An humble and serious address to the princes and states of Europe, for the admission, or at least open toleration of the Christian religion in their dominions, ...

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speciAL
coLLecrioNS

DouqLas
LibRARy

queeN's uNiveusiiy

AT kiNQSXrON

kiNQSTON ONTARIO CANADA

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An Humble and Serious

ADDRESS

T O T H E

Princes and States

E U RO P E, I

For the A D M I s s I o N, or at leaft open
T o L E R A T I o N of the CHRISTIAN
R E L 1 G I O N in their Dominions.

Containing

I. A Demonftration, that None of them do, properly
fpeaking, Admit or openly Tolerate the Chrijlian
Keligion m their Dominions at this Day.

II. The true Occafwns^ why it is not Admitted^ or
openly Tolerated by them.

III. Some Reajhm^ why they ought to Admit, or at
leaft openly Tolerate this Religion.

IV. An earneft Addrefs to the feveral European
Princes and States, grounded on the Premifes, for
the Adnvjfion , or at leaft the open Toleration of
the fame Cbr'ijiian Rd\^ion in their Dominions.

By William Whist on, JVl. A.

Let me not, I pray you, accept any Mans Per [on: n^hity JVt
rue give flatteiing Titles unto Man. For I kiwh not to ^^ive
flattcrirg Titles: Info doing, my Maker rpouldfoon take me
away. Job xxxii.. 21, 22.

LOh'D 0 N: riinted for
and VV. Taylor, ac the Sk

. -^ -—.^i^^ L

J. SeNex , m S.tlrsbmy-CoHrf-, r
>hip in Pitter-Soj'ter-Kon\ 1 7 i 5. I

A€^i

Ulu-'

T^Rujlra qitidam qui ratione vlncuntur^ Confiie-
^ titdimm nobis opponunt •, quafi Confitetttdo fit
Tnajor Verltate , aut non id Jit in fpiritalibus fe-
quenditm , quod in melius fucrit a SanBo Spiritu
revelatum, Ignofci enim poteH fmpliciter erranti .•
Fofi Infpirationem verb O' Rivelationem faEfam^
qui in eo qui erraveraty perfeverat prudens ^
fcienSy fine venid ignorantiA peccat : prefumtione
enim atque ohfiinatione quadain nititur^ cum ra-
tione fuperetur. Cy pr. Epift. ad Jubaian. Z^. 3 1 o.

Sed dicit aliquis: Quid ergofiet de his qui in
prateritum de Harefi ad Ecclefiam venientes, fine
Baptifmo admijfi funt ? Pot ens efi Dominus mife-
ricordia fua indidgentiam dare^ & eos qui ad
Ecclefiam fimpliciter admijfiy in Ecclefia dormi-
erunt^ ab Ecclefia fuA muneribus non feparare,
Non tamen quia aliquando erratum esf, iJeofem-
per errandum eH ^ cum magis fapientibus ^ T)eum
timentibiis congruat, patefaBtx. df* perfpeBa vert-
tati libenter atque incunBanter obfequi^ quam per^
ttnaciter atque obflinate pro haireticis reluBari,
Ibid. Pag. 313.

[ o

An Humble and vScrious

DRESS, itc^

!0

,03

'rr-A ■♦'^rt

E FORE I begin to difcourfe upon
the particular Airertions already fet
down, I defire the Reader to^ob-
ferve, That by the Cjorijlian Reli"

gioji I here mean that Religion or

nltitution of Divine Worfhip, of Faith, Pra-
ctice, Government and Difcipline, which Chrilt
our Lord did by himfelf, and by his Holy Apo-
ftles and their Companions, Ordain and Settle
in the World, in the tirft Century •,.and this, as,
it appears not in the Modern Books or Notions,
but as it (lands in all the Original Records of
Chriflianky : Not only as it is diftinguifhed from
bare Natural Religion, and from the Jewijh or
Mahoftwtan Inftitutions ; but alfo.as it is diffe-
rent from, or contrary to thofe particular Seds
and Parties which are called Greeks, ox Latins,
Papifls or Frotejiants, Lutherans or Calvintfts^

B Tresby-

Presbyterians or hideperidents^ Baptijls or Qua^
hers, or any others profefling the fame ReUgion
among us : So far, I mean, as any or all of
them do recede from thofe Original Settlements,
and not otherwife. Now, that the Princes and
States of Chrijlendojn do Admit and Tolerate iH
their feveral Countries fome or other of thefe
Seds and Parties pretending to Chriftianity j
nay, that they do ufually eftabijii and fitpport
fome one of thefe Seds or Parties, which their
own Education, or Worldly Politicks have re-
commeiided to them,I do not at all deny. Nor do I
in the leaft queftion, but every one of thefe Seds
not only do allow of and receive, but zealoufly
contend for and earneftly embrace feveral Parts,
feveral Dodtrines and Duties of the true Chrifti-
an Religion ^ fo far, as their refpedive Leaders
and Guides have happened formerly to embrace
and receive the fame. But then, what I would
be underflood to mean here, is plainly this, That
'iis not the true, the entire Chriftian Religion,,
as attefted to and delivered in the New Tefta-
ment, and the other Original Records of the
fame, which is thus admitted and received by the
feveral Kingdoms and States of Europe ^ but 'tis
only that Religion or Settlement which the feve-
ral Leaders of each Party did formerly, in Times
of great Difficulty and Ignorance, fitppqfe^?in6 ima-
gine, and vote to be the Chriftian Religion. Thus,
lor Example, if you go into fome Parts of Ger-
fnany^ and enquire of a true Lutheran, What
"Religion he is of} He will certainly anfwer , Of

the

[3]

the Chriftian Religion. But if you farther en-
quire of his particular Opinions or Pradices re-
lating to this which he calls the Chriftian Reli-
gion , you will find him to follow the Augsburg
Confeffion, or that Set of Doftrines and Rules
which was agreed on by the Lutherans at that
particular City of Germany^ in the particular
Year 1550. And if, upon your comparing
Things together, you reprefent to him, that you
have been fludying the Scriptures of the New
Teftament, and all the other moft Primitive Re-
mains of Chriftianity , but cannot poffibly find
that many of the Contents of that Confeffion
have any Foundation there , nay, that fome of
them are vifibly contrary to it j and therefore
that, if he be of the Chriftian Religion^ as he
aflirm'd he was, he ought to follow the Chrifti-
an Notions and Chriftian Rules, but not thofe
of Luther and his AfTociates j he will probably
be fo far from thanking you for your Informa-
tion, and from impartially comparing the Augf-
hurg Confeffion with the Chriftian Records, in
order to his own Improvement, and the Refor-
mation of his own Miftakes ^ that he will rather
grow warm upon it : He will affirm that, to be
fure, the Chriftian Records do agree with the
Augsburg Confeffion-, and that, for certain,
fuch great and good Men as thofe Lutherans
who framed it, were not permitted by Pro-
vidence to miftaVe in thefe Matters. Nay , 'tis
well if he do not immediately declare his Refent-
ment at your very Suppolition, That Luthera-

B 2 nifw

[4]

fiiftn is not exaftly agreeable to Chriftianit}%
He will read.'iy confefs, that as for the poor un-
happy fapifts and Calvinijls ^ the imperfed
Churches of England^ and Scotland^ and Hol-
land^ and Mufcovy^ &c. their feveral Schemes
are, in many Points, very far from agreeing
with the True Chri/Iian Religion : But that he
can never allow the fame in the firfl: Reformers
among the Lutherans. If you happen thence to
pafs over the Sea, or perhaps only over a River,
and there to apply your felf to fome other Great
and Learned Man of another Eftablifli'd Church,
be it T^piji or Calvinift ^ be it of the Church of
England, or of Scotland^ or of Holland^ or of
Miifcovj, 6cc, you will commonly meet with
the fame Treatment j and may ohferve the like
Surprize, when you difcover any fuch Variations
from Old Chr'tftianhy in any of them. It will
be feverally affirmed, That to be fure the Luthe-
rans^ with their Augsburg Confeffion, as to
many Points, can never be juftify'd ^ and that
"'tis very flrange, that any Learned Men ftiould
ever imagine feveral of thofe Articles to be agree-
able to Chriftianity. But then he cannot but
blefs God for the great Happincfs that their own
Articles, or Confeflions of Faith, and Laws for
Worfhip and Difcipline, agreed on either at the
Counpil of Trent one Year, or at Geneva ano-
thejr, or at London another, or at Edinburgh
j^nother, or at Don another, or at Mofcow ano-
ther,'Ihould fo exadly and furprizingly agree
with the New Teftament, and the other Books

of

en

of the Primitive Fathers. Nay, perhaps he will,
without further Examination, afTert this Agree-
ment to be fo exad, and fo plain, that he can
take it to be nothing but grofs Partiality and Ob-
ftinacy in all the other Scds , that they are not
fenfible of it ; and accordingly cannot but think
that theChriftian Magiftrates of his Opinion might
juftly ufe wholefome Severities^ in order to maks
DifTenters confider better j and ac-
cording to Chrift's Admonition, to Luk. xiv. 25.;
(ompel them to come in to the fame
Scheme of Chriflianity. That this is the com-
mon Cafe with the feveral Kingdoms and
Churches in Chrijlendomy as this Part of the
World is ftill calFd, I may Appeal fairly to every
one's own Obfervation : as I may alfo Appeal
thereto, whether this Cafe does not imply, that
the Chriftian Religion is not in Stridnefs receiv'd
and foUow'd therein. But left this general Rea-
foning (hould not have its due EfFed on the Rea-
der, I (hall defcend to Particulars , and

I. In the firft place (hall prove,That none of the'
prefent Princes and States of Europe do, proper-
ly fpeaking. Admit or openly Tolerate the ChrU^
flian Religion in their Dominions at this Day ^
either

(i.) As to the Belief of the True Chripian
FA'tb. ^ . ^.

(.^) i\s to the Performance of the Genuine
Chriji^an Worjhip^

\

v. CbOAs

(5.) As to the Admiffion of the Original Chri-
flian Church Government,

(4.) As to the Submiflion to the Primitive
Chrijlian Difcipline.

(5.) As to the Obedience to the Proper Chri-
plan Laws,

(jS.) As to the Care of the Ancient Chrijlian
PraBice,

(y,) As to the receiving the Original ChrU
flian Books,

C80 As to the Adminiftration of the-Solemn
Christian Sacraments,

But before I come diredlly to prove the Par-
ticulars , I defire that the Reader will take thefe
here fet down as only a few Arguments, or In-
flances chofen out of a much greater Number ^
which might mod eafily be alledg'd on this Oc-
cafion. For if I were to fet down here all the
Variations wherein the prefent Churches and
Sefts in Europe differ from Chriftianity, as it
was fettled by the Apoftles at firft , the Time
would fail me-j and the Largenefs of this Work
would, in great part, prevent the Hopes of its
being perus*d by thofe that ought to be concern*d
in the Corredlion of them. Nor will it be ne-
ceHary here to exhauft this Subjed before-hand ,
but leave that to the future more compleat
and more exad Enquiries of the feveral Churches
and Sefts, when they once in earned fet aboyt a
Reforraauoi}.

00 I

en

f I.J I fhall endeavour to prove, That the fe-
veral Princes and States of Europe do not Admit
or openly Tolerate the true ChrlHian Faith in
their Dominions. For the true Chriftian Faith^
to fpeak here only of the Belief of Fundan^en*
tals, was no other than the Original Creed, or
Profeffion made before Baptifm 3 which was
their only Rule of Truth j their only uncon-
tefted Catalogue of Fundamentals in Dodrine,
and their proper Guide and Standard in Matters
of that Nature : This Rule of Chri-
Bian Truth or Faith then , which ^/tf^^f'.'^''
was the plained thing in the World creedr, ""^"^
in the firft Ages of the Gofpel, and
ef which we have fo great Number of undifpu-
ted Ancient Monuments ftill prcferv'd, is the
great Charader of Chriftiahity, as to theCreden-
da of it 3 and thofe Nations which receive it as
fuch, are fo far Chriftian Nations , and thofe
that take other Rules of Faith of Human Infti-
tution in its ftead, are hardly, properly fpeaking,
worthy of fuch a Denomination. Now let us
try the feveral States and Kingdoras,which at pre-
fent call themfelvesC^rrJ?f^w States and Kingdoms^
ty this x.e/.The/ov'^ and fee if they can thus ap-
prove themfelves to be of the fame Faith with
the Original Chriftians, or not. And I think it
is fo far from it , that without infifting on the
human, the various and the uncertain Schemes
of lefler particular Dodrines or Articles now
#very where current among us, and fubfcribcd'

[8]

by us, it will foon appear, that the very Creeds
themfelves generally receiv'd, have but fmall
Fretenoe to be of any great Antiquity, or to have
been fo much as known in the tirft Ages of the
Ucfu Church. I have my felf made a

with Col- Colledion of fuch Creeds, or Sum-
lea. Monum. maries of Fundamental Chriftian
^' '2'^-^38- Dodrines , for the firft Four Cen-
turies 5 where Two of our Three Creeds , I
mean that ftiled the ApoHJes^ and that called
Athanafms's , do not at all appear in thofe
Centuries. Nor is that called the Nicene ,
really and purely fuch, but rathep the ConHantu
nopotitm^ made at firft and compleated after-
wards by one Party of Chriftians againft ano-
ther in the Fourth Century. And as for the
Athmiajla^i Creed ^ 'tis fo far from a Pro-
feffion of Faith derivM from Chrift or his Apo-
ftles, that 'tis only a very late and entirely coun-
terfeit Compofure, of no manner of Authority ,
full of Athanafian Philofophical Abfurdities or
Myfteries ;, and of fuch grofs Uncharitablenefg
withal, in its damnatory Sentences, as ought to
make it fo far abhorr'd by every Chriftian. Now
here I wou'd ask this plain Queftion, Can thofe
be, ftridly fpeaking, Chrijitan Churches^ which
give us our very Ride of Faith from fuch fufped-
ed, perhaps Antichriftian Originals > Can our
prefent Baptifmal Profellion be fuppofed to be
ftridly Chrisiian^ when the very Creed^ into
which we are Baptiz'd, is not to be traced in
Four Centuries > and which is no better than an

impel-

[9]

iiTiperfeft and interpolated Abridgment of the
Original Creed it felf ? Or can thofe St-atee an(f
Kingdoms, which only eftablifh or allow of the
fame, with the Exclufion of all the mod anci-
ent ones, be, properly fpeaking, efteem'd to'
eftablifh or allow of the Chrijhan Faith > Mo,
certainly : This is. not in ftridnefs the Chri/iiait
Faith 3 and thofe Countries that receive tk tolerate
no other, /. e, almoft all the Countries mEuropcf
can hardly be efteem'd Ghriftian B^liemrs 3 fince
the Faith they profefs is not that which ChriH:
and his Apoftles delivered, but what the Church,
of Rome gave us in the Fifth , and fome Athana^
fian Counterfeiter of Books, was pleafed in the
fame, .or fome later Age to impofe upon us i
Efpecially, (ince thefe alone are now ufed, not-
withftandingthe Apoftolical, Primitive, and No-
bler Confeflions of Faith are flill extant, and may
be received by us whenever we pleafe. Nor
indeed, ought any that have it in their Power-
to eftablilh, or admit the real Original Do-
drine of Chrift and his Apoftles, and yet fol-
low Athaiiafian Compofures, to flatter thcmfelves
that they have properly and truly the Chriflian
Faith among them.

