Good Sir Presbyter ,

YOur Letter I received , and have hitherto deferr'd to send you a reply , as well because I could not certainly tell where to direct it , as also because I thought it altogether needless to spend any time in answering , such frivolous impertinencies , and idle whimseys ; yet forasmuch as the Wise-man adviseth us to answer the fool according to his folly , lest he be wise in his own conceit , Prov. 26.5 . I concluded at last to send you these ensuing Lines as a New-years-Gift , and direct them to your Worship at Billingsgate , where I judge by your dexterity in scolding and railing Rhetorick you are a Master of Art , if not Chair-man to that quick-tongu'd and unsociable Society .

Truly , to be railed at by the Presbyterians , is so far from giving me the least distaste , that I count it the greatest honour they can place upon me , it being now the common Character of a faithful Patriot , and true Loyalist : And had I been in the least prais'd by such factious Spirits , I would undoubtedly suspect my own actions , and say with Socrates , What evil have I done , that these Antimonarchical Levellers should commend me ?

't is true , you pretend to be a Son of the Church of England , and to colour your knavery , you most unfortunately make a Cloak of that holy Church , whose candour and sincerity is so transparent , that your pernicious designs are plainly seen through it , to the utter confusion of such hypocritical dissemblers .

But since the world knows , a Protestant Jesuit can equivocate as well as the Puritan Papist , I think we have reason enough to believe , that by the Church of England you mean nothing else but your own Presbyterian Synagogue , which alone you esteem the true Church of Christ ; for it is evident , a Son of that Church , which is now through God's Providence established among us by the Laws of the Land , you cannot pretend to be , unless such a Son as Nero was to Agrippina , who scrupled not to procure the death of his unfortunate Mother , to satisfie his own monstrous voluptuousness .

You undertake to roll Sysiphus his Stone , or wash a Gypsie , to vindicate the Presbyterians , and make us believe they are harmless Lambs , though all true Protestants hold them for ravenous Wolves , and now apprehend them most dangerous both to Church and State : yet so pitiful a defence you make in their behalf , that I cannot tell whether the Church of England has greater reason to detest your Schismatical intention , than your own Synagogue to curse your ill-manag'd undertaking ; for since , as the Poet well observed , Causa patrocinio non bona pejor erit . What shall become of an ill Cause very ill defended ?

But however you fail in the rest , you are sure not to forget the old contrivances of your Predecessors , the Parliamentarion Rebels , and their worthy Progenitors , in charging all those with Popery , that presum'd to make the least opposition against their bloody Zeal for the Genevesion Reformation : Which intrigue , as it prov'd most successful to the treacherous Rumpers , so it has been no less destructive and pernicious to the Church of England , it being one of the chiefest stratagems , whereby the Rebels brought our Royal Martyr and his trustiest Ministers into an odium with the blinded Rabble .

I could instance here several passages of this Presbyterian policy , but I shall content my self with two or three , and will begin with one remarkable example , which was a praeludium to all our former distractions , as their present proceedings , if not timely prevented , do infallibly prognosticate the like revolutions to be near at hand . In the year 1632. King Charles the First , of glorious memory , took a journey into Scotland , and thought by degrees to settle there the English Liturgy , with its usual Ceremonies ; which the Ring-leaders of the Presbyterian Faction in that Kingdom understanding , not onely exclaimed against our Liturgy as erroneous and superstitious , but also doubted not to traduce his Majesty for very strong inclinations to the Religion of the Church of Rome . By which contrivance they quickly possess'd the short-sighted Rabble with such tears and jealousies , as afterwards broke out into a flame of open Rebellion , to the utter ruine and destruction both of King and Countrey . See Bakers Chronicle , Edit. anno 1674. page 473.

And so effectual a contrivance was this piece of policy counted by our brave Machiavilians , that in England also in the year 1641 , when the Spirit within them mov'd the blind Zealots to joyn with the Scotch Rebels , ( as it is recorded by the same Historian , page 535 ) in the dead of the night , the more to terrifie the timorous vulgar , they us'd to cry in the streets of London , That all people should arise to their defence , for the King with his Papists were coming to fire the City , and cut their threats in their beds . Than which contrivance ( saith the Author ) though nothing were more false , yet found the effects of truth . Likewise in Novemb . 1642 Vicar , the Presbyterian Historian , in his Chronicle , Part 1. page 212. speaking of the Battle of Edge-hill , gives this relation of his holy Brethren , The Sabbath day after their arrival to London , the godly and well-offected Ministers ( i.e. the Presbyterian Predicants ) throughout the City preached and praised the Lord publickly , for their joyful and safe return home to their Parents , Masters , and Friends , exhenting those young Solditers of Christs Army Royal still to retain , and be forward and ready to shew their courage and zeal to the defence of Gods Cause , and their Countreys welfare : shewing them the Plots of their adversaries , to have introduced Popery and Tyranny into the Kingdom ; and assuring them , that this War on their parts was waged and managed by Papists , an Army of Papists being raised by the Kings command , contrary to his vows and protestations .

It is needless , I suppose , to repeat here , how often most of our eminent Divines , and zealous Church men , ever since the Reformation , have been slandered in this manner by these hot-headed Enthusiasts , and compelled to make Apologies in their own vindication against such wicked aspersions . Was not the Learned Dr. Mountague , Bishop of Chichester , forced to write a Book , intituled , Appello Caesarem , against the malicious Calumnies of the Puritan Party , where the godly man sheweth himself so far from being daunted with their bold attempts and bloody Menaces , that , with true Christian courage he openly exposeth to the world their mysteries of iniquety , and fully discovereth their pernicious contrivances to undermine our Church , and subvert our Government ? and amongst the rest , he speaketh in this manner , The truth is , as with the Jesuit he is an Heretick , that is not furloso more a Roman Catholick , so with the Puritan he is a Papist that will not run a madding with them . It is not the first time ( saith he ) for this very cause I have been talk'd of , esteem'd of , traduc'd as a Papist ; which I can the better brook , because they have meted this measure to the Church of England it self , as sympathising with Papists in her Liturgy , Discipline , and Doctrine . In his Appeal to Cesar , part 2. c . 1. p. 110.

All true Protestants therefore , who prefer the Harmonious and Apostolical Order and Government of the Church of England , before the confused hodge-podge of the new-found Genevesian Discipline , have now ( I think ) sufficient reason to be ware of such dangerous contrivances for the future , and not suffer themselves to be gull'd again by such gilded pretences , which , like the Apples of Sodom , are specious indeed and beautiful without , but base and filthy within . The Presbyterians , to our sorrow , have by this policy once deceived us , and the Lord forgive them ; but if they deceive us again , then the Lord forgive us . Improbe Neptunum accuset , qui iterum naufragium facit . As for my part , I declare before God and the World , that I renounce with all my heart and Soul as well the Idolatrous Papists , as the Anarchical Presbyterians , whose blind zeal and transparent hypocrisie , with their appurtenances , abjuro , denego , detestor .

I must confess , the Presbyterians are something beyond the Papists in matters of Religion , neither did I ever compare them together in that point , but I supposed with the most Learned of our Church , and particularly with Englands Solomon , King James of glorious memory , in his Apology for the Oath of Allegiance , page 19. That Papists were never persecuted in this Kingdom ( if not by Cromwel and his Rumpers ) for matters of Faith , but for their wicked Principles , and destructive Practices against Temporal Government . And now I appeal to the judicious Reader , if I have not sufficiently demonstrated in my former Paper out of the prime Authors and Founders of the Genevesian Gospel , as Calvin , Beza , Knox , Buchanan , &c. that the Presbyterian Principles are altogether as dangerous and destructive , if not more pernicious to Temporal Government , than that of the Papists themselves . And if your Answer to this be not rather a plain confession of the crime , than any vindication thereof , let the Reader judge .

First , you say , I am fain to go into other Countreys , as far as Scotland and Geneva , to prove the Rebellious Principles of the Presbyterians . But , good Sir Presbyter , is not that enough , or are not the Presbyterians every where of the same stamp and coin ? And besides , why may it not be as good a way to prove the Princ●ples of the Presbyterians , by alledging the Doctrine of the Rope of Geneva , and his chief Incendiarites , as it is to demonstrate the Principles of the Papists , by alledging the Doctrine of the Pope of Rome , and his approved Emissaries ? But if neither of these reasons be sufficient in your Phantasie do but peruse Dr. Bancroft Archbishop of Canterbury's Book of dangerous Positions , and there you shall find enough even of English Presbyterians ( though but Sucklings then ) eagerly maintaining this Anarchical Doctrine ; there you shall find a whole Chapter of that particular subject , with this Title , The Doctrine of certain English Ministers , which they learn'd at Geneva , and published of purpose to have procured the like course of Resormation in England to that in Scotland . Behold now , Sir Presbyter , your Genevesion Gospellers , and those English too , and English that to promote the good old Cause , would not scruple to destroy that antient and Apostolical Hierarchy of the Church of England , and enflame their Native Countrey into a total combustion of Sedition and Rebellion . But let us see whether your second Answer be any thing less ridiculous or impertinent than the former . Yet admit ( say you ) the Presbyterians in England hold the same Principles , put the question whether were more Antimonarchical or unsase to Government , an opinion , that Tyrants and opposers of God , might ( propter id ) be opposed by their Subjects , &c. or that a good King , one of the Reformed Religion , meerly for being such , should be deposed , dethron'd , and murthered , & c ? But ( good Sir Phesbyter ) what is more feasible , than for a Presbyterian to make a Tyrant of what Prince he pleases ? We see now with what dexterity he makes Papists and Pensioners of the most zealous Protestants , and no less faithful Patriots ; and we have lately seen with what Legerdemain he made a Tyrant of the best of Princes . What Sovereign then can be secure from these Presbyterians , if it lies in their breast thus to make him either a Titus or a Nero , a clement Prince , or a cruel Tyrant ? or can he think himself a Sovereign , and not rather Tenant at will to his own Anarchical Subjects ? Yet you would fain perswade us , your holy Puritans teach onely , that Tyrants may be opposed by their Subjects ; whereas all the world can tell , how in our own days they have not onely opposed , but also deposed , dethron'd , and cruelly murdered , not a Tyrant , but the most meek and Religious of Sovereigns , and that by a formality of Law too ; a thing I never heard perpetrated by any Popish Subjects since the creation of the World , no , not by the most barbarous Heathens against the worst of Tyrants .

