The Gentle Lash, Or the VINDICATION Of Dr FEATLEY, a known Champion Of The PROTESTANT RELIGION. Also Seven ARTICLES Exhibited against him. With his ANSWER thereunto. Together with the said Doctor his MANIFESTO and CHALLENGE. PLAUT. Istic thesaurus stultis in lingua positus est, ut maledicant melioribus. IMPRINTED, 1644. The Gentle Lash. O That we had Faith but strong enough to exorcise these quotidian devils, so weekly appearing in our Diurnals, Mercuries, and Continuations: who pretending to maintain the cause of Religion, scandalize both it and all goodness, with malicious lies: whose anonomous Reporters have even sold themselves to the press, to abuse the Peace of this poor distracted Church and kingdom: whose audacious Pens bedabbled in the Gall of bitterness, set forth presumptuous things, maligning Princes, and speaking evil of Dignities, who aiming at the confusion of the Church, strike at her very Pillars, casting their venomous Froth upon their Names, whose able and Religious quills have vindicated the true Protestant Religion, from the dirty calumnies of learned heretics. Generation of Vipers! who hath bewitched you? who hath infatuated you to betray Religion for five shillings a sheet, and to vent so many weekly pennyworths of impiety to poor deluded People, whom your teachers have brought to this degree of blindness, that they will not see? How many of the most learned and religious divisions of this Island, passively submitting to the Ordinances of men, and committed to the Mercy of a Prison) have your printed (and shamefully permitted) scandals, defamed and slandered, rendering them as odious to the ignorant, as you are to the wise; maintaining, nay, even deifying those whom you call, your Holy Pastors, whose help (God be praised) we never wanted against the Argumen●…s of Bellarmine, Stapleton or Fisher whose Net we fear had been too cunningly said for them to have escaped? Nor can I here forget that debt the Church of England owes to the sound and learned labours of that Reverend Champion of our Protestant Religion, D. Featley, which shall remain in our Church as lasting Monuments of his able Piety, whilst Learning, and Orthodox devotion find a Friend; whom, at this time (suffering Imprisonment, for his loyalty to his Conscience and his Prince) your impious, saucy, and sacrilegious quills (as full of venom as the pen out of which Demosthenes sucked his death) have vilified and traduced with such calumnious falsehoods and malicious injuries, my hasty and impartial Pen, shall take the boldness here to vindicate. To which end, you shall first understand what the person is; secondly, what his charge. He is a man, whose life and doctrine need no Advocate; whom detraction itself could not mention, without addition of some Epithets of respect; nay, concerning whom the very diurnals (whose nature and property is to lie) could not for their own credits but acknowledge an honourable truth: some styling him a grave, some a good, and others a famous Doctor: And indeed, to conclude him in a word, no object for any evil passion but Envy, and a Subject for no discourse but what ends with Admiration. He is a man, whose profoundness in learning encouraged the Houses of Parliament to commit the translation of S. Paul's Epistles to his Review, marginal Annotation, and Exposition: whose soundness of Doctrine invited the same Authority to make choice of him, for the answering of a Popish and scandalous Pamphlet, entitled, A safeguard from shipwreck; both performed with solid judgement and singular fidelity; that extant, this ready for the press. By which Authority, he was likewise chosen a Member of the Synod, or Assembly of Divines, for the composing of some differences, and settling the peace of the distempered Church, in these His majesty's Dominions. As touching his charge, it was unhappily occasioned by a Message sent him from His Majesty, (whose chaplain in ordinary he is) which commanded him, no more to join in that Assembly, being convented without His majesty's consent, and therefore without full Authority; whereto returning his answer in a Letter unsealed, to the most reverend Father in God, the Archbishop of Armagh, a chosen Member likewise of the same Assembly, now at the University of Oxford; the Letter was intercepted, opened, and falsely transcribed, whereunto the malitions penman, adding what would most, by wronging him, advantage the Cause, delivered the original to the Messenger (with hopes to intercept the Answer) and dispatched the false Transcript, to the Committee for Examinations: whereupon a sergeant at arms was sent for the Doctor, who having, in his examinations, refused to consent to every Clause in the Scottish Covenant, was forthwith committed prisoner to the Lord Peter's house in Aldersgate street, where now he remains as cheerful as a good Conscience, and as poor as the severest censure of Authority, can make him. But when the lion is down, how every cur will bark! Him, whom of late these sycophantical Diurnall-mongers had in so good esteem, whilst he concurred in some things with them whom they have in Admiration, him now they worry with their temporizing pens: who render him to the world no better than (to use their own words) a Prevaricator, a court-spy, and a traitor to the Assembly, triumphing in the Sentence of his downfall, and mingling the bitter Cup of Justice, with the Exuberance of their own Gall and