(2.) I (hall fhew. That the feveral Princes and
States of Europe^ do not admit, or openly tole-
rate, the Chrijiian Wayj^f Worjhip in their feve-
ral Dominions. Now this feems plain, upon a
Comparilbn of the Original Manner of the Wor-
(hip of God among the firft Chriftians, with
tliat which is alone now publickly ufed, al-.

C iewed.

[ .o ]

lowed, and eftablilhed in Europe, The Chri-
Itians originally gave their fupreme and higheft
VVorflaip, only to the Supreme and
fi^ivd. Vol! rooft High God, the Father. Wc
iv.Art. 2. 19, profefa to give it equally to the
*°' Son, and to the Holy Ghoft ^ nay,

to the Trinity *, as if that complex Notion were a
diftin(^ Objed of Worfliip. Thofe Chriftians
never called the Holy Ghoft God^ or Invocated,
or ^2.vtDoxologies to him. We venture upon
all this ;, nay, and fometimes make it Heretical
and highly Criminal in others not to do fo j
and that without (hewing one Command or Ex-
ample in all the early Ages. The
Vol. IV. Chriftians addrefs'd to the Supreme

Artie. 2. Qo(3 only throueh Chrift, as the

Col. 11. 18, -Ki, 1- ■ xxT °r . .' ^ .

Apoc. xxii. 9. IVlediator. We often jom oamts
and Angels in that Office with him,
againft the plaineft Cautions in Scripture to the
contrary. The Chriftians of old admitted of
no barely Human Models and Forms of Pub-
lick Worftiip, but kept every where clofe to that
Noble One left them by the Apo-
&eVoi.ii,and ftles, and ftill extant in the Apo-
iu.TprithSt.ck- jloltcal Conjlittttions, But we, neg-
"^ntus-l^l lefting almoft the very Enquiry af-
caf.oftheConfi, tcr any fuch Model, introduce both
new Objed§,and Methods of Wor-
fhip, as we pleafe •, We order our Publick Ser-
vice after our own Imaginations ^ and according-
ly have, in almoft every Country, a different
Liturgy or Form for the lame ; Nay, in fome

Congregations

Congregations there is fcarce any regular Form at
all 5 but the whole is commonly left to the Pru^
dence and Difcretion ^ 1 had almoft faid, fometimes
to the Humour and Folly of every particular Pref-
byter.We now Fa ft and Pray in one Place,while
we Rejoice and Give thanks in another, and that
on the very fame Occafion. We make our De-
votions keep pace with the Orders of the State,
or of our Party , and our Liturgies are ftill
oblig'd to comply with the Politicks of our
Courtiers, or the Opinions of our Leaders. We
fometimes put God in mind in our Pulpits and
Prayers, that our Church is eflablified hy Law •
as if it therefore were the moji Pure and Primitive
of all others ^ and we feem to hope that this
will be a Motive to him to preferve the fame
free from any farther Reformation, which we
are generally much afraid of. In fhort, the
moft folemn Part of Religion, which is that
of Divine Worfhip, is often fo far from that
Gravity and Reverence , that Dignity and
Sacrednefs which it once had among the Chri-
ftians, that it is become a Tool of St ite, a Shi^^
boleth of a Party, an almoft defpicable Branch of
our Religious AfTemblics : While we can be
much more attentive to the Novelty of the Ser-
mon, than to the Importance of the Prayers j
and while we can almoft appropriate the former
to theBifhop or Miniftef of the Parilh, but leave
the latter to be run over by an inferior Cur ite or
Reader j and all this in dired Contndidi n to
tlie firft Laws of Chriftianity ; which alLwed

C 2 of

1 1^ ] "

of even a. Lay-man that was well qualify'd to
Preach *y i^yt. would not allow any under the
^ ; ,- fi : Order of a Presbyter, diredly to
c-onai.viif.^2. offer up any part of the Churches
wm/Tajfifn'.^ folemn Devotions to the Almighty.
_-.;-: Nay, fuch is now the iniferable
State of Religion all over Cbriftendofn, that I
don't know that there is one Kingdom or State
tlierein, which will do more than connive at any
Congregations of Chriftians, who fhall make
ufe of the very Apoftolical Forms themfelves,
in- their Publick Worfliip ^ while, yet, many of
them Admit or Tolerate almoft all other Models
or Forms whatever for that Purpofe. So little
is Ch rift's own Religion, and his Apoftles own
Gonffitution thereof regarded ! And fo much are
rneer ■Human Laws and Settlements, in Mat-
t0^ of .Divide Worfliip, in efteem among us!
^-r{;. r-r r A^Bilhop of Roftie^^L Luther ^2. Calvhi^
.':^^T\.-'} ■^2iCran7}ier^ or a Knox, like jonad ah.
the Son (jf Rechab^ihcLW have his Commands pun-
{]:ually obeyed, by one Generation after ano-
ther ^ whi-le the Laws of Mofes, or of Chrift,
the Sacred Appointments of God himfelf by his
imm^ediate Minifters,- fliall be defpifed and re-
je^ed from one Century to another, without any
^reat Remorfe ; certainly without a through Refor-
riiation ! Aut Hoc non eft Evangelinm, aiit Nos 7wn
(itnnis Evangelici ! Either the old One is not the
True G of pel J or we of the Modern Churches are
not True Gospellers I

(3-) I

[ •? 1

(3.) I ftiall (hew, that the feveral Princes and
States o( Europe ^do not Admit,or openly Tolerate,
the Chrifiian-Chitrch Government^ in their feve-
ral Dominions and Countries. That Form of
Government, which Chrift and his
Apoftles left the Church under, is ^''^''"fv ^

/..... . _^, ' . Can. PaJJlm.

plam in Antiquity, viz. Ihat it
was of the Apoftles own Appointment, by Di-*
redion from Chrifl: ^ that it was generally by
Biftipps, Priefts, and Deacons, with their Un-
der-Officers, and the Body of the Church •, that
k was no way fubjed to Human Alterations, nor
at all dependent on Civil Authority ♦, that the
Church- Governors themfelves had no Power gi-
ven them to make any new Laws for Chriftians,
but were only to fee Chrift's own Laws.duly ex-
ecuted 5 that the State could no way intermed-
dle with Ecclefiaftical Adminiftrations, nor the
Church with State Employments, or Politicks y
that accordingly, any Bifliop who fhould pro-
cure his Bilhoprick by the Afliftance of the
State , fhould be liable to Deprivation and
Sufpenfion,with all his Adherents ,that the Cler-
gy were flill to be Chofen by the Votes, or with
the Approbation of the Clergy and Body of the
People, and then folemnly Ordainedhy the Bi-
(hops, and this after an exad Enquiry into their
Lives and Charaders ;, and that on their Mif-
behaviour and Wickednefs afterward, they were
by the fame Authority to be cjepriv'd *, and in
(hort, that Church-Authority was not to be ufed
for the Purpofes of Worldly Grandeur or Tem-
poral

c Hi

f oral Advantages ^ but was properly defign'd For
another World, for the Converfion, Edification,
and eternal Salvation of Mankind , and fo in its
own Nature was rendred incapable of mixing
with Temporal Power, and Worldly Politicks,
in any Ages whatfoever. Yet, alas ! where can
we find fuch a Chitrch-Government^ or Settlement
of Ecclefiaftical Affairs, either Eftablifh'd, or
Admitted, or even Tolerated in Chrisiendotn ^
CojiHantine the Great, and his SucceiTors, heaped
fo much Temporal Power, and Secular Autho-
rity upon the Biihops and Clergy, They poured
fo much Foifon of this World upon the Church,
that the Governors thereof were quite overborn
with it, and foon advanced themfelves from
the humble State of Chrift himfelf and his

Apoftles , who had not where to lay
Mat. viii. 20. their Heads ^ who wandred about in
Heb. xi. 37, Sheep-skins and Goat-skins^ hein^

deftitute^ ajjiiSed^ tormented, in
the laborious fpreading of the Gofpel over the
World ^ to the more exalted Condition of
Worldly Dominion , and Temporal Authority :
They got fo much of the Wealth, and Power,
and Eafe of Secular Greatnefs, and Protedion
-by Human Laws, that they foon forgat their
real or Spiritual Power, their Chriflian Duty,
and their Ecclefiaftical Canons. They readily
came to a Compromifc with the Court , and up-
on its Advancement of the Church's Prerogatives
and Demeans in this World, permitted it, with-
out any Authority from Chrift, to have a great

Share

['53

Share in what ought only to have concernM the
next : They foon proceeded, not only to make
new Laws and Canons of their own for Chrifti-
ans •, bat alfo, by the AfTiftance of the State, to
fee them executed by Temporal Penalties , a
Thing utterly repugnant to Chriftianity, and
wholly unknown among the Primitive Chrifti-
ans. Nay, when they were fenfible this Alteration
was condemn'd as unjuftifyable by all the Records
of Old Chriftianity, they have fometimes grown
fo bold and daring as to allow it to be fo ^ but
yet to plead, that it might ftill be juftifyed by
the NecefTity of Affairs, and the Rules of good
Policy ^ and that as the State was then become,
what they call'd Chriflian , the Church ought to
partake of Worldly Greatnefs and Power with
it : So that tho' the Revealed Will of Chrift ap-
pearM againft all fuch Innovations, and Political
Mutations, yet was it to be prefumed his fecret
Will was for the Church's Temporal Profperity
and Advantage, There w^cre Reafons foon found
out, why theEleftion of theBiihopsand Clergy
ought rather to be under the Direftion of the
Court, than at the mere Choice of the Church -,
and in Times of Profperity, to infift ftridly
6n Apoftolical Qualifications and ftrid Rules,
laid down in Times of Perfecution, was not
thought fuitable to the better State of Things
now in the World ^ and in truth was become at
once both mfolituk and mpraBicable : It was
foon thought very convenient at leaft, if not ne-
cefTary, that the Church ihould have a Tower of

hegi'

t ,6 ]

Le^ijlation of its own, to alter or explain away
fometimes the too rigid Laws of Chriflianity,
and now and then to change Old Aposlolkal De-
crees for l^ew Synodical Canons. It was efteem'd
a blelTed Mutation from the Labours and Pains
of Chriftian Bifhops, wearying themfelves in
executing the Laws of Chrift, and in the feed-
ing their Flocks, and fitting their People for

Martyrdom \ to find themfelves
Match. XX. feated on their feveral Thrones of
Luke xxii. Worldly Power, exercifing that Se-
24—30. cular Authority which Chrift in-

ConHit. II. ^gg^ 1^^^ forbidden 1 but the later
81,83. ' good Sy?iods, and khid Emperors h:id

been pleas'd to confer upon them :
And he that could be at once a Temporal Magi-
sirate^ and a Spiritual Bifiop, tho* contrary to
feveral exprefs Conftitutions and Canons of the
Apoftles, was thought a very weak Man, if he
refufed fo tempting an Offer of Pluralities. Nor
was it thought improper, that thofe Settlements
which were at firft inftituted for the real Purpo-
.pofesof true Religion, the making Men more
Holy, and Righteous, and Devout, and Heaven^
ly, and Self-denying here, in order to their
everlafting Happinefs in the 7iext World, fhould
alfo, hy the way, be apply'd to the Purpofes of
Politicks, and Preferment, and Eafe in this be-
fore-hand.