As for a Kings being of the Reformed Religion , we know it signifies nothing to the Presbyterian Zealots , except he be of the Genevesian Doctrine and Discipline ; the Church of England , say they , is neither hot nor cold , neither Popish nor Reformed . And therefore in the Year 1648 , when the late King and Parliament were like to agree , the Presbyterian Incendiaries exclaimed against such proposals , untill the Genevesian Discipline were first established by Law . This restitution of his Majesty ( say they ) to the exercise of his Royal power , before security had from him for settling Religion , your Lordships know by our eight desires , and otherwise , is conceiv'd by us to be inconsistent with the safety and security of Religion . — The bringing of his Majesty to some of his Houses in or near London , before satisfaction and security had from him in point of Religion , and in such other things as are necessary for the safety of the Kingdoms , could not ( as we conceive ) but be an exceeding great discouragement and offence to the Presbyterians in England , who will conceive that the remedy is worse than the disease . In the humble Representation of the Commissioners of the General Assembly to the Honourable Estates of Parliament , April the 28. 1648. Likewise , in the year 1649. the Rebellious-Zealots would not submit themselves in Scotland to their natural Soveraign , his present Majesty , except he would by solemn Oath under his hand and seal , allow the National Covenant of Scotland , and the Solemn League and Covenant of Scotland , England , and Ireland , and would prosecute the ends thereof in his Royal station . See Baker's Chronicle , page 613. Tell me now , Sir Presbyter , are not these rare examples of your Presbyterian-Loyalty to your natural Princes , and to Princes of the Protestant Church , and Reformed Religion too ? But to set down exactly the true state of the question , admit ( as you say , and cannot deny ) the Presbyterians of England hold the same principles with the Genevesian-Gospellers ; put you the question now , whether is more Antimonarchial or unsafe to Government , an opinion or rather a fundamental doctrine , that Tyrants and opposers of God , ( i.e. any Prince that hinders the growth of Presbyterie ) may propter id , be oppos'd , nay , depos'd , dethron'd and cruelly Murder'd by their Subjects , as Presbyterians undeniably hold , and as undeniably have practis'd : or that it is Herefie in any Christian to affirm , that a Prince may be slain or depos'd by his Subjects for any disorder or default , either in Life or Government , as very Eminent Papists expresly teach ; as ( to omit those two swindging Authorities , as you call them , of the Rhemists Commentaries , and of the Council of Constance ) it sufficiently appeareth by Alphons . à Castro , lib de haeres . in verbo Tyran . Dominic . à Soto , lib . 5. de Just . & Jur . qu . 1. art . 3. and many others .

Now do you if you can , produce such another Ecclesiastical Assembly or Synod , or such eminent writers of the Presbyterian party , thus declaring it Impious and Heretical to believe that Subjects may Lawfully depose or Murder their Soveraign upon the account of any Tyranny or oppression whatsoever , and you will make the World have a better opinion of your Sect , than ever they had hitherto : otherwise , notwithstanding all your multiplied bablings , we must conclude , to give the Devil his due , that in matter of Temporal Government , the principles of the Papists are far Sounder and more Orthodox , than the Presbyterian Catechism . As for the practises of the one and the other , you tell me , could I prove my charge against the Presbyterians , as unexceptionably , as you can that of the Plot against the Papists , I would do something indeed . But I appeal to any man of common sense , if you be not as unexceptionably impudent in your bold assertions , as the Presbyterians are notoriously Treacherous in their pernicious practices . The bloud of our late Martyr'd Soveraign , and the effusion of so much Protestant bloud in the late Civil Wars , ( you should say , Presbyterian Rebellion ) you are so impudent as to plaister it upon the unfortunate Papists , without any colour or shew of proof , ( it being plain to all the World , that in the whole List of the Regicides , none is to be found but notorious Presbyterians ) and withall to affirm , that the former are more evidently prov'd guilty of the present Plot , than the latter can be convicted of the Rebellious practices laid to their charge : whereas on the one side , we have but four or five persons to swear this horrid conspiracy against the Papists ; but on the other side , all our Records , all our Histories , nay , our own memories , and all the World can testifie the late Tragical transactions , as the inhumane Murder of our Royal Martyr , the effusion of so much innocent bloud , the burning and pillaging of so many Cities , Towns and Pallaces , and in brief all the Massacres that have been committed , all the Miseries that have happened in this Island of Great Britain these 50 years past , to have been wholly and solely perpetrated by these Monsters of Christianity the Anarchical-Presbyterians , as well dependent as independent , as well Scotch as English , the one beginning , the other ending the Tragedy , the one Selling , the other Killing their natural Soveraign to the amazement of all the World .

Oh! how happy would they think themselves now , had these villanies been as private , as the present conspiracy of the Papists ? Had we been trusting to the discovery of Mr. Oats , Mr. Bedlow , or the rest , concerning these presbyterian treacheries , as well as the Popish Plot ; Oh! how boldly the Puritan-Gospellers would outface our witnesses ? with what black colours they would paint them , to extenuate the credibility of their informations ? So far they would think the charge from being unexceptionably proved against them , that they would not doubt but they might easily perswade the World , nothing could be more unreasonable , than to believe it upon the credit of such inconsiderable witnesses , tho' now against the Papists they hold them for Delphian Oracles . What! ( would they say ) can it be Law , equity , or conscience , to take the oaths of some few despicable fellows , very obnoxious to be suspected of malice and corruption , against the lives of good and peaceable Subjects , men of worth and known integrity ? to take the oaths of living Vagabonds , before the protestations of dying Christians ! who can be safe , if this be admitted ? or if this be justice , what can be term'd injustice amongst us ?

In this manner , we may be sure , or rather in far higher terms , would our Supersanctified-Hypocrites rail against these very Persons , they now so much adore for Swearing against the Papists , had their crimes been so occult as to need a discoverer ; and these , nay , people of greater credit , and much less obnoxious to exception , had come in to reveal their Mysteries of iniquity . The title of His Majesties Evidence could not in the least protect them from the snarling invectives of a Presbyterian . All that Papists now say of them , signified nothing to what the Presbyterians would then vomit against them . Witness their usage of Mr. Willoughby , alias Dangerfield , &c. who when he pretended to discover a Presbyterian Plot , was presently proclaim'd in the Weekly Intelligenees and other Pamphlets , the greatest Knave and Villain upon Earth , and called Knight of the Post , Newgate-Bird , and such other titles of Honour , nay , affirmed to have been actually upon the Pillory for his misdemeanours . The Title of His Majesties Evidence , or his pretending to witness for the King , could nothing avail him against these Sanstified creatures , tho' now he is reputed among them an Holy Proselyte newly inspir'd and illuminated by the Lord . 't is true , he gave then ( as himself confesses ) but false informations against the Presbyterians , being put on that design either by the Popish party to turn the Plot upon their adversaries , or by some Presbyterian Politicians to gain the greater credit to their new Informer , or perhaps by himself to gain such maintenance and allowance for the future , as may keep him henceforth from the tryed punishments of the Pillory , seeing those of the trade do thrive so well . There are now in the World a great number of Foolhardy Desperadoes , of no Fortune , but less Honesty , who think their only way to Preferment is , to run upon desperate courses , and rather than fail of an Advancement , to venture Neck and all for a Livelihood , according to that witty saying of the Satyrist : Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris , ant carcere dignum , Si vis esse aliquid ; probitas laudatur & alget . For as Virgil saith , — Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra sames ? — In St. Pauls days , Godliness was great Gain ; but to these , Gain is great Godliness : of whom we may justly say with the Poet , Unde habeat quarit nemo , sed oportet habere .

As for Mr. Dangerfield , this only I say , altho' he gave but false Informations against the Presbyterians , yet this was not then known to the generality of the people ; and tho' it is undeniable , that such a Plot might well be carried on by the Ring-leaders of that Faction , without communicating it to the Vulgar ; nevertheless the Puritan-Rabble did so bark and snarl at Dangerfield , as if they had known by Revelation there was no such Plot at all .

But to return from this digression to our intended purpose , since reason commands us to prefer the unanimous consent of the greatest and ablest men of our Country , together with all our Histories and Records , and our own experimental knowledg , before the oaths of four or five persons , tho' never so upright in their lives , or so positive and exact in their informations ; and a fortiori , of people not so qualified , but obnoxious to several exceptions and suspicious circumstances , which mightily weakens their evidence , and leaves many judicious men in suspence , frustrated of their expected satisfaction of having the Plot clear'd beyond all exception : surely , we cannot but conclude the late Rebellion to be far more unexceptionably prov'd against the Presbyterians , than the present Plot against the Papists . Not that I would in the least vindicate the Romanists from those horrid crimes laid to their charge , for I am fully satisfied they are as apt to commit any villany to advance their Superstitions , as the Presbyterians are to promote the Good old cause ; but to shew that the late Hellish Rebellion of the one , is far more undeniable than the present Conspiracy of the other .

And if your own Conscience did not accuse you of the known verity of this assertion , or if you thought the Presbyterians have not really committed these Hellish abominations objected against them , to what purpose did you set the Act of Oblivion , to bring up the rear of your ridiculous Apology ? Surely , things that never have been , could not have been forgotten . Oblivio est praeteritorum . Yet you very confidently bid me read over the several Tryals , and other pieces extant by Authority , concerning the present Plot , and see whether it be Presbyterians or Papists that murdered Sir Edmundbury Godfrey ; that hired the Ruffians to murder his Sacred Majesty , and to ruine both Church and State . But I desire you to read over the late Narratives of the Rebellion in Scotland , and see whether Bresbyterians or Papists murdered the good Bishop of St. Andrews ; read over likewise the History of the late Rebellion in England , and see whether it be Presbyterians or Papists , that have ( not hired Ruffians to murder , but themselves like inhumane Traytors , actually ) murder'd our late Soveraign , and totally ruin'd both Church and State : and then see what you can get by the bargain , but that notwithstanding your ridiculous Apology the Presbyterians are still worse than the Papists , whereas the one did but design , the other have actually compleated our ruine . You tell us for strange news , they are not concern'd in the present Plot ; and very strange it is indeed , that there should be any Plot or Conspiracy in this Kingdom , whereof the Presbyterians should nor be the chief Engineers . Yet , Sir Presbyter , in my opinion you have no great reason to brag of your Brethrens innocence of this Popish Plot , since the world knows , they have commited greater villanies , and that in the face of the Sun , and for Religion too . Besides , I advise you to observe the common saying , Lauda finem , and tho' your mysteries of iniquity be not yet revealed , yet beware least before the present discovery be at an end , your Presbyterians be not found as deeply concern'd , as any Papist alive , either in this , or in another Plot of their own : for how can it be thought , that such Politick and active Machiavels should let this occasion slip , or omit the fairest opportunity they could expect of overthrowing their greatest adversaries , the one as Idolatrous Papists , the other either as Popishly inclined , or as introducers of Tyranical and Arbitrary Government ? I omit here , that I have seen several reasons and arguments , very specious indeed to outward appearance , strongly insinuating that the Presbyterians are the primum mobile even of the present Plot , and the chief , if not the sole contrivers of all these troubles , fraudulently corrupting and suborning most of those witnesses , that came in to swear against the Papists , purposely to draw the Kingdom into a confusion , and thereby restore the Cromwellian Gospel and Government .

