Imprimatur,  
Carolus Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. à sacris domesticis.   

A Friendly Call, OR A SEASONABLE PERSUASIVE TO UNITY. DIRECTED To all Nonconformists and Dissenters in Religion from the Church of ENGLAND. As the only secure Means to Frustrate and Prevent all POPISH PLOTS and Designs against the Peace of this Kingdom both in CHURCH and STATE.  
By a Lover of the Truth and a Friend to Peace and Unity.  
Pfal. 123.1. Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is, for Brethren to dwell together in Unity.  
1 Cor. 1.10. Now I beseech you Brethren, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same Thing, and that there be no Divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together, in the same Mind, and in the same Judgement.  
LONDON, Printed for T. Basset and J. Leigh Booksellers in Fleetstreet. 1679.   

A Friendly Call, OR A PERSUASIVE TO UNITY.  
THE wisest of Kings hath told us, that there is a Time, and season for all things; 
Eccles. 3.1. & 7.  a Time to keep Silence, and a Time to Speak; and certainly now, if ever, the last Time is not only Convenient, but absolutely Necessary: and should Man hold his Peace, and neglect this Duty, 
Hab. 2.11.  even the Stone should cry out of the Wall, and the Beam of the Timber shall answer it. I could wish I had the Voice of Stentor, that I might be heard throughout our Israel, or that of a Trumpet, that I might be heard by the Ears of the People: I would cry aloud to this deaf Generation, that they might be awakened out of the dream they now seem to be possessed with, and be roused from the Lethargy and Apoplectical estate they now lie under. 
Isaiah 58.1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy Voice like a Trumpet, and show my People their Treansgressions, and the House of Jacob their Sins.  
I direct this my Discourse and Friendly Call to all in General; but more particularly to those, who are Dissenters from the Church of England, and who seem to make a breach in the Conformity, and happy Unity of the Church, and who through overnice Scruples, cause a Schism and Rent in its seamless Garment. 'Tis to You that I now speak, as a Friend, as a Brother, for so we ought to be one to another, and not as Wolves and Dogs, snarling and snapping one at the other, but with gentleness and freedom admonish one another: 
Eph. 4.2, 3.  With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in Love: Endeavouring to keep the Unity of the Spirit, in the Bond of Peace. 'Tis the Command of Christ, who is Love itself, 
John 13.34.  that we Love one another: by it we are known to be his true Disciples and followers of Him. And there can be no greater sign of this Love, than Friendly to admonish one another of Errors, and straying from the Truth; and to assist the weak, to raise up those that fall; to call to Unity and Concord, and to stir up to Peace and Amity: That we may be all of one Mind, 
1 Pet. 3.8.9.  having Compassion one of another, loving as Brethren, being Pitiful, being Courteous, not rendering Evil for Evil, and Railing for Railing.  
'Tis with this Spirit of Brotherly Love, and of Holy Friendship, that I would Call unto you at this Time, and though I would Call and Cry aloud, to be heard, and that I might unstop your sealed Ears, yet I would not do it in the Thunder and Ratle of Words only; in the empty noise of Sounds and gingling of Syllables; with vain Rhetoric or fruitless Oratory; but I would speak home to your Understandings, to your Hearts, and to your Spirits; I would speak Life and Fire, that you might be at this time Quickened, and that you might feel and be sensible of the Truth. I know, there have been many Boanerges, Sons of Thunder, that have rend the Mountains, and broken to pieces the Rocks of Division with their Voices and with the Wind of their Mouths: there have been also those who have made Earthquakes, and troubled the waters of Dissension: there have been others, who with their fiery Zeal have burnt up all before them; and with too much Wrath, and Bitterness, have rather widened than healed up the Breaches; and by such Debates and Disputes have rather hindered than farthered the happy and desired Unity and Conformity in the Land. I will not say God was not in them, but I would now with a still small Voice speak Peace and Harmony, persuade to Unity and Conformity, to Brotherly Love and Affection; I would speak with the Tongue of Charity rather than with that of Men and Angels; I would bring Balm to your Wounds and Ease to your Griefs of Separation: This is the End, this is the Scope, and this is the meaning and true intention of this Call at this time: 
2 Cor. 13.11  that we may be of good Comfort, and of one Mind, that we may live in Peace, and that the God of Love and Peace may be with us.  
As the intention of this Call is Charity to the whole Nation, I come not therefore with Launcets and Razers, to cut and break up the Wounds, or with Probes and pledget's, to search or keep them open; the Wounds of Division and Separation have been sufficiently handled by able and skilful Surgeons, and now is the time, if ever, to apply a Cataplasm, and healing Plaster, a ripening and cicatricing Cerecloth, that there may no Scar or Deformity remain, which Panacea is Unity of Spirit in the bond of Peace. And as this is it I would Call to in Charity and with all earnestness, with Love and also with Power, so I would do it in few Words, and if I could, to the purpose. 
Matt. 6.7. 1 Cor. 14 19  For it was a Heathenish fault, to use vain repetition, and to be thought to be heard for much Speaking; and I had, as St. Paul says, much rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might be beneficial to others, than ten thousand not to be understood; therefore as the Wiseman Counsels, 
Eccl. 5.2. Prov. 10.19.  My Words shall be few, for in the multiplicity thereof there wanteth not Sin.  
And now in the first place Consider, that Love is the special Command of Jesus Christ our Pattern, by whose Name we are Called, our Saviour and our Master; 'tis a Mark by which he will have his true Sheep known from the counterfeit, from the Wolves in Sheep's clothing; 
1 John 4.20.  and St. John will not believe any one, that shall make a Profession of Love to God, and not at the same time show it to his Brother; he tells him, that shall so Profess, that he is a Liar: and surely 'tis the greatest Hypocrisy in the World, and we deceive ourselves, if we think we can at any time truly Love God, whilst at the same time we are at open Enmity and Hatred with our Brother.  
But let us not commit a great Mistake, and think they only to be our Brethren, that are of our own Way, our own Profession, our own Church-fellowship, and Brotherhood; and that Christ has restrained our Love to be extended only to the Few: who are then the Brethren? Christ tells you, one another; 
Leu. 19.18. James 2.8 9  who are they? Your Neighbour whom you ought to Love as yourself, by which we fulfil the Royal Law, according to the Scripture; without respect of Persons, for that is Sinful. Christ tells you this Neighbour is a Samaritan, a Separatist, one with whom the Jews had no Commerce, one of a different Judgement and profession; a Sectary, a Dissenter in Religion, a Nonconformist to the Worship at Jerusalem; he that showeth Mercy and lives in Brotherly Love is this Neighbour: But Christ hath sublimed this Royal Law of Love, and gone a step beyond Moses, that we might not mistake and contract this Virtue, that is of so diffusive and expanding a Nature, that can cover multitudes of faults, and extend itself to all Mankind, and stretch its ample Wings over the whole World; Christ, I say, thinks it exceeds not the Love of Publicans to Love only good Samaritans, such as relieve your Wants, or use you Kindly, 
Matt. 5.46.  such as Comply with you, such as return you Kindness for Kindness, such as walk Friendly with you; but he gives us a more general Command, that we may make no mistakes, 
Matt. 5.44.  Love your Enemies: those that openly Profess themselves Dissenters, and that speak evil of your way, and despitefully use you. Though there may be a difference between the Love shown to an Enemy and that towards a Brother, that being more general, this being more near and particular. But to Conclude, this love to the Brethren is so extensive, that it ought to reach to all who make an open Profession of the Name of Jesus Christ, who confess him to be the Son of God and that he is come in the Flesh; and who so ever truly Believeth this, is born of God, is thy Brother, and aught to be Beloved; 
1 Joh. 5.1.  for every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.  
Since then 'tis so absolutely necessary to keep this Royal Law of Love, if we will be true Christians, and followers of Christ, there can be no greater Argument to persuade to Unity, as the means to that End; for without Unity we cannot conveniently exercise this Brotherly Love; and without Concord and Agreement there can be no true Harmony; and whilst there is a Separation and Disagreement, Love is apt to wax cold; and Envyings, Backbitings, Hatred and Malice are apt to arise; Disputes, Cavillings, Janglings and Debates are multiplied; which being all contrary to the Nature of Love and Peace, they are stifled and born down, and trampled under Foot: And thus the seamless Garment of the Church is torn in pieces, and the beauty of Unity spoiled. Therefore I beseech you Brethren, 
1 Cor. 1.10.  by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no Divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same Mind, and in the same Judgement.  
Divisions and Schisms, Rents and Separations, have sprung up in the Church from the evil Seed of the wicked Sower, which have yielded an ample Crop of Tares, Cockle and Darnel. But it was not so at the first, Christ founded his Church upon the Rock of Unity, it was once Entire and Uniform; and the Apostles, and the Primitive Fathers of the Church built up the Superstructure in Uniformity and with Entireness. There were no gaps seen in the Walls, there were no blemishes; the Stones stood not at a distance from one another, but closely united and cemented, and there appeared nothing but Beauty and Conformity. The Law of Love was exercised, there were no Names of Difference and Separation, no Names of Scorn and Infamy, they were distinguished by the Titles of Fathers, Sons and Brethren; and there was then in those Happy and Golden days of the Church, though troubled by Persecution, a true and perfect Concord, Harmony and Agreement. If there were any differences arose, they were ended without Strife, and without Division and Separation; though some were of Paul, and others of Apollo's, all were of God, in the Unity of Faith and in the Bond of Peace. 
Psal. 85.10  Then Mercy and Truth did meet together, and Righteousness and Peace did kiss each other.  