(^.) I (hall prove, That the feveral Princes
and States of Euro^t^ do not Admit, nor openly

Tolerate

[17]

Tolerate the True ChriHian Bifdpline in their
Dominions. This is particularly notorious in
our own Church of England^ which is indeed
forcM to Complain of the Want of
iuch Difcipline, and once a Year to office of com-^ ;
Wipj it might be reftor'd^ but has mination.
feldom or never fo much as attempt-
ed to have it in earneft reftor*d amongft them.
And I fear that other Churches now fettled in
ChriHe?idom have, if not equal, yet fome Reafon
for the fame Complaint^ and the fame Wijh alfo y
and yet do not ufe fuffiicient Endeavours for its
Revival. This indeed is one of
the Fundamental Points of our Re- confiir. ir*
ligion, one of the ElTentials of a P*^*"^-
True Church, that Thofe who vo-
luntarily have entred themfelves into this c^zM«-»'
cia, this Chriftian, this Seled Society, or Churchy
chofen out of the reft of the wicked World, and
fet apart for Holinefs and Purity, fhould be fub-
jed to the Laws and Precepts of the Gofpel ;
to the Conftitutions and Canons deriv'd from
Chrifl by his Apoftles -^ fhould fubmit to Chri-
ftian Admonition and Reproof, both private be-
fore a few, and publick before the Bifiiop, Priefts,
Deacons, and People^ fliould be liable, upon
grear and notorious Crimes , and fcandalou3
Breaches of the Chriftian Laws, to Sufpenfion,
Deprivation, and Excommunication from the
Society , and fhould not be readmitted, but up*
on fuch Repentance, fuch Mortification, and
fuch Reformation, as the Original Rules of the

D Gofpel,

C i8]

Gofpel , and Conftitutions of the Apoftles do
require -, the* always without any TenDporal
Detriment , or Corporal Penalties whatever ,
which the old Eccleliaftical Laws never pre-
tend in the leaft to. This is plainly a true
Account of that Chrifiian Bifcipl'me, which is
the principal Defign and Part of a Chriftian
Church. But how little of this Difcipline is
there now in Chrijlendom > Any Sin whatfoever
is forgiven by our pretended Ecclefiaftical, in re-
ality Cifi/ C^itrtJy except that of the Contempt of
their own ill-grounded Authority. Nor is Le-
gal Excommunication ufually awarded in thefe
latter Ages, that I can find, for any other Sin,
Herefy or Blafphemy whatfoever. Do but Obey
the Church, the Legal Church, ading not by
the Laws of the Gofpel, but by fome later De-
crees and Canons, even thofe made under the
Reign of Antichrift, and you are ever fafe from
the Modern Difcipline j what Life foever you
lead, or what Crimes foever you are guilty of.
Nor does that Legal Penance, or open Shame,
which thofe Courts enjoin under the Penalty of
Imprifonment, depend now on the real Penitence
of the Offender, which they feem to have little
Regard to , but has ufually no other EfFed
than that of adding to their former Crimes
that moft abominable Sin of Hypocnfy, And
if you think you have a too fevere Penance
enjoin'd you by the Court, do but apply for a
Commutation into Money , and you will find it
feldom deny'd you. Belides, What Refemblance

is

J

C '9 ]

is there between the awfal Solem-
nity of a truly Chriftian Court, ihid.c.<\j,([^c.
composM of a Chriftian Bifliop,
with his College of Presbyters, Deacons, and
People, ading by the Authority, and according
to the Laws of Chrift himfelf, delivered by his
Holy Apoftles •, and the trifling Appearance of a
Chancellor or Official, and he oftentimes a Lay-'
Perfon alfo, ading by no Authority but what is
Civil, and in this Cafe plainly unwarrantable?
Between the juft Terror arifing in Confcience
from the one , as to the momentous Concerns of
another Life ^ and the mean Affrightment from
the other, as to fome Temporal Penalty, or
Commutation-Money legally due in the prefeht
World. 'Tis true, there is one, and I doubt
but one Point of Bifcipline , which the prefent
Legal Churches are very fond of ^ I mean the
Power of Profecuting thofe that DilFent from
them in doubtful Matters, and of excluding
them thereby, I fay not from their Religious
Communion, for from that they are already ex-
cluded by their Diflent, but from the Civil
Preferments and Advantages of the Eftablilh'd
Church. But then, the Exercife of this Piece
of Severity, is generally defir'd and pra6lls*d in
Ibch an evil Manner, and for fuch evil Purpofes,
as makes it fo far from Chriftiati Difcipline , that
'tis freqiiently no better than Unchriftian Crnelty,
And I dare Appeal to all fober and confidering
Men, what Title the Rulers of Chriftendom can
have to the Eftablifhing, Admitting, or openly
D 2 Tole-

[ 20 ]

Tolerating the Chriftian Difcipline^ while they
not only do exclude the real Difcipline of Chrift's
Religion on the Guilty, or render it inefFedual •,
but while they ufually, under the Notion of this
Difcipline, permit and encourage fuch Cruelty
and Violence againft the Innocent , as the Civil
Courts themfelves would be afhamed of, and
which is eo better than Antichrtflian Perfecution,

(<$») I (hall fhew, That the feveral Princes
and States of Europe do not Admit, or openly
Tolerate the proper Laws ofChriftianity in their
Dominions. For the Laws of Chrifl can, pro-
perly fpeaking, be no other than thofe which
Chrift himfelf made, or gave Diredions to the
Apoftles to make, and to eftablifh in his Church j
cither before his Death, which are principally
contained in the Four Gofpels 5 or after his Re-
furreftion, and before his final Afcenfion, which
are principally contain'd in the Apoflolical Con-
(titutions and Canons, and frequently referred to
in the Epiftles of the Apoftles, and other mofl:
Ancient Records of Chriftianity, and indeed do
ftill every where appear in true Primitive Anti-
quity. And this is the fad Cafe in all the Mo-
dern Churches. For under the Pretence, that
Chrift or his Apoftles did not ordain particular
Laws for the Settling and Government of his
Church •, or that if he did fo, the Records of
moft of thofe Laws are loft , or however , that
in abundance of Cafes the BiQiops and Paftors of
the Church have Power to alter thofe Laws,

and

[ ai ]

and make new ones in their (lead ,

every Part of which Pretence may InlZ^'s

now be fully prov'd to be falfe and *^/w^/V.< conji.

uniuftifiable : The prefent Ecclefi- ^/>^^^/'5«^

ftical Settlements m turope are lo

far from being managed on the Foot of Chrifti-

anity and its Laws, that thofe Laws are rarely

fo much as once mention*d in any Cafe ^ no, not

even in thofe that are determin*d by what we

call the Ecclefiajlkal^ or Spiritual Courts^ among

us. Suppofe a Bifhop is to be made for any

Diocefe : Do we hear of any Recourfe to St,Paul^

or to the Conftitutions of the Apoftles, for the

Age, or Charader, or Form of making him>

Do we look over the feveral Qualifications of a

Chriftian Bi(hop there, and fatisfy our feives by

the authentick Teftimony of his own Parilhio-

pers, or thofe of his Diocefe, that he is truly

and in earneft fuch an one as they defcribe ? Do

we examine his Knowledge and Faith by the

Original Remains, and Confeflions, and Creeds

of the Ancient Chriflians, before we admit him }

Do we call for, and take the free voluntary

Choice and Eleftion of the Presbyters, Deacons,

and People, as we ought to do by thofe Laws,

before we Ordain him ? Surely no. Thofe

Ancient Rules of Chriftianity are looked upon

as antiquated by Difufe, and difannuird by later

Councils and Practice. What do we then } Do

we take care in our own Methods, that at lead

nothing be done that contradids thofe Laws of

Chrift hereto relating? Not this, neither. In

' fhort„

[ .. ]

Ihort, without afty proper Regard to Chrlft, and
to the ApoftoHeal Appointments in the Cafe,
we have our recourfe to the Canons of fomc
Modern Popes, or later Synods, not yet abroga-
ted 5 to the Civil Laws of the Reahn now in
Force-, to the King's Supremacy in Ecclefiaftical
Affairs, which, without all Pretences that I can '.
fee in Chriftianity, our Laws have given to the
Crown ', to the Forms of Subfcription and Swear-
ing,appointed by the Civil Power ^and according
to thefe Laws, not to thofe of Chriftianity, are all
our Biftiops now made in England. And the
Cafe is in a manner the very fame elfewhcre,
and on other Occafions alfo ^ fuch as the Ordi-
nation of Priefts and Deacons j the Diftribu-
tion of their feveral Offices ^ the governing
them, and the People committed to their
Charge ^ the preferring or puniftiing all forts
of People 5 our Liturgies or Forms for Prayer,
Fraife,the Adminiftration of Baptifm,Confirmati-
on, and the Lord's Supper , with every other
Part of our whole Ecclefiaftical Settlement :
All is guided by the Laws of the State, and the
Papal or Synodical Decrees -^ to which the Pre-
cepts in the ISew Teftament, with the Rules laid
down in the Conjlitiitions, and Canons of the
Apoftles are not to be oppos'd •, and this fre-
quently under no lefs Penalty than a ?re?mtn?re^
or utter Ruin in this World. If this be the Ad-
mjjitm^ or even open Toleration of the Laws
of Chrift, I am much miftaken : Nay, if it be
not a plain Sisn of Oppofitjon to them -, and in

Effect,

EfFed, faying with the Enemies of '

our Saviour in the Gofpel, We mil "''' ^^' ^4-

tiot have this Man to reign over tts. May God

avert what follows ! Bitt thofe tnine Enemies wha

would not that I fioidd reign over

them^ bring hither, and flay thein ^' ^^*

before me*

(6.) I come now to lliew, that the feveral
Princes and States of Europe, do not x\dinit or
openly Tolerate the true Chriflian PraBice m
their Dominions : I do not mean that they
openly difcourage the known Laws . „
oif Nature, or the Living in gene- ^"^'"* ^^:
ral, Godlily, Righteoitjly , and Soberly in this
prefent World ^ for without fome fupport to thefe
Foundations of all Society, Government it felf
could not long fubilft in the World. But I mean,
that in feveral particular, and eminent Inft'ances
of Chriftian Duty, they are often fo uncon-
cern'd, or fo little Chriftians, that they fome-
times difcourage, nay hinder the Obfervation of
them. Thus, for Example, *Tis a certain Du-
ty of Chriftianity, to pay the greateft regard,
and reverence poiTible, to the So-
lemnity of an Oath *, and never to jam. v.^^'P*
make ufe of that important Appeal conftic. ii. gi?.
to the Supreme Being,' but on a ve- J-j ^^' ^^' ^^\
TV few, and thofe very neceffary,
and very momentous Occafions. Y"et how fadly
do feveral of the States of Europe, abufe and
profane this Sacred Law of Chriftianity > Eve-
ry little Tax and Payment mull be levyed upojii

Oath 1

Oath ; every Merchant or Trader miill: compute
his Cuftoms upon Oath ^ every Party at the
Helm muft ferve their little Turns and Aims by
impofing Qaths^ and thofe fometimes very long,
fometimes very doubtful, and fometimes plainly
unlawful ones on the feveral Occafions of State
Policy •, for their own Support, and the Excla-
fion of their Antagonifts. And indeed, the great
Profanation of Religion in the way of Oaths^
as they are made Religious Tejls about Civil Af-
fairs, on purpofe to keep out fome, and bring in
others into Publick Secular Employments, and
their Ufe on every trifling Occafion, is, here
efpecially, become fo frequent, and fo univerfal,
as well deferves the Confideration of all Chrifti-
ans among us. For the Confequence is not only
very fad, as 'tis an open Teftimony of the little
regard we have to this folemn Piece of Religious
Worfliip, and to the Chriftian Religion, which
makes it fo peculiarly Rare and Sacred *, but as
it tends to render all Securities given in this
way utterly vain and ineffedual •, to the great
Danger of common Juftice in our Courts of Ju-
dicature, and to the deceiving our Governors
both in Church and State •, I mean, by the rea-
dy taking, and almoft as ready breaking, of all
fuch Oaths and Obligations whatfoever. In Ihort,
as the Prophet fays, Becartfe of
Jer. xxm. lo. S^i^g^rhig our Land mourneth , and
will probably have (till caufe to mourn,till our Mi-
nifters of State, and our Senate, have more regard
to God, and his Providence and Worlhip, than

they

C ^5 3

they have of late had ^ and in particular, till
they take away the Occafions of that horrid
Profanation of his Holy Name by numerous
Oaths, of which we of this Nation feem of all
others to be mofl: guilty.

'Tis alfo the certain Duty of every Bifhop,
Prieft, and Deacon, perfonally to take heed
to themfelves , mid to all the Flock over the
which the Holy Ghojl hath ^ in any Degree,
made them Overfeers *, to feed the Church
of the * Lordy which he has pur-
chafed with his own Blood : Not Aft. xx. 2?;
to be entangled with the Affairs of ., ,

this Life, that they may pleafe him ^ ""* "* ■**
who has chofen them : and to give i Tim.iv. 15.
themfelves wholly to the Duties of
their Fundion. And this is in fome Degree ownM
to be their Duty by the Form of Ordination of
Presbyters in our Church, where the Perfon Or-
dained is thus exhorted by the Bilhop :" Ye ought
" to forfake and fet afide, (as much as you may)
" all Worldly Cares and Studies.-We have good

" Hope, that You have clearly determin*d,

*' by God's Grace, to give your felves wholly
" to this Vocation whereunto it hath pleafed
" God to call you •, fo that (as much as lyeth
•' in you) you apply your felves wholly to this
" one thing, and draw all your Cares and Stu-
*' dies this way, and to this end. Yet does the
prefent Settlement of Affairs here almoft render

* N. B, This is the true Reading in the oldejl MSS, and Citations.

E that

C ^6 ]

tiiat Perfonal Care, and entire Application t)f tte
Clergy to their Holy Fundion, in inany Cafes
utterly impradicable. For not to fay, that Clergy-
men arc fometimes fo fet upon Wealth, and Rich-
es, and Eafe, that Two or Three good Livings
or Dignities will hardly fatisfy them ; 'tis plain,
that not a few Cures with us are fo fmall, that
there mufl be more than one united, or elfe
they will nor provide a tolerable- Maintenance
'for the Incumbent. The Chriftian Biftiops are
here Temporal Lords, diredly contrary to the
Confiitiitions^ and Canons of the Apoftles ^ as
we have feen already ;, and are obliged or invited
to attend the Court and Parliament about Secular
Matters \ and this fometimes fo long, as greatly
hinders their Refidence upon their Diocefes, and
their Spiritual Infpedion over them. Nor do
the tempting Profpeds of farther Advancement
from the Court, which has once preferr*d them,
(tho* in direft oppofition to an Apo-
Caa. 31- ftolical Canon, which, as we have

already obferv'd, forbids the ufe of fuch Secular
Intereds under the higheft Penalties) with many
other Circumftancesof Ecclefiaftical Perfons now,
do other t\nnfeciil arize the Clergy, and render
them much liker Civil Officers depending on the
State, and deligned to make a Figure in this
Worlds than Spiritual Minifters of Religion, to
prepare themfelves and their People for another.
In (hort, the prefent Conftitution of Europe, is
fo naturally framed, to fupport Pluralities ^ and
Non-Refidejicey thofe Scandals to Chriftianity ^
3u.i ... and

[ ^7 ]

and to divert the Studies, and Aims, and La- -
hours of the Clergy from their Spiritual Du-^
ties, and Hopes, and Rewards, to Temporal ,
or from Heaven to Earth ^ while Chriftiani-?
ty is wholly defigned on the contrary to raife^
Men from Earth to Heaven •, that thofe Princes"^
and States which fupport thefe Settlements, can-^
not, ] think, be properly faid to Admit, or open--
ly Tolerate this Part of the Chriftian Religi-*
on in their Dominions. ; ''

It is mcreover, the known Duty of every.'
Glergy-man to fearch the ScriptweSy •

to ftudy the Bible, and all other Au- \ '^'^^ "^^
thentick Records of the Word and iii. 14. 17. ^'
Will of God, and of the Laws of 1^^^^^^
Chrift : It is his known Duty, upon ' * * *

fuch Search fincerely to profefs himfelf, and ho- '-
neftly to teach, and inftrucl his Flock in thofe Do-
6irines and Duties, which thereupon he is per^
funded are true, and of Divine Authority,
This is plainly the Duty of every
Clergyman •, and owned to be fo in A''"<^- ^- 20, .
our Articles and Office of Ordina- V^^'^'^'^r
tion. Yet is this Duty render'd im-
pradicable by the prefent Ecclefiaftical Liws y
which will not generally fo much as Admit any'
one into that Sacred Function, till he has ffgned '
feveral,not only human and uncertain, but fome-
times falfe Articles, inconfiftent with the Gofpel ^,
i>. till he has openly own'd tht Churches Aittho--
to be Superior to that of our BleJJed Savmtr or"
his Apoftles , and has, undepMs Hand, x6^

E 2 nounced

[a8] •

nounced fome Dodrines and Duties of Chri:^
ftianity.

