  have  made  other  arrangements  concerning  my  affairs. 
Let  us  consider  what  may  yet  be  done:  For  I  will  not  suppress 
those  works  which  are,  in  my  own  judgment,  the  most  excellent 
and  useful  of  all  I  have  produced." — "  I  hear,  that,  among  the 
correctors  of  De  Bleau's  press,  is  a  certain  person  whose  name 
is  Ayala,  and  who  has  been  in  the  ministry.  I  am  afraid  of  that 
man,  lest  he  create  us  some  trouble,  either  by  hindering  the 
publication  or  corrupting  its  contents.  I  earnestly  beseech  God 
to  grant,  that  no  evil  may  happen  to  that  Appendix,  which,  I 
trust,  will  some  time  or  other  be  of  great  service". — "  All  these 
works  of  mine  may  afford  much  light  to  the  real  lovers  of  peace 
_'with  truth.  But  when  I  see  in  what  a  foul  and  corrupt  state 
they  are  published,  and  the  small  number  of  persons  on  whom 
I  can  place  any  reliance,  I  can  determine  on  nothing  better  than 
to  intreat  God  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  furnish  roe  both  with 
"wise  counsels  and  with  good  assistance." — "  In  the  list  of  errata 
■which  is  reprinted,  I  discover  as  many  new  errors  as  in  that  which 
■was  formerly  printed,  particularly  in  the  Hebrew,  in  which  I  am 
certain  Manasseh  [[a  Jewish  Corrector]]  has  well  performed  the 

cannot  spare  any  day,  Sunday  no  more  than  any  other,  from  venting:  their 
comnjodities,  and  pi-ovidinjj  others.  So  that,  in  general,  the  Lord's  day  is 
no  otherwise  observed  with  them,  (though  somewhat  better  than  it  was 
twelve  years  ago,)  than  a  half-holiday  is  ^^ith  us  ;  the  morning,  though  not 
all  of  that,  into  the  church  3   the  afternoon  to  their  employments." 


APi'KNnix  D.  289 

part  assigned  to  him ;  but  the  compositors  in  the  office  have 
either  misunderstood  his  marks,  or  have  not  followed  them.  If 
De  Bleau  be  desirous  of  publishing  any  thing  excellent,  it  will 
be  necessary  for  him  to  have  in  his  own  house  a  learned  correc- 
tor of  the  press, — such  as  those  retained  by  the  houses  of  Ste- 
phens, Froben,  Raphelengius*  and  others." — "  I  am  desirous  to 
know,  whether  my  pamphlets.  Wishes  for  Ihe  Peace  of  the 
Church,  are  now  on  sale  and  come  into  circulation :  For  the 
publisher  has  never  called  upon  me  since  the  work  was  printed. 
I  am  afraid  he  has  been  well  bribed  to  suppress  all  the  copies ;  a 
practice  which  I  know  to  have  been  adopted  against  some 
others." — And  in  an  earlier  letter  than  the  three  preceding,  he 
says  :  "  If  De  Bleau  had  fulfilled  his  promises,  our  works  would 
have  been  published  six  months  ago,  and  they  might  have 
served  to  abate  a  portion  of  the  heat  which  some  of  the  English 
Parliamentarians  have  imbibed.  In  order  to  their  now  becoming 
serviceable  in  England,  we  must  probably  wait  a  long  time ; 
yet  that  period  may  perhaps  arrive  much  sooner  than  expected. 
For,  repentance  is  the  usual  consequence  of  deeds  of  cruelty, 
which,  it  is  quite  apparent,  are  done  in  opposition  to  the  King's 
wishes.  The  Earl  of  Strafford's  letter  to  the  king,  and  his  ex- 
pressions when  about  to  suffer  death,  are  strong  presumptions 
of  great  virtue.t  For  the  Archbishop,  I  intreat  God  either  to 
mitigate  the  rage  of  his  enemies,  or,  if  it  be  the  Divine  Pleasure 
to  make  use  of  his  testimony,  that  He  will  strengthen  him  in 
spirit  against  death  and  all  contumely. — But,  in  France,  these 
productions  of  ours  will  be  of  immediate  utility." 

In  the  preceding  extracts  from  Grotius,  he  has  repeatedly 
declared  it  to  be  his  unbiassed  belief,  that  the  Pope  is  not  Anti- 
christ. In  the  subjoined  quotation,  from  a  letter  addressed  to 
his  brother  in  1642,  he  says:  "  Those  who  wonder  that  /  do 
not  account  the  Pope  as  that  Antichrist,  must  know  that  I  am  at 
once  a  lover  of  truth  and  a  resident  in  France  ;  to  maintain  the 
opposite  opinion  in  this  country,  would  be  contrary  to  the  King's 
express  commands."  These  commands  of  the  French  Monarch  were 

*  The  first  introduction  of  Raphelengius  into  our  profession  was  as  an 
erudite  corrector  of  the  press  to  the  famous  Christopher  Plantiu,  at  Antwerp, 
■whose  daughter  he  married  in  1565  •  He  had  previously  taught  the  Greek 
language  at  Cambridge  and  other  places.  In  1585  he  and  his  family  re- 
moved from  Antwerp  to  fiCyden,  where  he  had  an  extensive  printing  estab- 
lishment, in  which  his  father-in  law  had  a  share.  Such  was  his  profound 
knowledge  of  the  Eastern  tongues,  that  he  was  called  to  the  Hebrew  Pro- 
fessorship in  the  University  of  Leyden,  then  recently  erected  and  endowed. 
He  died  in  1597. — To  those  who  wish  to  have  an  ample  account  of  the 
worthies  here  enumerated  by  Grotius,  and  to  know  the  important  services 
which  they  have  rendered  to  tke  Kepublic  of  Letters,  a  perusal  of  the  various 
learned  and  entertaining  typographical  publications  of  the  Rev.  T.  F.  Dibdin 
is  recommended. 

t  "  r2th  of  May,  1641,  I  beheld  on  Tower  Hill  the  fatal  stroke  which 
severed  the  wisest  head  in  England  from  the  shoulders  of  the  Earl  of  Straf- 
ford ;  whose  crime  coming  under  the  cognizance  of  no  human  law,  a  new 
one  was  made, — not  to  be  a  precedent,  but  [to  be]  his  destruction  :  To  such 
exorbitancy  were  things  arrived  '."  (^Bkay's  Memoirs  of  Evelyn.) 


290  APrKNDTX     D. 

issued  atthe  Protestant  Synod  of  Alen9on  in  1 637,  at  the  period  when 
Cameronism  obtained  such  a  decided  victory  over  Calvinism. 
The  king  had,  some  years  previously,  reduced  Rochelle,  and  had 
brought  the  milder  race  of  Calvinists,  mider  the  guidance  of 
Amyraut  and  other  Cameronists,  to  live  peaceably  with  their 
Popish  neighbours,  and  to  acknowledge  their  obligations  to 
civil  obedience.  To  perpetuate  this  better  feeling  among  the 
two  religious  denominations  of  his  subjects,  his  majesty  ordered 
the  Protestants  to  refrain,  in  their  sermons  and  writings,  from 
calling  the  Pope  Antichrist,*   ^-c.     Grotius  makes  the  following 

*  Vet  Marets,  Rivet,  and  Du  Moulin,  it  is  seen  (page  ),  could  call  the 
Pope  Antichrist ,  and  apologjize  for  tlie  seditious  doctrines  of  their  country- 
men. But  all  of  them  were  absentees  from  the  French  territories.  Rivet 
was  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Leyden;  and  from  that  safe  retreat  he  could 
publish  many  remarks  that  would  not  have  been  permitted,  had  he  re- 
mained in  France,  where  several  branches  of  his  family  were  settled. — See 
page  215.    The  same  observation  applies  to  Marets,  page  270. 

Peter  Du  Moulin  was  at  that  period  an  exile  at  Sedan.  Old  Brandt  gives  the 
following  account  of  his  disgrace  .  "  About  this  time  [1620]  those  of  the 
Reformed  Religion  in  France  undertook  something  against  the  Remon- 
strants, which  was  attended  with  important  results  :  A  National  Synod 
holdcn  as  Alez  in  the  Ceveimes  furnished  them  with  a  convenient  oppor- 
tunity. The  king  of  France  had  forbidden  those  of  his  subjects  who  were 
of  that  denomination,  to  attend  the  Synod  of  Dort:  This  prohibition  was 
exceedingly  mortifying  to  Peter  Du  Moulin,  Minister  of  the  Reformed 
Chu4"ch  at  Paris,  who,  with  several  more,  had  been  deputed  by  the  French 
Churches,  and  was  preparing  to  go  to  that  Assembly,  in  which,  according 
to  the  relation  of  some  people,  he  flattered  himself  that  he  would  gain  much 
applause.  But  what  he  had  been  forbidden  to  do  with  his  tongue  he  after- 
wards effected  with  bis  pen,  by  communicating  his  opinion  in  writing  to 
that  Synod,  with  his  Anatomy  of  Arminianism."  A  proposal  was  made  at 
Alez,  by  Turretine,  one  of  the  Genevan  Professors  of  Divinity,  that,  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  the  errors  of  the  Arminians,  the  Canons  of  the  Synod 
of  Dort  should  be  adopted  by  the  French  Churches,  and  that  each  member 
should  swear  to  the  doctrine  adjudged  and  decided  by  the  Dutch  Assembly. 
"  Du  Moulin,  who  was  President «f  the  French  Synod,  employed  all  his 
energies  to  ensure  the  passing  of  this  motion,  and  thus  to  save  his  own 
Anatomy  from  censure.  For  a  certain  minister,  one  of  the  most  eminent 
and  learned  in  all  France,  had  the  courage  to  assert  in  this  Synod,  that 
heretical  opinions  were  maintained  in  that  book,  and  offered  to  bring  proofs 
of  his  assertion.  The  proposed  oath  was  then  taken  by  all  the  members  of 
the  Synod  of  Alez. — Du  Moulin,  it  is  said,  had  drawn  up  the  form  of  this 
oath  at  Paris  before  he  went  to  Alez,  and  upbraided  such  of  the  members  as 
at  first  did  not  relish  this  oath,  as  though  their  aversion  to  it  were  a  suffi- 
cient proof  of  their  hetorodoxy.  There  appeared  afterwards  many  Reformed 
ministers  in  France,  who  were  opposed  to  this  oath,  and  who  caused  it  to  be 
laid  aside.  So  that  Du  Moulin  could  not  obtain  his  will  at  all  points,  even 
in  the  Synod  at  which  he  presided  ;  in  which,  prior  to  its  conclusion,  his  in- 
direct management,  and  the  artifices  which  he  employed  to  obtain  his  pur- 
poses, had  excited  such  disgust,  that  he  was  gravely  reprimanded,  in  the 
name  of  the  Synod,  on  that  aecount.  This  censure  against  Du  Moulin  was 
pronounced  by  Laurence  Brunier,  and  occupied  two  hours  in  the  delivery  : 
in  it  he  was  reproved,  for  having  assumed  to  himself  a  Papal  authority  over 
his  brethren,  and  for  many  things  of  the  same  nature. 

"  But  immediately  after  this,  he  encountered  much  greater  troubles,  by 
incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  King  of  France.  Having  returned  from 
Alez  to  Paris,  he  was  soon  informed  of  the  danger  which  was  impending, 
and  was  advised  by  his  friends  instantly  to  betake  himself  to  flight :    Accord- 


Al'lKNDIX      D.  ^  291 

mention  of  this  circumstance,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  in  1637 : 
"The  king,  by  his  Commissionei-,  a  person  of  the  Reformed  Keli- 
gion  who  presided  over  the  Synod,   issued    his  edict  to  the  R 

ingly  he  remained  only  one  night  at  Paris  concealed  in  a  friend's  house,  and 
the  next  dav  proceeded  with  all  haste  on  his  journey  towards  Sedan,  where 
be  was  received  as  Minister  and  Professor  of  Divinity. — He  had,  it  is  said, 
drawn  down  the  king's  anger  upon  himself  by  his  imprudence,  and  by 
meddling  with  matters  that  did  not  belong  to  his  office.  It  is  reported  of 
him,  that  he  had  written  a  letter  privately  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  in 
order  to  excite  his  Majesty  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Reformed  in  France; 
and  that,  after  King  James  had  read  the  letter,  he  threw  it  away  with  indig- 
nation ;  but  one  of  his  domestics,  having  found  it,  handed  copies  of  it  about, 
till  at  length  one  of  them  was  sent  to  a  Privy  Counsellor  of  France,  by  whose 
means  it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  French  King,  and  was  the  cause  of 
6is  displeasure  against  J)u  Mouliu." — Brandt  then  adds  the  reflection, 
quoted  page  255.  In  his  letter  he  informed  Kmg  James,  that  "  unless  he 
lent  his  powerful  aid  to  his  son- in- law,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  the  Calyiuists 
in  France  could  have  no  great  notion  of  his  affording  them  any  effectual 
assistance." 

The  following  account  of  this  transaction  is  given  in  Status  Ecclesi(B 
Gallicanes,  published  in  1676.  The  author  states  it  as  having  beeu  Du 
Mouliu's  intention,  on  his  returu  from  Alez,  "  to  go  out  of  the  way  to  see 
Rochelle.  A  little  before  he  took  that  journey,  the  Lord  Herbert  of  Cher- 
bury,  then  Ambassador  of  England  in  France,  urged  him  to  write  to  the 
King  his  master,  to  exhort  him  to  undertake  vigoroush'  the  defence  of  his 
son-in-law,  the  King  of  Bohemia.  So  the  Doctor  writ  to  the  King,  and  de- 
livered his  letters  to  the  Lord  Ambassador's  Secretary  :  Then  immediately 
he  went  to  Alez,  where  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Synod. — In  the  mean 
•while,  his  letters  to  King  James  were  delivered  to  the  Council  of  State  in 
France,  how  or  by  whom  the  Doctor  could  never  learn.  Scarce  was  he  in 
Lan^uedoc,  when  it  was  concluded  at  Paris  in  the  Council  of  State,  that  he 
should  be  apprehended  and  committed  prisoner,  for  exhorting  a  foreign 
King  to  take  arms  for  the  defence  of  the  Protestant  Churches.  And  because 
the  Council  was  informed,  that  the  Doctor  would  return  by  Rochelle,    (a 

Elace  which  then  gave  ereat  jealousies  to  the  Court,)  they  would  not  take 
im  before  he  had  been  there  ;  the  informers  against  him  intending  to  make 
his  going  to  Rochelle  an  article  of  his  indictment. — The  Synod  at  Alez  being 
ended.  Doctor  Du  Moulin  hearing  how  the  Protestants  would  keep  a  pohtic 
assembly  at  Rochelle  against  the  King's  will,  judged  chat  it  was  an  ill  con- 
juncture of  time  for  him  to  go  to  Rochelle,  and  took  the  way  of  Lyons.  In 
that  resolution  he  was  guided  by  a  good  Providence  ;  for  if  he  had  gone  to 
Rochelle,  he  should  have  been  apprehended  not  far  from  that  town  alter  his 
coming  out  of  it.  At  Lyons  he  received  a  letter  from  Monsieur  Drelincourt, 
Minister  of  Paris,  which  gave  him  notice  of  his  danger.  This  warning  made 
him  baulk  the  highway  ;  yet  he  went  to  Paris,  au'd  entering  the  city  in  the 
night,  went  directly  to'the  Lord  Herbert,  who  bade  him  to  fly  in  haste  for 
his  life,  which  was  in  danger  by  the  interception  of  his  letters  to  the  King 
bis  master ;  which  he  did,  and  the  next  night  travelled  toward  Sedan,  a 
place  then  acknowledging  the  old  Duke  of  Bouillon  (a  Protestant  Prince) 
for  Sovereign.  To  Sedan  he  came  safe  in  the  beginuiug  of  the  year  1621, 
and  was  kindly  received  by  the  Duke  to  his  house  and  table. — This  was  his 
parting  w  ith  the  Church  of  Paris,  where  he  had  lived  one  and  twenty  years. 
And  although  great  means  were  made  to  appease  the  Court,  and  albeit  many 
years  after  the  indictment  againt  him  was  taken  off,  and  leave  was  given 
him  to  live  in  France,  yet  was  it  with  that  exception,  that  he  should  not  live 
in  Paris.— About  the  year  1623,  the  famous  book  of  Cardinal  Du  Perron 
against  King  James  of  fausous  memory,  came  forth.  That  book  was  ex- 
tolled by  the  Romanists  with  great  brags  and  praises.  His  Majesty  being 
especially  interessed  and  provoked  by  that  book,  was  pleased  to  recommend 
the  confutation  of  it  to  his  old  champion.  Dr.  Du  Moulin,  who  undertook  it 
upon  his  Majesty's  command.  Ana  that  he  might  attend  that  work  with 
more  help  and  leisure,  his  Majesty  invited  hiui  to  come  into  England.    Aud 


292  ArpEXDix  D. 

formed  Pastors,  to  instruct  the  people  of  their  charge  thai  it  is 

u?datvfid  to  take  up  arms  against  kings, — to  shew  their  congrega- 
tions a  pattern  of  obedience  in  their  own  conduct, — to  pro- 
pound their  doctrines  with  modesty, — to  abstain  from  the  op- 
probrious epithets  of  Antichrist  and  Idolatry  which  they  had 
formerly  bestowed  on  their  adversaries, — to  allow  no  minister  to 
exercise  the  pastoral  functions  beyond  his  own  district, — to 
hold  no  assemblies  of  deputies  from  various  provinces,  and  to 
open  no  foreign  letters  addressed  to  them,  without  having  con- 
sulted the  magistrates,"  &c.  Now,  in  such  a  state  of  affairs, 
and  when  the  uriion  of  Protestants  and  Papists  was  a  favovirite 
measure  vvith  the  Prime  Minister  of  France,  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  Grotius  should  unite  his  efforts  with  those  of  the  noble 
band  of  Peace-makers  who  were  his  predecessors,  such  as  his 
countryman  Erasmus,  Melancthon,  Cassander,  Duraeus,  &c. 
But  there  were  other  weighty  reasons  why,  as  the  Ambassador 
of  a  Lutheran  nation  and  a  lover  of  good  men  among  all  reli- 
gious denominations,  Grotius  should  not  with-hold  his  influence 
from  this  godlike  undertaking.  Some  of  these  reasons  he  has 
clearly  stated  in  the  following  paragraph,  from  a  letter  to  his 
brother  in  1640;  in  which  Grotius,  it  will  be  seen  knew  how  to 
distinguish  between  many  of  the  exellences  and  deformities  of 
Popery :  "  Images  may  be  seen  among  the  Lutherans,  and  in 
many  parts  of  England.  Bishop  Mountagu  and  others  have 
declared,  that  a  wish  to  be  assisted  by  the  prayers  of  Apostles 
and  Martyrs  is  not  an  act  of  idolatry. —  Every  preparation  is 
made  for  a  placid  conference,  which  will  be  holden  as  soon  as 
these  wars  have  abated,  and  which  will,  I  hope,  be  pi'oductive 
of  beneficial  results:  For,  both  the  Spaniards  and  the  French 
have  consented  to  have  the  power  of  the  Pontiff  confined  within 
prescribed  limits.  It  is  our  duty  to  beware,  that  we  do  not 
give  the  Pope  more  followers  than  necessary.  Peruse  at  your 
leisure  what  Mark  Antony  De  Dominis  [|the  Archbishop  of 
Spalatro^  wrote  while  in  England,  respecting  the  agreement  of 
different  ages  and  nations  in  the  moderate  honouring  of  saints, 
and  concerning  the  use  of  images.     My  own  opinion  indeed  is, 

together  being  moved  with  compassion  by  the  adversities  the  Doctor  had 
suffered  for  his  sake,  he  offered  him  a  refuge  in  England,  promising  to  take 
care  of  him,  and  to  employ  him  in  one  of  his  Universities.  He  accepted  that 
Royal  favour. — Soon  after  King  James  fell  sick  of  the  sickness  whereof  he 
died.  The  death  of  his  Royal  Patron,  and  the  plague  raging  in  London, 
soon  persuaded  the  Doctor  to  return  to  Sedan.  So  he  returned  to  his  former 
function  in  the  Church  and  University,  serving  God  with  cheerfulness  and 
assiduity,  and  blessed  with  great  success.  He  lived  at  Sedan  thirty  and 
three  years  from  his  return  into  England  unto  his  death,  without  any  notable 
change  in  his  condition." 

The  same  book  contains  his  letter  to  the  Assembly  at  Rochelle.  Dr. 
Bates,  in  his  f'ita  Selects,  furnishes  us  with  nearly  the  same  relation  ;  but 
the  attempts  to  make  Du  Moulin  appear  a  loyal  subject,  are  nullified  by  the 
very  documents  adduced  for  that  purpose  and  by  others  of  the  man's  own 
publications.  But  it  was  then  the  fashion  of  the  I'arty,  to  blancli  the  reputa- 
tion of  every  one  that  was  a  zealous  Calvinist. 


APPENDIX    D.  293 

that  those  churches  which  discard  images,  pursue  a  safer  course; 
and  I  admire  and  applaud  the  spirit  of  the  men,  who,  ivhile 
they  themselves  address  holy  prayers  immediately  to  God  or  to 
Christ  without  employing  any  circuitous  mediation,  do  not  at 
the  same  time  condemn  or  deride  those  persons  who  flatter 
themselves  with  hopes  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  receive 
assistance  from  the  exertions  of  Angels  or  Saints  in  their  behalf. 
Reflect  also,  whether  I  ought  to  accuse  the  Greek  Church  of  a 
dreadful  crime,  when  both  the  Lutherans  and  the  Calvinists 
have  on  more  than  one  occasion  wished  to  hold  communion 
with  her.  The  Genevan  divines  say,  that  death  must  be  in- 
flicted, for  all  those  offences  to  which  the  law  of  Moses  ad- 
judges that  punishment.  But  the  Mosaic  law  punishes  all  ido- 
laters with  death ;  and  the  Genevan  teachers  account  all  Papists 
idolaters.  You  perceive,  therefore,  the  consequences  that  would 
follow,  if  they  [the  Calvinists]]  were  possessed  of  power." 

Having  seen  the  base  purpose  to  which  all  these  prophetic 
vagaries  were  directed,  let  the  reader  connect  with  the  ravings 
of  the  foreign  Calvinistic  prophets,  who  foretold  glorious  things 
to  Cromwell  and  his  commonwealth — those  of  Lilly,  Booker,* 
and  others  hired  astrologers  in  this  country, — those  of  the  en- 
raptured ministers  or  elders  whose  wishes  were  swelled  into  cer- 
tainties, when  they  spoke,  at  the  commencement  and  during  the 
progress  of  these  troubles,  about  the  future  glory  of  their  civil 
and  religious  republic,— and  those  of  the  second-sighted  Calvinists 
from  beyond  the  Tweed,  who  were  in  that  age  deeply  tinctured 
withthespiritofdivinationintothemysteriesof  futurity, and  prov- 
ed themselves  apt  disciples  oftheprophetst  Knox  and  Walsh,— let 

*  See,  in  Mr.  William  Lilly's  History  of  his  Life,  what  he  said,  as  Astro- 
lofjer-Generai  to  Lord  Fairfax,  at  Windsor,  when  some  difference  existed 
between  the  Parliament  and  the  Army  :  "  VVe  are  confident  of  God's  goin"- 

."  along  with  you  and  your  army,  until  the  great  work,  for  w/iich  he  or- 
"  datnedyou  both,  is  fully  perfected,  which  we  hope  will  be  tlie  conquering 
"  and  subversion  of  your' s  and  tire  Parliament's  enemies." 

*  In  Blondel's  Modest  Declaration  of  the  Sincerity  and  Trutli  of  the 
Reformed  Oiurclies  of  France,  it  is  said,  "  Knox  was  endued  with  a  spirit 
"  of  prophecy,  by  which,  accordinjj  to  the  testimony  of  his  own  country- 
"  men,  he  foretold  several  things  which  have  since  happened,  as  Whitaker 
"  observes  in  his  works,  De  Eccl.  q.  5,  cap.  13." — This  is  matter  of  authentic 
church-history  among  all  the  Scotch  writers  of  that  era. 

In  no  single  ecclesiastical  history  are  these  prophesying  propensities  of  the 
Scotch  Covenanters  and  the  English  Puritans  depicted  with  such  truth  of 
colouring  as  in  several  of  those  recent  magic  productions  which  are  generally 
attributed  to  the  prolitic  genius  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Bart.  The  man  whose 
mind  is  well  stored  with  the  historical  details  of  the  various  epochs  in  our 
national  alfairs,  which  are  there  delineated,  will  obtain  from  the  perusal 
not  only  entertainment,  but  important  instruction.  Those  scenes  of  past 
ages  with  which  he  has  contracted  a  familiarity,  will  live  again  in  his  recol- 
lection, and  be  impressed  with  greater  force'on  his  mind  by  the  brilliant 
images  with  which  they  are  associated,  and  by  the  domestic  scenery  with 
which  they  are  surrouuded.  I  am  glad  to  iind,  in  his  last  production 
(January,  1823,)  few  traces  of  those  irreverent  appeals  to  Scripture  autho- 
rity, which  were,  perhaps,  too  commonly  in  the  lips  of  his  early  heroes,  and 
which  operated  as  a  shock  on  the  minds  of  several  modern  readers,  who 


204  Al'PEXDlX    D. 

all  these  engines  of  fanaticism  be  connected  together,  as  they 
are  related  -with  marvellous  simplicity  by  the  different  historians 
of  the  Puritan  party,  and  the  reader  will  then  be  qualified  to 
form  some  adequate  notion  of  tlie  extraordinary  spirit  which 
actuated  those  intolerant  and  infatuated  zealots.*     He  will  then 

considered  such  expressions  to  be  ffreatly  overcharged.  But  to  those  who 
are  conversant  with  that  eventful  pag:e  iu  our  history,  his  specimens  will  not 
appear  to  be  too  hifjlily  coloured  ;  and  it  would  not  be  a  work  of  difficulty 
to  verify  many  of  them  by  apt  quotations  from  various  writers  of  that  period. 
It  is  pleasing,  however,  to  hear  the  following  confession,  in  answer  to  the 
objection,  that  the  mannei'S  depicted  in  his  last  work  are  even  more  incorrect 
than  usual;  and  that  his  Puritan  is  faintly  traced  in  comparison  to  his 
Camero7iian:  "  I  agree  to  the  charge  ;  but  although  I  still  consider  hypo- 
crisy and  enthusiasm  as  fit  food  for  ridicule  and  satire,  yet  I  am  sensible 
of  the  difficulty  of  holding  fanaticism  up  to  laughter  or  abhorrence,  without 
using  colouring  which  may  give  offence  to  the  sincerely  worthy  and  religious. 
Many  things  are  lawful  which  we  are  taught  are  not  convenient ;  and  there 
are  many  tones  of  feeling  which  are  too  respectable  to  be  insulted,  though 
we  do  not  altogether  sympathise  with  them."  , 

*  When  Richard  Baxter  wrote  his  pamphlet  entitled,  The  Grotian  Religion 
Discovered,  in  1658,  he  was  a  bolder  champion  in  defence  of  Calvinism,  than 
he  shewed  himself  to  be  after  the  Restoration.  At  the  former  period  he  could 
return  the  following  answer  to  an  adversary  that  reproached  him  with 
"  growing  fat  or  lusty  upon  sequestrations," — "  1  must  confess  to  you,  that 
it  is  not  only  my  opinion  that  the  thing  is  lawful,  but  that  I  take  it  for  one 
of  the  besttvorks  lean  do,  to  help  to  cast  out  a  bad  minister,  and  to  get  a  bet- 
ter in  the  place  :  So  that  I  prefer  it  as  a  work  of  mercy,  before  much  sacri- 
fice. Now  if  I  be  mistaken  in  this,  I  should  l)e  glad  of  your  help  for  my 
conviction:  For  1  am  still  going  on  in  the  guilt." — This  is  a  very  curious 
excuse  for  usurping  another  man's  living,  especially  when  the  usurper  is 
himself  constituted  one  of  the  judges  for  determining  the  sufficiency  and  abi- 
lity of  those  who  were  not  Calvinists,  and  who  were  consequently  ejected. 

While  Richard  was  in  possession  of  his  good  living,  the  actual  proceeds  of 
which,  he  afterwards  pretended,  were  scarcely  worth  any  godly  man's  atten- 
tion, he  employed  ranch  of  that  sleight  which  has  already  been  a  subject  of 
reprehension':  (See  Note,  page  251 :}  He  endeavoured  to  clear  the  grand 
body  of  the  Calvinists,  who  were  then  in  power,  from  being  the  promoters  of 
the  preceding  civil  troubles  ;  and  singled  out,  as  usual,  the  Quakers,  Ana- 
baptists, &c.  as  the  real  culprits^  in  his  Grotian  Religion,  (sect.  Ixvi,)  he 
says:  "Yet  this  1  will  say  now,  to  satisfy  Doctor  Sanderson  and  niy  own 
conscience,  that  of  late  1  begin  to  have  a  strong  suspicion  that  the  Papists 
had  ti.  finger  in  the  pie  on  both  sides,  and  that  they  had  indeed  a  hand  in  the 
extirpation  of  Episcopacy.  But  my  jealousies  will  not  warrant  me  to  affirm 
it,  or  to  be  confident  of  it,  or  to  accuse  any."  Here  then  is  Baxter's  own 
admission,  that  the  Calvinists  had  been  connected  with  Papists, — a  crime 
which  they  had  formerly  imputed  solely  to  the  Armiiiians.  But  when  Arnii- 
nianism  and  Episcopacy  were  both  destroyed,  no  farther  necessity  for  con- 
cealment existed  ;  and  the  intimacy  of  Calvinists  and  Papists  is  openly  avow- 
ed. When  Dr.  Thomas  Pierce  suggested,  that  in  charging  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  England  with  Popery,  "  it  had  been  well  if  he 
had  named  those  Papists  and  then  have  publicly  declared  that  he  meant  no 
more;"  Baxter  replies  (sect.  Ixix)  :  "  By  this  time  I  suppose  both  you  and 
all  men  see  that  the  Papists  are  crept  in  among  all  sects,  especially  the 
Quakers  and  Seekers,  whom  they  animate,  and  also  among  the  Anabaptists, 
Millenaries,  Levellers,  yea  and  the  Independents,  and  if  this  week's  Diurnal 
say  true,  one  was  taken  that  was  a  pretended  friend  to  the  Presbyterians. 
Must  I  needs  name  all  these,  or  else  say  nothing  of  them  }  Or  are  you  able 
yourselves  to  name  all  the  Papists,  the  Friars  and  Jesuits,  that  are  now  under 
the  Vizor  of  any  of  these  sects,  playing  their  parts  in  England  .'  You  would 
take  it  to  he  an  unreasonable  motion  :  when  yet  you  know,  or  have  reason  to 
believe,  th.at  at  this  day  there  arc  hundreds  of  them  here  at  work." 


APIF.XDIX    D.  295 

no  longer  wonder  at  the  prophecies  uttered  by  the  Quakers,  the 
Anabaptists,  the  Fifth-Monarchy  men,  and  various  minor  sects, 
that  had  other  objects  in  view  than  those  of  the  grand  Calvinian 
phalanx,  who  had  collected  their  forces,  corporal  and  spiritual, 
from  every  part  of  Europe  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord,  as  they 
termed  their  attempts  to  accomplish  their  own  sinister  designs 
against  the  regimen  established  both  in  Church  and  State,  and 
particularly  against  what  they  were  pleased  to  call  "  Armini- 
anisra."* 

The  fact  announced  in  tbe  last  clause  is  very  remarkable ;  and  though 
the  shifty  purpose  for  which  it  is  introduced  will  be  very  apparent,  ;yet  there 
are  multitudes  of  other  corroborative  testimonies  of  the  same  fact.  The  fol- 
lowing from  Foxes  and  Firebrands,  or  a  S//ecime7i  of  the  Dcmger  and  Har- 
mony of  Popery  and  Separation,  1682,  is  one  of  the  most  curious  : — 

•'"Mr.  John  Crooke,  sometime  bookseller  at  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  at 
the  Sltip,  in  London,  and  since  stationer  and  printer  to  his  most  serene 
Majesty  in  Dublin,  fold  this  story  following  unto  Sir  James  Ware,  Knight, 
now  deceasi-d  :  Jnno  1656,  the  reverend  divine  Dr.  Henry  Hammond  being 
one  day  in  the  next  shop  to  this  said  John  Crooke's,  and  there  reading  the 
works  of  St.  Ambrose,  a  red-coat  casually  came  in,  and  looked  over  this 
divine's  shoulder,  and  there  read  the  Latin  as  perfect  as  himself,  which 
caused  the  Doctor  to  admire  that  a  red-coat  should  attain  to  that  learning. 
Then  speaking  unto  him,  he  demanded  hqw  he  came  to  that  science.  The 
red-coat  replied,  '  By  the  Holy  Spirit.'  The  Doctor  hereupon  replied, 
'  I  will  try  thee  further  :'  and  so  called  for  a  Greek  author,  which  the  red- 
coat not  only  read,  but  construed.  The  Doctor,  to  try  him  further,  called 
for  the  Hebrew  Bible  :  and  so  for  several  other  books,  in  which  this  red-coat 
w  as  very  expert.  At  last  the  Doctor  recollecting  with  himself,  called  for  a 
Welch  "Bible,  and  said,  'If  thou  bcest  inspired,  read  me  this  book,  and 
construe  it.'  But  the  red-coat  being  at  last  catched,  replied,  '  I  have  given 
thee  satisfaction  enough  :  I  will  not  satisfy  thee  further;  for  thou  wilt  not 
believe,  though  an  angel  came  from  heaven.'  The  Doctor  smelling  out  the 
deceit,  caused  the  apprentice  to  go  for  a  constable  ;  who  being  brought  to 
the  shop,  the  Doctor  told  the  constable,  he  had  something  to  say  against 
this  red- coat ;  and  bade  him  bring  him  before  Oliver  Cromwell,  then  called 
the  Lord  Protector.  Tbe  red-coat  being  brougljt  to  White  Hall  and  exa- 
mined, he,  after  a  rustic  manner,  thoued  and  tlieed  Oliver  :  but  being  sus- 
pected, it  was  demanded  where  he  quartered.  It  being  found  out  at  the 
Devil  Tavern,  the  Doctor  intreated  his  chamber  might  be  searched  ;  where 
they  found  an  old  chest  filled  partly  with  his  wearing  apparel,  as  also  with 
several  papers  and  seditious  popish  books  ;  amongst  which  there  being  a 
pair  of  boots,  and  papers  stuck  in  one  of  them,  they  found  a  parchment  tmll 
of  licence  to  this  impostor,  granted  under  several  names,  to  assume  what 
function  or  calling-  he  pleased.  These  being  brought  before  Oliver,  for  what 
reasons  it  is  unknown,  vet' the  red-coat  escaped;  bringing  several  proofs 
of  what  great  service  he  "had  done  :  and  the  greatest  affliction  which  was 
laid  on  him  was  banishment ;  and  what  proceeded  further,  we  know  not." 

t  "  After  the  subversion  of  the  hierarchy,  there  were  also  several  divines 
of  great  learning  and  talents,  who  held  most  of  tbe  distinguishing  tenets  of 
Arminianism  ;  but  as  thev  were  inflexible  loyalists,  they  were  stigmatized  as 
*  malignants,'  and  driven'into  obscurity  by  the  scourge  of  persecution.  The 
great"  body  of  Mr.  Goodwin's  Puritanical  friends  and  connections  viewed 
Arminianism,  at  the  period  when  he  adopted  that  system,  as  a  deadly  east 
wFy'd,  which,  when  permitted  by  angry  heaven  to  blow  upon  the  garden  of 
the  church,  withers  every  flower,  and  produces  a  general  blight.  Or  rather 
they  regarded  it  as  a  region, 

■Where  all  lifc  dies,  death  lives,  and  nature  breeds, 
Perverse,  all  monstrous,  all  prodigious  things. 
Abominable,  unutterable,  and  worse 
Tlian  fables  yet  have  feign'd  or  lear  conceiv'd, 
GorgoriS,  and  Hydras,  and  Cliimaras  dire. 


290  APPEXDIX    D. 

The  system  of  Arminius  being  confessedly  one  that  is  conso- 
nant as  well  to  Scripture  as  to  Common  Sense,  those  who  espoused 
it  smiled  at  these  prophetic  rhapsodies  and  puerile  effusions  of 
fanaticism  ;  and,  it  is  to  be  lamented,  that  bome  of  them,  by  a 
feeling  of  natural  revulsion,  proceeded  much  beyond  this,  ,and 
ran  into  a  contrary  extreme,  by  denying  the  very  important 
doctrine  of  Divine  Influence  which  is  the  glory  of  Christianity, 
or  restricted  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  narrow 
and  inefficient  limits.*  But  this  feeling,  the  origin  of  which 
is  easily  traced,  was  still  more  apparent  at  the  Restoration,  when 
the  re-action  of  hypocrisy  and  enthusiasm,  which  had  com- 
menced under  Cromwell,  continued  its  devastations,  and  threat- 
ened at  first  the  complete  overthrow  of  all  the  vital  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  which  were  common  both  to  the  system  of  Armi- 
nius and  of  Calvin.  Yet  even  at  that  period,  when  Religion 
was  weak  and  drooping  from  the  wounds  which  she  had  receiv- 
ed in  the  house  of  her  professed  friends,  many  Arminians 
appeared  as  champions  in  the  defence  of  gospel  truth,  practical 
godliness,  and  experimental  religion  ;t  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
many  Calvinists,  ashamed  of  the  sinister  and  low  purposes  to 
which  their  predecessors  had  applied   certain   evangelical   doc- 

Hence  in  the  cant  of  several  cf  the  old  Puritans,  Prelacy  and  Arminianism 
are  not  unusually  associated  with  blasphemy,  profaneness,  and  Atheism  ! 
Such,  however,  was  the  power  of  conviction  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Goodwin, 
that,  with  all  these  difficulties  and  discouragements  before  him,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  -fifty  years,  he  abandoned  the  school  of  Calvinian  theology, 
and  boldly  preached  Christ  as  the  infinitely  gracious  Redeemer  of  All 
Mankind."  Jackson's  Life  of  Goodwin. 

*  The  injurious  effects  which  the  general  fanaticism  of  the  Calvinists  of 
that  age  produced  for  a  season  on  the  mind  of  Richard  Baxter,  are  thus 
described  in  the  Narrative  of  the  most  memorable  Passag-es  of  his  Ufe  and 
Times,  which,  like  the  Retractations  oi  St.  Auga^Wwe,  are  exceedingly  curious 
and  edifying  : — 

"  1  am  now  therefore  much  more  apprehensive  than  heretofore,  of  the 
necessity  of  well-grounding^  men  in  their  religion,  and  especially  of  tlie 
tvittiess  of  the  indwelling  Spirit :  for  I  more  sensibly  perceive  that  the 
Spirit  is  the  great  ivitness  of  Christ  and  Christianity  to  the  world.  And 
though  the  folly  of  fanatics  tempted  me  long  to  overlook  the  strength  of  this 
testimony  of  the  Spirit,  while  they  placed  it  in  a  cet\s.\i\  infernal  affection, - 
or  enthusiastic  iiispiration  ;  yet  now  I  see  that  the  Holy  Ghost  in  another 
manner  is  the  witness  of  Christ,  and  his  agent  in  the  world.  The  Spirit  in 
the  prophets  was  his  first  witness  ;  and  the  Spirit  by  miracles  was  the 
second ;  and  the  Spirit  by  reiiovation,  sanctifi cation,  illuminatiuti,  and 
consolation,  assimilating  the  soul  to  Christ  and  heaven,  is  the  continued 
witness  to  all  true  believers  :  and  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
the  same  is  none  of  his.  (Rom.  viii.  9.)  Even  as  the  rational  soul  in  the  child  is 
the  inherent  witness  or  evidence,  that  he  is  the  child  of  rational  parents. 
And  therefore  ungodly  persons  have  a  great  disadvantage  in  their  resisting 
temptations  to  unbelief  and  it  is  no  wonder  if  Christ  be  a  stumbling-block 
to  the  Jews,  and  to  the  Gentiles  foolishness." 

t  "  1  also  remember,"  says  Whiston,  "  what  my  father  told  me,  that, 
after  the  Restoration,  almost  all  profession  of  seriousness  in  religion  would 
have  been  laughed  out  of  countenance,  under  pretence  of  the  hypocrisy  of 
former  times,  had  not  two  very  excellent  and  serious  books,  written  by 
eminent  royalists,  put  some  stop  to  it :  1  mean  The  Whole  Duty  of  Man, 
and  Dr.  Hammond's  Practical  Catechism."     {Memoirs,  \o\.  i.  p.  lO.J 


AITKNOIX    D. 


297 


trines,  either  entirely  abandoned  them,  or  modified  them  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  deprive  them  of  all  their  scriptural  effici^ 
ency.* 

A  fine  passage  from  the  judicious  Hooker,  on  the  abuse  of 
the  doctrine  of  Divine  Aulhorily,  has  been  quoted,  (page  207,) 
and  an  equally  pertinent  and  nervous  passage  on  the  abuse  of 
Spirilual  Infliieficc  occurs  in  the  HuniJde  Address  to  the  Lord 
Fairfax  and  the  Council  of  War,  in  l6'18,  by  Dr.  Henry  Ham- 
mond, one  of  the  mildest  and  most  loyal  of  Divines,  vt'hen  those 
self-constituted  arbiters  of  fallen  Majesty  had  made  the  death  of 
his  RovAL  Master  the  subject  of  their  deliberations.  This 
pathetic  appeal,  after  the  manner  of  Luther  and  Melancthon 
w^hen  contending  against  the  principles  of  the  German  Anabap- 
tists, grounds  its  strong  arguments  on  that  doctrine  of  Divine 
Influence  v,-h.\ch.  connects  itself  with  God's  written  word,  and 
refuses  to  acknowledge  any  o£  those  pretended  inspirations  which 
could  not  produce  such  a  scriptural  voucher.  In  one  part  the 
Doctor  says  :  "  My  Lord,  and  Gentlemen,  having  among  you 
some  of  the  nearest  of  my  blood,  whose  eternal  weal  must 
needs  be  very  dear  and  precious  to  me,  I  am,  in  the  fear  of  God, 
and  in  the  prosecution  and  discharge  of  my  duty  and  conscience, 
desirous  to  make  this  short  address  to  you,  to  desire  j'ou,  in  the 
name  and  in  the  bowels  of  Jesus  Christ  and  by  all  the  obliga- 
tions of  christian  duty  and  charity,  to  review  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples by  which  you  seem  to  be  acted,  and  whereon  to  ground 
the  high  enterprises  which  you  have  now  in  hand. 

"  And  1,  Wiiercas  you  seem  to  believe,  that  God  by  his  Spirit 
hath  put  it  into  your  hearts  to  do  what  hitherto  you  have  done,  and 
what  now  you  profess  to  deliberate  to  do  further  against  his  Majesty, 
and  all  others,  who  are  now  fallen  into  your  hands  ;  I  beseech  you 
to  consider,  in  the  presence  of  that  God  to  whose  directions  and 
Spirit  you  pretend,  what  safe  ground  you  have  for  so  doing.  For, 
I  shall  suppose  that  the  plain  words  of  scripture  are  not  that 
voice  of  THE  Spirit  which  is  your  only  guide  in  this  matter  ;  or 
if  it  be,  I  desire  that  charity  from  you,  for  myself  and  others, 
that  you  will  point  us  out  those  scriptures.  And  I  must  profess 
to  believe  you  bound  in  duty  to  God  and  man,  and  to  your- 
selves, to  satisfy  this  desire,  to  produce  that  voice  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  received  scriptures  of  God,  Avhich  may  say  that  to  other 
christians  also  which  it  appears  to  do  to  you.  But  if  God's  Spirit 
be  by  you  conceived  to  have  spoken  to  you  any  other  way  than 
in  or  by  some  part  of  the  written  word,  then  my  second  request 
is,  that  you  will  declare  to  others  the  ground  of  this  your  per- 
suasion, that  you  have  received  any  such  revelation  from  God  ; 
that  so  that  pretended  Spirit  may,  according  to  the  rules  pre- 
scribed by  God  in   his   acknowledged   word,  be  tried  and  ex- 

*  See  a  preceding  note  o!i  tlieir  abandoumcnt  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Assu- 
rance of  Salvation,  janie  141. 

u 


208  Arri:xn;x  d. 

amined  regularly,  whether  it  he  of  God  or  no,  before  the  subject-  , 
matter  of  such  revelation  be  believed  infallible,  or  accordingly 
built  upon  by  you  as  your  warrant  or  principle  of  acting  any 
thing.  For,  there  are  evil  spirits  that  come  into  the  world,  and 
which  many  times  are  by  God  permitted  to  seduce  men,  and,  that 
they  may  do  so  the  better,  they  consta.ni\y  pretend  to  come  from  ^ 
God,  and  assume  Divine  authority  to  recommend  and  authorize 
their  delusions :  a  thing  so  ordinary  in  all  ages,  that  the  poet 
that  would  express  the  embroiling  of  a  kingdom,  thinks  he  can- 
not do  it  better  than  by  bringing  in  Alecto,  a  Fury,  with  a  mes- 
sage from  heaven,  to  avenge  such  or  such  an  injury.  And  of  these 
our  Saviour  forewarns  us,  and  tells  us,  that  we  shall  know  them  by 
their  fruits  ;  and  so  directs  us  to  judge  of  the  truth  of  their  pre- 
tensions by  the  goodness  SiViA  commendableness,  aX  least,  jnsti/iable'- 
ness  of  their  actions,  and  not  to  judge  of  their  actions  by  their 
pretences.^  And  beside  these  evil  spirits  from  without,  there  is 
also  an  evil  spirit  within,  a  great  deal  of  disguised  wickedness 
in  the  heart  of  man,  which,  when  it  remains  unmortified  in 
those  who  believe  themselves  to  be  God's  chosen  saints  and  taught 
by  him,  is  very  apt  to  be  mistaken  for  an  inclination  of  God's 
Spirit,  and  a  flame  of  zeal,  when  it  is  really  the  most  contrary  to 
it.  And  because  there  is  so  much  danger,  that  what  is  not 
fetched  from  the  acknowledged  word  of  God  may  thus  flow 
from  one  of  these  contrary  principles,  my  next  request  is,  that 
it  be  considered,  whether  when  an  angel  from  heaven,  in  case 
he  should  teach  any  other  doctrine  than  what  had  been  by  Saint 
Pa  u  l  preached  to  his  Galatians,  were  to  be  anathematized,  and  when 
the  judgments  are  so  fearful,  which  are  pronounced  against  them 
which  shall  add  to  the  words  of  that  Prophecy  which  we  now  re- 
tain under  the  title  of  the  Apocalypse  or  Revelation, — which  being 
the  last  writing  which  is  known  to  be  dictated  by  the  Spirit, 
may  veiy  probably  contain  a  severe  denunciation  against  all  those 
who  pretend  to  any  revelation  or  prophecy  after  that  concern- 
ing the  christian  church, — whether   I  say,  it  be  not  a  matter  of 

f  In  that  fine  sermon.  The  Christian's  Obligations  to  Peace  and  Charity, 
which  was  preached  in  1647  by  Dr.  Hammond,  before  his  Majesty,  then  a 
prisoner  in  Carisbrooke  Castle,  this  subject  is  treated  with  great  ability. 
Take  this  extract  as  a  specimen:  "  The  Gospel  spirit  is  that  which,  after  the 
out-dating  of  prophecies,  pretends  to  no  other  direction  or  incitation  or  im- 
pulsion of  the  Spirit,  than  that  which  lies  visible  in  the  New  Testament, — 
the  Spirit  that  incites  us  to  perform  those  duties  that  the  Word  hath  prescrib- 
ed us, — the  Spirit  which,  when  it  comes  to  be  tried  whether  it  be  of  God  or 
no,  pretends  not,  like  Mahomet,  to  be  a-talking  with  God  whilst  he  lies 
foaming  in  an  epileptic  fit;  but  is  content  to  be  judged  and  discerned  by  the  old 
plain  doctrines  of  the  gospel, — a  regulated,  authorized,  ordinary,  sober  spirit. 

"  Our  Saviour  hath  contributed  toward  this  great  work  by  the  exemplari- 
ness  of  his  own  practice  in  this  kind  : — not  only  in  refusing  to  have  the  fire 
from  heaven,  that  the  Boanerges  would  have  helped  him  to,  against  the  Sa- 
maritans,— in  reprehending  of  St.  Peter's  zeal,  when  it  drew  the  sword  in 
his  Master's  defence  against  the  high  priest's  servants, — in  refusing  the  aid 
of  angels  from  heaven  against  the  heathens  that  attacked  him  ; — but,  above 
all,  by  that  answer  of  his  to  Pilate,  '  If  my  kingdom  wereof  this  vmrld,  tht  n 
shoxild  my  servants  figJit,'  8(c.  (John  xviii,  36.)  ;  which  was  certainly  part 
of  thdXgood  confession  before  fite^c  mentioned  with  such  honour,  1  Tim.vi,13." 


APPENDIX   n.  299 

fear  and  just  apprehension,  to  all  those  who  shall  affix  or  impose 
upon  THE  Spirit  of  God  (or  pretend  to  be  revealed  to  them  from 
that,)  any  matter  of  doctrine  or  pi-actice  which  acknowledges 
not  the  Spirit  of  God  speaking  in  the  scripture  for  its  only  war- 
rant or  foundation?  Or  lastly,  if  from  the  scriptures  you  con- 
ceive it  may  be  proved,  that  any  part  of  the  unction  mentioned 
tiiere  so  far  belongs  to  you  that  it  shall  surely  lead  you  into  all 
truth  ;  then,  first,  I  beseech  you  to  consider,  whether  you  do  not 
oblige  yourselves,  by  the  same  or  some  other  scripture,  to  prove 
to  others,  (and  not  only  yourselves  to  be  persuaded,)  that  you  arc 
those  special  saints  of  God  to  whom  that  privilege  peculiarly  belongs, 
and  as  clearly  to  demonstrate  that  all  others,  who  conceive  that 
that  unction  teaches  them  directly  the  contrary  to  that  which  you 
profess  to  be  taught  by  it,  are  impious  persons  possest  with  that 
deluding  spirit  of  which  I  now  desire  you  to  beware.  And  se- 
condly, to  examine  whether  this  differencing  of  yourselves  from 
others,  this  bearing  ivitness  to  yourselves,  and  judging  others,* — 
beside  that  it  will  look  like  an  act  of  most  pharisaical  pre- 
sumption, and  the  very  thing  which,  from  Simon  Magus  down- 
ward, hath  been  observed  in  all   hereticks,   calling   themselves 

*  The  follovvinjj  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  way  in  which  the  Calvinists  were 
accustomed  to  esteem  themselves  the  most  orthodox  and  godly  of  professing 
christians,  while  others  were  regarded  as  lieatJteu  men  and  publicaris  '  It  is 
ill  reference  to  Mr.  Barlee  that  Dr.  Pierce  thus  writes  :  "  I  said,  It  is  not 
so  good  a  task  to  make  men  Orthodox  Christians,  as  to  mnJie  them  honest 
AND  SINCERE  ONES.  Upou  which  Mv.  R.  is  very  angry.  If  he  thinks  zY  i* 
better  to  know  much,  than  to  do  well,  and  prefers  a  clear  head  before  a 
sound  and  upright  heart,  what  a  case  is  he  in  !  and  how  ill  hath  he  done 
to  commend  his  preaching  !  He  adds  a  little  after,  ♦  that  I  and  the  pious 
men  of  my  way,  are  great  admirers  and  followers  of  a  practical 
catechism  [Dr.  Hammond's]  the  sixth  time  published.'  What  greater  com- 
mendation could  he  have  given  us,  than  that  we  follow  the  good  which 
we  admire .'  Would  he  have  us  know  our  lesson,  but  not  observe  and 
keep  it  ?  orthodox  christians,  but  not  practically  honest  and  sincere 
ones  too?  If  he,  and  the  godly  wew  of  his  way,  (as  he  and  they  are 
wont  to  word  it,)  do  neither  «rf«u>e  aor  follow  that  practical  catechism,  I 
wish  they  did,  and  beseech  God  they  may.  If  they  neither  do  nor  will,  I 
will  rather  he  a. pious  \hau  godly  man.  that  is,  (as  he  hath  distinguished,)  I  will 
rather  be  of  thern  whom  he  calls  the  pious,  than  of  them  whom  he  calls  the 
godly. 