In this assertion , I know , there is no impossibility or contradiction to be found ; I believe it very feasible ( and without doubt it has been often done ) to corrupt and suborn men of better credit and reputation than these witnesses have been , that have yet appeared in this discovery ; and withall I am sure , the Presbyterians are too apt to commit any villany to promote the Good old cause : yet nevertheless , because we must not insist upon unprov'd , tho' probabie suspicions , when we have enough even of plain demonstrations to or 〈◇〉 our intended purpose of shewing how dangerous our Puritian 〈…〉 if not prudently and timely prevented , are to our Church a 〈…〉 probability of this charge , I leave to be weigh'd and 〈…〉 〈…〉 icious Reader . In the interim , tell me I beseech you , what may be the reason that the Presbyterians are the activest and most eager prosecutors of the Papists upon the account of this Plot , and also the greatest promoters and admirers of those witnesses , that appear against them . Are the Presbyterians the ablest men in the Kingdom ? or do they only apprehend the danger of this Plot ? Do they love their Religion , Lives , or Liberties , better than Protestants love theirs ? or were not Protestants to be made away , had this Plot gon on , as well as the Presbyterians ? why then are not the latter as moderate as the former , or the former as mad as the latter ? Truly , I have heard several Judicious Protestants affirm , they could never believe , that the Presbyterians should be so hot or eager in prosecuting this Popish Plot against so inconsiderable a party , as Papists now are in this Kingdom , except they had greater designs , or were more concerned in that Plot themselves , than they would have the World believe . But time will tell truth .

Your ignorance tells you , I have affronted the Clergy of the Church of England , by calling them Dumb-dogs ; but you should know before you appeared in Print , that a Dog , for his natural vigilancy , is the common Emblem of an Ecclesiastical Pastor ; and if our Prelates now be less active than is necessary for to prevent your Treacherous designs , and countermine your pernicious contrivances against their Flock , they may attribute this application of Gods word , Isa . 56.10 . not to any ill meaning of mine , but rather to their own unreasonable carelesness in such a desperate juncture of times , when our greatest , if not our only enemies , the Presbyterians and Papists , are equally , tho' severally , bent for our destruction ; those brethren in evil , ( as the Bishop of Chiebester elegantly calls them ) who looking and running two several ways , do like Samson's Foxes joyn together in the taile . in his appeal to Cesar , part I c . 4. p. 48.

Here I shall beg the favour of you , to ask that Reverend Prelate , who declared himself in the Parliament before the last , so favourable to your Sect , what does he think now of the Presbyterians , or whether in his opinion they took the Reverend Bishop of St. Andrews by the Lawnsleeves , or by the Throat ? Ask likewise the rest of those learned Prelates , whether the Presbyterians have like waspish Curs bark'd at that holy man Archbishop Laud , or like your red Dragon utterly devoured him ? Is it credible , think you , these eminent Divines should be of so short a memory , as to forget who so lately voted them out of the House of Peers , barbarously imprisoned them in the Tower , sequestered their Lands and Revenues , ( which to an Englishman is worse then to lose his life ) deprived them of all power and jurisdiction both Spiritual & Temporal , and in fine , quite abolished the whole order and hierarchy of that Apostolical institution ? or is it likely they would now Apologize for that faction which have lately so Antichristianly abused them ? they know it is an old and true saying , Veterem ferendo injuriam , invitas novam : and I pray God , they may not find it verified in themselves , who through their excesive meekness and patience towards these ungrateful miscreants , I am afraid , will encourage them once more to attempt the suppressing of this Apostolical hierarchy ; which we may plainly read in their libells and pamphlets ; is their main design . Yet notwithstanding this , and all other eminent dangers , which daily threaten us from the Presbyterian party , you are so impudent , as to term your self an Episcopal Protestant , and yet strain your empty noddle in apologizing for these Antiepiscopal Sectaries , and excusing their Schismatical separation from the Mother Church , thereby encouraging them to act over again their horrid villanies of 48. and sing the second part to the same tune .

You tell us forsooth , they are our fellow-protestants , and therefore not to be reputed as enemies to our Church , but to be embraced as brethren of our Reformation . Protestants , 't is true , they stile themselves , but false ones they are always reputed by our Church , as Papists are false Christians ; for ( as the Apostle faith ) they are not all Israel , which are of Israel , Rom. 9.6 . Neither are they all Protestants , which are called Protestants ; many do love the name , but hate the thing : and therfore why should not false Protestants be thought as dangerous to the true faith and worship of God , as false Christians , I could never yet understand . Papists are but false Christians , but the Presbyterians are false Protestants , and by consequence they are false Christians too : why then should the one be counted our Brethren , and the other our Enemies ? or what can we gain by this our ill-bestowed kindness to the presbyterians , but to draw upon us the charge of all their monstrous contrivances , and make our selves accountable for their wickedness , as the papists are now commonly charged with the horrid practices of the Jesuits ? Do not we see how as the Primitive Christians were grievously slandered , and most vehemently hated by the Heathens , because of the multiplied villanies of the Gnosticks and other prophane Sects of those times , that professed Christianity ; so true Protestants now are obnoxious to those manifold calumnies unjustly heaped by the Papists and other Sectaries , upon our Church and Doctrine , and the whole Reformation ; because of the seditious practices and wicked treacheries of the Presbyterian party , who commonly stile themselves Protestants and Reformed , yea , Refined Christians ? Nay , I do verily believe , that as the monstrous wickedness of the aforesaid Hereticks was then a great bar to the timely conversion of the Idolatrous Pagans ; so now the unchristian proceedings of the presbyterians do mainly obstruct the Papists from receiving the true light of the Gospel .

O , but they are our weak Brethren , and we must bear their infirmities . Weak Brethren , say you ? I pray God keep them so , and grant they be never stronger to ruine our Church and State , as formerly they have done . Now the Pharisaical Hypocrites alledge the weakness and tenderness of their Consciences for this Schismatical disobedience to their lawful Pastors , and separation from the Mother-Church ; though in 48 no tenderness of Conscience could hinder them from murdering their natural Sovereign in England , and in 79 their onely Primate and Metropolitane in Scotland . O blind Guides , ( as our Saviour said of the Pharisees ) which strain at a gnat , and swallow a camel , Matth . 23.34 . Yet these blind Hypocrites you must hall in amougst Episcopal Protestants , and under the ridiculous name of dissenting Brethren , you endeavour to foster such Vipers in the bosom of our Church ; a name so strange and self-contradictory , as if we had called them our odious Lovers , our loving Enemies , or the like ; for if the Presbyterians obstinately dissent from our Church in Communion , or matters of Religion , as undoubtedly they do , how can they be our Brethren ? or if they be our Brethren in Religion , how can they differ from us in Communion , or matters of Faith , which essentially is one and individual ? for , as the Apostle testisieth , there is but one Lord , one Faith , one Baptism , Ephes 4.5 .

Ay , but they do not dissent from us as much as the Papists do , not in so many , nor in so necessary points of Religion . But this is to no purpose ; first , because Heathens dissent from us more than Jews , Jews than Turks , and Turks than Papists ; yet we must embrace neither Jew , Turk , nor Papist , for our dissenting Brethren in Religion . Secondly , Because even as it is nothing material whether a man dies of one mortal wound , or of twenty ; so it skilleth not whether a Christian obstinately erres in one necessary point of Religion , or in a dozen . For it is in the Christian Religion , as St. James saith of the Law , Whosoever offendeth in one point , he is guilty of all , James 2.10 . Now it is evident to all the world , that the Presbyterians grosly err in three of the chiefest Pillars of Christian Religion , as Charity , Unity , and Obedience : It cannot therefore avail them much that they agree with us in so many points of the Superstructure , while they disagree from us in the very Foundation . Hear what St. Augustin saith of the Denatists in Africk , who much resemble the Presbyterians in England ; In many things ( saith he ) they are with me , in few not with me ; but in these few wherein they are not with me , the many things wherein they are with me do nothing avail them ; in Psal . 54. ver . 19. Thirdly because all true Protestants acknowledge the Presbyterians are schismaticaly separated from the Church of England , as well as the Papists ; and on the other side , in the sentiments of all Learned Divines , both antient and modern , Schism is so heinous a wickedness , that without repentance and reunion with the Church ( unless perhaps invincible ignorance may lessen the crime ) it wholly excludes the Party from eternal salvation , according to the express words of our Saviour , If be neglect to hear the Church , let him be unto thee as an heathen man , and a Publican , Matth . 18.17 . There cannot possibly ( saith St. Irenaeus ) be made any reformation of such importance , as the mischief of Schism is pernicious , lib . 4. c . 62. For ( as Dionysius Alexandrinus testifieth ) It is a more grievous wickedness to divide the Church , than to sacrifice to Idols , ap . Euseb . lib . 6 hist . c . 37. Which is yet further affirmed by the Prince of Divines , the great St. Augustine , The sacrilege of Schism ( saith he ) surpasseth all wickedness , lib . 1. contra ep . Parmen . c . 4. And lest we should not believe his own single testimony , this assertion he solidly confirms by the fearful punishment inflicted on Corah , Dathan , and Abiram , for their schismatical disobedience to Moses and Aaron . At what time ( saith he ) God would teach his People by new and fresh punishments to beware of their former transgressions , when an Idol was made and adored , ( Exod . 32. ) when the Prophets book was burnt by the hosty King , ( Jer . 36. ) and the schism was attempted ( Numb . 16. ) by Corah and his accomplices ; the Idolatry was punished with the sword , the burning of the book was revenged with wasting War and forreign Captivity ; but the Schism was plagued with the sudden gaping of the earth , the Authors thereof having heen swallowed up alive , and consum'd with fire from heaven . Who now ( saith this great Logician ) will doubt , but that was most wickedly committed , which was most grievoufly punished ? lib . 2. de Bapt . cont . Donatist . c . 6.