But farther ; 'Tis the certain Duty of eve-
ry Bifhop, with the Priefts and Deacons of
his Church, to govern their People by the Laws
of Chrift, and by the Conftitutions of the A-
poftles J and fo to Guide, and Exhort, and
Reprove , and exercife Difciphne over their
Flocks, as thofe Laws and Conftitutions do re-
quire. But now the feveral. Princes and States
of Europe, do not Allow, or openly Tolerate,
the Exercife of this even purely Spiritual Pow-
er *, nay, the Laws of their feveral Countries
will ufually punilli fuch Exercife of it, and will
ruin thofe Chriftian Clergymen who (hall at-
tempt it. For Example, fuppofe a Presbyter, or
Deacon, or Lay- man, be accufed to the Bifhop
of his Diocefe, for any notorious Crime againft
the Laws of Nature or Chriftianity •, and that
the Biftiop, as his Duty is, after
Mact.xviii. 1 $, private previous Admonitions, ac-

c°* fl' II cording to the excellent Method
^ on 1 . .3 , pj.g[-j.j,jg»j jj^ |.|^^|. Q^Cg J3y Q^j. Lord,

does convene him before the Q)nrch,
or AflTembly of Presbyters, Deacons, and Peo-
ple 5 and upon the hearing of the WitnefTes of
the Crime, and his own Defence, does, with the
whole Churches Confent, upon Conviction, De-
prive, Sufpend, or Excommunicate hin3, as the
Circumftances of his Cafe does require. What
will be the Confequence of fuch a Juft, and
Eegular, and open Exercife of Chriftian Difcir

[^9]

pline, in moft of the Kingdoms and Countries
of Chriftendom > Why, the Legal fettled Courts,
I mean thofe that are every where eftablifhed to
take Cognizance of fuch Matters, inftead of thofe
appointed by our Saviour, will iftue out a Pro-
cefs, not againft the Offender probably, but
againft the Bilhop and his AfTeiTors : And *tis
well, if it do not either end in their Renuncia-
tion of that Chriftian Power, and its Exercife j
or in their utter undoing in this World , and
this, becaufe, in a Chriftian Country, as they
took it to be, they prefum'd to do their real
Chriftian Duty, and to exercife that truly Spiri-
tual Authority which Chrift had intrufted them
withal ^ and the Cafe would be the very fame
upon a great Number of other the like Occafions
alfo. And can thofe be efteemed properly Chri^
Jl'ian Governments^ which are fo far from En-
forcing, Eftabliftiing, Admitting, or openly To-
lerating fuch a FraBice of Chrijiian Duty^ that
will often publickly Profecute thofe who endea-
vour confcientioufly to difcharge it ? I doubt not.
(7.) 1 come to prove, that the feveral Prince*
and States of Europe do not Admit, or openly
Receive, all the Old Sacred Books of Chrijiiaynty
in their Dominions. 'Tis evident in Antiquity, '
that there were feveral Sacred Books,
allowed for fuch in the firft Ages, J; '-/^J* ^- '•
and fome of them pubUckly read in
the Churches accordingly, which we have not
now in our New Teftament ; and fome of them
fuch as arc exceeding ufeful and neceffary for the

guidance

gaidance of our Faith and Pradice ^ for the full
underftanding of the true Nature and original
Settlements of the Religion of our Bleffed Savi-
our and his Holy Apoftles , and for the preven-
ting of Errors, Herefies, and Schifms, in Chri-
ftianity , mofl: of which are indeed at this Day
extant, and read fometimes by the Learned , but
very little known by the Body of Chriftian Peo-'
pie among us. Now it is withal evident in An-'
tiquity, that the Exclufion of thefe Books from
the Catalogue of thofe that are to be efteemed in
fome Degree Sacred^ which we now call our
Canon of Scripture, was owing to the Ignorance
^.-:i^ ^or Boldnefs of the Fourth and Fifth Cen-
* '.. turies of the Church ^ and particularly to
a Canon of the Council of Laodicea^ about A. D.
364, which forbad them to be read in Churches
with the reft, as till that time feveral of them,
a? I have already obferv'd, had commonly been.
It is alfo evident, that the Church of Rotne hap-
pened to comply with the Ignorance and Boldnefs
IhewM in that Canon,and fo never delivered thofe
Books to the Church, as at all Sacred or Cano-
nical, but rather defpis'd and fupprefs'd them. It
is Laftly, evident, that the firft Reformers among
the Proteftants, happening not to examine that
Matter with due Care, the fame imperfeB Canon^
or Catalogue of the Chriftian Books, was de-
livered to the Reformed Churches alfo , to the
great Harm and Damage of Chriftianity, and its
Siettlements among them. Now certainly, this
is but a poor Sign of the real Admiffion of

Chriftianity

[so

t^hriftianity into the feveral Countries of Eu-
rope, that no fmall part of the Ancient Chriiti-
an Records, wherein the Faith, the VVorfhip, the
Difcipline, and the Government of Chriftian
Churches were mod plainly contained j and this in
Agreement with the known Books of the New
Teftaraent,and whereby the prefent Difordersand
Divifions in the Church were mod efFedually to
be healed, are by the means of Publick Autho-
rity, and an eftablifhed imperfeEi Canon of Scrip-
ture;, concealed from Chriflian People, and in-
deed rendered difficuh,if not impo(rible,tobe weU
known, and duly efteemed by them. I defire to
know, whether this Procedure be not like that
taking away from the Divine Predidions in the
Apocalypfe^ to which fo terrible a Threatning is
annex'd ^ that if any one do fo, God pail take
away hts Fart out of the Book of
Life, and out of the Holy City^ and ^P^'* ^^'^"^ ^•
frojn the ThiJigs -which are written in that
Book >

(8.) I am to fhew, That the feveral Prince"?
and States of Europe do not Admit, or openly
Tolerate the due Adminiftration of xheChriflian
Sacrame?its in their Dominions. I mean here,
by the Term Sacraments, a Word unknown to
the oldelt Chriftians in this Eccleliaftical Senfe j
thofe Holy Myfteries of the Chriftian Religion,
which were fo peculiar to it, that the Church
never allowed either Heathens, Jeivs, or even
bare Catechumens, to be prefent at the Admini-
ftration

ftration of them. And tho' there were more af
thefe in the firft Ages than two, yet fince thofe
two were the principal and moft necelTary, I
mean Baptifm and the Ettcharift, I fhali confine
my felf under this Head to thofe two Solemnities,
which are now moft generally known by the
Name of the Two Sacraments, Now it is here
manifeft in Antiquity, that the firft of thefe Sa-
cred Myjieries of our Religion was originally
done in a manner fo different from the prefent,
that a fober Chriftian who compares them toge-
ther, would hardly take them for

m. liti?.^'* ^^^ ^^^^^ Ordinance. None were
vi.i5-vit.22, then, in the fettled Courfe of the
42 43,44. Church, admitted to Baptifm till

St.Qkm. and r n • n. n. j 1

St. iren. vind. they Were fully mltruaed, as to the
SuppUndPrim. DoBrhie^ and throughly tried, as
ISd^ltfll to the FraBice of Chriftianity ; i. e.
not till after fome three Years Ca-
techizing for the Youth, and three Months
for the grown Men : There was then ,
I am well aiTur'd, no Allowance of Sure-
ties and Sponfors , to do that for Infants
which they were not able to do for themfelves.
Nor was there any Notion of Children having
either Faith or Repentance by Vroxy> Nor in-
deed do we, I think, ever hear of fuch Proxies,
or fuch Baptizing upon them, but from Africa in
Tertullian , f who yet himfelf difapprov*d of
thetnj for near four entire Centuries of the
Church. Confirmation , which all own is to be
referv'd to Years of Difcretion, did then ever ac-
company

L 53 j

company Baptlfm, as a Part of It ^ and the Eu-
charifl did foliow immediately, as the Baptized
Perfon's conflant Duty after it. As the Prepara-
tion was folemn, fo was the Adminiftration alfo.
Before Eafler the Church had her Pablick and
Stated Farts, which were particularly obferved
by the Candidates for Baptifm. On the mo[l
Holy Ni^ht of the Year, that which preceded
Easier-Day, this moji Holy Infutntion was at firfl
publickly and devoutly celebrated,withtheAnoint-
ing with the Holy Oyl before^ the Trine Immer-
fion into the Water at, and the Seal of the Crpfs
by the Holy Ointment, with the Impofition of
Hands, after Baptifm •, and this as including the
Candidates own folemn Profelupn of Faith , his
Renunciation of the Devil and all his Works,
and his Confecration of himfelf to . .

'Chrift and his Service. Nor was ^^"vmVg''
any Perfon, under the Degree of a 45*. * '
Prieil', albw'd to perform fo great'
and important a Solemnity. This was, in fhort,
the Original ChriHian Baptifm : 'but how widely
it diflPers from, how'va'ftly it is fuperior to, the
Modern Forms of what we call Baptifm, every
one that knows them both will eafily pronounce.
For liny. (elf I profefs, that I am affrighted at the
Comparifon, and did I not 'find. ^j. ^ '^
Reafon from God's general Good- '■g"'"^°f»?
nefs, and merciful Revelations of his Will, to
hope that Ignorance and unwitting Miftake will
be allowed for in fuch a Cafe;> and very 'irregu-
lar Admiriiftrations admitted as not entirely

F Inva*

C 54]

Invalid, I (hould hardly think that what of late
has been done in this Matter, could be at all
efteem*d Chrijiian Bapttfm : And I Declare, that
tho* 1 was my felf fo iinperfedly Baptiz*d,
yet I dare not now venture to Baptize any
others in the fame manner, upon any Confidera-
tion whatfoever. However, it is plain upon the
Comparifon, That this Human Appointment of
the Modern, Imperfed, and Corrupt Adminiftra-
tion of Baptifm, to poor infenfible Infants, with-
out either Faith or Repentance, without the Seal
of Confirmation, and without the Ancient Cere-
monies of the Trine Immerfion, &c, and fome-
times by a mere Deacon alfo, is fo great a Devi-
ation from the Primitive Pattern, and Apoftoli-
cal Rules, and this in the important Solemnity of
Initiation it felf •, and does fo fatally prevent or
deftroy the main Ends of Chriflianity, both as
to Faith and Pradice, that the Princes and States
of Europe, which fupport and eftablifh the fame,
without the AdmifTion or Reception of the other,
can hardly, in a flrid: Senfe, be faid to Admit
or openly Tolerate Chrijiian Baptifm. Nor can
the fame Princes and States pretend to be whol-
ly innocent, as to the other Sacred Solemnity,
or My fiery of Chriftianity, the Holy Communion.
For altho' the Forms for the Celebration of the
Lord's Supper, eftablifh'd by Authority among
feveral of the Modern Churches, be not near fo
'pnuch corrupted as thofe about Baptifm*, yet are
[they too different from the Original Laws and
■„ Pradice of Chriftianity, to be efteemed, ftiridly

fpeaking,

[ 35 ]

fpeaking, Cloriflian Communiojis, In the firft
Ages, the Qualifications of the
Communicants were Three, Faith ^ fren''r*'rf"''
hapufm, and a good Life, None suppl p.'^^ 4,
of which are diredly taken care of ^, ?•
by feveral, at leaft, of the Modern
Churches. Unbelievers themfelves are now, in
fome Places, permitted to receive the Communi-
on, in order to qualify them, not -for Heaven,
but for a good Place here on Earth, Impenitent
Simiers are frequently allow'd to come alfo on
the fame Defign : i\nd if a confcientious Clergy-
man (hould refufe either an Infidel, or a plainly
Vicious Perfon in fuch a Cafe j he muft exped to
be at leaft difturb'd , if not ruin'd by a Suit in
Law immediately , merely for prefuming to put
in Pradice fo uncivil a Confiitittion Oj Chrijliani'
ty. And as for the U7ibaptiz>ed^ if we remember
that Confirmation is a principal Part of the entire
Solemnity of Baptifm, the greateft Part of our
Communicants are fo far Unhaptized alfo.
Nor can it well be otherwife, till Presbyters as
well as Bifliops are appointed to compleat Baptifm
by Confirmation. Befides, this Holy Ordinance
was originally appointed, efpecially
to us Gentile Chriftians, as an Ob- Conftit. viri.
lation or JJjibloody Sacrifice^ as a ^^'d st.iv^l
folemn Commemoration of the Sa- vindicated^
orifice of Chrift on the Crofs for jj.* ^,5', &c.