*' He  calls  his  opinions  in  these  matters,  ''the  very  fundamentals  of  the 
covenant  of  grace  ;'  but  in  which  of  the  three  Creeds  shall  we  find  either  of 
them.'  What  Popery  is  this,  to  obtrude  upon  us  new  articles  of  faith?  I  see 
King  James  was  a  wise,  as  well  as  a  learned  and  orthodox  man  :  And  so 
was  he  of  the  lower  House,  who  told  Mr.  Speaker  in  his  speech,  (An.  Dom. 
1640.)  '  That  if  they  were  listened  to  who  would  extirpate  episcopacy,  (speak- 
'  ing  of  the  Presbyterians,)  they  would,  instead  of  every  Bishop  put  down  in 

*  a  diocess,  set  up  a   Pope  in    every  Parish:     And    if   the  Presbyterian  as- 
'  semblies  should  succeed,  they  would   assume  a   power  to  excommunicate 

*  Kings,  as  well  as  other  men  :  And  if  Kings  were  once  excommunicated 
'  men  would  not  care  what  became  of  them.'  And  Mr.  Hooker  (as  I  take  it) 
doth  say  of  such  men,  '  that  they  might  do  well  enough  to  live  in  a  Tf^ilder- 
'  ness,  but  not  in  «  Kingdom,  or  CommGU-weulth.'  For  all  who  differ  from 
their  opinions  (that  is,  their  mistakes,)  shall  be  said  to  err  in  '  the  very  fuu- 
'  damentals  of  the  covenant  of  grace,*  and  so  be  looked  upon  as  Healheiis, 
and  so  be  used  as  vessels  of  wrath." 


300  APPENDIX    D. 

the  spiritual,  and  all  others  animal  carnal  men, — whether  it  will 
not  be  also  a  great  injustice  at  this  time  toward  them  who  pre- 
tend not  to  learn  any  thing  from  this  unction  but  what  they  re- 
ceive from  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  in  those  books,  which  have,  in 
effect  and  in  the  last  result,  the  testimony  of  God  from  heaven  that 
they  are  Jus  true  infallible  word  and  dictate  of  his  Spirit,  and  who 
desire  to  make  no  other  use  of  this  to  their  own  advantage,  but 
only  to  preserve  them  in  a.  quiet  possession  of  what  by  law  belongs 
to  them,  and  a  capacity  of  making  good  their  allegiance  to  him 
to  whom  they  have  often  by  law  been  required  to  swear  it.* 

*This  clause  contains  a  brief  but  noble  plea  for  the  maintenauceof  thejust 
rijjhts  and  the  loyal  principles  of  the  Arminian  clergy.  Instead  of  being 
vexed  with  sequestrations,  they  wished  only  for  protection  in  the  "quiet  pos- 
session of  wliat  hy  Icnv  belonged  to  litem,'  and  for  "  a  capacity  of  making 
good  their  allegiance  to  him,"  their  king,  "  to  whom  they  had  often  by  law 
been  required  to  swear  it :"  And,  for  both  these  lawful  requests,  they  could 
plead  express  scriptural  authority,  in  opposition  to  the  unchristian  purposes 
to  which  the  Calvuiists  applied  that  Divine  sanction. 

Dr.  Thomas  Pierce,  in  1657,  adopted  the  following  method  of  shewing, 
that  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Euglaud,  though  then  in  a  state  of  captivity, 
was  established  by  the  common  law  of  the  laud.  His  litigious  opponent  had 
expressed  his  delight  "that  the  British  divines  at  the  S\nod  of  Dortwere  the 
visibie^«M;/!f/  representers  of  our  mother,  the  Church  of  England  there." 
This  circumstance,  though  false  in  fact,  was  one  on  which  the  Calvinistic 
Dissenters  from  our  church  delighted  to  expatiate.  Dr.  Pierce  thus  turns 
the  inference  which  the  author  intended  to  deduce  :  "  Besides,  if  those 
very  few  of  our  men  at  the  Synod  of  Dort  were  '  the  visible  lawful  representers 
of  our  mother  the  Church  of  England,'  how  much  more  were  all  those  who 
composed  theCatechisra,theComniunion Book,  the  thirty-nine  Articles  of  our 
;  English  Church,  to  some  of  which  some  Articles  of  the  Synod  at  Dort  have 
\,„a  most  evident  repugnance?  If  so  few  men  at  Dort,  who  were  purposely 
called  out  by  the  same  King  James,  are  to  denominate  thejtidgment  of  the 
whole  Oiurch  of  England,  how  much  more  may  be  said  for  the  Common- 
prayer,  which  was  not  only  subscribed  to  by  all  our  English  Divines  at  Dort, 
but  was  established  by  knv  and  Canon,  since  the  times  of  our  reformation, 
by  no  less  than  five  acts  of  Parliament  in  the  days  of  Edward  the  sixth,  aud 
Queet)  Elizabeth? — compiled  by  those  reformers  who  were  uot  persecutors, 
but  Martyrs? — aud  held  in  practice  during  the  time  of  no  less  than  four 
Princes  ?  How  much  more  [may  be  said]  for  Episcopacy,  which  is  not  only 
as  ancient  as  Christianity  itself  in  this  very  land,  but  was  particularly 
confirmed  by  Magna  Charta,  and  by  no  less  than  32  acts  of  Parliament  ? 
And  in  the  Forty-second  of  King  Edward  the  third,  the  first  chaj-.ter  enacteth, 
that  if  any  statute  be  made  to  the  contrary,  it  shall  be  holden  for  none.  And 
in  the  Twenty-fifth  of  Edward  the  First  (Chap.  1.2.)  MagnaCharta  is  declared 
to  be  the  common  law  of  the  land.  And  1  hope  an  ecclesiastical  constitu- 
tion, whether  divine  or  human,  is  not  the  less  valid  for  being  corroborated 
by  the  whole  civil  power." 

Such  intrepid  conduct  as  this,  in  the  arbitrary  days  of  Cromwell,  was  in 
every  respect  worthy  of  a  true  son  of  the  Church  of  England.  He  wa.s 
molested  in  various  ways  by  the  commou  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  , 
Church  ;  but  he  was  too  courageous  to  be  intimidated  by  threats  of  seques- 
tration, when  peaceably  engaged  in  the  performance  of  a  lawful  duty.  In 
\i\&  Divine  Pliilantliropy  Defended,he  says  :  "  I  am  told  Mr.  Barlee  is  an^ry 
that  I  am  not  thought  worthy  of  sequestration,  and  that  (for  my  sake  only) 
he  would  be  revenged  upou  the  memory  of  one  that  is  dead.  And  to  fill  up 
the  measure  of  his  comparison,  he  will  have  me  to  deserve  as  cutting  a 
reproof,  as  that  which  Elymas  received  from  Paul !  (Acts  xiii,10.)  After  a'  wail- 
ing with  tloods  of   tears  that  my  Triobulary  Pamphlets'  (as  he  was  pleased 


I 


APPENDIX    D.  301 

*'  A  second  principle  ^hich  I  must  desire  you  to  review,  is 
that  upon  which  j'ou  conclude,  that  God  hath  borne  leslimony 
to  your  cause  by  the  many  victories  which  he  hath  given  you. 
This  concluding  of  yours,  first,  proceeds  upon  a  premise  directly 
false  in  matter  of  fact :  For,  you  say,  that  the  KING,  by  taking 
up  anus,  made  his  appeal  to  heaven ;  which  it  is  most  certain  that 
he  never  did.  Nay,  secondly,  this  concluding  of  yours  will,  by 
the  same  reason,  infer  that  Christianity  is  not,  and  that  Mahu- 
meUsva  IS  the  true  religion  ;  because  when  the  Turks  asserted 
one  and  the  Greek  church  the  other,  and  that  difference  begat  a 
war  betwixt  them,  it  is  clear  that  the  Turks  were  successful,  and 
the  Greek  church  was  most  sadly  wasted  and  subdued  by  them, 
and  so  remaineth  to  this  hour  in  that  unreturned  captivity. 
Which  will  therefore  be  a  fit  opportunity  to  make  you  revert  to 
the  trying  of  that  spirit  (which  inclines  you  thus  to  argue)  by 
this  touchstone  :  (I.)  By  considering  and  examining  whether  in 
the  written  word  any  thing  be  more  frequent  and  visible  than 
the  sufferings  of  God's  people,  the  shedding  the  blood  of  the  saints, 
the  fastening  all  kind  of  contumelies  on  such,  particularly  that 
reproach  of  Thou  bloody  man  ! ,  upon  David  who  was  a  king  after 
God's  heart,  the  sending  or  permitting  an  host  against  the  daily 
sacrifice  to  cast  dotvti  the  truth  to  the  ground,  and  to  practise  and 
prosper.  (2.)  Whether  it  were  not  Rabshakeh's  argument  against 
the  people's  adhering  to  their  lawful  king  Hezekiah,  that  his  mas- 
ters arms  had  been  invincible  ?  (3)  Whether  that  saddest  fate  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  (who,  for  conquering  of  God's  people  and 
others,  was  by  God  stiled  his  hammer  and  battle-axe  of  the  whole 
earth,)  may  not  be  expected  the  final  lot  of  others  also; — first,  to 
destroy  men,  and  then  to  be  cast  out  into  the  field,  to  inhabit  among 
beasts  ?*  (4)  Whether  it  were  not  a  crime  complained  of  by  the 

to  call  them)  *  had  received  the  applause  of  no  mean  persons,  and  drawn 
'  disciples  from  their  school;'  he  presently  <  stirs  up  his  brethren  to  finish 
•  the  plot  which  they  had  begun  of  an  Ecclesiastical  association  ;'  that,  by 
their  Presbyterian  '  censures,  such  a  sorcerer  as  I  may  be  delivered  up  to 
the  devil.' — When  I  couipare  these  things  with  many  like  passages  in  his 
book,  (especially  page  2'S2,)  I  cannot  choose  but  conceive  that  he  would 
threaten  me  into  a  silence  ;  and  hopes  I  may  think  it  ?«y  safest  icai/,  to  make 
as  if  [ were  nonplussed  by  him  and  his  seniors.  Much  indeed  mi^ht  be  done, 
if  I  were  able  to  be  afraid  of  sucJl  as  fear  ?iot  the  Lord  of  Hosts  :  But  I 
seriouslj'  profess  I  do  not  know  which  way  to  do  it.  For  1  have  learned  to 
distinguish  betwixt  things  necessary,  and  things  coiivenient.  I  hold  it  7ieces- 
«ar«/ to  keep  a  good  conscience;  whereas  it  is  but  convenient  to  keep  a 
<500i)  LIVING.    I  know  a  man  may  he  persecuted,  and  yet  be  saved." 

*  Dr.  Hammond  here  shews  himself  to  be  a  better  prophet  than  those 
whom  he  reprehends.  Not  only  the  soldiers  whom  the  Doctor  here  addresses, 
but  their  Calvinistic  Chaplains,  and  those  who  so  expounded  the  Scriptures 
as  to  convert  them  into  a  sanction  for  rebellion,  were  by  a  wise  retribution 
of  Divine  Providence  severally  punished  for  their  reprehensible  participation 
in  these  bloody  transactions.  Let  it  be  granted ,  that  many  of  those  w  ho  in  the 
reign  ol  ("harles  the  Second  eagerly  engaged  in  this  punitive  process,  were 
not  men  distinguished  for  piety  :  This  concession,  however,  is  only  another 
illustration  of  the  same  rule  in  the  Divine  Economy, — for  God  does  not 


302  API'KNDIX     D. 

people  of  God,  in  those  who,  when  God  was  a  Itltle  displeased, 
did,  as  adversaries,  help  forward  this  nffliclion  ?  And  (5.)  Whe- 
ther the  Psahnist  lay  not  the  like  ill  character  on  all  who  perse- 
cute  those  ivhom  God  halh  smitten,  and  who  talk  how  they  may  vex 
them  whom  God  hath  womided  ?*  By  all  which  it  is  most  evident, 

generaUi/  commission  good  ivien  to  be  the  executioners  of  his  wrathful  pur- 
poses ;  but  He  over-rules  the  wrong  dispositions  and  the  unrighteous  practices 
of  the  wicked,  to  effect  his  own  inscrutable  yet  benelicent  designs. 

*  Were  we  to  give  credence  to  all  that  has  been  written  by  Calvinistic 
Dissenters  in  prejudice  of  the  Episcopal  Clergy,  prior  to  the  commencement 
of  the  Civil  Wars,  we  must  account  the  latter  to  have  been  an  abandoned 
race  of  evil-doers.  The  following  is  one  of  the  mildest  descriptions,  of  the 
multitude  of  those  which  Richard  Baxter  has  given  to  the  world :  "  In  some 
places,  it  was  much  more  dangerous  for  a  minister  to  preach  a  lecture,  or 
twice  on  the  Lord's  Day,  or  to  expound  the  Catechism,  than  never  to  preach 
at  all.  Hundreds  of  congregations  had  ministers  that  never  preached,  and 
such  as  were  common  drunkards  and  openly  ungodly."  Common  prudence 
will  however  suggest  the  usual  caution  to  be  observed  in  receiving  the  testi- 
mony of  sworn  adversaries,nianyof  whom  were"  fattening  on  sequestrations." 
If  any  impartial  man  will  peruse  the  productions  of  those  Arminian  Di- 
vines who  flourished  at  that  period,  and  who  on  account  of  their  attachment 
to  the  Episcopal  Church  were  refused  the  common  benefit  of  Toleration  con- 
ceded to  other  religious  denominations  under  the  Protectorate,  he  will  dis- 
cover that  their  Arminianism,  their  enforcement  of  Christian  duties  as  well 
as  Christian  privileges,  was  the  real  cause  of  the  oblociuy  to  which  they  were 
exposed  and  the  persecution  which  they  endured.  A  few  of  them,  indeed, 
to  avoid  the  cant  phraseology  of  the  times,  seem  to  have  insisted  too  much 
on  the/»-Me<5  of  saving  faith,  v/ithout  describing  its  natm-e  and  the  tiecessit^/ 
of  its  reception  :  But  it  must  be  recollected,  that  the  auditors  whom  they 
addressed  had  been  strongly  charged  with  solifidian  doctrines,  and  were 
consequently  the  less  liable  to  incur  the  charge  of  Legality. — Yet  the  great 
body  of  these  Divines  were  the  real  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  God's  pe- 
culiar treasure  ;  and  their  writings  prove  them  to  have  been,  of  all  men, 
the  least  addicted  to  "  time-serving  and  soul-lulling  practices."  They  were, 
therefore,  as  Dr.  Hammond  observes  in  the  text,  not  fit  subjects  for  perse- 
cution ;  and  though  under  the  visible  chastisements  of  the  Almighty  on 
account  of  a  nation's  crimes  and  offences,  they  were  not  to  be  vexed  by 'Cal- 
vinistic task-masters  with  impunity.  It  was  well  said  by  Richard  Baxter, 
when  in  possession  of  his  usurped  benefice  :  "  God  will  not  be  satisfied  with 
ivords  when  his  servants  are  persecuted,  his  churches  destroyed,  or  his 
interest  trodden  under-foot."  'I  he  retribution  of  Divine  Providence  speedily 
demonstrated  the  truth  of  this  remark,  but  in  a  manner  exactly  the  reverse 
of  good  Richard's  meaning,.— for  his  words  were  intended  to  apply  only  to 
•*  the  servants  of  God"  who  held  theopinions  of  Calvin. 

While  some  of  their  cotemporaries  were  wasting  their  energies  in  lament- 
ing the  decline  of  high  Calvinistic  principles  and  tne  prevalence  of  Artninian- 
jsm ,  these  good  men  sighed  and  cried  for  all  tlie  ahominatio7is  that  were  done 
in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  sedulously  endeavoured  to  effect  their  ex- 
pulsion. Where  can  be  found  a  more  eloquent  and  scriptural  specimen  of 
this  ministerial  faithfulness,  than  in  the  subjoined  paragraph  from  a  Lent 
Sermon,  entitled  Christ  and  Barabbas,  preached  in  1G43,  by  Dr.  Ham- 
mond, before  the  Court  at  Oxford  ?  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  premise, 
that,  by  a  very  reprehensible  practice  which  had  obtained,  the  high  Cava- 
liers generally  distinguished  themselves  from  their  adversaries  in  convers- 
ation by  uttering  a  multitude  of  profane  oaths,  instead  of  interlarding  their 
common  discourse  with  scriptural  phrases,  and  profanely  introducing  the 
name  of  God  on  trivial  occasions,  which  was  the  almost  equally  reprehen- 
sible custom  of  the /2oww<Z//m</j.  The  alarming  extent  to  which  this  feeling 
of  aversion  was  actually  carried  by  the  Royalists  after  the  restoration,  is 
ficarcely  credible:   It  was  this   which  caused  Dean  Swift  to  read  family- 


APPENDIX    D.  30;1 

(without  any  necessity  of  defining  or  demonstrating  any  tiling  of 
the  justice  of  the  cause,)  that  most  commonly  the  prosperity  of 
arms  hath  not  been  the  lot  of  the  most  righteous,  but  that  either 
the  chastisement  of  the  sword  is  thought  fit  to  be  their  discipline, 
or  that  the  comforts  of  peace  (and  not  the  triumphs  of  war)  their 
blessing  in  this  life." 

Towards  the  conclusion  the  pious  Doctor  adds,  "  The  last 
principle  to  be  reviewed  is  this,  that  there  having  been  much  blood 
spilt  in  this  kingdom  in  the  late  wars,  there  must  now  be  some  sacri~ 
Jice  offered  to  God,  (that  is,  some  more  blood  shed,)  for  the  ex- 
piation of  that  sin  of  blood  guiltiness,  before  God  can  be  pacified 
or  reconciled  to  the  land. — On  which  particular,  it  will  (1.)  be 
worth  your  serious  enquiry,  how  it  should  appear  tloat  that  great 
issue  of  blood,  let  out  in  the  late  Avars,  (which  hath  with  great 
reason  been  looked  on  as  the  shai-pest  of  God's  plagues,  and  the 
saddest  part  of  punishment  of  the  former  sins  of  this  nation,)  is 
now  the  main  and  only  sin  of  the  land  with  which  God  is  not 
reconciled.  Or,  (2.)  if  it  were  supposed  to  be  so,  j^et  how  it  can 
he  thought  iha.t  a  general  refonnation  (f  that  sin,  an  humiliation 
before  God  for  it  through  the  whole  land,  and  a  resolidion  never  to 
spill  one  drop  more,  were  not  a  more  christian  probable  means  to 
pacify  God,  than  the  proceeding  in  cold  blood  to  the  effusion  of 
more  :  The  blood  of  men  being  never  thought  a  fit  sacrifice  for 
any   but  the  evil   spirit ;   and  peaceable-mi ndedness,  charily,  and 

prayers  to  his  domestics  in  the  most  private  part  of  his  mansion  ;  and  which 
induced  some  (otherwise)  excellent  men  to  neglect  many  pious  observances, 
that  they  might  escape  the  dreaded  imputation  of  being  Puritans  and 
hypocrites. 

"  Consider  but  a  few  of  that  glitteriusf  train  of  reigning  sins  in  this  our 
land,  in  this  my  auditory,  and  be  astonished,  O  earth,  that  they  should  ever 
he  received  in  competition  with  Christ !  The  oaths,  that  all  the  importunity 
of  our  weekly  sermons  [when]  turned  into  satires  against  that  sin,  cannot 
either  steal  or  beg  from  ns, — w  hat  gain  or  profit  do  they  afford  us  ?  which  of 
our  senses  do  they  entertain,  which  of  our  faculties  do  they  court  ?  An  empty, 
profitless,  temptatiouless  sin,  sensuality  only  to  the  devil-part  in  us,  fumed 
out  of  hell  into  oar  mouths,  in  a  kind  of  hypochondriacal  fit :  an  affront  to 
that  strict  command  of  Christ  to  his  disciples,  JBut  I  say  unto  you.  Christ- 
ians, swear  not  at  all :  The  best  quality  that  it  can  pretend  to,  is  that  which 
Hierocles  of  old  mentions  with  indignation,  '  to  fill  up  the  vacuities  of  the 
speech,'  to  express  and  man  a  rage;  that  is,  to  act  a  madman  the  more  per- 
fectly. What  shall  that  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  to  get  it  back  again, 
■which  he  hath  parted  with  so  cheap  without  any  barter,  sold  it  for  nought  and 
taken  no  money  for  it,  (in  the  Psalmist's  phrase,)  and  now  cannot  redeem  it 
with  all  his  patrimony?  It  v/ould  grieve  one,  I  confess,  that  did  but  weigh 
this  sin  in  this  balance,  andobservethe  Teltelon  the  wail  over  against  it,  how 
light  and  kexy  and  impertinent  a  sin  this  is,  to  hear  that  any  body  should  be 
damned  for  it  in  another  world,  part  with  such  treasures  for  such  trifles, 
make  such  African  voyages,  carry  out  the  substantial  commodities  of  a  good 
land  and  return  with  a  freight  of  toys  or  monsters,  pay  so  hugely  dear  for  such 
perfect  nothings  !  And  yet  it  would  grieve  one  more,  that  this  sin  should  gWt- 
ter  in  a  Protestant  Court,  and  become  part  of  the  gallantry  and  civility  of 
the  place,  ay  and  defame  and  curse  our  armies  ;  that  the  improsperousness, 
ruia,  perhaps  TlavoKidpia  [the  destruction],  of  a  whole  kingdom  should  be 
imputable  to  one  such;  and  [that]  all  our  prayers  to  heaven  for  you  be  out- 
sounded  and  drowned  by  that  most  contrary  eloquence!" 


304  Al'PEXDIX    I). 

the  contrile.  heart,  being  the  special,  if  not  only  sacrifices,  which 
we  find  mentioned  in  the  gospel.  Or,  (3.)  how  it  can  appear  that 
if  God  require  any  such  sacrifice,  you,  or  any  but  those  whom 
the  known  laws  of  the  land  have  placed  in  a  tribunal,  (and  that 
legallij  erected  for  such  cognizances,)*  have  any  right  to  put  your- 
selves into  the  office  of  Gentile  Priests,  as  the  only  persons  ap- 
pointed to  slay  that  sacrifice.  Nay,  (4.)  it  will  be  worth  your 
observing,  that  Christ  disclaimed  the  office  of  a  Judse ;  and 
thereby  rendered  it  very  unfit  for  any  of  you  to  put  yourselves 
hito  that  office  by  virtue  of  no  other  title  but  that  of  being  his 
disciples.  And,  lastly,  it  is  worth  your  saddest  thoughts,  whe- 
ther by  your  present  councils,  and  the  necessity  by  you  sup- 
posed of  changing  the  former  Government,  it  do  not  now  ap- 
pear, that  the  defence  of  the  established  laws  was  on  the  King's 
part  the  occasion  of  his  taking  arms,  and  on  your  parts,  the  de- 
sign of  altering  those  laws,  and  introducing  others  more  suitable 
to  your  inclinations. "\ 

*  "  Yet  for  a  few  military  men,  of  their  own  accord,  to  control  the  Parlia- 
ment, to  put  the  sovereign  to  death,  and  coaipletely  to  o\erthrow  the  civil 
constitution  of  the  country,  was  an  atrocious  assumption  of  power,  which 
no  concurrence  of  circumstances  could  possibly  justily.  The  life  of  any 
ruler  can  only  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  constitution  ;  or  of  that  system  of 
laws  and  regulations  by  which  his  subjects  should  be  governed.  If  his  life 
be  taken  away  by  any  means  hut  those  provided  by  the  constitution,  it  is 
murder  :  No  pretended  or  even  proved  acts  of  tyranny,  can  justify  his  being 
put  to  death  in  any  other  way.  And  what  constitution  in  the  civilized  world 
provides  for  the  infliction  of  death  upon  the  supreme  magistrate  ?  Every 
such  infliction  either  against  law,  or  without  its  sanction,  is  murder,  by 
■whomsoever  perpetrated."  Jackson's  Life  of  Gooduin. 

•f-  For  this  constitutional  appeal,  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  his  sovereign. 
Dr.  Hammond  was  stigmatized  by  those  whose  feet  were  swift  to  shed  blood, 
and  by  their  republican  defenders,  as  an  advocate  of  tyranny.  But  after  all 
the  advantages  which  we,  as  a  nation,  have  derived  from  our  political  expe- 
rience in  the  subsequent  epochs  of  our  national  history,  we  can  find  no  pro- 
position in  the  Doctor's  Address  which  will  not  be  readily  approved  in  our 
days  by  men  of  moderation  and  piety,  whether  they  be  Whigs  or  Tories. 

He  had  urged  it  as  an  objection  to  one  of  his  adversaries,  who  afterwards 
became  a  rig|d  defender  of  the  regicides, — that,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  the  Ancient  Fathers,  all  the  primitive  christians,  in  the  various  jjersecu- 
tions  which  had  devastated  the  infant  church,  imitated  their  Lord  and  Master 
in  meekly  '  givbig  their  backs  to  the  smiters,  and  their  cheeks  to  them  that 
plucked  off' the  hairs,'  (Isa.  1,  6.)  and  were  memorable  examples  of  patient 
and  unresisting  suffering.  But  this  Christian  doctrine  did  not  stiit  the  hot 
spirits  of  Calvin's  followers  ;  and  Dr.  Hammond's  antagonist,  who  had 
learnt  his  levelling  principles  in  the  predestinarian  school  of  those  times, 
coolly  replied,  that  God  had  hidden  from  the  first  christians  this  liberty  of 
RESISTING  SUPERIORS,  as  part  of  his  counsel  to  bring  Antichrist  into  the 
world :  but  that  he  had  then  manifested  it  to  his  people  [the  Calvinists]  us  a 
means  of  casting  Antichrist  out.  It  is  unnecessary  to  state  what  was  under- 
stood by  the  English  Antichrist. 

I  might  have  elucidated  this  part  of  the  revolutionary  history  from  the  pro- 
ductions of  many  able  Arminian  writers  ;  but  1  have  preferred  Dr.  Ham- 
mond, because  he  was  accounted  the  most  /ie»-e^it'«/ of  his  brethren  by  the 
Calvinists  of  that  period.  In  1648  he  had  the  honour  of  having  his  name 
inscribed  with  disgrace  in  A  Testimony  to  the  Ti-uth  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
our  solemn  League  and  Covenant ,-  as  also  against  the  errors,  heresies,  a7id 
blasphemiesof  these  times,  and  the  tolerationof  them  :  Subscribed  by  the  mi- 


APPENDIX    D.  305 

Bishop  Womack  has  also  observed  in  his  Arcana  Dosmatttm 
Anti-Remonstrantium  :  ''  This  opinion  [[the  necessary  and  infal- 
lible determination  of  the  will^  is  a  great  and  ready  inlet  to  all 

nistersof  Christ  uithin  the  Province  of  Londnn.  This  was  si^ed  by  fifty- 
two  Presbyterian  ministers,  and  made  mention  of  "  new  lights  and  new 
truths  Nvhich  are  broached  and  maintained  here  in  England  among'  us, — all 
of  them  repugnant  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  the  scandal  and  otfence  of  all 
the  Reformed  Churches  abroad,  the  unparalleled  reproach  of  this  Church 
and  nation,  totally  inconsistent  with  #/(e  Covoiant  a.uA  the  Covenanted  Re- 
formation," &c.  Of  the  three  "abominable  errors,  damnable  heresies, 
and  horrid  blasphemies,"  which  they  ascribed  to  Dr.  Hammond,  "the  firsjt- 
(says  that  reverend  divine,)   is   recited  by   them,    paj^e   9,    and  it  is  this, 

*  Christ  was  given  to  undergo   a  shameful   death  voluntarily  upon  the  cross, 

*  to  satisfy  for  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  for  all  the  sins  of  all  mankind.'  This  is 
thtr?  plainly  set  down  in  their  catalogue  of  infatnous  and  pernicious  errors, 
but  without  the  least  note  to  direct  what  part  of  this  proposition  is  liable  to 
that  charge,  any  farther  than  may  be  collected  from  the  title  of  the  Errors 
under  which  it  is  placed,  viz.  Errors  touching  Universal  or  General  Eedemp- 
tion.  From  whence  1  presume  to  discern  their  meaning  to  be,  that  to  affirm, 
'Christ  to  have  satisfied  for  or  redeemed  all  sl4nkind,'  is  this  pernicious 
error  by  them  abominated.  And  such  I  confess  I  should  acknowledge  it  to  be, 
if  it  had  any  right  to  be  joined  with  that  other,  by  these  men  set  under  the 
same  head,  The  damned  shall  be  saved;  but  1  hope  that  error  hath  re- 
ceived no  patronage  from  that  [Practical]  Catechism,  nor  sure  from  that 
assertion  of  C/mst's  redeeming'  all  mioikind." 

Such  was  part  of  the  good  doctor's  defence  in  his  "  View  of  some  Excep- 
tions to  the  P/ae?fcaZ  C'«<ecAwm,"  &c.,  and  I  have  repeated  it  in  this  place 
not  merely  to  shew  the  kind  of  heresies  which  these  intolerant  Calvinists  con- 
demned, but  the  double-dealing  of  which  they  were  guilty  in  their  mode  of 
classification.  But  their  evident  intention  to  fasten  upon  the  doctor  the 
charge  of  favouring  the  unscriptural  doctrine  of  the  Jinal  restoration  of  all 
lapsed  intelligences,  was  but  a  stale  trick,  which  they  had  learnt  of  the  Dort 
Synodists.  \nX\Le  f Forks  of  Arminius,  (vol.1,  page  577,)  I  have  exposed  the 
highly  disingenuous  and  inferential  character  of  a  similar  mode  of  implica- 
tion, adopted  against  an  equally  plain  and  scriptural  assertion  by  Arminius 
on  this  very  subject,  which  the  Dort  divines  chose  to  couple  with  one  of  the 
assertions  of  Vorstius,  to  give  it  the  semblance  of  an  apology  for  the  doctrine 
of  "  Universal  Restoration,"  instead  of  General  Redemption  ! — But  the 
reader  will  in  this  work  meet  with  many  other  instances  of  the  servilitv  with 
which  the  English  Calvinists  aped  the  manners  of  the  successful  Dutchmen, 

A  circumstance  which  arose  from  this  interference  of  the  Presbyterian 
ministers,  is  thus  related  by  Isaac  Walton  :  "  After  which  there  were  many 
letters  passed  betwixt  the  said  Dr.  Hammond,  Dr.  Sanderson,  and  Dr. 
Pierce,  concerning  God's  grace  and  decrees.  Dr.  Sanderson  was  with  much 
unwillingness  drawn  into  this  debate  ;  for  he  declared  it  would  prove  un- 
easy to  him,  who,  in  his  judgment  of  God's  decrees,  differed  with  Dr.  Ham- 
mond, fwhom  he  reverenced  and  loved  dearly,)  and  would  not  therefore 
engage  nimself  in  a  controversy,  of  which  he  could  never  hope  to  see  an  end  : 
nevertheless  they  did  all  enter  into  a  charitable  disquisition  of  these  said 
points  in  several  letters,  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  learned.  1  think  the 
judgment  of  Dr.  Sanderson  was  by  these  debates  altered  from  what  it  was 
at  his  entrance  into  them  ;  for  in  the  year  1632,  when  his  excellent  sermons 
were  first  printed  in  quarto,  the  reader  may  on  the  margeut  find  some 
accusation  of  Arminius  for  false  doctrine  ;  and  find,  that  upon  a  review  and 
reprinting  those  sermons  in  folio  in  the  year  1657,  that  accusation  of  Armi- 
nius is  omitted.  And  the  change  of  his  judgment  seems  more  fully  to  appear 
in  his  said  letter  to  Dr.  Pierce.  And  let  me  now  tell  the  reader,  which  may 
seem  to  be  perplexed  with  these  several  affirmations  of  God's  decrees  before 
mentioned,  that  Dr.  Hammond  in  a  postscript  to  the  last  letter  of  his  to  Dr. 
Sanderson,  says,  '  God  can  reconcile  his  own  contradictions,  and  therefore 
advises  all  men,  as  the  Apostle  does,  to  study  moderation,  and  to  be  wi'ie 
to  sobriety.*    And  let  me  add  further,  that  if  these  52  ministers  of  Sion  Col- 


30G  APPENDIX     D. 

enthusiasms  ;  and  it  is  not  only  easy  but  ordinary  for  men  to 
intitle  their  diabolical  delusions  to  the  determinations  of  God's 
Spirit ;  and  his  broad  seal  is  frequently  stampt  upon  that  com- 
mission (to  authorize  it),  which  is  drawn  up  by  a  lying,  and  one 
haply  a  great  deal  worse  than  their  own  private  spirit.*  When 
men  of  high  ambition,  and  hot  brains,  and  strong  phantasies, 
and  passionate  appetites,  will  not  acquiesce  (as  you  know,  many 
times  they  will  not)  in  God's  clear  and  distinct  revelations  con- 
cerning their  duty ;  but  entertain  new  designs,  pretended  to  a 
good  end,  though  the  only  me^ns  visibly  conducible  to  carry 
tliem  on  be  apparently  unwarrantable ;  what  methods  do  they 
follow  in  this  case  ?  God  is  earnestly  sought  and  wrestled  with, 
for  obtaining  a  dispensation  and  success  in  a  course  of  disobe- 
dience, against  his  own  express  command.  When  God,  (who 
is  not  so  much  called  upon  to  counsel,  as  to  countenance  and 
assist  in  the  affair  [^which]]  such  men  have   resolved  upon,  and 

lege  were  the  occasion  of  the  debates  in  these  letters,  they  have,  I  think, 
been  the  occasion  of  giving  au  end  to  the  quinquarticular  controversy  ;  for 
none  have  since  undertaken  to  say  more  ;  but  seem  to  be  so  wise,  as  to  be 
content  to  be  ignorant  of  the  rest,  till  they  come  to  that  place,  where  the 
secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  laid  open.  And  let  me  here  tell  the  reader  also, 
that  if  the  rest  of  mankind  would,  as  Dr.  Sanderson,  not  conceal  their  alter- 
ation of  judgment,  but  confess  it  to  the  honour  of  God  and  themselves, 
then  our  nation  would  become  freer  from  pertinacious  disputes,  and  fuller 
of  recantations." 

*  Nearly  four  years  prior  to  the  Restoration,  and  while  the  Church  of 
England  was  still  under  the  rod  of  the  oppressor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce  re- 
marked, h\\\is  Divine  Parity  Defended,  "  Mr.  Barlee  saith,  'that  God  is 

*  not  a  mere  legislator  of  conditional  decrees,  laws  and  statutes,  hut  an 

*  ABSOLUTE  DETERMINER  in  a  Sovereign  way  of  the  several  acts  of  disobe- 

*  dience  in  relation  to  them.'  And  though  he  saith  also,  that  God  himself 
is  without  sin,  and  determines  the  several  acts  of  disobedietice  also,  yet  that 
doth  not  lesson,  but  rather  aggravate  his  blasphemy;  because  he  makes 
no  difference  betwixt  God's  determining  the  acts  of  obedience  and  disobe- 
dience, whilst  he  saith  '  he  is  an  absolute  unconditional  determiner'  of  both 
the  one  and  the  other. — Whether  James  Nayler  hath  said  any  thing  like  it, 
I  have  not  hitherto  been  informed  ;  but  they  who  adored  him  as  a  Christ  did 
give  the  Magistrate  this  reason,  '  that  they  were  forced  thereunto  by  the 
power  of  the  Lord  ;  and  commanded  so  of  the  Lord  ;  and  thereunto  moved 
of  the  Lord  ;  and  directed  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.'  (The  Grand  Impostor.) 
And  when  the  Presbyterian  Ministers  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  sent  a  letter 
to  the  Lord  Hamilton  inviting  him  to  head  their  forces,  (which,  without  the 
least  pretence  of  authority  of  Parliament,  the  Preachers  and  they  only  had 
made  to  rise,)  they  told  his  Lordship  in  their  letter,  that  the  people  weie 
animated  by  the  word  and  motion  of  con's  spirit  to  take  up  arms;  that  is, 
to  rebel.  (Spotswood  Hist.  Scot.)  Now  by  what  principles  and  opinions  they 
were  betrayed  to  these  things,  I  leave  it  to  be  judged  by  other  men.  For  the 
peace  and  safety  of  Church  and  State,  as  well  as  for  the  interest  and  good 
of  souls,  1  am  obliged  and  concerned  to  deliver  mine  own  soul  by  giving  fair 
warnings  to  other  men's.  And  may  it  for  ever  be  remembered  by  such  as  are 
of  a  party,  which  they  are  kind  to,  and  extremely  willing  to  excuse,  that 
he  who  justifieth  the  wicked  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord,  as  well  as  he 
who  condemnelh  the  just!  (Prov.  xvii,  \f>.)  To  shew  my  mnocence  from 
so  great  a  transgression  as  the  latter,  1  have  not  whispered  my  accusations 
ill  a  corner,  but  spoken  them  out  unto  the  world  ;  nor  have  I  urged  them 
from  giddy  rumours  and  reports,  (as  one  sort  of  men  are  wont  to  do,)  but 
from  the  published  writings  which  I  accuse." 


APPKXDIX    D.  307 

are  prjeengaged  to  transact,)  being  provoked  by  the  perverse 
importunity  of  such  addresses,  permits  them,  in  displeasure,  to 
the  sway  of  their  own  inordinate  passions,  and  to  prosper  in  the 
irregular  pursuit  of  them,  this  is  presently  interpreted  to  be 
God's  gracious  return  unto  their  prayers,  and  his  casting  voice,  (the 
intimation  of  bis  secret  beneplaciture,)  for  the  determination  of 
their  will  to  this  choice  of  their  very  rebellion  against  him,  and 
consequently  it  hath,  as  is  pretended,  his  unquestionable  appro- 
bation. 

"  When  Balaam,  upon  Balak's  invitation  of  him  to  curse 
Israel,  consulted  the  Lord  first  about  that  message  and  expedi- 
tion, he  gave  him  a  clear  and  peremptory  signification  of  his  will 
and  pleasure.  Thou  shalt  not  go  with  them,  thou  shalt  not  curse 
the  people  :  for  they  are  blessed.  (Num.  xxii,  12.)  But  Balaam, 
upon  a  new  and  more  urgent  invitation,  seeks  God  again,  that 
he  may  yet  obtain  leave  to  gratify  his  avarice  and  ambition. 
Almighty  God,  provoked  wilh  the  perversity  of  this  solicita- 
tion, permits  him  to  his  own  lust;  and  upon  this,  (which  was 
but  an  instance  of  God's  indignation  against  him,  that  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  his  express  command  at  first,)  without  doubt 
Balaam  would  have  concluded,  that  God  had  now  infallibly  de- 
termined and  actually  sent  him,  had  he  not  been  rebuked  for 
his  iniquity  by  a  miracle  ;  But  the  dumb  ass  speaking  with  man's 
voice,  forbad  the  madness  of  the  Prophet.  (2.  Pet.  ii,  l6.)  What 
practices  have  been  suggested  and  put  in  execution  at  Munster, 
&c.  upon  a  persuasion  of  such  an  irresistible  determination  ? 
and  what  work  that  opinion  may  yet  help  to  make  in  other 
parts  of  Christendom,  if  not  timely  prevented,  is  easy  to  foresee 
without  a  spirit  of  divination." 

Other  eloquent  and  decided  testimonies  against  this  perver- 
sion of  Christianity,  by  pretended  inspirations,  might  be  ad- 
duced :  But  it  becomes  necessary  to  connect  Dr.  Twisse  with 
the  transactions  which  have  now  been  briefly  recounted,  and 
with  those  which  followed.  This  connection  will  be  traced,  in 
a  manner  at  once  the  most  concise  and  authentic,  by  the  follow- 
ing quotations  from  Dr.  Heylin,  who  having  narrated  some  of 
the  mal-practices  of  the  Calvinists,  to  which  allusion  has  already 
been  made,  proceeds  thus  :  "  Such  were  the  fortunes  and  suc- 
cesses of  the  Presbyterians  in  the  rest  of  Christendom,  during  the 
last  ten  years  of  the  reign  of  King  James  and  the  beginnings  of 
King  Charles.  By  which  both  kings  might  see  how  unsafe  they 
were,  if  men  of  such  pragmatical  spirits  and  seditious  principles 
should  get  ground  upon  them.  But  King  James  had  so  far  sup- 
ported them  in  the  Belgick  provinces,  that  his  own  Calvinists 
presumed  on  the  like  indulgence;*  which  prompted  them  to  set 

*  It  was  a  most  unfortunate  circumstance  for  King  Charles,  that  his 
royal  father  had  beeu  such  an  injudicious  author.  Who  would  ever  have 
expected  to  find  the  following  passage  in  King  James's  Defence  of  the  Right 


J308  ArrENFiix  d. 

nought  by  his  proclamations,  to  vilify  his  instructions,  and  des- 
pise his  messages.  Finally,  they  made  trial  of  his  patience  also, 
by  setting  up  one  Knight,  of  Broadgates,  (now  called  Pembroke 
College,)  to  preach  upon  the  power  of  such  popular  officers 
as  Calvin  thinks  to  be  ordained  by   Almighty    God,  for  curbing 

of  Kings,  in  answer  to  Cardinal  Perron  ? — "  It  is  moreover  granted,  if  a 
Jving  shall  command  any  thing  directly  contrary  to  God's  word,  and  tending 
to  the  Gubvertin^r  of  the  Church,  that  clerics  in  this  case  oiight  not  only  to 
dispense  with  subjects  for  their  obedience,  but  also  expressly  to  forbid  their 
obedience  :  For  it  is  always  better  to  obey  Ood  than  man.  Howbeit,  in  all 
other  matters,  whereby  the  glory  and  majesty  of  God  is  not  impeached  or 
impaired,  it  is  the  duty  of  clerics  to  ply  the  jieople  with  wholesome  exhor- 
tation to  constant  obedience,  and  to  avert  by  earnest  dissuasions  the  said 
people  from  tumultuous  revolt  and  seditious  insurrection." 

This  doctrine  had  a  Calvinian  origin  ;  and  it  was  applied  by  the  Calvinists 
to  their  seditious  purposes  in  France,  and  several  years  afterwards  in  Eng- 
land. In  both  kingdoms  they  easily  shewed,  that  their  sovereigns  had  "  com- 
manded things  directly  contrary  to  God's  word,  [that  is,  as  that  word  was  in- 
terpreted by  themselves,]  and  tending  to  the  subverting  of  the  Church  ;" 
and,  for  these  alleged  oflences  against  the  prosperity  of  the  Calvinistic 
Churches,  Archbishop  Laud  aud  his  Royal  Master  were  finally  condemned 
to  die  uu  a  scatfuld. 

It  was  also  most  unfortunate  for  this  monarch,  that,  in  the  BasiUcon 
Doron,  which  had  been  published  early  in  the  reign  of  King  James  and  was 
among  certain  classes  for  above  twenty  years  a  subject  of  public  animadver- 
sion, the  latter  bequeathed  tohis  successor  all  his  hereditary  anlipaihies  to  the 
Puritans  and  Presbyterians,  in  form  following  :  "  Yet  for  all  their  cunning, 
whereby  they  pretended  to  distinguish  the  lau'fulness  of  the  ojffice  from  tlie 
vice  of  the  person,  some  of  them  would  sometimes  snapper  out  well  grossly 
with  the  truth  of  their  intentions,  informino:  the  people  '  that  all  kings  and 

*  princes  were  naturally  enemies   to  the   liberty  of  the   Church,  and  could 

*  never  patiently  bear  the  yoke  of  Christ :'  With  s\ich  Round  doctrine  fed 
they  their  flocks'.  And  because  the  learned,  grave,  and  honest  men  of  the 
ministry  were  ever  ashamed  and  offended  with  their  temerity  and  presump- 
tion, pi-essing by  all  good  means,  by  their  authority  and  example,  to  reduce 
them  to  a  greater  moderation,  there  could  be  no  way  found  out  so  meet,  m 
their  conceit  that  v^ere  turbulent  spirits  a7iin7>g- thetn,  for  maintaining  tlieir 
plots,  as  I'ARiTY  IN  THE  Church  :  Whereby  the  ignorants  were  embolden- 
ed to  cry  the  learned,  godly,  and  modest  out  of  it:  Parity,  the  mother  of 
confusion,  and  enemy  to  unity  which  is  the  mother  of  order  !  For  if,  by 
the  example  thereof  once  established  in  the  ecclesiastical  government,  the 
politic  and  civil  estate  should  be  drawn  to  the  like,  the  great  confusion  that 
thereupon  would  arise  may  easily  be  discerned. — Take  heed  therefore,  my 
son,  to  such  Puritans,  very  pests  in  the  Church  and  Common-weal,  whom 
no  deserts  can  oblige,  neither  oaths  or  promises  bind,  breathing  nothing  but 
sedition  and  calumnies,  aspiring  without  measure,  railing  without  reason, 
and  7naki7ig  their  oum  i7nagi7iations  (without  any  warrant  of  the  word,)  the 
square  of  their  conscience.  I  protest  before  the  great  God,  (and,  since  i  am 
here  as  upon  my  Testament^  it  is  no  place  for  me  to  lie  in,)  that  ye  shall  ne- 
ver find  with  any  Highland  or  Border  thieves  ^reato"  ingTatitude  and  moie 
lies  and  vile pe7-juries,  tha7iivith  these  TASATIc  spirits!  And  suffer  not  the 
principals  of  them  to  brook  your  land,  if  ye  like  to  sit  at  rest;  except  ye 
would  keep  them  for  trying  your  patience,  as  Socrates  did  an  evil  wife." 

The  Puritans  aud  Presbyterians  treasured  up  this  offensive  character  in 
their  memories,  and  visited  upon  the  son  the  transgressions  of  the  father. 
The  vanity  of  Kmg  James,  and  his  ambition  to  be  distinguished  as  a  literary 
man,  n)ade  him  reckless  of  consequences  ;  but  his  recorded  opinions  on 
this  subject,  though  qualified  in  the  preface  to  some  subsequent  editions, 
were  highly  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  King  Charles  iu  the  subsequent 
troubles^. 


APPKNDIX   D.  309 

and  restraining  the  power  of  Kings.*  In  which,  though  Knight 
himself  was  censured,  the  doctrines  solemnly  condemned,  and 
execution  done  upon  a  book  of  Parseus,  which  had  misguided 
the  unfortunate  and  ignorant  man ;  yet  the  Calvinians  most 
tenaciously  adhered  to  their  master's  tendries,  with  an  intent  to 
bring  them  into  use  and  practice  when  occasion  served.  So  that 
King  James,  with  all  his  king-craft,  could  find  no  better  way 
to  suppress  their  insolencies,  than  by  turning  Mountagu  upon 
them;  a  man  of  mighty  parts,  and  an  undaunted  spirit;  and 
one  who  knew,  as  well  as  any,  hnw  to  discriminate  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Church  of  England,  from  those  which  were  pecu- 
liar to  the  sect  of  Calvin.  By  which  he  galled  and  gagged 
them  more  than  his  Popish  adversary  ;  but  raised  thereby  so 
many  pens  against  himself,  that  he  might  seem  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  the  state  of  Ismael. 

"  In  this  conjuncture  of  affairs.  King  James  departs  this  life, 
and  King  Charles  succeeds  ;t  who,   to  ingratiate   himself  with 

*  See  an  accouut  of  this,  page  208. 

f  The  prosperous  condition  of  England  at  that  period  is  thus  justly  6e- 
scr'ihed  in  Lard  Clarendnii's  Life,  written  by  himself  :  "England  enjoyed 
the  greatest  measure  of  felicity,  that  it  had  ever  known  ;  the  two  crowns  of 
France  and  Spain  worrying  each  otlier,  by  their  mutual  incursions  and  in- 
vasions ;  whilst  they  had  both  a  civil  war  in  their  own  bowels  ;  the  former, 
by  frequent  rebellions  from  their  own  factions  and  animosities;  the  latter,  by 
the  defection  of  Portugal  ;  and  both  laboured  more  to  ransack  and  burn  each 
other's  dominions,  tiiau  to  extinguish  their  own  fire.  All  Germany  welter- 
ing in  its  own  blood  ;  and  contributing  to  each  other's  destruction,  that  the 
poor  crown  of  Sweden  might  grow  great  out  of  their  ruins,  and  at  their 
charge  ;  Denmark  and  Poland  being  adventurers  in  the  same  destructive  en- 
terprizes.  Holland  and  the  United  Provinces,  wearied  and  tired  with  their 
long  and  chargeable  war,  how  prosperous  soever  they  were  in  it ;  and  begin- 
ning to  be  more  afraid  of  France  their  ally,  than  of  Sjiain  their  enemy.  Ita- 
ly, every  year  infested  by  the  arms  of  Spain  and  France  ;  which  divided  the 
princes  thereof  into  the  several  factions. 

"  Of  all  the  Princes  of  Europe,  the  King  of  England  alone  seemed  to  be 
seated  upon  that  pleasant  promontory,  that  might  safely  view  the  tragic  suf- 
ferings of  all  his  neighbours  about  him,  without  any  other  concernment,  thau 
what  arose  from  his  own  princely  heart,  and  christian  compassion,  to  see 
such  desolation  wrought  by  the  pride,  and  passion,  and  ambition  of  private 
persons,  supported  by  princes  who  knew  not  what  themselves  would  have. 
His  three  kingdoms  flourishing  in  entire  peace  and  universal  plenty  ;  in 
danger  of  nothing  but  their  own  surfeits  ;  and  his  dominions  every  day  eu- 
la-rg-^sd,  by  sending  out  colonies  upon  large  and  fruitful  plantations  ;  his 
strong  fleets  commanding  all  seas  ;  and  the  numerous  shipping  of  the  nation 
briug'ing  the  trade  of  the  world  into  his  ports  ;  nor  could  it  with  unquestion- 
able security  be  carried  any  whither  else:  And  all  these  blessings  enjoyed 
under  a  prince  of  the  greatest  clemency  and  justice,  and  of  the  greatest  piety 
and  devotion,  and  the  most  indulgent  to  his  subjects,  and  most  solicitous  for 
their  happiness  and  prosperity. 

O  fortunati  nimium,  bona  si  sua  norint ! 