St. Cyprian goeth yet further , and of all schismatical Separatists , giveth this general sentence , Such people , though they were killed in the confession of Christs name , yet that blemish even by blood is not washed away ; the unpardonable and grievous crime of dissention is not purged even with death . He cannot be a Martyr that is not in the Church . He cannot attain to the Kingdom , that forsakes her which is to reign . Such an one may be killed , but cannot be crown'd . The enemy of the Altar , rebellious against the Sacrifice of Christ , despising the Bishops , and forsaking the Priests of God , presumes to erect another Altar , and make other prayers by his unlawful speeches . Lib . de Unit . Eccles .

Neither are our Modern Divines less plain in this particular ; and to begin with Calvin , the great God of the Presbyterians , he gives his verdict in these following words . We profess the unity of the Church ( such as is described by St. Paul ) to be most dear unto us ; and we accurse them that shall any thing violate it ; lib . de necess . Reform . Eccles . And again , The Lord doth so highly esteem the Communion of his Church , that he holds him for an Apostate , and deserter of Religion , who insolently separates himself from any Christian Society , so it be such a one as hath the true Ministry of the Word and Sacraments ; lib . 4. Instit . c . 1. § . 10. Either therefore we have not the true Ministry of the Word and Sacraments in the Church of England , or else the Presbyterians are Schismaticks , nay Apostates and deserters of Religion , even in the Judgment of their own Patriarch Calvin .

Luther likewise in his explication upon the Creed , speaks to the same purpose : Neither Gentile , nor Jew , ( saith he ) Heretick , or any other sinner , is saved , unless he make Atonement with the Church , and in all things think , do , and teach the same . As for our own Divines , they are in this point both plain and positive : It is false ( saith our Learned Whitaker ) that Heretical and Schismatical Churches , are true Churches . controv . 2. q . 5. c . 9. And again : Whereas he proves , that Hereticks , Apostates , and Shismaticks are not Members of the true Church , it is nothing to us ; for this none of us ever affirmed . controv . 2. q . 1. c . 4.

And Dr. Fulk in his Treatise of the Succession of the Church , p. 390. saith : What skilleth it , whether one being drawn by Heresie or Schism from the Body of Christ , be subject to Eternal Damnation ?

Mr. Casaubone also in his Letter to Cardinal Peron , written by the appointment of King James , page 8. thus saith : The King doth condemn and detest those , who departed either from the faith of the Catholick Church , and became Hereticks ; or from her Communion , and became Schismaticks . And the same is taught by Dr. Humphrey , ad rat . 3. Campiani . p. 207. by Field , lib . 1. de Eccles . c . 7. Confess . Helvet . art . 17. Bulling . in compend , fidei . lib . 6. c . 11. Musculus in Locis , Tit . de Schismate , p. 621. and many others .

Is it not evident therefore by the unanimous consent of so many Protestant Divines , so exactly concurring with the general vote of the Ancient Writers , and Gods express word , that Schism is so capital a crime , that it cuts off the party from the Church of God , and thereby from all ordinary means of obtaining eternal Salvation ? And is it not likewise certain , that Protestants and Presbyterians ( notwithstanding your ridiculous cementing of them together ) do mutually censure and charge each other with Schism , if not with impious and Heretical Doctrines . None I think , can be so ignorant , as not to know what a Cloud of Writers have given their verdict on both sides in this particular . To the end therefore you may not hereafter exclaim against me , or alledge that I make it my business to breed dissention and division between Protestants , by calling the Presbyterians Schismatical Sectaries , ( tho' indeed it is my design to seperate the Wheat from the Tares , true Protestants from counterfeit Religionaries , and warn them not to trust again such Hypocritical Dissemblers ) and that you may be convinc'd , this is no particular opinion of mine , but the general tenet of our Learned Divines ; hear some of them speak their own minds at a time , when Presbytery was not near so monstrous in it self , nor yet half so dangerous or formidable to our Church , as it is at present . The Puritans ( saith Dr. Bancroft , Archbishop of Canterbury ) do pervert the true meaning both of Scripture and Fathers , to serve their own turns . In his Survey of the pretended Holy Discipline , c . 5. &c.

And Mr. Parkes , in his book dedicated to the Archbishop , in his Epistle Dedicatory , thus saith of your holy Brethren : They are headstrong , and hardened in error ; they strike at the main points of faith , and shaking the foundation it self , and calling into question Heaven and Hell , the Divinity and Humanity , yea the very Soul and Salvation of our Saviour himself . And again , ibid . The Puritans have Pestilent Heresies , they are Heretical and Sacrilegious .

Mr. Powel likewise , in his Considerations , saith of them : They are notorious and manifest Schismaticks , cut off from the Church of God .

And this is further confirmed by Mr. Casaubons excellent Rule , ( taken out of S. Cyprian's 69. Ep. ) in Exercit . 15. contra Baron . nu . 6. Where he saith : It is an undoubted verity , that whensoever the pious People adheres to their true and lawfull Bishop , they are Gods Church ; unsomuch that whosoever seperates himself from this Congregation , it cannot be doubted , but that he is not in the Church . Presbyterians therefore are not in the Church of God , who have Schi●matically seperated themselves from the pious and orthodox Protestants adhering to their true and lawful Bishops . To be brief , the Bishop of Chichester gives us a full and short description of these Holy and Sanctified Bretheren : I must confoss ( saith he ) my dissent through and sincere from the fuction of Novelizing Puritans ; men intractible , insociable , incompliable with those that will not aedificare ad dissensiones ; but in no one point more , than in their desperate doctrine of Predestination ; in his Appeal to Caesar , page 60. And again p. 320. he speaks to the Presbyterians themselves in this manner : I go no farther , but leave you to your selves , and ( if ●●ssible ) unto more charitable conceits of those that deserve no other imputation , but , they are no Puritans : Which God of his Goodness keep out of this Church and State , as dangerous as Popery , for any thing I am able to discern : The only difference being , Popery is for Tyranny , Puritanism for Anarchy ; Popery is original of Superstition , Puritanism the Highway unto Prophaneness ; both alike Enemies to Piety .

But lest you should think this learned Prelate any thing transported with prejudice or partiality in this his censure of your Sanctified Brethren , hear what your own Patriarch and first founder speaketh of those , who had the first Fruits of his Spirit , his holy Proselytes at Genev● : It is certain ( saith he ) that a man shall not see so horrible monsters in the Papacy , as where the Gospel is Preach'd and Profess'd ; for they will say they are reformed , and yet they seem to be Devils incarnate , neither have we need to go far off to find such sights . Calvin serm . 10. in ep . ad Ephes .

Now the Presbyterians on the other side are nothing behind in slandering and charging the Church of England with all imaginable corruption ; Schism , they think , is too small a crime to be alledg'd against her , whilst Popish Superstition and the dregs of Antichrist do compose the chiefest part of her Liturgy , Doctrine and Government . The form of the Communion-Book ( say they ) is taken from the Church of Antichrist ; as the reading of the Epistles , and Gospels , &c. the most of the Prayers , the manner of administring the Sacraments , &c. in Dr. Whitgifts defence , p. 474. And in their Book intituled , The Petition of 22. Preachers in London , they say : In the Communion-Book there be things of which there is no sense , there is contradiction in it , even of necessary and essential points of Religion . And also in their Book of Cannons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical , printed Anno 1604. they say : The worship in the Church of England is corrupt , superstitious , unlawfull and repugnant to the Scriptures . Likewise the great Presbyterian Alexander Henderson , in his first Paper to our Royal Martyr , in the Book intituled Reliquiae Carolinae , pnrt 1. p. 314. thus speaketh : It is too well known that the Reformation of K. Henry 8. was most imperfect in the essentials of Doctrine , Worship and Government : And though it proceeded by some degrees afterwards , yet the Government was never reformed , the head was changed , Dominus non Dominium , and the whole limbs of the Antichristian Hierarchy retained . And for this cause ( as our late Soveraign well observes ) their zealous Superstition thinks or pretends , they cannot do God and the Church a greater service , than utterly to destroy that Primitive , Apostolical , and anciently universal Government of the Church by Bishops ; in his Eikon Basilike , c . 9. But to conclude , and if Symetry may tell us the true stature of a man by the proportion of his foot , surely we may easily guess what sense the Presbyterians have of those of our Church , by that prodigious Sermon of David Blake , a Ring . leader of the Kirk of Scotland , who in the year 1596. solemnly preached , That all Kings were the Devils Barns , that King James his heart was treacherous , and that the Devil was in the Court , and the Guiders of it ; that Queen Elizabeth was an Atheist , and a wicked Woman ; that the Nobility and Lords were miscreants , bribers , degenerated , godless , dissemblers , and enemies to the Church , &c. And yet this most seditious and Anarchical Sermon was so far from being censured by the holy Synagogue of the Presbyterians , that they openly told King James , It was Gods cause , and they must protect and defend him to the hazard of their lives . See Spotiswood's History of the Church of Scotland , page 423 , &c.

Speak now , Sir Presbyter , and tell us plainly your opinion of your holy dissenting Brethren ; can you defend their going out of the Church of England from the brand of Schism ? Is it not the infallible Badge of Sectaries , to depart from the Communion of Orthox Christians ? Observe what the beloved Disciple saith , They went out from us , but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us . 1 Joh . 2.19 . Who therefore is to be esteemed in your judgment the greatest Schismatick , the Church of England , for not complying with the Presbyterians pretended refining of the Reformation , or the Presbyterian Synagogue for not obeying the Church of England , and their lawful Bishops ? For undoubtedly , in this Separation , and mutual exclaiming against each other , either Party must unavoidably be guilty of Schism ; otherwise we must confess , the Novatians , Aerians , Luciferians , and Donatists , to to have been most unjustly reputed Schismaticks by the antient Writers . Do not we know , that one of the chiefest points for which Aerius was anathematized even for an Heresiark by the Primitive Church , was his asserting the Parity or Equality of Bishops and Presbyters ? as St. Augustine recordeth , Haer . 53. and as St. Epiphanius , Haer . 75. testifieth , and fully confuteth . And yet this very Doctrine is now the Characteristical note and badge of our holy Puritans . How then can Aerius be condemned for a wicked Novelist , and these his followers be extolled for refining Reformists ? Can the same Doctrine be accounted Orthodox in the one , and Heretical in the other ? or must we say , that of all Antiquity Aerius alone did see the truth , and all the rest were blind ?