- . , , Mede Op.

our Redemption^ whereby we are, a45i-— 499.
in the moft folemn Manner, to re-
prefent his powerful Intercefiion, founded on the

F 2 Sacri-

C 3^ ]

Sacrifice of his Body and Blood upon the Crofs,
to God the Father ^ in order to the more effe-
dual obtaining of the Bleflings we beg at his
Hands, both for the Saints departed, and for all
Chriftian People throughout the World. Which
Sacred Intention has been (b niiferably perverted
in the Modern Church of Rome, as, without
fufficient Reafon, to have affrighted no fmall Part
of the Reformed Churches themfelves from any
dired Regard to it, in the Forms of its Celebra-
tion, To fay nothing here of the taking away
the Cup from the People in the Roman-Church :
and m all other Churches, the Rarenefs of its
Adminiftration , the Fewnefs of the Commu-
nicants, or the Novelty of its Forms-, while
the Noble, the Divine, the Original,
conflit. viri. and the Apoftohcal Form it felf,
St. ckm. and ^hich is evidently flill extant a-

St. Iren. Vine/. • j r t^j j } a a

Supp].'p.i'2s. mong us, is delpiled and neglected,
Thefe and the like Deviations from
the Old Chriftian Settlements, all Eftablifhed or
Admitted by the Princes and States of Chrifletp-
(iom at this Day, are fo notorious, that till they
are correded, the prefent Euchariftical Solemni-
ty cannot, in a flrid Acceptation, befaid to be
a Christian CunimnnlQiu

And thus I have demon ftrated the Truth of my
firft Grand Propofition,T7jr7r none oftheFrinces and
States of Europe dp, properly Jpeaking., Jcltnit or
openly Tolerate th^ Chrif.ian Religion in their Do'
tninions atthis Day \ by an Indudlion of Particulars,
viz, Thatthey donot A(}iifiit, or openly Tolerate,

either

[ 37 3

either the Chriflian Faith, or Worjhip^ or Go-
vernmeut, or Difciphne, or Laws, or PraBice,
or Sacred Books, or Sacraments : I call this Pa-
per a DemonBration, tho* it be only here fet
down by way of AJfertion, becaufe 1 have all
along referM to fuch Places of my own or
others Writings, where thofe AiTertions are al-
ready in part demonftrated from the Scriptures of
the New Teftament, and from the other ori-
ginal Monuments of Chriftian Antiquity , And,
becaufe I am ready to demonftrate the fame more
fully as there fhall be occafion : I now proceed to
my next general Head, which is to fhew ,

II. The feveral Occafions, why the Princes
and States of Europe do not at this Day Admit,
or openly Tolerate the ChriHia?i Religion in their.
Dominions. And I take the Occafions hereof
to be principally thefe Three following :

(i.) They do not Admit, or openly Tolerate,
Chri/Iianitj', hcc^u^c they are feldoin or never par-
ticularly InJlruBedin that Religion in their Youth.

(2.) Becaufe they are feldom, or never after-
ward moved or afTifted in the IntroditBion of that
Religion by the Clergy,

(3.) Becaufe the Clergy about them, do gene-
rally make them and others believe, though
without, nay, againft all Original Evidence, that
thofe other Schemes of Religion, which they
have been Educated in, and do already proteft,
is the true Chriflian Religioju

(I.) One

[ 38 ]

(i .) One great Occalion why the Princes and
States of Europe do not at this Day Admit, or
openly Tolerate the Chrijiian Religioyi, I take to
be this, that they are feldom or never particularly
InfiruEle'd in that Religion in their Youth. Princes
are ufually Educated, like mofl other Men, in the
Religion of their Country^ in the Dodrines of the
Churches every where eflablifl^ed by Law ^ RopiJJj
Countries bring them up in Ropery *, Lutheran
Countreys in Lutheranifm •, Epifcopal Churches
in a Veneration for Epifcopal ^ Presbyterian in
an efleem for Presbyterian Church-Government ,
and fo in the like Cafes. The Modern Tutors
and Governors of young Princes read, if any,
the Modern Catechifms, and Confeffions, and
Syftems to them , for their Inftrudion in Re-
ligion : And if they be fo honeft as to lead
them through any Parts of the "New Tejiawent^
and of the Primitive Writers themfelves, it is
done ufually with fuch a regard to Modern Com-
ments and Expoiitions, written generally by
thofe of their own Party, that they are pretty
well guarded over thofe Texts and Teftimonies,
which would otherwife difcover how little they
have of true Chriftianity : So that they are
thereby rather confirmed in the Truth of their
own, and prejudiced againfl; the fuppofed Errors
of other Churches, than made to underftand
Chriftianity it felf. For certainly, this is not .|
the Education of a Prince in Chrijlianity, but in
the State Religion ^ 'Tis not the Inftrudtion of
them in the proper Dos^rines, and Duties, of

ChriJI

[ 39 ]

Gorijl Jefus, and his Apofiks^ whofe Writings
they care not to trull in the Hands of their
Difciples without their own Explications and
Comments,but in thofe of their own Leaders and
Guides only. Thus did the Scribes and Pharifees
of old teach Men the Religion of their Country,
the Law o^Mofes, according to the Explications
and Traditions of the Elders -^ while they would
not bear with Men's drawing that Religion them-
felves originally from the Fountain-Head, though
it were commonly much more intelligible there •
efpecially, as expounded and enforced by the old
true Prophets of that Nation, than it could evet
be made by all their corrupt Rabbies and Do<3:ors
afterwards. And as it was then, that thefe pre-
tended Expofitions and Traditions
of the Elders^ made the Genuine •'^•^^•2,
Meaning and Purport of that Law of none Ef
fe8, and caus'd many to tranfgrefs thy Com-
mnndinents of God by fuch Procedure ^ fo is it
now, that the prefent Expofitions of the later
'f arty Commentators, and Syftematical Writers,
have in a great many Points, made the Original
Laws of the Gofpel of none Effecl^ and caufed
'inany to tranfgrefs the Commandments of Chrijl
'therehj;. So that, under the Notion of giving
Princes a Chriftian Education in the IViodem
Senfe, their lnftru(flors do generally take efiFedtu-
jilCare, they (hall nor be too well acguainted
\j\^ OMi old.gemiijie^ tmcomipt Chriflianity. 'T^is
not therefore to be much wondered at:'1f Prin-
ces and Governors do not generally Admit, or
^ openly

[ 40 ]
openly Tolerate the Chriflian Religwny when
they never in their Youth were fufficiently in-
ftrudled in that Religion.

(2. ) Another great Occafion, why the Princes
and States of pMrope do not Admit or openly
Tolerate the Chrijliaji Religion at this Day, feems
to be this, That they are feldom or never after-
ward Moved or Affifted in the Introdudion of
that Religion by the Clergy. It is plainly the pe*
culiar Bufinefs of the Clergy, who are the Priefts,
Minifters, and Guides inflituted in that Religion,
to keep the fincere Knowledge of it •, and it is
highly reafonable for the Laity, both Prince and
People, in this Cafe, to feek the Law
Mai. II. 7. ^^ ^^^^^^ Mouthy as being the Mef-

fengers of the Lord of Hojls, Nor can it eafily
be fuppofed, that Chriftianity can be loft or cor-
rupted among its Followers, while the Clergy
are truly skilful and faithful in their Holy Fun-
dion. But then, if, as it follows in the Pro-
phet Malachi^ They are once depart---
ed out of the way^ and have .coth
riipted the Covenant of Levi j they ■n.vill fuon
caufe many to fumble at the Law, Princes and
People muft then, of courfe, be ignorant in
Chriftianity, when once the Bilhops, Priefts and
Deacons are ignorant or unfaithful therein.
They are the Salt of the Earth :
ap* v«i3« which if once it lofe its Savour, au
that Jhould be feafoned by it, muft needs be unfa-
vory. Now that many of the Clergy therafelves,

even

C 4' ]

even in protedant Countries, are often either not
skilful enough, or not enough faithful to difco-
ver and to endeavour to Retrieve the Frimitive
State of Chrisiianity ^ to Perfuade and AlTifl: the
Princes and States hi its Reftoration ^ is too fadly
and notorioufly true. Nor is it doubted of by
thofe, whofe Judgment is of any Value in fuch
Matters. And indeed moft of them are under
greater Temptations than others, in the prefent
Condition of Religion, to know as little as may
be of Primitive, Chriftianity therafelves , or at
lead to conceal fuch their Knowledge, and run
along with the Princes, States, and People in
their Modern Errors and Corruptions : I mean
this, Bccaufe a through Reformation, according
to the Original Pattern, would tend more to the
Diminution of the Secular Power, State, Riches,
and Authority of the Clergy, which they are at
prefent in PofTefllon of, than of any others
whomfoever. But (ince 1 am not now Addreiling
my felf to the Clergy, or giving
an Account of their Corruptions, ^^^^rlUnkh
(which yet 1 have had fome Occa- in cake.
(ion elfewhere to do, and have done
it with the utmoft Freedom and Sincerity,) I am
only to obfervc here. How natural it is for the
Errors and Corruptions of the Clergy^ to fpread
among the Prmces ^nd Rulers alfo, and how ne-
ceflary a Confequence it is, that where they mi-
flake, or oppofe a Reformation, and difcouragc
the Reftoration of Chriftianity, (which many of
them do, and that more zealoufly and effedually

G than

[4^1

than any other Order of Men whatfoe\er-,) the
Princes and States, as well as the People, muft
alfo generally miftake or oppofe the like Refor-
cnation, and d'lf courage the Restoration cf true
Chrifitanitj'.

(3.) Another great Occafion, why the Princes
and States of Europe do not at this Day Admit ,
or openly Tolerate the Chrijlian Religion^ ap-
pears to be this , That the Clergy about them
do generally make them and others believe, tho*
without, nay againft all Original Evidence, that
thofe other Schetnes of Religion^ which they
have been educated in, and do already Admit
and Proted, is the True Chriftian Religion. Now
this is the Pretence of every Party in Chrifteii-
doiHy that Theirs is alone the True Chrijlian Reli-
gion •, and that no other Parties can lay the like
Claim to it. Every Church , efpecially if it has
been once Eftablijhed by Law^ prefently looks
very big, and makes great Pretences to be alone
Catljolick^ alone Orthodox^ alone almofl Infallible
in its Determinations. The State can no fooner
have given leave to fome of the Bifbops and
Presbyters to meet any where in a Synods but
that Synod, whether it conlift of Perfons Holy
or Unholy, Learned or Unlearned, prefently
becomes an Holy Synod -^ and if it be numerous,
an Holy and Oecumenical Synod ^ and its Kotes
become almofl Articles of Faith ^ and its Canons^
Laws of the Churchy if not Laws of Chrift, im-
mediately. Nay, if any of them appear to con-

tradirt

[ +? ]

tndidt the ApopoUcal Rules, the Advantage is
ftill given to the Churches Decrees and Detenni?-
nations j and it mud b^ readily fuppos*d, that
the Synod is in the right, let Feter ox Paul, Cle-
ment or I^nat'ms , fpeak never fo plainly to the
contrary. Accordingly it is now fuppofed, that
the Ancient Rules and Canons of the Church,
even of the Apoflolical Age it felf, as to Points
of Difcipline and Order at lead, were mutable ;
and that the Church in her Synods has Power to
let them afide, and to introduce others in their
ftead j contrary to all the Ancient Practice of
Chriftians, and Primitive Records of Chridiani-
ty • and without the lead dired Proof of any
fuch Authority from Chrid, or any of his A-
podles to fupport it. For how plaufible foever
the Reafoning may feem for that Claim to a
Power of jnakin^ Laws by Synods in Ecclefiadi-
cal Matters, from the great Conveniency of the
Church's having fuch a Power, I deGre any of
the Patrons of the fame to fliew me one plain
Text, or Canon, or Decree of any Apodle or
Apodolical Man, or even of a Council in the
Three fird Centuries, which either Convey *d,
EdabiiOi'd, or Judifies fuch a Power. Nay,
this has been the grand Method of Corrupting
the Church j to make Laws for Practice, or De-
terminations, whether Original or Declaratory,
about Opinions and Matters of Faith •, and then
to perfuade the Princes of Europe^ That thefe
Laws and Determinations are Obligatory by the
Command of God j and that what frequently

G 2 pro-

Iw ]

proceeded only from weak, ignorant, and pre-
iadic'd Churchmen , has fuch Authority as to
oblige, in Poii^t of Confcience, as if it were a
Branch of the Gofpel it felf : Thus thofe Prin-
ces that live in Fopilh Countries are unjuftly
made to believe, that the Canons of the Su-
preme Pontiff at Rome, and the Decrees of Ge-
neral Councils, efpecialiy if confirmed by him,
are equivalent, if not fuperior, to the Chriftian
Laws : That accordingly, by obeying the Pope
and the Council, they virtually obey Chrifl; and
his Apoftles , and that this will be accepted by
God as fuch, without any farther Examination*
Thus alfo the Kings of England are
Arucxx. ^ ^^j^^ r^^^^ ^^^ Church, [Ilhould

fay the Clergy of the Church,^ has tower in
even Controverfies of Faith \ and therefore much
more in Points of Order and Difcipline. By this
means we are trained up in Hitman, and difufed
to Divine Authority : And by this means we
gradually leave our Bible, and Old Chriftian Re-
cords 3 which ought to be our proper, our only
Guides in Matters of Reveal'd Religion. Nor
can we be furprized , that the European Princes
and States do not Admit or openly Tolerate Real
Christianity , while thofe who pretend to be the
Minifters of that Religion do fallly affure them,
that thofe very imperfeil Settlements in Church-
Affairs, v/hich they not only Tolerate and Ad-
mit, but Support and Patronize in their Domi-
nions, is entirely agreeable to fuch real Chrijli'
anity^ I proceed nov/,

III, To

J

[ 45 ]

