IT was ever my Desire ●nd Care , if it were possible , not to fall under the Pen of the Animadvertor ; having several reasons thereof to my self , which now I publickly profess : 1. I knew him a Man of able Parts , and Learning ; God sanctifie both to his Glory , and the Churches Good . 2. Of an Eager spirit , with him of whom it was said , Quicquid voluit valde voluit . 3. Of a Tart and Smart Style , endevouring to down with all which stood betwixt him and his Opinion . 4. Not over Dutiful in his Language to the Fathers of the Church , ( what then may Children expect from him ? ) if contrary in Judgment to him . Lastly and chiefly , One , the Edge of whose keenness is not taken off by the Death of his Adversary ; witness his writing against the Archbishops of York and Armagh .

The Fable tells us that the Tanner was the Worst of all Masters to his Cattle , as who would not onely load them soundly whilest living , but Tan their Hides when dead ; and none could blame one if unwilling to exasperate such a Pen , which , if surviving , would prosecute his Adversary into his Grave . The premises made me , though not servilely fearful , ( which I praise God I am not of any Writer ) yet generally cautious not to give him any Personal provocation , knowing that though Both our Pens were Long , the World was Wide enough for them without Crossing each other .

As I desired , so I partly hoped that my Church-History would escape the Animadvertor : First , because a Gentleman came to me ( sent from him , as I supposed ) informing me , That had not Dr. Heylin been visited with blindness , he had been upon my bones before . Then I desired him to return this Answer ; That , as I was sorry for the Sad Cause , the Doctors Blindness ; I was glad of the Ioyful Effect , my owne Quiet . Nor hearing any more for many moneths after , I conceived my self secure from any wind in that corner .

It increased my Confidence , because I conceived Dr. Heylin neither out of Charity or Policy , would write against one who had been his Fellow-Servant to ▪ and Sufferer for , the same Lord and Master , King Charles ; for whose Cause I lost none of the worst Livings , and one of the best Prebends in England : Onely thus happy I was in my very unhappiness , to leave what was taken away from the rest of my Brethren .

In a word , seeing no Birds or Beasts of Prey ( except Sharp-set indeed ) will feed on his own Kind , I concluded Dr. Heylin would not write against me , who conceived my self to be One of his owne Party .

But it seems I reckoned without my Host , and now am call'd to a Rear-account ; I cannot say with Iob , The thing that I feared ; but , The thing that I feared not , is faln upon me .

Psal. 34 14. However , I conceived my self bound in Duty to David's Command , Not onely to seek peace , but to pursue it ; though in some sort it fled away from me , being now informed that the Doctor was writing against me ; wherefore , finding him in Fleetstreet , and following him at his heels to his Chamber , ( at a Stationers house over again St. Dunstan's Church ) I sent up my Name to him by a Servant of the House , desiring to speak a few Words with him ; the Messenger went to him , and return'd me this Answer ; That the Doctor was very busie , and could not be spoken with . Thus my Treaty for Peace taking no effect , I armed my self with Patience , and quietly expected the coming forth of his Book against me .

HAving perused the Books of the Animadvertor against me , it bare a strong Debate within me , whether I should pass it over in silence , or return an Answer unto him , and Arguments on both sides presented themselves unto me .

Silence seemed best , because I lacked leisure solemnly to confute his Animadversions , having at this time so much and various Imployment : The Cow was well stocked with Milk , thus praised by the * * Virgill Eg. Poet ; Bis venit ad Mulctrum binos alit Ubere faetus . She suckles Two , yet doth not fail Twice a day to come to th' Pail .

But I justly feared , who twice a Lords-day do come to the Pulpit , ( God knows my Heart I speak it not to Ostentation ) that I could not suckle my Parish and the Press , without Starving or Short-feeding of one : Whereas the Animadvertor in his retired Life gives no other Milk then following his own private Studies .