But the Evil one, who envies at the Unity of the Church of Christ, who cannot endure to behold its Glory and Conformity, who hates the Love of Brethren; who makes use of all his Cunning and Malice, to cause Divisions and Separations; who sows Envyings, who plants Cavillings, who raises vain Disputes, and frivolous Debates, and scatters up and down, idle and needless Scruples, to disturb the quiet and the peace of the Church; who still loves to Fish in troubled Waters; seeing the Beauty and Glory of United Christians, made use of all his cunning Arts and Skill, and set to work all his evil Agents and Instruments, to break this Unity, to sow Discords and Divisions, and to spoil the pleasant Harmony of the People of God. All the Persecutions that the Devil stirred up against the Saints, the many Deaths of the Martyrs, Afflictions, Crosses, Disgraces, Torments, could not so well effect his desires: he perceived that the Blood of the Martyrs was the semen Ecclesiae, that made the Church to flourish and spring up; he therefore flings away the Sword, and betakes himself to Poison, wherewith he more easily brought his Evil purposes and designs to pass, and soon defaced the Beauty and Comeliness of the Visible Church: the Poison of Pride, of Ambition, of Luxury and Ease, and of false Doctrine. By this means he set them at Variance one with another, the Children against the Father, the Father against the Children; the Shepherd against the Sheep, and the Sheep against the Shepherd; and the Pastors against one another; the Flocks are scattered upon the Hills, and the fair Unity is broken. Thus a gap being made, how many Evils soon entered at these breaches? Presently Heresies sprung up, Sects increased, Schisms multiplied, names of Division and Separations were known, then came into the World the spawns of Symonaicks, Nicholaitans, Cerinthians, Marcionists, Montanists, Porphyrians, Manachees, Novatians, Arrians, Eunomians, Denatists, Photinians, Luciferians, Jovianists, Pelagians, Anthropomorphites, Nestorians, Sabbatians, Quaternians, Monothelites, Millenarians, Anabaptists, Socinians, Antinomians, Quakers, and many others; which multiplied like the Grecian Gods, of which Hesiod reckons up Thirty thousand. Then every one ran after his own Inventions, they frame to themselves Idols of their own; every Man will have an Ephod, a Church, a Congregation by themselves; all Government, all Obedience to Laws and Constitutions, all Submission to Magistrates, to Bishops, and Fathers of the Church are laid aside, and every one does what seems good in his own Eyes; and thus Confusion, Separation, Schism, Heresy and Rebellion were let in, to disturb the Peace, the Quiet, and the Unity of the Church. Thus, I say, it was effected by the means of Satan, that Evil one, who still makes it his great business, where ever he finds Unity and Peace, to spoil and deface them, and to raise up Strife and Separation.  
Since Separation and Division among Brethren, proceeds from the Cunning and Malice of Satan, why should it continue any longer in our Israel? Why should not every Man put to his helping hand, to build up the Walls of Unity? Are we not Brethren? Have we not one Father God? One Head Jesus Christ? Is he not our Common Shepherd? Have we not one Faith, Salvation by Christ? Do not we Believe him come in the Flesh? Do not we Confess his Name? Are we not all Christians? And indeed are we not also of one Mother the Church? Why then this Separation? This Division? This drawing several Ways? Why cannot or why do not you Unite as you ought to do? If there be any obstacles and stumbling blocks of offence that lie in the way, set to your Hands and endeavour to remove them. I suppose they are not so many, nor so great, but they may be easily enough removed, if you go about it willingly and sincerely; if you are not biased or perverted by your own Passions and your own contradictory and perverse Wills: if you are not Stubborn and Dogmatical, and not too stiff in your own Opinions in small matters, you must yield somewhat in Love one to another, that the Work may be done and the Breaches made up; and that the Walls of a perfect Uniformity may at last be built for the security and welfare both of Church and State.  
And that this may be Effected and that our happy Unity may be lasting and perpetual, that the Stones may be made smooth and polished fit for the building, that they may lie fast, equal and close; all ruggedness and gratings must be done away, for whilst they remain they will not be fit for the building, and there will be but little hopes of Conformity and entireness. You must then lay aside that bitterness of Spirit, which some of you call Zeal, wherewith you upbraid those of the contrary Party, and to the multitude cunningly insinuate an Opinion of Holiness and Integrity of yourselves, and of looseness and neglect of your Adversaries: always on the least occasions lashing them with sharp and severe reproofs, ripping up the faults of Bishops and the Clergy of the Prelatical Party. You must leave these common Aspersions which abound among many, throwing all Faults and Errors on the Ecclesiastical Government; and to it impute all Faults, all Corruptions, endeavouring thereby to win to yourselves the Opinion of Wisdom: you must also leave to intrude upon the People and your Hearers your own Form of Church Government, as the only remedy to avoid all Evils, as the only true Way to walk in, and as if Salvation were hard to be purchased any where else; and giving it so many glorious Titles and Encomiums, and so possessing the minds of Men with an overweening of the one, and a bitter and malicious Scorn and Detestation of the other. Leave also to interpret the whole scope of Scripture, as if framed to maintain your own Form of Government, presenting your Followers with false Glosses, whereby they read only as you would have them, and pervert Scripture to maintain the false Ideas of their sickly Imaginations; and thus every Sect makes the Scripture to speak in favour of their Way and false Opinions, to maintain their Schism and Separation; calling all Samaria and Babylon that are not of themselves, and their own Congregations Zion and Jerusalem. You must also leave off those Names of Separation and Distinguishment, calling yourselves the Godly, the Brethren, the Good People, God's Children, the Sanctified; and others, the Ungodly, Reprobates, Worldlings, Time-servers, Men-pleasers, Moralists, and Latitudinarians, Arminians, and the like. You must also lay aside that eager endeavour of making Proselytes, especially of the weaker Vessels who are apt to be easily led and persuaded by godly and Religious pretences, though thereby they do great damage to their Husbands and Families, making the Separation within their private Walls as wide as that which you have caused in the Nation. You must also cease to cry out and exclaim against Magistrates and Rulers, Kings and Governors, as Severe, Cruel and Tyrannical, upon the least restraint of your Liberties; as if you were thereby become Martyrs for the Cause of Christ, and branding those, that perhaps not with out occasion given thereto, put some moderate restraint upon you, with the Titles of Bloodsuckers, and Bloodthirsty Men, Persecutors and Tormentors; drawing all the Scriptures that any way favour the Innocency of such as have Suffered for the Truth by wicked Tyrants, to your own selves, and apply them still to your Case as if you were the Persons pointed out by the Finger of the Holy Ghost, and for whom they were chief intended. Also you must not speak contemptibly of Bishops as you too frequently do, giving them scurrilous Names, as Limbs of Antichrist, Locusts of the bottomless pit, domineering Lords, Usurpers, Spiritual Tyrants, Lordly Bishops, etc. and calling the Ministers of the Gospel in contempt Priests, nay Baal's Priests, Time-servers, Hirelings, State Divines, dumb Dogs, vain Babblers, with such like Language; those whom the Scriptures Dignify and Honour with the Titles of Christ's Ambassadors, Gods Stewards, Pastors of Christ's flock, Stars, Angels, Gods, receive too often from you contrary Denominations; being scandalised at the Title of Lord given to Bishops, which is an Honorary Name annexed to their Temporalties by the Kings of England, you call them in Disdain, Lordlings, Proud, Imperious, Arrogant, and the like. You must also leave to Whisper in private against the Governors and against the Secular Power, as if tending to and infected with Popery, and of complaining to your Disciples that you are fain to fly to Corners and to Private Meetings, like the Primitive Christians, whilst Papists, Drunkards and Swearers are not meddled with or disturbed; that you are more roughly handled than those who go to Mass, that your Godly Meetings are disturbed, whilst Taverns, Alehouses and Playhouses are never looked into, and where they commit Enormities without Check or Control: that you are the true Church, and that the Word and Sacraments are by you dispensed in Purity, and according to the Primitive Institution; that the public Places of God's Worship are defiled with Common Prayers, Singing, Anthems, Read-Sermons and Set-Prayers, Organs, and such like (as you call them) Superstitious rags of Popery. You must also utterly lay aside all your Reverend thoughts of your great Idol the Covenant, the Moloch of Presbytery, the Scottish Dagon, a very Monster of Rebellion; this must be never thought of more, but laid aside and drowned in the Sea of Oblivion. You must also leave off your continual Scoffing at the public Prayers of the Church which you have termed Porridg, your unseasonable jests and jeers against so Religious an exercise; composed by the most Learned and Holy Men of this Nation, and sealed to with their Blood and Lives. And you must utterly disclaim and remove out of the way, the very thoughts of that Principle that have been owned by you, and is a a very Mountain in the gap of Separation, that in the Cause of Religion it is Lawful to take up Arms against your King and Sovereign. You must also lay aside that evil Eye which you have against the Riches and Revenues of the Bishops, which you would gladly share among yourselves and account it no Sacrilege: The Bishop's Lands stick in your Stomaches, because they have slipped from between your Fingers; but be not your Eye evil because that of your Ancestors has been good; because Pious Princes and Religious Nobles have bestowed so much means on the Church. They rob you not, 'tis not the effect of your Labour nor proceeds from the sweat of your Brows, a Poor Clergy would be soon Vile and Contemptible. And though it be no fault to have a steady and unchanged Mind and Opinion upon well grounded Principles, yet I think all these stumbling blocks of Offences will not be accounted by yourselves any found Principles or Foundations to build upon; but are Stones and Rocks against which you dash your Feet, and which divert you from the path that leads to Peace and Unity: therefore be not over stiff in your own Opinions, and think it no disgrace or undervaluing to your Cause or Reputation to give way, and at last see the great Benefit that will accrue not only to the whole Nation but your Selves, by putting to your own Hands to the removing all these forementioned Obstacles.  
I am not Ignorant that against this my Advice you have Objected the tenderness of your Consciences, that has enfeebled your Hands and kept you back from performing what is required of you. But have a care you delude not yourselves in this Point, and pretend Conscience when there is something else in the way. There is no Sect, no Libertine, the very Levellers and Ranters themselves, but have the same Plea, and fly away from their Duties to this starting hole. Conscience hath been the general pretence for all those who had no mind to obey: 'Tis the common Shield and Buckler of Defence, but I think there can be no Plea for Conscience when a lawful Authority requires only lawful things; such as are not Derogatory to the Honour of God, nor hurtful to the common Society of Men. I know also that you will tell me, 
Rom. 14.33.14.  that what is not of Faith is Sin, and that, though there is nothing unclean of itself; yet to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But have a care that your Conscience, that is so tender, does not strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel, stumble at a Straw and leap over a Block: I would not have you to do any thing against Conscience, but than you must rectify your Conscience by the Rule of God's Word, otherwise it is no Conscience; for there can be no pretence of Conscience in doing Evil or Unlawful things, it must be only in indifferent things where it hangs in aequilibrio as it were, that it can admit of Doubts and Scruples. Known Good and known Evil does not admit of that pretence. The Apostle Paul commandeth thee to obey for Conscience sake; but you pretend Conscience for Disobedience and Rebellion: He commands you to be subject for Conscience sake, you pretend to be free for Conscience sake: these are Contradictions, and are repugnant one to another. These are not doubful Cases, the Rule is too plain here to admit of Scruples. That the way to Peace may be plain, you must not through Ignorance, Prejudice or Precipitancy, call those things Popery and Superstition which are not, nor persuade your Followers with so much Imbitterness against them: be not so loud against them, decry them not only with Noise and Bawling, bring them to the Test and let all things be weighed by the Balances of the Sanctuary; and than it will be easily seen what is really Popery and Superstition, and what so pretended. Religion is for the most part taken up upon Trust, Custom and Education rather than Choice; frame it for us, and we follow therein our Parents and our Nurses. They call every thing Popery that is not made use of by themselves: Every one that pleads for Ceremonies, though never so decent, is esteemed Popishly affected; and generally among the common People of your Persuasion, Episcopacy is thought no better of than Popery, and Prelates and Ministers of the Church of England than of Cardinals and Priests. But my Masters 'tis a hard Case, that those very Persons who were the chief Instruments of breaking the Tyrannical Yoke of Rome in this Nation, and for which many of them were Martyred, should be they who framed those very Constitutions which you call Popish, and for which they lost their Lives by Popish Adversaries. And also that they should be esteemed Popish Abettors, because of their approving of these Ceremonies who have so strenuously wrote against the Tenets of Rome, and who like worthy Champions have stood in the Gap and defended the true Protestant Cause against all gainsayers. That these very Persons who have Converted many from the Popish Religion, have Established many that were Wavering, have Recovered others that were Lapsed, and that have Confirmed several that were Doubting; that these (I say) should be Branded by you with the Ignominious mark of Popery, is strange and hardly Paralleled. And lastly, that this desired Unity may be brought about, you are desired to use so much Charity as not rashly to damn another for every Difference, and so much Ingenuity as not to render the Opinions of your Adversaries more black and odious to the World than you in your Consciences know them to be. Since the Church of England has Justified herself by some of the unanswerable Writings of her worthy Sons, from all Imputations of Heresy and Schism, from all novelty and false Doctrine, and Answered all Objections whatsoever against her Ceremonies and Discipline.  