III. To give fome Reafons why the feveral
Princes and States cf Europe (hould Admit^ or
at leaft openly Tolerate the Chrlftinn Religmi in
their Dominions. But before I produce thofe
Reafons themfelves, give me leave to explain my
Meaning as to the Adtniffion^ or open Toleration
of Chriftlanity by the Civil Magiftrate j and why
1 do not plead rather for its Eftablifhment, or
Legal Settlement y than for its bare Admijfion or
Toleration among us. Nov/ here I beg it may be
confidered, that 1 cannot defire any fuch Legal
Eftabliftiment of any, no not even of the True
Chriflian Religion it felf, 'by the Civil Power.
True Religion^ efpecially the Chrijlian, is a Spi-
ritual and Voluntary Thing •, and the Chriflian.
Church is a Spiritual and Voluntary Society, and
is by no means capable of Temporal Settlernents 5
of either Temporal Rewards or Punifhments in
this Way. Chrifi^s Kingdom is not
■ ff this World, but in the Hearts John xvUi. 3^.
and Confciences of his Subjeds :
And when once the Motives to embrace Chrifti-
anity, or the Means to eftablifh it are Carnal
and Earthly, the true Spirit of the Gofpel is loft
thereby. When this Religion was firft Preach'd,
and moft purely Pradis'd, I mean in the eailieft
Ages of it, the Powers of this World were againft
it, and perfecuted it.Wheii Conftantine the Great,
and his SucceiTors, became Chriftians \ and in-
ftead of Admitting or openly Tolerating, the
Chriftian Church, with taking care that the Laws
of Chrijl fhould be exadly obferv'd therein,

v/hich

[ 46 ]

which is to befure^the utmofl of their Power, they
began to Eft abiiflj and Support it by Te?nporal Me--
tkods, by Worldly Advantages beftow'd on thofe
they {}i\\tdi Orthodox ;,and Worldly Penalties infli-
dcd on thofe they called Heretic ks ^ Chriftianity
was immediately corrupted, both in Faith, Difci-
pline, andPradicc •, and an Antichriftian, Idola-
trous,Perfecuting,Worldly Polity, in great meafure
fubverting the real Defigns of the Gofpel, foon
came in its P)ace.For the Emperors were not able
always to judge on which Side Truth and Chri-
ftianity lay ^ nor could they, frequently, at all
tell, which Party wef e really the Orthodox Chru
fiians^ and which were really the pernicious He-
reticks. So that it very frequently happenM that
the Hereticks were advanced, and the Chriftians
perfecuted. It foon came to pafs, that the Laws
of the Gofpel gave place to theEdids of the Em-
perors ^ and Truth or Fallhood in Chriftianity
were determined by the fecular Views of the Ci-
vil Powers, and the Intrigues of the Courtiers.
Then it was, that Shoals of real Unbelievers, or
Perfons of wicked Principles and Lives, pre-
tended to be Converts •, and the Baptifm of un-
capable Multitudes filPd indeed, but difgrac\i
and corrupted the AfTemblies of the Faithful.
Tlien the Chriftian Church was forc'd to fee
Civil Magiftrates prefiding at the Eledion of
its Ecclefiaftical Governors •, and the State took
care,as well itmight,that Perfons of fo much Au-
thority ,who were now admitted to Secular Digni-
ty and Preferment,(lioul.d not be diftaftful to the

Court

[ 47 1

Court or the Miniftry. . Then the Bilhops werar
taken frequently from their own Diocefes, and
the regular Exercife of Difcipline there, accord-
ing to the Ancient Laws and Rules of Chriftia-
nity, to AlTemble in Synods, and there to Ca-
bal, and Difpute, and Anathematize one ano-
ther about uncertain Notions •, and to make New
Parry Canons , while the true Rehgion of Chrifl:,
the plain Faith, holy Life, ftrid Difcipline, and
ardent Charity, of the former Ages did gradu-
ally decay and wear away. In fhort, the Secu-
lar EftabliJIment of the outward Powers and Pri-
vileges, and Preferments of Chwch-men^ has
ever fince much enervated the inward Porter of
Godlhiefs, and hindered the Great and Spiritual
Defigns of the Church and of all Chriftianity :
fo that I cannot at all defire any fuch Civil or
Legal Eftablijlmiefit of the Chrijiian Religion in
the World. But then, it is by no means rea-
fonable, that in Countries profefling Chriftianity,
the Chriftians (hould be Difcourag'd or Perfecu-
ted for their Religion : That thofe many Laws,
both Eccleliaftical and Civil, which, as we may
gather from the t\\^o former Heads of Difcourfe,
are now every where in Force, and almoft eve-
ry where executed againft the Profeflion and
Praftice of Chriftianity, fhould continue to be
fo any longer. This is fuch a Piece of Wicked-
nefs, for pretended Clmjlians to Fine, and Impri-
fon, and Banifti, and fometimes to Burn thofe
that are really fo, /. e, thofe, that upon the ma-

trueft

[ 48 ]

tureft Examination of this Religion, endeavour
to believe and live^ as exadly as poflible accord-
ing to it 5 that it is certainly indefenlible ^ and,
if it were known, would be abhor'd by all
Mankind. Upon v/hich Account, I hope I may
juftly take it for granted,that none of the Princes
and States of Chrijiendom^ if once they are made
fenfible of it, will continue to perfecitte Chriftiani-
ty any longer. However, to give all the Weight I
can to this Addrefs,! prefume to urge the follow-
ing plain Reafons to them,for iht Admiffion^ or at
leaft, for the open Toleration of True and Gemt-
ine Chrijitanity in their Dominions. They ought
to do it, becaufe the Chriflian Religion really is,
and is own'd by all the Religious Parties now in
Chrifiendom^ to be,

fi.) The only True Religion,

(2) The only hnportarit Religion, as to ano-
ther World,

(3.) The mofl: Beneficial, Peaceable, and Ad-
vantagious Religion, as to their Government y
and the Happinefs of them and their Subjeds
in this World,

(i.) I move for the Admiffion, at leaft for the
open [Toleration of the Chriftian Religion, be-
caufe it really is, and is own'd by iU ihe Reli-
gious Parties now in Chriftendom to be, the on-
ly True Religion. No one fure can fo far put off
Human Nature, as to Difcourage and Perfecute
Truth, when he knows it to be fo : Much lefs
can any Man of ordinary Integrity be fo profli-
gate.

C4P]

2;ate, as to Difcoura^e and Perfecute the True
Religion^ and its ProfelFors, when once they ar®
fatisfy'd that they are fuch. Now that it is the
Chnflian Religion^ and not that of the Fapifts,
or Lutherans^ or QilviniJJs, or the Religion of
the Church of England^ or of the Church of
Scotland^ or of the Church of Holland^ c^c^
which is the true ReHgion, ujight be eafily de-
monftrated in this Place, if there were any
Occalion for it. But (incc this would look
J ike an Ajfront to the feveral Princes and
States of Chrijiefidom , to fuppofe them to
ftand in need of Proof for the Truth of that
Religion which they all do profefs, and many
of them glory in, even in their very Titles j
(the One taking the honourable Appellation of
the Mofi Chr'ijlian King \ another of the Catho-
lick King 5 and our own, of the Defender of the
Faith •,) and (ince all the feveral Seds and Par-
ties of Europe before-mentioned, do allow, tha^
'tis not the Pope, or Luther, or Calvin, or Cra/i'
mer, or Knox^ &c. but only Jefus Chriji, that
was the True Prophet, and his Religion the oiily
true Religion \ I Ihall not here fet about the De-
monflration of it. That which I would there-
fore beg of the Chriftian Reader in this Place,
what Modern Form of Religion foevcr he be of,
whether EJiablified, or only Tolerated, or in-
deed Perfecuted among us, is this j That he will
always really confider and bear in Mind this
Conceflion, which he will never refufe in Words
to make, viz. That 'tis the religion

OF CHRIST, AND NOT THAT OF HIS

H OWN

[50]

OWN COUNTRY AND PARTY, WHICH
IS THE ONLY TFvUE RELIGION; that

he will accordingly imprint this Notion deep in
his 'own Mind ^ and endeavour to imprint it in
like manner as deeply in the Minds of the reft
of his Party •, that he will, in confequence there-
of, carefully 'and impartially examine every Do^
drine and Pra'^Hce taken up by himfelf, as well as
thofe taken up by others, by the Original Stand-
{irds^ by the JV^w Tefiament^ and all the other
Genuine Remains of the Chriftian Religion, be-
fore he is pofitivethat they are true, and agreeabk
to Chriftianity \ and that he will then fairly and
honeftly pronounce, upon fuch a Comparifon,
whether every Particular does fo agree or not *, and
ias to fo man^ as he tind does not fo agree, he
will not only feriouily endeavour to put others
of his Friends on the like Examination, but that
he will alfo openly declare the Refult of his En-
quiries, and in his own Pradice will fet about
the Reformation of what he has fo difcovered
to be difagreeable to Chriftianity immediately.
This Procedure, how new or unufual foever, is
yet nothing but the natural Refult, with every.
iPerfon of Integrity, of the former ConceiTion ;

that 'T IS NOT THEIR OWN, BUT CHRIST*S
RELIGION WHICH IS THE ONLY TRUE R E-

iLGioN. And as I beg for this of all my Chri- *
ftian Readers, fo particularly of all thofe among
them who are Princes and Governors ;, and
this, becaufe much more depends on their
ailing in this Way than any others. Em-
perors, Kings, and Princes, draw Multkudes
»; ' along

along with thera, which way foever they go :
And as their Delufion is of the mofl fatal Con-
fequence to the Delulion of others -^ fo would
their Difcovery of the Truth be attended with
the Hke Difcovery in Millions befides. If the
Princes and States of Europe had once examined,
found out, and admitted the True Chriftian Re-
ligion, the feveral Orders of Men in their Do-
minions, even the Clergy themfelves, would foon
be oblig'd to examine, and fo would foon iind
out and receive the fame. For if once Men fe-
rioufly examine, I do not doubt of their finding
out Chriftianity. But then, if it be thought a little
unreafonable, that Emperors, Kings, and Princes,
ftiould themfelves examine,and ftudyChriftianity,
in order to its Admiflion,orat leaft its open Tole-
ration in Europe^ I (hall have occafion to fhew
the contrary under the two next Particulars :
For they as well as others are to confider,

(2.) That the Chrijlian Religion is the only
Important Religion as to another World , and
therefore mod highly worthy of their Examina-
tion, in order to its Difcovery, its Admidion, or
open Toleration in their Dominions. *Tis cer-
tain that Kings and Princes mud Die as well as
other Men •, that Kings and Princes, which are
fo highly exalted with refped to
their Subjeds, are yet nothings yea ' * ^ ^'
lefs than nothing and vanity, with refped to the
great God of the Univerfe, their common Crea-
tor, and fupreme Governor j, that they are equal-
ly fubjed to the Divine Laws, and mud equally

H 2 give

C r- 1

give an Account of their Stewardfhip to their
Lord and Saviour at the great Day, with the
meaneft of their Vaflals •, that they, as well as
all others, are under the common Obligations of
Men and Chriftians, to enquire after, and Obey
the Will of God, and the Laws of Chrift ^
that they, as well as all others, have Immortal
Souls, which muft be either Happy or Miferable
in the other World, according to their Behaviour
in this ^and that as the Highnefs of their Station,
and Widenefs of their Iiafiuence, renders what
good ?/:?<?>' do, under their very great Temptations,
more meritorious, more generally ufefultoMen,
and more highly rewardable by God -^ fo does the
fatal Mifchief of their Sins reach fo far, as to ex-
pofethem to no fmall Degree of Punifhment here-
after. Thefe Things being certain, and confefs*d
by all, 1 think there can be no Reafon given why
the Kin^^s and Vrinces of Chriflendom^ Ihould not
take care of their own Reli^ion^ and of their own
Salvatiofiy as well as others •, and, by Confe-
quence, there can be no reafon why they (hould
be excus*d from Enquiring into, Believing, and
Pradifiug the Chriftian Religion, upon which
their own^ as well as their SitbjeEls Eternal Sal-
vation does entirely depend, 1 hope, therefore,
they will not be offended, if, for a Conclufion of
this Particular, I fhew them, in a parallel Cafe
among the Jews ^ what it is that God expeds of
Kings and Princes themfelves, relating to Religi-
on : Nay particularly, to their not taking it at
^cond Hand from others, but their own efpecial

JCnovv-

Knowledge and Pradice thereof, according to the
Original Standard, the very Law of God it felf :
Hear the Words of God to Mofis^
concerning the Kings of Ifr^el, arid ^'^^^l'^^^^- '^>
their Obligations in this Cafe : It
fjall be when He fitteth upon the Throiie of his
Kt7igdontj that he fljall write him a Copy of this
Law in a Book, out of that which is before the
Friefls the Levites, And it JJjall be with him^
and he fuall read therein all the Days of his Life ♦
that he may learn to fear the Lord his God^ to
keep all the Words of this Law, and thefe Sta-
tutes, to do them. That his Heart be ?iot lifted
tip above his Brethren ^ and that he turn not afide
from the Commandjnent , to the right hand or to
the left ^ to the end that he may prolong his Days
in his Kingdom, he, and his Children in the midfl
of Ifrael. Which iafl Words bring me direclly
to my next Reafon. For,

(3.) I move for the Admiflion, at lea ft for
the open Toleration of the Chriftian Religion,
by the Princes and States of Europe, becaufe 'tis
the mod beneficial and advantageous Religion, as
to their Government, and the Happinefs of them
and their Sabjeds even in this World. It has been
the Complaint of not a few Obferving Men of late,
that the Chriltian Religion has been the Occafion
of fo much Mifchief in the World ^ of fo many
Wars, Perfecutions , Rebellions, and MafJacres,
of fo much ill Will, Hatred, Enmity, Iniafl:ic6,
UncharitablenefSj and Difturbance to Chriften-

dom

L 54 J

dom^ (ince it has been eftablifhed, under feveral
Denominations, there; that it feems no way
agreeable to good Government, in no fort adapt-
ed to the Peace and Welfare, and Civil Advan-
tages of Society. Now in Anfwer to this
modem Plea againft Chriflianity , I alledge,
that it is entirely falfe ^ that the Accufation
is utterly ill- grounded , and without any
Foundation \ becaufe the true Chriftian Religion
has not yet been tried by the feveral Princes and
States of Europe j nor has it yet been openly
Tolerated, much lefs Admitted into their Domi-
nions : And if Tryal has not yet been made of
this Religion, How is it poilible, without fuch
Tryaly to know what its Confequences would be
in this refped ? I know that Europe has long ad-
mitted and been enflav'd by Popery ^ and that of
late the feveral Churches that were fet up by Lit*
ther^ Calvin^ Cranmery Knox^ 6cc. have been
Eftablifhed or Admitted in feveral of its Coun-
tries ^ which Churches have fo divided and fub-
• divided, have been fo bitter one againft another,
and have occafioned fo many Perfecutions, and
Cruelties, and Mifchiefs, as is deplorable fo much
as to think of. But that the Chrijiian Religion
has caufed any of thofe Mifchiefs, or has been
ever fo far admitted into Europe, as to afford us
any Experiment, whether it would have fuch
milchievous Effefts or not, I utterly deny. Nay,
I think I may venture to affinn, that the very
Occafion of thofe Miferies has been this, that
feveral in great part miftaken, or AntichriHian