Secondly , I suggested to my self , that the second blow makes the Frey , and should I rejoyn , probably it would engage me in an endless Contest , with which my declining age could ill comport . I remembred the Man who moved in Chancery for a Gelt Order which should beget no more ; but knew not when any such Eunuch-Answer should pass betwixt us , to put a period to the Controversie .

Lastly , our Saviours counsel came into my mind , Matth. 5.39 . Resist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee on the right side , turn to him the other also . And although some Divines make this Precept but Temporary ( as a Swadling-cloath to the Church , whiles in the Infancy thereof , under Persecution ; ) yet others make it alwaies Obligatory , and of perpetual Continuance .

On the other side , the Distinction came seasonably to my Remembrance , of a Mans RIGHTING and REVENGING himself ; the latter belongs to God alone , * * Rom. 12.19 . Vengeance is mine , I will repay it ; the former Men may , and in some cases must do , in their owne fair defence , without Breach of our Saviours Precept lately alledged .

I called also to Mind , how in our Common Law , MUTES at the Bar , who would not plead to the Indictment are Adjudged guilty , and therefore justly suspected I should from my Silence be concluded Cast in the Court of Religion and Learning , for such Faults and Errors as the Animadvertor hath charged on me .

But most of all it moved me , that Ministers of Gods Word and Sacraments ought to Vindicate their Credits , that so they may be the more Effectual Factors for Gods glory in their Vocation . When our Saviour went about to Heal the Mans withered hand on the Sabbath day , Mar. 3.4 . Is it lawful ( said he ) to save Life , or to Kill ? Where I observed , that our Saviour accounted not healing to be hurting ; yea , not curing to be killing , in that person who had Ability and Opportunity to do it . And by the same Proportion , not plaistering is Killing of ones wounded Credit , and so consequently I should be FELO DE SE , and by my sinful Silence be the Wilful murtherer of my own Reputation .

These last Reasons did preponderate with me ; and I resolved on two things ; to return a Plain , Full and Speedy Answer ; and to refrain from all Railing , which is a Sick Wit ( if not the Sickness of Wit ; ) and though perchance I may have something tart to Quicken the Appetite of the Reader , yet nothing bitter against the Credit of the Animadvertor . This my Answer I have here Entituled , The APPEAL unto the RELIGIOUS , LEARNED and INGENUOUS .

But before I close with the Animadvertor , Comminùs , Hand to hand ; let us first , Eminùs , try it at Distance , and entertain the Reader ( to his Profit and Pleasure , I hope ) with my General Defences , before I proceed to Answer each Particular .

MEn may be ranked into three Forms , of INTENDERS , ENDEVOURERS and PERFORMERS .

INTENDERS are the first and lowest Form , yet so far favoured by some Papists , that they maintain , That a good Intention though embracing ill Means , makes a good Action .

PERFORMERS are the third and highest rank , to which my Thoughts dare not aspire , but leave this upper room empty , to be filled by Men of better parts and ability .

The middle Form consists of ENDEVOURERS , amongst whom I took my station in the Title-page of my Book , The Church-History of Britain , ENDEVOURED by Thomas Fuller . And as I did not hope that any Courteous Reader would call me up higher , so I did not fear that any Caviller thereat could cast me lower , but that I might still peaceably possess my Place of an ENDEVOURER .

For , what though I fall short of that which I desire , and strive to perform , I did neither belie my self , nor deceive the Reader , who neither was the first , nor shall be the last , of whom it may be truly said , Magnis excidit Ausis . The Fate of many , my Betters , who have undertook to compass high and hard Matters .

But it may be objected against me , that being conscious of my owne weakness with the weight of the burden , I should have left the Work for some stronger back to bear , and quitted it to those who would not only have endevoured but performed the same .