There is yet one other Stone of offence, which I had almost forgot, and which will help to Unity if it be may be rolled away, for many other lesser gravelly adherences will be avoided with it, and this is an Opinion, That it is unlawful, and sinful, to do any thing without direction from the Scripture or the Word of God, whereby you think by that means to overthrow the Ceremonies of the Church of England. But, I will say, in the Learned Dr. sanderson's own words, 
Sand. ad clerum Ser. 4. p. 62.  That if you will understand this only of the Substantials of God's Worship, and of the exercises of Spiritual and Supernatural Graces, the assertion is true and sound; but if you extend it as you do to all the actions of common Life whatsoever, whether Natural or Civil, it is altogether false and indefensible. I shall not go about to confute this Opinion, 'tis not my Business or Intention to enter into Disputes of the Merits of the Cause, it has been sufficiently done by more skilful Hands and learned Pens: But this Weapon is so made that it may be turned against your own selves, it offends as much as defends you, and cuts both ways like a two edged Sword; for by that Rule you can no more defend the wearing your short Cloaks and little Bands, than the other party their Gowns and Rochetts; and it will be as difficult to prove from Scripture your Institutions and Formalities, as the other their Ceremonies and Customs. The Holy Word of God is a perfect and most absolute and sufficient direction as to all things concerning our Salvation, and as to that point we need not the help of Traditions; but certainly in things indifferent, and in things about the common Actions of Life, we need not seek any farther than the Light of Reason and the common Rules of Discretion, and not expect particular Warrants only from the Scripture for every action of humane Life. All that we are to take care of is that our Actions be regulated as near as may be to those Rules laid down in the Holy Scriptures for us to walk by, at least that they be no ways contradictory; and than it will be sufficient to maintain their Legality, whilst they are established by the Law of Nature or that of Reason, without seeking to deduce Authority for them out of the Holy Scriptures.  
These are the chief things that at present occur to my Memory which lie in the way that leads to Peace and Unity, and which if removed will render the way more plain and even. These are not things of Indifferency, you will not own them nor plead for them, and I question not, when you have laid aside your imbittered Passions and rigid Dispositions against your Adversaries, you will be willing to put to your Hands, that all these Stones of offence may be done away, and which should not have been mentioned but for that end. But I would not have you think that I am Partial, and that this Call ought not also to be heard on the other side, and that I would not incite those also of the Church of England to do their part in every thing that may be justly required of them. And here I cannot but justify them from any aspersion of that Nature, in that in all their Writings they have held out to you the right Hand of fellowship, they have invited you to come in to them, they have Called to Unity, they have desired your Fellowship, and that there may be no longer this Distance and Separation, they have at all times exhibited a willingness to have this breach made up; they would receive you into their Churches, they would Communicate with you as Brothers, they would provide for you as Sons, they would take care of you as Fathers, if you would own them as such. What then makes this breach? What is it continues this Separation? What makes you so stiff in things of small moment? Why should not they yield? Say you; why should not you obey? Say they. One would think the weight of Authority should in this Case cast the balance: but sure you have put something more into the scales than what appears to the World, that neither the kindness shown you by your Opposers, the Indulgence of Princes nor the commands of Authority are able to move up your heavy scale. But I would also have this Call reach to the Ears of those of the Church of England, to whom with Reverence and Submission be it spoken, that you are also desired to continue to use all means that this Unity may be effected, and that you would on your parts endeavour to remove all Obstacles thereto: You must then endeavour to forget all that is past, you must not remember our late Troubles, Wars, Confusions, Devastations, as the effects of an unholy War for Religion; you must not tell them any more of their unsanctified and bloody Covenant, you must not say they are a stiffnecked Generation and people of a perverse Mind and Heart; you must not mention their proud and arrogant Tryers, nor fright them with the Hobgoblin Smectymnnus; you must now forget all that's past and continue that kindness and moderation that most of you have still on all occasions shown them, that the distance that is yet between you may be overcome, and that you may meet as Brothers, and be united in Heart and Spirit.  
These Rubs being presupposed to be removed, what is it now that you Contend for? Things as you yourselves say of small moment, trifles, Ceremonies, etc. 'Tis true they are not Essentials, matters of Faith, things of absolute necessity to Salvation, things of indifferency; yet not trifles and of no weight or value. If they be as you say, why stand you so stiff against them? Why all this bustle and do about nothing? But you have a refuge, Conscience. They plead the same for retaining them, and also have Antiquity and Authority to back them. Common Prayer will not down with you, no set Form, it stints the Spirit, with other small and frivolous objections against some parts of the Liturgy. For shame leave off at last those needless Cavils of which some of yourselves have been ashamed. You know that Forms of Prayer have been in all Ages both in the Greek and Latin Churches, and are not only of a primitive Institution in the very Infancy of the Church, when there was a double measure of the Spirit poured down upon its Bishops and Pastors, but our Lord Jesus Christ himself thought good to leave a Set and prescribed Form of Prayer, and also the like Forms were used of old in the Jewish Church and Service, they were not left to their own Inventions. I will not go about to argue the Case with you, but if it be Lawful to Pray in a set Form, as I suppose none of you will gainsay, it is then expedient because Commanded by Authority. But have you not a Christian Liberty left you to exercise your Gifts and to show your Eloquence and Parts in Prayer Ex tempore before your Sermons? And that the Spirit may not be quenched, as you say, may you not enlarge yourselves? And is it not an usual practice in our Churches? Why then should you scruple so much at our Liturgy? Would you have none? But all the Gifted and Ungifted left to their own Inventions? In your time had you not a Directory? What was it but a Form of Worship after your Mode? And what Church is there abroad, even Geneva itself, without some Forms both of Worship and of Prayer. That our Book of Common Prayer was taken out of the Mass Book, and that it was the Mass in English as many of the ignorant have been Taught, to cast the greater Odium upon it, is an Imposture enough discovered and unmasked. Speak out, is there any thing Sinful or Unlawful in the Liturgy? Or that is not agreeable to God's Word? Prove but that and then you do something, for the Church holds in her Articles of Religion, That it is not Lawful for her to ordain any thing that is contrary or besides the Word of God. Besides have not your requests been gratified in many things, in altering several passages in the Liturgy, as in the Offices of Marriage, Churching of Women and Burials; what is it you would then have all or none? Cannot you be pleased without it be wholly cast aside? Will no Concessions else serve your turn? O that you would make some weighty exceptions and not use such a frivolous and vain Cavilling against it not worth the Answering, or that you would show the World one of your own that were better before you take away this; that would be reasonable and worthy your undertaking. And since some of you have allowed of a Liturgy, and for peace sake of many inconvenient Circumstances in God's Worship, 
Baxt. Disp. p. 487. Safe way. p. 198.  and acknowledge also that the Governors of the Church have a decisive power in things undetermined in Scripture; why should you not yield to accept of this equitable Proposition, to accept of and Conform to this Form of Prayer and these Rites of the Church, till better be Instituted or Ordained.  
As to the Cross in Baptism a Moral Hiroglyphick only of our Saviour's Death and Crucifixion, Godfathers and Godmothers, Confirmation, Kneeling at the Sacrament, Bowing at the Name of Jesus, Standing up at Reading the Creed, and other things of the like Nature; are these things worthy to cause an Eternal Separation betwixt you? Are they of so great moment as to make so wide and long a breach in a Nation? Are they of worth and value to make you run into Contempt and Rebellion? Let us know your Minds, if any of these should be yielded to your tender Consciences and disused, to please you, would you then Conform in all the rest? Would not your Answer be as formerly to Queen Elizabeth? That you would not leave a Hoof behind. All the Ceremonies of the Church must be laid aside, you would have a naked Religion without , which is not seemly. Ceremonies are but the Garments and decencies of Religion, not part of it but somewhat that it cannot well be seen without, they are like our  that may be altered, that may be cut to the mode and size of the Times without altering the form of our Body. There have been Laws made for prohibiting the use of some Garments and that have enjoined the wearing of others, though before it was at the choice of the People to wear or not wear them, after such Laws made they were no longer indifferent. It is even so of our Ceremonies, they are indifferent things of themselves, but being enjoined by Authority they are now no longer so; Obedience is no indifferent thing, that is absolutely enjoined by the Word of God; 'tis obedience to Ecclesiastical Laws that is required. This obedience is either justly due to these Laws or it is not: If it is, why then do you disobey? If you say it is not, 
1 Pet. 2.13.  you contradict the Scriptures, Submit to every Ordinance of Man, whether it be unto the King as Supreme or unto Governors etc. 
Rom. 13.1.  Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers. However it is the safest way to obey, should they Command things doubtful, let the blame lie upon them, you will be excused. God requires not impossibilities: But certainly God has given to the Governors of the Church a Power of making Laws and Canons: Let all things be done decently and according to order. 
1 Cor. 14.40  And according to this Rule of the Apostle, the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England are as few, decent, comely and fitting, as in any Church of the Christian World; and all Exceptions against them that I ever could yet see, empty and of no substance. 
Manton on Judas.  Some of you have told us there are but two Lawful Causes of Separation from the Church, Persecution and a general corruption of Doctrine: for both these Causes and no other have we Separated from the Church of Rome, and if you can prove these two marks of Separation to be inherent to the Church of England, you will have sufficient to ground your Separation as Lawful, and have some plea for what you do; but till then, I beseech you, set your face towards the Temple of Obedience and be refractory no longer; and since these things which make this Breach between you are not of any great Moment, are but Ceremonies and the outward Garments and Garnatures of Religion; leave off that obstinacy and submit yourselves to the Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake.  