"In  this  ble'^sed  conjuncture,  when  no  other  prince  thought  he  wanted  any 
thing,  to  compass  what  he  most  desired  to  be  possessed  of,  but  the  affection 
andViiendship  of  the  King  of  England;  a  small,  scarce  discernible  cloud 
arose  in  the  North  ;  which  was  shorfly  after  attended  with  such  a  storm,  that 
never  gave  over  raging,  till  ic  had  shaken  and  even  rooted  up  the  greatest 


310  APPENDIX    D. 

this  powerful  faction,  had  plunged  his  father  in  a  war  with 
the  house  of  Austria,  by  which  he  was  brought  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  calling  parliaments,  and  gave  those  parliaments  the 
courage  to  dispute  his  actions.  For  though  they  promised  to 
stand  to  him  with  their  lives  and  fortunes,  in  prosecution  of 
that  war ;  yet  when  they  had  engaged  him  in  it,  they  would 
not  part  with  any  money  to  defray  that  charge,  till  they  had 
Stripped  him  of  the  richest  jewels  in  the  regal  diadem.  But 
he  was  much  more  punished  in  the  consequence  of  his  own  ex- 
ample in  aiding  those  of  Rochelle  against  their  King,  whereby 
he  trained  up  his  own  subjects  in  the  school  of  rebellion,  and 
taught  them  to  confederate  themselves  with  the  Scots  and 
Dutch,  to  seize  upon  his  forts  and  castles,  invade  the  patrimony 
of  the  church,  and  to  make  use  of  his  revenue  against  himself. 
To  such  misfortunes  many  Princes  do  reduce  themselves,  when 
either  they  engage  themselves  to  maintain  a  party,  or  govern 
not  their  actions  by  the  rules  of  justice ;  but  are  directed  by 
self-ends,  or  swayed  by  the  corrupt  affections  of  untrusty  minis- 
ters.* 

"  The  Presbyterian-Scots,  and  the  Puritan-English,  were  not 
so  much  discouraged  by  the  ill  successes  of  their  brethren  in 
France  and  Germany,  as  animated  by  the  pi'osperous  fortunes  of 
their  friends  [  the  Calvinists^  in  Holland;  who  by  rebellion  were 
grown  powerful ;  and  by  rapine,  wealthy;  and  by  the  reputation 

and  tallest  Cedars  of  the  three  nations  ;  blasted  all  its  beauty  and  fruitful- 
ness  ;  brought  its  strength  to  decay,  and  its  glory  to  reproach,  and  almost  to 
desolation  ;  by  such  a  career  and  deluge  of  wickedness  and  rebellion,  as,  by 
not  bein^  enough  foreseen,  or,  in  truth,  suspected,  could  not  be  prevented. 

*  Dr.  Heylin  has  been  called,  by  his  enemies,  "  a  favourer  of  absolute 
power,"  &c.  Yet  what  writer  of  that  age  has  pointed  out  with  equal  clear- 
ness the  political  errors  of  two  sovereigns  for  whom  he  entertained  the 
highest  regard  ?  The  state  of  the  British  Constitution  must  likewise  be 
taken  into  the  account,  when  we  venture  to  object  against  some  of  the  senti- 
ments which  are  here  avowed.  The  well-defined  jurisdiction  and  nicely- 
balanced  power  of  the  several  branches  of  the  legislature,  now  the  boast  of 
this  country  and  the  admiration  of  the  civilized  world,  had  at  that  period 
no  existence. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  the  English  soldiers  who  had  assisted  the  Dutch  in 
the  recovery  of  their  liberty,  and  had  garrisoned  those  fortified  places  in  the 
Low  Countries  which  this  country  retained  as  pledges  for  monies  advanced, 
■were  almost  without  exception,  after  their  return,  republican  in  their  poli- 
tical principles,  and  inclined  on  religious  subjects  to  Presbyterianism  or 
Independency  :  This  partial  feeling  of  alienation  from  the  iiistitutions  of 
their  own  country ,  was  not  without  its  effects  in  the  subsequent  troubles. 
The  generous  interest  too  which  had  been  industriously  excited,  and  very 
properly  cherished,  in  the  sound  part  of  the  nation,  in  favour  of  the  new  re- 
public, was  one  of  the  causes  that  operated  in  forming  a  taste  for  a  more 
enlarged  religious  and  civil  freedom  than  had  been  previously  enjoyed. — in 
our  own  days  we  have  seen  a  similar  instance  in  our  neighbours  of  France, 
with  this  marked  difference,  however,  that  religion  was  one  of  ihe  least  con- 
siderations among  both  the  parties  into  which  that  unhappy  country  was 
divided.  The  King  of  France  had  sent  his  soldiers  to  fight  the  battles  of  the 
new  American  Republic  ;  and  some  of  those  very  men  lived  long  enough  to 
carry  arms  in  their  native  land,  and  assist  in  the  establibhuieut  of  their  own 
Republic. 


APPEXDIX    D.  311 

of  their  wealth  and  power,  were  able  to  avenge  themselves  on 
[|the  Arminians]  the  opposite  party.  To  whose  felicities,  if  those 
in  England  did  aspire,  they  were  to  entertain  those  counsels  and 
pursue  those  courses  by  which  the  others  had  attained  them  ; 
that  is  to  say,  they  were  by  secret  practices  to  diminish  the 
King's  power  and  greatness,  to  draw  the  people  to  depend 
upon  their  directions,  to  dissolve  all  the  ligaments  of  the 
former  government ;  and  either  call  in  foreign  forces,  or  form 
an  army  of  their  own  to  maintain  their  doii>gs.t  And  this  had 
been  the  business  of  the  Puritan  faction,  since  the  death  of 
Bancroft ;  when  by  the  retirements  of  King  James  from  all 
cares  of  Government,  and  the  connivance  or  remissness  of  Arch- 
bishop Abbot,  the  reins  were  put  into  their  hands.  Which 
gave  them  time  and  opportunity  to  grow  strong  in  parliaments, 
under  pretence  of  standing  for  the  subjects'  property  against 
the  encroachments  of  the  court,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the 
true  religion  against  the  practices  of  the  Papists,  By  which 
two  artifices,  they  first  weakened  the  prerogative  royal,  to  ad- 
vance their  own;  and,  by  the  diminution  of  the  King's  autho- 
rity, endeavoured  to  erect  the  people's,  whom  they  represented. 
And  then  they  practised  to  asperse  with  the  name  of  Papist 
all  those  who  either  join  not  with  them  in  their  Sabbath- 
doctrines,  or  would  not  captivate  their  judgments  unto 
Calvin's  dictates.     [^See  pages  209,  266,  294.]] 

"  The  party  in  both  kingdoms  being  grown  so  strong  that 
they  were  able  to  proceed  from  counsel  unto  execution,  there 
wanted  nothing  but  a  fair  occasion  for  putting  themselves  into  a 
posture  of  defence ;  and  from  that  posture,  breaking  out  into 
open  war.  But  finding  no  occasion,  they  resolve  to  make  one ; 
and  to  begin  their  first  embroilments  upon  the  sending  of  the 
new  Liturgy  and  book  of  Canons  to  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  At 
Perth,  in  l6l8  they  had  past  five  articles  for  introducing  private 
Baptism,  communicating  of  the  sick,  kneeling  at  the  Commu- 
nion, Episcopal  Confirmation,  and  the  observing  of  such  an- 
cient festivals  as  belonged  immediately  unto  Christ :  Yet  when 
those  articles  were  incorporated  in  the  Common-prayer  Book, 
they  were  beheld  as  innovations  in  the  worship  of  God,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  admitted  in  so  pure  and  reformed  a  Church 
as  that  of  Scotland.  These  were  the  hooks  by  which  they  drew 
the  people  to  them,  who  never  look  on  their  superiors  with  a 
greater  reverence,  than  when  they  see  them  active  in  the  cause 
of  religion ;  and  willing,  in  appearance,  to  lose  all  which  was 
dear  unto  them,  whereby  they  might  preserve  the  Gospel  in  its 
native  purity.     But  it  was   rather  gain   than  godliness,    which 

f  These  were  exactly  the  steps  taken  by  the  Calviuists  in  the  United  Pro- 
vinces, under  the  guidance  of  that  ambitious  warrior  Prince  Maurice,  the 
year  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Dort;  ihe  most  suitable  preparatioa 
Ibr  which  seemed  to  be  a  deep  wound  on  the  coustitution  then  established. 


312  APPENDIX    D. 

brought  the  great  men  of  the  realm  to  espouse  this  quarrel; 
who,  by  the  commission  of  surrenderies,  (of  which  more  else- 
where,) began  to  fear  the  losing  of  their  tithes  and  superiori- 
ties, to  which  they  could  pretend  no  other  title  than  plain 
usurpation.  And  on  the  other  side,  it  was  ambition,  and  not 
zeal,  which  inflamed  the  Presbyters ;  who  had  no  other  way  to 
invade  that  power  which  was  conferred  upon  the  Bishops  by 
Divine  institution,  and  countenanced  by  many  acts  of  Parlia- 
ment in  the  reign  of  King  James,  than  by  embracing  that  oc- 
casion to  incense  the  people,  to  put  the  whole  nation  into  tu- 
mult, and  thereby  to  compel  the  Bishops  and  the  regular  Cler- 
gy to  forsake  the  Kingdom.  So  the  Genevians  dealt  before  with 
their  Bishop  and  Clergy,  when  the  reforming-humour  came 
first  upon  them :  And  what  could  they  do  less  in  Scotland,  than 
follow  the  example  of  their  mother-city  ? 

"  These  breakings-out  in  Scotland  smoothed  the  way  to  the 
like  in  England,  from  which  they  had  received  encouragement, 
and  presumed  on  succours.  The  English  Puritans  had  begun 
with  libelling  against  the  Bishops,  as  the  Scots  did  against  the 
King :  For  which,  the  authors  and  abettors  had  received  some 
punishment ;  but  such,  as  did  rather  reserve  them  for  ensuing 
mischiefs,  than  make  them  sensible  of  their  crimes,  or  reclaim 
them  from  it.  So  that  upon  the  coming  of  the  Liturgy  and 
Book  of  Canons,  the  Scots  were  put  into  such  heat  that  they 
disturbed  the  execution  of  the  one  by  an  open  tumult,  and  re- 
fused obedience  to  the  other  by  a  wilful  obstinacy. 

"  These  insolencies  might  have  given  the  King  a  just  cause 
to  arm,  when  they  were  utterly  unprovided  of  all  such  neces- 
saries as  might  enable  them  to  make  the  least  show  of  a  weak 
resistance.  But  the  King  deals  more  gently  with  them,  negoti- 
ates for  some  fair  accord  of  the  present  differences,  and,  in  l638, 
sends  the  Marquess  of  Hamilton  as  his  chief  Commissioner  for 
the  transacting  of  the  same.  By  whose  solicitation  he  revokes 
the  Liturgy  and  the  Book  of  Canons,  suspends  the  Articles  of 
Perth,  and  then  rescinds  all  Acts  of  Parliament  which  confirm- 
ed the  same  ;  submits  the  Bishops  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly, as  their  competent  judges  ;  and  thereupon  gives  intima- 
tion of  a  General  Assembly  to  be  held  at  Glasgow,  in  which 
the  point  of  church  government  was  to  be  debated,  and 
all  his  condescensions  enrolled  and  registered.  And,  which 
made  most  to  their  advantage,  he  caused  the  Solemn 
League  or  Covenant  to  be  imposed  on  all  the  subjects,  and 
subscribed  by  them.  Which  in  effect  was  to  legitimate  the 
rebellion,  and  countenance  the  combination  with  the  face 
of  authority.*  But  all  this  would  not  do  his  business,  though 
it  might  do  theirs.  For  they  had  so  contrived  the  matter, 
that  none  were  chosen  to  have   voices  in   that  Assembly,   but 

*  See  a  Note  from  Grotius,  page  21G. 


ArrENDix    D.  313 

such  as  were  sure  unto  the  side,  such  as  had  formerly  been  un- 
der the  censures  of  the  Church  for  their  inconformity,  and  had 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  King's  supremacy,  or  had  declared 
their  disaffections  to  Episcopal  Government.  And  that  the  Bi- 
shops might  have  no  encouragement  to  sit  amongst  them,  they 
cite  them  to  appear  as  criminal  persons,  libel  against  them  in 
a  scandalous  and  unchristian  manner ;  and  finally,  make  choice 
of  Henderson,  a  seditious  presbyter,  to  sit  as  moderator  or 
chief  president  in  it.  And  though  upon  the  sense  of  their  dis- 
obedience, the  assembly  was  again  dissolved  by  the  King's  pro- 
clamation ;  yet  they  continued,  as  before,  in  contempt  thereof. 
In  which  session  they  condemned  the  calling  of  Bishops,  the 
articles  of  Perth,  the  Liturgy,  and  the  Book  of  Canons,  as  in- 
consistent Avith  the  scripture,  and  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  They 
proceed  next  to  the  rejecting  of  the  five  controverted  points, 
which  they  called  Arrainianism  :  And  finally,  decreed  a  general 
subscription  to  be  made  to  these  constitutions.  For  not  con- 
forming whereunto,  the  Bishops,  and  a  great  part  of  the  regu- 
lar clergy,  are  expelled  the  country,  although  they  had  been 
animated  unto  that  refusal,  as  well  by  the  conscience  of  their 
duty,  as  by  his  Majesty's  Proclamation  which  required  it  of 
them. 

"  They  could  not  hope  that  the  King's  lenity  so  abused, 
might  not  turn  to  fury  ;  and  therefore  thought  it  was  high  time 
to  put  themselves  into  arras,  to  call  back  most  of  their  old 
soldiers  from  the  wars  in  Germany ;  and  almost  all  their  officers 
from  such  commands  in  the  Netherlands  ;*  wiiom  to  maintain, 
they  intercept  the  King's  revenue,  and  the  rents  of  the  Bi- 
shops, and  lay  great  taxes  on  the  people,  taking  up  arms  and 
ammunition  from  the  States  United,f  with  whom  they  went  ou 

*  See  Note  page  310. 

•f-  That  a  great  sympathy  should  subsist  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Scotch 
at  this  crisis,  will  not  seem  wonderful  to  those  who  consider,  that  the  ecclesi- 
astical form  of  government  in  both  countries  was  Presbyterian,  and  that 
the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  and  the  subsequent  severe  measures  of  the 
States  General,  had  rendered  Calvinism  completely  triumphant  in  Holland. 
(See  pages  '22(>,  267.)  The  author  of  the  Historical  Essay  vpon  the  Loyalty 
of  the  Presbyterians,  171.3,  says:  "  The  ecclesiastical  institution  of  Presby- 
tery does  provide  such  effectual  remedies  against  the  usurpations  and  am- 
bition of  the  clergy,  and  lays  such  foundations  for  the  liberty  of  the  subject 
in  CHURCH  MATTERS,  that  it  naturally  creates  in  people  a7i  aversion  from  all 
tyranny  and  oppression  in  the  State  also  :  Which  hath  always  made  it  odious 
in  the  eyes  of  such  princes  as  have  endeavoured  to  stretch  the  prerogatives 
above  the  laws  of  the  nation  and  liberties  of  the  subjects." 

The  decided  leaning  of  the  Dutch  towards  the  Puritans  in  their  ambitious 
undertaking  to  suppress  Arminianism  and  Episcopacy,  was  early  displayed. 
G.  J.  Vossius  makes  the  following  mention  of  it  in  a  letter  to  Grotius,  in  1642  : 
"  The  Puritanic  war  fills  many  persons  in  this  country  with  anxiety.  It  is 
not  difficult  to  learn,  from  the  prayers  that  are  offered  up  in  public,  to  which 
party  the  aflfections  of  the  Dutch  pastors  are  attracted.  Some  of  them  have 
no  doubt,  '  that  God  requires  the  work  of  Reformation  happily  to  proceed, 
'  as  it  has  auspiciously  commenced,  and  the  king's  mind  to  be  mollified.' 
Though  these  sentiments  manifest  an  accommodating  spirit;  yet  the  pastors 

A. 


314  Airr.xDix   d. 

ticket,  and  long  days  of  payment,  for  want  of  ready  money 
for  their  satisfaction.  But  all  this  had  not  served  their  turn,  if 
the  King  could  have  been  persuaded  to  have  given  them  battle, 
or  suffered  any  part  of  that  great  army  which  he  brought  against 
them,  to  lay  waste  their  country.  Whose  tenderness  when  they 
once  perceived,  and  knew  withal  how  many  friends  they  had 
about  him,  they  thought  it  would  be  no  hard  matter  to  obtain 
such  a  pacification  as  might  secure  them  for  the  present  from 
an  absolute  conquest,  and  give  them  opportunity  to  provide  bet- 
ter for  themselves  in  the  time  to  come,  upon  the  reputation  of 
being  able  to  divert  or  break  such  a  puissant  army.  And  so  it 
proved  in  the  event.  For  the  King  had  no  sooner  retired  his 
forces  both  by  sea  and  land,  and  given  his  soldiers  a  license 
to  return  to  their  several  houses,  but  the  Scots  presently  pro- 
test against  all  the  Articles  of  the  Pacification,  put  harder  pressures 
on  the  King's  party,  than  before  they  suifered,  keep  all  their  officers 
in  pay  ;  by  their  messengers  and  letters,  apply  themselves  to 
the  French  King  for  support  and  succours.  By  whom  en- 
couraged under-hand,  and  openly  countenanced  by  some  agents 
of  the  Cardinal  Richelieu,  who  then  govei*ned  all  affairs  in 
France,  they  enter  into  England  with  a  puissant  army,  mak- 
ing their  way  to  that  invasion  by  some  printed  pamphlets, 
which  they  dispersed  into  all  parts,  thereby  to  colour  their 
rebellions,  and  bewitch  the  people. 

"  And  now  [^1640^  the  English  Presbyterians  take  the  cou- 
rage to  appear  more  publickly  in  the  defence  of  the  Scots  and 
their  proceedings,  than  tliej^  bad  done  hitherto.  A  Parliament 
had  been  called  on  the  13th  of  April,  for  granting  monies  to 
maintain  the  war  against  the  Scots.  But  the  Commons  were 
so  backward  in  complying  with  the  King's  desires,  that  he 
found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  dissolving  the  Parliament, 
which  else  had  blasted  his  design,  and  openly  declared  in  fa- 
vour of  the  public  enemies.*     This  puts   the  discontented  rab- 

make  it  sufficiently  evident,  that  nothings  is  more  desirable  to  them,  than 
for  the  king  to  be  content  with  an  empty  title,  and  for  novel  doctrines  to  tri- 
umph over  those  which  can  lay  claim  to  antiquity."  After  stating  this  as  the 
grand  object  of  the  Calvinistic  combination,  he  briefly  adverts  to  the  differing 
ulterior  views  of  tlie  Independents  and  Presbyterians,  which  finally  effected 
the  overthrow  of  that  oppression  and  anarchy  which  both  parties  had  con- 
tributed to  introduce  into  the  new  Commonwealth. 

♦The  odium  of  this  measure  was,  as  usual,  ascribed  to  Archbishop  Laud  ; 
but  with  what  degree  of  truth,  the  following  statement  from  Lord  Claren- 
don's Life  will  evince : 

"  As  soon  as  the  House  was  up,  he  went  over  to  Lambeth,  to  the  Arch- 
bishop, whom  he  found  walking  in  his  garden ;  having  received  a  full 
account  of  all  that  had  passed,  from  persons  who  had  made  more  haste  from 
the  House.  He  appeared  sad  and  full  of  thoughts  ;  and  calling  the  other  to 
him,  seemed  willing  to  hear  what  he  would  say.     He  told  him,   'that  he 

•  would  not  trouble  him  with  the  relation  of  any  thing  that  had  passed,  of 

•  which  he  presumed  he  had  received  a  good  account;  tliat  his  business  was 

•  only  to  inform  him  of  his  own  fears  and  apprehensions,  and  the  observa- 

•  tion  he  had  made  upon  the  discourses  of  some  considerable  men  of  the 


APPENDIX    D.  315 

ble  into  such  a  fury,  that  they  violently  assaulted  Lambeth- 
House,  but  were  as  valiantly  repulsed  ;  and,  the  next  day,  break 
open  all  the  prisons  in  Southwark,  and  release  all  the  prisoners 
whom  they  found  committed  for  their  inconformities. 

"  The  Scots,  in  the  mean  time,  had  put  by  such  English  for- 
ces as  lay  on  the  south-side  of  the  Tyne,  at  the  passage  of  New- 
born, make  themselves  masters  of  Newcastle,  deface  the  goodly 
church  of  Durham,  bring  all  the  Countries  on  the  north-side 
of  the  Tees  under  contribution,  and  tax  the  people  to  all  pay- 
ments at  their  only  pleasure.  The  council  of  Peers,  and  a 
petition  from  the  Scots,  prepare  the  King  to  entertain  a  treaty 
with  them ;  the  managing  whereof  was  chiefly  left  unto  those 
Lords  who  had  subscribed  the  petition  before  remembered. 
But  the  third  day  of  November  coming  on  a-pace,  and  the 
commissioners  seeming  desirous  to  attend  in  parliament,  which 
was  to  begin  on  that  day,  the  treaty  is  adjourned  to  London ; 
which  gave  the  Scots  a  more  dangerous  opportunity  to  infect 
that  city,  than  all  their  emissaries  had  obtained  in  the  times 
fore-going. 

"And  though  a  convocation  were  at  that  time  [[l64il]]  sit- 
ting ;  yet  to  increase  the  miseries  of  a  falling-church,  it  is  per- 
mitted, that  a  private  meeting  should  be  held  in  the  Deanery  of 
Westminster,  to  which  some  orthodox  and  conformable  Divines 
were  called,  as  a  foil  to  the  rest,  which  generally  were  of  Pres- 
byterian or  Puritan  principles.*     By  them  it  was  proposed,  that 

'  court,  as  if  the  king  might  he  wrought  upon,  (because  there  had  not  been 
'  that  expedition  used  as  he  expected,)  speedily  to  dissolve  the  Parliament; 

*  that  he  came  only  to  beseech  him  to  use  all  his  credit  to  prevent  such  a 
'  desperate  counsel,  which  would  produce  great  mischief  to  the  king,  and  to 
'  the  church  ;  that  he  was  confident  the  House  was  as  well-constituted  and 
'  disposed,  as  ever  House  of  Commons  was,  or  would  be  ;  that  the  number  of 

*  the  disaffected  to  Church  or  State,  was  very  small ;  and  though  they  might 
'  obstruct  for  some  time  the  quick  resolving  upon  what  was  fit,  they  would 

*  never  be  able  to  pervert  their  good  inclinations  and  desires  to  serve  the 

*  king.'  The  Archbishop  heard  him  very  patiently,  and  said,  he  believed  the 
king  would  be  very  angry  at  the  way  of  their  proceedings  ;  for  that,  in  this 
conjuncture,  the  delaying,  and  denying  to  do  what  he  desired,  was  the  same 
thing  ;  and  therefore  he  believed  it  probable  that  he  would  dissolve  them  ; 
without  which  he  could  not  enter  upon  other  counsels.  That  for  his  own 
part,  he  was  resolved  to  deliver  no  opinion  ;  but  as  he  would  not  persuade 
the  dissolution,  which  might  be  attended  by  consequences  he  could  not  fore- 
see, so  he  had  not  so  good  an  opinion  of  their  affections  to  the  king  or  the 
church,  as  to  persuade  their  longer  sitting,  if  the  king  were  inclined  to  dis- 
solve them.  As  he  actually  did  on  the  4th  or  5th  of  May,  not  three  weeks 
after  their  first  meeting." 

*  These  were  the  proposals  of  the  sub-committee  of  accommodation,  one 
of  whom  was  our  Dr.  Tvvisse  ;  and  the  test,  with  two  exceptions,  were  in- 
clined either  to  the  doctrine  of  Calvin  or  to  the  Presbyterian  regimen.  From 
such  men  what  could  be  expected,  but  the  complete  establishment  of  Cal- 
vinism, and  the  extirpation  of  Arniinianism  ?  Two  of  them  had  been  mem- 
bers of  the  Dort  Synod,  and  the  majority  of  them  seem  to  have  been  favour- 
ably inclined  to  the  introduction  of  the  canons  decreed  in  that  Dutch  Assem- 
bly. (See  page  269.)  Archbishop  Usher  was  one  of  those  who  had  formerly 
supposed  a  greater  latitude  of  indulgence  might  be  allowed  to  men  who 
pleaded  conscience  in  bar  of  their  conformity  :  But  he  lived  long  enough  to 

X  2 


31G  ArrKNDix  n. 

many  passages  in  the  Liturgy  should  be  expunged,  and  others 
altered  to  the  worse  That  decency  and  reverence  in  officiat- 
ing God's  public  service,  should  be  brought  within  the  compass 
of  innovations.  That  doctrinal  Calvinism  should  be  entertain- 
ed in  all  parts  of  the  church  ;  and  all  their  Sabbath-specula- 
tions, though  contrary  to  Calvin's  Judgment,  superadded  to  it. 
But  before  any  thing  could  be  concluded  in  those  weighty  mat- 
ters, the  Commons  set  their  bill  on  foot  against  root  and  branch, 
for  putting  down  all  Bishops  and  Cathedral  Churches  ;  which 
put  a  period  to  that  meeting  without   doing  any  thing."* 

Dr.  Heylin  then  gives  a  succinct  relation  of  the  subsequent 
changes  in  Church  and  State,  the  general  truth  and  accuracy  of 
which  are  corroborated  by  the  statements  of  some  of  the  Puri- 
tans themselves.  Speaking  of  the  Liturgy,  he  says.  It  Avas 
"  not  like  to  stand,  when  both  the  Scots  and  English  Pres- 
byterians did  coiispire  against  it.  The  fame  whereof  had  either 
caused  it  totally  to  be  laid  aside,  or  performed  by  halfs  in 
all  the  counties  where  the  Scots  were  of  strength  and 
power ;  and  not  much  better  executed  in  some  Churches 
of  London,  wherein  that  faction  did  as  much  predominate, 
as  if  it  had  been  under  the  protection  of  a  Scottish  Army, 
But  the  first  great  interruption  which  was  made  at  the  offici- 
ating of  the  public  Liturgy,  was  made  upon  a  day  of  Hu- 
miliation, when  all  the  Members  of  the   House   of  Commons 

have  painful  and  ocular  demonstration,  that  religious  liberty,  even  when  it 
had  degenerated  into  licentiousness,  was  too  confined,  and  did  not  satisfy 
many  of  the  fanatics  of  that  age.  Evelyn  says,  in  his  Diary,  "  Aug.  21, 
Ifi'),'),  In  discourse  with  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  the  learned  James 
Usher,  he  told  me, — that  the  church  would  be  destroyed  by  sectaries,  who 
■would  in  all  likelihood  bring  in  Popery.  In  conclusion,  he  recommended  to 
me  the  study  of  philology  above  all  numan  studies." 

f  At  the  close  of  the  note,  page  327,  Walton  praises  God  for  having  pre- 
vented him  "  from  beingof  that  party  which  helped  to  bring  in  this  covenant 
and  those  sad  confusions  that  have  followed  it." — He  then  adds  :  "  I  have 
been  the  bolder  to  say  this  of  myself,  because  in  a  sad  discourse  with  Dr.  San- 
derson, 1  heard  him  make  the'like  grateful  acknowledgment.  The  Cove- 
nanters of  this  nation,  and  their  party  in  parliament,  made  many  exceptions 
against  the  Common  Prayer  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  and  seemed 
restless  for  another  reformation.  And  though  their  desires  seemed  not  rea- 
sonable to  the  King  and  the  learned  Dr.  Laud,  then  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  many  others  ;  yet  to  quiet  their  consciences,  and  prevent  future 
confusion,  they  3id,  in  the  year  1641,  desire  Dr.  Sanderson  to  call  two  more 
of  the  convocation  to  advise  with  him,  and  that  he  would  then  draw  up  some 
such  safe  alterations  as  he  tiiought  fit  in  the  service-book,  and  abate  some 
of  the  ceremonies  that  were  least  material,  for  satisfying  their  consciences  ; 
and  to  this  end  he  and  two  others  did  meot  together  privately  tw  ice  a  week  at 
the  Dean  of  Westminster's  house,  for  the  space  of  five  months  or  more.  But 
not  long  after  that  time,  when  Dr.  Sanderson  had  made  the  reformation 
ready  for  a  view,  the  church  and  state  were  both  fallen  into  such  a  confusion, 
that  Dr.  Sanderson's  model  for  reformation  became  tlien  useless.  Neverthe- 
less the  repute  of  his  moderation  and  wisdom  was  such,  that  he  was,  in  the 
year  1642,  proposed  by  both  houses  of  parliament  to  the  king  then  in  Oxford, 
to  be  one  of  their  trustees  for  the  settling  of  church  aft'airs,  and  was  allowed 
of  by  the  King  to  be  so;  but  that  treaty  came  to  nothing."  Walton's  Life 
of  Bishop  Sandcraon. 


AJ-PENDIX    D.  317 

were  assembled  together  at  St.  Margaret's  in  Westminster.  At 
what  time,  as  the  Pi'iest  began  the  second  service  at  the  Holy 
Table,  some  of  the  Puritans  or  Presbyterians  began  a  Psalm ; 
and  were  therein  followed  by  the  rest  in  so  loud  a  tune,  that 
the  minister  was  thereby  forced  to  desist  from  his  duty,  and 
leave  the  preacher  to  perform  the  rest  of  that  day's  solemnity. 
This  gave  encouragement  enough  to  the  rest  of  that  party  to 
set  as  little  by  the  Liturgy  in  the  country,  as  they  did  in  the 
city  ;*  especially  in  all  such  usages  and  rights  thereof,  as  they 
were  pleased  to  bring  within  the  compass  of  innovations. 

"  In  which  conjuncture  happened  the  impeachment  and  im- 
prisonment of  eleven  of  the  Bishops:  Which  made  that  bench 
so  thin,  and  the  King  so  weak,  that  on  the  6th  of  February  the 
Lords  consented  to  the  taking  away  of  their  votes  in  Parlia- 
ment. The  news  whereof  was  solemnized  in  most  places  of 
London  with  bells  and  bonfires.  Nothing  remained,  but  that 
the  King  should  pass  it  into  act  by  his  royal  assent ;  by  some 
unhappy  instrument  extorted  from  him  when  he  was  at  Canter- 
bury ;  and  signified  by  his  message  to  the  Houses  on  the  four- 
teenth of  that  month.t  Which  condescension  wrought  so  much 
unquietness  to  his  mind  and  conscience,  and  so  much  unsecure- 
ness  to  his  person,  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  that  he  could  scarce 
truly  boast  of  one  day's  felicity,  till  God  was  pleased  to  put  a 
final  period  to  his  griefs  and  sorrows.  For  in  relation  to  the 
last,  we  find  that  the  next  vote  which  passed  in  Parliament,  de- 
prived him  of  his  negative  voice,  and  put  the  whole  militia  of 
the  kingdom  into  the  hands  of  the  Houses.  Which  was  the 
first  beginning  of  his  following  miseries.     And   looking  on  him 

*  •'  And  yet  this  excellent  book  hath  had  the  fate  to  be  cut  in  pieces  with  a 
pen-knife,  and  thrown  into  the  fire  ;  but  it  is  not  consumed.  At  first  it  was 
sown  iu  tears,  and  it  is  now  watered  with  tears  ;  yet  never  was  any  holy  thing 
drowned  and  extinguished  with  tears.  It  began  with  the  martyrdom  of  the 
compilers  ;  and  the  Church  hath  been  vexed  ever  since  by  angry  spirits,  and 
she  was  forced  to  defend  it  with  much  trouble  and  unquietness.  But  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  that  all  these  storms  are  sent  but  to  increase  the  zeal  and  confi- 
dence of  the  pious  sons  of  the  Church  of  England.  Indeed  the  greatest  dan- 
ger that  ever  the  Common  Prayer  Book  had,  was  the  indifferency  and  inde- 
votion  of  them  that  used  it  but  as  a  common  blessing  :  and  they  who  thought 
it  fit  for  the  meanest  of  the  clergy  to  read  prayers,  and  for  themselves  only 
to  preach,  though  they  might  innocently  intend  it,  yet  did  not  in  that  action 
consult  the  honour  of  our  Liturgy,  except  where  charity  or  necessity  did  in- 
terpose. But  w  hen  excellent  things  go  away,  and  then  look  back  upon  us,  as 
our  blessed  Saviour  did  ipon  St.  Peter,  we  are  more  moved  than  by  the 
nearer  embraces  of  a  ful.  and  actual  possession.  I  pray  God  it  may  prove  so 
in  our  case,  and  that  we  may  not  be  too  willing  to  ne  discouraged  ;  at  least 
that  we  may  not  cease  to  love  and  to  desire  what  is  not  publicly  permitted  to 
our  practice  and  profession."  Bishop  Taylor's  Preface  to  his  Apology  for 
authorized  and  set  Forms  of  Liturgy. 

f'Theywho  loved  the  Church,  and  were  afraid  of  so  great  an  alteration  in 
the  frame  and  constitution  of  Parliament,  as  the  utter  taking  away  of  one  of 
the  three  estates  of  which  the  Parliament  is  compounded,  were  infinitely 
provoked,  and  lamented  the  passing  that  act  as  an  introduction  to  the  entire 
destruction  of  the  government  of  the  Church  and  to  the  alteration  of  the 
religion  of  the  kingdom  :    And  verv  many,  who  more  considered  the  policy 

X  3 


318  APl'liNDlX    D. 

in  the  first,  he  will  not  spare  to  let  us  know  in  one  of  his  pray-^ 
ers,  that  the  injury  which  he  had  to  the  Bishops  of  Englandj- 
did  as  much  grate  upon  his  conscience,  as  either  the  permitting 
of  a  wrong  way  of  worship  to  be  set  up  in  Scotland,  or  suf- 
fering innocent  blood  to  be  shed  under  colour  of  iustice.+ 

"  JBy  the  terror  of  that  army,  some  of  the  prevailing-mem- 
bers in  the  House  of  Commons,  forced  the  King  to  pass  the  bill 
for  triennial  Parliaments,  and  to  perpetuate  the  present  session  at 
the  will  of  the  Houses  ;  to  give  consent  for  murthering  the 
Earl  of  Strafford  with  the  sword  of  justice  ;  and  suifering  the 
Arch-bishop  of  Canterbury  to  be  banished  from  him;  to  fling 
away  the  Star-Chamber,  and  the  High-Commission,  and  the 
co-ercive  power  of  Bishops ;  to  part  with  all  his  right  to  ton- 
nage and  poundage,  to  ship-money,  and  the  Act  for  knighthood  ; 

tban  the  justice  and  piety  of  the  State,  did  ever  after  beheve,  that,  being^ 
removed  out  of  the  Parlia)ne7it,  the  preserving  them  [the  Bishops]  tn  the 
kingdom  was  not  worth  any  notable  contention.  Then  they  looked  upon  the 
king's  condescension  in  this  particular,  in  a  subject  that  all  men  knew  had 
a  wonderful  influence  upon  his  conscience,  as  a  manifestation  that  he  uwuld 
not  he  constant  in  retaining,  and  denying  any  thing  that  should  he  impe- 
tuously and  fiercely  demanded ;  which  as  it  exceedingly  confirmed  those  who 
were  engaged  in  that  party,  so  it  abated  the  courage  of  too  many  who  had 
always  opposed  them  and  heartily  detested  their  proceedings,  and  made 
them  more  remiss  in  their  attendance  at  the  House,  and  less  solicitous  for 
any  thing  that  was  done  there:  who  by  degrees  first  became  a  neutral 
party,  believing  they  should  be  safe  in  angering  no  body ;  and  when  they 
afterwards  found  no  security  in  that  indifferency,  they  adhered  to  those  whc 
they  saw  had  the  best  success  ;  and  so  \i exit  sharers  with  them,  in  their  fu- 
ture attempts,  according  to  their  several  tempers  and  inclinations." 

Lord  Clarendon  has  here  tendered  a  strong  reason  why  the  unfortunate 
monarch  was  "  deserted  at  his  utmost  need"  by  many  of  his  well-wishers, 
who  were  not  afraid  of  avowing  their  persuasion,  that  he  inherited  too  much 
of  the  wayward  instability  of  his  royal  parent's  disposition,  which  had  very 
improperly  been  designated  by  himself  and  his  courtiers,  "  tokens  of  com- 
plete king-craft." 

f  "  It  was  contrived  to  draw  petitions  accusatory  from  many  parts  of 
the  kingdom  against  episcopal  government,  and  the  promoters  of  trie  peti- 
tions were  entertained  with  great  respects;  whereas  the  many  petitions  of 
the  opposite  part,  though  subscribed  with  many  thousand  hands,  were 
slighted  and  disregarded.  Withal,  the  rabble  of  London,  after  their 
petitions  cunningly  and  upon  other  pretences  procured,  were  stirred  up  to 
come  to  the  Houses  personallj'  to  crave  justice  both  against  the  Earl  of 
Stratford  first,  and  then  against  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  lastly 
against  the  whole  order  of  Bishops  ;  which,  coming  at  first  unarmed,  were 
checked  by  some  well-willers  and  easily  persuaded  to  gird  on  their  rusty 
swords;  and,  so  accoutred,  came  by  thousands  to  the  houses,  filling  all  the 
outer  rooms,  offering  foul  abuses  to  the  Bishops  as  they  passed,  crying  out 
NO  Bishops,  no  Bishops  !  and  at  last,  after  divers  days  assembling,  grown 
to  that  height  of  fury,  that  many  of  them  came  with  resolution  of  some 
violent  courses,  in  so  much  that  many  swords  were  drawn  hereupon  at  W  est- 
minster,  and  the  rout  did  not  stick  openly  to  profess  that  they  would  pull 
the  Bishops  in  pieces.  Hereupon  the  House  of  Lords  was  moved  for  some 
order  for  the  preventing  their  mutinous  and  riotous  meetings.  Messages 
were  sent  down  to  the  House  of  Commons  to  this  purpose  more  than  once. 
Nothing  was  effected ;  but  for  the  present  (for  so  much  as  all  the  danger  was 
at  the  rising  of  the  house)  it  was  earnestly  desired  of  the  Lords  that  some 
care  might  be  taken  of  our  safety.  The  motion  was  received  by  some  Lords 
with  a  smile.    Some  other  Lords,  as  the   Earl  of  Manchester,    undertooit 


APPENDIX     D.  319 

and  by  retrenching  the  perambulation  of  his  forests  and  chases, 
to  leave  his  game  to  the  destruction  of  each  boor  or  peasant. 
And  by  the  terror  of  this  army,  they  took  upon  them  an  autho- 
rity of  voting  doAvn  the  Church's  power  in  making  of  canons,  con- 
demning^all  the  members  of  the  late  Convocation,  calumniat- 
ing many  of  the  Bishops  and  Clergy,  in  most  odious  manner, 
and  vexing  some  of  them  to  the  grave.  And  they  would  have 
done  the  like  to  the  Church  itself,  in  pulling  down  the  Bishops 
and  Cathedral  Churches,  and  taking  to  themselves  all  their  lands 
and  houses,  if  by  the  constancy  and  courage  of  the  House  of 
Peers,  they  had  not  failed  of  their  design.*     But  at  the   last,  the 

tlie  protection  of  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  his  company,  (whose  shelter 
1  went  under,)  to  their  lodgings;  the  rest,  some  of  them  by  their  long 
stay,  others  by  secret  and  far-fetched  passages  escaped  home. 

"  On  January  30,  in  all  the  extremity  of  frost,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  dark 
evening,  are  we  voted  to  the  Tower,  only  two  of  our  number  had  the  favour 
of  the  black  rod  by  reason  of  their  age,  which,  though  desired  by  a  noble 
Lord  on  my  behalf,  would  not  be  yielded.  The  news  of  this  our  crime  and 
imprisonment  soon  flew  over  the  city,  and  was  entertained  by  our  well- 
willers  with  ringing  of  bells  and  bonfires  ;  who  now  gave  us  up  (not  v/ithout 
great  triumph]  for  lost  men,  railing  on  our  perfidiousness,  and  adjudging 
us  to  vvhat  foul  deaths  they  pleased.     And  what  scurrile  and  malicious  pam- 

Ehlets  were  scattered  abroad,  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  in  foreign  parts, 
lazoning  our  infamy,  and  exaggerating  our  treasonable  practices  !  what 
insultations  of  our  adversaries  was  here  !  Being  caged  sure  enough  in  the 
Tower,  the  faction  had  now  fair  opportunities  to  work  their  own  designs. 
They  therefore,  taking  the  advantage  of  our  restraint,  renew  that  bill  of 
theirs,  (which  had  been  twice  before  rejected  since  the  beginning  of  this 
session,)  for  taking  away  the  votes  of  Bishops  in  parliament,  and  in  a  very 
thin  house  easily  passed  it :  which  once  condescended  unto,  1  know  not 
by  what  strong  importunity,  his  majesty's  assent  was  drawn  from  him 
thereunto."    Bishop  Hall's  Hard  Measure. 

*  This  is  another  proof  of  the  salutary  influence  of  this  necessary  branch 
of  the  legislature,  which,  even  in  those  days  ot  ill-defined  rights,  operated  as 
a  clieck  both  on  th**  regal  and  popular  incroachmeuts  that  were  then  in  con- 
templation. No  one  therefore  will  be  surprised  at  the  subsequent  dissoluti(m 
of  the  House  OF  Peers,  which  would  have  been  a  troublesome  appendage 
to  a  Republic,  in  the  fair  management  of  which  all  men  were  supposed  lo 
have  a  share. 

In  Lard  Clarendon's  Life,  it  is  said :  "  When  Mr.  Hyde  sat  in  the  chair, 
in  the  grand  committee  of  the  House  for  the  extirpation  of  Episcopacy,  all 
that  party  [the  Republicans]  made  great  court  to  him  ;  and  the  House 
keeping  those  disorderly  hours,  and  seldom  lising  till  after  four  of  the  clock 
in  the  afternoon,  they  frequently  importuned  him  to  dine  with  them,  at  Mr. 
Pym's  lodging,  which  was  at  Sir  Richard  Manly's  house,  in  a  little  court 
behind  Westminster  Hall;  where  he,  and  Mr.  Hambden,  Sir  Arthur 
Haslerig,  and  two  or  three  more,  upon  a  stock  kept  a  table,  where  they 
transacted  much  business;  and  invited  thither  those  of  whose  conversion 
they  had  any  hope.  One  day  after  dinner,  Nathaniel  Fiennes,  who  that  day 
likewise  dined  there,  asked  Mr.  Hyde  whether  he  would  ride  into  the  fields 
and  take  a  little  air,  it  being  a  fine  evening;  which  the  other  consenting  to, 
they  sent  for  their  horses,  and,  riding  together  in  the  fields  between  West- 
minster and   Chelsea,  Mr.  Fiennes  asked  him,   '  what  it  was  that  inclined 

*  him  to  adhere  so  passionately  to  the  Church,  which  could  not  possibly  be 
'  supported.' — He  answered,  '  that  he  could  have  no  other  obligation  than 

*  that  of  his  own  conscience  and  his  reason,  that  could  move  with  him  ;  for 

*  he  had  no  relation  or  dependence  upon  any  churchmen,  that  could  dispose 
'him  to  it;  that  he  could  not  conceive  now  religion  could  be  preserved 
'  without  Bishops,  nor  how  the  Government  of  the  State  could  well  subsist  if 


320  Ai'Tiixnix  D, 

King  prevailed  so  far  with  the  Scots  Commissioners,  that  they 
were  willing  to  retire  and  withdraw  their  forces,  upon  his  pro-^ 
mise  to  confirm  the  Acts  of  the  assembly  at  Glasgow,  and  reach 
out  such  a  hand  of  favour  unto  all  that  nation,  as  might  estate 
them  in  a  happiness  above  their  hopes.  On  this  assurance  they 
march  homewards,  and  he  followeth  after :  Where  he  consents 
to  the  abolishing  of  Bishops,  and  alienating  all  their  lands  by 
Act  of  Parliament ;  suppresseth,  by  like  Acts,  the  Liturgy,  and 
and  the  Book  of  Canons,  and  the  five  Articles  of  Perth  ;  re- 
wards the  chief  actors  in  the  late  rebellion,  with  titles,  offices, 
and  honours;  and  parts  with  so  much  of  his  royal  prerogative 
to  content  the  subjects,  that  he  left  himself  nothing  of  a  King, 
but  the  empty  name.  And,  to  sum  up  the  whole  in  brief,  in  one 
hour  he  unravelled  all  that  excellent  web,  the  weaving  whereof 
had  took  up  more  than  forty  years  ;  and  cost  his  father  and 
him  self  so  much  pains  and  treasure. 

"  His  majesty  was  informed  at  his  being  in  Scotland,  that  the 
Scots  had  neither  taken  up  arms,  nor  invadedEngland,  but  that 
they  were  encouraged  to  it  by  some  members  of  the  Houses  of 
Parliament,  on  a  design  to  change  the  Government  both  of 
Church  and  State.  In  which  he  was  confirmed  by  ike  Reinon- 
strance  of  the  state  of  the  kingdom,  presented  to  him  by  the 
Commons  at  his  first  coming  back ;  the  forcible  attempt  for 
breaking  into  the  Abbey  of  Westminster ;  the  concourse  of  se- 
ditious people  to  the  doors  of  the  Parliament,  crying  out,  that 
they  would  have  no  Bishops  nor  Popish  Lords;  and  their  tu- 
multuating  iri  a  fearful  manner,  even  at  White-Hall  Gates, 
where  they  cried  out  with  far  more  horror  to  the  hearers,   that 

*  the  government  of  the  Church  were  altered  ;  and  asked  him  what  Govern- 
'  ment  they  meant  to  introduce  in  its  place.' — To  which  he  answered,  '  that 
'there  would  be  time  enough  to  think  of  that;'  but  assured  him,  and 
wished  him  to  remember  what  he  said,  '  that  if  the  king  resolved  to  defend 
'  the  Bishops,  it  would  cost  the  kingdom  much  blood  !  and  would  be  the 

*  occasion  of  as  sharp  a  war  as  had  ever  been  in  England  :  for  that  there  was 

*  a  great  numlier  of  good  men,  who  resolved  to  lose  their  lives  before  they 
'  would  ever  submit  to  that  Government.'  Which  was  the  first  positive 
declaration  he  had  ever  heard  from  any  particular  man  of  that  party  ;  very 
few  of  them  having  at  that  time  that  resolution,  much  less  avowing  it ;  and 
if  they  had,  the  kingdom  was  in  no  degree  at  that  time  infected  with  that 
poison,  how  much  soever  it  was  spread  afterwards." 

In  a  subsequent  passage  he  states  the  substance  of  a  conversation  be- 
tween him  and  the  noted  Harry  Martin,  the  latter  of  whom  "  very  frankly 
answered,  '  that  he  thought  the  men  knaves  who  governed  the  House  [of 
'  Commons] ,  and  that  when  they  had  done  as  much  as  they  intended  to  do, 
'  they  should  be  used  as  they  had  used  others.' — The  other  pressed  him  then 
to  say  what  he  desired;  to  which,  after  a  little  pause,  he  very  roundly  an- 
swered, I  do  not  think  one  man  wise  enough  to  govei'ti  us  all :  which  was  the 
first  word  he  [Clarendon]  had  ever  heard  any  man  speak  to  that  purpose  ; 
and  would  without  doubt,  if  it  had  been  then  communicated  or  attempted, 
been  the  most  abhorred  by  the  whole  nation  of  any  design  that  could  be 
mentioned;  and  yet  it  appears  it  had  even  so  early  enteied  into  the  hearts 
of  some  desperate  persons  :  that  gentleman  being  at  that  time  possessed  of 
a  very  great  fortune,  and  having  great  cr^-dit  in  his  country." 


APPKNPIX   D.  321 

the  King  was  not  worthy  to  live ;  that  they  would  have  no 
porter's  lodge  between  him  and  them  ;  and  that  the  Prince 
would  govern  better.  Hereupon  certain  members  of  both 
Houses;  that  is  to  say,  the  Lord  Kimbolton  of  the  upper; 
Hollis  and  Haslerig,  Hampden,  Pyra,  and  Stroud,  of  the  loM'er 
House,  are  impeached  of  treason,  a  serjeant  sent  to  apprehend 
them,  and  command  given  for  sealing  up  their  trunks  and  clo- 
sets. But  on  the  contrary,  the  Commons  did  pretend  and  de- 
clared accordingly,  that  no  member  of  theirs  was  to  be  im- 
peached, arrested,  or  brought  unto  a  legal  trial,  but  by  the 
order  of  that  House  ;  and  that  the  sealing  up  of  their  trunks  or 
closets,  was  a  breach  of  privilege. 

"  Now  comes  Calvin's  doctrine  for  restraining  the  power  of 
Kings,  to  be  put  in  practice.  His  Majesty's  going  to  the  House 
of  Commons  on  the  fourth  of  January,  is  voted  for  so  high  a 
breach  of  their  rights  and  privileges,  as  was  not  to  be  salved 
by  any  retraction,  or  disclaimer,  or  any  thing  by  him  alleged  in 
excuse  thereof.  Though  his  Majesty  had  sent  them  a  most  gra- 
cious message  of  the  twentieth  of  January,  in  which  he  pro- 
mised them  to  equal  or  exceed  all  acts  of  favour  which  any  of 
his  predecessors  had  extended  to  the  people  of  England  ;*  yet 
nothing  could  secure  them  from  their  fears  and  jealousies,  un- 
less the  trained-bands,  and  the  royal  navy,  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don, and  the  rest  of  the  Forts  and  Castles,  were  put  into  such 
hands  as  they  might  confide  in.  On  this  the  King  demurs  a 
while ;  but  having  shipped  the  Queen  for  Holland,  with  the 
Princess  Mary,  and  got  the  Prince  into  his  power,  he  denies  it 
[^the  preceding  proposal^  utterly.  And  this  denial  is  reputed 
a  sufficient  reason  to  take  the  Militia  to  themselves,  and  execute 
the  powers  thereof,  without  his  consent. 

"  During  these  counter-workings  betwixt  them  and  the  King, 
the  Lords  and  Commons  plied  him  with  continual  messages  for 
his  return  unto  the  Houses ;  and  did  as  frequently  endeavour  to 
possess  the  people  with  their  remonstrances  and  declarations, 
to  his  disadvantage.  To  each  of  which,  his  Majesty  returned 
a  significant  answer,  so  handsomely  apparelled,  and  compre- 
hending in  them  such  a  strength  of  reason,  as  gave  great  satis- 

*  "  The  king  inadverteutly  resigned  a  large  portion  of  that  power  which 
is  essential  to  monarchy,  but  which  he  had  unhappily  abused  in  former  in- 
stances, by  consenting  that  this  parliament  should  never  be  dissolved  with- 
out the  concurrence  of  its  members  ;  and  thus  rendered  them  little  less 
than  absolute.  Having  also,  in  other  respects,  complied  with  their  wishes, 
he  became  indignant  at  their  proceedings,  and  expressed  his  resolution  to 
maintain  the  royal  prerogative  in  opposition  to  their  further  demands,  which 
he  contended  were  exorbitant  and  unconstitutional.  Kxposed  at  the  same 
time  to  popular  insult  in  the  metropolis,  his  Majesty  retired  to  York,  and 
prepared  for  war;  while  the  Queen  pledged  the  jewels  of  the  crown  in 
Holland,  and  with  the  money  thence  arising  furnished  him  with  arms  and 
ammunition.  Mean  time  the  parliament,  resolved  to  defend  what  they 
regarded  as  the  rights  of  the  subject,  prepared  for  resistance.  Thus  was 
the  country  involved  in  civil  discord,  and  witnessed  through  a  series  of  years 
a  lamentable  effusion  of  human  blood."    Jackson's  Life  of  Goodwin. 