vinegar. The Doctor (say they) hath his Livings sequestered, his Estate secured, his books seized upon, and himself Imprisoned: Spolia ampla refertis. The only Truth, that Pamphlet is guilty of: sed quo cecidit sub crimine? What was his charge? What was the heinous crime that moved to such a ruin? A Letter sent to the Archbishop of Armagh, an elected Member of the Assembly; whom all the world admires and honours, unless some within the Line of Communication, who are more worthy to untie his shoe, then to judge of his Abilities. But what evil hath he done? He acquainted this worthy Member, by that Letter, with some passages in the Assembly, requiring his judgement in some things there controverted, concerning matters of Faith. Proh nefandum! Indeed, his very presence in the Assembly (as far as I see yet) was his greatest fault. Yea, but he sued covertly for a deanery: Yea, that was a fault indeed, to sue for something, which they are now endeavouring to make nothing, to purchase a house that's pulling down. Put case, he did so. Is it a Crime to provide a plaster for a Sore that is now a breeding? Clypeum post vulnera, is folly: but ante vulnus, is Providence: They that aim at the ruin of the whole body, will be impatient at the Preservation of a Member. Is it a great fault for a Servant to beg of his Master, and none at all for Subjects to beggar their Prince? Perfect diurnal, page 83. You have been often told of some rotten Members in both houses of Parliament, and ye may see further, there are the like rotten Members in the Assembly of Divines &c. Another Truth. Alas, we know, that too well, or else the Head had never been so careful to preserve itself. But tell me, what is the cause of rottenness, in a Member? Is it not the restraint of the influence from the noble part? Some Members there are amongst us, from whom the free operations of the animal spirits are by accident a while obstructed, through the Malignity of the spleen; others whose obstinacy is not capable of their natural operation, but resist all influence from the Head: Tell me, if thou hast Philosophy, which of these are most in lining to rottenness? But you that so malign these Members; say; which of your faction have lifted up a hand against the common Enemy? which of them have struck a blow but against a Cushion or an hour glass? Whilst these menbars whom you so revile, have with their well ar●…'d Arguments laid the Enemy on his back, whilst these members you so Rabsekize have borne the burden of the day, and always have been active in the true religion's Cause, and maintained the Truth that schism hath so struck at: Had your Members been sound and able, they would have shown more action, and not like cowards have run away to New England, when old England was on fire, nor crept into widows' houses whom they devoured under the pretence of long Prayer: Had those Members been rotten, you so term, I feare the Truth have found but poor Champions; This ●…ragious Member (whom you so revile) looked the lion in the very face, nay when he roared, he trembled not; whose holy Table; when all turned Altars, was no m●…veable: stood he not up for the true reformed Religion in the kingdoms both of England and France? Did not he oppose Arminianism when it was in its fullest ruff? And when the Crime was capital to speak against it, were his lips sealed? yet this man hath your black mouthed malice (which blasphemeth the servants of the most high God) reviled and st●…led by the Name of Rotten. But take heed, and remem●…er Nestorius the heretic, how he died. Yea but he ●…sed whose tongue rotted in his mouth. with the Assembly to undermine their proceedings, and gave intelligence to the adverse party, etc, Indeed, he joined with the Assembly, so long as they joined with the Truth; And when they undermined it, he countermined them. Had he swallowed the Covenant whole, and been for sworn in some particulars, he had been as sound a Member as the best. They had past as Birds all of a brown Feather, and had founded a new Truth, not upon the pious confession of Peter, but upon the perjurions' denial of his Master. But he gave intelligence of the proceedings of the Assembly: I never heard before, that synodical decisions were arcana imperii, or opera tenebrarum, the secrets of a kingdom, or the works of darkness. Truth seeks no corners, nor is impatient of discovery. Veritas nihil e●…ubescit, nisi abscondi. But intelligence was given to the adverse party: Whom mean ye, the King? or his evil council? A well justified Consultation fears neither: if the King be not the defender of the Faith, why do you style him so? if he be, to whom should injured Truth appeal, but to her chief defence and protector? But the doctor's guiltiness of these crimes appeared in a letter to Oxford intercepted, which was brought to the Committee for examinations. And had that Letter a name subscribed? no: The true Letter had, viz. which the Counterfeitor being a mere Englishman, took for a sheepmark, and omitted it. But for the substraction of two letters, he added many words and owes the Doctor nothing; The original (which carried his errand to Oxford) spoke nothing of the five times voting him out of his Living at Lambeth; not a word, that He was a constant visitor of the King's prisoners in London, or Lambeth; recommended no suit of his for a Bishopwrick, as the false diurnal reports. But as the devil, so his Children sometimes repeat a truth, to the end they may abuse it; This Hackney Pamphleter relates a business (though not to the purpose, yet to his own purpose, which is to wrong the Doctor) and says, that his barn at Acton, was burn, by the Parliaments soldiers, but in the 84 page he poisons it with a lie avouching that there was no corn in it, and that he suffered no considerable loss by it, whereas it appears under the hands of several able and honest householders and vestry men of Acton, that his loss amounted to the summo of 211. li. subscribed the 1 of October, Vide ce●… infra. 