The great Cry that you have made against these Rites and Ceremonies of the English Church hath been, that they were Popery and of Popish extraction, borrowed from the Church of Rome: but all this while you tell us not what Popery is, neither can you disown or descent from all that is held or practised by the Church of Rome. Certainly our Forefathers to whom we own these things, our Reformation from the Romish Church and the Purity of our Religion, would not have laid down their Lives and have been Martyred by the Church of Rome, if it had then been thought either by themselves or by the others that what they had done as to the Reforming the Ceremonies of the Church, or towards the maintaining the Doctrines they Held, or that the Orders and Discipline they had Constituted had been Popery or rather not opposite in some measure thereto. As by Dissenting she shown the Church of Rome that she had no dependency upon her, and that she so far disowned her as she had disowned God, by laying aside all those gross Corruptions for which our Church Separated from her; so on the other side, by retaining some of her harmless and innocent Ceremonies, they showed her they did not do any thing by the Spirit of Opposition only, whereby they might take offence without having a just ground and cause for it. But Bishop Sanderson in his Preface to his Sermons tells you what in Truth Popery is, 
Sand. Pref. Sect. 15.  That it is those Doctrines which are contrary to the Word of God or but superadded thereunto as necessary Points of Faith to be of all Christians Believed under pain of Damnation; and all those Superstitions used in the Worship of God which either are Unlawful as being contrary to the Word of God, or being not contrary and therefore Arbitrary or Indifferent are made Essentials and imposed as necessary parts of Worship. From all which the Church of England hath been sufficiently Vindicated and Cleared, and you cannot but know in your own Consciences that she disowns the shadow of all those things, and you abuse her when you tax her of Popery or Superstition by reason of her Rites and Ceremonies. But you too often confound Superstition and Idolatry together, sometimes the keeping of Christmas is Superstitious, the Cross, the Surplice, the Common Prayer Book, the Holy Days, the Vigils, Lent, all Superstitious: and sometimes 'tis the Idol Christmas, the Idol Common Prayer Book, the Idol Saints Days, and the like. But as you know what Idolatry is, the giving an Holy and Religious Worship to any thing that is only due to our Maker the only true God; so you may know also, that Superstition is not the doing or omitting of any thing more or less than is necessary in matters of Religion by reason of the Obligation laid upon them by Superiors; but it is the performing or not performing those things by reason of a necessity that is laid upon them that they are sinful of themselves, whereby the Consciences of Men are enslaved and terrified. And by this means all things that you Judge to be Unlawful though indifferent in themselves, till commanded by Authority, you prohibit under the Obligation of Sin, thereby imposing on the Consciences of others a necessity of not using them, though commanded by Authority, as being of themselves vile and sinful; and this is truly Superstition.  
But what is it you would have? Would you have no Government? No Discipline? No Form in the Church? If any, why not this as is already Established? Since you are not able to Convince it or Convict it either of Popery or Superstition? You would have your own, you think that purer and better, but you must then stay till you can Convince the Magistrate also, you must Convince your King and Governors, make them first of your Persuasion, exhibit to them your Arguments, your Reasons, your Persuasions, all you have done hitherto is nothing; you see Thousands are not of your Mind and they will not believe your Church Government and your Classical Form to be any ways Quadrate with such a Monarchy as this is; it may perhaps be fit for a small City, a little Commonwealth, a Province or so, it may be fitted for the Constitution of Geneva or some Cantons of the Swissers, but it can never be made to sit well about the Necks of these three Kingdoms; neither will you be able to persuade the King to pull down the Bishops to set up arbitrary and boundless Tryers, to lay aside the Ancient Liturgy and to bring in its place your Directory, to put down Ecclesiastical Courts and set up Commissioners; we have had too late trial of your Way, and the Tyranny of your Church Government cannot so soon be forgotten, when every the Heads of your Classes were as Absolute as Popes, and your Inferior Clergy as Proud as Cardinals. But had the King and State a mind to gratify you and to set up your Form, would not there still be as many Dissenters, for you are not yet agreed among yourselves, you have not yet shaped a Form that would please others, the Independent, Anabaptist, Quaker, Cry out against it and had rather live under the Rule of the Bishops than under the rigid Government of Presbytery; it will be impossible to please you all, and you may as soon hope to fit a Garment for the Moon. Till you are agreed then of a better Form of Ecclesiastical Government, and that you are able to Convince the King and the State and your other Dissenting Brethren, that you have a better and one more agreeable to the Constitution of this Nation, to the Primitive Institution and Purity, without the unlawful Argument of the Sword and Rebellion; submit, I say, in God's Name and for Conscience sake to this as is set up, and be no longer Separatists, and Congregate no longer by yourselves, but be persuaded, as you ought, to hearken to the Call both of God and Man, of the Scriptures that press you to Unity and Amity, of your Brethren that invite you to Conformity and Communion, and to your Superiors, who Command you to Submission and Obedience.  
As to the Doctrine of the Church of England, you have not wherewith to find any the least shadow of Cavilling against it, you cannot but Confess its Principles to be found; but all your Pique is against its Discipline or Church Regiment, which, as the Learned and Rational Mr. 
Hooker Law of Eccl. Po●. Lib. 3. Sect. 3  Hooker tells you, is a thing different from Matters of Faith and Salvation. But who is it that ought to lay down the Rules and matters of Church Polity, and to frame the Laws and Constitutions of Church Government? Are they not Men? And such to whose care the Governance of the Church is Committed? To Kings the Nursing Fathers, and to subordinate Ministers, as Bishops, & c? Would you have all Laws already laid down in Scripture? And nothing left for the exercise of the Light of Reason in these matters? But there is no doubt but these Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity may be made by Man Legally, and by the Authority of God, 
Luminis naturalis dictatum repellere, non modo stultum est sed & impium. August. Lib. 4 de Trin. Cap. 6.  and in which Man may make use of his Reason, following therein the Rules of the Law of God and the Law of Nature, which in the substance is one with the Moral Law of the Scripture; and also though these Humane or Canon Laws be not expressly set down in any part of the Scripture, yet they ought upon unerring Principles to be deduced therefrom, or at least without Contradiction unto any positive Law or Command in Scripture. By this means the Laws of Man may be said to be the Laws of God: For he owns the very Laws of the Heathen to be of himself, though framed by the Light of Nature only, and by him written in their Hearts, by which the Gentiles were either Excused or Condemned. 
2 Rom. 15.  Why then fly you from these Laws as such Bug-bears? Why do you not in all Humility and Singleness of Heart yield Obedience to them for the Lords sake? Where lies the Illegality of them. Because you cannot find Lawn Sleeves and Rochets in Scripture, therefore must they not be worn? And because you do not Read of Gowns, Tippets, square Caps and Canonical Girdles, therefore 'tis unlawful for Ministers to wear them? When God gave us the Light of the Scripture he did not take from us the Light of Reason, this indeed is but a dim Light in respect of the other, and ought not be trusted to in matters of Faith, Divine and Supernatural things; but being in Conjunction with the greater Light of God's Word, we have a clear and perfect Sunshine to see as far as an Humane condition will permit of into the business both of Doctrine and Manors, and we are thereby enabled to give Rules in matters of Faith and Life. For though the Scripture is a perfect and absolute Rule in itself and contains all things within itself as to what belongs to our Salvation, yet it is no ways derogatory from its fullness and sufficiency to say that we cannot make use of this Rule without the Light of our Reason: and also that in Civil things we may with a Christian Liberty do many things that we find not in Scripture, by the mere use of Reason alone, and that very Lawfully and without Sin, so those things be not contradictory to the Word of God. If then our Governors have a Power given them that they may Ordain and Constitute divers Ceremonies in the Church, though not mentioned and found in Scripture, then ought Inferiors to submit to such Laws and Rules, and are in Duty bound to observe them, when they are enjoined by a Lawful Authority. Do but consider with yourselves that whilst you so strictly Demand Scripture to be shown for the use of Ceremonies and other things made use of in the Church of England, may not others with the like Liberty bid you to show what Example or Command you have in Scripture for your Lay Presbyters, your Classes, your stone Churches, your Tithes, your Infant Sprinklings, your Singing Psalms, your Weekly Sabbath; all these things you know have been Objected against you, to which you led the Way and opened the Gap by such your unreasonable Demands.  
If Man hath not a Liberty given him to make use of his Reason in Ordering the Affairs of the Church, or in altering many things and adding others as may be Convenient to the temper and constitution of Times but must have a Precedent or Command for it expressly in Scripture; how did David err when he thought to build a Temple at Jerusalem? 
2 Sam. 1.2, 3 1 King. 8.5. 2 Chron. 7.6 7.30.23.  Which the Prophet approved of: Or Solomon for keeping a Feast of seven days for the Dedication of the Altar? Or Hezekiah for continuing the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days longer than the time appointed by the Law? Or Mordecai for making an Ordinance for the Yearly observation of the Feast of Purim? 
Esth. 9.27.  The building of Synagogues, wearing of Sackcloth and Ashes in sign of Humiliation: their Fasts, more than were Commanded immediately by God, 
Zach. 8.19.  were all of Humane Institution and without doubt Lawful. Times alter, and what at one Time may be thought Fitting and Harmless, at another would be accounted Scandalous and Unfitting, as that Osculum Charitatis used in the Times of the Apostles and approved of by them, 
Rom. 16.16. 2 Cor. 13.12  would now give Cause of offence, and those Agapae or Love Feasts used by the Primitive Christians, at first Innocent enough, but soon grew to be worthy of Reproof by the Apostle. 
1 Cor. 11.  There is Milk for Babes and Meat for stronger Men. There is a difference between the Church in its Infancy and after the growth of so many Years. It has been Corrupted and grown four on its Lees, and it hath been again Purged and Refined, therefore there must of necessity have been several Laws, Rules, Canons and Institutions framed for its several Dispensations, most agreeable to the temper of the Ages and the Times in which they were made: And the Orders of the Times of the Apostles themselves are not in all things now to be urged as of absolute necessity.  