3^5  APPENDIX   D. 

faction  to  all  equal  and  unbiassed  men.  None  of  these  mes- 
sages more  remarkable,  than  that  which  brought  the  nineteen 
propositions  to  his  Majesty's  hands.  In  which  it  was  desired, 
that  all  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Council,  all  the  great  Officers 
both  of  Court  and  State,  the  two  Chief  Justices,  and  the  Chief 
Barons  of  the  Exchequer,  should  be  from  thenceforth  nomi- 
nated and  approved  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament.  That  all 
the  great  affairs  of  the  Kingdom  should  be  managed  by  them, 
even  unto  the  naming  of  a  Governour  for  his  Majesty's  children, 
and  for  disposing  them  in  marriage,  at  the  will  of  the  Houses. 
That  no  Popish  Lord  (as  long  as  he  continued  such)  should 
vote  in  Parliament.  And  amongst  many  other  things  of  like 
importance,  that  he  would  give  consent  to  such  a  reformation 
of  Chui'ch-government  and  Liturgy,  as  both  the  Houses  should 
advise.  But  he  knew  well  enough,  that  to  grant  all  this,  was 
plainly  to  divest  himself  of  all  regal  power  which  God  had  put 
into  his  hands  :t  And  therefore  he  returned  such  an  answer  to 
them,  as  the  necessity  of  his  affairs,  compared  with  those  im- 
pudent demands,  did  suggest  unto  him.  But  as  for  their  de- 
mand about  reformation,  he  had  answered  it  in  part,  before 
they  made  it,  by  ordering  a  collection  of  sundry  petitions  pre- 
sented to  himself  and  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  in  behalf  of 
Episcopacy,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  Liturgy,  to  be 
printed  and  published.  By  which  petitions  it  appeared,  that 
there  was  no  such  general  disaffection  in  the  subjects,  unto 
either  of  them,  (whether  they  were  within  the  power  of  the 
Houses,  or  beyond  their  reach,)  as  by  the  faction  was  pretended  ; 
the  total  number  of  subscribers  unto  seven  of  them  only,  (the 
rest  not  being  calculated  in  the  said  collection,)  amounting  to 
four  hundred  eighty  two  Lords  and  Knights,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  forty  Esquires  and  Gentlemen  of  note,  six  hun- 
dred thirty-one  Doctors  and  Divines,  and  no  fewer  than  forty 
four  thousand  five  hundred  fifty  nine  free-holders  of  good  name 
and  note.t 

f  "  He  [Clarendon]  had  taken  more  pains  than  snch  men  use  to  do,  in 
the  examination  of  religion  ;  having  always  conversed  with  those  of  ditt'er- 
ent  op  nions  with  all  freedom  and  affection,  and  had\ery  much  kindness 
and  esteem  for  many  who  were  in  no  degree  of  his  own  judgment ;  and  upon 
all  this,  he  did  really  believe  the  Church  of  England  the  most  exactly  formed 
and  framed  for  the  encouragement  and  advancement  of  learning  and  piety, 
and  for  the  preservation  of  peace,  of  any  church  in  the  world;  that  the  tak- 
ing away  any  of  its  revenue,  and  applying  it  to  secular  uses,  was  robbery 
and  notorious  sacrilege  ;  and  that  the  diminishing  the  lustre  it  had,  and  had 
always  had,  in  the  Government,  by  removing  the  Bishops  out  of  the  House 
of  Peers,  was  a  violation  of  justice,  the  removing  a  land-mark,  and  the 
shaking  the  very  foundation  of  Government :  and  therefore  he  always  op- 
posed, upon  the  impulsion  of  coiiscience,  all  mutations  in  the  Church  ;  and 
did  always  believe,  let  the  season  or  the  circumstance  be  what  it  would,  that 
any  compliance  was  pernicious;  and  that  a  peremptory  and  obstinate 
refusal,  that  might  put  men  in  despair  of  A'hatthey  laboured  for,  and  take 
away  all  hope  of  obtaining  what  they  desired,  would  reconcile  more  persons 
to  the  Government,  than  the  gratifying  them  in  part ;  which  only  whetted 
their  appetite  to  desire  more,  and  their  confidence  in  demanding  it." 


"  It  happened  also,  that  some  Members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, many  of  his  domestic  servants,  and  not  a  few  of  the  no- 
bility and  great  men  of  the  realm,  repaired  from  several  places 
to  the  King  at  York ;  so  far  from  being  willing  to  involve 
themselves  in  other  men's  sins,  that  they  declared  the  constancy 
of  their  adhesion  to  his  Majesty's  service.  These  men  they 
branded  first  by  the  name  of  Malignants,  and  after  looked  upon 
them  in  the  notion  of  evil  councillors ;  for  whose  removing  from 
the  King  they  pretend  to  arm,  (but  now  the  stale  device  must 
be  taken  up,)  as  well  as  in  their  own  defence :  Towards  the 
raising  of  which  army,  the  Presbyterian  preachers  so  bestir 
themselves,  that  the  wealthy  citizens  send  in  their  plate,  the 
zealous  sisters  robbed  themselves  of  their  bodkins  and  thimbles, 
and  some  poor  wives  cast  in  their  wedding-rings,  like  the 
widow's  mite,  to  advance  the  service.  Besides  which,  they  set 
forth  instructions,  dispersed  into  all  parts  of  the  realm,  for 
bringing  in  of  horses,  arms,  plate,  money,  jewels,  to  be  repayed 
again  on  the  public  faith  ;  appoint  their  treasurers  for  the  war; 
and  nominate  the  Earl  of  Essex  for  their  chief  commander, 
whom  some  disgraces  from  the  court  had  made  wholly  theirs. 
Him  they  commissionate  to  bring  the  King  from  his  evil  coun- 
sellors, with  power  to  kill  and  slay  all  such  as  opposed  them 
in  it." 

The  description  given  by  Dr.  Heylin  of  the  seditious  doc- 
trines that  were  promulgated  at  that  period  by  the  Calvinists, 
is  exceedingly  piquant,  and  reminds  one  of  many  of  the  terms 
of  the  French  Revolutionists  in  our  days: 

"  It  was  also  preached  and  printed  by  the  Presbyterians  to 
the  same  effect,  (as  Buchanan  and  Knox,  Calvin  and  some  others 
of  the  sect  had  before  delivered)  '  that  all  power  was  originally 

*  in  the  people  of  a  Stale  or    Nation  ;  in    Kings   no   otherwise 

*  than  by  delegation,  or   by   way  of  trust;  which   trust  might 

*  be  recalled  when  the  people   pleased  :     That   when    the  tmde- 

*  rived  Majesty  (as  they  loved  to  phrase  it)  of  the  common  peo- 
'  pie  was  by  their  voluntary  act  transferred  on  the  supreme 
'  Magistrate,  it  rested  on  that  Magistrate  no  otherwise  than 
'  cumidative  ;  but  privative  by  no  means,  in  reference  unto  them 

*  that  gave  it :     That  though  the  King  was  Major   singulis,  yet 

*  he  was  Minor  universis;  superior  only  unto  any  one,  but  far 
'  inferior  to  the  whole  body  of  the  people  :     That  it  was  lawful 

*  for  the  subjects  to  resist  their  Princes,  even  by   force  of  arms, 

*  and  to  raise   armies  also,  if  need  required,  for  the  preservation 

*  of  religion,  and  the  common  liberties.t  And  finally,  (for  what 

f  On  no  point  did  the  Calvinists  of  that  a^e  render  themselves  so  vulnerable 
to  the  attacks  of  the  Papists,  as  ou  this  of  bearing  arms  against  governors. 
What  a  paltry  excuse  for  rebellion  Richard  Baxter  makes,  when  he  says,  in 
his  Key  for  Catholics  :  "  They  will  tell  us  of  our  ivar,  and  killing'  the  king^ 
in  England.  But  of  this  I  have  given  them  their  answer  before.  ^I'o  which 
I  add,  (I .}  'file  Protestant  doctrine  expressed  in  the  confessions  of  all  their 


324  APPENDIX    D. 

else  can  follow  such  dangerous  premises  ?)  that  Kings  being 
*  only  the  sworn  officers  of  the  commonwealth,  they  might  be 
'  called  to  an  account,  and  punished  in  case  of  mal-adminis- 
'  tration,  even  to  imprisonment,  deposition,  and  to  death  it* 
'  self,  if  lawfully  convicted  of  it.'  But  that  which  served 
their  turns  best,  was  a  new  distinction  which  they  had  coined 
between  the  Pcrso7ial  and  Political  capacity  of  the  supreme  Ma- 
gistrate ;  alledging,  that  the  King  was  present  with  the  Houses 
of  Parliament,  in  his  Political  capacity,  though  in  his  Personal 
at  ^ork ;  that  they  might  fight  against  the  King  in  his  Personal 
capacity,  though  not  in  his  Politic,  and  consequently  might 
destroy  Charles  Stuart  without  hurting  the  King.  This  was 
good  Presbyleriaii  doctrine ;  but  not  so  edifying  at  York  as  it 
was  at  Westminster.  For  his  Majesty  finding  a  necessity  to 
defend  Charles  Stuart,  if  he  desired  to  save  the  King,  began 
to  entertain  such  forces  as  repaired  unto  him,  and  put  himself 
into  a  posture  of  defence  against  all  his  adversaries." 

That  such  doctrines  should  induce  a  consonant  practice,  is 
not  at  all  wonderful.  One  instance  of  which  Dr.  Heylin  gives 
in  his  account  of  the  Fight  at  Brentford :  "  Out  of  which  town 
he  beat  two  of  their  choicest  regiments,  sunk  many  pieces  of 
cannon,  and  much  ammunition,  put  many  of  them  to  sword 
in  the  heat  of  the  fight,  and  took  about  five  hundred  prisoners 
for  a  taste  of  his  mercy.  For,  knowing  well  how  miserably 
they  had  been  mis-guided,  he  spared  their  lives ;  and  gave  them 
liberty  on  no  other  conditions,  but  only  the  taking  of  their 
oaths  not  to  serve  against  him.     But  the   Houses  of  Parliament, 

Churches,  and  in  the  coustant  stream  of  their  writers,  is  for  obedieuce  to  the 
Sovereign  powers,  and  against  resisting  them  upon  any  pretences  of  heresy 
or  excomtnunication,  or  such  like.  (2.)  The  wars  in  England  were  raised 
between  a  king  and  parliament,  that,  joined  together,  did  constitute  the 
higlifst  power ;  and  upon  the  lamentable  division,  (occasioned  by  the 
Papists,)  the  people  were  many  of  them  uncertain  which  part  was  the  higher 
and  of  greatest  authority  :  some  thought  the  king,  and  others  thought  the 
parliament,  as  being  the  representative  body  of  the  people  (in  whom  foW- 
ticians  say  is  the  yJ/rt/es^a-s 'ye«7i.9,J  and  the  highest  judicature,  and  having 
the  chief  part  in  legislation  and  declaration  what  is  just  or  unjust,  what  is 
law  and  what  m  against  law.  Had  we  all  been  resolved  in  England  which 
side  was  by  law  the  higher  pou'er,  here  had  been  no  war.  So  that  here  was 
no  avowed  resisting  of  the  higher  powers.  None  but  a  parliament  could 
have  drawn  an  army  of  Protestants  here  under  their  banner.  (3.)  And 
withal  that  very  parliament  (consisting  of  nobles,  knights,  gentlemen  and 
lawyers,  who  all  declared  to  the  people,  that  by  law  they  were  bound  to 
obey  and  assist  them,)  did  yet  profess  to  take  up  offensive  arms  only  against 
delinquents,  or  rather,  even  but  defensive  against  those  men  that  had  got 
an  army  to  secure  them  from  justice  :  and  they  still  professed  and  avowed 
fidelity  to  the  king."  The  sophistry  of  this  reasoning  is  exposed  in  an- 
other part  of  the  Appendix.  But  the  phrase  of  "  not  resisting  the  sovereign 
povyers  upon  any  pretences  oi  heresy,  excomnnmication,  or  such-like,"  is  an 
artifice  too  palpable  to  be  overlooked  :  For  these  alleged  crimes  were  not 
among  the  "pretences"  usually  adduced  bj' the  Calvinists  of  that  age,  as 
palliations  for  the  murder  of  their  lawful  monarch.  Eut  it  must  be  recol- 
lected, that  Baxter  wrote  this  paragraph  about  a  year  prior  to  the  Restoration. 
Between  several  of  his  statements  and  arguments  hefnre  and  after  that 
event,  any  person  may  easily  discover  a  marvellous  discrepancy. 


APrENDIX    D.  325 

being  loath  to  lose  so  many  good  men,  appointed  Mr.  Stephen 
Marshall,  (a  principal  zealot  at  that  time  in  the  cause  of  Pres- 
bytery) to  call  them  together,  and  to  absolve  them  from  that 
oath  :  Which  he  performed  with  so  much  confidence  and  autho- 
rity, that  the  Pope  himself  could  scarce  have  done  it  with  the 
like."* 

*  What  reply  do  the  defenders  of  the  Puritans  give  to  this  statement, 
which  is  confirmed  by  that  of  two  eminent  historians  of  that  period  ?  One 
of  those  defenders  says  :  *'  This  has  all  the  appearance  of  forgery. — Priestly 
absolution  was  as  remote  as  possible  from  the  practices  of  the  Puritans  ;  and 
they  rejected  all  claims  to  the  power  of  it,  with  the  utmost  abhorrence.  The 
Parliament's  army,  at  the  same  time,  stbod  in  so  little  need  of  these  pri- 
soners, which  were  07ifi/  150  men,  that  there  is  good  reason  to  suspect  the 
whole  account  to  be  a  falsehood." — What  a  pitiful  evasion  !  "  Because 
the  Puritans  Te]ected  vriest/t/  absolution,  the  whole  account  is  a  falsehood  :" 
Excellent  logician  !  Yet  this  is  the  method  adopted  by  Brook,  in  his  Lwes 
of  the  Puritans,  io  extenuate  the  crimes  of  such  blood-thirsty  fanatics  as 
Marshall.  In  the  absence  of  all  historic  testimony  even  from  the  greatest 
admirers  of  his  author,  this  famous  biographer,  in  his  sketch  of  Marshall's 
Life,  affords  us  glaring  instances  of  this  luminous  mode  of  ratiocination. 

This  is  another  :  Lord  Clarendon  had  said,  in  reference  to  the  ministers' 
petition,  presented  to  Parliament,  "  The  petition  itself  was  cut  off,  and  a  new 
one  of «  z'ery  different  nature  annexed  to  the  long  list  of  names  :  And  when 
some  of  the  ministers  complained  to  Mr.  Marshall,  with  whom  the  petition 
was  lodged,  that  tkeij  never  saw  the  petition  to  tvhich  their  names  were 
annexed,  but  had  signed  another  petition  against  the  canons,  Mr.  Marshall 
replied,  '  that  it  was  thought  fit,  by  those  who  understood  the  business  better 
'  than  they,  that  the  latter  petition  should  be  preferred,  rather  than  the 
*  former.'  "  (Hist,  i,  239.) — What  is  Mr.  Brook's  answer  ?  "  This,  indeed, 
is  a  charge  of  a  very  high  nature,  and  ought  to  have  been  well  substantiated. 
Why  did  not  the  ministers  complain  to  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
House  of  Commons  to  enquire  into  their  regular  methods  of  procuring  hands 
to  petitions?  The  learned  historian  answers,  ikx^'ithey  were 'prevailed  upon 
to  sit  still  and  pass  it  by  :  For  the  truth  of  which  we  have  only  his  lordship's 
word,  as  nothing  of  the  kind  appears  in  Rushworth,  Whitlocke,  or  any  other 
impartial  writer  oi\\\oi><i\Am&s.  The  whole  affair  has,  therefore,  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  mere  forgery,  designed  to  blacken  the  memory  of  Mr.  Marshall 
and  the  rest  of  the  Puritans." 

Omitting  all  animadversion  on  the  expression  07ily  his  lordship's  word, 
(though  for  "  unbending  veracity"  Lord  Clarendon's  name  is  celebrated 
throughout  Europe,)  omitting  likewise  any  allusion  to  Rushworth  and  Whit- 
locke as  "impartial  writers,"  one  might  ask  Mr.  Brook,  if,  in  our  own 
reforming-  age,  he  never  read  or  heard  of  such  an  exchange  being  effected 
between  two  petitions  "  of  a  very  different  nature."  But  if  his  recollection 
will  not  furnish  him  with  fit  precedents  in  the  modern  history  of  petitioning, 
I  will  furnish  him  with  one  of  a  more  ancient  date.  It  is  in  reference  to  the 
famous;  Presbyterian  Testimony  to  the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  which  some 
mention  has  been  made,  page  305,  and  concerning  which  it  is  said  in 
J  ACKSOfi's  Life  of  John  Goodwin:  "  Verydishonourable  collusion  was  prac- 
tised in  obtaining  signatures  to  this  objectionable  document.  In  the  copy 
that  was  laid  before  Mr.  John  Downame,  and  to  which  he  affixed  his  name, 
no  mention  was  made  either  of  Dr.  Hammond  or  of  Mr.  Goodwin  ;  their 
reputed  errors  and  heresies  being  foisted  in  afterwards.  It  happened  un- 
luckily, that  Downame  had  licensed  the  Doctor's  book  for  publication,  and 
thus  recommended  it  to  general  perusal.  When  he  therefore  found,  that, 
by  a  manoeuvre  of  his  Presbyterian  friends,  he  was  made  to  condemn  as 
heretical  a  work  to  which  he  had  given  his  public  sanction,  he  complained 
bitterly  of  their  disingenuous  conduct.  Others  of  the  subscribers,  one  would 
hope  for  their  own  credit,  were  imposed  upon  in  the  same  manner." 

On  the  most  flimsy  foundation  of  Mr.  Brook's  assertion  or  suspicion,  rest 
many  other  of    his  palliations  and  defences  of  Mr.  Marshall,  who  might 


326  Al'l'ENDIX    D. 

The  Doctor  afterwards  states  the  varied  success  of  each  of 
the  parties  in  the  subsequent  campaign,  the  failure  of  the  Ox- 
ford treaty,  and  the  excesses  of  the  soldiery  in  defacing  the 
cathedral  churches  of  Winchester,  Canterbury,  Rochester,  and 
Chichester,  He  then  adds:  "  The  King  lost  Reading  in  thespring, 
received  the  Queen  triumphantly  into  Oxon  within  a  few 
•weeks  after,  by  whom  he  was  supplied  with  such  a  considera- 
ble stock  of  arms  and  other  necessaries,  as  put  him  into  a  con- 
dition to  pursue  the  war.  This  summer  makes  him  master  of 
the  North  and  West ;  the  North  being  wholly  cleared  of  the 
enemy's  forces,  but  such  as  seemed  to  be  imprisoned  in  the 
Town  of  Hull.  And  having  lost  the  cities  of  Bristol  and  Exon, 
no  towns  of  consequence  in  the  West  remained  firm  unto  them, 
but  Pool,  Lime,  and  Plymouth :  so  that  the  leading  members 
■were  upon  the  point  of  forsaking  the  kingdom  ;  and  had  so  done, 
(as  it  was  generally  reported,  and  averred  for  certain,)  if  the 
King  had  not  been  diverted  from  his  march  to  London,  upon 
a  confidence  of  bringing  the  strong  city  of  Gloucester  to  the  like 
submission.  This  gave  them  time  to  breathe  a  little,  and  to 
advise  upon  some  course  for  their  preservation ;  and  no  course 
■was  found  fitter  for  them,  than  to  invite  the  Scots  to  their 
aid  and  succour,  whose  amity  they  had  lately  purchased 
at  so  dear  a  rate.  But  that  which  proved  the  ston- 
gest  temptation  to  engage  them  [[the  Scots^  in  it,  "was  an 
assurance  of  reducing  the  Church  of  England  to  an  exact  con- 
formity, in  government  and  forms  of  worship,  to  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland  ;*  and  gratifying  their  revenge  and  malice,  by  prose- 
easily  be  convicted  on  the  sole  unbiassed  testimony  of  his  own  sermons  and 
letters,  of  being,  what  Echard  styles  him,  "  a  famous  incendiary,  and 
"  assistant  to  the  Parliamentarians  ;  their  trumpeter  in  their  fasts,  their 
"  confessor  in  their  sickness,  their  counsellor  in  their  assemblies,  their 
"  chaplain  in  their  treaties,  and  their  champion  in  their  disputations  !" 

*  Hear  Master  Robert  Baylie,  minister  at  Glasgow,  and  one  of  the  Scottish 
Commissioners  to  the  Assembly  of  Dk'ines  at  Westminster, — a  man  in  every 
respect  worthy  of  being  associated  with  his  intolerant  compeer  Rutherford, 
v/ho'iQ  doctr'mes  of  co-e7-cionhdi\ii  been  so  ably  exposed  in  Bishop  Heber's 
edifying  Life  of  Dr.  Jeremy  Taylor. — In  the"  First  Part  of  his  '  Dissuasive 
from  the  Errors  of  the  Times,'  published  by  Authority  in  1645,  Baylie 
says:  "  But  so  long  as  Divine  dispensatiou  besets  our  habitations  both  spi- 
ritual and  temporal,  the  Church  no  less  than  the  State,  with  great  numbers 
of  daring  and  dangerous  adversaries,  we  must  be  content,  according  to  the 
call  of  the  prophet  Joel  in  another  case,  '  to  prepare  war,  to  beat  our  plough- 
shares into  swords,  and  our  pruning-hooks  into  spears  ;'  in  this  juncture  of 
time  the  faint  must  take  courage,  'and  the  weak  say,  I  am  strong.' — It  seems 
that  yet  for  some  time  the  servants  of  God  must  earnestly  contend  for  many 
precious  truths,  which  erroneous  spirits  do  mightily  impugn:  for  the  help 
and  encouragement  of  others  in  that  warfare,  I,  though  among  the  weakest 
of  Christ's  soldiers,  do  offer  these  my  endeavours." 

He  then  depicts  the  flourishing  stateof  the  Church,  provided  she  would  cor- 
dially embrace  the  Presbyterian  discipline  :  "Let  England  once  be  counte- 
nanced, by  her  superior  powers,  to  enjoy  the  justand  necessary  liberty  of  Con- 
sistories for  congregations,  of  Presbyteries  for  Counties,  of  Synods  for  larger 
shires,  and  National  Assemblies  for  the  whole  land, — as  Scotland  hath  long 
)>os!iCssed  these  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  King  and  Parliaincut  without  the 


APPENDIX    O.  327 

cuting  the  Arch-bishop  of  Canterbury  to  the  end  of  his  trage- 
dy. For  compassing  which  ends,  a  solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant is  agreed  between  them ;  first  taken  and  subscribed  to, 
by  the  Scots  themselves  ;  and  afterwards  by  all  the  Members 
in  both  Houses  of  Parliament ;  as  also,  by  the  principal  officers 
of  the  army,  all  the  Divines  of  the  Assembly,  almost  all  those 
which  lived  within  the  lines  of  communication,  and  in  the  end 
by  all  the  subjects  which  either  were  within  their  power,  or 
made  subject  to  it.*  Now  by  this  covenant  the  party  was  to 
bind  himself,  amongst  other  things,  first,  '  that  he  would  en- 
'  deavour,  in  his  place  and  calling,  to   preserve   the    Reformed 

*  religion  in  Scotland,  in    doctrine,  discipline,  and  government : 

*  That  he  would  endeavour,  in  like  manner,  the  reformation  of 

*  religion  in  the  kingdoms  of  England  and  Ireland,  according  to 

*  the  word  of  God,  and  the  example  of  the  best  reformed 
'  churches ;  but  more  particularly,  to  bring  the  churches  of  God 
'  in  all   the  three  kingdoms  to  the  nearest  conjunction  and  uni- 

*  formity  in   religion,  &c.     Secondly,  That   Avithout  respect  of 

*  persons  they  would  endeavour  to   extirpate  Popery   and  Pre- 

*  lacy  ;t  &c.     And  thirdly.  That  he  would  endeavour   the  dis- 

least  prejudice  to  the  civil  State,  but  to  the  evident  and  confessed  benefit 
thereof;  or  as  the  very  Protestants  in  France,  by  the  concession  of  a  Popish 
State  and  King,  have  enjoyed  all  these  four  spiritual  courts  the  last  fourscore 
years  and  above  : — Put  these  holv  and  Divine  instruments  in  the  hand  of 
the  Church  of  England ;  by  the  blessing'  of  God  thereupon,  the  sore  and 
great  evil  of  so  many  heresies  and  schisms  shall  quickly  be  cured,  which 
now  not  only  troubles  the  peace  and  welfare,  but  hazards  the  very  subsist- 
ence both  of  church  and  kingdom.  Without  this  mean,  the  Slate  will  toil 
itself  in  vain  about  the  cure  of  such  spiritual  diseases." 

*  "  And  to  that  end,  the  presbyterian  party  of  this  nation  did  again,  in 
the  year  l(i43,  invite  the  Scotch  covenanters  back  into  England  :  and  hither 
they  came  marching  with  it  gloriously  upon  their  pikes,  and  in  their  hats 
with  this  motto,  For  the  Crown  and  Covenant  of  both  Kingdoms  !  This  I 
saw  and  sufiFered  by  it.  But  when  I  look  back  upon  the  ruin  of  families,  the 
blood-shed,  the  decay  of  common  honesty,  and  how  the  former  piety  and 
plain  dealing  of  this  now  sinful  nation  is  "turned  into  cruelty  and  cunning! 
when  I  consider  this,  I  praise  God  that  he  prevented  me  from  being  of  that 
party  which  helped  to  bring  in  this  covenant,  and  those  sad  confusions  that 
nave  followed  it."     Walton's  Life  of  Sanderson. 

t  The  reader  will  by  this  time  have  become  acquainted  with  the  implied 
signification  of  these  expressions.  To  give  him  a  better  view  of  this  subject, 
I  copy  the  following  paragraph  from  the  Remonstraiice  of  the  Commons, 
1628  :  "  And  as  our  fear  concerning  change  or  subversion  of  religion,  is 

grounded  upon  the  daily  increase  of  Papists, so  are  the  hearts  of  your 

good  subjects  no  less  perpleved,  when  with  sorrow  they  behold  a  daily 
growth  and  spreading  of  the  faction  of  the  Armiuians,  that  being,  as  your 
Majesty  well  knows,  a  cunning  way  to  bring  in  Popery,  and  the  professors 
of  those  opinions  [are]  the  common  disturbers  of  the  Protestant  churches, 
and  incendiaries  in  those  states  wherein  they  have  gotten  any  head,  being 

Protestants  in  show  but  Jesuits  in  opinion Who,  notwithstanding, 

are  much  favoured  and  advanced,  not  wanting  friends  even  of  the  clergymen  . 
to  your  Majesty,  namely.  Dr.  Neale,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Dr.  L,aud, 
Bishop  of  Bath  and  Weils,  who  are  justly  suspected  to  be  unsound  in  their 
opinions  that  way.  And  it  being  now  generally  held  the  way  to  preferment 
and  promotion  in  the  church,  many  scholars  do  bend  the  course  of  their 
studies  to  maintain  those  errors." 


328  APPENDIX    D. 

'  covery  of  such  as  have  been,  or  shall  be  incendiaries,  malig- 
'  nants,  and  evil  instruments,  either  in  hindering  the  reforma- 
*  tion  of  religion,  or  in  dividing  between  the  King  and  his 
^  people,  &c.'  Of  which  three  articles,  the  two  first  tended  to 
the  setting  up  of  their  dear  Presbyteries ;  the  last,  unto  the 
prosecution  of  the  late  Arch-bishop,  whom  they  considered  as 
their  jri-eatest  and  most  mortal  enemy.* 

"  The  terror  of  this  covenant,  and  the  severe  penalty  imposed 
on  those  which  did  refuse  it,t  compelled  great  numbers  of  the 
Clergy  to  forsake  their  benefices,  and  to  betake  themselves  to 
such  towns  and  garrisons  as  were  kept  under  the  command  of 
his  Majesty's  forces ;  whose  places  were  in  part  supplied  by 
such  Presbyterians  who  formerly  had  lived  as  lecturers  or 
trencher-chaplains:  or  else  bestowed  upon  such  zealots  as 
flocked  from  Scotland  and  New-England,  like  vultures  and 
other  birds  of  rapine,  to  seek  after  the  prey.  But  finding  the 
deserted  benefices  not  proportionable  to  so  great  a  multitude, 
they  compelled  many  of  the  [^Episcopal^  clergy  to  forsake 
their  houses,  that  so  they  might  avoid  imprisonment  or  some 
worse  calamity.^     Others  they  sent  to   several   gaols,  or   shut 

The  authors  of  this  Remonstrance  must  have  been  cunning  men  indeed 
to  know  in  what  single  European  State  the  Arminians,  at  that  period,  (1628) 
"  had  gotten  any  head."  1  know  of  none,  except  England;  and  whattheir 
condition  was  in  this  country,  will  be  the  subject  of  a  subsequent  inquiry. 

*  "  And  about  this  time  the  bishop  of  Canterbury  having  been  by  an  un- 
known law  condemned  to  die,  and  the  execution  suspended  for  some  days, 
many  citizens,  fearing  time  and  cool  thoughts  might  procure  his  pardon, 
became  so  maliciously  impudent  as  to  shut  up  their  shops,  *  professing  not 
to  open  them  till  justice  was  executed.'  This  malice  and  madness  is  scarce 
credihle,  but  Isaw  it."   Isaac  Walton. 

f  "  July  23,   1643.    The  Covenant  being  pressed,  I  absented  myself  ;  but 
finding  it  impossible  to  evade  the  doing  very  unhandsome  things,  1  obtained  ] 
a  licence  of  his  Majesty,  dated  at  Oxford  and  signed  by  the  King,  to  travel 
again."    Evelyn's  Diary, 

X  "  For  myself,  addressing  myself  to  Norwich,  whither  it  was  his  majesty's 
pleasure  to  remove  me,  I  was  at  the  first  received  with  more  respect,  than 
in  such  times  I  could  have  expected.  There  I  preached  the  day  after  my 
arrival  to  a  numerous  and  attentive  people  ;  neither  was  sparing  of  my 
pains  in  this  kind  ever  siuce,  till  the  times,  ^rowin^  every  day  more  impa- 
tient of  a  bishop,  threatened  my  silencing.  'Inere,  tnough  with  some  secret 
murmurs  of  disaffected  persons,  I  enjoyed  peace  till  the  ordinance  of  seques- 
tration came  forth,  which  was  in  the  latter  end  of  March  following.  Then 
when  I  was  in  hope  of  receiving  the  profits  of  the  foregoing  half  year,  for  the 
maintenance  of  my  family,  were  all  my  rents  stopped  and  diverted,  and  in 
the  April  following  came  the  sequestrators,  viz.  Mr.Sotherton,  Mr.  Tooly, 
Mr.  Rawly,  Mr.  Greeuewood,  &c.  to  the  palace,  and  told  me  that  by  virtue 
of  an  ordinance  of  parliament  they  must  seize  upon  the  palace,  and  all  the 
estate  [  had,  both  real  and  personal,  and  accordingly  sent  certain  men  appointed 
by  them,  (whereof  one  had  been  burned  in  the  hand  for  the  mark  of  his 
truth,)  to  apprize  all  the  goods  that  were  in  the  house,  which  they  accord- 
ingly executed  with  all  diligent  severity,  not  leaving  so  much  as  a  dozen  of 
trenchers,  or  my  children's  pictures  out  of  their  curious  inventory.  Yea  they 
■would  have  apprized  our  very  wearing  clothes,  had  not  Alderman  Tooly 
and  Sheriff  Raw  ley  declared  their  opinion  to  the  contrary.  These  goods, 
both  library  and  household  stuff  of  all  kinds,  were  appointed  to  be  exposed 
tojiublic  sale.    Much  enquiry  there  was   when  the  goods  should  be  brought 


APPENDIX    D.  329 

them  up  in  ships  whom  they  exposed  to  storms  and  tempests, 
and  all  the  miseries  which  a  wild  sea  could  give  to  a  languish- 
ing stomach.*  And  some  again  they  sequestered  under  colour  of 

to  the  market;  but  in  the  meantime  Mrs.  Goodwin,  a  religious  good  gentle- 
woman, whom  yet  we  had  never  known  or  seen,  being  moved  with  com- 
passion, very  kindly  offered  to  lay  down  to  the  sequestrators  that  whole  sum 
which  the  goods  were  valued  at;  and  was  pleased  to  leave  them  in  our 
hands  for  our  use,  till  we  might  be  able  to  repurchase  them  ;  which  she  did 
accordingly,  and  had  the  goods  formally  delivered  to  her  by  Mr.  Smith,  and 
Mr.  Greenewood,  two  sequestrators.  As  for  the  books,  several  stationers 
looked  on  them,  but  were  not  forward  to  buy  them;  at  last  Mr.  Cook,  a 
worthy  divine  of  this  diocese,  gave  bond  to  the  sequestrators,  to  pay  to  them 
the  whole  sum  whereat  they  were  set,  which  was  afterwards  satisfied  out  of 
that  poor  pittance  that  was  allowed  me  for  my  maintenance. 

"  Yet  still  1  remained  in  my  palace  though  with  but  a  poor  retinue  and 
means ;  but  the  house  was  held  too  good  for  me  :  many  messages  were  sent 
by  Mr.  Corbet  to  remove  me  thence.  The  first  pretence  was,  that  the  com- 
mittee, who  now  was  at  charg'e  for  an  house  to  sit  it  in,  might  make  their 
daily  session  there,  being  a  place  both  more  public,  roomy,  and  chargeless. 
Out  we  must,  and  that  in  three  weeks'  warning,  by  miasumnier-day  then 
approaching,  so  as  we  might  have  lain  in  the  street  for  ought  I  know,  had 
not  the  providence  of  God  so  ordered  it,  that  a  neighbour  in  the  close,  one 
Mr.  Gostiin,  a  widower,  v/as  content  to  void  his  house  for  us. 

"  This  hath  been  my  measure,  wherefore  I  know  not ;  Lord,  thou  knowest, 
who  only  canst  remedy,  and  end.  and  forgive  or  avenge  this  horrible  op- 
pression."— Bishop  Hall's  Hard  Measure. 

*  "  Dr.  William  Beal,  master  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  being 
active  in  gathering  the  University  plate  for  his  Majesty,  was  (with  the  ex- 
cellent Dr.  Sterne,  now  Lord  Archbishop  of  York)  sent,  surrounded  in  their 
respective  colleges,  carried  to  London  in  triumph,  in  which  persecution 
there  was  this  circumstance  remarkable : — ^That  though  there  was  an  ex- 
press order  from  the  Lords  for  their  imprisonment  in  the  tower,  which  met 
them  at  Tottenham  high-cross,  (wherein,  notwithstanding,  there  was  no 
crime  expressed,)  yet  they  were  led  captive  through  Bartholomew-fair,  and 
so  as  far  Temnle-bar,  and  back  through  the  city  into  the  tower,  on  purpose 
that  they  miglit  be  hooted  at  or  stoned  ;  and  so  for  three  years  together 
hurried  from  prison  to  prison,  (after  they  were  plundered  and  sequestered, 
two  words  which  signify  an  Mwrfoiw^",)  without  any  legal  charge  against  them, 
or  trial  of  them  ;  it  being  supposed  surely  that  they  would  be  famished  at 
land,  and  designed  that  they  should  be  stifled  when  kept  ten  days  under 
deck  at  sea,  or,  all  failing,  to  be  sent  as  galley-slaves  to  Algiers,  till  this 
worthy  person  was  exchanged,  and  had  liberty  to  go  to  Oxford  to  serve  his 
Majesty  there,  as  he  had  done  here,  by  a  good  example,  constant  fasts  and 
prayers,  exact  intelligence,  convincing  and  comfortable  sermons,  as  be  did 
all  the  while  he  lived;  till  his  heart  broke  to  see  (what  he  always  feared, 
and  endeavoured  in  vain  to  persuade  the  moderate  part  of  the  other  side  of) 
his  Majesty  murdered,  and  he  died  suddenly  with  these  words  in  his  mouth, 
(which  thestanders-by  understood  with  reference  to  the  state  of  the  public, 
as  well  as  the  condition  of  his  own  private  person,)  I  believe  the  resur- 
rection. When  Dr.  Edward  Martin  was  Masterof  Queen's  College,  he  was  as 
much  persecuted  by  the  faction  for  six  or  seven  years  from  Cambridge  to 
Ely- house,  thence  to  ship-board,  and  thence  to  the  Fleet,  with  the  same 
disgrace  and  torment  I  mentioned  before  in  Dr.  Beal's  life,  for  being 
active  in  sending  the  University  plate  to  the  King,  and  in  undeceiving 
people  about  the  proceedings  of  the  pretended  parliament,  that  is,  in  send- 
ing to  the  King  that  which  should  have  been  plundered  by  his  enemies  ;  and 
preaching  as  much  for  him  as  others  did  against  him.  His  sufferings  were 
both  the  smarter  and  the  longer,  because  he  would  not  own  the  usurpation 
so  much  as  to  petition  it  for  favour,  being  unwilling  to  own  any  power  they 
had  to  imprison  him,  by  any  address  to  them  to  release  him. 
"And  when  in  a  throng  of  other  prisoners  he  had  his  liberty,  he  chose  to  be 
an  exile  beyond  sea  at  Paris,  rather  than  submit  to  the  tumult  at  home  at 

Y 


330  Ari'EXDlX     D. 

scandal,  imputing  to  them  such  notorious  and  enoi'mouS  crimes, 
as  would  have  rendered  them  uncapable  of  life,  as  well  as  liv- 
ings, if  they  had  been  proved.  But  that  which  added  the 
most  weight  to  these  oppressions,  was  the  publishing  of  a  mali- 
cious and  unchristian  pamphlet,  entitled,  The  Jirst  century  of 
scandalous    and  malignant   Piiests:*    which    whether   it   were 

London  or  Cambridge.  If  he  was  too  severe  against  the  Presbyteries  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  [abroad],  which  they  set  up  out  of  necessity,  it  was  out 
of  just  indiguatioti  against  the  Presbytery  of  England  which  set  up  itself 
i)iii  of  schism.  And  when  he  thought  it  unlawful  for  a  gentleman  of  the 
Church  of  England  to  marry  a  French  Presbyterian,  it  was  because  he  was 
transported  by  the  oppression  and  outrage  of  the  English.  But  being  many 
years  beyond  sea,  he  neither  joined  with  the  Calvinists,  nor  kept  any  com- 
munion with  the  Papists ;  but  n-onfined  himself  to  a  congregation  of  old 
English  and  primitive  Protestants  ;  where,  by  his  regular  life  and  good 
doctrine,  he  reduced  some  recusants  to,  and  confirraeJ  more  doubters  in, 
the  Protestant  religion,  so  defeating  the  jealousies  of  his  foes,  and  exceeding 
the  expectation  of  his  friends.  Returning  with  his  Majesty,  in  lfi60,  he  was 
restored   to  his  own  preferments."     Lloyd's  fforthies. 

*  In  no  part  of  their  mystification  of  plain  matters-of-fact  have  the  Cal- 
vinists failed  so  completely,  as  in  this  concerning  scandalous  ministers. 
Allusion  has  been  made  to  it  in  a  pieceding  page,  302  ;  and  it  may  be  satis- 
factorily proved,  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  that,  in  many  of  the  instances 
adduced,  no  foundation  whatever  existed  for  the  crimes  alleged.  When 
parishioners  were  invited  to  bring  accusations  before  a  partial  Committee, 
many  of  them,  preferring  gain  to  godliness,  viewed  the  minister  of  their 
parish  in  the  sole  light  ot  the  receiver  of  their  tythes,  and  often  invented 
false  statements  concerning  men  of  the  greatest  talents  and  piety.  But  several 
of  these  sanguine  farmers  shared  the  common  fateof  ignorant  reformers  ;  for, 
the  Presbyterian  and  other  sectarian  ministers  that  were  inducted  into  the 
sequestered  livings,  soon  manifested  a  greater  fondness  for  their  tythes  and 
other  rights  of  the  church  than  their  ejected  predecessors,  and  were  guilty 
of  as  grievous  exactions  as  those  of  which  they  had  complained  in  the  con- 
duct of  others. — In  the  following  extract  from  Baxter's  Kty  for  Catholics, 
written  while  he  enjoyed  the  benefice  of  an  episcopal  divine,  whom  Richard 
vjith  great  disinterestedness  considered  to  have  been  justly  ejected  for  his 
allced  incompetency,  it  will  be  seen,  the  pious  incumbent  could  talk,  very 
learnedly  about  tythes  and  maintenance,  and  accounted  himself  and  his 
Calvinistic  brethren  entitled  to  these  perquisites  on  account  of  "  having 
L-ONF,  so  MUCH  to  take  down  the  lordliness  and  riches  of  the  clergy."  But 
he  o'ives  a  modest  hint  to  the  ruling  powers  respecting  the  alienation  of 
church-lands  of  which  they  had  been  guilty. — See  page  2(;8. 

"Another  reproach  that  the  Papists  cast  on  the  ministry,  is  greediness, 
covetousnes,  and  being  hirelings.  And  therefore  they  put  these  into  the 
mouths  of  Quakers  and  other  sectaries.  And  what  is  their  ground  .'  for- 
sooth, because  we  take  tythes,  or  other  set  maintenance  ;  because  we  have 
food  and  raiment,  and  our  daily  bread.  I  have  said  enough  of  the  cause 
itself  in  my  several  writings  against  the  Quakers.  If  any  doubt  whether 
the  Papists  be  their  teachers,  orof  the  same  mind,  besides  many  greater  evi- 
dences, the  manuscript  from  Wolverhampton  before  mentioned  may  be  full 
satisfaction.  This  tells  men  that  '  for  filthy  lucre  sake  we  scratch  itching 
•  ears  with  doctrines  of  liberty  ;'  and  thus  it  learnedly  versifieth  : 

'  With  pleasing  words  they  scratch  all  cars  that  itch. 

•  That  Mammon  (whom  they  serve)  may  make  them  rich. 
'  For  they  are  mercenaries,  that  will  be  hir'd 

*  To  preach  what  doctrines  are  by  men  desir'd.' 

<<  It  is  a  well  -known  case  that  the  ministers  of  this  land,  and  of  all  the  re- 
formed churches,  commonly  do  uiauy  of  them  want  necessaries,  and  some 
want  food  and  raiment,  and  the  rest  of  them  for  the  most  part  have  little 
more.    Or  if  one  of  au  liundred  have  two  hundred  pounds  a  year,  it  is  ten 


APPKNDIX      P.  331 

more  odious  in  the  sight  of  God,  or  more  disgraceful  to  the 
church,  or  offensive  to  all  sober  and  religious  men,  it  is  hard 
to  say.  And  as  it  seems,  the  scandal  of  it  was  so  great,  that  the 
publisher  thereof,  though  otherwise  of  a  fiery  and  implacable 
nature,  desisted  from  the  putting  forth  of  a  second  century,  though 
he  had  promised  it  in  the  first,  and  was  inclinable  enough  to 
have  kept  his  word.  Instructions  had  been  sent  before  to  all 
counties  in  England,  for  bringing  in  such  informations  against 
their  ministers  as  might  subject  them  to  the  danger  of  a  depri- 
vation.* But  the  times  were  not  then  so  apt  for  mischief,  as  to 
serve  their  turns  ;  which  made  them  fall  upon  these  wretched 
and  unchristian  courses  to  effect  their  purpose.  By  means 
"whereof,  they  purged  the  church  of  almost  all  canonical  and 
orthodox  men.  The  greatness  of  which  desolation  in  all  the 
parts  of  the  Kingdom,  may  be  computed  by  the  havock  which 
they  made  in  London,  and  the  parishes  thereunto  adjoining, 
according  as  it  is  presented  in  the  bill  of  mortality  hereunto 
subjoined." 

to  one  but  taxes  and  other  payments  bring  it  so  low,  that  he  hath  no 
superfluities.  And  some,  that  have  not  wives  or  children,  do  give  all  that 
they  can  gather  to  the  poor ;  and  some,  upon  my  knowledge,  give  more  to 
charitable  uses,  than  they  receive  for  the  work  of  their  ministry,  living  on 
their  own  means.  And  they  have  themselves  been  the  means  of  taking  down 
the  lordly  prelacy  and  riches  of  the  clergy:  and  though  they  would  not  have 
had  the  lands  devoted  to  the  church  to  have  been  alienated,  yetjthey  would  have 
had  it  so  distributed  as  might  but  have  reached  to  have  made  themaiutenance 
of  ministers  to  be  an  hundred  pounds  a  year.  This  was  the  height  of  their 
covetousness  and  ambition,  as  you  call  it." 

There  is  much  craft  in  this  statement.  Baxter  couples  "  the  pastors  of 
the  Reformed  Churches"  abroad  with  the  dominant  ecclesiastics  at  home,  in 
order  to  make  out  his  case.  "  A  hundred  pounds  a  year  for  maintenance," 
however,  was  no  bad  stipend  in  those  days  ;  and  if  the  excellent  men  who 
were  wrongfully  ejected  had  received  half  of  tliat  sum  annually,  they  would 
have  accounted  themselves  in  comparatively  felicitous  circumstances. 

*  "  It  may  be  easily  imagined,  with  what  a  joyful  willingness  these  self- 
loving  reformers  took  possession  of  all  vacant  preferments,  and  with  what 
reluctance  others  parted  with  their  beloved  colleges  and  subsistence  :  but 
their  consciences  were  dearer  than  both,  and  out  they  went ;  the  reformers 
possessing  them  without  shame  or  scruple,  where  1  will  leave  these  scruple- 
mongers. — In  London  all  the  bishops'  houses  were  turned  to  be  prisons, 
and  they  filled  with  divines  that  would  not  take  the  Covenant 
or  forbear  reading  the  Common  Prayer,  or  that  were  accused 
for  some  faults  like  these.  For  it  may  be  noted,  that  about 
this  time  the  parliament  sent  out  a  proclamation  to  encourage  all  lay-men 
that  had  occasion  to  complain  of  their  ministers,  for  being  troublesome  or 
&c?it\f}i?i\o\x&,  01  that  confortned  not  to  orders  of  parliament,  to  make  their 
complaint  to  a  select  committee  for  that  purpose  ;  and  the  minister,  though 
one  hundred  miles  from  London,  was  to  appear  there  and  give  satisfaction, 
or  be  sequestered;  (and,  you  may  be  sure,  no  parish  could  want  a  covetous, 
or  malicious,  or  cross-grained  com|jlainant :)  by  which  means  all  prisons  in 
Loudon,  and  in  many  other  places,  became  the  sad  habitations  of  conform- 
ing divines. — The  common  people  were  made  so  happy,  as  that  every  parish 
might  choose  their  own  minister,  and  tell  him  when  he  did,  and  when  he 
did  not  preach  true  doctrine:  and  by  this  and  the  like,  means  several 
churches  had  several  teachers,  that  prayed  and  preached  for  and  against 
one  another;  and  engaged  their  hearers  to  contend  furiously  for  truths 
which  they  understood  not."  Isaac  Walton. 

V  2 


332  AiMu;xi)ix  D. 

The  Summary  of  this  Billis  as  follows : 

"  The  total  of  the  Ministers  of  London,  within  this  bill  of  moitalitv, 
besides  Pauls  and  Westminster,  turned  out  of  their  livings.       11.5 

Whereof  Doctors  in  Divinity  (most  of  them  plundered  of  their  goods, 
and  their  wives  and  children  turned  out  of  doors)  above     .     .       40 

Imprisoned  in  London,  and  in  tlie  ships,  and  in  several  gaols  and   cas- 
tles in  the  country  ......  .20 

Fled,  to  prevent  imprisonment 25 

Dead,  in  remote  parts  and  prisons,  with  grief         ...  22 

And.    at  the   same    time,    about   forty    churches    void,     having   no 
constant  Minister  in  them. 

"  By  this  sad  bill  confined  within  the  lines  of  communication,  pn 
London^  and  some  villages  adjoining,  we  may  conjecture  at 
the  greatness  of  that  mortality  which  fell  amongst  the  regular 
clergy  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  by  plundering,  sequestering, 
and  ejecting  ;f  or  finally,  by  vexing  them  into  their  graves, 
by  so  many  miseries  as  were  inflicted  on  them  in  the  ships,  or 
their  several  prisons.  In  all  which  ways,  more  men  were 
outed  of  their  livings  by   the   Presbyterians   in  the   space   of 

f  Isaac  Walton  gives  the  following  relation  of  the  manner  in  which  Dr. 
Sanderson  preserved  his  small  living  of  Boothby  Pannel,  after  he  had  been 
ejectedfrom  the  Divinity  chair  at  Oxford: — "  There  was  cue  Mr.  Clarke, 
the  minister  of  Adliugton,  who  was  an  active  man  for  the  parliament  and 
covenant ;  and  one  that,  when  Belvoir  Castle  (then  a  garrison  for  the  par- 
liament) was  taken  by  a  party  of  the  king's  soldiers,  was  taken  in  it,  and 
made  a  prisoner  of  war  in  Newark:  they  became  so  much  concerned  for  his 
enlargement,  that  the  committee  of  Lincoln  sent  a  troop  of  horse  to  seize  and 
bring  Dr.  Sanderson  a  prisoner  to  that  garrison ;  and  they  did  so.  And 
there  he  had  the  happiness  to  meet  with  manv,  that  knew  him  so  well  as  to 
reverence  and  treat  him  kindly ;  but  told  nim,  '  He  must  continue  their 
prisoner,  till  he  should  purchase  his  own  enlargement  by  procuring  an  ex- 
change for  Mr.  Clarke,  then  prisoner  in  the  king's  garrison  of  Newark.'  In 
time  done  it  was,  upon  the  following  conditions  :  That  Dr.  Sanderson  and 
Mr.Clarke,  being  exchanged,  should  live  undisturbed  at  their  own  parishes; 
and  if  either  were  injured  by  the  soldiers  of  the  contrary  party,  the  other 
having  notice  of  it,  should  procure  him  a  redress,  by  having  satisfaction 
made  for  his  loss,  or  for  anj' other  injury  ;  or  if  not,  he  to  be  used  in  the 
same  kind  by  the  other  party.  Nevertheless,  Dr.  Sanderson  could  neither 
live  safe,  nor  quietly,  being  several  times  plundered,  and  once  wounded  in 
three  places;  but  he,  apprehending  the  remedy  might  turn  to  a  more  into- 
lerable burthen  by  impatience  or  complaining,  forbore  both  ;  and  possessed 
his  soul  in  a  contented  quietness,  without  the  least  repining.  But  though 
he  could  not  enjoy  the  safety  he  expected  by  this  exchange,  yet  by  his  pro- 
vidence that  can  bring  good  out  of  evil,  it  turned  so  much  to  his  advantage, 
that,  whereas  his  living  had  been  sequestered  from  the  year  1644,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  so  till  this  time  of  his  imprisonment,  he,  by  the  articles  of  war 
in  this  exchange  for  Mr.  Clarke,  procured  his  sequestration  to  be  recalled, 
and  by  that  means  enjoyed  a  poor  but  more  contented  subsistence  for  him- 
self, his  wife  and  children,  till  the  happy  restoration  of  our  king  and  church." 