Be not deceived , good Presbyterians , but consider with your selves , whether it be agreeable to sense or reason , that a single opinion of a private Upstart , grounded upon no express Text of Scripture , should be preferred before the unanimous consent of all Orthodox Antiquity , and the whole Church of Christ , at that time especially , when all the world acknowledgeth her to have been in her greatest splendor and purity . Stand not blind folded with prejudice or partiality , and suffer not your selves to be transported with any preposterous zeal or animosity , which will but obnubilate your understanding , and weaken your judgment ; but rather examine with a sober and unbyass'd mind the grounds and motives of your Separation from your lawful Superiours and Pastors , and consider impartially , whether it be not more reasonable for Christians to follow the Doctrine of the most learned and holy Doctors of the Primitive Church , ( who have undoubtedly followed the Lamb , and are now glorifi'd in Heaven ) than the new found opinion and groundless assertion , either of Aerius , or his late sticklers , John Calvin and his Genevesian Gospellers . Remember how the Lord saith , Stand ye in the ways , and see , and ask for the old paths , where is the good way , and walk therein , and ye shall find rest for your souls , Jer . 6.16 . And this rest , if you expect to enjoy , forsake not the antient form of Church-Government , which has continued in Christs Church since the Apostles time . Saepe viatorem nova , non vetus orbita sallit . Can you find in all Antiquity one Orthodox Christian asserting , or one faithful Church exercising this your Presbyterian Discipline ? Do not all Ecclesiastical Histories tell us , how Christs Church , since his Ascension , has been always governed by Bishops ? Was not St. Augustine Bishop of Hippo in Affrick , St. Ambrose of Millan , St. Hillary of Poictiers , St. Cyprian of Carthage , St. Chrysostom of Constantinople , St. Athanasius of Alezandria , St. Irenaeus of Lyons ; and , in a word , were not the most eminent Ecclesiastical Wor thies , that flourished since the beginning of Christianity , Bishops of their respective Sees or Churches ? Did you ever hear of any Society of Christians , since the Apostles time , governed onely by Presbyters or Elders , not subordinate to Episcopal Government ? Or can you find in all the holy Scriptures one Text to warrant these your levelling Principles , of abolishing the antient Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Christs Church ? Can you deny , but that until our Saviour's time , there were in the Jewish Church Chief or High Priests , which by God's appointment were Superintendents and Presidents over the Levites and inferiour Clergy ? See 2 Chron . 19.11 . Matth . 2.4 . Heb . 9.6 . And is it not as evident , that in the New Testament the Apostles were Presidents and Chief Superintendents , not onely over the Laity of their times , but also over all the Deacons , nay over the Priests and Elders of the Church of Christ ? Since therefore it is incredible , that this Authority conferr'd by Christ on his Apostles , principally for the good of his Church , should die with their persons , and not rather descend to their Successors , and thereby continue in his Church to the end of the World ; it cannot be doubted , but that the Apostles Power and Jurisdiction over Priests and Deacons was invested in others , who , as the Apostles Successors , should govern not onely the Flock , but also the inferiour Pastors and Rulers thereof . Now that Bishops are the lawful Successors of the Apostles in this Spiritual Jurisdiction , may be gathered , first , out of that passage of holy Scripture , where the Apostleship of St. Matthias is expresly called his Bishoprick , Acts 1.20 . thereby infinuating , that Bishops are the same , or at least the next in Authority to the Apostles . 2. It may be confirmed by the universal consent of all antient Writers , unanimously affirming , that Bishops onely have succeeded to the Apostles in the Government of Christs Church . See Cone . Neocesar . Can . 13. Damas . ep . 3. de Chorepiscopis . Hiero . ep . ad Marcellam de Erroribus Montani . Aug. in Psal . 44. Leo ep . 88. Isidor . lib . 2. de Divin . Officiis . Beda in c . 10. Luc . and several other antient Writers of the Primitive Church .

But before we lanch further into the Testimonies of these ancient Writers , that we may at once both confirm our own Doctrine , and confound yours , let us see what great proofs you can produce out of holy Scripture or Fathers , either for your Presbyterian , or against our Episcopal Government .

First , you say , there is no mention in holy Scripture of a Bishops being above a Presbyter , therefore no such thing is to be admitted . A rare Argument indeed ; but what if I say , that your Genevesian Discipline was never mentioned in holy Scripture , and therefore is not to be allowed or admitted in Christs Church ? What can you answer to this retortion , or what silly Sophisters are you , thus blind-fold , andabatarum more , to run on head-long against your adversaries , and never consider how by this Argument you quite undermine your own Congregational , Classical , Synodical , Provincial , and National Assemblies ? Did you ever hear such barbarous terms in holy Scripture ? or ever find them ( at least in your sense ) used by any antient Writer ? Why then should you reject Episcopal Government so universally practised , and set up the Presbyterian Democracy , never heard of in the Church of Christ before Calvin's days ? Certainly though the one had been no better grounded on holy Scripture than the other , yet the antiquity of Episcopacy , and the quite immemorial possession of Bishops in the Government of the Church so many hundred years together , is reason enough for any peaceable Christian to prefer it before any new found invention : It being an undoubted Maxim , In pari jure vel causa melior est conditio-possidentis . Moreover , according to the approved rule of St. Augustin , That , which the universal Church doth hold , and was not instituted by Councils , but hath been always retained , we most justly believe to have descended from no Authority , but the Apostles . lib . 4. de bapt . c . 24. ep . 119. and in several other places . Since therefore , the Original and beginning of Episcopal Government cannot be found from the Apostles downwards , we must conclude it is at least of Apostolical , and consequently of Divine institution . But to be brief , does not St. Paul expresly allow Timothy , the first Bishop of the Ephesians , to judge the Priests or Elders of that Church ? 1 Tim . 5.19 , 20. does not he therefore own him to be their Lawful Superior ? for surely , common sense can tell us , that no Magistrate whatsoever has any legal power to judge his equal in Authority ; according to that approved Maxim , Paribus in pares nulla datur potestas . Since therefore it must be granted , either that Timothy had power and jurisdiction over the Presbyters . of his Church , or the Apostles instructions to him were vain and most impertinent , and that none can have any lawful jurisdiction over his equal , it evidently ensueth , he was by the testimony of holy Scripture , their true and lawful Superior .

Secondly , you alledge , that in holy Scripture the same persons are promiscuously called Bishops or Presbyters , Acts 20.28 . Philip . 1.1 . Tit . 1.5 , 7. and 1 Tim . 3. therefore ( say you ) they are the same Function . A most excellent piece of Logick . But are not the same persons promiscuously called Apostles and Disciples in the Gospel ? Is it therefore the same thing to be an Apostle and a Disciple ? If so , to what purpose was Matthias , ( who was already a Disciple , Acts 1.21 . ) so solemnly elected Apostle in the place of Judas ? If not , then the identity of names doth not always import the identity of Functions . Likewise , do not we find in the old Testament the same persons called sometimes Priests , sometimes High-Priests ? as Azariah ( 2 Chron . 26.17 . ) is called only a Priest , yet v. 20. he is stiled the Chief-Priest . Therefore either our Presbyterian argument is groundless and Sophistical , or else Chief-Priests differ'd nothing from the inferiour-Priests in the Old Law . And besides , the Apostles often called themselves Presbyters or Elders , 1 Pet . 5.1 . and 2 Jo . v. 1. and 3 Jo . v. 1. &c. Yet I hope our present Religionaries will acknowledge they differ'd from single Presbyters both in order and jurisdiction . But to come nearer home , what is more common in our own days , than to hear Priests or Presbyters called Ministers , which word properly signifieth Deacons ? and yet it is evident , we always count Deacons inferiour to Presbyters , though the name properly belonging to the one , is often attributed to the other ; why then should not we conclude , that Presbyters are always inferiour to Bishops , tho' their names had been sometimes mutually communicated to one another ? For we must observe , that Episcopus originally signifying only an Overseer , as Presbyter signifieth an Elder , or Aged man , such Presbyters as had the Cure of Souls , and charge of small Precincts , now called Parishes , under their true Bishop , might well be termed Overseers of their respective Flocks , and consequently in some sense be termed Episcopi or Bishops : yet forasmuch as they wanted the fulness of Ecclesiastical power , and besides Preaching the word of God and Baptizing bel●evers , which Deacons also might do , could only administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper , but were not allowed to confirm the Baptized , much less to ordain other Priests or Elders in the Church , as hereafter it shall be proved ; they were only Bishops by name , not by Ecclesiastical orders , even as aged persons were called Elders for their years , not for any Spiritual jurisdiction .

But forasmuch as some think the Apostles have not been very exact in expressing either the Identity or Diversity of Bishops and Presbyters , but left it something ambiguous , and subject to be questioned ; to clear this point we shall here observe that excellent method prescribed by our Royal Martyr , for to find out the true sense of any ambiguous passage of holy Scripture . If the practice of the Primitive Church ( saith he ) and the universal consent of the Fathers , be not a convincing Argument when the interpretation of Scripture is doubtfull , I know nothing . And again : Albeit I never esteem'd any Authority equal to the Scriptures ; yet I do think the unanimous consent of the Fathers , and the universal practice of the Primitive Church to the best and most authentical interpreters of Gods word , and consequently the fittest Judges between me and you , when we differ , untill you find me a better . In his 2. paper to Alexander Henderson , in the book intituled Reliquiae Carolinae , part 1. p. 323. &c. This rule therefore and prudent method we shall here observe , and for the better understanding of the foregoing texts of Scripture , we shall enquire into the doctrine and practice of the Primitive Church , concerning the distinction of Bishops and Presbyters ; but let us first examine what you can produce out of these ancient monuments for your own Genevesian Discipline . Wherefore ,

Thirdly , you object , that some ancient Fathers affirm , the superiority of Bishops above Presbyters to have been introduced only by the custom of the Church , not by any institution of Christ . The same is a Presbyter ( faith St. Hierom ) which is a Bishop , and before divisions through the Devils instigation were made in Religion , and it was said amongst the people ; I am of Paul , and I of Apollo , and I of Cephas , the Churches were governed by the Common-Councel of the Presbyters : but when every one thought those he baptized , to be his own , not Christs , it was decreed in all the World , that one should be chosen from among the Presbyters and placed above the rest , to whom all the care or charge of the Church should belong , and the Seed of Schism be taken away . in cap . 1. ep . ad Tit .