I cannot but wonder since that these Ceremonies and Rites of the Church are by you accounted of but as Mint and Cummin, nay by some Condemned as Toys, Trifles and Follies, that you should stand so stiffly against them; but those of the Church of England thinking not so meanly of them, have therefore the more Reason to stand for their Continuance. They say there aught to be a bowing of the Knee as well as of the Heart. That by outward Actions the Mind is stirred up with greater fervency to Attention and Devotion. That Solemnities have been in all Ages, both in Religious and Divine matters as well as Civil: That these things are necessary and of use as Garments to the Body: That without them Religion would appear Naked and Uncomely: That they are also Edifying and Significant: That they move the Heart and the Affections, and that they are of great use and force: That they have been Instituted not without great Care and Deliberation by Holy, Pious and Learned Men: That they have been long Confirmed in the Minds of Men: That to alter or abolish them would be Dangerous and Scandalous: That they are Harmless and Innocent of themselves: That they give not the Offence, but that it is taken Unjustly against them: That under the Use of them the Land hath long flourished with Peace and Prosperity till our late distracted Times: That since God hath again Restored them almost Miraculously when they were thought to be Dead and for ever Extinguished. These things Considered, and that they appear not such Trifles to them as you account them, they have more Reason not to Departed from them, and you less to Insist upon their Abolishment.  
But alas 'tis not only Ceremony that you would take way, but the Root and Branch (as you are wont to say) of Episcopacy; the Bishops it seems are also Popery: they must not stand, but is not Self all the while at the Bottom? Is it not that you may Reign in their stead with your Lay Elders? And what is this Episcopacy so much Cried out against by you and others of your Dissenting stamp? I'll tell you in the Learned Mr. Chillingworth's Words, Episcopacy in the Essentiality of it is an appointment of one Man of eminent Sanctity and Sufficiency to have a Care of all the Churches within a certain Precinct or Diocese, furnished with Authority (not Absolute or Arbitrary but Regulated by Laws) to the intent that all the Churches under him may be provided of Good and Able Pastors or Presbyters. This is the Government you are so scandalised at and which you would take away, being the Institution of Christ himself who made his Apostles Bishops or Overseers of his Church, for Mathias was chosen to an Episcopal Office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And St. 
Act. 1. Cyp. l. 3. Ep. 9  Cyprian calls all the Apostles by the same Name Episcopos. And although they had a large Commission from Christ, Go Baptise all Nations, and seem Indefinite, yet we find some of them Bishops by Restraint, as St. James at Jerusalem, St. Paul took to himself the Care of the Gentiles, and St. Peter of the Jews, St. John took Charge of Asia the Less, where were afterwards seven Churches governed by so many Bishops termed by St. John Angels. 
Rev. 2.  And the Apostles themselves appointed others as Titus and Timothy at first Agents only in their stead, and afterwards with Apostolical power of their own. And if there be any Credit to be given to History and to Antiquity itself, we find that Linus was made Bishop of Rome by the Apostles, 
Iren. l. 3. c. 3  Polycarpus of Smyrna, Evodius of Antioch and Titus of Crect; Erecting Churches in all these places where the Gospel of Jesus Christ was Received, all having the same Faith, the same Sacraments, and the same Form of Government; so as they seemed but one Body and in a perfect Unity one with another, that every thing might be done with Decency and in Order. Socrates and Euschius have given us whole Catalogues of Bishops successively to their Times, and we find them nominated in many Histories and Writings of Old, and from their beginning deduced down to our Times. This is the Regiment you would have pulled down, this is one Form you oppose, a Government of Divine Institution, by that of the Holy Ghost conferred on the Apostles, and by them on others, and so successively in the Church in all Ages and thorough all times by Ordination and Laying on of Hands, so that there can hardly be manifested a more plain and evident Truth.  
I am not Ignorant that you admit of the Name of Bishops and of Presbyters, but would make them of equal Authority; you would indeed be all Bishops or Popes rather, Subjection and Obedience are things that have seemed very scandalous to you. But there is nothing more plain than that Bishops had not only the preeminency of Order but of Rule also. And as there were in the Jewish Church, the High Priest, the Inferior Priest, and the Levites, who were not only different in Order and Superiority, but there was a distinction, so that the one might do what the other might not do, the Levites might not Entrench on the Office of the Priests, and the Priests could not enter into the Sanctum Sanctorum. So in the Church of Christ the Bishops, the Presbyters and the Deacons were distinct in Order and Office; the Deacons were subservient to the Presbyters, and they to the Bishop to whom the Power of Rule and Ordination was only given; and the Presbyters again received theirs of Administering the Sacraments, Dispensing the Word, etc. from them, being by them Ordained thereto. The Bishops are the Fathers, the other the Children; they Command not as Lords and Arbitrarily, these obey not as Slaves but as Sons; they Rule, and these obey according to the Word of God and according to that Primitive Institution which made that excellent Harmony, all things being done for the Glory of God. I know the many long and tedious Cavils and Disputes which some of the most Subtle of you have entered into about this thing, and what dust you have raised about this Jurisdiction: But it has been all laid, and none that have Eyes but can see clearly into the matter, that Christ gave Power to his Apostles to Rule and Govern his Church, and that the same Power was by them Conferred to others, 
Mar. 16.15. Matt. 10.24. Matt. 28.19 20.  and so shall continue to the end of the World according to Christ's Commission. But if you cannot find in Scripture that you ought to submit to Bishops as your Fathers, I hope you will believe Mr. Calvin, and for his sake have at least a better Opinion of them, who says, 
Calvin. Epist. ad Card. Sandolet.  Nullo non anathemate dignos Arbitror, qui se Episcopis libentissime non submittunt. I think them worthy of a Curse, who do not willingly submit themselves to Bishops.  
Open then your Eyes at last and look not so asquint on this Form of Government, and more particularly as it is here Established in the Church of England, which certainly is the most like and comes nearest to the Primitive Institution of the Apostles, and the next Ages, of any Church in the World, both for the Purity of its Doctrine and the Order of its Government; its Ceremonies being both Few and Decent, and its Power regulated by Just Laws. And as one says, 
Vindication of the Conforming Clergy. p. 50.  The Church of England is a body of so firm a Constitution, and so excellently Tempered, and so well Shaped, and of so clear a Strength and Vigour in all its Limbs, that no outward Force is able to Injure it: nothing but some inward Corruption and decay in the Vital parts that can possibly bring it to the Ground. Indeed you had tripped up its Heels and laid it along, but it was but a Foil, you see how soon it arose again; and in that little Interspace or Interregnum, as I may term it, what horrid Confusions were amongst us? With all your Arts you could not hinder others from invading your Province. Instead of Surplices you beheld Scarlet Cloaks, Wigs and Swords, as Ornaments to those who Preached in your Pulpits; nay the very Women invading the Chair and challenging a Liberty, though expressly contrary to the Rule of the Apostle. You saw what ill Steers-men you were and how the Ship of the Commonwealth thrived under your Government, in what danger of Drowning or of being Split upon the Rocks or Perishing in the Quicksands. Methinks this little Trial might Convince you of the Weakness and Imbecility of the one, and the Firmness and excellent Temper of the other Government; by which this Land has so long Flourished, and which is so fitted not only to Monarchy, making that Maxim good, as we by Experience saw, no Bishop, no King, but also to the Temper and Constitution of the People of England; that there can be no better Government ever thought on, which shall be here so well Approved and Received. It is not only my Opinion but of many more the most Eminent and Learned of the Nation, and those not of small Repute and who have been Able to give sufficient Proof to maintain their good Opinion of the Excellency of our present Form of Church Government; and among the rest the Learned Mr. Hooker has these Words, 
Pref. Sect. 1.  which he sets down as his full Persuasion, Surely the present Form of Church Government, which the Laws of this Land have Established, is such as no Law of God nor Reason of Man hath hitherto been alleged of force sufficient to prove they do ill, who to the uttermost of their power withstand the alteration thereof. And contrariwise, The other which instead of it we are required to accept is only by Error and Misconceit named the Ordinanee of Jesus Christ, no one proof as yet brought forth whereby it may clearly appear to be so in very deed. And these two Assertions he hath so fully and unanswerably Maintained in his excellent Book of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, that methinks you should lay your Finger on your Mouths and no longer speak against this Form of Church Government, nor remain at this Distance and in this state of Separation, till you have found out better Arguments for to Justify your so doing, than those you have yet made known to the World.  
However low and mean Opinion you have of this Form of Church Government as it is now Established in England, 'tis otherwise respected abroad: By others 'tis looked upon with Envy and Admiration: The beauty of the Church of England is not so Despicable as her Dissenting Sons would make it: She shines and glitters in the Eyes of her Neighbours: She appears White and Innocent to those who behold her: She is Brightened by the Flames of her Martyrs, and comes forth of those persecuting Fires with Purity and Glory: She is looked upon as a Matron gravely Adorned with her Ceremonies, they are Rich and all of Value, not Gaudy, Cumbersome or Fantastic: She is Stupor Mundi the amazement (as one says) of the World for Learning, Piety and Religion: Her Doctrines are Sound, her Principles Firm, her Integrity Noted: She is full of Love and Meekness: She is a perfect hater of Persecution: She had rather Suffer than do an injury: in Fine she is the Light, Glory and Splendour of the whole Christian World; yet she is not proud, she Lords it not over men's Consciences; she stoops to win with Love; she stretches out her Arms to embrace those who fly from her; she Invites and Woos those that eat her; she does all she can that there may be an Unity and Conformity through the whole Land; and certainly we may Cry out with the Poet, O Fortunatos nimium sua si bona norint Angligenos— But what in the mean time do her Unnatural and Disobedient Sons? They bespatter her Reputation, they fling dirt in her Face, they endeavour to pollute her Garments, they would render her Odious, Papistical, Ridiculous; they Call her Whore and compare her with Babylon; they treat her after an evil sort and give By-names to all her Ornaments. But though she is despised and rejected of Men, 
Isa. 53.3. Psal. 119.50 51  one full of sorrows and acquainted with griefs; yet she Cries out with David, This is my Comfort in my Affliction: for thy Word hath Quickened me. The Proud have had me greatly in Derision: yet I have not Declined from thy Law.  
Lay aside now your Passions I beseech you, Put off your former Conversation, 
Eph. 4.22, 23 25  and be Renewed in the Spirit of your Mind: Speak every Man truth with his Neighbour, for we are Members one of another: Christ is our Head. There is but one Body, 
15 4, 5, 6  one Spirit, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all. O do but consider the Beauty of Unity, let it Allure you, let it break your Stifness, let it move you to run into the open Arms of your Mother, and to be knit in the Bands of Amity with your Brethren. 
Psal. 133.  Consider how Good and how Pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in Unity: It is like precious ointment upon the Head: like the Dew of Hermon Hill; and like that which falls upon the Mountains of Zion. 