This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  sufferings  of  those  conscientious  clergymen 
who  evinced  their  attachment  to  Episcopacy,  and  were  at  the  same  time 
permitted  to  retain  their  benefices.  What  then  must  have  been  the  suffer- 
mgs  of  those  poor  divines  who  were  plundered,  sequestered  and  ejected  I 


APPKXDix  r>.  3f33 

three  years,  than  were  deprived  by  the  Papists  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Mary ;  or  had  been  silenced,  suspencfed,  or  deprived, 
by  all  the  Bishops,  from  the  first  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  to 
these  very  times.  [[1642.^  And  that  it  might  be  done  with  some 
colour  of  justice,  they  instituted  a  committee  for  plundered 
ministers,*  under  pretence  of  making  some  provision  for  such 
godly  preachers  as  had  either  suffered  loss  of  goods  by  his  Ma- 
jesty's soldiers,  or  less  of  livings  for  adhering  to  the  Houses  of 
Parliament.  Under  which  stiles  they  brought  in  a  confused 
rabble  of  their  own  persuasions,  or  such  at  least  as  were  most 
likely  to  be  serviceable  to  their  ends  and  purposes  ;f  some  of 
which  had  no  goods,  and  most  of  them  no  livings  at  all  to  lose. 
But  the  truth  was,  they  durst  not  trust  the  pulpits  to  the  regu- 
lar Clergy  ;  who,  if  they  had  offended  against  the  laws,  by  the 
same  laws  they  ought  to  have  been  tried,  condemned,  and  deprived 
accordingly  ;  that  so  the  patrons  might  present  more  deserving 
persons  to  the  vacant  churches.:];     But  then  this  could  not  stand 

*"  The  persons  invested  with  this  authority,  were  called  The  Committee 
FOR  Plundered  Ministers.  By  the  royalists,  however,  they  were  deno- 
minated The  Committee  for  Plundering  ministers  :  a  designation  which  was 
highly  appropriate.  In  the  month  of  July,  1G43,  they  were  empowered  to 
receive  int'ormation  against  Scandalous  Ministers,  and  to  deprive  them  of 
their  livings,  though  no  Malignancy  in  regard  to  the  Parliament  were  proved 
against  them.  From  this  time  the  Committee  for  Scandalous  Ministers,  and 
that  for  Plundered  Ministers,  were  united,  and  continued  so  to  the  end  of 
the  Long  Parliament. 

"  This  Committee  made  terrible  havock  of  the  regular  Clergy.  It  exclud- 
ed from  the  Church  many  comparatively  worthless  ministers,  whose  faults 
it  was  careful  to  emblazon  before  the  world,  to  the  scandal  of  religion  and 
public  morals ;  but  it  treated  not  a  few  upright,  learned,  and  pious  men 
with  great  severity,  because  of  their  conscientious  attachment  to  episcopacy 
and  to  their  king.  Who  can  repress  the  feeling  of  indignation,  on  finding 
that  such  men  as  the  Ever-Memorable  Hales  of  Eton,  and  Dr.  Brian  Wal- 
ton, the  immortal  Editor  of  London  Polyglot  Bible,  were  by  this  Committee 
deprived  of  their  ecclesiastical  preferments,  and  left  to  starve,  or  subsist  by 
the  kindness  of  their  friends  ?"    Jackson's  Life  of  Goodwin. 

\  "  Dec.  4, 1G53.  Going  this  day  to  our  church  [Depiford]  I  was  surprized 
to  see  a  tradesman,  a  mechanic,  step  up  :  I  was  resolTEd  yet  to  stay  and  see 
what  he  would  make  of  it.  His  text  was  from  2  Sam.  xxvi,  20:  'And 
Senaiahwent  down  also,  and  slew  a  lion  in  the  midst  of  a  pit  in  the  time  of 
snoiv.'  The  purport  was,  that  no  danger  was  to  be  thought  difficult  whea 
God  called  for  shedding  of  blood ;  inferring,  that  now  the  Saints  were  called 
to  destroy  temporal  governments — with  sucli  feculent  stuff.  So  dangerous  a 
crisis  were  things  grown  to!"    Evelyn's  Diary. 

X  "  Now  not  only  my  rents  present,  but  the  arrearages  of  the  former  years, 
which  I  had  in  favour  forborne  to  some  tenants,  being  treaclierously  confessed 
to  the  sequestrators,  were  by  them  called  for,  and  taken  from  me  ;  neither 
was  there  any  course  at  all  taken  for  my  maintenance.  1  therefore  addressed 
myself  to  the  committee  sitting  here  at  Norwich,  and  desired  them  to  give 
order  for  some  means,  out  of  that  large  patrimony  of  the  church,  to  be 
allowed  me.  They  all  thought  it  very  just,  and  there  being  present  Sir 
Thomas  Woodhouse,  and  Sir  John  Potts,  parliament  men,  it  was  moved 
and  held  fit  by  them  and  the  rest,  that  the  proportion  which  the  votes  of  the 
parliament  had  pitched  upon,  vi.?.  ^'400  per  annum,  should  be  allowed  to 
me.  My  lord  of  Manchester,  who  was  then  conceived  to  have  great  power 
in  matter  of  these  sequestj-ations,  was  moved  herewith.  He  apprel;ended  it 
very  just  and   reasonable,  and  wrote  to  the  committee  here  to  set  out  so 


334'  APPENDIX    D. 

■with  the  main  design :  For  possibly  the  patrons  might  present 
such  clerks  as  "would  go  on  in  the  old  way,  and  could  not  be 
admitted  but  by  taking  the  oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiance 
to  our  Lord  the  King ;  and  by  subscribing  to  the  discipline  and 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  they  were  then 
resolved  to  alter.  Or,  could  they  have  prevailed  so  far  with 
the  several  patrons,  as  to  present  those  very  men  whom  they 
had  designed  unto  the  profits  of  the  sequestered  benefices ;  yet 
then  they  were  to  have  enjoyed  them  for  term  of  life,  and 
might  pretend  a  legal  right  and  title  to  them,  which  would 
have  cut  off  that  dependance  on  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
■which  this  design  did  chiefly  aim  at.  So  that  the  best  of  this 
new  Clergy  were  but  Tenants  at  will ;  and  therefore  must  be 
servile  and  obsequious  to  their  mighty  landlords,  upon  whose 
pleasure  they  depended  for  their  present  livelihood.t 

many  of  the  manors  belonging  to  this  bishopric  as  should  amount  to  the  said 
sum  of  ^400  annually  ;  which  vvas  answerably  done  ur.der  the  hands  of  the 
whole  table.  And  now  1  well  hoped,  I  should  yet  have  a  good  competency 
of  maintenance  out  of  that  plentiful  estate  which  I  might  have  had;  but 
those  hopes  were  no  sooner  conceived  than  dashed  ;  Tor  before  I  could 
gather  up  one  quarter's  rent,  there  comes  down  an  order  from  the  com- 
mittee for  sequestrations  above,  under  the  hand  of  Serjeant  Wild  the  chair- 
man, procured  by  Mr.  Miles  Corbet,  to  inhibit  any  such  allowance;  and 
telling  our  committee  here,  that  neither  they,  nor  any  other  had  power  to 
allow  me  any  thing  at  all :  but  if  my  wife  found  herself  to  need  a  mainte- 
nance, upon  her  suit  to  the  committee  of  Lords  and  Commons,  it  might  be 
granted  that  she  should  have  a  fifth  part,  according  to  the  ordinance, 
allowed  for  the  sustentation  of  herself  and  her  family.  Hereupon  she  sends 
a  petition  up  to  that  committee,  which  after  a  long  delay  was  admitted  to 
be  read,  and  an  order  granted  for  the  fifth  part.  But  still  the  rents  and 
revenues  both  of  my  spiritual  and  temporal  lands  were  taken  up  by  the 
sequestrators,  both  in  Norfolk,  and  Suffolk,  and  Essex,  and  we  kept  off 
from  either  allowance  or  account.  At  last,  upon  much  pressing,  Beadle 
the  solicitor,  and  Rust  the  collector,  brought  in  an  account  to  the  com- 
mittee, such  as  it  was ;  but  so  confused  and  perplexed,  and  so  utterly 
imperfect,  that  we  could  never  come  to  know  what  a  fifth  part  meant :  but 
they  were  content  that  1  should  eat  my  books  by  setting  off  the  sum,  en- 
gaged for  them  out  of  the  fifth  part. — Whiles  I  received  nothing,  yet  some- 
thing was  required  of  me.  They  were  not  ashamed,  after  they  had  taken 
away  and  sold  all  my  goods  and  personal  estate,  to  come  to  me  for  assess- 
ments, and  monthly  payments  for  that  estate  which  they  had  taken,  and 
took  distresses  from  me  upon  my  most  just  denial,  and  vehemently  required 
me  to  find  the  wonted  arms  of  my  predecessors,  when  they  had  left  me 
nothing."    Hinhop  Hall's  HurdMeasure. 

•f  At  the  close  of  this  paragraph  Dr.  Heylin  has  given  us  the  true  reason  of 
the  servility  so  conspicuous  in  the  chief  divines  who  accepted  preferment 
during  the  continuance  of  the  Commonwealth.  To  insure  ministerial  faith- 
fulness, it  is  necessary  that  every  pastor  should  be  independent  of  the  people 
of  his  charge,  both  with  regard  to  stipend  and  continuance  in  office.  Such 
a  system,  like  every  thing  earthly,  is  capable  of  being  abused  ;  and,  on  this 
account,  it  would  be  absurd  to  contend,  that  noneof  the  episcopal  divines  who 
•were  ejected  had  formerly  abused  this  liberty :  That  would  be  in  effect  to  say, 
that  they  were  not  human  beings,  but  in  a  condition  so  stable  and  angelical 
as  rendered  them  incapable  of  being  perverted.  But  it  may  be  confidently 
averred,  that,  in  all  cases  in  which  it  is  possible  to  institute  a  comparison 
between  the  effects  of  the  two  systems,  for  one  pastor  that  errs  through  neg- 
lect of  duty,  two  may  be  found  in  the  opposite  system  whose  error  consists 
in  men-pleasing,  servility,  and  sometimes  in  the  most  disgusting  hypocrisy. 


APPENDIX     D.  ^335 

"  The  Scots  having  raised  an  army  of  eighteen  thousand  foot, 
and  three  thousand  horse,  taking  the  dragoons  into  the  reckon- 
ing, break  into  England  in  the  depth  of  winter.  Anno  l643, 
and  marched  almost  as  far  as  the  banks  of  the  river  Tyne, 
without  opposition.  There  they  received  a  stop  by  the  coming 
of  the  Marquis  of  Newcastle,  with  his  northern  army,  and 
entertained  the  time  with  some  petit  skirmishes,  till  the  sad 
news  of  the  surprise  of  Selby  by  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  compelled 
him  to  return  towards  Vork  with  all  his  forces,  for  the  preserv- 
ing of  that  place,  on  which  the  safety  of  the  north  did  depend 
especially.  The  Scots  march  after  him  amain,  and  besiege  that 
city,  in  which  they  were  assisted  by  the  forces  of  the  Lord 
Fairfax,  arid  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  who  by  the  Houses  were 
commanded  to  attend  that  service.  The  issue  whereof  was 
briefly  this  ;  that  having  worsted  the  great  army  of  Prince  Ru- 

A  few  eminent  royalists,  through  providential  circumstances,  retained 
their  livings  :  This  was  the  case  with  Dr.  Sanderson,  Dr.  Pierce,  Mr.  Bull, 
and  some  others,  who  had  been  deprived  of  the  offices  which  they  held  in  the 
University.  They  contrived  to  make  some  slio;ht  variation  "  from  the  strict 
rules  of  Ffubric,"  and  adhered,  as  far  as  they  lavyfully  could,  to  the  excellent 
forms  of  the  Common  Prayer  in  the  celebration  of  public  worship.  While 
io;norance  and  fanaticism  were  continuing  their  march  of  devastation 
tiirough  the  land,  these  great  and  good  men  devoted  their  leisure  to  import- 
ant occupations  for  the  benefit  of  future  ages.  Beside  the  numerous  books 
of  devotion  that  were  then  composed  and  published  t)y  the  episcopal  clergy, 
several  of  ihem  were  engaged  with  Dr.  Brian  Walton,  in  the  completion  of 
tbat  most  erudite  and  valuable  work,  the  London  Polvglott  Bible.  Short 
biographical  notices  of  the  good  Bishop's  accomplished  co-adjutors  have 
lately  been  given  in  his  Life,  by  the  learned  editor  of  "  Dr.  Johnson's  Dic- 
tionary," the  Rev.  John  Todd,  A.  M.  F.  R.  S.  &c.  To  that  great  undertaking 
allusion  is  made  at  the  close  of  the  following  quotation  by  Dr.  Pierce,  who 
was  one  of  the  ever-horioured  labourers: 

"  Nor  can  1  guess  at  the  reason,  why  he  takes  an  occasion  to  tell  the 
■world,  that  he  hath  very  few  hearers  of  all  his  good  preaching  ;  as  if  it  were 
a  fine  thing  to  be  insufferable  in  a  pulpit,  and  to  preach  men  out  of  their 
patience.  But  if  he  is,  in  good  earnest,  so  much  more  painful  and  more 
■wholesome  in  his  preaching tlian  I  am,  why  do  the  chiefest  and  most  intelli- 
gent of  his  parisliioners  take  the  pains  to  go  from  him  no  less  than  two 
miles,  as  well  in  the  Winter,  as  in  the  Summer.'  If  he  is  not  already,  1 
do  wish  with  all  my  heart  he  were,  as  much  beyond  me  in  every  thing  that  is 
good,  as  he  can  imagine,  or  desire:  [Jpon  condition  I  might  not  be  worse 
than  I  am,  I  would  be  glad  if  every  creature  might  be  abundantly  better. 
Though  a  pastor's  pains  should  not  be  measured  by  his  preaching,  (there 
being  many  other  duties  incumbent  on  him,)  yet  he  knows  I  am  a  weekly 
preacher.  And  if  he  is  more,  I  cannot  think  the  better  of  him,  or  that  he 
takes  the  more,  but  fperhapsj  the  less,  pains.  For  many  have  found  it  by 
experience,  {exceptmg  the  labour  of  lips  cmd  lungs,]  a  much  easier  thing  to 
preach  twice  every  week  in  one  manner ,  than  once  a  fortnight  in  another. 
J.Iust  all  those  glories  and  ornaments,  those  venerable  supports  of  our  En- 
glish Church,  (the  very  latchets  of  whose  shoes,  ive  weekly  preachers  are 
hardly  worthy  to  untie,)  be  either  hinted  or  held  forth  to  be  '  lazy  lubbers,' 
because  their  lips  do  not  labour  twice  a  week  in  a  pulpit  ?  Let  those  learned, 
industrious,  and  righteous  men  (not  to  be  named  or  thought  on  without  a 
preface  of  highest  reverence  and  honour,)  be  once  restored  to  those  places 
h'om  v/hich  tbey  were  thrown  by  none  other  than  Presbyterians,  and  they 
vi\\\  preach  more  ;7i  one  day,  than  any  correptory  corrector  can  do  in  tu'enty 
years .'  And,  whilst  they  are  not  "preaching,  they  are  doing  thir.gs  of 
sreater  moment," 


336  Ari'ENDix  D. 

pert*  at  Marston-moor,  on  the  second  of  July,  York  yielded  on 
composition  upon  that  day  fortnight;  the  Marquis  of  Newcastle, 
with  many  gentlemen  of  great  note  and  quality,  shipped  them- 
selves for  France ;  and  the  strong  town  of  Newcastle  took  in  by 
the  Scots  on  the  j  9th  of  October  then  next  following.  More 
fortunate  was  his  Majesty  with  his  Southern  army,  though  at 
the  first  he  was  necessitated  to  retire  from  Oxon  at  such  time  as 
the  forces  under  Essex  and  Waller  did  appear  before  it.  The 
news  whereof  being  brought  unto  them,  it  was  agreed  that 
Waller  should  pursue  the  King,  and  that  the  Earl's  army  should 
march  westward  to  reduce  those  countries.  And  here  the  mys- 
tery of  iniquity  began  to  shew  itself  in  its  proper  colours.  For 
whereas  they  pretended  to  have  raised  their  army  for  no  other 
end,  but  only  to  remove  the  King  from  his  evil  counsellors, 
those  evil  counsellors,  as  they  call  them,  were  left  at  Oxon,  and 
the  King  only  hunted  by  his  insolent  enemies.  But  the  King, 
having  totally  broken  Waller  in  the  end  of  June,  marched  after 
Essex  into  Devonshire,  and  having  shut  him  up  in  Cornwall, 
where  he  had  neither  room  for  forage,  nor  hope  of  succours,  he 
forced  him  to  fly  ingloriously  in  a  skifFor  cockboat,  and  leave 
his  army  in  a  manner  to  the  conqueror's  mercy.  But  his  horse 
having  the  good   fortune   to   save   themselves,  the    King   gave 

*  This  young  Prince  was  the  son  of  the  ex-king  of  Bohemia  and  of  King 
Charles's  sister  ;  and  his  employment  in  the  English  army  at  that  eventful 
juncture  must  present,  to  a  reflecting  mind,  one  of  those  remarkable  muta- 
tions to  which  families  as  well  as  individuals  are  subject  in  this  world,  and 
which  are  over-ruled  by  the  good  providence  of  God  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  own  wise  purposes.  Prince  Rupert  had  to  fight  against  those  very  Calvi- 
nists  by  whose  aid  his  father  had  once  hoped  to  become  Emperor  of  Germany 
as  well  as  King  of  Bohemia ;  and  his  principal  associates  in  arms  were  per- 
sons, who,  if  they  made  any  profession  of  religion  at  ail,  called  themselves 
"  Arminians,"  and  whose  principles  his  nearest  relatives  bad  contributed  to 
vilify  and  condemn,  at  the  Synod  of  Dort  and  on  subsequent  occasions.  See 
pages  242,  255. 

But  the  Lady  Elizabeth,  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  their  royal  offspring, 
had  learnt  wisdom  by  their  sufferings  ;  and,  long  before  the  commencement 
of  the  Civil  Wars,  had  begun  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  Arminians 
both  in  Holland  and  England.  They  professed  the  greatest  regard  for  Gro- 
tius  :  And  his  friend  Johnson,  to  whom  reference  has  been  made  in  page  216, 
was  chaplain  to  the  Queen  of  Bohemia.  Respecting  this  accomplished  cler- 
gyman, Vossius  thus  writes  to  Grotius  in  16'42,  at  a  period  when  the  latter 
wished,  as  a  peace-maker,  that  some  one  would  reply  to  the  slanders  of 
Rivet,  and  had  recommended  that  service  to  Vossius  and  Johnson  ;  and  this 
extract  may  be  considered  as  their  answer  to  his  application  :  "  And  Doctor 
Johnson,  chaplain  to  the  Queen  of  Bohemia,  has  just  been  here.  When  I 
told  him,  that  the  time  was  nearly  expired  for  delivering  my  letter  to  the 
French  messenger,  and  after  I  had  said  that  I  was  transmitting  it  to  you,  he 
requested  me  to  present  his  best  compliments  to  your  excellency.  He  desired 
me  also  to  add,  that  an  accusation  has  been  preferred  against  him,  in  the 
English  Parliament,  for  heterodoxy;  and  not  merely  against  him,  but 
against  the  Queen  also,  for  bestowing  her  patronage  upon  such  a  heretic. — 
But  by  the  prudence  of  certain  individuals,  this  affair  was  dismissed  without 
further  discussion." — At  such  a  juncture,  it  would  have  been  impolitic  to 
interfere  with  the  project  of  Grotius,  however  highly  it  might  be  approved. 
But  Johnson  and  Vossius  had  other  more  powerful  reasons  why  they  declined 
this  euterprize  in  a  manner  the  least  calculated  to  give  offence. 


APPENDIX  I>.  357 

quarter  to  the  foot,  reserving  to  himself  their  cannons,  arms^ 
and  ammunition,  as  a  sign  of  his  victory.  Ami  here  again  the 
war  might  possibly  have  been  ended,  if  the  Khig  had  followed 
his  good  fortune,  and  marched  to  London,  before  the  Earl  of 
Essex  had  united  his  scattered  forces  and  Manchester  was 
returned  from  the  northern  service.  But  setting  down  before 
Plymouth  now,  as  he  did  before  Gloucester  the  last  year,  he  lost 
the  opportunity  of  effecting  his  purpose,  and  was  fought  withal 
at  Newbury,  in  his  coming  back,  where  neither  side  could  boast 
of  obtaining  the  victory. 

"  But  howsoever,  having  gained  some  reputation  by  his  wes- 
tern action,  the  houses  seem  inclinable  to  accept  his  offer  of 
entering  into  treaty  with  him  for  an  accommodation.  This  he 
had  offered  by  his  message  from  Evesham  on  the  4th  of  July, 
immediately  after  the  defeat  of  Waller ;  and  pressed  it  by  another 
from  Tavistock  on  the  8th  of  September,  as  soon  as  he  had 
broken  the  great  army  of  the  Earl  of  Esses.  To  these  they 
hearkened  not  at  f.rst.  But  being  sensible  of  the  out-cries  of 
the  common  people,  they  condescend  at  last,  appointing  Ux- 
bridge  for  the  place,  and  the  thirtieth  day  of  January  for  the 
time  thereof.  For  a  preparative  whereunto,  and  to  satisfy  the 
the  importunity  and  expectation  of  their  brethren  of  Scotland, 
they  attaint  the  Arch-bishop  of  High  Treason,*  in  the  House  of 

*  "In  his  last  sad  sermon  on  the  scaffold  at  his  death,he  did  (as  our  blessed 
Saviour  advised  his  disciples)  pray  for  those  tliat  persecuted  and  despitefully  . 
used  him.  And  not  only  pardoned  those  enemies,  but  dispassionately  begged 
of  Almighty  God  that  he  would  also  pardon  them  ;  and  besought  all  the  pre- 
sent beholders  of  this  sad  sight,  that  they  would  pardon  and  pray  for  him. 
But  though  he  did  all  this,  yet  he  seemeii  to  accuse  the  magistrates  of  the 
city,  for  not  suppressing  a  sort  of  people  whose  malicious  and  furious  zeal 
had  so  far  transported  them,  and  violated  all  modesty,  that  though  they 
could  not  know  whether  he  were  justly  or  unjustly  condemned,  were  yet 
sutFered  to  go  visibly  up  and  down  to  gather  hands  to  a  petition,  that  the  par- 
liament ivoidd  hasten  his  execution.  And  he  having  declared  how  unjustly  be 
thought  himself  to  be  condemned,  and  accused  for  endeavouring  to  bring  in 
Popery,  (for  that  was  one  of  the  accusations  for  which  he  died,)  he  declared 
with  sadness,  '  That  the  several  sects  and  divisions  then  in  England  (which 
'  he  had  laboured  to  prevent)  were  now  like  to  bring  the  Pope  a  far  greater 
'  harvest,  than  he  could  ever  have  expected  without  them  ;'  and  said, 
'  these  sects  and  divisions  introduce  prophaneness  under  the  cloak  of  an  ima- 
'  giuary  religion,'   and   '  that  we   liave  lost  the  substance   of  religion  by 

*  changing  it  into  opinion  ;'  and,   '  that  by  these  means  the  Church  of  Eng- 

*  land,  which   all   the  Jesuits'   machinations  could  not  ruin,  was  fallen  into 

*  apparent  danger  by  those  [covenanters]  which  were  his  accusers.'  To  this 
purpose  he  spoke  at  bis  death;  for  which,  and  more  to  the  same  purpose, 
the  reader  may  view  his  last  sad  sermon  on  the  scaffold."  Walton's  L,i/e  of 
Bishop  Sanderson. 

'Ihe  conduct  of  Archbishop  Laud  in  the  whole  of  his  misfortunes  was 
consistent,  dignified,  and  pious.  "  He  was  brought  to  the  scaffold,  Jan.  10, 
1645,  after  he  had  endured  some  affronts  in  his  anti-chamber  in  the  Tower, 
by  some  sons  of  schism  and  sedition,  who  unseasonably,  that  morning  he 
was  preparing  himself  to  appear  before  the  Great  Bishop  of  our  souls,  would 
have  him  give  some  satisiacuon  to  the  godly,  (for  so  they  called  themselves,) 
for  bis  persecutions,  which  he  called  discipline.  To  whom  he  answered. 
That  he  was  now  shortly  to  give  an  account  of  all  his  actions  at  an  higJter 


338  APPENDIX  n. 

Commons,  and  pass  their  bill  by  ordinance  In  the  House  of 
Peers,  in  which  no  more  than  seven  Lords  did  concur  to  the 
sentence ;  but  being  sentenced  howsoever,  by  the  malice  of  the 

and  more  equal  tribunal,  and  desired  he  might  not  be  disturbed  in  his  prepa- 
rations for  it.  Others  asked  him  (to  ruffle  his  soul  into  a  passion,  now  he 
was  fairly  folding  it  up,  to  deliver  it  into  the  hands  of  his  Redeemer,) 
'  What  were  the  most  comfortable  words  a  man  should  die  with  in  his  mouth?' 
And  he  mildly  answered,  '  I  desire  to  be  dissolved  and  to  be  with  Christ :' 
adding  meekly,  (when  asked  Hmva  man  at  that  time  might  express  his  assu- 
rance,) '  That  such  assurance  was  to  be  found  within,  grounded  on  the  word 
of  God  concerning  Christ's  dying  for  us,  and  that  no  words  were  able  to  ex- 
press it  rightly.' 

"  Having  stripped  him  of  all  the  honours  of  an  archbishop,  they  would 
have  denied  him  the  privilege  of  a  malefactor,  to  have  his  own  worthy  con- 
fessor Dr.  Sterne,  since  Archbishop  of  York,  about  him ;  taking  it  so  ill, 
that  he  would  not  admit  of  Marshall,  (that  was  fitter  to  be  the  executioner, 
than  a  chaplain,)  that  because  he  would  not  die  according  to  the  humour  of 
the  Presbyterians, he  should  not  die  in  the  honourable  way  of  an  Archbishop. 
Being  brou»htout  of  the  tower  to  the  scaffold,  he  ascended  it  with  an  extra- 
ordinarily cneerful  and  ruddy  countenance,  as  if  he  had  mounted  rather  to 
have  beheld  a  triumph,  than  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  ;  and  came  not  there  to 
die  but  to  be  translated,  and  exchange  his  mitre  for  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom. 

"  The  clearness  of  his  conscience  being  legible  in  the  cheerfulness  of  his 
dying  looks,  as  the  serenity  of  the  weather  is  understood  by  the  glory  and 
ruddiness  of  the  setting  sun  ;  there  desiring  to  have  room  to  die,  and  declar- 
ing that  he  was  more  willing  to  go  out  of  the  world,  than  any  man  to  send 
him;  he  first  took  care  to  stop  the  thinks  near  the  block,  and  remove  the 
people  he  spied  under  it,  expressing  himself  that  it  was  no  part  of  his  desire 
that  his  blood  should  fall  upon  the  heads  of  the  people;  in  which  desire  it 
pleased  God  he  was  so  far  gratified,  that  there  remaining  a  small  hole  from 
a  knot  in  the  midst  of  a  board,  the  fore-finger  of  his  right  hand  at  his  death 
happened  to  stop  that  also  :  and  then  at  once  pardoning  and  overcoming  his 
enemies,  many  of  whom  coming  thither  to  insult,  went  away  to  weep  for 
him,  who  had  this  peculiar  happiness  with  his  master,  that  he  gained  that 
reverence  by  his  adversity,  that  neither  he  nor  any  gained  in  prosperity." 

His  prayer  on  the  scaffold  is  peculiarly  affecting.  After  commending  him- 
self to  '•  the  riches  and  fulness  of  God's  mercies,"  he  thus  most  devoutly 
poured  out  his  soul  before  the  mercy-seat  of  Heaven  :  "  I  ,ook  upon  me,  but 
not  till  thou  hast  nailed  my  sins  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  but  not  till  thou  hast 
bathed  me  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  not  till  1  have  hid  myself  in  the  wounds  of 
Christ ;  that  so  the  punishment  due  unto  my  sins  may  pass  over  me.  And 
since  thou  art  pleased  to  try  me  to  the  uttermost,  1  most  humbly  beseech 
thee,  give  me  now,  in  this  great  instance,  full  patience,  proportionalile  com- 
fort, and  a  heart  ready  to  die  for  thine  honour,  the  king's  happiness,  and 
this  church's  preservation.  And  my  zeal  to  these  (far  from  arrogancy  be  it 
spoken!)  is  all  the  sin  (human  frailty  excepted,  and  all  incidents  thereto) 
which  is  yet  known  to  me  in  this  particular,  for  which  I  come  now  to  suffer  : 
I  say,  in  this  particular  of  treason.  But  otherwise  my  sius  are  many  and 
great:  Lord,  pardon  them  all,  and  those  especially  (whatever  they  are) 
which  have  drawn  down  this  present  judgment  upon  me.  And  when' thou 
hast  given  me  strength  to  bear  it,  do  with  me  as  seems  best  in  thine  own 
eyes.  Amen. 
'•'And  that  there  may  be  a  stop  of  this  issue  of  blood,  in  this  more  than 
miserable  kingdom,  ()  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  give  grace  of  repentance  to  all 
blood-thirsty  people.  But  if  they  will  not  repent,  O  Lord,  defeat  and  frus- 
trate all  their  designs  and  endeavours,  which  are  or  shall  be  contrary  to  the 
glory  of  thy  great  name,  the  truth  and  sincerity  of  religion,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  King  and  his  posterity  after  him  in  their  just  rights  and  privi- 
leges, the  honour  and  conservation  of  Parliaments  in  their  just  jjower,  the 
preservation  of  this  poor  church  in  her  truth,  peace  and  patrimony,  and  the 


APpENnix   D.  339 

Presbyterians  both  Scots  and  English,  he  was  brought  to  act  the 
last  part  of  his^tragedy  on  the  10th  of  January,  as  shall  be  told 
at  large  in  another  place.  This  could  presage  no  good  success  to 
the  following  treaty.  For  though  covenants  sometimes  may 
be  written  in  blood,  yet  I  find  no  such  way  for  commencing 
treaties.  And  to  say  truth,  the  King's  commissioners  soon  found 
what  they  were  to  trust  to  :  For,  having  condescended  to  ac- 
company the  commissioners  from  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
and  to  be  present  at  a  sermon  preached  by  one  of  their  chap- 
lains, on  the  first  day  of  the  meeting,  they  found  what  little 
hopes  they  had  of  a  good  conclusion.  The  preacher's  name  was 
I-ove,  a  Welshman,  and  one  of  the  most  fiery  Presbyters  in  all 
the  pack  :  In  whose  sermon  there  were  many  passages  very 
scandalous  to  his  Majesty's  person,  and  derogatory  to  his  honour; 
stirring  up  the  people  against  the  treaty,  and  incensing  them 
against  the  King's  commissioners ;  telling  them, '  that  they  came 

*  with  hearts  full  of  blood  ;    and    that  there  was  as  great  a  dis- 

*  tance  betwixt  the  treaty  and  peace,  as  there  was  between  hea- 
'  ven  and  hell.'  Of  this  the  Oxon  Lords  complained,  but  could 
obtain  no  reparation  for  the  King  or  themselves;  though  after- 
wards Cromwell  paid  the  debt,  and  brought  him  to  the  scaffold 
when  he  least  looked  for  it."* 

settlement  of  this  distracted  and  distressed  people  nnder  their  ancieut  laws 
and  in  their  native  liberties.  And  when  thou  hast  done  all  this  in  mere  mer- 
cy for  them,  O  Lord,  fill  their  hearts  with  thankfulness,  and  with  religious 
dutiful  obedience  to  thee  and  thy  commandments  all  their  days.  So,  Amen 
LordJesu,  Amen!" 

*  The  'contrast'fbetween  Mr.  Love  and  Archbishop  Laud  is  very  strik- 
in":.  It  is  stated  "  as  a  circumstance  contributing  to  make  the  death  of  the 
former  appear  the  more  judicial,  that,  when  Archbishop  Laud  was  beheaded, 
this  Mr.  Love,  in  a  most  inhuman  triumph,  flourished  his  handkerchief 
dipt  in  the  blood  of  that  great  and  venerable  prelate." 

Finding  that  the  Parliament  did  not  act  according  to  his  wishes.  Love  and 
some  other  Presbyterians  entered  into  a  conspiracy  for  the  overthrow  of  their 
formerly  much-esteemed  Republican  government.  Aftera  trial  of  si.\  days, lie 
was  convicted  of  treason  (June  27,1651)  and  the  court  pronounced  sentence  of 
death  upon  him  as  a  traitor.  In  his  defence  he  said  :  "  I  have  been  called  a 
malignant  and  apostate;  but  God  is  my  witness,  I  never  carried  on  a  ma- 
lignant interest :  I  still  retain  my  covenanting  principles,  from  which,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  I  will  never  depart.  Neither  am  I  an  incendiary  between 
the  two  nations  of  England  and  Scotland  ;  but  I  am  grieved  for  their  divi- 
sions ;  and  if  I  had  as  much  blood  in  my  veins  as  there  is  water  in  the  sea,  I 
would  count  it  well  spent  to  quench  the  fire  that  our  sins  have  kindled  be- 
tween them.  1  have  all  along  engaged  my  life  and  estate  in  the  Parliament's 
quarrel,  against  the  forces  raised  against  the  late  King  ;  not  from  a  prospect 
of  advantage,  but  from  conscience  and  duty  :  and  1  am  so  far  from  repent- 
ing, that,  were  it  to  do  again  upon  the  same  unquestionable  authority,  and 
for  the  same  declared  ends,  I  should  as  readily  enga^^e  in  it  as  ever,  though 
I  wish  from  my  soul  that  the  ends  of  that  just  warhad  been  better  accom- 
plished."— What  hold  could  any  government  have  on  a  man  who  avowed 
sentiments  like  these  ?  His  "  covenanting  principles"  were  so  accommodat- 
ing as  to  be  turned  with  equal  facility  in  favour  of  a  Commonwealth  or  a 
Monarchy.  In  one  of  Sir  Henry  Vane's  letters  to  Cromwell,  a  little  before 
that  period,  he  writes  thus  concerning  Mr.  Love  :  "  I  am  daily  confirmed  in 
my  opinion,  that  he  and  his  brethren  do  stillretain  their  old  leaven,  and  are 


340  APPENDIX    D. 

He  afterwards  thus  alludes  to  the  great  schism  among  the 
Puritans  and  the  treaty  that  was  proposed  between  the  King 
and  Parliament : 

[not]  ingenuous  at  all  towards  us,  whatever  they  pretend;  but  have  dexter- 
ity enough  to  take  us  on  our  weak  side,  thinking  thereby  to  save  themselves 
entire  in  their  principles,  and  gain  some,  while  this  decisive  work  in  Scot- 
laud  be  over.  For  it  is  plain  unto  me,  that  they  do  not  judge  us  a  lawful 
MAGISTRACY,  or  esteem  anything  treason  that  is  acted  by  them  to  destroy 
us,  in  order  to  bring  the  King  of  Scots  as  head  of  the  Covenant.  Yet  whilst 
such,  they  help  up  their  party  in  the  face  of  us,  and  for  their  better  encou- 
ragement meet  with  clemency  and  favour  from  us  ;  unto  which  you  are  much 
depended  upon  to  cast  in  also  your  influence  ,  to  balance  your  brother  Heron 
who  is  taken  for  a  back-friend  to  the  Black  Coats." 

The  reader  will  perceive  from  this  extract,  that  Love  and  his  friends  were 
concerned  in  that  enterprize  of  Charles  the  Second,  which  terminated  fatally 
to  his  cause  in  the  defeat  at  Worcester.  Great  intercession  was  made  to  the 
men  in  power  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Love.  The  republican  Colonel  Hammond, 
brother  to  the  loyal  Doctor,  (seepage  297,)  writes  thus  to  Cromwell,  July 
22  :  "  When  I  had  the  honour  to  know  you  well,  it  was  your  lordship's  way 
in  your  affairs,  (and  sure  it  was  the  good  way,  the  way  of  God,)  to  give  a 
full  summons  before  blood  was  shed.  1  cannot  say  but  this  poor  man  [Love] 
might  have  avoided  his  offence  from  what  was  to  be  known  ;  but  such  an 
eminent  warning  as  this,  if  not  received,  will  leave  like  offenders  for  ever 
altogether  inexcusable.  But,  most  of  all,  the  hearts  of  many,  if  not  the 
most,  of  good  men  here,  of  all  parties,  are  exceedingly  set  to  save  his  life 
from  this  ground — that  it  may  be  a  means  to  unite  the  hearts  of  all  good  men 
the  bent  of  whose  spirits  is  set  to  walk  m  the  ways  of  the  Lord.  For  certainly 
though  some  of  them  are  under  severe  bondage,  and  do  not  only  vvan't 
themselves  spiritual  liberty,  but  are  at  enmity  with  those  that  have  it,  from 
their  own  dark  forms  and  principles,  yet  they  [the  Presbyterians]  are  to  be 
preferred  far  before  a  generation  that  does  much  increase,  who  are  turned 
aside  out  of  the  good  way,  aud  turn  the  grace  of  God  into  wantonness,  and 
pursue  iniquity  with  greediness,  following  the  lusts  of  their  own  corrupted 
hearts,  till  they  are  carried  to  that  excess  of  wickedness  that  is  hardly  to  be 
named  among  christians.  Such  as  these,  and  the  irreconcileable  generation 
of  Cavaliers,  do  especially  boast  aud  please  themselves  in  their  hopes  of  the 
destruction  of  this  poor  man." 

But  all  intercession  was  unavailing  :  He  was  brought  to  the  scaffold  on  the 
22d  of  August.  In  his  address  to  the  people,  he  said,  among  other  things  : 
"  1  am  this  day  made  a  spectacle  unto  God,  to  angels,  and  to  men.  I  am 
made  a  grief  to  the  godly,  a  laughing-stock  to  the  wicked,  and  a  gazing- 
stock  to  all:  yet,  blessed  be  God,  I  am  not  a  terror  to  myself:  though  there 
is  but  a  little  between  me  and  death,  there  is  but  a  little  between  me  and 
heaven. — I  am  for  a  regulated  mixed  monarchy,  which  J  judge  to  be  one  of 
the  best  governments  in  the  world.  I  opposed,  in  my  place,  the  forces  of  the 
late  king  ;  because  1  am  against  screwing  up  monarchy  into  tyranny,  as 
much  as  against  those  who  would  pull  it  down  to  anarchy.  I  was  always 
against  putting  the  King  to  death,  whose  person  I  promised  in  my  covenant 
to  preserve  ;  and  I  judge  it  an  ill  way  of  curing  the  body  politic,  to  cut  off 
the  political  head.  1  die  with  my  judgment  against  the  eng-agement  :  I  pray 
God  to  forgive  them  who  impose,  and  them  who  take  it,  and  preserve  them 
who  refuse  it.  Neither  would  1  be  looked  upon  as  owning  the  present  go- 
vernment: I  die  with  my  judgment  against  it.  And  I  die  cleaving  to  all 
those  oaths,  vows,  covenants  and  protestations,  which  were  iuiposed  by  the 
two  houses  of  Parliament.  I  have  abundant  peace  in  my  own  mind,  that  I 
have  set  myself  against  the  sins  aud  apostacies  of  the  time.  Although  my 
faithfulness  hath  procured  me  the  ill-will  of  men,  it  hath  secured  me  peace 
with  God  :  1  have  livet!  in  peace,  and  I  shall  die  in  peace."  How  far  his  ran- 
cour personally  against  the  king  could  consist  with  these  protestations  of  his 
love  for  "  a  mixed  monarchy,"  the  reader  may  easily  determitie.  The  whole 
of  his  address  and  of  his  prayer,  however,  was  highly  confirmatory  of  the 
reasoning  contained  in  Vane's  letter  to  Cromwell,    The  account  of  Love's 


APPENDIX    D.  341 

"  These  proposals  did  not  satisfy  the  Puritan  English,  much 
less  the  Presbyterian  Scots,  who  were  joined  in  that  treaty. 
They  were  resolved  upon  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy,  both 
root  and  branch ;  of  having  the  militia  for  seven  years  abso- 
lutely, and  afterwards  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  King  and  the 
Houses  could  agree ;  and  finally,  of  excercising  such  an  unli- 
mited poAver  in  the  war  of  Ireland,  that  the  King  should  nei- 
ther be  able  to  grant  a  cessation,  to  make  a  peace,  nor  to  show 
mercy  unto  any  of  that  people  on  their  due  submission.  And 
from  the  rigour  of  these  terms,  they  were  not  to  be  drawn  by 
the  King's  commissioners ;  which  rendered  the  whole  treaty 
fruitless,  and  frustrated  the  expectation  of  all  loyal  subjects, 
who  languished  under  the  calamity  of  this  woful  war.  For  as 
the  treaty  cooled,  so  the  war  grew  hotter ;  managed  for  the 
most  part  by  the  same  hands,  but  by  different  heads :  concern- 
ing which,  we  are  to  know,  that,  not  long  after  the  beginning 
of  this  everlasting  parliament,  the  Puritan  faction  became  sub- 
divided into  Presbyterians   and   Independents.*     And   at   the 

trial  and  execution  states  :  "He  then  prayed  with  a  loud  voice,  saying  [among 
other  things]  :  "Father,  my  hour  is  come.  Thy  poor  creature  cau  say, 
without  vanity  and  falsehood,  he  hath  desired  to  glorify  thee  on  earth  ;  glo- 
rify thou  him  now  in  heaven.  He  hath  desired  to  bring  the  souls  of  other 
men  to  heaven ;  let  now  his  soul  be  brought  to  heaven.  Lord,  heal  the 
breaches  of  these  nations  :  Make  England  and  Scotland  as  one  staff  in  the 
Lord's  hand  ;  that  Ephraim  may  not  envy  Judah,  nor  Judah  vex  Ephraim  j 
but  that  both  may  fly  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  Philistines.  O  that  men  of 
the  Protestant  religion,  engaged  in  the  same  cause  and  covenant,  may  not 
delight  to  spill  each  other's  blood,  but  engage  against  the  common  adversary 
of  religion  and  liberty  !  God  shew  mercy  to  all  who  fear  him.  Lord,  think 
upon  our  covenant- keeping  brethren  of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland.  Keep  them 
faithful  to  thee  ;  and  let  not  those  who  have  invaded  them  overspread  their 
land.  Prevent  the  shedding  of  more  christian  blood,  if  it  seem  good  in  thine 
eyes.  God  shew  mercy  to  thy  poor  servant,  who  is  now  giving  up  the  ghost. 
O  blessed  Jesus,  apply  thy  blood,  not  only  for  my  justification  unto  lite,  but 
also  for  my  comfort,  for  the  quieting  of  my  soul,  that  so  1  may  be  in  the  joys 
of  heaven  before  1  come  to  the  possession  of  heaven." 

The  behaviour  of  these  two  men  in  the  awful  article  of  death  was  exceed- 
ingly dissimilar.  It  is  not  difficult  to  say,  which  of  them  witnessed  the  best 
and  most  christian  confession  before  men,  and  behaved  in  a  manner  befit- 
ting such  a  solemn  occasion.  Love  had  stated  to  the  court  on  his  trial : 
"  The  Act  of  August  2,  1650,  makes  it  treason  to  hold  any  correspondence 
with  Scotland,  onto  send  letters  thither.  Here  my  counsel  acquaints  me  with 
my  danger,  because,  being  present  when  letters  were  read  at  my  bouse,  I  am 
guilty  of  co7icealment :  and  therefore  1  lay  myself  at  your  feet  for  mercy." 
Yet.  though  thus  self-convicted  of  treason  against  the  government  under 
which  he  lived,  in  the  settlement  of  which  he  had  greatly  interested  himself, 
he  could  say  boldly  on  the  scaffold  :  "  1  see  men  thirst  after  my  blood, which 
will  only  hasten  my  happiness  and  "their  ruin.  For  though  lam  of  a  mean 
parentage,  my  blood  is  the  blood  of  a  christian,  of  a  minister,  of  an  inno- 
cent MAN,  and  of  A  MARTVR,  and  this  1  speak  without  vatiity  I" 

These  and  other  circumstances,  when  impartially  considered,  will  pro- 
duce this  conclusion — Archbishop  Laud  manifested  in  his  dying  moments 
much  of  the  contrite  and  humble  spirit  of  the  publican,  while  Love  dis- 
played many  traits  of  the  boasting  Pharisee. 

•In  the  letter  of  Vossius,  already  quoted,  page  314,  he  proceeds  to  say: — 
"  But  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  Bishops,  are  of  different  judgments  on 
one  topic.    Many  of  them  wish  all  the  power  of  church-government  to  be 


342  APPENDIX    D. 

first,  the  Presbyterians  carried  all  before  them  both  in  camp 
and  council :  But  growing  jealous  at  the  last  of  the  Earl  of 
Essex,  whose  late  miscarriage  in  the  West  was  looked  on  as  a 
plot  to  betray  his  army,  they  suffered  him  to  be  wormed  out 
of  his  commission  ;  and  gave  the  chief  command  of  all  to  Sir 
Thomas  Fairfax,  with  whose  good  services  and  affections  they 
were  well  acquainted:  To  him  they  joined  Lieutenant  Gereral 
Oliver  Cromwell,  who  from  a  private  Captain  had  obtained  to 
be  Lieutenant  to  the  Earl  of  Manchester  in  the  associated 
Counties,  as  they  commonly  called  them ;  and  having  done 
good  service  in  the  battle  of  Marston-moor,  was  thought  the 
fittest  man  to  conduct  their  forces.  And  on  the  other  side,  the 
Earl  of  Brentford,  (but  better  known  by  the  name  of  General 
Ruthven,)  who  had  commanded  the  King's  army  since  the  fight 
at  Edge-hill,  was  outed  of  his  place  by  a  Court-contrivement, 
and  that  command  conferred  upon  Prince  Rupert,  the  King's 
sister's  son,  not  long  before  made  Duke  of  Cumberland  and 
Earl  of  Holderness. 

"  By  these  new  Generals,  the  fortune  of  the  war,  and  conse- 
quently the  fate  of  the  kingdom  which  depended  on  it,  came 
to  be  decided.  And  at  the  first,  the  King  seemed  to  have  much 
the  better  by  the  taking  of  Leicester ;  though  afterwards  it 
turned  to  his  disadvantage :  for  many  of  the  soldiers,  being 
loaded  with  the  spoil  of  the  place,  withdrew  themselves  for  the 
disposing  of  their  booty,  and  came  not   back   unto   the   army, 

vested  iu  a  Presbyterian  Assembly.  But  the  rest  of  them  declare,  that  such 
a  yoke  is  mofe  grievous  than  that  of  the  Bishops  :  They  contend,  therefore, 
that  such  power  must  be  committed  to  each  pastor  separately,  that  he  may 
teach  the  people  and  govern  them  according  to  the  word  of  God.  The  latter 
are  called  Independents,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Episcopalians  and 
the  Presbyterians,  as  they  style  themselves.  Pym,  whose  influence  in  Par- 
liament is  very  great,  is  said  to  be  of  the  same  sentiments  as  the  Presbyteri- 
ans. But  many  persons  who  seem  to  agree  with  him  on  other  points,  oppose 
him  in  this  :  And  it  is  the  opinion  of  multitudes,  that,  though  these  two 
parties  may  effect  a  double  triumph,  in  the  destruction  of  the  whole  of  the 
kijig's  authority  and  in  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy,  yet  in  a  short  time  they 
will  be  completely  at  variance  with  each  other;  because  multitudes  enter- 
tain no  less  antipathy  to  the  power  of  the  Presbytery  than  to  that  of  the  Bis- 
hops." 

The  Independents  displayed  this  very  hatred  of  Presbyterianism,  before 
the  ^e^  0/  Uniformity  VI AS  passed  at  the  Restoration,  as  Clarendon  informs 
lis  in  his  Life  :  "  It  is  very  true,  from  the  time  of  his  majesty's  coming 
into  England,  he  had  not  been  reserved  in  the  admission  of  those  who  had 
been  his  greatest  enemies,  to  his  presence. — The  Presbyterian  ministers 
he  received  with  grace,  and  did  believe  that  he  should  work  upon  them  by 
persuasions,  having  been  well  acquainted  with  their  common  arguments  by 
the  conversation  he  had  had  in  Scotland,  and  was  very  able  to  confute  them. 
— 1  he  Independents  had  as  free  access,  both  that  he  might  hinder  any 
conjunction  between  the  other  factions,  and  because  they  seemed  wholly  to 
depend  upon  his  majesty's  will  and  pleasure  without  resorting  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, in  which  they  had  no  confidence  ;  and  had  rather  tfiat  Episcopacy 
should  flourish  again,  than  that  the  Presbyterians  should  govern. — The 
King  had  always. admitted  the  Quakers  for  his  divertisement  and  mirth ; 
because  he  thought,  that  of  all  the  factions  they  were  the  most  innocent,  and 
had  least  of  malice  in  their  natures  against  his  person  and  his  government." 


APPENDIX    D.  343 

til]  it  was  too  late.  News  also  came,  that  Fairfax  with  his  army 
had  laid  siege  to  Oxon,  which  moved  the  King  to  return  back 
as  far  as  Daventry,  there  to  expect  tlie  re-assembling  of  his 
scattered  companies.  Which  happening  as  Fairfax  had  desired, 
he  marched  hastily  after  him,  with  an  intent  to  give  him  battle 
on  the  first  opportunity  :  In  Avhich  he  was  confirmed  by  two 
great  advantages  ;  first,  by  the  seasonable  coming  of  Cromwell 
with  a  fresh  body  of  horse,  which  reached  him  not  until  the 
evening  before  the  fight :  and  secondly,  by  the  intercepting  of 
some  letters  sent  from  General  Goring,  in  which  his  Majesty 
was  advised  to  decline  all  occasion  of  battle,  till  he  could  come 
up  to  him  with  his  Western  forces.  This  hastened  the  design 
of  fighting  in  the  ad vei'se  party,  who  fall  upon  the  King's  army 
in  the  fields  near  Naisby,  (till  that  time  an  obscure  village,)  in 
Northamptonshire:  on  Saturday,  the  IQth  of  June,  the  battles 
joined  ;  and  at  first  his  Majesty  had  the  better  of  it,  and  might 
have  had  so  at  the  last,  if  Prince  Rupert,  having  routed  one 
wing  of  the  enemy's  horse,  had  not  been  so  intent  upon  the 
chase  of  the  flying  enemy,  that  he  left  his  foot  open  to  the 
other  wing;  who,  pressing  hotly  on  them,  put  them  to  an  ab- 
solute rout,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  his  camp,  car- 
riage, and  cannon;  and,  amongst  other  things,  of  his  Majesty's 
cabinet :  In  which  they  found  many  of  his  letters,  most  of  them 
written  to  the  Queen :  which  afterwards  were  published  by 
command  of  the  Houses,  to  their  great  dishonour.  For  whereas 
the  Athenians,  on  the  like  success,  had  intercepted  a  packet  of 
letters  from  Philip  King  of  Macedon,  their  most  bitter  enemy, 
unto  several  friends,  they  met  with  one  amongst  the  rest  to  the 
Queen  Olympias ;  the  rest  being  all  broken  open  before  the 
council,  that  they  might  be  advertised  of  the  enemy's  purposes, 
the  letter  to  the  Queen  was  returned  untouched  ;  the  whole 
Senate  thinking  it  a  shameful  and  dishonest  act  to  pry  into  the 
conjugal  secrets  betwixt  man  and  wife.* 

*  The  following  quotation  from  Clarendon's  Life,  though  hi;^hly  honour- 
able to  the  character  of  the  King  as  a  good  husband,  is  derogatory  to  him 
as  the  Supreme  Governour  of  a  free  nation,  and  affords  a  good  clue  to  many 
of  the  misfortunes  which  befel  his  cause  under  this  system  of  favouritism 
and  consequent  mismanagement.  From  such  disclosures  as  these,  we  must 
form  a  high  opinion  of  the  loyalty  and  devotedness  of  those  excellent  men 
who,  while  they  frequently  were  tiiemselves  sutferers  from  this  unrighteous 
system  of  government,  adhered  with  invincible  integrity  to  their  liege  Lord 
and  his  forlorn  hopes  to  the  very  close  of  his  unsuccessful  enterprizes. 