Schemes

[55]

Schemes of Religion, have been x^dmitted iw-
Jlead of Chriftianity •, and for this very Reafon
it is , that 1 earaeftly delire that Chrijlianity it
felfn\Ry, at leaft for fome coniiderable time, and
for Tryal fake, be Admitted, or at leaft openly
Tolerated among us. I am fure the Chriftian
Religion is firfi pure, then peacdable,
gentle, eafy to he intreated , full of J*"**"'* '7-
Mercy and good Fruits^ without Partiality, and
without Hypocrify^ that it recom- ^^ ^
mends Love, Joy, Peace, Long-fuf-
firing, Gentlenefs, Goodnefs, Faith, Meeknefs^
and Temperance ^ that it is fo far from encou-
raging VVars, Perfecutions, MafTacres, and the
Caufes of them, Hatred, Envy, and Malice,
that its peculiar Charaderifticks are
Love and Kindnefs, Good Will, Joi^ 5:111.3$.

mutual Forbearance, and Charity. Obedience to
Magiftrates, and Submiflion to thofe in Autho-
rity , are its known Dodrines and Pradices ^ Fi-
delity, and Juftice, and Equity its known Pre-
cepts. Nor has any Nation, that I know of,
been ever made miferable by True ChriHiani^
ty , but by its oppofite , direct Antichriftianifm ;
by thofe that under the Venerable Name of
Chriftianity fet up partial, and uncertain, and
fadious Models of their own •, which ftill end,
as well they may, in Diforder, i,„ ■•• ^

. ^ r- r -^ 1 irrr 1 Jam. ui. i5.

and Lonjujion, and every evil ^Vork.
This would be a large, bur a fad Field of Dif-
courfe 5 to trace the Hiftory of the Church from
the Beginning of its corrupted State, and of

Anti-

[ 5^ ]

Antichrlflianifin in the Fourth and Fifth Centu-
ries, till this very Year 1716 ; and to obferve the
woful Condition it has it felf been brought to,
and the difmal EfFeds it has had upon the State,
with the numerous Calamities it has brought on
the true Chriftians, and indeed upon the general
Body of Mankind. In order therefore to put
an end to this miferable State of Things, let^
us caft out all thofe Antichriftian Errors , and
Fadions, and Perfecutions, ^c. which have,
been {0 fatal to the Peace and Happinefs of our
Societies •, and let us at laft Admu^ or at leaft
openly Tolerate the True Christian Religion
among us. Let us entirely feparate the Church'
from the State, which have fo long been trouble-*
fome and fatal to each other, in this odd way of
their Conjundion , let us put a Difference be-
tween the Laws of Chrift, and the Laws of
Men \ the Difcipline of the Gofpel, and Tem-
poral Penalties. Let us take away all that Pow-
er which is Secular and Worldly from the Cler-
gy :, and in its ftead, permit them freely to ex-
ercife that truly Spiritual Authority, which,
and which alone Chrift has intrufted them
withal. Let us abrogate thofe Laws of our fe-
veral Countries, which are contrary to thofe of
Chrift Jefus ^ and leave the Execution of the
latter to thofe with whom he has intrufted
them. In order to which, let us give Liberty
and Encouragement to all Chriftian People to
Search into the Truths and Duties of the Gofpel ;
and let us delire the moft Learned and Skilful

to

C 57 3

to give, us an Account, what Laws of every
Land ire contrary to thofe of Chriftianity, in
order to their Abrogation. Let us no longer
make the Chrislian Mysteries, Tools of State, or
TeHs of Parties J but referve them entire to
thofe Sacred Purpofcs for which they were or-
dained. In {hort, Let us take away all that is
Additional , which has been introduced in the
later Ages j and reftore the Faith, Worlhip,
Difcipline , and Pradice of Chriftianity , to
that Condition of Simplicity , Serioufnefs ,
Purity, and Charity, in which it was originally
left by Chrift and his Apoftles. And if then ,
after all this, we find upon Tryal, that the
Chriftian Religion it felf is as miichievous, as
Antichrijlianifm has long been , I have no more
to fay on this Head •, but muft give up the State
of Mankind, as, in thefe Refpefls, utterly deplo-
rable and defperate : Becaufe I am very fure, that
if the Chriftian Religion , as it was believ'd and
pradisM in the firft Ages, is not able to procure
Ithe Temporal Eafe, and Peace, and Welfare,
and Hippinefs of Kingdoms and Societies, of
Governors and Subjeds, of Church and State ,
no other Form of Religion, or Irreligion, (for
that begins now to put in its Claim alfo ) will
ever be capable of doing it better. I come now
diredly,

IV. To Addrefs my felf, with all becoming
Humility and Serioufnefs, to the Princes and
States ^/Europe, from the Confideration of the
Premifes j ^nd to beg of them, with the utmoft

I parneft-

L 5» J

Earneflnefs, That they v^'iW now Jdmit, or at
Jeafl cpenly Tolerate the Chrisiian Religion in
their Dominions.

Accord ing.ly , Tp you , Mo ft Potent, and
fttoft Excellent Emperors^ Kings ^ and Tfin-
ces, and High and Mighty States, do I Ap-
ply my felf ^ not on any Worldly or Political
Account , with which x'^ddreffes you are but too
well acquainted p but in behalf of our BleiTed
Saviour Jefus Chrifl: , and his Holy
Afts XXIV. Religion. Seei?ig by you it is that
ws commonly enjoy great Qnietnefs,
and that very worthy Deeds are done unto Eu-
Tope by your Providence , which ought to be ac-
f^pted always^ and in all Places, raoft Noble
princes, with all Thankfulnefs •, I implore it
at your Hands , that you will, in this momen-r
tous Concern, hear me of your Clemency a fem
JFords, I have already proved , tho' with
great Regret at the Occafion , or referred to fach
Pooks where it is proyed. That yoit hav^
Tiqt^ any of you ^ hitherto Admitted^ no nor open-
ly Tolerated the Christian Religion in your fever al
Dominions ^ neither as to the Chriftian Faith, nor
Worjliip, nor Church-Government, nor Difcipline,
Tf\ox Laws, nor PraElice, nor Sacred Books, nor
Sacraments. " And if this be not yet fufficieritly
^ proved, I am moji willing and ready, in what
^* Manner, and before what Ajfembly you pleafe,
" niore largely apd particidarly to Demonftrate th^

«e

Came *% 1 have alfq, in the fecond place, affigned
'^at I Jpok upon as the principaj Qccafons,

why you have not hitherto Admitted, or open-
ly Tolerated the fame Religion, and fhe\^e(l
that it has riot been fo rriuch your own Crime,
as the Crime of others^ not fo much your Faulty
2is your Unbappitiefs, And that we haveReafonto
hope, *tis not commonly for Want of good Will,
Or Inclination, that you have not Admitted oi^
openly Tolerated Chriftianity in your Domini-
ons J But Becaufe your Tutors and Governors
Were themfelves frequently unacquainted with
that Chriftianity, and fo did not InfiruB and
Educate you in that Religion in your Yotith, as
they ought to have done ; Becaufe you have not
been afterward moved or aflifted in the Introdu-
dlion oi that ReUgton by yout Clergy^ as you
ought to have been : and, Becaufe j^wr Clergy do
ftill, tho* without, nay againft all Original Evi-
dence,dommonly make you believe that thofe othel^
Schemes of Religion Which you were educated in,
and do already proteft, istheT;rw^ Chriflian Reli-
gion. I have alfo, in the T/:?ir^ place, produced fome
plain Reafons and Motives, why you all ought
to Admit, or at leaft openly to Tolerate this Re-
ligion in your* Dominions , vi-z. becaufe *tis re-
ally, and is by all Chri'^iendom allow'd to be the:
only True Religion •, the only Important Religiofi^
as to another Wotld , and the moft Beneficial^
Peaceable, and Advantageous Religion ^ as to your
Government^ to the Happinefs of /^m^/Jy^'j", and
ot your SubjeEis, in this World alfo. And now,
from all thefe Premifes, mofl Excellent Princes
afid States, What is the natural Conclufion?

I a Buc

[ 6o ]

But that 'tis your plain Duty, and trueft Intcreft \
will be for your greateft Glory, and your higheft
Happinefs, both in this and another World, to
ufe that mighty Power God has conamitted to ypu
for this nobleft of Purpofcs : That His mqft
Chriftiaji Majefty may really anfwer fo Glorious
a Title , and no longer fufFer his Subjeds to be
ignorant of, or hinder, or perfecute Real Chri-
Sianity. That the Catholick King may ule his
Authority, in order to the Admiffion, or open
Toleration of the true Ancient Catholick Religion ,
and not fufFer his Subjeds to be over-run with
Modern Ignorance, Cruelty and Hirefy, That
the Defender of the Faith take care, that what
he Defends and Patronizes may not be the Mi-
ftakes or Errors of Men, crept in in the Ages of
Ignorance \ but the True and Uticorrupt Faith of
Chrijl Jefits^ and his Apo files. That all tlie reft
of the European Princes and States, profefling
the Religion of Chrijl^ take care thalj they do not
any longer unwittingly fupport the Errors and
Tyranny of Antichrifl. Molt of the pad Ages,
(ince the Three or Four hrft Centuries of the
Gofpel, have been, generally fpeaking, very ig-
norant of True, Genuine,Primitive Chriftianity ^
and have accordingly admitted great Errors, and
grofs Corruptions , have fet up fatal Tyranny,
and cruel Perfecutions about Religious Matters,
to the great Hindrance of the fpreading of the
Gofpel ; to the hardening of Jews^ Turks , and
Infidels againft it ^ and to the Reproach and
Shame of our common Chriftianity. The Six-
teenth

[6. ]

teenth Century was comparatively a Learned Age,
but ftill in fome meafure unacquainted with the
Original State, and many of the Original Books
of Chriftianity , and fo made Tome honeft, but
very imperfect Attempts for its Reftoration. But
the prefent Age is become, by God's good
providence, and Bleffing on the Labours of the
I^earned, much more intelligent, and much
more acquainted with the State and Books of
Primitive Chriftianity. We may therefore now
juftly fay with St. Faul^ Tho' the Times of that
fbnner Ignorance , ot imperfeft
Knowledge, GoJ winked at-, yet Aftsxvu. 50..
(Ipes he now ^ in thefe Days of much clearer
ll.i|ht and greater Learning, Command all Men
every where, profeffing Chriftianity, to Repent^ '
and^ Ele- eftablifh that Holy and Divine ReHgioa
more compleatly among them. I do not deftre,
mofi. Serene Princes and States, , that you would
take my Word, or Admit my Notions for Ori-
ginal Chriftianity : This is, I, am fure, very far
from my Thoughts or Wifhes. For tho* I have
done my utmoft to enquire into, and underftand
the True and Genuine Religion of our Lord
and Saviour ^ and have thereupon, with the ut-
i;Boft Freedom and Sincerity, propofed my
Thoughts, and the Refult of my Studies to the
Chriftian World ^ yet is this every where meant,
and frequently exprefs'd by me to be meant only
fo far as future more exad Enquiries and Exa-
minations ftiall Confirm and Atteft to, or Corred
and Improve thofe Thoughts, and not other-
wife. To

1 6. :i

I affure you : *Tis not, Mofi: Excellent Prhi*
ces and States^ any private Difcontent or Peevifti-
nefs of Temper, but a hearty Concern for Truth
and Chriftianity, which obliges me to deal thus
freely with my Superiors both in Church and
State. It does not arife from any Envy or Ill-
will to either of them •, but from the fincere
Defire of their real Good and Happinefs -, ana
from a Senfe of my Duty to God and my Blef-
fed Saviour -^ and from a Refolution of faithfully
difcharging the fame, efpecially in this great Af-
:&ir, of the Revival of Primtive Chriftianity,
'Tis not the EfFed of Rafhnefs, or Precipitation,
but the Refult of a fober and thorough Enquiry
into the Primitive State of the Church, and a
deep Sorrow for the Greatnefs of its prefent Et-
rors and Diforders, together with an ardent De-
fire for their Corredion. 'Tis not out of the
leiafl Difrefpeft to Luther, or Cranmer^ or any of
9ur firft Reformers, whom I own to have gene-
rally been, in their Times, very great, and very
good Men, and the Inftruments under God of
much benefit to the Church of Chrift among us :
but out of a defire of imitating them, and of
ufing my honeft, my utmoft Endeavours to
perfed and compleat that Reformation, whici^
they fo honeftly and couragioufly begun. HLik
not out of an over-weening Conceit of my oWri
Learning and Penetration beyond theirs *, but
the EfFed of that great Improvement in the
Knowledge of Chriftian Antiquity which Pro-
vidence has afforded the World fince their Time \

which

[6? ]

which all of us oaght certainly to make ufe of,
not for Oftentation of Learning, but for the more
compleat Difcovery and Reftoration of our Holy
Religion. 'Tis true, fome of the
Records which I depend on in this ignatiasV
Addrefs and elfewhere, are not yet larger EpiflUs^
generally allow'd to be Genuine and Ztfr ffr
Authentick : But tis withal true, mions and ca-
that I have throughly examined J?"^- , ^^^ P^*
them, and fatisfy*d my felf about tivechnftiani-
them, before I make ufe of them : ty.
Tis true, that the farther Enqui-
ries I make, the greater Evidence do I ftill difco-
ver for them : 'Tis true, that many others be-
(ides my felf, upon the like Examination, do be-
gin to fee, that they are, for the main. Genuine
and --Authentick : 'Tis true, that I have done
whac pofTibly I can, to invite the reft of the
Learned to affift me in this Examination : And
'tis Uflly true, that, as to the principal Points by
mc in:; fled on, they are fo fully attefted to, and
coxiiirmed by the New Teftament, and the other
Records of Antiquity, which are allowed by al!
for Undoubted^ that they ought fo far themfelves
to be acknowledg'd as Undoubted alfo. How-
ever, if it be meerly the real Uncertainty of any
Records, that prevents the Church from letting
about the Review of its prefent State, in order to
its Amendment, why is there not a fair Exami-
nation appointed concerning them ? And why is
jhere not a Reformation fpt c^bout in fuch Points,

as.