1643. Varlets! when your shuffling and interfering Truths are so faulty, how damnable are your through paced lies? This only by the way: but to return to the purpose, page 84. The Doctor at the Assembly past his vote with the rest upon debate of the Scottish Covenant, for the quite extirpation of Popery and Prelacy. To see, how two aiming at one end, may proceed in two contrary courses; The devil uses to take from the Truth, this tri-obular news-merchant adds to it: Two travelling contrary ways, may meet at the Antipodes. He that takes from the Truth, and adds to the Truth, may meet in Hell as well as in their hellish intentions. The Extirpation of Popery and Prelacy. For the first, His resolution is a perpetual vote and his action a continual execution. For the second, I call the whole Assembly of Divines, some of the peers, and divers of the House of Commons to witness your stupendious lie. But the devil hath taught you this curious point of Sophistry to argue, a male conjunctis ad bene divisa. As for the extirpation of Popery, he hath acted what others have but voted; But for the clause of prelacy, your Idols shall be judges upon what reasons he dissented. First, at his Ordination he took an Oath to obey his ordinary. Secondly, at his Institution and Induction he swore Canonical obedience to the Bishop of the diocese. Thirdly, his Benefice being of my Lord's grace of Canterbury's peculiar, he took an Oath to maintain the privileges of the See of Canterbury. Now how this Covenant in that particular can be consistent with the three former oaths, or how any in the Assembly that takes it, can be guiltless of perjury, let every good conscience judge. Besides, how is God mocked in our very prayers, when that mouth which (as it is required and by an unrepeald Act of Parliament commanded) every day beseeches him to send down the dew of his blessing upon all Bishops and Curates, shall ipso facto swear and vote the utter Extirpation of Bishops, whom it prays for. Mercurius Briton. p. 47. It was mentioned before, who was intelligencer to speak of passages in the Assembly, now a word more of it. That grave D I mean D. Featley, that hath correspondency with the Bishop of Armagh, confesseth in his letter to him, that he all this while dissembled with the Assembly. How uninterrupted boldness will turn to brass-blood impudence. That Letter this Mercury speaks of was surely 〈◊〉 on the back of that Bull which was lately sent from the Pope, Credat judaeus Appella. And why did not this Mercury, to raise his Pamphlet a penny higher, Print that Letter and Bull both together? Come, come, your own Assembly knows, you lie; and if the Cause were not kept burning with such oil, it would go out and stink, and your historical credit would soon run into a Premuniri. Did not our D. long before the being of this abused Letter openly and plainly declare himself to divers of this Assembly against some of their unwarrantable proceedings? Did not he really confess his nonconcurrence, and fear his noncontinuance with them? Is this dissembling? Continuation Numb. 55. D. Featley (you heard of) received a just reward for his perfidiousness, and seeming compliance with the Parliament and Assembly, that he might the better betray all their counsels and consultatinus to them at Oxford: his livings were bestowed upon M. White and M. Nye. These gentlemen you may see can content themselves, each man with a part of these livings, though the D. was not satisfied with the whole, but solicited very importunately by his letter to the Bishop of Armagh at Oxford to have a deanery bestowed upon him. Ab asino majore discit minor rudere. This Intelligencer hath conned his Lesson well, and hath got that perfectly by heart, which the other formerly had imperfectly written; only he plays the Shimei and adds a little railing, and unless i be for that, deserves but a Gentle Lash. This letter hath very strange luck: mentioned by so many and none do it the honour to print it? If it be the original, I fear it goes against your consciences to print a truth: why do ye not corrupt it in the press then, and make it speak as the Oracles did, by instruction and subornation? If to relate some {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} passages, and to call so great, so sanctified a judgement in to aid, be treason or prevarication, why does not your Hangman execute that history which made him err by the example of S. Jerome, who at a Synod at Jerusalem acquainted Damasus (Than Bishop of Rome too) with some synodical proceedings, requiring his judgement thereof? Had our Doctor ever taken an Oath of Allegiance or secrecy to the Assembly, his discovery might have been blameable: But having taken that Oath to his Majesty, he had a Warrant both as a Subject, and a Servant to discover any thing, which by consequence might be