This is the strongest objection or argument you can produce out of the ancient Fathers for your pretended holy Discipline , and yet so far it is from warranting that new found device , that it quite subverts and destroys it . For tho' St. Hierom seems to affirm , that our Saviour left his Church at the beginning to be governed , not by Bishops alone , but by the common Councell of the Presbyters , yet he plainly acknowledgeth that the Apostles , ( in whose time people said , I am of Paul , and I of Apollos , and I of Cephas , as appeareth 1 Cor . 1.12 . ) to avoid Schism ( which from the Anti-hierarchical equality of Ecclesiastical Pastors should unavoidably ensue ) appointed Bishops above the Presbyters to rule and Govern the Church , that so the seed of Schism might be taken away . Since therefore what the Apostles by vertue of their Function and Commission from Christ have done in the new , is with as much reason to be repu●ed done by Divine Authority , as what Moses did in the Old Testament by Gods command and inspiration : you cannot deny , if you stand to St. Hierom's Testimony , but that the preheminence of Bishops above Presbyters in the Law of Grace , is as much de jure divino , as the Superiority of the High-Priests over the inferiour Priests and Levites in the Law of Moses .

But let us hear what the rest of the Ancient Fathers , ( from whom without doubt St. Hierom differ'd not in so material a point ) speak of this subject . St. Ignatius , the Apostles Disciple , in his epistle to the Philadelphians writes in this manner : Good are the Priests and the Ministers of the Word ; yet better is the Bishop , who is entrusted with the Holy of of Holies , to whom alone the mysteries of God are committed . And in the Canons which are commonly called the Apostles Canons , thus we find , can . 40. Let not the Priests and Deacons attempt to do any thing without the Bishop ; for to him the people of the Lord is committed , and he is to give an account for their Souls . Tertullian likewise lib . de bapt . c . 17. saith : The High-Priest , which is the Bish●p , hath right to give Baptism , and then the Presbyters and Deacons , yet not without the Bishops leave . And St. Ambrose saith in like manner : In the Bishop there are all the orders , because he is the first Priest , that is Prince of the Priests . in c . 4. ep . ad Ephes . And here we are to observe , that the ancient writers atribute not unto Bishops a bare precedence only , or a civil respect due unto them from Presbyters for their Age , Piety , or Learning , but do plainly acknowledge them to be the true Magistrates of Christs Church , endued with Power and Authority to rule and govern both Flocks and Pastors together , and accordingly they atribute unto them several Prerogatives and Ecclesiastical Functions ( as we have now partly seen ) that Presbyters were not allow'd to perform ; which could never have been so universally approv'd of , had Episcopacy been only a prudential constitution of humane Wisdom , and not the absolute ordinance of Christ himself .

First , in those ancient times Bishops alone were allow'd to sit and vote in Ecclesiastical Councils , as evidently appeareth by the respective subscriptions of all the approved Councils held in the Church for the first 600. years after Christ . And therefore when some Laicks and others that were no Bishops , came into the Council of Chalcedon , to side with the Heretick Dioscorus , the Prelates immediately caused them to be expelled , saying : Put out these superfluous persons , the Council belongs to the Bishops . And Theodosius junior the Emperour , in his Epistle to the Council of Ephesus , said : It is not lawfull for any that is not in the order of the most holy Bishops , to meddle in Ecclesiastical consultations . To be brief , when any of the Ancient Writers do speak of thes Church-assemblies , they always call them the Councils of Bishops : For this cause ( saith Eusebius ) meetings and Councils of Bishops are called together throughout every Province . lib . 5. hist . c . 23 and to the same purpose speaketh St. Cyprian , ep . ad Julian . Athan . ep . ad solitar . Hilar . lib . de synodis . Ambros . ep . 32. Hierom lib . 2. Apol . contra Ruffin . Aug. ep . 119. Leo . ep . 16. and a numberless number of other writers , always naming Synods of Bishops and Metropolitans , but never giving the least hint of any inferiour Presbyters ( unless perhaps delegates ) much less lay-Elders admitted to fit among them . Our present terms of Art , as Congregational , Classical , Provincial , National and Synodical Assemblies of lay-Elders or single Presbyters , were gibbrish to them in those primitive times . Christianity perhaps was then but a suckling , and therefore unfit for such mysterious expressions , which by a new power of the Gospel are able to pull down the highest Crown , and stoutest Miter , and crush them both under the Cloak of Religion .

Secondly , Bishops alone were admitted to confirm believers after Baptism , by imposition of hands . All the ancient writers , that speak of this Ceremony , do either call it the laying on of Bishops hands , or do expresly affirm , that none but Bishops can do it : Thus Eusebius speaking of the Schismatick Novatus , saith ; Neither has he obtain'd the rest , which according to the Cannons of the Church he should receive after Baptism , neither was he figured by a Bishop with our Lords Seal ; which when he received not , how ( I beseech you ) should he obtain the Holy Ghost ? lib . 6. hist . c . 35. And St. Hierome , dial . adversus Lucifer . faith : I confess this is the custom of the Church , that to such as are by Presbyters and Deacons baptized a far off in lesser Cities , the Bishop goes to lay his hands upon them at the invocation of the Holy Ghost . And a little after : If you ask , why he that is Baptized in the Church , doth not receive the Holy Ghost , but by the band of a Bishop , which all acknowledge to be given in true Baptism . Know that this observation comes from that Authority , that after our Lords Ascension the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles , &c. In like manner Innocentius the first , Bishop of Rome and contemporary to St. Augustin , ep . ad Decent . c . 3. faith : As for Signing or Confirming Children , it is manifest , that it is not lawful to be done by any other , but by a Bishop : because Presbyters , tho' they be Priests , yet they arrive not to the height of Episcopacy . For such things to be due to Bishops alone , that they should Sign or give the Holy Ghost , not only the custom of the Church doth demonstrate , but also that lesson of the Acts of the Apostles , ( c . 8. v. 14. ) which tells us that Peter and John were sent , to give the Holy Ghost to those that were already Baptiz'd .

And lest you should think that Bishops do not give the Holy Ghost , because the party confirmed does not speak with Tongues , as in the Apostles time , hear how St. Augustin preoccupates and censures that objection : Is there any one ( saith he ) of so perverse an heart , as to deny those Children , on whom we have laid our hands , to have received the Holy Ghost , because they speak not with tongues ? tract 6. in ep . Joan .

Thirdly , so considerable and so weighty a business was the consecration of a Bishop held by the Primitive Church , that this solemnity could not be Conoinically performed without the presence of all the Bishops in the Province , at least of three , the rest consenting and approving their proceedings ; as it was expresly decreed in the Holy and Ge●um●nical Council of Nice , in these words : It is indeed very convenient , that a Bishop should be ordain'd by all the Bishops in the Province , but if this be difficult either for some urgent necessity , or for the longth of the journey ; then three Bishops by all means meeting , and those that are absen● likewise decreeing and consenting by their writings , let the ordination be performed . Yet the validity of what is done through every Province , must be attributed to the Metropolitan Bishop , Conc . Nicen . 1. can . 4. And the like decree is made in the Fourth Council of Carthage , where St. Augustine also was present , Can . 2. in these words , When a Bishop is Ordained , let two Bishops bold the Book of the Gospels over his head and shoulders , and one of them pouring Benediction upon him , let all the other Bishops that are present touch his head with their hands . See Conc . Carth . 2. Can . 12. & Carth . 3. Can . 39. And in the next ensuing Canon , speaking of the Ordination of Presbyters , they speak in this manner , When a Presbyter is Ordain'd , the Bishop blessing him , and holding his hand upon his head , let all the Presbyters also that are present lay their hands upon his head by the Bishops hands . And Can . 4. thus they prescribe the Ordination of Deacons , When a Deacon is Ordain'd , let the Bishop onely that blesseth him lay his hand upon his head , because he is not Consecrated to the Priesthood , but to the Ministery . These two last Canons I mention here , that by the different degrees of the Solemnities and Ceremonies used at the Consecration of Bishops , Presbyters , and Deacons in the Primitive Church , people may understand how differently Christians in those days esteemed of these three Ecclesiastical Orders . If we may rationally gather , that Deacons were then counted inferiour to Presbyters , because they were Ordained with less Solemnities , and fewer Ceremonies ; surely we have here the self same reason to think Presbyters inferiour to Bishops .