Psal. 1.  It will make you like a Tree planted by the Rivers of Waters. Ye will be no longer Barren but Fruitful: How Happy and Blessed then would the Nation be! The Nations round about us would Tremble, and our Adversaries would be Confounded. O that there were a full Assent and Consent among you both in Spirituals as well as Temporals! It is not enough that you Live together, that you Trade together, that you Converse one with another; but to Complete your Happiness, you must Pray together, and Worship together, that Completes the Friendship. The Heathen Orator can tell you, 
Tul. de Amic.  Amicitia est Divinarum Humanarumque rerum summa cum benevolentia Consensio. 'Tis that makes the true Harmony, that is the truest Friendship: an Agreement with the highest good Will, or as I may say, with one Heart and Mind in Divine things as well as in Humane things, in Church as well as in State, in Worship as well as in Traffic, in Spiritual Communion as well as Worldly Commerce, in Traffic for Heavenly Treasure as much as for Perishable Goods. I say, let the Shine and Lustre of this Glorious State move you to set some steps towards this Unity. Ye have been too long asunder, why should there be any Difference between Benjamin and Judah? Meet, I say, at last as Brethren; come with willing Hearts and Minds. The Goliath of Opposition may be easily Slain; one single Stone will sink that Philistin. Let some among you set an Example, others will follow. Consider the Peace of Israel more than your own Interest, and think how you will Strengthen the Hands of your Brethren by this so much desired Unity and happy Conformity.  
Harken, I beseech you, to the Cries and Calls of your Brethren, they cannot be Wounded but you must Suffer: Now is the time before it be too late. Sow to yourselves in Righteousness, 
Hos. 10.12.8.  and you shall Reap in Mercy. The time will come else, that you will Call to the Mountains to cover you, and the Hills to fall on you. You will be driven into your holes like Coneys. Have a care that you become not like Babylon, 
Isa. 14.23.  an habitation for the Bittern, and for standing Pools of Water; and that God does not at last sweep you with the besom of Destruction. There is now a greater necessity than ever, that you should be no longer divided; you are weakened like a River cut into many Streams; your Hands are Enfeebled, and your Enemies are Armed round about you. Do you not see your Common Enemies the Papists laugh aloud at your Separation? How thereby they seek to work your Destruction! They Love to set Ephraim against Judah and Judah against Ephraim. Call to mind the Times of old, have you forgot the Yoke of their Tyranny? Will you give the opportunity to these Philistines too Bind you and to take from you your Strength, by cutting away the Locks of Unity that would make you Invincible? Were you ever in more Danger than at this time? Do not you see them gnashing their Teeth at you round about? Methinks this pressing necessity of Uniting should now make you forget all Animosities, and laying aside all unnecessary Cavils and Scruples, to join your Forces together lest the Romans should come. A Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Delude not yourselves, you will be involved in the Ruin of your Brethren. The Church of England cannot suffer, but you will partake of her Sufferings also. Join therefore your Hands and your Stength together and become as one Nation; you will then daunt your Opposers, and Frustrate the hopes and designs of your Enemies. This Unity will be as a brazen Wall of Defence round about you, which they shall never be able to undermine or cast down. Think of this pressing necessity that at this time urges you to Conformity, lest you fall into the worst of Afflictions, to deserve the Evils that will come upon you. 
Boet. l. 1. Consolat. Philos.  Hoc tantum (says the Philosopher) dixerim ultimam esse adversae fortunae Sarcinam, quod dum Miseris aliquid crimen affigitur, quae praeferunt meruisse creduntur. Have a care, I say, that the blame be not justly fixed upon you, and that you deserve not all those Evils that you will bring upon yourselves by this obstinacy of not Conforming, and by this dangerous and pernicious Separation.  
Now is the time for you to look about you and to carry your Eyes in your Head, lest Venient Romani become a Prophecy. See what you have got already by forsaking your Mother the Church of England, a Company of Spurious Brats that you would disown, but are the Fruits of your Separation. They have entered into the World by the same Gap that you first made, you have multiplied yourselves into Divisions and Subdivisions, and are become like the Phistines at Gibea, every Man's Sword against his Fellow. 
1 Sam. 14.20.  Have a Care, I say, that Popery does not overrun us by your means. Consider the Scandals and Advantages that you give to those strenuous Engines, they know how to Fish in our troubled Waters, and to get by our Confusions. There can be nothing more Beneficial to their Intentions, or that can Further their Designs more than to see us divided into so many Fractions, and to stand like Adversaries ready to devour one another. They had no hopes so long as the happy Band of Unity remained unbroken; they know well the Maxim, Divide & Impera, Divide and Reign. It has been all along their Policy to cause Separation; they are a Cunning as well as a Malicious Generation, they are too Skilful for you in Politics, their Jesuits are bred Statesmen, they are the Boutefeus' of Kingdoms, they are in all places ready to set People and Nations together by the Ears; they make it their business to cause Divisions and to promote Separation. Their Spleen and Malice is against the Church of England, 'tis at her they only aim, she is the mark of their Spite and Envy. They are a subtle sort of People, they know you will soon perish by her ruin, and that her fall must crush you to pieces. Therefore 'tis her Policy to make you like Vipers to gnaw asunder the Womb of your Mother, and to eat your way to Separation thorough her bowels. See at last, I say, the Malice and Cunning of your Adversaries, take example by your Enemies, learn of them to Unite for your own Security. What is it that makes the Roman Church yet so Potent in the World, notwithstanding her many Errors and more filthy Corruptions? 'Tis the Basis of Unity; that very thing which they Inculcate as a Principle to all of her Persuasion, Believe as the Church Believes, ties them so strictly together into one band that they cannot easily be broken. 'Tis this Unity which they endeavour to maintain with all their Might and Force, which keeps them together and makes them so Strong. They are like the Grecian Phalanx not to be broken and therefore Invincible, or like the Roman Bands that locked one another fast together with their Shields, as if they were all but one great Penthouse against the falling Darts of their Enemies. They hinder therefore all Disputes in their Religion that there may be no Divisions. 'Tis the Strength of their Unity that makes them so Formidable; And as they know by that their own strength, so they are sensible that nothing can more weaken their Adversaries than to cause Separation among them. By this Policy they have done more mischief than by their Arms, and when they cannot Convince by Argument nor Confound by Force, they this way overthrow by Cunning, by Policy, by Subtlety, making their Enemies do the Work for them; and by their breaking the Bands of Unity, Separate them one from another, and make them to become a Prey to them, who stand ready to make use of the Advantage; and like the Kite in the fable, carry away the feeble Combatants pecking at one another with Bulrushes and Bends.  
Are you not sensible that they are among you? That they are disguised Papists, Jesuists transformed into the shapes of Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, Quakers, that foment the Difference and Disunion from the Church of England. They are very Proteus', they can vary their Figures, they can feign Sanctity, and transform themselves into Angels of Light. They are in your Pulpits, they can speak your Words, they know how to Counterfiet your Voices, your Tones and your Dress. They become all things with all Men, in another fence than St. Paul meant. They do all this to promote their Cause, and which they are sensible they can no ways better do than by widening the breach of Separation, by keeping you asunder and by increasing your Divisions. Open your Eyes at last and behold the subtlety of your inveterate Adversaries, give them no longer this Advantage against you, harken not to their wicked Suggestions when they whisper Rebellion into your Ears under the Notion of Liberty of Conscience, and Disobedience under the pretence of Sanctity and Holiness; when they bid you not Submit and Conform to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church under the persuasion of your Purity: You have harkened to them too long, at length know the Voice of this Siren that Sings so melodiously in your Ears; 'twill at last draw you into the Sea of Perdition and Destruction, and betray you to more Miseries than you have yet felt. I am Credibly informed they had the chief Hand in the late Insurrection in Scotland, and that two of them suffered for it under the garb and shape of Holiness, indeavoring to promote the old Cause with a new Rebellion. These are they that appear as harmless Doves, but are Ravenous Vultures; you take them to be harmless Sheep of your own flock, but they are Wolves that secretly devour you. They are subtle Foxes that secretly prey upon you, and are worse than Samson's that had Firebrands at their Tails. 
Hos. 12.7.  They are like Ephraim they carry the Balances of Deceit in their Hands; they are cunning Merchants that know how to weigh your Tempers and Dispositions. 
Prov. 11.9.  They are the Cutthroat Hypocrites that destroy their Neighbours with their Mouths.  
Pelliculam veterem retinent, 
Pers. Sat. 5.  & front politi  
Astutam vapido gestant sub pectore vulpem.  
These are they that endeavour to keep you from Conformity, and with a thousand cunning fetches and most specious Pretences work you to their Wills, and never leave you till they have drawn you from Unity to Separation, from Separation to Rebellion, and so to Ruin and Destruction, and there they leave you.  
But if you will not believe all this, and shall think it feigned of them to affright and scare you, and that you cannot be made sensible of their close and Hypocritical Intrigues; can you forget their unmasked Cruelties? Their Horrid Massacres? And Bloody Persecutions? Do not you tremble lest you should fall anew under their Power? Are you not afraid more of their Tyrannical Yoke than of Uniting with your Brethren of the Church of England? Had you rather stoop to the Idolatrous Church of Rome than to your own Reformed Church? Will you rather admit again of all her Superstitions than a few Ceremonies in Ours? Would you be rather Content with the Bloody Court of the Inquisition than with that of the Bishops? Think yet of the Blood they have Spilt in this Kingdom in the time of their Reign, let the horror thereof a little move you, and let the fear of the like possess you with some thoughts of preventing it by your Unanimity and closing with your Brethren. Think a little of their Persecutions and Slaughters of the Waldenses and Albigenses in France, of the Hussites in Bohemia, of the Protestants in Germany, Hungary, and the Low-Countries, of the cruel Massacre in Paris, the horrid Destruction and Cruelties of late years in Piedmont, the Bonfires of Martyrs in the days of Queen Mary, the Gunpowder Plot, and our late Wars begun and fomented by them and their Agents abroad and at home. They are still the same Sedulous promoters of their own Cause; they are no Changelings. Are your Eyes still shut? Have you not seen your dear City consumed to Ashes by their Fire Balls? And do not you now behold new Plots and Contrivances, by the same Persons, to ruin the Church, the State and the Kingdom? Have we not seen a Minister of Justice Murdered by their Hands? Are not we daily threatened with farther Mischief? And if not prevented by the overruling hand of Divine Providence, and by the Care of our Prince and his Faithful Counsellors, are we not still in danger? What gives them this Advantage against us but your Separation? What makes their hopes Flourish but your Division? At last therefore hearken, I beseech you, to the Call of your Brethren, who still invite you to Unity and Conformity; that the Children of Israel and the Children of Judah may come together and seek their Lord their God: 
Jer. 50.4, 5.  That they may join themselves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten. That you may become as one People and that your Breaches may be made up. Amen.  