"  The  King's  affection  to  the  Queen  was  of  a  very  extraordmary  alloy ;  a 
composition  of  conscience,  and  love,  and  generosity,  and  gratitude,  and  all 
those  noble  affections  which  raise  the  passion  to  the  greatest  height :  inso- 
much as  he  saw  with  her  eyes,  and  determined  by  her  judgment.  And  did 
not  only  pay  her  this  adoration,  but  desired  that  all  men  should  know  that 
be  was  swayed  by  her  :  which  was  not  good  for  either  of  them.  The  Queen 
was  a  lady  of  great  beauty,  excellent  wit  and  humour,  and  made  him  a  just 
return  of  noblest  affections  ;  so  that  they  were  the  true  idea  of  conjugal  af- 
fection, in  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  When  she  was  admitted  to  the  kni)W- 
ledge  aud  participatiou  of  the  most  secret  affairs,  (from  which  she  had  been 


344  APPENDIX    D. 

"  This  miserable  blow  was  followed  by  the  surrendry  of  Bris- 
tol, the  storming  of  Bridgwater,  the  surprise  of  Hereford,  and, 
at  the  end  of  winter,  with  the  loss  of  Chester.  During  which 
time  the  King  moved  up  and  down  with  a  running  army,  but 
with  such  ill  fortune  as  most  commonly  attends  a  declining  side. 
Tired  with  repulse  upon  repulse,  and  having  lost  the  small 
remainder  of  his  forces  near  Stow-on-the-Wold,  he  puts  him- 
self, in  the  beginning  of  May,  into  the  hands  of  the  Scots  com- 
missioners, residing  then  at  Southwell  in  the  County  of  Notting- 
ham, a  manor-house  belonging  to  the  See  of  York.  For  the 
Scots  having  mastered  the  northern  parts,  in  the  year  1644, 
spent  the  next  year  in  harrassing  the  country,  even  as  far  as 
Hereford ;  which  they  besieged  for  a  time,  and  perhaps  had 
carried  it,  if  they  had  not  been  called  back  by  the  letters  of 
some  special  friends,  to  take  care  of  Scotland,  then  almost 
reduced  to  the  King's  obedience,  by  the  noble  Marquis  of  Mon- 
trose. On  which  advertisement  they  depart  from  Hereford,  face 
Worcester,  and  so  marched  northward  :  from  whence  they  pre- 
sently dispatch  Col.  David  Lesly,  with  six  thousand  horse; 
and  with  their  foot  employed  themselves  in  the  siege  of 
Newark  ;  which  brought  down  their  commissioners  to  Southwell, 

carefully  restrained  by  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  whilst  he  lived,)  she  took 
delight  in  the  examiuing  and  discussing  them,  and  from  thence  in  making 
judgment  of  them;  in  which  her  passions  were  always  strong. 

"  She  had  felt  so  much  pain  in  knowing  nothing  and  meddling  with  no- 
thing, during  the  time  of  that  great  favourite,  that  now  she  took  pleasure  in 
nothing  but  knowing  all  things,  and  disposing  all  things;  and  thought  it 
but  just,  that  she  should  dispose  of  all  favours  and  preferments,  as  he  had 
done  ;  at  least,  that  nothing  of  that  kind  might  be  done,  without  her  privity: 
Not  considering,  that  the  universal  prejudice  tliat  great  man  had  undergone, 
was  not  with  reference  to  his  person  but  his  power ;  and  that  the  same  power 
would  be  equally  obnoxious  to  murmur  and  complaint,  if  it  resided  in  any 
other  person  than  the  King  himself.  And  she  so  far  concurred  with  the 
King's  inclination,  that  she  did  not  more  desire  to  be  possessed  of  this  unli- 
mited power,  than  that  all  the  world  should  take  notice  thatjshe  was  the 
entire  mistress  of  it :  Which  in  truth  (what  other  unhappy  circumstances 
soever  concurred  in  the  mischief)  was  the  foundation  upon  which  the  first  and 
the  utmost  prejudices  to  the  king  and  his  government  were  raised  and  pro- 
secuted. And  it  was  her  Majesty's  and  the  kingdom's  misfortune,  that  she 
had  not  any  person  about  her  who  had  either  ability  or  affection  to  inform 
and  advise  her  of  the  temper  of  the  kingdom,  or  humour  of  the  people,  or 
who  thought  either  worth  the  caring  for. 

•'  When  the  disturbances  grew  so  rude,  as  to  interrupt  this  harmony,  and 
the  Queen's  fears,  and  indisposition  which  proceeded  from  those  fears,  dispos- 
ed her  to  leave  the  kingdom,  which  the  King,  to  comply  with  her,  consented 
to,  (and  if  that  fear  had  not  been  predominant  in  her,  her  jealousy  and  ap- 
prehension that  the  Kin^  would,  at  some  time,  be  prevailed  with  toyield  to 
some  unreasonable  conditions,  would  have  dissuaded  her  from  that  voyage) ; 
to  make  all  things  therefore  as  sure  as  might  be,  that  her  absence  should  not 
be  attended  witli  any  such  inconvenience,  his  Majesty  made  a  solemn  pro- 
mise to  her  at  parting,  that  he  would  receive  no  person  into  any  favour  or 
trust,  who  had  disserved  him  without  her  privify  and  consent ;  and  that,  as 
she  had  undergone  so  many  reproaches  and  calumnies  at  the  entrance  into 
the  war,  so  he  would  never  make  any  peace,  but  fey  her  interposition  and 
mediation,  that  the  kingdommight  receive  that  blessing  only  from  her." 


APPENDIX    D.  345 

Ijefore  remembered.  From  thence  the  King  is  hurried  in  post- 
haste to  the  town  of  Newcastle,  which  they  looked  on  as  their 
strongest  hold.  And  being  now  desirous  to  make  even  with 
their  masters,  to  receive  the  wages  of  their  iniquity,  and  being 
desirous  to  get  home  in  safety  with  that  spoil  and  plunder  which 
they  had  gotten  in  their  marching  and  re-marching  betwixt  the 
Tweed  and  Hereford,  they  prest  the  King  to  fling  up  all  the 
towns  and  castles  which  remained  in  his  power,  or  else  they 
■durst  not  promise  to  continue  him  under  their  protection. 

"  This  turn  seemed  strange  unto  the  King ;  who  had  not  put 
himself  into  the  power  of  the  Scots,  had  he  not  been  assured 
before-hand  by  the  French  Ambassador,  of  more  courteous 
usage  ;  to  whom  the  Scots  commissioners  had  engaged  them- 
selves, not  only  to  receive  his  person  into  their  protection,  but 
all  those  also  which  repaired  unto  him,  as  the  King  signified  by 
his  letters  to  the  Marquis  of  Ormond.  But  having  got  him 
into  their  power,  they  forget  those  promises,  and  bring  him 
under  the  necessity  of  writing  to  the  Marquisses  of  Montrose 
and  Ormond  to  discharge  their  soldiers  ;  and  to  his  governours 
of  towns  in  England,  to  give  up  their  garrisons.  But  then,  to 
make  him  some  amends,  they  give  him  some  faint  hopes  of 
suffering  him  to  bestow  a  visit  on  his  realm  of  Scotland,  (his 
ancient  and  native  kingdom,  as  he  commonly  called  it,)  there  to 
expect  the  bettering  of  his  condition  in  the  changes  of  time. 
But  the  Scots  hearing  of  his  purpose,  and  having  long  ago  cast 
off  the  yoke  of  subjection,  voted  against  his  coming,  in  a  full 
assembly  ;  so  that  we  may  affirm  of  him,  as  the  Scripture  doth 
of  our  Saviour  Christ,  viz.  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own 
received  him  not.  (John  i.  2.)  The  like  resolution  was  taken 
also  by  the  commissioners  of  that  nation,  and  the  chief  leaders 
of  their  army,  who  had  contracted  with  the  two  houses  of  Par- 
liament, and  for  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  poiands  in 
ready  money,  sold  and  betrayed  him  into  the  hands  of  his  ene- 
mies, as  certainly  they  would  have  done  the  Lord  Christ  him- 
self for  half  the  money,  if  he  had  bowed  the  Heavens,  and 
come  down  to  visit  them.  Being  delivered  over  unto  such  com- 
missioners as  were  sent  by  the  Houses  to  receive  him,  he  was 
by  them  conducted  on  the  third  of  February,  to  his  house  of 
Holdenby,  not  far  from  the  good  town  of  Northampton  ;  where 

After  applying  these  remarks  to  the  king's  conduct  respecting  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  Oxford  treaty,  which  failed  as  much  through  this  weakness  in  his 
Majesty,  as  through  the  indirect  management  of  some  of  the  Parliamentary 
Commissioners,  the  noble  historian  proceeds  to  state:  "About  the  time 
that  the  treaty  began,  the  Queen  lauded  in  the  North:  And  she  resolved,  with 
a  good  quantity  of  ammunition  and  arms,  to  make  what  haste  she  could  to 
the  King;  having  at  her  first  landing  expressed  by  a  letter  to  his  Majesty,  her 
apprehension  of  an  ill  peace  by  that  treaty;  and  declared,  that  she  would 
never  live  in  England,  if  she  uiight  not  have  a  guard  for  the  security  of  her 
person.  Which  letter  came  accidentally  afterwards  into  the  hands  of  the 
Parliaiueut,  of  which  they  made  use  to  the  Queen's  disadvantage." 

z 


34G  APrKNDIX    D. 

he  was  kept  so  close,  that  none  of  his  domestick  servants,  no 
not  so  much  as  his  own  Chaplains  were  suffered  to  have  any 
access  unto  him."* 

Having  stated  the  various  indignities  to  which  King  Charles  was 
subjected  by  his  relentless  persecutors,  Dr.  Heylin  closes  his  ac- 
count thus :  "In  which  conjuncture,  1 646,  it  was  thought  expedient 
by  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  to  send  commissioners  to  Newcastle, 
and  by  them  to  present  such  propositions  to  his  sacred  Majesty, 
as  they  conceived  to  be  agreeable  to  his  present  condition.  His 
Majesty  had  spent  the  greatest  part  of  his  time  since  he  came 
to  Newcastle,  in  managing  a  dispute  about  Church-governnnent 
with  Mr.  Alexander  Henderson,  the  most  considerable  cham- 
pion for  Presbytery  in  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  Henderson  was 
possest  of  all  advantages  of  books  and  helps,  which  might 
enable  him  to  carry  on  such  a  disputation.  But  his  Majesty 
had  the  better  cause,  and  the  stronger  arguments.  Furnished 
with  which,  (though  destitute  of  all  other  helps  than  what  he 
had  within  himself,)  he  prest  his  adversary  so  hard,  and  gave 
such  satisfactory  answers  unto  all  his  cavils,  that  he  remained 
master  of  the  field,  as  may  sufficiently  appear  by  the  printed 
papers.     And  it  was  credibly  reported,  that  Henderson   was  so 

*  •'  And  whereas  the  then  usual  law  of  expulsion  was  immediately  to 
banish  into  the  wide  world  by  beat  of  drum,  enjoiuing^  to  quit  the  ^own  with- 
in twenty-four  hours,  upon  pain  of  beinff  taken  and  used  as  spies,  and  not 
to  allow  the  unhappy  exiles  time  for  the  disposal  either  of  their  private 
affairs,  or  stating  the  accounts  of  their  respective  colleges  or  pupils ;  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Sheldon,  now  Lord  Bishop  of  London,  and  Dean  of  his  Majesty's 
Chapel  Royal,  and  Dr.  Hammond,  were  submitted  to  a  contrary  fate,  and 
by  an  order  from  a  Committee  of  Parliament,  were  restrained  and  voted  to  be 
prisoners  in  that  place,  from  which  all  else  were  so  severely  driven.  But 
such  was  the  authority  and  command  of  exemplary  virtue,  that  the  person 
designed  to  succeed  in  the  Canonry  of  Christ  Church,  though  he  had  ac- 
cepted of  the  place  at  London,  and  done  his  exercise  for  it  at  Oxford,  acting 
as  public  orator  in  flattering  there  the  then-pretending  Chancellor,  yet  he 
had  not  courage  to  pursue  his  undertaking,  but  voluntarily  relinquished  that 
infamous  robbeiy,  and  adhered  to  a  less  scandalous  one  in  the  country. 
And  then  the  officer  who  was  commanded  to  take  Dr.  Sheldon  and  him  into 
custody  upon  their  designed  removal.  Colonel  Evelin,  then  governor  of  Wal- 
lingford  Castle,  (though  a  man  of  as  opposite  principles  to  church  and 
churchmen  as  any  of  the  adverse  party,)  wholly  declined  the  employment, 
solemnly  protesting,  that  if  they  came  to  him  they  should  be  entertained  as 
friends,  and  not  as  prisoners. 

"  But  these  remorses  proved  but  of  little  effect ;  the  Prebend  of  Christ 
Church  being  suddenly  supplied  by  a  second  choice,  and  Oxford  itself  being 
continued  the  place  of  their  confinement :  where  accordingly  the  good  doc- 
tor remained,  though  he  were  demanded  by  his  Majesty  to  attend  him  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight  at  the  treaty  there,  which  then  was  again  re-inforced.  The 
pretence  u])on  which  both  he  and  the  reverend  doctor  Sheldon  were  refused, 
was,  that  they  were  prisimers ;  and  probably  the  gaining  that,  was  tVje cause 
why  they  were  so.  But  notwithstanding  the  denial  of  a  personal  attendance, 
the  excellent  prince  required  that  assistance  which  might  consist  with  ab- 
sence, and  at  this  time  sent  for  a  copv  of  that  sermon  which  almost  a  year 
before  he  had  heard  preached  in  that  place.  The  which  sermon  his  Majesty 
and  thereby  the  public,  received  with  the  accession  of  several  others  deliver- 
ed upon  various  occasions." — Dr.  Fell's  Life  of  Dr.  Hammond. 


APPENDIX  D.  347 

confounded  with  grief  and  shame,  that  he  fell  into  a  desperate 
sickness,  which  in  fine  brought  him  to  his  grave ;  professing,  as 
some  say,  that  he  died  a  convert ;  and  frequently  extolling 
those  great  abilities  which,  when  it  was  too  late,  he  had  found 
in  his  Majesty.  Of  the  particular  passages  of  this  disputation, 
the  English  commissioners  had  received  a  full  information  ;  and 
therefore  purposely  declined  all  discourse  with  his  Majesty,  by 
which  the  merit  of  their  propositions  might  be  called  in  ques- 
tion. All  that  they  did,  was  to  insist  upon  the  craving  of  a 
positive  answer,  that  so  they  might  return  unto  those  that  sent 
them ;  and  such  an  answer  they  shall  have,  as  will  little  please 
them.  For  though  his  fortunes  were  brought  so  low,  that  it  was  not 
thought  safe  for  him  to  deny  them  any  thing ;  yet  he  demurred 
upon  the  granting  of  such  points  as  neither  in  honour  nor  in 
conscience  could  be  yielded  to  them.  Amongst  which,  those 
demands  which  concerned  religion,  and  the  abolishing  of  the 
ancient  government  of  the  church  by  Arch-bishops  and  Bi- 
shops, may  very  justly  be  supposed  to  be  none  of  the  least. 
But  this  delay  being  taken  by  the  Houses  for  a  plain  denial, 
and  wanting  money  to  corrupt  the  unfaithful  Scots,  who  could 
not  otherwise  be  tempted  to  betray  their  Sovereign  ;  they  past 
an  ordinance  for  abolishing  the  episcopal  government,  and  set- 
ling  their  lands  upon  trustees  for  the  use  of  the  state. 

"  Amongst  which  uses,  none  appeared  so  visible,  even  to  vul- 
gar eyes,  as  the  raising  of  huge  sums  of  money  to  content  the 
Scots,  who  from  a  Remedy  were  looked  on  as  the  SrcKNESs  of 
the  common-wealth.  The  Scots'  demands  amounted  to  five 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  English  money,  which  they  of- 
fered to  make  good  on  a  just  account ;  but  were  content  for 
quietness  sake  to  take  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  in  full 
satisfaction.  And  yet  they  could  not  have  that  neither,  unless 
they  would  betray  the  King  to  the  power  of  his  enemies.  At 
first  they  stood  on  terms  of  honour  ;  and  the  Lord  Chancellor 
Loudon  ranted  to  some  tune  (as  may  be  seen  in  divers  of  his 
printed  speeches, ")  concerning  the  indelible  character  of  disgrace 
and  infamy  which  must  be  for  ever  imprinted  on  them,  if  they 
yielded  to  it.  But  in  the  end,  Presbyterians  on  both  sides  did 
so  play  their  parts,  that  the  sinful  contract  was  concluded,t  by 
which  the  King  was  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  such  commis- 
sioners as  the  two  Houses  should  appoint  to  receive  his   person. 

-f-  In  a  succeeding  part  of  this  narrative  it  will  be  seen  that  the  King  re- 
rnaiiietl  oulj' four  mouths  iu  the  hands  of  his  Presbyterian  adversaries,  before 
the  Independents  iu  the  army  seized  upon  his  person.  This  frustration  of 
their  hopes  and  ultimate  desig;us  otfended the  Scotch  Parliament,  who  deput- 
ed the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  in  1648,  to  invade  England  with  a  powerful  army, 
and  to  fight  for  the  King  under  the  disguise  of  a  fresh  oath  called  the 
Engage:\ient.  This  expedition  and  its  ostensible  purpose  were  disliked  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  Scotland.  The  Sample  of  True  Blue  Presbt/ferian  I^i/alty 
says,  "  This  Declaration  of  the  Assembly  was  made  to  the  estates  who  had  by 
an  Act  of  Parliament  raised  an  army  to  go  into  England, lo  rescue  the  Kii>g  out 


348  Al'l'liNDIX    D. 

The  Scots  to  have  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  in  ready 
money,  and  the  public  faith  (which  the  Houses  very  prodigally 
pawned  upon  all  occasions)    to   secure   the   other.     According 

of  the  hands  of  the  sectaries  ;  which  expedition  the  Assembly  of  the  Kirk 
opposed,  and  declaimed  against,  and  afterwards  did  excommunicate  the 
Duke  of  Hamihon  and  the  wholearmy  for  engaging  in  that  expedition  against 
the  consent  of  the  Assembly."  In  Baylie's  recommendation  of  the  Presbyterian 
gfovernmeut  (by  authority)  he  states  \tsmild7iess,andthei>i/ri'q)ient  occurrence 
of  excommunication,  as  circumstances  which  ought  toinduce  the  English  na- 
tion cordially  to  adopt  it.  He  says:  "  It  is  a  singular  rarity  among  them  to  see 
any  heart  so'hard  as  not  to  be  mollified  and  yield  before  that  stroke  be  given. 
Evcommunications  are  so  strange  in  all  the  Reformed  Churches,  (hat  in  a 
whole  Province  a  man  in  all  his  life  will  scarce  be  witness  to  one  ;  and, 
among  them  who  are  cut  otf  bjy  that  dreadful  sword,  very  few  do  fall  in  the 
States'  hand  to  be  troubled  with  any  civil  inconvenience."  In  the  particular 
instance  now  adduced,  it  is  true,  "  very  few  did  fall  into  the  States'  hands," 
because  it  was  a  case  in  which  the  d«;a7  power  and  the  ecclesiastical  were  at 
variance.  But  these  '*  mild  ecclesiastics"  proceeded  against  the  delinquents 
to  the  extent  oftheir  power.  "  The  Commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly 
did,  by  their  acts  of  Oct.  6,  and  Dec.  4,  l(i48,  appoint  church-censures  to 
be  inflicted  on  those  who  had  been  concerned  in  that  Engagement,  in  order 
to  bring  them  to  repentance.  And  the  following  Assembly  of  July  26,  1649, 
approved  what  these  Commissioners  had  done,  and  farther  appointed  such  of 
the  Engagers  as  remained  obstinate  and  impenitent,  after  due  process  in  the 
Ecclesiastical  Judicatories,  to  be  excominunicated."  Those  who  know  what 
a  fearful  thing  a  Presbyterian  excommunication  was  in  those  days,  will  find 
no  difficulty  in  forming  a  due  estimate  of  the  intolerance  of  the  Presbytery. 

But  a  perusal  of  the  correspondence  between  "  the  Commissioners" of  the 
General  Assembly"  and  "  the  Committee  of  Instates  of  Parliament,"  on  that 
occasion,  will  serve  to  elucidate  the  mercenary  and  cruel  spirit  which  then 
predominated.  The  former  declared  :  "  We  call  to  record  the  Searcher  of 
ail  hearts,  the  Judge  of  the  world,  that  our  not  concurring  with  your  Lord- 
ships'proceedings  hitherto  hath  not  flowed  fron»  want  of  zeal  against  secta- 
ries, foi'  the  suppression  of  whom  and  for  the  advancement  of  a  work  of 
reformation  we  are  ready  to  hazard  all  in  a  lavful  way;  nor  from  any 
remissness  in  that  which  concerns  his  Majesty's  true  Imnour  and  happiness, 
and  the  preservation  of  monarchical  government  in  him  and  his  posterity  ; 
norfrom  any  want  of  tenderness  of  the  privileges  of  Parliament;  nor  from 
w  ant  of  sympathy  with  our  afflicted  and  oppressed  brethren  in  England  :  nor 
from  partial  or  sinistrous  respect  to  any  party  or  person  whatsoever  within  the 
kingdom  ;  but  from  mereteiiderness  in  the  point  of  securityof  religion  and 
the  union  between  the  kingdoms,  and  from  the  unsatisfactoriness  of  the 
grounds  of  your  Lordships'  Declaration. — The  wars  of  God's  people  are 
tailed  '  the  wars  of  the  Lord.  (Num.  xxi,  14  ;  2  Chron.  xx,  15.)  And  if  our 
mating  and  drinking,  much  more  our  engaging  in  war,  must  be  for  God  and 
his  glory  ;  (I  Cor.  x,31.)  '  Whatsoever  we  do  in  word  or  deed,  we  are  com- 
manded to  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,*  and  so  for  his  glory.  (Col. 
iii,  17.)  The  kingdom  of  God  and  the  righteousness  thereof  is  to  besought  in 
the  first  place  and  before  all  other  things.  (Matt,  vi,  33.)  It  was  the  best 
flower  and  garland  in  the  former  expeditions  of  this  nation,  that  they  were 
for  God  and  for  \fX\^\oxifrincipaUy  and  mainly.  But  if  the  principal  end  of 
this  present  engagement  were  for  the  glory  of  God,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that 
not  so  much  as  one  of  the  desires  of  the  Kirk,  for  the  safety  and  security  of 
religion  in  the  said  engagement,  is  to  this  day  satisfied  or  granted  ;  but  on 
the  contrary,  such  courses  are  taken  as  are  destructive  to  religion?  And  if 
God's  glory  be  intended,  whatmeaneth  the  employing  and  protecting  in  this 
army  so  many  blasphemers,  persecutors  of  piety,  disturbers  of  divine  wor- 
ship, and  others  guilty  of  notorious  and  crying  sins  .'  Again,  how  can  it  be 
pretended,  that  the  good  of  religion  is  principally  aimed  at,  when  it  is  pro- 
posed and  declared,  that  the  King's  Majesty  shall  be  brought  to  some  of  his 
Jnouses  in  or  near  London,   with  honour,  freedom  and  safety,  before  eve 


Ari'r.NDix   D.  349 

unto  which  n^eement  his  Majesty  is  sold  by  his  own  subjects, 
and  betrayed  by  his  servants  ;  by  so  much  wiser  (as  they 
thought)  than  the  traitor  Judas,  by  how  much  they  had  made 
a  better  market,  and  raised  the  price  of  the  commodity  which 
they  were  to  sell.  And  being  thus  sold,  he  is  delivered,  for 
the  use  of  those  that  bought  him,  into  the  custody  of  the  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  (who  must  be  one  in  all  their  errands,)  the  Earl 
of  Denbigh,  and  the  Lord  Mountague  of  Boughton,  with  twice 
as  many  members  of  the  lower  House ;  with  whom  he  takes 
his  journey  towards  Holdenby,  before  remembered,  on  the  third 

there  he  any  security  had  from  him,  or  so  much  as  any  application  made  to 
him,  for  the  good  of  reliijioi)  ?  What  is  this,  but  to  jjostpoue  the  honour  of 
God,  the  liberties  of  the  Gospel,  the  safety  of  God's  people  to  a  human  iuter- 
est,  and  to  leave  religion  iu  a  condition  of  uncertainty,  unsettledness,  and 
hazard,  while  it  is  strongly  endeavoured  to  settle  and  make  sure  somewhat 
else." 

To  these  remarks  the  Committee  of  the  Scotch  Parliament  opposed  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  We  answer  by  acknowledging  and  believing,  that  all  the  wars  of 
the  people  of  God  should  be  the  wars  of  God.  undertaken  at  the  command 
of  those  who  have  lasvful  authority  under  God,  as  were  the  wars  by  the  com- 
mand of  Moses,  Joshua,  the  judges  and  kings  of  Judah,  and  as  uudertaken 
by  warrant  from  God's  vicegerents,  so  for  an  honest  cause,  for  the  glory  of 
God.  But  whereas  it  is  assumed  that  ^/iwc«5"rt^'e«((f«#  is  not  such,  we  deny 
it ;  because  it  hath  the  warrant  of  lawful  authority — the  estates  of  Parlia- 
ment:  and  the  cause  being  honest  to  do  a  duty  commanded  of  God  to  our 
prince,  God  is  glorified  by  doing  that  duty.  The  relieving  of  our  King  out 
ot  prison  is  a  duty  :  '  If  my  kuigdom,'  says  our  Lord,  '  were  of  this  world, 
'  then  vroiild  mi/  servants  Jig ht,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews.' 
(John  xviii,  3!i.)  Our  Lord  suppones  it  was  a  common  duty,  that  subjects 
should  (ight  to  prevent  the  captivity  of  their  King  :  And  if  a  war  be  lawful  to 
prevent  captivity,  is  it  not  lawful  to  deliver  him  from  that  base  captivity  ? 
Are  we  less  obliged  in  duty  to  our  native  prince  than  Abraham  to  his  kins- 
man Lot.'  who  engaged  in  a  war  for  rescuing  him,  notwithstanding  Lot 
had  associated  himself  in  war  with  wicked  men,  the  Sodomites.  (Gen.  xiv.) 
Are  we  less  obliged  than  David  and  his  associates  to  their  captive  wives,  who 
engaged  in  war  for  their  freedom  ?  (1  Sam.  xxx.)  As  for  the  duty  of  honour, 
for  performance  whereof  we  have  engaged  ourselves,  we  believe  it  is  a  duty 
commanded  by  God  himself  iu  the  fifth  commandment.  (Prov.  xxiv,  22  ;  1 
Pet.ii,  lb',  17.)  We  are  forbidden  to  use  our  christian  liberty  as  a  cloak  of 
maliciousness,  for  withholding  or  withdrawing  duty.  Yea  Pagans  by  the 
light  of  nature,  reading  the  law  of  nature,  whicn  is  from  the  God  of  nature, 
do  use  all  honour  to  their  kings.  Yea  holy  Samuel,  undoubtedly  zealous  of 
God's  honour,  notwithstanding  he  knew  certainly  by  Divine  revelation  that 
God  had  rejected  Saul,  yet  honoured  him  before  the  people.  (I  Sam.  xv,  30. j" 
But  the  most  consummate  piece  of  hypocrisy  was  displayed,  when  the  re- 
verend divines  of  the  General  Assembiv,  who  had  inculcated  the  necessity  of 
imposing  their  covenant  on  others,  could  deliberately  avow  the  following  sen- 
timents :  "  The  engagement  is  carried  on  by  such  means  and  ways,  as  tend 
to  the  destroying  of  religion,  by  ensnaring  and  forcing  the  consciences  of  tlie 
people  of  God,  with  unlawful  bands  and  oaths,  and  oppressing  the  persons 
and  estates  of  such  as  have  been  most  active  and  zealous  for  religion  and  the 
Covenant.  All  which  is  strengthened  and  authorized  by  acts  of  Parliament, 
appointing  that  '  all  that  do  not  obey  or  [that]  persuade  others  not  to  obey 
'the  resolutions  of  Parliament  and  CommitLce  aueut  this  engagement,  or 
'  who  shall  not  subscribe  the  act  and  declaration  of  the  10th  of  June,  1648, 

*  imposed  upon  all  the  subjects,  shall  he  holden  as  enemies  to  the  cause  and 

*  to  religiou.' " — How  abhorrent  to  every  christian  principle  and  humane 
feeling  is  this  attempt,  in  which  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  peace  and  the 
Scottish  legislature  vie  with  each  other, to  lejcitiiu'te  rcbt'Hiou  by  quoting  the 
holy  scrii»tures  fur  their  seditious  proceedings  ! 

Z    i* 


350  APPENDIX    D. 

of  February  :*  And  there  so  closely  watched  and  guarded,  that 
none  of  his  own  servants  are  permitted  to  repair  unto  him. 
Marshal  and  Caryl,  two  great  sticklers  in  behalf  of  Presbytery, 
(but  such  as  after  warped  to  the  Independents,)  are  by  the 
Houses  nominated  to  attend  as  Chaplains.*  But  he  refused  to 
hear  them  in  their  prayers  or  preachings,  unless  they  would 
officiate  by  the  public  Liturgy,  and  bind  themselves  unto  the 
rules  of  the  church  of  England  :  Which  not  being  able  to  ob- 
tain, he  moves  the  houses  by  his  message  of  the  17th  of  that 
Month,  to  have  two  Chaplains  of  his  own.  Which  most  un- 
christianly  and  most  barbarously  they  denied  to  grant  him.t 

»  "  These  two  Presbyterian  chaplains  [Carj-l  and  Marshall]  regularly  per- 
formed divine  worship  at  Holmby-house  in  Northamptonshire.  His  Majesty 
however  never  attended,  but  spent  his  Sabbaths  in  private  ;  and  though  they 
waited  at  table,  he  would  not  allow  them  to  ask  a  blessing.  The  Oxford 
historian,  who  mentions  this  circumstance,  relates  the  following  curious 
anecdote  :  '  It  is  said,  that  Marshall  did,  on  a  time,  put  himself  more  for- 
ward than  was  meet  to  say  grace  ;  and,  while  he  was  long  in  forming  his 
chaps,  as  the  manner  was  among  the  saints,  and  making  ugly  faces,  his 
Majesty  said  grace  himself,  and  was  fallen  to  his  meat,  and  had  eaten  up 
some  part  of  his  dinner,  before  Marshall  had  ended  the  blessing  :  but  Caryl 
was  not  so  impudent.'  " 

In  the  life  of  Marshall,  with  relation  to  the  early  part  of  his  career,  it  is 
observed,  "  He  was  as  conformable  as  could  be  desired,  reading  divine  ser- 
vice, wearing  the  surplice,  receiving  and  administering  the  sacrament 
kneeling  :  approving,  commending  and  extolling  episcopacy  and  the  liturgy; 
observing  all  the  holi'lays  with  more  than  ordinary  diligence,  preaching  up- 
on most  of  them.  This  he  did  so  long  as  he  had  any  hopes  of  rising  that 
way.  His  ambition  was  such,  I  have  great  reason  to  believe,  that  he  was 
once  an  earnest  suitor  for  a  deanery,  which  is  the  next  step  to  a  bishopric  ; 
the  loss  of  which  made  him  turn  schismatic.  His  son-in-law  Nye  was  heard 
to  say,  '  that  if  they  had  made  his  father  a  bishop,  before  he  had  been  too 

♦  far  engaged,  it  might  have  prevented  all  the  war  :  and  since  he  cannot  rise 
'  so  high  as  a  bishop,  he  will  pull  the  bishops  as   low  as  himself  :  yea,  if  he 

*  can,  lower  than  he  was  himself  when  he  was  at  Godinanchester.'  "  It  is 
also  related  of  Marshall,  that  he  once  "  petitioned  the  King  for  a  deanery, 
and  at  another  time  for  a  bishopric,  and  being  refused,  his  Majesty  told  him 
at  Hohnby,  that  he  [Marshall]  would  on  this  account  overthrow  all." 

•f-  In  a  subsequent  page  (351)  it  will  be  seen  that  his  Majesty  was  ultimately 
gratified  in  his  desire  of  enjoying  the  conversation  and  prayers  of  his  chap- 
lains. The  Presbyterians  pretended,  that  the  Independents  were  the  actual 
murderers  of  the  king,  and  that  themselves  were  guiltless  of  the  great 
offence.  But  let  any  man  retlect  on  the  scandalous  and  cruel  treatmeut  which 
his  Majesty  endured  at  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterians,  and  he  will  exclaim, 
The  tender  mercies  of  the  wicked  are  cruel!  Few  circumstances  gave  them 
more  sensible  chagrine  than  any  allusion  to  the  courtesy  and  respect  mani- 
fested by  the  Arm)  jto  the  captive  monarch, — a  course  of  conduct  so  opposite  to 
the  Puritanic  severity  which  tiie  royal  sutferer  had  received  fromthe  Presbyte- 
rians. Listen  to  the  vituperative  expressions  of  Richard  Baxter,  who  to  the  very 
close  of  life  could  not  endure  the  mention  of  the  greater  apparent  kindness  of  the 
Independents  :  "  While  the  King  was  at  Hampton  Court  the  mutable  hypo- 
crites first  pretended  an  extraordinary  care  of  his  honour,  liberty,  safety, 
and  conscience.  They  blamed  tlie  austerity  of  the  Parliament,  tvho  Jiad 
denied  1dm  the  atteiidance  of  his  oivn  Chaplains  And.  of  his  friends  in  whom 
he  took  most  pleasure.  They  gave  liberty  for  his  friends  and  Chaplains  to 
come  to  hiui :  they  pretended  that  the}'  v.fuuld  save  him  from  the  incivilities  of 
the  Parlir.ment  and  Presbyterians.  Whether  this  were  while  they  tried  what 
terms  they  could  make  with  him  for  themselves,  or  while  they  acted  any 
other  part  J  it  is  certain  that  the  King's  old  adherents  began  to  extol  the 


APPENDIX      D.  351 

"  Having  reduced  him  to  this  strait,  they  press  him  once 
again  with  their  propositions ;  which  being  the  very  same 
which  were  sent  to  Newcastle,  could  not  in  probability  receive 
any  other  answer.  This  made  them  keep  a  harder  hand  upon 
him,  than  they  did  before ;  presuming,  that  they  might  be  able 
to  extort  those  concessions  from  him  by  the  severity  and  soli- 
tude of  his  restraint,  when  their  persuasions  were  too  weak, 
and  their  arguments  not  strong  enough  to  induce  him  to  it. 
But,  great  God !  how  fallacious  are  the  thoughts  of  men  !  How 
wretchedly  do  we  betray  ourselves  to  those  sinful  hopes  which 
never  shall  be  answerable  to  our  expectation !  The  Presbyterians 
had  battered  down  Episcopacy  by  the  force  of  an  Ordinance  ; 
outed  the  greatest  part  of  the  regular  Clergy  of  their  cures 
and  benefices  ;  advanced  their  new  form  of  government,  by  the 
votes  of  the  Houses ;  and  got  the  King  into  their  power,  to 
make  sure  work  of  it.  But  when  they  thought  themselves 
secure,  they  were  most  unsafe.  For  being  in  the  height  of  all 
their  glories  and  projectments,  one  Joice,  a  cornet  of  the  army, 
comes  thither  with  a  party  of  horse,  removes  his  guards,  and 
takes  him  with  them  to  their  head-quarters,  which  were  then  at 
Woburn,  a  town  upon  the  North-west  Road  in  the  County  of 
Bedford  :*  followed,  not  long  after,  by  such  Lords  and  others  as 
were  commanded  by  the  Houses  to  attend  upon  him ;  who,  not 
being  very  acceptable  to  the  principal  officers,  were  within 
very  few  weeks  discharged  of  that  service.  By  means  whereof, 
the  Presbyterians  lost  all  those  great  advantages  which  they  had 

Army,  and  to  speak  against  the  Presbyterians  more  distastefully  than  before. 
When  the  Parliament  offered  the  King's  propositions  for  concord,  (which 
Vane's  faction  made  as  high  and  unreasonable  as  they  could,  that  they  might 
come  to  nothing,)  the  Army  forsooth  offer  him  proposals  of  theirovvn,  which 
the  King  liked  better  ;  but  which  of  them  to  treat  with,  he  did  not  know.  At 
last,  on  ^/ie*«fW«i  the  judgment  of  the  army  changed,  and  they  began  to 
cry  for  justice  against  the  King;  and  with  vile  hypocrisy,  to  publish  their 
repentance,  and  to  cry  Gou  mercy  for  their  kindness  to  the  King,  and  con- 
fess that  they  tvere  under  a  temptation  :  but  in  all  this,  Cromwell  and  Ireton, 
and  the  rest  of  the  Council  of  War  appeared  not  :  the  instruments  of  all  this 
work  nmst  be  the  common  soldiers."    Baxter's  Life  and  Times. 

*  The  flimsy  pretence  has  been  already  detailed,  page  346,  under  which  the 
Rev.  Doctors  Sheldon  and  Hammond  were  purposely  prevented  from  attend- 
ing his  majesty  on  a  former  occasion.  Bishop  Fell  thus  relates  the  subsequent 
concession  of  the  army  : 

"In  the  mean  time  his  Sacred  Majesty,  sold  by  his  Scottish  into  the  hands 
of  his  English  subjects,  and  brought  a  prisoner  to  Holdenby,  where,  strip- 
ped of  all  his  royal  attendants,  and  denied  that  common  charity  which  is 
afforded  the  worst  of  malefactors,  the  assistance  of  divines,  though  he  with 
importunity  desired  it,  he  being  taken  from  the  Parliament  Commissioners 
into  the  possession  of  the  army,  at  last  obtained  that  kindness  from  them 
(who  were  to  be  cruel  at  anotherrate)  which  was  withheld  by  the  two  Houses, 
and  was  permitted  the  service  of  some  few  of  his  chaplains,  whom  he  by 
name  had  sent  for,  and  among  them  of  Dr.  Hammond.  Accordingly  the 
good  Doctor  attended  on  his  master  in  the  several  removes  of  Woburn, 
Cavesham,  and  Hampton  Court,  as  also  thence  into  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where 
he  continued  till  Christmas  ICA?  ;  at  which  time  hisMajer,ty's  attendants  were 
again  put  from  him,  and  he  amongst  the  rest," 


352  APPENDIX    D. 

fancied  to  themselves,  and  shall  be  better  husbanded  to  the  use 
of  their  adversaries,  though  it  succeeded  worse  to  his  Majesty's 
person,  than  possibly  it  might  have  done,  if  they  had  suffered 
him  to  remain  at  Holdenby,  where  the  Houses  fixt  him.* 

*  Baxter  says  :  "  The  king's  old  adherents  began  to  extol  the  army,  and 
to  speak  against  the  Presbyterians  more  distastefully  than  before."  This  is 
very  true  :  Hear  how  ^ooA  old  Judge  Jenkins  expressed  himself  on  that 
occasion,  in  his  pamphlet  entitled  An  Apology  for  the  Army : 

**  The  army,  to  their  eternal  honour,  have  freed  the  King  from  im- 
prisonment at  Holmby.  It  was  high  treason  to  imprison  his  Majesty  :  to 
free  his  Majesty  from  that  imprisonment,  was  to  deliver  him  out  of  traito- 
rous hands,  which  was  the  army's  bounden  duty  by  the  law  of  God  and  the 
.land.  That  party  refused  to  suffer  his  Majesty  to  have  two  of  his  Chaplains  for  the 
exercise  of  his  conscience  who  had  not  taken  the  covenant;  free  access  was 
not  permitted.  Doth  the  army  use  his  Majesty  so  .'  All  men  see,  that  access 
to  him  is  free  ;  and  such  Chaplains  as  his  Majesty  desired  are  now  attending 
on  his  grace.  Who  are  the  guilty  persons  .'  the  army,  who,  in  this  action  of 
delivering  the  king,  act  according  to  law,  or  the  said  party  vvho  acted  trea- 
sonably against  the  law  .'  The  two  Houses  are  no  more  a  Parliament,  than 
a  body  without  ahead  a  man.  The  two  Houses  can  make  no  court  without 
the  King;  they  are  no  body  corporate  without  the  King;  they  all,  head  and 
members,  make  one  corporate  body.  Two  Houses,  and  a  Parliament,  are  se- 
veralthings.  Theyare  guarded  by  armed  men,  divide  thepublic  money  among 
themselves,  and  that  party  endeavours  to  bring  in  a  foreign  power  [the  Scots] 
to  invade  this  land  again,  if  they  be  no  Parliament,  as  clearly  they  are 
none  without  his  Majesty,  they  have  no  privileges,  but  do  exercise  an 
arbitrary,  tyrannical  and  treasonable  power  over  the  people.  You  say,  The 
disohedltnce  of  the  army  is  a  sad  public  precedent ,  like  to  conjure  up  a  spirit 
of  universal  disobedience.  I  pray  object  not  that  conjuring  up  to  the  army, 
whereof  you  and  the  prevailmg  party  in  the  Houses  are  guilty,  who  con- 
jured up  the  spirit  of  universal  disobedience  against  his  Majesty,  your  and 
our  only  supreme  governour.  For  the  covenant  you  mention,  it  is  an  oath 
against  the  laws  of  the  land,  against  the  petition  of  right  devised  in  Scot- 
land, wherein  the  first  article  is,  to  maintain  the  reformed  religion  in  the 
church  of  Scotland  :  and  certainly  there  is  no  subject  of  the  English  nation 
doth  know  what  the  Scottish  religion  is.  1  believe  the  army  took  not  the 
covenant.  No  man  by  the  law  can  give  an  oath  in  a  new  case  without  an- 
act  of  Parliament ;  and  therefore  the  imposers  thereof  are  very  blameable, 
and  guilty  of  the  highest  crime. 

"  The  kingdom  hath  better  assurance  of  reformation  from  the  army 
than  from  the  Houses,  for  that,  in  their  military  way,  they  have  been 
just,  faithful  and  honourable,  they  have  kept  their  word  :  That  party  of  the 
Houses  have  been  constant  to  nothing  but  in  dividing  the  public  treasure 
among  themselves,  and  in  laying  burthens  upon  the  people  ;  and  in  break- 
ing all  the  oaths,  vows  and  promises  they  ever  made:  As  the  army  hath 
power,  so  now,  adhering  to  the  King,  all  the  laws  of  God,  nature,  and 
man,  are  for  them  ;  their  armies  are  just  and  blessed;  and  the  King  is 
bound  in  justiee  to  reward  his  deliverers  with  honour,  profit,  and  mere 
liberty  of  conscience.  By  the  deliverance  of  the  King  and  kingdom  from 
the  bondage  of  that  party  in  the  two  Houses  by  the  army,  their  renown  will 
be  everlasting ;  they  secure  themselves,  they  content  and  please  the  kingdom, 
city  and  country,  as  appears  by  their  confluence  to  see  nis  Majesty  and  the 
army,  and  their  acclamations  for  his  Majesty's  safety  and  restitution  ;  all 
which  doth  evidence  to  every  one  of  the  arm  v,  how  acceptable  the  intentions 
of  the  army  are  to  the  people  of  this  land,  wlio  have  been  so  long  inthralled. 
Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  let  your  worthiness  remember  your  extraction  and 
j'our  lady's,  by  the  grace  and  favour  of  the  prince,  to  be  in  the  rank  of  nobi- 
lity. Remember  what  honour  and  glory  the  present  age  and  all  posterity 
-will  justly  give  to  the  restorer  of  the  King  to  his  throne,  of  the  laws  to  their 
strength,  and  of  the  afflicted  peonle  of  this  land  to  peace  :  Let  the  colonels 
and  commanders  under  you,  and  likewise  our  soldiery,  rest  assured,  that 


AVVENDIX    D.  353 

"  This  great  turn  happened  on  the  fourth  of  June,  Anno  lC-t7, 
before  he  had  remained  but  four  months  in  the  power  of  the 
Houses  :  Who  having  brought  the  war  to  the  end  desired, 
possest  themselves  of  the  King's  person,  and  dismissed  the 
Scots,  resolved  upon  disbanding  a  great  part  of  the  army,  that 
they  might  thereby  ease  the  people  of  some  part  of  their  bur- 
thens, l^ut  some  great  officers  of  the  army  had  their  projects 
and  designs  apart,  and  did  not  think  it  consonant  to  common 
prudence,  that  they  should  either  spend  their  blood,  or  consume 
their  strength,  in  raising  others  to  that  power,  v/hich  being  ac- 
quired by  themselves,  might  far  more  easily  be  retained,  than  it 
had- been  gotten.*  Upon  these  grounds  they  are  resolved  against 
disbanding,  stand  on  their  guards,  and  draw  together  towards 
London,  contrary  to  the  will  and  express  commandment  of  their 
former  masters,  by  whom  they  were  required  to  keep  at  a  grea- 
ter distance.  The  officers  thereupon  impeach  some  members 
of  the  lower  House  ;  and  knowing  of  what  great  consequence 
it  might  be  unto  them  to  get  the  King  into  their  power,  a  plot 
is  laid  to  bring  him  into  their  head-quarters  without  noise  and 
trouble  :  which  was  accordingly  effected,  as  before  is  said.  Thus 
have  the  Presbyterians  of  both  nations,  embroiled  the  kingdom 
first  in  tumults,  and  afterwards  in  a  calamitous  and  destructive 
■war,  in  which  the  sword  was  suffered  to  range  at  liberty, 
without  distinction  of  age,  sex,  or  quality.  More  goodly  houses 
plundered  and  burnt  down  to  the  ground,  more  churches  sacri- 
legiously profaned  and  spoiled,  more  blood  poured  out  like 
water  within  four  years'  space,  than  had  been  done  in  the  long 
course  of  civil  wars  between  York  and  Lancaster.  With  all 
which  spoil  and  public  ruin,  they  purchased  nothing  to  them- 
selves but  shame  and  infamy  ;t  as  may   be   shewn  by  taking   a 

they  shall  not  only  share  in  the  renown  of  this  action,  but  also  shall  have 
such  remuneration  as  their  haughty  courage  and  so  high  a  virtue  doth 
deserve.  This  his  Majesty  can  and  will  do,  the  Houses  neither  will  nor  can." 
*  "  The  Presbyterians,  now  in  the  fulness  of  their  power,  with  the  Parlia- 
ment, the  city  of  Loudon,  and  the  Scots  at  their  command,  openly  avowed 
their  hostility  to  a  general  toleration  ;  and  the  victorious  army,  composed  of 
Independents,  and  of  various  classes  of  religionists,  perceived  that  they  had 
lavished  their  blood  merely  to  substitute  one  tyranny  for  another,  and  had 
conquered  only  for  their  own  ruin.  In  this  exigence  they  preferred  petitions 
and  remonstrances  to  the  Parliament,  and  on  the  failure  of  these  legal  wea- 
pons, under  the  impulse  of  resentment  and  despair,  resorted  to  violence,  and 
destroyed  the  Presbyterian  power,  the  government,  and  themselves.  They 
became  indeed  the  instruments  of  their  superior  officers,  and  were  ultimate- 
ly made  the  engine  of  Cromwell,  by  whom  they,  with  the  nation  at  large, 
were  despoiled  of  their  great  political  object,  constitutional  liberty,  but  were 
nevertheless  gratified  with  their  favourite  Toleration."  Jackson's  Goodwin, 
f  "  Peruse  over  all  books,  records  and  histories,  and  you  shall  find  a 
principle  iu  law,  a  rule  in  reason,  and  a  trial  in  experience,  that  treason 
doth  ever  produce  fatal  and  final  destruction  to  the  offender,  and  never 
attains  to  the  desired  end  :  (two  incidents  inseparably  thereunto  :)  and 
therefore  let  all  men  abandon  it,  as  the  poisonous  bait  of  the  devil,  and 
follow  the  precept  in  holy  scripture,  serve  God,  honour  the  King,  ani> 
HAVE  NO  COMPANY  WITH  THE  SEDITIOUS."    Coke's  Institutes. 


354  APPENDIX    D. 

brief  view  of  their  true  condition  before  and  after  they  put   the 
state  into  these  confusions. 

"  And  first,  the  Scots  not  long  before  their  breaking  out  against 
their  King,  had  in  the  court  two  Lords  high  stewards,  and  two 
grooms  of  the  stole,  successively  one  after  another.  And  at 
their  taking  up  of  arms,  they  had  a  master  of  the  horse,  a  cap- 
tain of  the  guard,  a  keeper  of  the  privy  purse,  seven  grooms  of 
eight  in  his  Majesty's  bed-chamber,  and  an  equal  number  at  the 
least  of  gentlemen-ushers,  quarter-waiters,  cup-bearers,  carvers, 
sewers,  and  other  officers,  attending  daily  at  the  table.*  I  speak 
not  here  of  those  who  had  places  in  the  stables,  or  below  the 
stairs  ;  or  of  the  servants  of  those  lords  and  gentlemen  who  ei- 
ther lived  about  the  court,  or  had  offices  in  it.  All  which  to- 
gether, make  up  so  considerable  a  number,  that  the  court 
might  well  be  called  an  academy  of  the  Scots  nation ;  in  which 
so  many  of  all  sorts  had  their  breeding,  maintenance,  and  pre- 
ferment. Abroad,  they  had  a  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  a  for- 
tress of  most  consequence  in  all  the  Kingdom ;  and  a  tnaster- 
gunner  of  the  navy,  an  office  of  as  great  a  trust  as  the  other: 
and  more  of  those  monopolies,  suits,  and  patents,  which  were 
conceived  to  be  most  grievous  to  the  subjects,  than  all  the  En- 
glish of  the  court.  In  the  church  they  had  two  Deaneries,  divers 
prebendaries,  and  so  many  ecclesiastical  benefices,  as  equalled 
all  the  revenues  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  All  which  they  had 
lost,  like  iEsop's  dog,  catching  after  a  shadow.  And  yet  by 
catching  at  that  shadow,  they  lost  all  those  advantages  which 
before  they  had  both  in  court  and  country ;  and  that  not  only 
for  the  present,  but  in  all  probability  for  the  time  to  come.  Such 
losers  were  the  Scots  by  this  brutish  bargain ;  but  whether  out 
of  pure  zeal  to  the  holy  discipline,  or  their  great  love  to  filthy 
lucre,  or  the  perverseness  of  their  nature,  or  the  rebellious 
humour  of  the  nation,  or  of  all  together,  let  them  judge  that 
can.t 

♦"  In  the  Privy  Chamber,  besides  the  carvers  and  cup -bearer3, such  a  dis- 
proportion of  the  gentlemen  belonging  to  it,  that  once  at  a  full  table  of  wait- 
ers, each  of  them  having  a  servant  or  two  to  attend  upon  him,  I  and  my  man 
were  the  only  English  in  all  the  company."     Hevlin's  Life  of  Laud. 