Fourthly , in those Primitive times , Bishops alone were allowed to confer holy Orders , or ordain Ecclesiastical Ministers , as evidently appeareth by the constant practice of Christs Church since the very beginning of Christianity : I First , our Saviour himself , who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls , 1 Pet . 2.25 . while he conversed here upon earth , ordained first his twelve Apostles , then his seventy Disciples , Luke 9.1 . and 10.1 . and after our Saviours time , the Apostles ( who were also Bishops , Acts 1.20 . ) either Ordained Presbyters and Deacons in those Churches they converted to the Christian Faith , Acts 6.6 . and 14.23 . or appointed others , whom they invested with Episcopal Authority to Ordain them ; this appears by St. Pauls Epissle to Titus , ( who was the first Bishop of Crete , as all Antiquity and particularly Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History , lib . 3. c . 4. and our own Bibles , at the end of the aforesaid Epistle do testifie ) where the Apostle saith , he left Titus in that Island , purposely to Ordain Elders in every City , Ti● . 1.5 . But to what purpose ( think you ) should St. Paul leave Titus in Crete to Ordain Elders , if every inferiour Presbyter could perform this duty ? Was there no Presbyter in Crete but Titus alone ? or if there were , why did not he enjoyn them to Ordain those Elders , or at least joyn them in Commission with Titus ? Moreover , if single Presbyters had power to ordain Clergy men in the Apostles time , how came they to lose this Authority in ensuing Ages ? Is it not evident that all antient Writers always attribute Ordinations onely to Bishops ? nay , they thought this power so inseparable from them , that they held it the chiefest ; and sometimes in comparison the sole Prerorogative belonging to the Episcopal Function , and much insisted upon this point , in proving the preheminence of Bishops above Presbyters , and all other Ecclesiastical Ministers , which had not the power of Ordination . See Conc . Antioch . cap . 10. Ancyran . cap . 12 : Ambrose , Chrysostom , Theodoret , and Theophylect , in 1 Tim . 3 & 3 Hiero . ep . 85. ad Evagr . Epiphan . Haer . 75. Aug in Breviculo , collat . 3. c . 5. Damas . ep . 3. de Chorepiscopis . Leo ep . 88. and many others . St. Hierom , though a great Patron to Presbyters , and a zealous maintainer of their just priviledges , yet confesseth Bishops alone had the power of Ordination . What doth a Bishop do , ( saith he ) except Ordination , that a Presbyter may not do ? Ep. 85. ad Evagr . And St. Chrysostom likewise , Hom. 11. in 1 Tim . 3. saith , Between a Bishop and a Presbyter almost there is no difference , for to Presbyters also the care of the Church is permitted ; and what he said of Bishops do agree also to Presbyters , for by Ordination onely the Bishops are their Superiours , and this alone they seem to have more than Presbyters . St. Ambrose also in 1 Tim . 3. saith , A Bishop and a Presbyter have one Ordination , and each of them is a Priest ; but the Bishop is first , so that every Bishop is a Presbyter , but not every Presbyter a Bishop , for he is Bishop that is first among the Presbyters . Finally he signifieth , that Timothy was ordained Presbyter , yet because he had none before him , he was a Bishop , and therefore he shews him how he may Ordain a Bishop ; for it was neither just nor lawful , that an Inferiour should Ordain his Superiour , for none gives what he hath not received . How is it possible ( saith St. Epiphanius , Haer . 75. ) that he should Ordain a Presbyter , who hath no right of laying on his hands to Ordain , or say that he is equal to a Bishop ? And the Council of Laodicea , held Anno 320. cap . 26. expresly declareth , That such as are not Ordinaed by Bishops , cannot exercise ( & a fortiori , administer the Sacraments ) either in Churches or Houses . And likewise the Council of Ancyra , cap . 12. ( anno 314. ) saith , That it is not lawful for Chorepiscopi's to Ordain Priests or Deacons .

But Demasus Bishop of Rome , contemporary to St. Hierom , expresly declares Ordinations given by single Presbyters not onely unlawful , but also void and null from the beginning , for in his Third Epistle , speaking of the aforesaid Ecclesiastical Persons , called Chorepiscopi , who though no Bishops , but onely their Substitutes , or Vicar-Generals , presumed as Bishops to Ordain others Presbyters and Deacons ) he writes in this manner , Whatsoever they have done in the aforesaid Ministery of High-Priesthood , it is void and null . Neither is this a new-found Paradox , or a private opinion of this Bishop , but rather so undoubted a Doctrine , that the invincible Antagonist of the Arians , the great Athanasius insisted upon it in the Council of Tyre , ( where he was surrounded by all his enemies , as a Lamb among so many Lions ) and used it as an uncontrollable argument against the malice of the wicked Ischyras , who pretending himself a Presbyter , Ordained by Colluthus a pretended Bishop , falsly accused this Champion of Christ with breaking the Cup , wherein himself administred the holy Communion ; which calumny St. Athanasius openly confuted , by proving , that Ischyras was no true Presbyter , as not being ordained by a true Bishop , and consequently could not administer that Sacrament . This passage is related by St. Athanasius himself , in his second Apology , where he speaks in this manner , The Priest that is pretended to have been present , is that so often spoken of Ischyras , who was neither chosen Presbyter by the Church , nor when Alexander received the Prethyters Ordained by Miletius , was he ever counted in that number , nor by him created . How then is Ischyras a Presbyter , or by whom was he Ordained ? Was he Ordained by Colluthus ? for that is the onely shift now remaining ; but that Colluthus died in the degree of Presbytery , and that all his imposition of hands were annulled , and all those that were Ordained by him reduced into the Order of Laicks , and under the name of Laicks admitted to the Communion , is so manifest a thing , that none can doubt thereof . And again in the same Apology , They suborned one Ischyras , a man that was no Priest , though he boasted of that name , for he was Ordained by one Colluthus , not a true , but an imaginary Bishop , who in a General Council was commanded by Osius and other Bishops then present , that he should be have himself onely as a Presbyter as he was before ; and therefore all those that were Ordained by him , returned unto their own antient state , among whom Ischyras also is to be counted .

Now the force of this Argument confists not in the single testimony of St. Athanasius , though that same ( in my opinion ) ought to be preferred before the Chymera's of John Calvin , and a million of his Myrmidons ; but it principally consists in these two points : The first is , That he produces a General Council , which likely may be the Nieene , to make good his assertion . The second is , That if this Doctrine had not been then unanimously received , as well by the Heterodox as by the Orthodox Believers , and consequently by all Christians in general , the Arrians , who left no stone unremov'd to confute their great Antagonist , would soon overthrow St. Athanasius his Plea , and tell him , ( as Presbyterians now would do ) Ischyras was a true Presbyter , though not Ordained by any Bishop , because single Presbyters could lawfully Ordain .

To all these pressing arguments , which are enough to convince any man not wilfully blind , or possess'd with the spirit of contradiction , we may add another insoluble demonstration ad hominem , out of our adversaries own concessions . For Presbyteri●ns cannot deny , but that the Sabbath was Jure Divino transferr'd from the Seventh to the First day of the Week ; it being unlawful for any earthly power to alter what God has so solemnly establish'd in the old Law : And likewise they cannot deny , but that Infants are Jure Divine capable of Baptism : Yet I defie any Presbyterian upon earth to shew better proofs for either of these tenets , than I have shew'd hither to for the Superiority of Bishops above Presbyters . For the grounds of all these points is holy Scripture , not solely or simply taken , but as interpreted by the universal practice and tradition of Christs Church since the beginning of Christianity : why then ( good Presbyterians ) should not these grounds prove the latter to be Jure Divino , as well as the former ? or by what authority do you presume to admit the one , and reject the other ?

If you insist upon Scripture alone in maintaining either Paedobaptism or the translation of the Sabbath , you shall thereby gain no more , but make your selves a laughing-stock to all learned and Judicious men . For as to the observation of Sunday , it is so obscurely delivered in the new Testament , ( and the old is diametrically against it ) that thereby you cannot convince any opposer whatsoever ; the places alledged for it , are these that follow : Upon the first day of the Week the Disciples came together to break Bread . Acts 20.27 . Upon the first day of the Week let every one lay by him in store , &c. 1 Cor . 16.2 . I was in Spirit on the Lords Day . Revel . 1.10 . Yet none of all these texts can convince the Sabbath to have been lawfully translated from Saturday to Sunday . For to the first it may be answered , that as the Disciples broke Bread upon the first day of the week , so ( no doubt ) they did sometimes upon every day of the week , as appeareth Acts 2.46 . and therefore we cannot conclude hence the change of the Sabbath to the first , rather than to any other day . The second likewise proves no more but that the Apostle adviseth the Corinthians to begin the week with an Act of Charity , laying aside then some relief for their oppressed Brethren . And moreover , it is observable , that in both these places the Original Greek hath not , the first day of the week , but {αβγδ} , one of the Sabbaths , which renders the matter yet more obscure , and less decidable by Scripture . As for the last , it may be said , that every day is the Lords Day , and yet some are so called , because something remarkable relating to God happens in those days . Thus the Day of Judgment is called the Lords Day , Mal . 4.5 . and 1 Thes . 5.2 . and 2 Pet . 3.10 . yet no man , I think , can affirm , that it falls upon Sunday . And in this sense the day spoken of by St. John , might well be called the Lords Day tho' not Sunday , because of the manifold Mysteries , which God was pleased then to reveal to his beloved Disciple .

Now as to the second point , so far it is from being warranted by any express Scripture , that the ancient Writers do commonly hold it only as an Apostolical Tradition . The Church ( saith Origenes ) receiv'd as a tradition from the Apostles to give Baptism even to Children , lib . 5. in c . 6 ep . ad Rom. And St. Augustin saith in like manner : The custom of our Mother the Church in Baptizing Children , is not at all to be despised , nor by any means to be counted superfluous , nor yet to be believed , unless it were an Apostolical Tradition , lib . 10. de Gen c . 23. And as for those passages of Scripture , which are commonly produced for Paedo-baptism , as the example of Circumcision , Christ's receiving little Children , and the Apostles Baptizing whole Families ; tho' together with the universal tradition and practice of the whole Church since our Saviour's Ascension , they are indeed sufficient grounds for this custom , yet solely taken by themselves alone , they cannot satisfie or convince any inquisitive man . For to the example of Circumcision , it may be soon answered , that Baptism doth necessarily presuppose Faith , which Circumcision did not : For in the Old Testament it was not said , Teach and Circumcise , or He that believeth and is Circumcised , &c. as it was said in the New , Teach all Nations , Baptizing them , &c. Matth . 28.19 . He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved , but he that believeth not , shall be damned , Mark 16.16 . Wherefore tho' children could be circumcised in the Old Law , Gen. 17.12 . Yet this proves not that we ought now to administer unto them the Sacrament of Baptism , which seemeth always to presuppose Divine Faith , whereof infants are uncapable , because they have no knowledg between Good and Evil , Deut. 1.39 . And likewise to our Saviour's words ; Suffer little Children to come unto me , and forbid them not : For of such is the Kingdom of God . Mark 10.14 . It may be answer'd , first , that Christ admitted Publicans and sinners to come unto him , which yet could not be lawfully Baptiz'd without true Faith and Repentance ; 2ly , that these Children , whereof our Saviour speaketh , were Circumcised , and consequently were in effect Baptiz'd according to the Rites of the Old Law . And as to those passages , where whole families are said to have been Baptiz'd , Acts 16.15 , 33. and 1 Cor . 1.16 . It cannot be deny'd , but it is probable there were some infants in those families ; yet here we do not look for probable guesses , but for undeniable testimonies : for since it is evident , that Children cannot actually believe , Deut. 1.39 . and that holy Scripture in several places expresly requireth saith in such as are to be Baptiz'd , Mark 16.16 . Acts 8.37 I think , probable conjectures can be no sufficient warrant for us to do any thing so apparently repugnant to holy Scripture .

It is plain therefore , that neither Paedo-baptism , nor the translation of the Sabbath can ever be proved by Scripture alone ; all these texts are so ambiguous and uncertain , that had they not been confirmed by the constant practice and tradition of the Church in all Ages ( which undoubtedly is the best gloss and comment we can find on Gods word ) we could never be assured of either of these tenets , or convince any opposer of their verity .