If you are not Men of a perverse Nature, if you have not Hearts of Adamant that cannot be pierced, if you will not Consider the Good of the Kingdom nor your own Danger; yet if you have any Souls or any spark of Generosity or good Nature in your Breasts, methinks the Kindness, Mercy and Indulgence of the King shown towards you should draw you to a Compliance. Hearts that neither Tortures nor Racks could overcome, Souls irresistible to Force, not to be Conquered by Power, have yet melted before the Fire of Love, have been overcome with Kindness, have acknowledged and submitted to Generosity. Flints are easily broken on beds of Down, Adamants are made soft by the blood of Goats. And is there no way to penetrate your rocky Hearts? Will not Indulgence move you? Nor Kindness draw you? Nor Mercy allure you? Nor Favor cause you? Nor  invite you to Conform? Will neither fair means nor foul work upon you? Can you ever have hoped for or expected the great Favour and Indulgence that hath been shown you by your Prince, one that is justly styled the Merciful, after all those Evils that you had brought upon this Nation by your Separation from and Opposition to the Church? Has he not moderated the Laws made against you? Has he not hindered all Force to be used towards you? Has he not suffered you to enjoy your darling private Meetings in Contempt of the Church, and in the Face of the whole Nation? Are you Molested and Disturbed? Would you have granted the same Toleration, had you had the Power in your Hand? We Know and Remember the time that you would not, and we yet are in doubt of your good will in that Case, had you the Reins in your Hands. You say, you acknowledge it, you own the Mercy and great Favour and Indulgence, therefore you Pray for the King, and wish Life to his Majesty for your own Ends; but still Disobey him and his Laws by your stubborn resisting all the kind Invitations given you to Unity and Conformity. Let at last the great Mercy that is shown you be a Motive to bring you to this desired and happy Unity. Let Love draw you, resist no longer, meet with kindness and submission the Benevolence and tender Heartedness of so Gracious a Prince towards you. Return like the lost Prodigal Son to the Father of your Country, and into the Bosom of your Mother, that the fatted Calf may be killed and that there may be a general rejoicing and Jubilee throughout the Land. Then shall we say, Sing O ye Heavens, 
Isa. 44.23.  for the Lord hath done it: shout ye lower parts of the Earth: break forth into Singing ye Mountains, O Forrest and every Tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.  
Though I have already mentioned your Duty to the Magistrate, that you ought to submit to and obey your Prince and your Governors, that your just Obedience to Authority is Required and Commanded by Scripture, and against which you can have no lawful Defence; I cannot but again remind you of this necessary Duty, how will you Answer this before God? After what manner can you evade such positive Commands? The Infidelity of Princes could not excuse this Law: How then can you Answer your Contempt of the Laws and Commands not only of a Christian but a Protestant Prince? One that Commands nothing but Lawful things: It is not enough that you think otherwise of them, and that you pretend scruples of Conscience, there is no such exception in the Rule laid down by the Apostle. 
1 Sam. 15.22, 23  Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers. Submit to every Ordinance of Man. Hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than Sacrifice: and to hearken than the fat of Rams. Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft: and Stubbornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry. Certainly obedience to your Prince and to his Lawful Commands would be more acceptable than all your long Prayers and frequent Preaching which is become your Idol, and which you set up in the room of the Crosses you have pulled down. Speak out and tell us whether an Act for Uniformity and Conformity made by the three States of the Land be a Legal Act or no, if it be, why do you not obey? Why do you trouble the Waters with your needless Scruples of little weight and value, and about trifles only as you Call them? Is not the Word truly dispensed in the Public Churches? Are not the Sacraments rightly Administered? Are not their Prayers free from Scandal or Irreverence? Are not their Doctrines clear of Error or Falsity? Why then do you deny to Hear, Receive and Communicate together? But in spite (as I may say) both of the Commands of God and Man, Separate yourselves and run into Disobedience? I verily believe those of the Church of England would never run into that Contempt of the King and his Laws; I am persuaded that for Conscience sake they would submit, should the King and Parliament by their Authority take away those Ceremonies about which you Contend. They have learned better than to Rebel, and the Doctrine of of their Church hath imbued them with sounder and better Principles. But God forbidden that to gratify those who can show no sound Reason for what they would have, no lawful or weighty plea for what they do, and can pretend nothing but a stubborn Will and refractory Conscience, that the decent Garments of the Church should be curtailed or taken from her, or that she should lose the least shred thereof. But have you forgot already how vehemently you pressed Obedience from your Pulpits? And these very Texts now shown you were in all your Mouths when you would have set up your own Sanctified Form, to bring the People to your Lure and to submit to your Rule. If they were then the Commands of God and aught to be obeyed, how comes it that they are not so still? Or do the Bishops Command worse things than Goodwin, Manton or Nye? Is submission to these Lawful, to those not? Does not the fifth Commandment, Honour your Father, reach to your King the Father of his Country? 
Icon Bas. p. 285.  Or to the Bishops the Fathers of the Church? The Royal Martyr observes, that you had not Loyalty enough to say Amen to those Petitions for his Majesty which are in the Common Prayer, and that he believed it was one of the greatest faults some Men could find in it. What signifies it to Command if there be no Obedience? There aught to be an Harmony betwixt Commanding and Obeying, they should go Hand in Hand: they are both Arts or rather make up but one Science, for one cannot be well without the other. King cannot be well without Subjects nor Subjects without one to Command. 
Eras.  Imperare, & parere imperio, Ars emnium pulcherrima: quae duae res a Civibus excludunt seditiones, & tuentur Concordiam. They are Correlatives and make up but one fair Art, but 'tis these two that maintain Concord, Amity and Peace, and shut out Seditions and Rebellions. For your King's sake, for the sake of the Laws, and for your Country's sake, — Amor Patriae ratione valentior omni, 
Ovid. de Pont.  which should be of more Power to persuade you than any Argument I could bring. Hearken at last to good Counsel and be longer Obstinate, do not provoke Clemency itself to Anger, and Mercy to Justice. Frangendum est, 
Mo. Viat.  quod nulla Caput Clementia Mollit. If nothing will mollify you, may you not expect to be broken? Outlying Deer are to be frighted within the Pale for their own security. 
Psal. 95.8, 5.  Harden not your Hearts to day if you will hear his Voice, let it be instantly, accept of the proffered kindness, defer it no longer, put it not off till to morrow, 
Prov. 27.1.  For you know not what a day may bring forth.  
And now after all this what should I say more to urge and persuade you to Conformity? I have already told you the danger we are in by these Distractions caused by your Disunion, and the Evil that seems to hang over our Heads threatening us with the stormy cloud of Popery. Fire and Faggot seem to be enkindling in our Streets by your dissertion, new Plots to embroil a Nation are encouraged by your Nonconformity; and a great Gap is made whereby our present Adversaries are ready to enter and to overturn the Fabric of our Church by your Breach. Behold all this I beseech you with an Eye of Pity and Commiseration, and stand no longer on Scruples and Niceties. Be not affrighted at Mormoes of your own making; yield at last to necessity and involve not all in ruin by your obstinacy. Leave all By-respects and Self-interest, examine your Consciences and deal nakedly with your own Souls, and tell us truly if you do not think an Unity betwixt you and your Brethren would not be an happiness to this Nation: You cannot but Know it and Confess it secretly: Lay aside then your Terms, stand not so stiffly upon Capitulations; acknowledge that 'tis as Lawful for Bishops to Rule as for the Superintendents in the Lutheran Churches or leading Presbyters in Geneva. Boggle no longer at Words; startle not at Titles. Lords, Masters, Fathers, are Scriptural phrases and given to good and holy Men. They are Terms not unfitting and avowable. But are these things to be stood upon now? Are they of value to Continue the Breach betwixt you? Ought there to be this difference about Indifferent things? Is it not better to take St. 
Rom. 14.3.  Paul's Counsel to the Romans. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not: and let not him that eateth not, judge him that eateth. He tells them this, that although there were some private difference among them in indifferent matters, yet that they should Continue in their Unity and not make any Separation betwixt each other, but labour in the Edification and Instruction of each other, 
v. 1.  though one be weak and the other be strong, though some have scruples of small weight and others know better things, 
Rom. 15.1.  and not by breaking the band of their Unity and Community seek to ruin each other. Let not those that Conform despise the weakness of those who do Not, nor let those who do not Conform judge the Liberty of those that Do. They that break this Rule want Charity, and this aught to be exercised on both sides where Indifferent things are not determined and made otherways by Authority. That altars the Case, for though they are still the same in their Natures, that is Indifferent; yet they are not so in their use, because enjoined. Those of the Church of England do not despise you for your scruples, for they would receive you; and they intrude not her Constitutions as the Laws of God but as the Laws of Men, not of Divine necessity but of humane Institution for the more orderly Worship of God, and that there might be a general Uniformity in the Church. Show therefore by your Conformity, since you are thereto Lawfully required, that you do not judge your Brother as he doth not despise you, but that you will live in Charity and Unity as you ought to do. Be not any longer so Scrupulous, nay I may say Superstitious; 
Sand. Serm. ad Clerum 4 Sect. 11.  for as Bishop Sanderson says, The taking away of Indifferency from Indifferent things is in Truth Superstition: either by requiring them as Necessary or forbidding them as Unlawful. Let the lesser obligation give way to the greater. For if Opinion may make a good thing Evil to him that doubts or thinks it Evil, 
Rom. 14.23.  for what is not of Faith is Sin, it cannot however make a thing Evil in itself to become either good in itself or so to him that thinks so. To disobey the Commands of Authority is of itself a very great Evil, and your Opinion that you may Separate and not Conform can never make it Good to you notwithstanding your scruples, nor can any ways Justify your Actions, because Disobedience is of itself a great Evil. Now our Governors or those in Authority over us have Commanded those things to be done about which you scruple, and that by the Authority of the Scripture, 
1 Cor. 14.40.  Let all things be done decently and in Order, which gives them a Power to make such Constitutions; therefore all your scruples of Conscience cannot take off the greater Obligation of Obedience which you are expressly bound to in Conscience by God's Command, and you are no longer sui juris, where a Superior Power has determined your Liberty. If you scruple to play at Cards and Dice or any other indifferent thing of which you have Power to determine to do or not to do, if you do it against your Conscience you sin, because you are sui juris in that Case, there being no Obligation upon you to the Contrary; but if you scruple coming to Church because of the Ceremonies, being both a good Action and Commanded by Authority, not to do it must certainly be a great Sin, notwithstanding your scruples to the contrary, for you are not at your own choice but under Obedience; and thereby bound in Conscience as if God had Commanded them himself, for he hath given you his strict Command to obey the higher Powers, 
Rom. 13.1. 1 Pet. 2.13.  and to submit to their Ordinances; neither will it avail you to plead your scruples of Conscience, 
Rom. 13.5.  since you are Commanded to obey for Conscience sake, and since what is Commanded is no Sin: For if the Magistrate should Command us to take God's Name in vain or to Commit Fornication, we may with a safe Conscience disobey, because we have an higher Obligation upon us, for that God has Commanded the Contrary and we are bound to obey God before Man. Be at last Convinced and stand no longer upon these niceties and scruples about things of lesser weight when greater Dangers are impending, and much trouble is ready to arise by reason of this Separation and Disunion between you: 
Sallust.  have a care that by your discord you do not ruin yourselves. Discordia maximae Res dilabuntur: it is able to overthrow Kingdoms, give the Hag no longer entertainment among you; let her be banished from our Churches as well as from our Kingdom, that at last we may meet with oneness of Heart and singleness of Mind as becometh Brethren. 