•f  "  The  whole  frame  of  the  ancient  government  of  Scotland  had  been  so 
entirely  confounded  by  Cromwell,  and  new-modelled  by  the  laws  and  cus- 
toms of  England,  that  is,  those  laws  and  customs  which  the  Commonwealth 
had  established  ;  that  he  had  hardly  left  footsteps  by  which  the  old  might  be 
traced  out  again.  The  power  of  the  nobility  was  so  tctally  suppressed  and 
extinguished,  that  their  persons  found  no  more  respect  or  distinction  from 
the  common  people,  than  the  acceptation  they  found  from  Cromwell,  and 
the  credit  he  gave  them  by  some  particular  trust,  drew  to  them.  Their  be- 
loved Presbytery  was  become  a  term  of  reproach,  and  ridiculous  ;  the  pride 
and  activity  of  their  preachers  subdued  and  reduced  to  the  lowest  contempt ; 
and  the  standard  of  their  religion  remitted  to  the  sole  order  and  direction  of 
their  commander-in-chief.  All  criminal  cases  (except  where  the  General 
thought  it  more  expedient  to  proceed  by  martial  law,)  were  tried  and  punished 
before  Judges  sent  from  England  and  by  the  laws  of  England  ;  and  matters 
of  civil   interest   before  itinerant  Judges,  who  went  twice  a  year  in   circuits 


APPENDIX    D.  355 

"  If  then  the  Scots  became  such  losers  by  the  bargain,  (as  most 
sure  they  did,)  as  sure  it  is  that  their  dear  brethren  in  the  cause 
of  Presbytery,  the  Puritans  or  Presbyterians  in  the  reahn  of 
England,  got  as  little  by  it.  The  English  Puritans  laid  their 
heads  and  hands  together  to  embroil  the  realm,  out  of  a  confi- 
dence, that,  having  alienated  the  greatest  part  of  the  tribes  from 
the  house  of  David,  they  might  advance  the  golden  calves  of 
their  Presbyteries,  in  Dan  and  Bethel,  and  all  other  places 
whatsoever  within  the  land.  And  for  the  maintenance  thereof, 
they  had  devoured  (in  conceit)  all  chapter-lands,  and  parcelled 
them  amongst  themselves  into  augmentations.*  But  no  sooner 
had  they  driven  this  bargain,  but  a  vote  passed  for  selling  those 
lands  towards  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the  commonwealth. 
Nor  have  they  lived  to  see  their  dear  Presbytery  settled,  or  their 
lay-elders  entertained  in  any  one  parish  of  the  kingdom.  For 
the  advancement  whereof,  the  Scots  were  first  encouraged  to 
begin  at  home,  and  afterwards  to  pursue  their  work  by  invading 
England. 

"  Nor  fared  it  better  with  those  great  Achitophels  of  the  po- 
pular party,  who  laboured  in  the  raising  of  a  new  common- 
wealth, out  of  the  ruins  of  a  glorious  and  ancient  monarchy. 
To  which  end  they  employed  the  Presbyterians,  as  the  fittest 
instruments  for  drawing  the  people  to  their  side,  and  preaching 
up  the  piety  of  their  intentions ;  which  plot  they  had  been 
carrying  on  from  the  first  coming  of  this  King  to  the  crown  of 
England,  till  they  had  got  his  sacred  person  into  their  posses- 
sion :  Which  made  them  a  fit  parallel  to  those  husband-men 
in  St.  Matthew's  gospel,  (Matt.  xxi.  38.)  who  said  amongst 
themselves,  '  This  is  the  heir,  come  let  us  kill  him,  and  let  us 
seize  on  his  inheritance.'  A  commonwealth  which  they  had 
founded,  and  so  modelled  in  their  brains,  that  neither  Sir 
Thomas  More's  Utopia,  nor  the  Lord  Verulam's  new  Atlantis, 
nor  Plato's  Platform,  nor  any  of  the  old  ideas,  were  equal  to  it : 

throtig:h  the  kingdom,  and  determined  all  matters  of  rig^ht  by  the  rules  and 
customs  which  were  observed  in  England.  They  had  liberty  to  send  a  par- 
ticular number  that  was  assigned  tothem,to  sit  in  the  Parliamentof  England, 
and  to  vote  therewith  all  liberty;  which  they  had  done.  And  in  recom- 
pence  thereof,  all  such  monies  were  levied  in  Scotland,  as  were  given  by  the 
Parliament  of  England,  by  which  such  contributions  were  raised,  as  were 
proportionable  to  the  expense,  which  the  army  and  garrisons  which  subdued 
them  put  the  kingdom  of  England  to.  Nor  was  there  any  other  authority  to 
raise  money  in  Scotland,  but  what  was  derived  from  the  Parliament  or  Gene- 
ral of  England.  And  all  this  prodigious  mutation  and  transformation  had 
been  submitted  to  with  the  same  resignation  and  obedience,  as  if  the  same 
had  been  transmitted  by  an  uninterrupted  succession  from  King  Fergus  : 
And  it  might  well  be  a  question,  whether  thegenerality  of  the  nation  was  not 
better  contented  with  it,  than  to  return  into  the  old  road  of  subjection.  But 
the  King  would  not  build  according  to  Cromwell's  models,  and  had  many 
reasons  to  continue  Scotland  within  its  own  limits  and  bounds  and  sole  de- 
peiidence  upon  himself,  rather  than  unite  it  to  England  with  so  many 
hazards  and  dangers  as  would  inevitably  have  accompanied  it,  under  any 
government  less  tyrannical  than  that  of  Cromwell."  Ci.auendon's  Life, 
*  See  a  note  from  Baxter,  page  331. 


356  API'EKDIX    D. 

The  honours  and  offices  whereof,  they  had  distributed  amongst 
themselves,  and  their  own  dependents.  But  havinjr  brought  the 
King  (though,  as  itchanced,by  other  hands)  to  the  end  []to  which^ 
they  aimed,  and  beingintent  on  nothing  more  than  the  dividing  of 
that  rich  prey  amongst  themselves,  gratifying  one  another  with 
huge  sums  of  money,  and  growing  fat  on  the  revenues  of  the 
crown  and  the  lands  of  the  church,  and  guarded  as  they 
thought  by  invincible  armies,  they  were  upon  a  sudden  scattered 
like  the  dust  before  the  wind,  turned  out  of  all,  and  publicly 
exposed  to  contempt  and  scorn.*  All  which  was  done  so  easily, 
with  so  little  noise,  that  the  loss  of  that  exorbitant  power  did 
not  cost  so  much  as  a  broken  head,   or  a  bloody  nose ;   in  pur- 

*  This  wonderful  change  was  indeed  the  Lord's  doing  and  it  u<as  warvel- 
lous  in  the  ei/es  of  the  Vihoie  nation.  That  great  and  wise  man,  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon,  alludes  to  this  singular  interposition  of  Providence  in  the  follow- 
ing pious  strain  :  "  The  easy  and  glorious  reception  of  the  King,  in  the  man- 
ner that  hath  been  mentioned,  without  any  other  conditions  than  what  had 
been  frankly  offered  by  himself  in  his  Declaration  and  letters  from  Breda  ; 
the  Parliament's  casting  themselves  in  a  body  at  his  feet,  in  the  minute  of 
his  arrival  at  Whitehall,  with  all  the  professions  of  duty  and  submission  ima- 
ginable ;  and  no  man  having  authority  there,  but  they  who  had  either  emi- 
nently served  the  late  King,  or  who  were  since  grown  up  out  of  their  nonage 
from  such  fathers,  and  had  thoroughly  manifested  their  fast  fidelity  to  his 
present  Majesty  ;  the  rest  who  had  been  enough  criminal,  shewing  more  ani- 
mosity towards  the  severe  punishment  of  those  who  having  more  power  in  the 
late  times  had  exceeded  them  in  mischief,  than  care  for  their  own  indemnity: 
This  temper  sufficiently  evident,  and  the  universal  joy  of  the  people,  which 
was  equally  visible,  for  the  total  suppression  of  all  those  who  hau  so  many 
years  exercised  tyranny  over  them,  made  most  men  believe  both  abroad  and 
at  home,  that  God  had  not  only  restored  the  King  miraculously  to  his  throne, 
but  that  he  had,  as  he  did  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  prepared  the  people,  for 
the  thing  was  done  suddenly ,  (2  Chron.  xxix,36.)  in  sucn  a  manner,  that  his 
authority  and  greatness  would  have  been  more  illustrious,  than  it  had  been 
in  any  of  his  ancestors.  And  it  is  most  true,  and  must  never  be  denied,  that 
the  people  were  admirably  disposed  and  prepared  to  pay  all  the  subjection, 
duty  and  obedience,  that  a  just  and  prudent  king  could  expect  from  them, 
and  had  a  very  sharp  aversion  and  detestatiou  of  all  those  who  had  formerly 
misled  and  corrupted  thera  ;  so  that,  except  the  General,  who  seemed  to  be 
possessed  entirely  of  the  affection  of  the  army,  and  whose  fidelity  was  now 
above  any  misapprehension,  there  appeared  no  man  whose  power  and  interest 
could  in  any  degree  shake  or  endanger  the  peace  and  security  the  King  was 
in  ;  the  congratulations  for  his  return  being  so  universal  from  all  the  counties 
of  England,  as  well  as  from  the  Parliament  and  city;  from  all  those  who 
had  most  signally  disserved  anddisclaimedhim,  as  well  as  from  those  of  his 
own  party  and  those  who  were  descended  from  them  :  Insomuch  as  the  King 
■was  wont  tneriily  to  say,  as  hath  been  mentioned  before,  *  that  it  could  be 
'nobody's  faultbut  his  own,  that  he  had  stayed  so  long  abroad,  when  all 
*  mankind  wished  him  so  heartily  at  home.'  " 

The  brief  remark  which  he  immediately  subjoins,  is  likewise  worthy  of  cor- 
sideration  :  "it  cannot  therefore  but  be  concluded  by  the  standers  by,  and 
the  spectators  of  this  wonderful  change  and  exclamation  of  all  degrees  of 
men,  that  there  must  be  some  wonderful  miscarriages  in  the  State,  or  some 
unheard  of  defect  of  understanding  in  those  who  were  trusted  by  the  King  in 
the  administration  of  his  affairs;  that  there  could  in  so  short  a  time  be  a 
new  revolution  in  the  general  affections  of  the  people,  that  they  grew  even 
■weary  of  that  happiness  they  were  possessed  of  and  had  so  much  valued,  and 
fell  into  the  same  discontents  and  niurmurings  which  had  naturally  accom- 
panied them  in  the  worst  times." 


APPKNfilX    D.  357 

chasing  whereof,  they  had  wasted  so  many  millions  of  treasure, 
and  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  lives." 

Dr.  Heylin  has  stated  the  period  when  his  Majesty  was  taken 
into  custody  by  the  army,  in  whose  power  he  remained  a  year 
and  a  half  before  he  was  executed.  Another  old  historian  thus 
relates  that  sad  catastrophe  and  some  of  tlie  causes  which  pre- 
ceded it : 

"  Every  public  action  of  the  King  or  his  ministers  being  mis- 
interpreted, combinations  were  held  between  the  factious  Eng- 
lish and  discontented  Scots  ;  whose  begging-time  being  over  at 
Court,  they  bethink  of  coming  to  plunder  the  country.  The 
faction  gives  out,  that  the  King  had  deserted  the  Protestants  of  the 
Palatinate  and  France,  when  the  truth  is,  they  had  deserted  him. 
The  Bishops  in  their  visitations  were  every  where  opposed,  and 
the  troublesome  taught  how  to  elude  all  church-obligations  by 
common  law>  By  a  general  odium  cast  upon  all  acts  of  govern- 
ment, and  a  perverse  spirit  of  discontent,  fears  and  jealousies, 
raised  throughout  the  three  kingdoms,  and  vehemently  possessing 
all  sorts  of  people ;  by  the  necessities  of  the  King  and  some 
foreign  troubles ;  by  the  treachery  of  some  that  had  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  Scotland ;  that  which  was  at  first  but  a  n 
opinion,  after  that  a  book-controversy,  (and  which  never  durst 
look  beyond  a  motion,  a  petition,  a  supplication,  a  conference,  a 
disputation,  and  some  private  murmurings  at  best,)  became  now 
a  war. 

"  The  cause  whereof,  on  the  one  side,  was  an  old  schism  main- 
tained ;  men's  private  interests  promoted ;  rebellion,  that  sin  like 
witchcraft ;  the  overthrow  of  all  laws  and  government ;  the  ruin 
of  learning,  religion  and  order ;  the  piecing-up  of  broken  estates 
by  rapine  and  phmder  ;  an  ambition  to  attain  to  those  honours 
and  preferments  in  troublesome  times,  that  they  despaired  of  in 
those  more  quiet,  as  derived  on  persons  of  more  worth  and  de- 
serving ;  a  canting  pretence  for  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  the 
subject,  that  proved  at  last  nothing  but  licentiousness ;  the 
umbrage  of  the  public  good,  when  it  appeared  at  last  but  the 
project  of  private  persons,  who  no  sooner  overthrew  the  govern- 
ment but  they  quarrelled  one  with  another  ;  till  at  last,  instead 
of  one  good  government,  we  had  so  many  that  we  had  none  at 
all;  and,  instead  of  an  excellent  king,  all  the  blood,  treasures 
and  pretences  ended  in  a  sordid,  base,  bloody,  tyrannical  and 
upstart  usurper,  raised  out  of  the  meanest  of  the  people  ;  a 
revenge  of  some  particular  and  personal  wrongs,  with  the  ruin  of 
the  public  ;*  the  setting  up  of  sects,  cchisms  and  heresies  upon 

*  *'  Riddles !  Cromwell,  Whalley,  Ireton,  &c.  and  the  army,  weep  and 
grieve,  (but  the  hysena  weeps  when  it  intends  to  devour,)  at  the  hard  condi- 
tions the  houses  put  upon  him  ;  and  the  houses  are  displeased  with  the  army's 
hard  usage  of  him  :  And  yet  both  ruiu  him,  the  one  bringing  him  to  the 
block  and  holding  him  there  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  the  other  cutting 
off  his  head.    The  Scots  durst  not  trust  the  cavaliers  with  him ;  nor  the 


358  Al'l'EXDlX    D. 

the  subversion  of  the  established  doctrine  and  discipline ;  a  per- 
petual disgrace  and  dishonour  to  Christianity  and  the  English 
nation,  occasioning  such  burdens  and  mischiefs  as  the  child 
unborn  may  rue ;  burdens  and  mischiefs  conveyed  from  them  to 
late  posterity  :  The  desolation  of  the  country  ;  the  ruin  of  gal- 
lant churches,  castles  and  cities;  the  undoing  of  some  thousands 
of  families;  the  blood  of  80,000  killed  on  both  sides  and  on  all 
occasions ;  an  unnatural  division  and  animosity  begun  even 
among  relations,  that  is  like  to  last  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion ;  abominable  canting ;  taking  of  the  name  of  God  in  vain  ; 
hypocrisy ;  perjury  against  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supre- 
macy, the  protestation,  yea,  against  the  covenant  which  they 
took  themselves,  and  all  the  obligations  they  owed  to  God  or 
man  ;  the  mocking  of  God  by  fasts,  prayers,  and  seeking  of  his 
face  to  wicked  and  vile  purposes  ;  the  making  of  him  the  author 
of  the  abominations  he  abhors;  the  making  of  religion  only  a 
cloak  to  villainies;  and  all  the  ordinances  of  it,  especially  sermons 
and  sacraments,  the  ministries  of  horrid  undertakings ;  filling 
pulpits  with  such  nonsense  and  lies  as  all  ears  that  heard  tingled; 
such  encouragement  to  loose  fancies  and  vile  opinions,  to  en- 
large and  increase  their  party,  as  left  not  unshaken  any  founda- 
tion in  the  whole  compass  of  Christian  religion ;  a  sacrilege 
unheard  of,  that  was  to  swallow  up  all  bishops'  and  deans'  and 
chapters'  lands,  all  tithes  and  ministers'  maintenance,  all  univer- 
sities and  public  schools,  all  hospitals,  colleges  and  charitable 
foundations  ;  a  rapine  that  carried  away  all  the  crown  revenue, 
and  sent  a  great  royal  family  a-begging;  devoured  the  estates  of 
above  12000  noblemen,  gentlemen  and  persons  of  eminent  qua- 
lity; and  indeed  left  no  man  so  much  propriety  as  to  say.  This  is 
mine,  there  being  no  other  law  or  judicature  than  that  arbitrary 

Houses,  the  Scots  :  nor  the  army,  the  Houses  ;  nor  the  Junto,  all  the  army; 
nor  N.  the  Junto,  being  never  safe  till  he  put  his  finger  into  the  royal 
neck,  to  see,  after  execution,  whether  the  head  were  really  severed  from  the 
body.  All  the  quarrel  was,  that  the  Cavaliers  kept  the  Kiiigfrom  the  Parlia- 
ment; and  the  meaning  of  this,  it  seems,  was,  that  they  kept  him  from  the 
block. 

"  A  Prince  they  destroyed  that  thej'  durst  not  despise,  all  the  grandees  in 
the  army  not  daring  to  own  the  least  murtherous  thoughts  towards  him  pub- 
licly, when  they  set  agitators,  that  is,  two  active  soldiers  out  of  every  regi- 
ment in  the  army,  (now  modelled  into  such  desperate  sects  and  villainies,}  to 
consult  about  the  horrid  fact  in  private,  and  to  draw  a  bloody  paper,  as  the 
Agreement  of  the  People,  which  was  but  a  conspiracy  of  traitors  ;  Cromwell 
assuring  ihe  King,  as  he  had  a  soul, that  he  should  be  restored;  and  his  sou  Ireton 
at  the  same  time  drawing  up  a  remonstrance  that  he  should  die.  The  army 
treat  him  like  a  prince  ;  and  that  they  might  deceive  his  devout  soul  the  more 
securely,  allow  him  the  service  of  his  chaplains,  and  the  liberty  of  his  con- 
science, (the  greatest  enjoyments  left  him  in  this  world,)  with  a  design  the 
more  successfully  to  use  him  like  a  traitor.  Ah  brave  prince !  that  none 
durst  have  abused,  had  they  owned  what  they  designed;  whom  the  Houses 
had  saved,  had  they  not  been  cajoled  by  the  army  ;  and  the  army,  had  it  not 
been  cajoled  by  the  Houses.  '  1  he  King  granted  too  much,'  saith  Sir  Harry 
Vane  to  him  at  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  '  and  loo  little,'  saith  the  same  man  to  the 
Houses;  and  the  King  must  die,  when,  whatsoever  they  asked,  they  meant 
his  Life.  "   Lloyd's  fVoithies. 


ATPENDIX    D.  359 

one  of  the  sword  ;  carrying  on  of  the  public  good  till  the  nation 
was  beggared  ;  a  crying  up  of  ihe  power  of  parliaments,  till  the 
House  of  Lords  was  laid  by,  and  the  house  of  Commons,  (consist- 
ing of  almost  five  hundred  gentlemen,)  reduced  to  fifty  or  sixty 
mechanics  and  poor  fellows,  who  are  turned  out  by  their  own 
army  as  a  pack  of  knaves  and  fools  ;  a  pretence  to  make  the 
king  glorious  till  he  was  murdered,  and  fighting  for  him  against 
evil  counsellors  till  they  cut  off  his  head,-the  best  counsellor  he 
had  ;*  the  rendering  of  a  nation,  once  the  envy  and  terror  of  the 

*  "  The  Prefacer  owns,  'That  travelling  has  hitherto  been  so  mischievous, 
'  that  it  is  well  it  has  been  so  little  in  fashion.  Such  worthy  men  as  are  einploy- 
'  ed  abroad  may  bring  home  generous  notions  of  liberty,  and  make  admirable 

*  remarks  on  the   contrary  state  :  which  being  inculcated  from  the  pulpit, 

*  and  enforced   by  the  learned  arguments  of  able  divines,  must  needs  over- 

*  throw  those  servile  opinions,  which  of  late  have  been  too  much  backed  by 

*  God's  authority,  almost  to  the  ruin  of  a  free  people.'  Here  we  have  before 
us  a  true  platform  of  our  author's  grand  design  :  together  with  an  exact 
delineation  of  the  manner  and  couductof  the  villainy  through  all  its  steps  aud 
gradations.  This  was  the  darling  method  which  the  Rabbis  of  the  Separation 
used  heretofore,  to  new-plant  the  gospel  and  to  pull  down  the  High  Places 
of  the  church  and  monarchy  together.  The  project  was  first  set  ou  foot  by 
English  and  Scotch  travellers  ;  who,  having  unhappily  sojourned  awhile  at 
Frankfort,  sinAva.  the  strange  land  oi  Gawevsi,  became  bewitched  at  length 
with  the  charms  of  a  new  discipline  :  Upon  a  return  home,  they  made  such 
a  pother  with  fantastical  notions  of  liberty,  and  such  pert  remarks  upon  the 
aclmirable  constitutions  of  the  English  Church,  that  the  whole  nation  soon 
rang  with  the  jingle  of  reformation.  Innovations,  grievances  and  disobedi- 
ence to  rulers,  were  inculcated  from  the  pulpit,  and  the  multitude  rendered 
uneasy  both  to  their  governors  and  themselves,  by'calumnies,  scruples,  and 
such  like  arguments  of  good  and  able  divines.  The  authority  of  magistrates 
was  blasted  and  rundown  by  the  fair  and  specious  pretensions  of  R/ree  peo- 
ple ;  and  Christian  loyalty,  patience  and  submission  were  quite  dashed  out  of 
countenance  by  the  horriole  outcry  of  dangerous  and  slavish  ojnnions.  Never 
was  any  black  and  infamous  project  so  graduated  along  with  good  names; 
nor  the  power  of  godliness  so  stifled  with  inward  suggestions  of  the  Spirit. 

"  The  ring-leaders  of  the  faction  drew  the  rabble  after  them  with  the  hal- 
lowed whistle  of  conscience  and  inspiratiou  ;  with  prayers  unmerciful,  ele- 
vation of  hands  and  voices,  and  eyes  lifted  .up  to  heaven  :  while  their  hearts 
were  fixt  on  sacrilege  and  rapine  [that  inheritatice  of  the  saints)  and  other 
creature  comforts  here  below.  The  tickling  of  wanton  and  itching  ears  was 
called  '  touching  the  conscience  ;'  and  he  was  thought  the  fittest  champion 
to  sacrifice  Antichrist  to  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  fowls  of  the  air,  that 
could  boldly  and  fluently  utter  the  most  edifying  nonsense.  They  caught  the 
simple,  even  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  separation,  with  the  witchcraft 
of  rebellion  at  last;  as  once  a  pied  piper  drew  children  after  him,  with  the 
unaccountable  strains  of  magic  and  enchantments.  And  after  they  had  run 
through  the  various  stages  of  heterodoxy  and  schism, liberty  and  insurrection, 
prophaneness  and  blasphemy,  plunder  and  devastation  ;  they  completed  their 
reformation  in  the  ruin  of  the  church  and  state,  the  depression  of  the  nobi- 
lity, selling  the  gentry  for  slaves,  the  exaltation  of  sovereign  mob,  and  the 
murder  of  the  best  of  princes. 

"  I  do  verily  believe,  (and  surely  the  black  annals  of  those  unhappy  times 
have  put  it  beyond  all  question,)  that  if  all  the  religious  barbarities  and  execu- 
tions which  were  acted  by  those  who  are  now  sainted  up  to  everlasting  rest, 
and,  as  it  were,  conjured  to  heaven  by  the  republican  chaplains  of  those 
times  ;  if  all  the  consequences  too,  under  which  the  whole  reformation  groans 
at  this  very  day,  could  be  represented  at  once  unto  the  view  ;  it  would  be  the 
most  sad  aud  astonishing  sight,  the  most  tremendous  object  of  horror  and 


360  Al'l'ENDIX  D. 

world,  now  its  scorn  and  contempt  ;  and  Englishmen,  once  the 
glory  of  Europe,  now  its  shame  for  doing  that  which  Turks  and 
Pagans  and  the  barbarous  abhorred,  crying  out,  Youjight  and 
judge  your  King  !  Not  to  say  any  thing  of  the  general  horror  and 
consternation  that  seized  all  the  christian  world  upon  that  hor- 
rid conspiracy.  The  letting  loose  of  all  the  Jesuitical  principles 
that  had  troubled  the  world,  but  were  never  before  owned  by 
things  that  would  be  called  Protestants.     As, 

"  That  success  is  a  sign  of  God's  blessing  and  presence  with 
any  people  in  any  undertaking. 

"That  nothing  is  to  be  established  in  public  that  goeth  against 
any  man's  opinion,  humour  or  conscience  in  private. 

"  That  if  any  court,  judicature,  form  of  worship  or  law  be 
abused,  then  it  must  be  presently  laid  down  and  not  used. 

"  That  any  thing  that  hath  been  used  by  the  Papists,  or  that 
is  but  pretended  to  be  Popish,  must  be  abrogated  :  A  principle 
that  the  Jesuits,  observing  our  blind  zeal  against  Popery,  have 
suggested,  to  overthrow  all  religion  under  pretence  of  avoiding 
Popery. 

"  That  dominion  is  founded  upon  grace,  and  that  the  wicked 
have  no  right  to  any  thing  that  they  enjoy. 

"  That  the  law  of  the  land  was  not  made  for  the  righteous 
but  for  sinners  :  so  they  abused  a  place  of  scripture  that  sounds 
that  way. 

compassion,  that  ever  eyes  beheld;  and  would  easily  convince  us,  that  our 
travellers  and  reformers  did  not  copy  the  example  of  Him  who  was  meek  and 
lowly,  and  who  came,  not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them."  The  Com- 
7nonviealtICs  Man  Unmasked. 

In  the  last  paragraph,  the  reader  will  perceive  an  allusion  to  Richard  Bax- 
ter's Saints'  Everlasting  Rest,  which  he  composed  "  in  quarters  far  from 
home,"  when,  as  a  republican  chaplain,  "  he  was  cast  into  extreme  languish- 
ment  by  the  sudden  loss  of  about  a  gallon  of  blood."  In  that  curious  and 
(otherwise)  very  edifying  treatise,  he  has  given  us  several  touches  of  his  party 
principles,  which  it  would,  for  many  reasons,  have  been  more  decorous  to 
omit  in  a  work  devoted  to  piety.  In  one  passage,  when  speaking  of  heaven, 
he  says  :  "  I  think.  Christian,  this  will  be  a  more  honourable  assembly  than 
you  ever  here  beheld  ;  and  a  more  happy  society  than  you  were  ever  of  before. 
Surely  Brook,  and  Pym,  and  Hampden,  and  White,  &c.  are  now  members  of 
a  more  knowing,  unerring,  well-ordered,  right-aiming,  self-denying,  unani- 
mous, honourable,  triumphant  senate,  than  this  from  w  hence  they  were  taken 
is,  or  ever  parliament  will  be.  It  is  better  to  be  door-keeper  to  that  assembly, 
whither  Twisse,  &c.  are  translated,  than  to  have  continued  here  the  modera- 
tor of  this.  That  is  the  true  Parliamentum  beattim,  the  blessed  parliament ; 
and  that  is  the  only  church  that  cannot  err." — In  another  description  of  "  the 
city  of  rest,"  he  tells  us  :  "Subscription  and  conformity  no  more  urged; 
silencing  and  suspending  are  there  more  than  suspended;  there  are  no  bishops 
or  chancellors'  courts;  no  visitations  nor  high  commission  judgments;  no 
censures  to  loss  of  members,  perpetual  imprisonment  or  banishment."  In  a 
comparison  on  the  same  subject  he  says:  "  O  the  sad  and  heart-piercing 
spectacles  that  mine  eyes  have  seen  in  four  years'  space  !  In  this  fight  a  dear 
friend  fell  down  by  me  ;  from  another,  a  precious  christian  brought  home 
wounded  or  dead  :  scarce  a  month,  scarce  a  week  without  tlie  sight  or  noise 
of  blood.  Surely  there  is  none  of  this  in  heaven.  Our  eyes  shall  then  be 
tilled  no  n  or. ,  nor  our  hearts  pierced, with  such  fighls  as  at  Worcester, Edge- 
liill,  Newbury,  &c."  Other  passages  of  a  similar  aspect  and  tendency  occur 
in  different  parts  of  that  treatise. 


Al^l'EXDIX    D.  361 

"  That  all  the  prophecies  and  revolutions  forespoken  of,  con- 
cern England;  and  that  they  may  make  any  stir  to  fulfil  these  pro- 
phecies :  all  that  they  did,  being,  as  they  said,  nothing  but  God's 
pouring  out  his  vials  on  the  beast, ^-c*  The  whole  Scripture  being 
understood,  not  according  to  the  inward  sense,  but  according  to 
the  outward  sound  ;  and  as  the  fool  thinketh,  so  the  bell 
tinketh. 

"  Against    the  King,    the  Law,  and  Reltg^on,   were  & 
company  of  poor  ti'adesmen,    broken  and  decayed  citizens,    de- 
luded and  priest-ridden  women,  discontented  spirits,    creeping, 
pitiful  and  neglected  ministers,  and  trencher-chaplains  ;  enthu- 
siastical   factions,    such  as    Independents,    Anabaptists,  Seekers, 
Quakers,    Levellers,  Fifth-Monarchy   Men,  Libertines,  the   rude 
rabble  that  knew  not  wherefore  they  were  got  together;  Jesuited 
politicians,  tailors,  shoemakers,  linkboys,  &c. ;  guilty  and  noto- 
rious  offenders,   that  had  endured  or  feared  the  law  ;  perjured 
and  deceitful  hypocrites  and  atheists,  mercenary  soldiers,  hollow- 
hearted  and  ambitious  courtiers,  one  or  two  poor  and  disobliged 
lords,  cowardly  and  ignorant  neuters,    here  and  there  a  Protest- 
ant frighted  out  of  his  wits.  These  were  the  faction's  champions. 
"  On  the  King's  side,  there  were   all   the    Bishops  of  the 
land ;  all  the  Deans,  Prebends  and  learned  men  ;  both  the  Uni- 
versities ;  all  the  Princes,  Dukes  and  Marquisses ;  all  the  Earls 
and   Lords,  except  two  or  three   that  stayed  at  Westminster  to 
make   faces  one    upon   another,  and  wait  on  their  Masters  the 
Commons,  until  they  bid  them   go  about  their  business,    telling 
them  they  had  nothing  to  do  for  them  and  voting  them  useless; 
all  the  knights  and  gentlemen  in  the  three  nations,  except  a  score 
of  sectaries  and  atheists  that  kept  with  their  brethren  and  sisters 
for  the  cause  ;  the  judges  and  best  lawyers  in  the  land  ;t  all  the 
statesmen   and   counsellors  ;  the  officers   and  great  men  of  the 
kingdom  ;  and  all  the  Princes  and  States  of  Europe. 

*  The  following  extract  from  Dr.  Heylin  is  a  good  attack  apon  the  Calvin- 
istic  prophets  of  that  age  ;  itis  fighting  them  with  their  own  weapons  : 

"Others  with  no  unhappy  curiosity  observingthe  number  ot  words  which 
make  up  this  covenant,  abstracted  from  the  preface  and  conclusion  of  it, 
found  them  amounting  in  the  total  to  six  hundred  and  sixty-six,  neither  more 
nor  less,  which  being  the  number  of  the  beast  iu  the  Revelation,  pursued 
with  such  an  open  persecution  and  prosecuted  to  the  loss  of  so  many  lives,  the 
undoing  of  so  many  families,  and  the  subverting  of  the  government  both  of 
church  and  state,  majvery  justl3-entitle  it  to  so  much  of  Antichrist,  as  others 
have  endeavoured  to  conftr  on  the  Popes  of  Rome.  For  if  the  Pojje  shewed 
any  thingof  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  by  bringing  Cranmer,  the  first  protestant 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  th£  stake  at  Oxford  ;  this  covenant  and  the 
makers  of  it  did  express  no  less  in  bringing  the  last  Protestant  Archbishop  to 
the  block  in  London." 

•f-  In  the  long  and  respectable  list  of  "  the  judges  and  best  lawyers  in  the 
land,"  who  were  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake,  was  Judge  Jenkins, 
whose  very  judicious  and  extensively  circulated  pamphlets  gave  vast  um- 
brage to  the  republican  usurpers.  Lloyd  gives  as  the  following  account  of 
this  excellent  man  : 

"  David  Jenkins,  upwards  of  58  years  a  Student  in  Grays-Inn  near 
London,  of  so  much  skill,  when  a  private  and  young  man,  that  niy  Lord 

Aa 


302  AriM'.xnix  dv 

**  The  Earl  of  Strafford  gave  his  Majesty  safe  counsel  in  the 
prosperity  of  his  affairs,  and  resolute  advice  in  extremity,  as  a 
true  servant  of  his  interest  rather  than  of  his  pov?er.     So   emi- 

Bacon  would  make  use  of  his  collections  in  several  cases,  digesting'  them 
himself;  aud  of  so  much  repute  in  his  latter  years,  that  Attorney  Noy, 
Herbert,  and  Kan ks,  would  send  the  several  cases  they  were  to  prosecute 
for  his  Majesty,  to  be  perused  by  him,  before  they  were  to  be  produced  in 
court.  All  the  preferment  he  arrived  at,  was  to  be  Judj^e  of  South-Wales, 
a  place  he  never  sought  after,  nor  paid  for  the  patent,  being' sent  him  with- 
out his  knowledge,  and  confirmed  to  him  without  his  charge;  in  which 
capacity,  if  prerog^ative  of  Ids  dear  master,  or  the  poiver  of  his  beloved 
church,  came  in  Ins  way,  stretching  themselves  heyond  the  law,  he  would 
retrench  them  ;  though  suffering  several  checks  for  the  one,  and  excom- 
munication for  the  other  :  Notwithstanding  that,  he  (h€art  of  oak)  hazarded 
liis  life  for  the  just  extent  of  both  ;  for  being  teiken  prisoner  at  the  surprise 
of  Hereford,  and  for  his  notable  vindication  of  the  King's  party  and  cause, 
J)y  those  very  laws  (to  the  undeceiving  of  thousands)  Uiat  were  pretended 
against  them,  as  the  violators  of  the  law;  aud  for  increasing  the  fe\id 
between  the  Parliament  aud  the  army,  and  instilling  sucaessfully  into  the 
latter  principles  of  allegiance,  (by  shewing  them  that  all  the  parliamentary 
ordinances  for  indemnity  and  arrears,  were  but  blinds  for  the  present, 
amounting  not  to  laws  which  they  could  trust  to  for  the  future,  without  his 
Majesty's  concurrence;  whose  restoration  he  convinced  them  was  their 
unavoidable  interest,  as  well  as  their  indispensable  duty,)  he  ■was  carried 
first  to  the  Chancery,  secondly,  to  the  Kings-bench,  and  at  last,  to  the  bar 
of  their  House,  the  authority  of  all  which  places  he  denied  ;  and  though  he 
and  the  honourable  Lewis  Dives  were  designed  sacrifices  for  Ascham  and 
DorislauSjhe  escaped  with  his  life  in  eleven  years'  durance,  out  of  which  he 
got  1656,  not  by  creeping  out  of  the  window,  by  cowardly  compliance,  but 
going  forth  at  tne  door,  fairly  set  open  for  him  by  Divine  providence,  hazard- 
ing bis  life  for  that  which  was  the  life  of  his  life,  his  conscience.  He  died 
at  nis  house  at  Cowbridge,  (his  age  having  some  years  before  given  him  a 
qnietns  est  from  public  employments,)  Dec.  6,  1663." 

The  worthy  old  lawyer  accounted  it  a  great  honour  to  be  a  sufferer  for  his 
royal  master.  In  the  short  preface  to  his  Lex  Terre  he  relates  a  circum- 
stance highly  to  the  credit  of  the  unfortunate  monarch.  After  slating,  that 
in  the  beginning  of  the  long  parliament  he  himself  "  lay  under  three  excom- 
munications, and  the  examination  of  seventy-seven  articles  in  the  High 
Commission  Court,  for  opposing  the  excess  of  the  bishops",  &c  ;  he  adds, 
■*'  In  the  timeof  the  attorueysliips  of  Mr.  Noy  and  the  Lord  Banks,  they  were 
pleased  to  make  often  use  of  me,  and  many  references  concerning  suits  at 
court  upon  that  occasion  came  to  my  knowledge  ;  and,  as  I  shall  answer  to 
God  upon  my  last  account,  this  is  truth,  that  all  or  most  of  the  references 
which  1  have  seen  in  that  kind  (aud  I  have  seen  many)  were  to  this  effect, 
that  his  Majesty  would  be  informed  by  his  council  if  the  suits  preferred  were 

AGREEABLE  TO  THE   LAWS,   and  NOT   INCONVENIENT    TO     HIS     PEOPLE,   before 

be  would  pass  them.    What  could  a  just  and  pious  Prince  do  more  ?" 

The  following  is  the  style  iu  which  he  concluded  one  of  his  pamphlets,  and 
the  last  paragraph  (respecting  an  act  of  oblivion,  &c.)  was  the  closing  bur- 
den of  all  his  productions  -. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  many  in  both  Hoyscs  are  free  from  this 
great  sin,  and  that  most  of  the  prevailing  party  had  at  first  no  inteutions 
to  proceed  so  far ;  but  the  madness  of  the  people,  (who  are  very  unstable, 
aud  so  they  will  find  them,)  and  the  success  of  their  armies  (having  this 
great  rich  city  to  supply  them  with  all  accommodations,)  have  so  elated 
them,  that  the  evil  is  come  to  this  height.  For  myself,  to  put  me  to  death 
in  this  cause,  is  the  greatest  honour  lean  possibly  receive  iu  this  world: 
Dulce  et  decorum  est  niori  pro patria.  And  for  a  lawyer,  and  a  judge  of  the 
law,  to  die,  Dum  sa  net  is  pa  trice  legibus  obsequitur,  for  obedience  to  the  laws, 
will  be  deemed,  by  the  good  men  of  this  time,  a  sweet-smelling  sacrifice, 
aud  by  this  and  future  times,  that  /  died  fill  of  years,  and  luid  an  honest 
and /tonourable  end.    And  posterity  will  take  knowledge  of  these  men,  who 


APPENDIX    D.  363 

nent  was  he,  and  my  Lord  of  Canterbury,  that  rebellion  de- 
spaired of  success  as  long  as  the  first  lived,  and  schism  of  licen- 
tiousness as  long  as  the  second  stood.  Take  my  Lord  of  Strafford 
as  accused,  and  you  will  find  his  integrity  and  ability,  that  he 
managed  his  whole  government  either  by  the  law  or  by  the 
interest  of  his  country.  Take  him  as  dying,  and  you  will  see 
his  parts  and  piety,  his  resolution  for  himself,  his  self- resigna- 
tion for  the  kingdom's  good,  and  his  devotion  for  the  Church, 
whose  patrimony  he  forbade  his  son  upon  his  blessing. — But 
these  qualities,  which  rendered  him  so  amiable  to  his  Majesty, 
represented  him  formidable  to  the  Scots;  so  that  some  who  were 
not  well  persuaded  of  the  justness  of  his  sentence,  thought  he 
suffered,  not  so  muchybr  ivhat  he  had  done  already,  as  for  what 
he  was  like  to  have  done,  had  he  lived,  to  the  disservice  of  that 
nation  ;  and  that  he  was  not  sacrificed  so  much  to  the  Scots' 
revenge  as  to  their  fear.  And  certainly  his  fall  was,  as  the 
first,  so  the  most  fatal  wound  the  King's  interest  ever  received  ; 
his  three  kingdoms  hardly  affording  another  Strafford,  that  is, 
one  man  his  peer  in  parts  and  fidelity  to  his  Majesty.  He  had 
a  singular  passion  for  the  government  and  patrimony  of  the 
church  :  both  which  he  was  studious  to  preserve  safe  and  sound 
either  opining  them  to  be  of  sacred  extraction  or  at  leastof  prudent 
constitution  relating  to  holy  performances.  The  first  institution  of 
the  president's  place  in  the  North,  was  to  *?/^/)re,yi' rebellions  ;  and 
my  Lord's  first  care  in  that  place  was  to  prevent  them.  How  care- 
fully did  he  look  outhonest  and  wise  clergymen,  thatmightinstruct 
and  guide, — how  prudently  did  he  choose  knowing  and  noble 
gentlemen,  that  might  govern  and  awe  that  rude  corner  of  the 
kingdom,  equally  obnoxious  to  the  insinuations  of  the  old  super- 
stition that  crept  thither  from  beyond  the  seas,  and  of  the  late 
innovations  that  stole  in  thither  from  beyond  the  Tweed,  both 
dangerous  to  the  people  and  troublesome  to  government ! 


I 


put  some  to  death  for  subverting  of  the  laws,  and  others  for  supporting  of 
them,  &c.  Yet  mercy  is  above  all  the  works  of  God  ;  the  King  is  God's 
Vicar  on  earth.  In  Bracton,  who  was  a  judge  in  Henry  the  third's  time, 
ou  shall  find  the  King's  oath  :  To  shew  mercy,  is  partof  it.  You  are  all 
is  children  ;  say  and  do  what  you  will,  you  are  all  his  subjects,  and  he  is 
your  King  and  parent :  Pro  magna pecca to paululum  supplied  satis  est  patri : 
[A.  father  is  satisfied  with  a  very  slight  degree  of  punishment  for  a  great 
offence  :]  and  therefore  let  uot  the  prevailing  party  be  obdurate,  out  of  a 
desperation  of  safety.  That  which  is  past  is  not  revocable  :  Take  to  your 
thoughts  your  parents,  your  wives,  your  children,  your  friends,  your  for- 
tunes, your  country ;  wherein  foreigners  [the  Scots]  write,  there  is  Mira  aeris 
suavitas,  et  rerum  oinnium  abundantin :  [a  wonderful  mildness  in  the  at- 
mosphere, and  an  abundance  of  every  thing.J  Invite  them  not  hither; 
the  only  way  to  be  free  of  their  company  will  be,  to  restore  his  Majesty,  and 
receive  from  him  an  act  of  oblivion,  a  general  pardon,  assurance  for  the 
arrears  of  the  soldiery,  and  meet  satisfaction  to  tender  consciences. — God 
rRESERVE  THE  KtNG  AND  THE  LAWS :  DAVID  JENKINS,  Prisoner  in 
Newgate," 

AA  2 


364 


Al'l'ENDIX    D. 


"  How  clearly  did  he  see  through  the  mutinies  and  pretences 

of  the  multitude,  into  the  long-contrived  conspiracies  and  designs 
of  several   orders  of  more  dangerous   men,  whose  covetousness 
and  ambition  would  digest,  as  he  foresaw,  the  rash  tumults,  into 
a  more  sober   and    solemn   rebellion  !       How  happily    did   he 
divine,  that  the  affronts  offered  the  King's  authority  on  the  score 
of  Superstition,  Tyratmy,  Idolatry,  Mai-administration,  Liberty*^ 
Sj'C.  (words  as  little  understood  by  the  vulgar,  as  the  design  that 
lay  under  them,)    were  no   other  than  essays   made    by  certain 
sacrilegious  and  needy  men,  to  confirm  the  rapines  upon  church 
and  state  they  had  made  in  Scotland,   and  to  open  a  door  to  the 
same  pi'actices   in  England  ;  to  try  how  the  King,   who  had  al- 
ready ordered  a  revocation  of  all  such    Usu7-pations  in  Scotland 
and  had  a  great  mind  to  do  the  like  in  England,  would  bear  their 
rude   and    insolent  attempts, — whether   he  would    consult  his 
pofver  or  his  goodness,  assert  his  Majesty  or  yield  to  their  impor- 
tunity !     How  nimbly  did  he  meet  with  the  faction  by  a  protes- 
tation he  gained  from  all  the    Scots  in    England   and    Ireland, 
against  the  covenant  of  their  brethren  in  Scotland  ;  at  the  same 
time,  in  several  books  which  he  caused  to  be  printed,  discover- 
ing that  the    Scottish   faction,  that   so   much  abhorred  Popery, 
*  "  Prcf.  'The  books  that  are  left  us  of  the  ancients  are  full  of  doctrines, 
•  sentences  and  examples,   exhorting   to   the  conservation  or  recovery  of  the 
'  public  liberty.'-Here  he  would  fain  shelter  himself  again  under  tlie  authority 
of  the  ancients;  who,   as  1  have  shewn  before,  have  already  turned  him  out 
of  their  society,  for  his  insufficiency  and  false  accusations.  The  ancientsnever 
dreamed  of  such  a  liberty  as  he  would  inculcate ;   since  it  was  the  main  design 
of  their  philosophy,  to  curb  all  irregular  sallies  of  our  nature,  and  bound  our 
appetites  with  a  prudential  restraint.   Public  liberty,  in  the  mouth  of  a  flam- 
ing enthusiastic   zealot,  is  like  a  naked  sword  in  the  hands  of  a  lunatic  bro- 
ther, dangerous  and  destructive ;  and  the  one  should  no  more  be  trusted  alone 
■without  a  limitation,  than  the  other  without  a  scabbard.     It   is   a   licence  to 
kick,  bite,  swear,  and  j^lay  the  libertine  through  all  the  various  scenes  of  car- 
nality and  lust;  to  be  covetous  and,  what  is  worse,   to  rebel  for  conscience' 
sake;  to  write  treason  directly  or  indirectly,  and  cheat  our  neighbour  with  a 
sealous  twinkling  of  the  eye  or  in  saying  of  a  prayer.  He  that  is  free-born,  is 
likewise  born  in  a  state  of  subjection  to  laws;  and  though,  by  his  birth-right, 
is  entitled  to  certain  privileges  and  civil  rights,  yet  he  is  also  entitled  to  some 
certain  measures  of  obedience,  as  he  is  a  subject:  And  whosoever  talks  so 
loftily  of  the  one,  and  industriously  conceals  the  other,    does   but  abuse  the 
multitude  into  dangerous  sentiments,   with  a   nonsensical  jingle  of  words, 
and   is  so  far  from   being  a  true  English  politician,  that  he  is  a  down-right 
shuffling  impostor.     Christianity,  with  its  dark  train  of  passive  doctrines,  is 
a  slavish  and  unintelligible  thing  in  his  esteem.    Never  was  any  fond  man  so 
blind  au  admirer  of  his  mistress's   charms   and  perfections,  as  he  is  a  lover 
of  his  country's  legal  liberties,  without  any  regard  to  the  safety  of  religion  : 
Jiever  did  good  St.  Augustine  declaim    with  more  vehemence  against  the 
salvability  of  the  heathens,    than  Le  has  done  against  these  '  slavish  opi- 
*  uions  suckt  in  at  the  schools  ;  and   which  some  have  been   so   unfortunate 
'  to  carry  to  their  graves,    and  (he  might  have  added)  to  heaven.' — He  would 
fain  make  the  wondering  world  believe,  that  Passive  Obedience  and  Legal 
Liberties  are  inconsistent  things  ;  and  that  one  is  fatally  destructive  of  the 
other  :  but  that  is  his   want   of  judgment,  and   sound  understanding.    St. 
Paul,  who  was  undoubtedly  as  great  an   assertor  of  Passive  obedience  as 
ever  was  in  the  world,  pleaded  such  Liberties  as   these  under  Nero,  and 
before  the  Magistrates  of  Philippi.     But  he  likewise  knew,  that  civil  rights 
can  have  only  a  civil  defence  ;  and,  if  that  fail,  there  is  no  higher  appeal 
or  remedy  to  be  expected,  but  the  Divine  protecliou."   Commonwealtlvs  Man 
L'jiuiunlieiL 


APPKNniX    D.  S65 

proceeded  in  this  sedition  upon  the  worst  of  Popish  principles 
and  practices  ;  and  that  this  godly  leagvie  which  was  so  much 
applauded  by  the  people,  was  a  combination  of  men  acting  over 
those  traitorous,  bloody  and  Jesuitical  maxims  of  Mariana, 
Siiarez,  and  Bellarmine,  which  all  good  people  abhorred.  When  by 
the  diligence  of  the  King's  enemies,  and  the  security  and  treason 
of  his  pretended  friends,  who  made  it  their  business  to  persuade 
his  Majesty  that  there  was  no  danger,  so  long  until  there  was  no 
SAFETY,  *  he  saw  a  faction  formed  into  councils  and  drawn 
up  into  armies ; — when  he  saw  one  kingdom  acting  in  open 
rebellion,  and  another  countenancing  and  inclining  to  it; — when 
he  discovered  a  correspondence  between  the  conclave  of  Rome 
and  the  Cardinal  of  France,  between  the  King  of  France  and 
the  rebels  of  Scotland,  between  the  leaders  of  the  Scottish  sedi- 
tion and  the  agents  of  the  English  faction,  (one  Pickering,  Lau- 
rence, Hampden,  Fines,  &c.  being  observed  then  to  pass  to 
and  fro  between  the  English  and  the  Scottish  Brethren,)  and 
saw  letters  signed  with  the  names  (though  as  some  of  them  al- 
leged since,  without  the  consent)  of  the  five  members  |^of  the 
House  of  Commons,^  &c.  ; — when  the  government  in  church 
and  state  was   altered,t  the  King's   ships,    magazines,   revenue, 

*  This  is  one  of  tiie  crimes  which  were  alleged,  by  one  of  our  old  historians, 
against  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  :  "For  interceding  for  Loudon,  and  hin- 
dering Montrose,  so  as  to  niake  the  king  believe  '  that  the  Scots  would  not 
invade  England,'  till  he  himself  writes  '  that  they  were  on  the  borders.' 
Yet,  by  a  Providence  which  one  calls  digitus  Dei,  "(after  great  overtures  of 
money  and  of  discoveries,  to  save  his  life,)  he  was  in  1619  beheaded  at  West- 
minster, for  the  king,  by  that  party  whom  he  was  thought  to  serve  against 
the  king."  When  the  king  heard  lliat  he  led  the  Scots  army,  (see  page  348,) 
for  which  he  suffered,  his  majesty  said,  "  Nay,  if  he  leads  them,  there  is 
no  good  to  be  done  for  me." 