Now it is evident by all Antiquity , that nothing could be more universally practiced , than the Superiority and Jurisdiction of Bishops above Presbyters have been in the Primitive Church ; and withall it is manifest , that this practice is as much grounded on Holy Scripture , as either of the aforesaid tenets : Why then should we not conclude Episcopacy to be Jure Divino above Presbytery , as well as the Presbyterians hold Infants to be Jure Divino capable of Baptism , and the Sabbath to have been in like manner Translated from Saturday to Sunday ?

But our holy Brethren have got an invincible Argument to oppose against all these unanswerable Authorities , and what is this , but their own new-found Gloss upon St. Paul's ambiguous words ; the Apostle ( say they ) declares , that Timothy was ordained by Presbyters , when he saith , Neglect not the gift that is in thee , which was given thee by Prophesie , with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery , 1 Tim . 4.14 . But this is a new-found Gloss indeed , for no antient Writer , if not Aerius and his Sticklers , ever dreamt thereof before John Calvin and his illuminated Sectaries , have found it out by a new Revelation . St. Hierom , by those words , with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery , understands the hands , whereby Timothy received the Order of Presbytery or Priesthood .

St. Chrysostom , Theodoret , and others , do understand it of Bishops , to whom alone it belonged to confer Ecclesiastical Orders . But however it be interpreted , certain it is , that Timothy was never Ordained by single Presbyters , St. Paul expresly affirming he consecrated him himself , where he saith , Stir up the gift of God which is in thee , by the putting on of my hands , 2 Tim . 1.6 . Wherefore if by Presbytery we understand the persons that were Presbyters , whether single Presbyters or Bishops , and not the Order of Presbytery or Priesthood , as St. Hierom expounds it , we must understand it not of any Presbyters Ordaining or Consecrating Timothy , whereas the Apostle himself was his Consecrator , but of such as assisted at his Ordination , who according to the aforesaid Second and Third Canon of the Fourth Council of Carthage , were , together with the Consecrator , to lay their hands on the head of the Person Ordained Presbyter or Bishop .

Our godly Gospellers have one Objection more , if yet it deserves that name , against Episcopal Jurisdiction , or rather against the undue exercise thereof . The fourth Council of Carthage ( say they ) has decreed , cap . 23. That no Bishop , without the assistance of his Clergy , should hear or determine Ecclesiastical Causes , otherwise the Bishops Sentence should be void and null , unless it were confirmed by the presence of his Clergy . But what can this make for our Presbyterian Democracy , or against the Superiority of Bishops to be de Jure Divino , which is the chiefest Point controverted between us , I cannot in the least comprehend . As for our part , we always acknowledge , that since the beginning of Christianity , Bishops had commonly about them many of their ablest Priests and Divines , as it were their Spiritual Privy Counsellers , to consult about Ecclesiastical matters , without whose consent and approbation , they seldom transacted any matters of moment , even as Kings and Princes seldom transact matters of State without consulting their Privy Council . Thus St. Cyprian saith , himself was accustomed to use the advice of his Priests and Learned Clergy in exercising his Ecclesiastical Function , and ordering the affairs of his Church . Yet this argues no more the parity of Priests and Bishops , than the aforesaid custom of Princes proves the equality of Kings and Privy Counsellers . Nay further , though Bishops could not determine Ecclesiastical matters without the advice and consent of at least the major part of their Clergy , yet it should not immediately follow , that they are both of equal power , either of Order or Jurisdiction ; even as many Kings of Europe can neither make new Laws , nor repeal the old , without the assent of the States of their Kingdoms , yet are far above any of these States in power and authority . Likewise Judges in England can seldom give sentence of death against any man , without the assent and verdict of the Jury , and yet the Jury is not of equal power and commission with the Judges in deciding such capital crimes .

Wherefore we say ( as it hath been already proved ) that Bishops are truely superiour to their Clergy , and have power from Christ to rule and govern both the Flock and Pastors together . Yet we confess , they must not rule arbitrarily , or domineer over their inferiours ; not being Lords ( as St. Peter saith ) over Gods heritage , but being ensamples to the flock , 1 Pet . 5.3 . surpassing the inferiour Clergy in humility , as they exceed them in dignity ; for as our Saviour saith to his Apostles , The Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them , and they that are great exercise authority upon them . But it shall not be so among you ; but whosoever will be great among you , let him be your minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you , let him be your servant . Even as the Son of man came not to be ministred unto , but to minister , and to give his life a ransome for many , Matth . 20.25 , 26 , 27 , 28. But if the Apostles were not allowed to exercise any arbitrary or domineering power over Christians , without doubt Bishops , who are but the Apostles Successors , have no right to do it ; yet this hindereth not , but they may use their Spiritual Authority against obstinate and rebellious persons , who ( like Corah and his Accomplices pretending an Arbitrary Government in Moses and Aaron , Numb . 16.3 . ) insolently depart from their lawful Pastors and Superiors , making themselves Ring leaders of Schismatical Factions ; for in this case they may say with the Apostles , The weapons of our warfare are not carnal , but mighty through God , to the pulling down of strong holds ; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledg of God , and bringing into Captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ , 2 Cor . 10.4 , 5.

Having thus examined ( Good Presbyterians ) the pretended grounds of your separation from our Church and Communion , I appeal now to your own consciences , if the Independent Presbyterians had not as much reason as you can here produce , to depart from your fraternity , and the Quakers , Levellers , and all those Leviathan monsters ( which like Mushrooms sprung up in the late confusion ) to depart from the Independents . Shew me I beseech you , some reason or authority warranting the one , and condemning the other . Shew me but one express text of Scripture , or one true president of antiquity for your Presbyterian Democracy , and I will be of your Communion . In the interim , I beg of you impartially to consider , how desperate is your condition , and upon what groundless grounds you separate your selves from the Mother Church . Do not think that your usual pretence of differing from her , not in any necessary point of faith ( as you say ) but only in some inferior truths and few ceremonies , can justify your departing from her Communion . For undoubtedly , the less you dissent from her in Doctrine , the more you are to be suspected of the heinous crime of Schism , which is commonly defined by learned men , A wilful Separation from the Communion of a Christian Society without any sufficient cause . If therefore you dissent from the Church of England only in outward Ceremonies , and some few unnecessary points of Doctrine ; surely , you have no sufficient cause to forsake her Communion ; since in reason nothing less than a damnable and intolerable error either in faith or manners , can warrant us to disobey our Superiors , whom by the express word of God we are indispensably obliged to obey , Heb . 13.17 . How then can you justifie your departure from the Obedience of your lawfull Bishops , or clear your selves from the brand of Schism , if you differ from them only in such trivial points of Religion ?

Do but consider a little , what unspeakable miseries this your separation has caused this 100 years past in this Island of Great Britain . What factions , what divisions , what massacres it occasioned among us ? how strangely it weaken'd our Government both Spiritual and Temporal , and encouraged our enemies so often to design our ruine , they knowing that a Kingdom divided against it self , is easily brought to desolation ? Matth . 12.25 . What Locusts of unheard off Sectaries it produced , to the apparent ruine of so many seduced souls ? Our Muggletonians , Quakers , Levellers , Brownists , and a numberless number of other Apocalyptical Enthusiasts , we must chiefly atribute to your pretended refining of the Reformation ; for by your example they perswaded themselves , they might as well reform your Gospel , as you pretend to reform the Church of England . Consider , I say , this deluge of mischief brought upon your native Country , through your groundless separation and disobedience to your lawful Pastors , and tell me , what good has your pretended Holy Discipline ever done to the Church of Christ , to countervail these woful calamities ? Or do you think , it is possible , that such a discipline should be of God , which upon such trivial pretences is the occasion of so much trouble and confusion ?

Wherefore , Good and well-meaning Presbyterians ( for such to be among you I must in charity believe , and with such only I have any hopes to prevail ) if you expect the blessing of God , and the love of the Church of England , or if you desire not to be reputed , as well as Papists , sworn enemies to all Episcopal Protestants , lay aside this Spirit of contradiction , and since the Prophet assures us , that to obey is beter than Sacrifice , 1 Sam . 15.22 . Obey you them that have rule over you ( as the Apostle speaketh , Heb . 13.17 . ) and submit your selves to those , who by the Laws of the Land , by the Canons of so many ancient Councils , and the universal uninterrupted custom of the Church of God since the Apostles time , are appointed your Pastors and Prelates to direct and guide you in spiritual matters . Forsake these factious Ring leaders , who make you but Asses for themselves to ride upon in state , and therefore to make themselves great , mind nothing but Sedition and Rebellion , tho' to you they pretend but Religion and Liberty , using ( as St. Peter speaketh ) their liberty for a Cloak of Maliciousness , 1 Pet . 2.16 . like these wicked hypocrites described by Leo the great , ep . 23. in these words : Private designs are carryed on under the pretence of piety , and every one has Religion as the Handmaid of his ambition . For ( as our Royal Martyr elegantly saith ) It is no news to have all inovations usher'd in with the name of Reformations in Church and State , by those , who seeking to gain reputation with the vulgar for their extraordinary parts and piety , must needs undo what ever was formerly setled , never so well and wisely ; in his Eikon Basilike , c 16. For I have observed ( saith he again c . 27. ) that the Devil of Rebellion doth commonly turn himself into an Angel of Reformation ; and the Old Serpent can pretend new lights . When some mens consciences accuse them of sedition and faction , they stop its mouth with the name and noise of Religion .

Forsake you therefore such counterfeit Religionaries , and take notice of what the Angel said to Hagar in the Desert ; Return to thy Mistriss , and submit thy self under her hands ; Gen. 16.9 . Return you to the Church of England , and if you intend to escape out of the Desert of Schism , submit to her Laws and Ordinances ; she will receive you with as much tenderness and affection , as the Father embraced his Prodigal Son in the Gospel , Luke 15.20 .

By this you shall fully clear your selves of all imputations of Schism and innovations , and shall avoid all future suspicions of contriving any Stratagems to ruine your native Country , or subvert the Government either of Church or State ; you shall strengthen the Protestant interest both at home and abroad , be a means by degrees to suppress Popery and all those mushrums of Christianity , that spring up among us , and procure to your selves peace and quietness both in this World and in the World to come ; which God of his mercy Grant us all ; Amen .