I answer ; first , I did hope , that what was acceptable to God , would not be contemptible to good Men ; having read , If there be first a willing mind , it is accepted according to that * * 1 Cor. 8.12 . a man hath , and not according to that he hath not . Secondly , seeing this my willingness was attended with a competencie of Books , Records , Friends , Intelligence , Strength , Health and Leisure , ( be all spoken not to my praise , but Gods glory ) I did hope something worth the Readers acceptance might be produced . Lastly , though failing in what I undertook , I hoped to perform what might be usefull and advantagious to abler Pens undertaking the same task , and to use my owne ( as who should forbid ) Expression , my Beams , might be Scaffolds ; my Corner , Filling stones for his more beautiful Building .

The premisses encouraged me to undertake my Church-History ; wherein , if I have not done what the Reader expected , let him consider with himself , whether he did not expect what I never promised . Who being unwilling to be Cast by the Verdict of the Ingenuous , for laying my owne Action too high , have not farced the first page of my Book , like a Mountebanks Bill , pretending no higher but to ENDEVOUR .

Next , we will insist in another Author above all exception , even the Animadvertor himself , who in his Epistle to the Reader , before the Second and much altered Edition of his MICROCOSME , thus expresseth himself , not unhappily either for his owne or my purpose : I am not the first of whom it was said , Secundae Cogitationes sunt meliores ; neither is it a thing rare for Children of this nature , to be as often perfected as born ; Books have an Immortality above their Authors . They when they are full of Age and Guiltiness , can be retaken into the wombe which bred them , and with a new Life , receive a greater Portion of Youth and Glory . Every Impression is to them another being ; and that alwayes may , and often doth bring with it , a sweeter Edition of Strength and Loveliness . Thus with them Age , and each several Death , is but an Usher to a new Birth ; each several Birth the mother of a more vigorous Perfection .

Had the like liberty of a Second Edition been allowed me , which the Animadvertor assumed , his pains had been prevented , and most of the Faults he hath found in my Book ( being either derected by my self , or discovered by my Friends , communicating the same unto me ) had been rectified .

Thus in the Latin Tongue the same word SECUNDUS signifieth both Second and Successful , because Second Undertakings ( wherein the failings of the former are observed and amended ) generally prove most Prosperous .

But it will be Objected , Such Second Editions with new Insertions , Additions and Alterations , are no better than Pick-pockets to the Reader , who having purchased and perused the first Edition , is by this new one , both in his purse and pains equally abused , and his Book rendred little better than Waste paper .

I Answer ; First , I am no more obnoxious to this Objection than other Authors who set for t New Editions . Secondly , I hope my Alterations shall not be so many or great as to disguise the second from the first Edition ; Lastly , I will take order ( God willing ) for the Printing of a peice of Paper ( lesse then a Leaf ) in my second Impression , being the Index of Alteration , so that the Owners of the First , may ( if so pleased ) in less then an Hour , with their Pens , conform their Books to the new Edition , which though a little less Beautifull to the Eye , will be no less Beneficial to the Users thereof .

Here let me humbly tender to the Readers Consideration , that my HOLY WARRE , though ( for some Design of the Stationer ) sticking still in the Title Page , at the third Edition ( as some unmarried Maids will never be more then eighteen ) yet hath it oftner passed the Press , as hath my HOLY STATE , MEDITATIONS , &c. and yet never did I alter Line or Word in any new Impression .

I speak not this by way of Attribution to my Self , as if my Books came for that first with more Perfection then other Mens , but with Insinuation to the Reader , that ti is but equall that I , who have been no Common Begger in this Kind , yea never before made use of a second Edition , may now have the Benefit thereof allowed me , especially in a Subject of such Length , Latitude , Difficulty , Variety and Multiplicity of Matter .

Not such , the Knowledge of the best and wisest Man , which besides a Capability of more Instruction , is always attended with an obnoxiousnesse to many mistakes , seeing * * 1 Cor. 13.9 . here wee know in part , and easy it is for any Man to come on the Blinde Side of another , as being better versed and skilled in such particular matters .

When therefore I find my self convinced in my Judgement of an Error in my Church-History , by perusing the Notes of the Animadvertor , I will fairly and freely confesse and amend it .