I HI

is, without all peradventure, do highly require
it at their Hands > For, permit me to ask ^ Do
any of the truly Learned and Pious, among
thofe that call themfelvesChriftians, now doubt,
: whether the Athanafmn Creed be

sie Cave, du Spurious, and ought to be laid afide.
Pin, ^c. or not? Do any of them now, (ince

See Enquiry into the late Difcoveries about it, in
ijoh.v. 7. earneft believe, that the famous

Verfe in the firft Epiftle of St,
John^ which has for many Ages been a grand
Support of Athanajianifm, is Genuine > There
are Three that bear Record hi Heaven^ the Fa-
ther, the Word, and the Holy Ghojl, and thefe
Three are Ofie •, when it appears never to have
been in the Text of any one Greek Copy, nor
ever heard of by any one Ancient Greek Writer
in the World > Do any of the Learned, who
have made the ftrideft Enquiries into the Anci-
enteft Forms of Publick Worftiip, deny, or even
doubt, whether that in the Eighth Book of the

Apojlolkal Conftttntions be the befi,
s?eDy.GrabeV the nwjl Artcient^ and mosi pure Li-
ckl'^aJ/' ^'^'P now extant in the Church >
iren. s-.ifii. Is it a Qiieftion among Chriftians ,
And my Prim, whether the Church oueht to exer-
Vol. iii» Cite a Spiritual Difaplme , or not ?

Or do they fo much as imagine,
that our prefent Ecclefiafiical Courts do in any
degree fupply the Want of it among us ? Is there
^ny room for Difpute , whether, in the earlieft

Times

[^5]

Times to which we can trace the compleat Settle-
ment of Churches, they were not generally go-
verned by Bifoops, Priefts^ and Deacons, as Sacred
Officers diftind from the State, chofen by the Bo-
dy of the Faithful, and wholly appropriated to
thofeHolyFunftions> Is it pofTible to be a Difpute,
whether 6bri/?'sC/^z/r<;/:?{hou Id be govern'd by the
Laws of Chrift, deriv'd down from his Apo-
ftles, and their Companions, or by thofe of bars
Hiima?i Original } And whether it be not worth
while to fearch for fuch Laws of Chriji in Chri-
llian Antiquity ? Or can any ftand in doubt,whe-'
ther the concurrent Teilimony, of at leaft Three
entire Centuries, that the Church ^-.^yoI
was dill govern'd by fuch Laws, ^niCoteierius=^
be not the moft fatisfadory Evi- ^'otes on the
dence in that Cafe > Do any of the ^Jifij;;™',!
great Mailers of Chriftian Antiqui- veridge on thi
ty deny or doubt, that the Body ^^"o^^-
of the prefent Apofiolkal ConflUuUons and Ca-
nans, does agree to the Ancient Teftimonies } and
that, for the main, they contain a Faithful and
Authentick Account of fuch Laws and Rules, as
thofe Centuries ever attefted to have been derived
from Chrift by his Apofiles ? And, by confequence,
can any Chriftian Man believe, that the Church
is better governed, and more according to the
Will of Chriji^ and the Defigns ofChrifiianity by
the Modern Rules, eftabUihed frequently under
the Ignorance and Tyranny of Popery, or at
beft in the firft Dawn of Learning at the Refor-

K mation.

166-]

-eJri. tnation, than by fuch as come fully

^^ih that Great recommended to us, as moji Primi-
Ses, ^m^^tht ^^^^ ^"'^ ApoftoUcal > Can any one
£onfuitations of think, that *tis equally poflible to
^OfTandcr. j^^^ j-j^^ Unity of the Spirit in the

Eph. iv. 3. Bond of Peac^, under the prefent
divided State of Chriftendom , as it
would be if all Parties could unite upon the Foot
of tfwfl Primitive Chrijiidnity } Or does any one
in earneft think, that the late Settlements can be
compared , either for Goodnefs or Authority ,
with thofe obtaining among the firft Chriftians >
And then, if the prefent Churches will not be
perfuaded, to endeavour at the Amendment of
Things fo grofs and indefenfible as thcfe are,
what Hope is there, that they will examine into
Points more doubtful, in order to their Corre-
dion > But to leave this Matter, and to pro-
ceed :

I beg leave farther, MoJi ferene Princes and

States^ to aflfure you, that the Intention of this

my Addrefs, is not to Depretiate your Perfons,

or weaken your Authority among your Subjeds ;

This would be diredly to contradid that Holy

Religion 1 plead for \ which plainly

Rom. xiii. i\ affirms, thcitVourPoiverisofGod-^

and that every Soid. whether of the

Clergy or Laity, is (Iridly bound for Confcience

fake to be fubjeEi thereto. On the contrary, I

apprehend that your Admiffwn of the True Chrt-

fiian Religion would belt lupport your Crowns

and Dignities, and render the Burdens necelTa-

rily

C -57 ]

rily adhering to your high Staticms more ^^
and agreeable to you. When once you refqj^g
to ufe your Authority fot the Advancement; noti
of particular Sefts arid Parties, bjat lof ouF-j,f (v/a^
mon Chrifiianity ^ when ,once ycfii-:: . e Lie
pay a due Reverence to Him /^ - - * Pfov.- yitji ^^
whom Kings Reign ^ and TritK^Sy^, :^, r,^.^
Decree Jujltce ^ when -once yc^^'fiiefelve to jpi^-
a ftrid regard to true Religion, wltli, your World-r
ly Prudence ^ and never permit i^e^/i^itix to fu*
perfede Truth and Sincerity, : and- a^^^/?^ Coiifci-^
ence ^ when once .-you look upwatd7in the lirft
Place to God^ and reCoke ;to be, be- • , ; _, r-i;,]

fore all Things, His Mini fi^ers for Rom. xiii. 4*.
good to Chriftendoniy in thefe moft
Sacred Concerns of Chriftianity /From thatTiifje
may you date your Peaceable Reigns, and Chnet
Governments : From that Hour uiay you look
upon your felves as peculiarly under the P rote 8 ion
of Divine Providence, without which, notwith-
ftanding all your outward Splencjor and Glor}%
your Reigns will be unhappy, and your Subjeds
miferable. Some of your prefent Legal Rights, as
to Ecclefiaftical Affairs, which ill Men,and worfe
Chriftians abufe to the detriment of true Reli-
gion, and the excluding of no fmall Part. of
Chriftianity out of Europe ; permit me t<)r fay
it, ftand upon fo weak a Foundation, depend
upon fuch Novel Settlements , and bring
upon you fo much needlefs Trouble and- Un-
eafinefs perpetually, that it feems to be as much
your Inter ejl^ as your Duty to get clear of it ^ I
K '2. ipean

[ 6B ]

mean only of that Part of it which is purely
Spiritual-, and which Chrift intruded, not with
the Temporal Rulers, but with the Bifhops and
Paftors of his Church : While ftill both they,
and all the Body of Chriftian People under them,
are to be entirely fubjed to your juft Civil Laws,
and Obedient to your juft Sovereign Authority
in all Temporal Concerns whatfoever. I do not
mean that you fhould Refign your Legal Rights
into the Hands of the prefent Churches and
their Governors , as now Eftablifhed by Law.
No, I fear - that Refignation would, in our pre-
lent Circumftances, rather do harm than good to
true Chriftianity ^ (ince thofe Legal Churches,
and their Legal Governors, are lb far from being
ftridly Chriftian Chitrches, and Chriftian Cover-
vors j and the Body of People now in Ghriften-
riom are fo far from being properly Chriftian
People, that, as I have prov'd but too plainly al-^
ready, they have never been either of them,
fully and compleatly, according to Chrift's Laws,
Admitted into thefe Offices, or indeed into that
Religion. Nor, as 1 fear, are they yet at all
willing to renounce thofe Secular Powers and
Preferments, or to fubmit to that B'aith and
Difcipline, to thofe Laws and Ordinances, their
Cbnfcnt to which is ftiil fuppos'd as previous to
fuch AdmifTions. But this 1 hope 1 may hum-
bly Infift upon, in behalf of Chriftianity y
That you will, in the mean time, at leaft freely
permit, and openly Tolerate the Setting up tru^
Jy Chriftian Societies and Congregations amon^

us 5

[ 69 ]

US j that you will prevent all Profecutions and
Violence againft fuch Societies and Congregati-
ons 5 and that you will ufe your Royal and Su-
preme Authority for the Abrogation of thofe
Laws, by which fuch Chriftian Societies and
Congregations are now liable to perpetual Vex-
ation and Perfecution , which when it is once
done through Eitrops^ I (hall look on it as a ve-
ry great Step to the Refloration of Primitive
Chrifitanity iji Chrijiendom ;, as a fure Prelude to
the Completion of that Glorious Predidion in
St. John, which to be the Means of Fulfilling
would be to you the sreateft Glory: .
Ihe Ktiigdoms oj this World are
becorne the Kingdoms of our Lord , and of his
Chrifi ^ and hejball reign for ever and ever.

Give me leave alfo, MoH Excellent Princes
and States, to ufe another Motive to induce you
to Admit and Encourage the One True Chriftian
Religion in your feveral Dominions, which was
before omitted, butisof the higheftConfeqaence ^
and that is, the Profpeft of the Enlargement and
Diffufion thereby of Chrift's Holy Religion over
the reft of the World. For then certainly, and
not till then, may we exped that ChriHiaiiity
will fpread, as it did at firft, into flill farther
Regions and Countries , when once the feveral
States in Chrisicndom have really embraced it,
and are jointly concern'd for its Univerfal Pro-
pagation : While the Unanimity, and Zeal, and
good Example of the ChriHian, will then cer-
tainly have quite another EfFcd than the Divifi-

ons,

[70]

ons, Lukewarmnefs, and wicked Lives of many
of our F arty-MiJJionarles now have. You do,"
not a few of you, already encourage, and tO'
your high Commendation be it fpoken that you
do encourage, many Noble Societies for the Proi
pagation of what you feverally take to be the
Otie True ChriHian Religion over the World.
But then, I am forc'd to fay it, 'tis not really
and ftridly either One Religion, or the Trutr
Chrisiian Religion, which thofe Societies now
ufually propagate ^ but they are the feveral Re-'
ligions^ or Schemes of Religion, falfly (tiled by
the Modern Parties the One True ChriHian Reli^'
^f(?/j, which they fpread abroad in the World :
And this commonly, not fo much to the real
bettering, and improving, and edifying of thd
reBi. of. Mankind ^ as to the enlarging the feve-
ral Fadions and Parties now obtaining among us -y
nay, fometimes, to the great Difturbance, ani
Perplexity, and Confufion of the. feveral Unbe-i
lieving Nations ^ -to the Hindrance of theiif
proper Converfion to our Holy Religion ^- aud tcJ
the great Reproach of the Gofpel it felf.i !'We
muft, for certain, be our felves Converted, beford
we can juftiy pretend to Convert others td tha
Chrijiian Religion* Nor can we ever, upon good
grounds , hope for any fignal BlefTing" from our
Lord and Saviour on the Endeavours of fuch our
Religious Societies, till it appear that 'tis in good
earned his own Genuine Religion that they pro-
ffiote among Mankind. *■■■: L^

j.iio I fhall

C 7' ]

I fhall therefore take leave now, after feveral
Years, by way of Conclufion , to Addrefs
my felf particularly to our moft Excellent
King George, and that in the Words I
formerly made ufe of on this Sub-
jea •, " O that I might live to fee ^J,^'p"lg";
" that happy Day here in Great
*^ Britain! when Publick Authority, Eccleflafti-
" cal and Secular, fhould depute a Committee of
" Learned, Impartial, and Pious Men, with this
" Commiffion, That they diligently, freely, and
" honeftly Examine her prefent Conftitution, in
" all its Parts j and bring in an unbyafs'd and
*' unprejudic'd Account of her Defers and Ab-
" errations, whether in Dodrine, Worftiip, or
" Difcipline, of all Sorts, from the Primitive
" Standards-, in order to their effedual Corredli-
" on, and Reformation. Then would our Sion
" be indeed a Praife in the Earthy the Darling
" and Pattern of all the other Proteftant Churches
*' in the World. And by fuch an llluftrious
" Precedent would effedually recommend the
'* like Reformation to all the other Churches •
*' and fo become the Foundation and Center of
"their Unity, Love and Peace ^ 2Pec.iii. 12
*' and thereby moft efFe6tually hafien
" the cofninz, of that Glorious Day of God ^
" when, according to our Lord's mod fure Pro-
" mife, and that of the Father alfo, ,,

V cr 1 2

" we look for New Heavens and a
*' Neiv Earthy a new and better State of the
" Church here on Earth, wherein Righteoufnefs

*' will

[7^ 3

" will dr0ell^ till it end in the Glorious Mi/kn-
" ?iiitm, the Kingdom of our Lord, advanced to
•' its higheft Perfedion, and fpread over the Face
•' of the whole World, till the Confummation of
*' all Things ! To which earneft Wifo and Defire
may the Kings mofi Excellent Majejly , iiuith
all his Royal Family^ Senate^ and Minijiers^ fay
Amen!

Yelvercoft, Northampcondiire,
May 8. ii\6.

Will. Whist on.

}?' I N I S,

J

V

n