1 Pet. 1.22.3.8.  Love one another with a pure Heart fervently: Be ye all of one Mind, having Compassion one of another: Love as Brethren.  
Whatsoever the pretences of many are, yet we find that Interest sways more with them than Religion: very few do refrain purely for Conscience sake. Many do it because they have been bred so, and will not or care not to be better informed: most remain Nonconformists without being able to show any tolerable Reason why they are so, besides those Idle Opinions they have of the Impurity of the Church of England. Methinks these sort of People who eat the Church out of a certain squeamishness of her nearness (as they falsely think) to Popery, should be afraid of those visible advantages their Separation gives to those of that Religion to contrive its setting up again in this Land, and that this fear should let them see that it is their Common interest to Unite with and strengthen the Hands of their Brethren. Certainly though you intent no such thing, yet you are a means of the great increase of Popery in this Land by your Divisions. How would that Party rejoice could they see Episcopacy as it is now Established in this Land pulled down, they would not much care what Form you would set up, for they believe, and not amiss, that Confusions and Distractions would soon follow, on which they ground their not improbable Hopes of Raising up their own Church upon our broken Pillars. You cry out continually, with no little noise of the growth and increase of Popery or of People perverted to Popery in this Land, but look not on yourselves as the Means and Cause by your Separation, giving them the same pretence for that plea of yours, Liberty of Conscience, and that they ought not to be compelled any more than yourselves. 
Luc. 6.31.  Do as you would be done unto. If you would not be compelled why should they? Prout vultis ut faciant vobis homines, vos etiam facite eis similiter. What reason have you to lay any force upon others when you will not have any laid upon yourselves? The Common Interest could make Herod and Pilate though Enemies to become Friends for fear of a Common Enemy the King of the Jews. See I beseech you now if it be not your Interest to close with those of the Church of England against your Common Enemy of Rome, and if it be not now most seasonable to effect it. This Union would be the best means in the World to frustrate all their Plots and Designs against us. It would put them quite out of Heart, and dash all their Hopes. They would then lose their sheet Anchor their last Refuge: It would take away all their Advantages and put them past all their shifts: It is the only way to bring Peace and Happiness to the Nation. We need to fear no Enemies abroad if we were thus United at home: we should be like the bundle of Arrows not to be broken together, but being parted asunder into Factions easily broke into pieces. Union is the Life and Blood of Government both in the Church as well as in the State. A Doeg or Achitophel at home is worse than the Philistines or Moabites abroad. Our mischief is from ourselves. 
Eras. Apoth.  Patriae periclitantis potius habenda est ratio quam privatae incolumitatis. We should rather regard the safety of our Country than of ourselves. Cicero said their was a select place of Happiness and Eternal felicity reserved in Heaven for those who preserved, helped, and brought good to their Country. 
Som. Scip.  And I am of the Opinion that by your Conformity you will merit more than by all your scruples of Separation. By your submission you will deserve the Reward of Victors; you shall have the Garland of Praise to adorn your Brows; the Palm of Conquest shall be put into your Hands; and the Olive Branch of Peace shall be placed on your Trophies; your Country shall applaud you, your King shall cherish you, and your Brethren shall rejoice with you; you shall have the right hand of fellowship given to you, and there shall be no longer any difference in our Israel. 
Cic. Off. l. 1.  Pro patria quis bonus dubitet mortem oppetere? What good Man doubts to meet Death for his Country's sake? says Cicero. The task is not so difficult that is required of you; you are desired to Live for your Country's sake, to Live in Union and Love with your Friends, and to join together against your Common Foes. It is not enough that you say you will join your Purses and your Arms with your Brethren, and that you are ready to assist them with your Lives and Fortunes: for where there is not a Unity of Hearts and Religion there can be no true Concord and Amity. There will still remain jealousies and suspicions among you. There can be no perfect Confidence and trust between you. There will be a thousand fears and doubts of each other; distrusts and surmises will still arise till you are United in Heart and in Mind, and remain no longer two but one.  
O that I could but make you sensible of the Blessing of this Unity; how much Glory it would add to the Nation! How much scandal it would take from Religion! How much security it would give to three Kingdoms! How much content and satisfaction to your Prince, and how much joy and gladness to the Hearts of all your Brethren: what Peace should we enjoy at home! What esteem and awe should we purchase abroad! What Love would be begotten between one another! And what happiness and prosperity would it bring to all! You would then see again those Happy days of Queen Elizabeth, our Armies to Prosper, our Citizens to Flourish; Conquest abroad and Peace at home; Charity to increase and Contention to cease; Love to abound and Strife to wax less. — redeunt Saturnia Regna. 
Virg.  The golden Age would seem to be returned again, and Righteousness would run down like a stream. There would then be a general rejoicing in our Streets, 
Psal. 118.23  and we should all Cry out, This is the Lords doing: it is marvellous in our Eyes.  
If I thought I were able to prevail with you, I could be willing to spend my Breath in Calling; but how often have you been Called unto and ye will not hear! How often have you been Cried upon and you are still Deaf! The King has Called you, the Laws have Called you, your Fathers and your Brethren have Called you and Cried aloud unto you, and yet you will not hear, you will not Answer as you ought, you will and do still contend and still stand out; you do submit you say to the Laws, you are peaceable and quiet; you disturb not the Church, you Assemble yourselves only to hear the Word and to satisfy your Conscience; you Pray for the King, you Preach and Hear sound Doctrine, Why then should we disturb you by these frequent Callings? 'Tis true you do Obey the Laws, but 'tis by halves; 'tis a passive obedience only; you step not one step forward; you stand still and suffer as as you think; you thereby judge yourselves no less than Martyrs and Sufferers for your Cause and for your Conscience; you resist not because your Hands are bound, but you still Watch and Wait and Pray for a day of Deliverance; you Hope still to have your turn, and you are still Righteous in your own Eyes: you Pray for the King, 'tis your Duty, and he hath deserved it by his Indulgence; you Preach sound Doctrine, that is also to be heard in our Pulpits; but Obedience is better than all this, Unity and Conformity would be of more advantage to you, and, doubt not, more acceptable to God than all your Prayers, than all your Preaching joined with Disobedience. At last therefore endeavour to satisfy your Consciences, go about it in earnest, lay aside all stubbornness of Heart, all Spiritual Pride, all Self-interest. Let the Case be stated truly betwixt you: There are those that will not think much to convince you if Scripture and Reason will do it. But you must then Come with willing Minds, you must not be so stiff as you have hitherto been, rather than comply one jot you will break, you cannot bow; you will not yield in what you may, in those things that you cannot Condemn; you will not so much as Read the Chapters appointed for the Day, because Commanded; you will not repeat the Creed and the ten Commandments; you will but rarely admit of the Lords Prayer, because by us so often used, and those who have thus far Complied and set you a good Example have been reproached for it, and have been looked upon as backsliders. But this is not the way to Unity and Peace, you must bring willing and yielding Hearts with you; you must not be Obstinate and Opiniative; you must not be Resolved before Hand; you must have desires and long for Unity; you must hear without Passion and Interest, and with a desire not of Disputing and showing your Parts but of satisfying your Minds and Consciences, and then no doubt but your scruples may be all Resolved, and you may Conform with satisfaction.  
Lay these things seriously to your Heart, pass them not slightly over, think not these words only a little vain Air, God may Call you by a weak Instrument, by a small Voice. Resist not the Spirit, Harden not your Hearts. 'Tis God that Calls, he would have you return, Remember the Womb wherein you were born, and the Paps that gave you suck. Think of the Peace and Unity of Israel. Be Dutiful as Children. Love as Brethren. Obey the King. Submit to Ordinances. Be Subject to Rulers. Honour the Magistrate. Yield to Governors. Be United in Mind. Be of one Heart. Worship together. Separate no longer, and God will build you up. 
Psal. 76.1, 2.  Then God will be known in Judah, and his Name will be great in Israel. In Salem shall be his Tabernacle, and his Name shall be great in Zion. You shall then be United like Israel and Judah, you shall have but one King, you shall be no more two Nations, 
Eze. 37.22.  neither shall you be divided into two Kingdoms any more at all. Then what Nation will there be so Great, who hath God so nigh unto them? Then you shall be his People, 
Deut. 4.7.  and He will be your God. He will give you one Heart, and one Way, that you may fear him for ever; 
Jer. 32.38, 39 Rom. 15.6.  for the good of you and your Children after you. Then will ye with one Mind, and one Voice glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For ye were as Sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls. 
1 Pet. 2.25.  Then there shall be but one Shepherd and one Fold, and they shall hear his Voice together. Then shall ye all be glad in the Lord, 
John 10.16.  the Righteous shall rejoice, 
Psal. 32.11.  and the Upright in Heart shall shout for Joy. Then shall you have Beauty for Ashes, the Oil of Joy for Mourning, and the Garment of Praise for Heaviness, and the Lord shall be Glorified. 
Isa. 61.3.  Therefore Remember from whence you are fallen and Repent. Return into the Bosom of your Mother, 
Rev. 2.5. Phil. 2.2.  That your Joy may be complete in the Lord, and that there may be seen throughout the Land, all to be like Minded, having one and the same Love, being of one accord, and of one Mind. Amen.  
Inobedientia est ex duritia mentis obstinatae, 
Tullius.  cui debeas, imperanti nolle obtemperare.  
Tres sunt species obstinatorum. 
Hug. the 12. abusi.  Prima eorum qui Correctione non Proficiunt. Secunda eorum qui ex Commonitione deteriores fiunt. Tertia eorum qui emendationem promittunt sed non faciunt.  
Plenissima Peccatorum obtinetur ablutio, 
Leo Papa Serm.  quando totius Ecclesiae una est Oratio, & una Confessio. Si enim duorum vel trium Sanctiorum pio Consensui omnia, quae poposcerint Dominus praestanda promittit, quid negabitur multorum millium Plebi unam observantiam pariter exequenti, & per unum Spiritum concorditer supplicanti?  
Cujus aures Clausi Veritati sunt, 
Tul. de amic.  ut ab amico verum audire nequeat, hujus salus desperanda est.  
FINIS.