And I conceive it is no shame at all for a Childe to write a few Lines of Retractation , after so good a * * St Augustin . Father hath set him so fair a Copy thereof .

In such a case let not the Animadvertor give me any Blowes , where I conceive that my own Blush is a sufficient Penance for the same ; and let him not immoderately insult on such occasions , seeing my Iudgement-Faults will be found neither in number nor Nature such as He hath suggested . Covetous Euclio in the * * Aulularia Plauti . Comedy , complained that his Servant Intromisit Sexentos Coquos , had let in six hundred Cooks , when they wanted five hundred ninety eight of that number , being but two [ Anthrax and Congrio ] truely told ; and though the Animadvertor frequently complaineth , that I * * Page 218 , 223 , and often elsewhere . run into many Errors , run into many Errors ; yet on examination , many of those Errors will prove Truths , and such as remain Errors will not prove many .

Besides , the Animadvertor is concerned to be civill to me in this Kind , seeing in this particular .

If I were minded to retaliate , and to show that Humanum est errare , I could instance in many mistakes in the last Edition of his Geography . Some of the best Birth and Brains in our Nation , and Travalers in foreign parts , as far as India it self , proferred me on their accord to detect in several Countryes unexcusable Errors , confuted by their ocular discovery .

I heartily thanked them for that which I refused to accept ; and did return ; First , that the Book had atchieved a generall Repute , and not undeservedly . Secondly , that it was very usefull , and I my Self had reaped Benefit thereby . Thirdly , that it would seem in me like to Revenge in this Juncture of Time , when the Doctor was disadvantaged by some Infirmity . Lastly , that others might be detremented thereby . Yea , if we but look into his SHORT VIEW of the Life and Reign of King CHARLES , some Faults occur therein which God willing I will calmly discover in our Answer to these Animadversions , not with intent to Cloud his Credit , but Clear my own .

But sure I am , that some of our English Bibles , which may be presumed set forth with the best Care , printed at London , have their Errats ; and therefore Prelial Faults being a catching Disease , no wonder if my Book as well ( or rather as ill ) as others , be subject to the same .

Here it will be objected that there is a known and sure Receipt for the Cure of this Disease , viz. the Listing of such Faults as have escaped , either in the Beginning or End of the Book ; that so the Reader may , if he please , amend , if otherwise , avoid them . Such an Index Erratorum , or Catalogue of Mistakes , is , in some sort a STOOL OF REPENTANCE , wherein Offenders find their lost Innocence ; and such faults thus confessed , are never charged either on the Author's or Printer's Account .

It is answered , that although such a List of Faults , generally followeth as the Impedimentum or Baggage in the Rere of a Book , yet seldome or never is it adequate to all the Errata's , which are committed therein .

For first , all committed , are not discovered , neither by the Corrector , nor the Author himself , who perusing his own Book , in overlooking the faults therein , Overlooks them indeed , and following the conduct of his own fancy , ( wherein He intended all to be right ) readeth the words in his Book , rather as they should be , than as they are printed .

Secondly , all faults which are discovered are not confessed . Such as the Printer esteemeth small , He leaveth to be amended by the direction of the Sense , and discretion of the Reader ; according to the common Speech , that the Reader ought to be better than his Book .

In my Book , the Index of Errata's amounts not to above forty , a very small number in proportion of so voluminous a Work , which with Credit might crave the allowance of twice as many more thereunto : The Animadvertor in these his Notes , maketh great advantage of some of these un-confessed-Faults , and I sometimes plead the mistake of the Press for my Answer , though seldome , save when some similitude of form in the mistaken letter rendreth it probable for a Prelial Error .

The old Non-conformists being the same with the modern Presbuterians , but depressed and under , as the modern Presbuterians are the old Non-conformists , but vertical and in Authority , do ( though the Animadvertor twi●teth me constantly to Advocate for them ) take great and general exception at me ; and it is not long since , in a Meeting of the most Eminent amongst them , I was told , that I put too much Gall into my Inck against them .