He  was  without  doubt  a  very  dangerous  man  in  such  a  Court  as  that  of 
Charles  the  First,  whose  letters  he  was  accused  of  taking  out  of  his  pockets 
and  of  divulging  the  king's  secrets  to  his  enemies.  Some  of  the  unjust  odium 
which  was  bestowed  on  Archbishop  Laud  and  his  royal  master,  is  well  des- 
cribed by  Dr.  Heylin   in  the  following  passage  : 

"Look  on  them  [the  Scotch]  in  the  church,  and  we  shall  find  many  of 
that  nation  beneficed  and  preferred  in  all  parts  of  this  country  ;  and,  of  all 
these,  scarce  one  in  ten  who  did  not  cordially  espouse  and  promote  their 
cause  amongst  the  people.  They  had  beside  no  less  assurance  of  the  English 
Puritans  than  they  had  of  their  own  ;  those  in  court  (of  which  there  was  no 
very  small  number)  being  headed  by  the  Earl  of  Holland,  those  in  the  coun- 
try by  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Vv'arviick  ;  the  first  being  aptly  called  in  a  let- 
ter of  the  Lord  Conway  to  the  Lord  Archbishop,  the  spiritual  and  invixible 
head,  the  other,  the  visible  and  temporal  head  of  the  Puritan  faction.  And, 
which  was  more  than  all  the  rest,  they  had  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton  for  their 
lord  and  patron,  of  so  great  a  power  about  the  King,  such  authority  in  the 
court  of  England,  such  a  powerful  influence  on  the  council  of  Scotland,  and 
such  a  general  command  over  all  that  nation,  that  his  pleasure  amongst 
them  passed  for  law,  and  his  words  for  oracles;  all  matters  of  Grace  and 
FAVOf  R  ascribed  to  him,  matters  of  Harshnf.ss  or  Distaste  to  the  King  or 
Canterbury.  To  speak  the  matter  in  a  word,  he  was  grown  of  Scots  in  fact, 
though  not  of  title  ;  his  Majesty  being  looked  on  by  them  as  a  cypher  only,  iu 
the  arithmetic  of  State." 

t  Some  of  the  crude  notions  about  civil  government  which  this  alteration 
suggested,  in  the  minds  of  different  consiientious  individuals  who  wished 

aa3 


366  APPENDIX    D. 

forts,  and  faithful  servants  were  seized  on  ;  the  orders  of  state 
and  the  worship  of  God  were  affronted  by  a  barbarous  multitude, 
that,  with  sticks,  stools,  and  such  other  instruments  of  fury  as 
were  present,  disturbed  all  religious  and  civil  conventions  ;  and 
the  King's  agents,  Hamilton,  Traquair  and  Roxborough, 
(pleased,  no  doubt,  with  the  commotions  they  at  first  raised, 
and  by  new,  though  secret,  seed  of  discontents  improved,)  in- 
creased the  tumults  by  a  faint  opposition,  which  they  might  have 
allayed  by  vigorous  ■punishments, — all  the  declarations  that  were 
drawn  in  the  King's  name  being  contrived  so  as  to  overthrow 
his  affairs  ; — in  a  word,  when  he  saw  that  the  traitors  were  got 
into  the  King's  bed-chamber,  cabinets,  pockets  and  bosom, *and, 

to  discover  some  principle  which  might  sanction  their  adherence  to  the 
usurped  government,  are  thus  summarily  stated  by  Feilkner,  in  his  Chris- 
tinn  Loyalty ; 

"  In  our  late  dreadful  times  of  civil  war,  the  whole  management  of 
things  against  the  King,  and  the  undertaking  to  alter  and  order  public 
affairs  without  him,  was  a  manifest  and  practical  disowning  the  King's 
supremacy.  Some  persons  then  who  would  be  thought  men  of  sense,  did 
assert,  '  that  thougn  the  King  was  owned  to  be  supreme  governour,  yet  the 
•  SUPREMEST  sovereign  power  was  in  the  people.'  Others  declared,  '  that 
'  the  title  of  supreme  governour  was  an  honorary  title  given  to  the  King, 
'  to  please  him  instead  of  fuller  power.'  And  in  the  issue,  by  a  pretended 
act,  it  was  called  treason,  to  say,  that  the  Commons,  assembled  in  Parlia- 
ment, were  not  the  supreme  authority  of  the  nation.  But  there  were  also 
some  who  then  affirmed,  the  whole  body  of  the  people  to  be  superior  to  the 
Parliament,  and  that  they  might  call  them  to  an  account." 

*  "  By  which  the  King  was  so  observed  and  betrayed  withal,  that  as  far  as 
they  could  find  his  meaning  by  words,  by  signs  and  circumstances,  or  the 
silent  language  of  a  shrug,  it  was  posted  presently  into  Scotland,  some  of  his 
bed-chamber  being  grown  so  bold  and  saucy,  that  they  used  to  ransack  his 
pockets  when  he  was  in  bed,  to  transcribe  such  letters  as  they  found,  and 
send  the  copies  to  their  countrymen  in  the  way  of  intelligence.  A  thing  so 
well  known  about  the  court,  that  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  one  of  his 
letters,  gave  him  this  memento,  that  he  should  not  trust  his  pockets  with  it." 
Heylin's  Life  of  Laud. 

"  And  here  I  might  justly  enough  take  occasion  to  lament  the  fate  as  well 
as  admire  the  glory  of  puissant  and  great  princes,  whom  a  Symnel  or  Jack 
Straw,  a  Prefacer  or  dawbing  historian  may  expose  to  infinite  hazards  and 
disturbances.  Though  they  govern  their  people  with  the  mildness  and  cle- 
mency of  guardian  angels,  yet  they  must  not  partake  of  their  divine  tran- 
quillity ;  their  character  is  not  always  their  security,  nor  their  bravery  their 
protection.  For,  suppose  them  adorned  with  all  royal  qualifications,  with 
the  laws  of  generosity,  punctilios  of  true  honour,  and* all  the  niceties  of  jus- 
tice :  grant  that  they  ascend  the  royal  throne  with  the  gladsome  shouts  and 
acclamations  of  the  people,  and  gain  a  diadem  by  inheritance  or  desert.  Yet 
they  can  only  hold  intelligence  with  the  faces  of  men,  but  cannot  spell  out 
intrigues,  and  converse  with  inclinations.  Due  allegiance  and  honour  is  all 
the  tribute  that  subjects  can  defray,  or  they  themselves  can  exact ;  and  how 
shall  they  know  but  the  most  seemingly  regular  and  plausible  forms  of 
speech  maybe  nothing  but  a  neat  well-acted  hypocrisy  and  a  mere  studied 
disguise .'  Unnecessary  offers  and  over-hasty  officiousness  smell  strong  of 
interest  and  dark  design  ;  how  then  can  they  tell,  whether  the  most  grave 
and  submissive  application  be  the  free  result  of  a  good  intention,  or  mere 
solemn  flattery  and  artificial  address  ?  Nay,  how  can  they  be  assured,  but 
their  greatest  enemies  may  be  those  of  their  own  household  .'  Whether  they 
that  are  adopted  into  the  secrecy  of  their  bosoms,  that  depend  on  their  smiles, 
and  sport  themselves  for  a  while  in  their  warm  beams,  will  help  to  guard  the 
throne,  or  toshak'C  it.'"  Commonwealtlt,'s  Man  Unmasked. 


APPENDIX    I>.  867 

by  false  representation    of  things,  had   got  time  to  consolidate 
their  conspiracy,  and  that  the   King's  concessions  to  their   bold 
petition  (about  the  liturgy,  the  high-commission,    the    book  of 
Canons,  and   the  five  articles  of  Perth,)   were   but   encourage- 
ments to  put  up  bolder  ; — finding  that  force  could  obtain  that 
which  modesty  and  submission  had  never  compassed,  and  imput- 
ing all  kindness    to  the  King's  weakness  rather  than  goodness  ; — 
his  apprehensions  in  that  affair  were  at  Council-board,  (Dec.  5, 
1639,)  against  the  King's  indulgence  to  them  ;   He  voted,  '  that 
*  they  were  to  be  reduced  by  force,  (being  a  people,  as  his  Majes- 
'ty  observed  of  them,/o*<  hy  favours  and  jvon  by  punishments^  in 
'  an  offensive  war   that  would  put  a  period  to  all  the  troubles  in 
'  five  months,  whereas  a  defensive  war  will  linger  many  years.'— 
Neither  was  he  less  careful  of  the  church's  doclrine  than   disci' 
plitie,  forbidding  the  Primate's    [^Archbishop  Usher^  obtrudii.g 
the  Calvinists'  school-points   for  Articles  of  faith ;  and,  instead 
of  the  polemic  Articles  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  to  receive  the 
positive,  plain  and  orthodox  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England; 
neither   admitting   high    questions  nor  countenancing  the  men 
that  promoted  them,  aiming  at  a  religion  that  should  make  men 
serious  rather  than  curious,  honest  rather  than  subtile  ;  and  that 
men  lived  high,  but    did    fiot  talk  so  :       Equally  disliking    the 
Trent  Faith,  consisting  of  canons,  councils,  fathers,  &c.  that 
would  become  a  library  rather  than  a  catechism,  and  the  Scots 
Confessions,  consisting  of  such  schooUnicelies  as  would   fill  a 
man's  large  table-book  and  common-place,  rather  than  his  heai't. 
Julius  Caesar  said,  other  men's  wives  should  not  be  loose,  but  his 
should  not  be  suspected.     And  this  great  Lord  advised  the  pri- 
mate of  Ireland,  '  that   as   no   clergyman   should  be  in  reality 

*  guilty  of  compliance  with  a  schism,  so  should  not  he  in   ap- 

*  pearance,'  adding,  (when  the  Primate  urged  the  dangers  on  all 
sides,)    as  Caesar  once  said,    *  You  are  too  old  to  fear,  and  I  too 

*  sickly' — A  true  saying,  since,  upon  the  opening  of  his  body,  it 
was  found  that  he  could  not  have  lived,  according  to  the  course  of 
nature,  six  months  longer  than  he  did  by  the  malice  of  his  ene- 
mies,— his  own  diseases  having  determined  his  life  about  the  same 
period  that  the  nation's  distemper  did.  Philip  the  First  of  Spain 
said,  he  could  not  compass  his  design  as  long  as  Lerma  lived  ; 
nor  the  Scots  theirs,  as  long  as  Strafford  acts  and  with  his  own 
single  worth  bears  up  against  the  plot  of  three  kingdoms,  like 
Sceva,  in  the  breach,  with  his  single  resolution  duelling  the 
whole  conspiracy." 

The  historian  then  gives  an  account  of  the  conduct  of  King 
Charles  under  his  accumulated  sufferings:  '•'  How  tender  his 
conscience !  that  was  resolved  to  do  public  penance,  for  consent- 
ing to  the  Earl  of  Strafford's  death,  (a  deep  sense  of  which  action 
went  with  him  to  his  grave,)  and  to  the  injuries  done  the  church 
in  England  and  Scotland.     How  careful  his  heart !  in  that,  when 


368  APPENDIX    D. 

the  commissioners  at  the  Isle  of  Wight  urged  him  to  allow  the 
lesser  catechism  of  the  Assembly,  *  that  being  (they  said)  but  a 
small  matter/  he  said,  Though  it  seem  to  you  a  small  mailer,  yet  I 
had  rather  part  ivilh  the  choicest  Jlower  in  my  crown,  than  permit 
your  children  to  be  corrupted  in  the  least  point  of  their  religion.— 
That  prince  who,  besides  the  great  examples  he  gave  them,  began 
his  reign  with  the  highest  act  of  grace  that  he  could,  or  any  king 
did  in  the  world  ;  I  mean  the  granting  of  the  petition  of  right, 
■wherein  he  secured  his  people's  estates  from  taxes  that  are  not 
given  in  Parliament,  and  their  lives,  liberties  and  estates,  from  all 
proceedings  not  agreeable  to  law  :*  A  king  that  permitted  his 
chief  favourite  and  counsellor,  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  whose 
greatest  fault  was  his  Majesty's  favour,  to  satisfy  the  kingdom, 
both  in  Parliament  and  Star-chamber,  in  the  way  of  a  public 
process  :  And  gave  up  Mainwaring  and  Sibthorpe,  both  (as  I 
take  it)  his  chaplains,  to  answer  for  themselves  in  Parliament, 
saying,  '  He  that  will  preach  more  than  he  can  prove,  let  him 
'  suffer  :'  That  a  king  that  was  and  did  so,  as  he  was  and  did, 
should  be  first  suspected  and  then  opposed,  should  be  rendered 
ridiculous  abroad  and  odious  at  home,  should  easier  persuade  his 
foreign  enemies  to  a  peace,  than  his  own  subjects  to  contribute 
to  a  war,  and  that  of  their  own  advising  and  persuading  :  That 
the  Scots  should  fight  and  he  not  dare  to  call  them  rebels  ;  and 

*  "  The  Kinj  at  all  times  when  there  is  no  Parliament,  and  in  Parliament, 
is  assisted  with  the  advice  of  the  judges  of  the  law,  12  in  number  ;  for  Eng- 
land at  least  hath  two  sergeants  when  fewest,  an  attorney  and  solicitor,  twelve 
masters  of  the  chancery  ;  his  council  of  state  consisting  of  some  great  pre- 
lates, and  other  great  personages,  versed  in  state  aftairs,  when  they  are 
fewest,  to  the  number  of  twelve.  AH  these  persons  are  always  of  great  sub- 
stance, which  is  not  preserved  but  by  the  keeping  of  the  law;  the  prelates 
versed  in  divine  law,  the  other  grandees  in  affairs  of  state  and  managery  of 
government;  the  judges,  king's  sergeants,  attorney,  solicitor,  and  masters 
of  the  chancery,  versed  in  law  and  customs  of  tne  realm  ;  all  sworn  to 
serve  the  King  and  his  people  justly  and  truly.  The  King  is  also  sworn  to 
observe  the  laws  ;  and  the  judges  have  in  their  oath  a  clause,  'that  they 

•  shall  do  common  right  to  the  King's  people,  according  to  the  established 
'  laws,  notwithstanding  any  command  of  tl^e  King  to  the  contrary  under  the 

•  great  seal,  or  otherwise.'  The  people  are  safe  by  the  laws  in  force,  with- 
out any  new.  The  law  finding  the  Kings  of  this  realm  assisted  with  so 
many  great  men  of  conscience,  honour,  and  skill  in  the  rule  of  common- 
wealth, knowledge  of  the  laws,  and  bound  by  the  high  and  holy  bond  of  an 
oath  upon  the  evangelists,  settles  among  other  powers  upon  the  King,  a 
power  to  refuse  any  bill  agreed  upon  bynoth  Houses,  and  power  to  pardon 
all  offences,  to  pass  any  grants  in  his  minority,  not  to  be  bound  to  any  law 
to  his  prejudice  whereby  he  doth  not  bind  himself,  power  of  war  and  peace, 
coining  of  money,  making  all  officers,  &c.  The  law,  for  the  reasons  afore- 
said, hath  approved  these  powers  to  be  unquestionable  in  the  King,  and  all 
Kings  have  enjoyed  them  till  the  third  of  Nov.  1640. 

"It  will  be  said,  '  Notwithstanding  all  this  fence  about  the  laws,  the  laws 
'  have  been  violated,  and  therefore  the  said  powers  must  not  hold  :  the  tw» 

•  Houses  will  remedy  this.'  The  answer  to  this  is  evident :  There  is  no  time 
past,  nor  time  present,  nor  will  there  be  time  to  come,  so  long  as  men 
manage  the  law,  but  the  laws  will  be  broken  more  or  less,  as  appears  by 
the  story  of  every  age.  All  the  pretended  violations  of  this  time  were  reme- 
died by  acts  to  which  the  King  consented  before  his  departure,  10  Jan.  1&41. 
Jenkins's  Law  of  the  L'lnd. 


APPENDIX  D.  869 

his  faithful  counsellors  should  assist  him,  and  he  not  dare  to  own 
them  as  friends:  That  such  a  king  should  be  abused  to  Parliaments 
by  his  servants,  and  to  his  people  by  Parliaments;  should  be  first 
intreated  out  of  his  magazines,  castles  and  whole  militia,  and 
then  fought  against  with  them  ;*  should  be  forced  out  of  one 
town  and  shut  out  of  another:  That  such  a  prince  should  see  his 
■whole  court  voted  and  dealt  with  as  traitors  ;  his  estate  seques- 
tered for  delinquency  ;  his  clergy  and  church  (which  he  was  by 
oath  obliged  to  defend  and  maintain  in  its  due  rights)  ruined  for 
keeping  the  fifth  commandment,  and  Qhe  doctrine  contained 
in^  Rom.  xiii  ;  hi^  churches  turned  to  stables  ;  his  loyal  subjects 
murthered,  plundered,  banished,  and  he  not  able  to  help  them, 
his  laws  and  edicts  overruled  by  I-know-not-what  orders  and 
ordinances  ;  his  seals  and  great  offices  of  state  counterfeited  ;  all 
the  costly  ornaments  of  religion  rviined  and  defaced  ;  learning, 
that  was  his  honour  and  his  care,  trampled  on  by  its  and  his  old 
enemies,  the  ignorant.t — These  are  things  that  the  world  could 

*"  For  the  considerations  aforesaid  the  King's  party  adhered  to  him. 
The  law  of  the  land  is  their  birtli-ri<^ht,  their  guide;  no  offence  is  com- 
mitted vviiere  that  is  not  violated.  They  found  the  commission  of  array 
warranted  by  the  law  ;  they  found  the  King  in  this  Parliament  to  have 
quitted  the  ship-money,  knighthood- money,  seven  courts  of  justice,  con- 
sented to  a  triennial  Parliament,  settled  the  forest  bounds,  took  awav  the 
clerk  of  the  market  of  the  household,  trusted  the  house  with  the  navy,'  pas- 
sed an  act  not  to  dissolve  this  Parliament  without  the  Houses'  assent .  No 
people  in  the  world  so  free,  if  they  could  have  been  content  with  laws, 
OATHS,  and  reasons  ;  and  nothing  more  could  or  can  be  devised  to  secure 
us,  neither  hath  been  in  any  time.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  we  found  the 
Kiu^  driven  from  London  by  frequent  tumults,  that  two  thirds  and  more  of 
the  Lords  had  deserted  that  House  for  the  same  cause,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  House  of  Commons  left  that  House  also  for  the  same  reason  ;  new 
men  chosen  in  their  places  against  law  by  the  pretended  warrant  of  a  coun- 
terfeit seal,  and  in  the  King's  name  against  his  consent,  levying  war  against 
him,  and  seizing  his  ports,  forts,  magazines  and  revenue,  and  converting' 
them  to  his  destruction,  and  the  subversion  of  the  law  and  land,  layin<r 
taxes  on  the  people,  never  heard  of  before  in  this  land,  devised  new  oaths 
to  oppose  forces  raised  by  the  King,  nor  to  adhere  to  him  but  to  them  in  this 
war ;  which  they  call  the  negative  oath,  and  the  vow  and  covenant. 

"  By  several  ways  never  used  in  this  kingdom,  they  have  raised  monies  to 
foment  this  war,  and  especially  to  enrich  some  among  them  :  namely,  first, 
excise;  secondly,  contributions,  thirdly,  sequestrations;  fourthly,  fifth 
parts;  fifthly,  twentieth  parts;  sixthly,  meal-money;  seventhly,  sale  of 
plundered  goods  ;  eighthly,  loans  ;  ninthly,  benevolences  ;  tenthly,  collec- 
tions upon  their  fast-days;  eleventhly,  new  impositions  upon  merchandizes  ; 
twelfthly,  guard,  maintained  upun  the  charge  of  private  men  ;  thirteenthly, 
fifty  subsidies  at  one  time ;  fourteenthly,  compositions  with  such  as  they 
call  delinquents  ;  fifteeuthly,  sale  of  Bishops'  lands,  &c. 

"  From  the  King's  party  means  of  subsistence  are  taken ;  before  any  indict- 
ment, their  lauds  are  seized,  their  goods  taken  :  the  law  allows  a  traitor  or 
felon  attainted  necessaria  sibi  et  familicB  sua  in  victu  et  vestitu :  where  is 
the  covenant?  where  is  the  petition  of  right?  where  is  the  liberty  of  the 
subject?"    Jbid. 

f  "  Another  way  to  advance  the  darling  anti-monarchical  design  is,  by  bring- 
ing the  public  schools  and  universities  into  disgrace:  'These  are  the  dangerous 
'  strong-holds  of  Antichrist,  where  principles  of  loyalty  and  passive  doctrines 
'  are  sucked  in  with  greediness  :'  and  therefore  it  is  held  convenient  to  throw 


370  APPENDIX    D. 

never  believe  till  it  felt  them,  and  will  not  believe  when  the 
impressions  of  them  are  worn  off.  This  wise  and  good  King, 
the  same  in  all  fortunes,  was  he  that  must  pardon  his  enemies, 
some  dust  in  these  eyes  of  the  nation,  that  the  free-born  projectors  may  more 
commodiously  come  at  the  head.  And  this  was  the  great  pride  and  luxury  of 
the  brotherhood  in  the  former  days  of  tyranny  and  civil  combustion  ;  when 
the  sweating  teachers,  after  a  few  winks  and  groans,  began  to  thunder  against 
a  vain  philosophy,  and  wet  their  handkerchiefs  in  running  down  the  neces- 
sity of  human  learning.  This  was  not  only  inculcated  from  the  tub,  but  froi» 
the  press  also  in  solemn  formidable  manner  ;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  author? 
of  Light  out  of  Darkness  and  The  tVhite  Stone,  But  here  we  find  the  repub- 
lican doctors  differed  among  themselves  :  For  some  were  not  absolutely  for 
pnlling  down  but  only  regulating  the  constitution  of  our  academies,  and  pro- 
posing expedients  for  reforming  of  schools  and  promoting  of  all  kinds  of 
science.  Thus  speaks  the  author  of  Academiaruni  JExamen,  dedicated  to 
Major  general  Lambert:  'Seeing  Divine  Providence  hath  made  you  (with  the 

*  rest  of  those  faithful  and  gallant  men  of  the  army)   signally  instrunieutal, 

*  both  in  redeeming  the  English  liberty,  almost  drowned  in  the  deluge  of  ty- 

*  ranny  and  self-interest,  is^'c.     I  hope   the  same  providence  will  also  direct 

*  j'ou  to  be  assistant  to  continue  the  same,  <^c.     And  moreover,  guide  you  to 
'  set  your  hand  and  endeavour  for  the  purging  and  reformation  of  academies 

*  and  the  advancement  of  learning  which  hitherto  hath  been  little  promoted 

*  or  looked  into.' 

"  The  author  of  the  Examen  did  not  merely  find  fault,  censure  and 
talk  magisterially  ;  but,  with  a  seeming  modesty  (a  quality  unknown  to 
our  new  regulator,)  he  confesses  it  is  far  more  easy  to  demolish,  than  to 
erect  a  complete  structure  ;  especially  for  a  single  person  of  a  mean  talent  : 
And  after  he  had  offered  some  plausible  expedients  for  a  rectification  of 
Logic,  Metaphysics,  Grammar,  Mathematics  and  natural  Philosophy  ;  he 
owns  himself  obnoxious  to  many  errors ;  and  hopes  that  better  and  more 
able  pens  will  help  to  supply  his  defects. — With  his  new  models,  foreign 
experiments  and  ideals  of  government,  and  other  chimerical  bawbles,  what 
a  woful  and  sorry  wight  must  he  appear  amongst  a  learned  and  venerable 
assembly  ?  Nay,  how  would  each  junior  sophister  (lately  dismist  from 
school)  give  him  cause  to  sneak,  beg  pardon,  and  repent,  in  the  strength 
of  Hesiod  and  Homer  ?  The  former  of  these  (as  Bornchius  notes)  has  writ- 
ten with  so  much  wisdom  and  acumen,  that  he  may,  even  now,  be  read 
with  singular  advantage  by  those  that  apply  themselves  to  politics  and 
moral  philosophy.  The  latter  (as  Rapin  thinks)  had  the  vastest,  sublimest, 
and  most  universal  genius  that  ever  was  :  it  was  by  his  poems  that  all  the 
worthies  of  antiquity  were  formed  :  From  hence  the  lawgivers  took  the 
first  plat-form  of  the  laws  they  gave  to  mankind  :  The  founders  of  monar- 
chies and  common-wealths  from  hence  took  the  models  of  their  polities : 
Hence  the  philosophers  found  the  first  principles  of  morality,  which  they 
have  taught  the  people  :  Hence  Kings  and  Princes  have  learnt  the  art  to 
govern,  and  captains  to  form  a  battle,  to  encamp  an  army,  to  besiege 
towns,  to  fight  and  to  gain  victories,  &c. 

"  The  compilers  of  those  statutes,  which  he  ignorantly  explodes,  knew 
very  well  what  they  did  ;  and  though  they  had  a  different  taste  or  notion  of 
learning  from  what  he  entertains,  yet  it  follows  not,  but  they  may  have 
been  in  the  right.  As  they  could  not  then  understand  (as  he  over-wisely 
ntimates)  the  present  state  of  learning  in  the  world  ;  so  they  never  design- 
ed, that  Students  should  be  limited  and  tied  all  their  lives  to  a  particular 
system,  when  the  empire  of  knowledge  or  philosophy  should  be  enlarged. 
I  know  no  greater  assertors  of  philosophical  liberty,  than  the  gentlemeu 
that  have  had  their  education  in  our  universities  :  And  if  some  are  parti- 
cularly ftho'  not  exclusively)  directed  to  study  Aristotle  and  his  works,  it  is 
no  more  than  what  is  proper,  just,  nay  necessary,  upon  the  account  of  ex- 
trinsical motives  and  inducements.  For  the  Peripatetic  terms,  and  modes 
of  expression,  are  now  interwoven  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  Roniau- 
Catholic  Theology,  which  is  better  defended  by  arguments  drawn  from  a 
metaphysiinl  system,  than  by  reasons,  texts,  and  deductions  from  holy 
writ;  and  if   we  cannot  confront  our  enemies  with  their  own  weapons,    and 


APPENDIX    D.  371 

but  must  except  his  friends  out  of  pardon  ;  he  that,  when  all  his 
subjects  had  sworn  oaths  of  allegiance  to  him,  must  swear  an 
oath  devised  by  his  subjects  (called  Covenant)  against  himself: 
He,  Avithout  whom  no  oath  could  be  imposed  upon  the  subjects, 
hath  an  oath  imposed  upon  him  by  his  subjects,  and  in  that  oath 
must  swear  that  [^Episcopal]]  government  in  the  church  Auli'- 
christian,  which  was  the  only  christian   government  for  fifteen 

define,  divide,  distinguish  artificially,  unravel  cryptical  syllogisms  and 
subtile  arguments,  with  equal  facility  and  readiness,  we  may  betray  the 
cause  which  we  would  williiiu'ly  maintain,  and  give  them  occasion  to  triumph. 

"  The  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers  encountered  the  Pagans,  Jews,  and  Here- 
tics, with  such  philosophical  weapons,  as  the  necessity  of  those  times  re- 
quired ;  and  it  may  look  at  this  time  like  a  kind  of  defection,  a  betraying 
the  Protestant  cause,  to  slight  the  logical  and  metaphysical  learning  taught 
in  the  universities  :  But  this  is  no  part  of  the  prefacer's  main  care,  nor  does 
it  (i  believe)  in  the  least  concern  his  conscience.  No  :  A  King  or  no  King, 
is  now  the  grand  question  and  important  controversy  among  us  ;  and  a  few 
generous  republican  notions  about  liberty  out-weigh,  with  him,  all  the 
learning  and  divinity  of  Europe.  What  profound  notion  of  learning  our 
prefacer  has  found  out,  for  the  instruction  of  mankind,  lam  not  worthy  to 
know  ;  for  I  am  no  interpreter  of  dreams.  He  may  value,  for  aught  1  know, 
the  languages  of  Gypsies  above  Greek  and  Hebrew  .  He  may  extol,  if  he 
pleases,  the  inspection  of  urine  above  all  parts  of  physical  knowledge : 
He  may  fancy,  perhaps,  that  the  dissection  of  a  flea  or  the  tail  of  a  fish,  or 
such  like  curious  employment,  is  a  most  admirable  and  useful  part  of  na- 
tural philosophy  ;  that  calculating  the  nativity  of  a  common-wealth,  and 
the  fall  of  a  monarchy,  is  an  excellent  and  profitable  part  of  modern  astro- 
logy :  This  he  may  call  speaking  pertinently,  and  acting  like  a  man;  and 
the  extinguishing  all  remorse,  compassion  and  good  nature,  may  pass  for 
a  subduing  the  passions  in  his  philosophy. — One  threat  reason,  I  suppose, 
that  induced  the  Prefacer  to  undervalue  the  old  philosophy,  and  Aristotelian 
doctrines,  is  this  :  Aristotle,  it  seems,  both  in  his  ethics  and  politics,  afiirms 
in  plain  terms,  that  of  all  forms  of  government  the  monarchical  is  the  best: 
He  asserts,  '  that  wise  men  are  fitted  by  nature  to  command,  and  that  others 
*  of  strong  bodies  but  weak  intellectuals,  are  chiefly  designed  for  subjection 
'  and  obedience ;'  than  which  nothing  can  be  more  grating  and  disobliging  to 
men  of  a  republican  temper  and  inclination. 

"  Here  let  the  generous  reader  give  me  leave  to  make  a  stand  a  while,  and 
complain  a  little  of  the  hard  fate  of  learning  in  this  age  :  Suppose  a  man  has 
entertained  and  polished  his  mind  and  rational  faculties  with  the  works  of 
those  ancients,  that  rescued  and  preserved  their  natural  reason  and  religion 
amidst  all  the  wildnesses  of  pagan  darkness  and  confusion, (such  as  Orpheus, 
Homer,  Euripides,  j^schylus,  Menander,  Xenophon,  Socrates,  Aristotle, 
Pythagoras,  Hierocles  and  others,)  together  with  all  the  divine  and  perfec- 
tive discourses  of  Cicero,  Seneca,  Virgil,  Horace,  and  the  rest  of  the  Grecian 
and  Roman  Poets  and  philosophers  :  Let  him  add  to  all  these  the  pious  and 
seraphical  discourses  of  the  Fathers  ;  be  able  to  recite  and  confute  all  heresies 
from  Nicholas  andCerinthus,  Carpocrates  and  Valentinus,  successively  down 
to  the  times  of  John  a  Leyden,  and  all  the  rest  of  our  modern  innovators. 
Nay,  though  he  comprehend  all  the  rarities  and  treasures  of  the  Vatican, 
the  Escurial,  the  Ambrosian,  Florentine,  and  Bodleian  libraries;  yet  that 
very  wretch,  whose  politics  and  reading  never  raised  him  higher  than  The 
Door  of  Hope,  Poor  Man's  Cup,  God's  loud  Call,  A  Token  for  Children, 
The  Morning  Seeker,  Nonsuch  Charles,  The  Assembly's  Works,  Scotch 
Psalms,  and  The  Account  of  Denmark,  shall  start  up  as  grand  a  resolver  of 
cases,  expounder  of  dark  texts,  confounder  of  heresies,  and  modeller  of 
Stales,  as  the  most  celebrated  oracle  of  divinity  or  law  .  Nay,  a  confident 
traveller,  by  virtue  of  a  hard  forehead,  a  set  of  stories  and  legerdemain  of  the 
pen,  shall  on  asudden  transform  the  most  excellent  body  of  men  into  a  loose 
pack  of  worldlings  and  silly  graceless  professors."  Commonwealth's  Man 
Unmasked, 


372  ArriiNDlX    D. 

hundred  j'ears  :  And  when  divines  dispute  that  and  other  points 
probably,  the  poor  King  and  his  people  must  swear  iheva  peremp- 
torily. 

"  These  aforesaid  assassinates  [[the  members  of  the  High 
Court  of  Justice^meet  in  the  painted  chamber,  become  now  the 
Jesuits'  chamber  of  meditation,*  to  consult  about  the  slaughter  ; 
and  being  heated  by  one  or  two  of  their  demagogues,  that  per- 
suaded them  that  the  saints  should  bind  the  kings  in  chains  and 
the  nobles  with  fetters  of  iron,  beseeching  them,  with  bended 
knees  and  lift-up  eyes  and  hands,  in  the  people's  name,  who  yet 
were  ready  to  have  stoned  thera,  not  to  let  Benhadad  go, — they 
dare  (but  guarded  strongly  by  a  set  of  executioners  like  them- 
selves) to  convene  before  them,  Jan.  19,  1649,  Charles,  King  of 
England,  &c.,  now  to  be  deprived  of  his  life,  as  he  had  been 
before  of  his  kingdoms.  Here  the  conspiracy  might  be  seen  in 
a  body,  a  poor  pettifogger  Bradshaw,t  that  had  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance  and  supremacy  but  three  weeks  before,  leading  the 
herd  as  President,  and  the  whole  plot  in  his  draught.  The 
charge  being  read,  his  most  excellent  Majesty,  (looking  upon  it  as 
below  him  to  interrupt  the  impudent  libel  and  vie  tongue  with 
the  Billingsgate  court,)  with  a  calmness,  prudence  and  resolution 
peculiar  to  his  royal  breast,  asked  the  assassinates,  by  what  au- 
thority they  brought  a  king,  their  most  rightful  sovereign,  against 
the  public  faith,  so  lately  given  him  at  a  treaty  between  him  and 
his  two  Houses  }  And  upon  the  prating  foreman's  bold  sugges- 
tion, that  they  were  satisfied  in  their  own  authority,  replying 
rationally,  '  That  it  was  not  his  own  apprehension,  nor  theirs 
'  neither,  that  ought  to  decide  the  controversy.' — Monday,  Jan. 
22,  after  three  bloody  harangues  at  their  fast  Jan. 21,  on  Gen.ix, 
6  ;  Matt,  vii,  1  ;  Psalm  cxlix,  6,  7j  (three  texts  as  miserably  tor- 
mented that  day  as  his  Majesty  was  the  next, — these  men  always 
first  being  a  torment  to  scripture,  the  great  rule  of  right,   and 

*  "  Those  that  had  been  eight  years  endeavouring  to  murder  the  King  in  a 
war,  are  made  his  judges  now  that  war  is  over.  A  prettj'  siofht!  to  have  seen 
Clement,  Ravillac,  Faux,  Catesby,  and  Garnet,  one  day  eiuTeavouring  to  de- 
spatch a  King,  and  the  next  advanced  to  be  his  judges  ;  after  prayers  and 
fasts,  the  great  fore  runners  of  mischief,  whereby  they  endeavoured  as  im- 
pudently to  engage  God  in  the  villainy  be  forb'd,  as  they  had  done  the  people 
in  a  treason  which  they  all  abhorred, — for  the  remonstrance  framed  by  Ireton 
for  questioning  the  King,  was  called  the  Agreement  of  the  People.  When  all 
the  ministry  of  England,  and  indeed  of  the  world,  cried  down  the  bloody  de- 
sign, contrary  to  oaths  and  laws  and  common  reason,  as  the  shame  and  dis- 
grace of  religion,  these  assassinates  were  satisfied  with  the  preachments  of 
one  pulpit -huttbon  Peters,  a  wretched  fellow,  that,  since  he  was  whipt  by  the 
governors  of  Cambridge  when  a  youth,  could  not  endure  government  ever 
after;  and  the  revelations  of  a  mad  Hertfordshire  woman  concurring  with 
the  proceedings  of  the  army,  for  which  she  was  thanked  by  the  House ;  her 
revelations  being  seasonable,  and  proceeding  from  an  humble  spirit." 

f  "  Jan.  17,  1649.  1  heard  the  rebel  Peters  incite  the  rebel  powers  met  in 
the  painted  chamber,  to  destroy  his  majesty;  and  saw  that  arch-traitor 
Bradshaw,  who  not  long  after  condemned  him."    Evelyn's  Diary. 


AlTliNDlX      D.  G7'3 

then  to  all  that  lived  according  toil,)*  they  being  perplexed  with 
the  King's  demurrer  to  their  unheard-of  jurisdiction,  resolved 
among  themselves,  after  some  debate,  to  maintain  it  as  boldly. 

"Long  were  they  troubled  how  they  might  assert  their  power, 
longer  how  they  might  execute  it  ;  some  would  have  Majesty- 
suffer  like  the  basest  of  malefactors,  and  that  in  his  robes  of 
habiliments  of  state,  that  at  once  they  might  dispatch  a  king  and 
monarchy  together  :  Others'  malice  proposed  other  horrid  vio- 
lences to  be  offered  to  him,  but  not  to  be  named  among  men ;  till 
at  last  they  thought  they  should  gratify  their  ambition  to  tri- 
umph over  monarchy  sufficiently  if  they  beheaded  him  ;  and  so, 
waving  all  his  pleas  for  himself  and  the  allegations  of  mankind 
for  him  ; — after  several  unworthy  harangues,  consisting  of  nothing 
else  but  bold  affirmations  of  that  power  whereof  they  had  no  one 
ground  but  those  affirmations  and  reflections  on  the  King's 
demurrer,  as  a  delay  to  their  proceedings;  when  indeed  he  has- 
tened them,  by  offering  that  towards  the  peace  of  the  kingdom 
in  one  hour  that  was  not  thought  of  in  several  years  ;  notwith- 
standing  his   seasonable    caution  to  them,   '  That  an  hasty  sen- 

*  tence  once  past,  might  be  sooner  repented  of  than  recalled  ; 
'  conjuring  them,  as  they  loved  the  liberty  of  the  people  and  the 

*  peace  of  the  kingdom  they  so  much  pretended  for,  they  would 

*  receive  what  he  had  to  offer  to  both  ;' — the  club  of  assassinates 
proceed   to   this  horrid   sentence  :    *  Whereas  the  Commons  of 

*  England  in  Parliament  have  appointed  them  an  High  Court  of 
'  Justice  for  the  trying  of  Charles  Stuart,  King  of  England,  be- 

*  fore  whom  he  had  been  three  times  convented,  and  at  first  time 
'  a  charge  of  high  treason  and  other  crimes  and  misdemeanours 
'  was  read  in  the  behalf  of  the  kingdom  of  England,'  &c.  Here 
the  clerk  read  the  charge  ;  which  charge  being  read  unto  him  as 
aforesaid,  he,  the  said  Charles  Stuart,  w^as  required  to  give  his 
answer,  but  he  refused  so  to  do,  and  so  exprest  the  several  pas- 
sages at  his  trial  in  refusing  to  answer.  '  For  all  which  treasons 
'  and  crimes,  this  court  doth  adjudge,  that  the  said  Charles  Stuart 

*  In  the  lon^  catalogue  of  crimes  allesred  against  Hugh  Peters,  (who  was 
executed  at  ChariDg  Cross,  Oct.  16,  1660, )  the  following  are euumerated  : 
"On  Sundaj',  the  21st  of  January  1649,  he  preached  at  Whitehall,  from 
Psalm  clix,  8,  *  To  bind  their  kings  with  chains,'  &c.,  applying  his  text  and 
sermon  to  the  late  King,  and  highly  applauding  the  proceedings  of  the  army, 
saying,  'This  is  a  joyful  day,  and  1  hope  to  see  such  another  day  to- morrow.* 
That  the  Sunday  after  his  Majesty  was  sentenced  to  die,  he  preached  again 
upon  the  same  text  at  St.  James's,  saying,  '  He  intended  to  have  preached 
'  upon  another  text  before  the  poor  wretch,  but  that  the  poor  wretch  refused 

*  to  hear  him.' — That  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  dav  he  preached  at  Sepul- 
chre's, and  repeated  all  his  parallel  between  his  late  "Majesty  and  Barabbas, 
crying  out,  that  none  but  Jews  would  let  Barabbas  go. — That",  in  this  sermon, 
he  said,  'Those  soldiers  who  assisted  in  this  great  work,  had  Emmanuel  writ- 
ten on  their  bridles.' — That  after  the  King  was  murdered,  Peters  said, 
'  Lord,  now  Jettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 

*  thy  salvation.' — That  a  while  after  the  execution,  he  said,  •  I  rejoice  to 
'  think  of  that  day  ;  for  to  me  it  seemed  like  the  great  and  last  day  of  judg- 

*  ment,  when  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world.'  " 


374  APPENDIX    D. 

*  as  a  tyrant,  traitor,  murthererand  a  public  enemy,  shall  be  put 

*  to  death  by  tlie  severing  his  head  from  his  body.'  To  which 
horrid  sentence  the  whole  pack  stood  up,  by  agreement  among 
themselves  before  made  ;  and,  (though  they  agreed  in  nothing 
else,  either  before  or  since,)  unanimously  voted  the  bloody  words, 
words  of  so  loud  a  guilt,  that  they  drowned  all  the  earnest  propo- 
sals of  reason  and  religion,  offered  by  a  prince  who  was  a  great 
master  of  both.  All  the  great  throng  that  pitied  but  could  not 
help  afflicted  majesty,  (with  whom  they  saw  themselves  drawn 
to  the  slaughter,)  groaned  upon  the  sentence,  but  with  the  peril 
of  their  lives  ;  it  being  as  fatal  then  for  any  persons  to  own 
respect  or  kindness  to  Majesty,  as  it  was  for  the  King  to  carry 
it ;  and  as  dangerous  for  others  to  be  good  subjects,  as  for  him 
to  be  a  good  king.*  They  that  were  to  force  him  out  of  his  life, 
forced  others  out  of  their  loyalty  ;  endeavouring  fondly  to  de- 
pose him  from  his  subjects'  hearts,  as  they  had  done  from  his 
throne.  Much  ado  had  the  best  of  princes  to  gain  the  privilege 
of  the  worst  malefactor  :  (1.)  To  see  his  children  and  relations 
for  the  satisfaction  of  his  mind.  Or  (2.)  his  chaplain.  Bishop 
Juxon,  to  settle  his  conscience :  the  latter  of  whom  being  per- 
mitted to  come  not  till  eight  of  the  clock  on  Saturday  night  ; 
the  incomparable  prince  enjoying  in  the  midst  of  tumults  a  calm 
serenity,  being  full  of  his  own  majesty,  and  having  a  greater 
power  over  his  temper  than  his  enemies  had  over  his  person, 
bespeaks  him  thus:  'My  Lord,  that  you  came  no  sooner,!  believe, 

*  was  not  your  fault;  but  now  you  are  come,  because  these  rogues 
'pursue  my  blood,  you  and  I  must  consult  how  I  may  best  part 
'  with  it.'  Indeed,  all  the  while,  he  did  all  things  becoming  a 
christian  obliged  by  his  calling  to  suffer,  not  reflecting  that  he 
was  a  prince,  (to  whom  such  usages  were  unusual,)  born  to  com- 
mand. Since  they  could  not  keep  the  bishop  from  coming  to 
him,  they  disturbed  him  both  the  next  day,  Jan.  28,  in  reading 
divine  service,  and  preaching  on  Rom.  ii,  29,  and  at  other  times 
at  St.  James's,  with  scoffs  and  unnecessary  and  petulant  disputes, 
which  he  either  answered  irrefragably  or  neglected  patiently  ; 
and  at  Whitehall  with  the  noise  of  the  workmen  that  prepared 
the  scaffold  ;  he  being  brought  thither  on  purpose,  Jan.  28,  at 
night,  to  die  often  by  every  stroke  of  the  axe  upon  the  wood, 
before  he  should  die,  once  for  all,  by  one  stroke  of  it  upon  him- 
self Neither  do  they  only  disturb,  but,  either  out  of  fear  or  de- 
sign, tempt  him  too  with  unworthy  articles  and  conditions,which 

*  "  Remarkable  here  the  difference  between  his  Majesty's  temper  and  the 
'i'arliament's :  For  that  very  liberty  of  opinion  which  they  themselves  asserted 
under  the  notion  of  Liberty  of  Conscience,  they  punished  five  of  the  Judges, 
that  voted  against  their  sentiments,  severely  :  The  King  entertained  with 
respect  those  two  that  voted  against  liis  judgment  and  interest  too,  the  one 
dying  with  a  character  from  his  master  of  an  upright  maji ;  and  the  other 
being  dismissed  upon  his  own  earnest  petition,  with  the  honour  of  having 
been  a  soodaervunt,"  Lloyd's  Worthies. 


Al'PENDIX    D.  375 

being  levelled  at  his  honour  and  conscience,  as  their  other 
malices  were  at  his  life,  after  hearing  one  or  two  of  them  read 
to  him,  he  resolved  not  to  sully  the  splendour  of  his  former  vir- 
tues with  too  impotent  a  desire  of  life.  His  soul  applied  itself 
to  such  duties  of  religion,  as  reading,  praying,  confession  of  sins, 
supplication  for  enemies,  holy  communions  and  conferences,  and 
such  offices  of  humanity  as  sending  legacies  to  his  wife  and 
exile  children,  and  exhorting  those  at  home  admitted  to  him 
Jan.  29  to  this  purpose,  his  last  words  to  them  being  taken  in 
writing,  and  communicated  to  the  world  by  the  Lady  Elizabeth 
his  daughter,  a  lady  of  most  eminent  endowments,*  who,  though 
born  to  the  supremest  fortune,  yet  lived  in  continual  tears,  and 
died  confined  at  Carisbrook  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.  Till  at  last, 
(all  endeavours  for  preventing  so  great  a  guilt  failing,)  even  Col. 
Downes,  one  of  their  own  members,  attempting  a  mutiny  in  the 
army,  and  the  Lord  Fairfax  being  resolved  with  his  own  regi- 
ment to  hinder  the  murther,  until  the  conspirators  in  vain  urging, 

*  That  the  Lord  had  rejected  him,'  took  him  aside  to  seek  the 
Lord,  while  their  instruments  hasten  the  execution  by  private 
order,  and  then  they  call  that  a  return  of  their  prayers.  On  the 
fatal  day,  Jan.  30,  16"49,  having  desired  five  preachers,  sent  to 
pray  with  him  by  the  junto,  to  pray  for  him  if  they  pleased, 
telling  them,  he  was  resolved,  that  they  who  had  so  often  and  so 
catiselessly  prayed  against  him,  should  not,  in  his  agony,  pray  with 
him  ;  and  preparing  himself  with  his  own  devotion  in  the  offices 
of  the  church,  he  was  strengthened  in  his  sufferings  by  the  suf- 
ferings of  his  Saviour,  whose  body  and  blood  he  received  that 
morning,  and  the  history  of  whose  passion  fell  to  be  the  chapter 
of  the  day  of  his.  So  that  he  came  cheerfully  from  St.  James's 
to  Whitehall,  often  calling  on  his  slow  guards  that  kept  not  pace 
with  him,  to  move  faster,  with  these  words,  '  I  now  go  before 
'  you  lo  strive  for  an  heavenly  crown,  with  less  solicitude  than  I 

*  formerly  have  led  my  soldiers  for  an  earthly  diadem  ;'  with 
extraordinary  alacrity  ascending  the  stairs  leading  to  the  long 
gallery,  and  so  to  the  cabinet  chamber  ;  whence,  his  supplica- 
tions being  ended,  he  went  through  the  banquetting-house  to  the 
adjoining  scaffiald,  with  the  same  spirit  he  used  to  ascend  his 
throne,  shewing  no  fear  of  death  but  a  solicitude  for  those  that 
were  to  live  after.  He  thought  it  to  as  little  purpose  to  harangue 
the  army  as  to  compliment  a  mastiff  or  a  tyger,  and  others  were 
kept  at  such  distance,  that  they  might  see  but  not  hear  ;  and 
therefore  he  expressed  himself  to  those  that  stood  near  him."- 

*"  He  wished  me  not  to  grieve  and  torment  myself  for  him,  for  that 
would  be  a  glorious  death  that  he  should  die,  it  being  for  the  laws  and  liber- 
ties of  this  land,  and  for  maintaining  the  true  Protestant  religion.  He  bid 
me  read  Bishop  Andrews's  sermons,  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Policy,  and  Bis- 
hop Laud's  book  against  Fisher,  which  would  ground  me  against  Popery.  He 
told  me,  he  had  forgiven  all  his  enemies,  and  hoped  God  would  forgive  them 
also  ;  and  commanded  us,  and  all  the  rest  of  my  brothers  and  sisters,  to 
forgive  them  &c." 


S76  AFPENDIX    D. 

After  stating  the  intrepid  conduct  of  his  Majesty  on  the  scaf- 
fold, the  historian  concludes  his  narrative  thus :  "  Then  the 
King,  making  some  pious  and  private  ejaculations  before  the 
block,  as  before  a  desk  of  prayer,  he  submitted  without  that  vio- 
lence they  intended  for  him,  if  he  refused  his  sacred  head  to  one 
stroke  of  an  executioner,  (that  was  disguised  then,  as  the  actors 
wereall  along,)  which  severed  it  from  his  body. — So  fell  Charles 
the  First,  and  so  expired  with  him  the  liberty  and  glory  of 
three  nations  ;*  being  made  in  that  very  place  an  instance  of 
human  frailty,  where  he  used  to  shew  the  greatness  and  glory  of 
majesty." 

*  This  is  a  true  expression  on  the  part  of  the  venerable  historian,  as  will 
be  seen  by  a  subsequent  part  of  this  Appendix  :  For,  how  enormous  soever 
might  have  been  some  acts  of  administration  durintf  the  reign  of  king 
Charles,  the  usurper  who  subsequently  exercised  the  functions  of  royalty 
appears  in  several  of  his  public  measures  to  have  adopted  the  sentiments  of 
Rehoboam  when  he  said  to  the  people  :  "  Whereas  my  predecessor  did  lade 
you  with  a  heavy  yoke,  I  will  add  to  your  yoke  :  He  hath  chastised  you 
■with  whips,  but  1  will  chastise  you  with  scorpions." 

In  these  notes  I  have  produced  many  things  in  favour  of  King  Charles  the 
First  and  Archbishop  Laud — two  rather  unpopular  personages  in  the  pre- 
sent age.  But  though  unpopular  on  account  of  many  transactions  in  which 
they  were  implicated,  both  of  them  were  possessed  of  eminent  virtues, 
which  they  displayed  to  the  greatest  advantage  in  the  course  of  their  un- 
merited misfortunes.  In  the  exercise  of  strict  impartiality,  it  becomes  me 
to  record  their  virtues  as  well  as  their  failings  ;  and  when  my  readers  have 
perused  all  that  I  have  written,  I  hope  it  will  be  made  as  apparent  to  them 
as  it  has  long  been  to  myself,  that  their  personal  virtues  far  transcended  the 
sum  of  their  imputed  failings.  Another  opportunity  will  occur  for  demon- 
strating that  the  British  Constitution,  even  at  the  particular  juncture  of  its 
deepest  depression  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles,  contained  within  itself 
copious  materials  for  selt-restoration  ;  and  that  the  violent  course  pursued 
by  the  Calvinistic  mal -contents,  was  not  that  which  the  laws  suggested  for 
the  redress  of  grievances.  This  has  already  been  briefly  proved  in  the  ex- 
tracts from  Judge  Jenkins. 

I  refer  the  reader  to  the  TVorhs  of  y1rminius,{\o\.  1.  p.  456.)  fof  my  recorded 
opinions  of  King  James  and  his  unfortunate  successor;  and  I   now  subjoin 
the  concluding  paragraph  of  that  article,  in   proof  of  my  exemption   from 
criminal  party  bias  in  the  narration  of  facts  :     "  Such  petty  enterprizes  as 
these,  in  which  James  was  arttully  enlisted,  were  degrading  to  the  royal 
character;  and  the   impetuosity  with  which    he  prosecuted  them,  tended 
greatly,  in  that  new  age  of  thought,  to  alienate  men's  minds  from  the  regal 
dignity  and  the  established  institutions,   which  have  their  best  security  in 
the  manifestations  of  affection  and  respect  on  the  part  of  those  for  whose 
benefit  they  are  sustained  and  administered.     Flattered  as  the  great  pacifi- 
cator of  nations  by  those  that  needed  his   aid,  and   boasting  in   private  of 
his  successful  cunning  and  policy,  which  he  was   pleased  to   call  '  king- 
craft,' his  majesty  imbibed  very  false  ideas  both  of  his  own  capabilities  and 
of  his  royal  power    and  prerogatives,  and  infused,  into  the   minds  of  his 
children,   the  same  unmanageable  notions,   which  seemed  to  descend  as  by 
generation  to  the  last  of  his  unfortunate  race.     In   forming  a  judgment  con- 
cerning his  immediate  successor,   we  are  too  apt  to  contemplate  Charles  as 
an  insulated  personage  ;  but  if  we  consider  the  high  veneration  in  which   he 
held  his  royal  father's  published  sentiments  both  on  religion  and   politics, 
instead  of  viewing  him  as  the  self-tutored  despot,   we  shall  rather  pity  him 
as  an  obedient  son,  who,  from  mistaken  yet  conscientious  motives,   endea- 
voured to  carry  into  practical  effect  those  tyrannical  principles  about  the 
truth  of  which  neither  his  royal  parent,  nor  any  of  those  around  his  person, 
would  ever  suffer  him  to  hesitate.    But  the  decisive  national  crisis  was  far 
advanced  at  the  very  comnieuceuieut  of  his  reign,  and  had  assumed  a  must 


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