derogatory to his Government. But the Doctors two Livings troubled you, and I fear, more than the want of them does him; And why not two Livings, as lawfuly as two Lectureships of as great a value, besides a cure of souls? Ask the Assembly, whether it be expedient to hold two Sequestrations, for a fuller supply? some of them though never so white, will turn red and blush. But how religiously our Doctor behaved himself in his Livings, both Acton and Lambeth will tell you, not I. And what Hospitality the Revenues thereof produced, Newington will inform you. And time may tell you, whether the new Incumbents bring not the year about with fuller purses. But he sues for a deanery too: How appears that? By his Letter: hear then the precise words of the Letter. I understand that the deanery of Westminster, and a Prebendary of Canterbury are now void, and in the King's gift: If you think meet, you may put in, in the first place for yourself, and in the second for your friend: Now the covetous Mystery lies in the last word, friend. And you, by the spirit of Revelation must unfold that Mystery: well, be it so: Then grant him to have the spirit of Prophesie too, to sue so; who foreseeing a shipwreck here, catched at a plank to keep him from sinking. Now having viewed his offence with one eye, cast your other upon his punishment, and being impartial, tell me, 〈◊〉, whether the proportion they carry be mathematical. And, to conclude, call to mind but Plato's apology for Socrates; or Chrystostome and Athanasius for themselves, in which there are instances given of the best men in all ages, who notwithstanding have received hard measure, and been condemned as D●…linquents in Synods & popular Assemblies, or Jerome of PRAGVE, that noble Confessor, and Martyr his oration in the Synod of Constance: and laying all things together, this ●…nsulter upon the downfall of him (who hath stood up so many years for the Truth) if his Conscience be not feared with a hot Iron, will turn his present Gall into future honey, and his unchristian Censure, into a Christian Commiseration. We whose Names are here under written, inhabitants of the Parish of Acton, in the County of Middlesex, being requested by Doctor Daniel Featley, Parson of the parish of Acton as aforesaid, to certify the time of burning the barn, wherein the tithe-corn lay belonging to the said Parsonage, and of the value of it: We do upon certain Knowledge and true information certify all those whomit may concern, that the said Barn, being full of corn, besides three Bay of Stabling, built by the said Doctor himself, all valued at two hundred and eleven pounds, or thereabouts, as it was then prized by some of the parishioners appointed to that purpose, were all burned down to the ground, the tenth day of November last, by the Parliaments Forces then quartered in the said Town. And we further certify that this loss fell above five weeks after the death of M. Henry Leerewood (to whom the said parsonage had been farmed, and when the said parsonage was in the doctor's hands, before he had farmed it to any other. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our Names the first day of October, 1643. John Needler. Thomas Needler. Edmond Biddle. George Colle. Henry Colle. The mark of William wells. THE PRINTER To The READER. AFter I met with these grateful lines written with the silver Pen of Theiomusus Laureatus, in defence of him, who hath written and Printed so much in defence of the Doctrine and discipline of the Church: A friend of his, since his confinement to Petri vincula, visiting his desolate house at Lambeth, found there those, who in Sylla the dictator's days werè termed Sectores bonorum, but now sequestrators, rifling the room, and plundering the study and garden, and robbing him of choicer Flowers out of the one, than Emmenes or Tulips out of the other. Among which he culled these which I offer to thy view; and if, as stolen waters are sweet, so stolen flowers are the sweeter, these cannot but please thee: for they are snatched out of the Harpies talons and now steal to the press. Accept this posy for the present, and I hope e●… long to present thee with a Garland of the like. SPONGIA, OR, Articles exhibited by certain Semi-Separatists indicted at Sessions, against Daniel Featley, D. D. before the Committee for plundered Ministers, Together with his Answer thereunto. Tertul. Veritas nihil metuit, nisi abscondi. AFter Doctor Featley had waited divers weeks, upon the Committee for plundered Ministers; at the last, March 16. 1642. he was called into the Exchequer Chamber, to answer seven Articles put in against him, when and where M. White, being in the chair, having the said Articles before him, demanded as followeth. Did not you D. Featley in a Sermon say, that it was blasphemy and ignorance, to speak against bowing at the Name of Jesus, and that all those that pull down the rails from the Communion Table, or speak against them, or oppose the Ceremonies of the Bishops, are of the seed of the Serpent? &c. There is no name of Bishop at all in the Articles, nor of other D. Fe●… ceremonies, than the ceremonies of the Church established by Law or Canon, but I have read in Aristotle, that there is a fallacy called, Sophi Elen●… Fallacia a pluribus iuterrogationibus sub una, when one single answer is expected to a double or treble interrogation. That I may not be entangled in such a n●…t, I shall desire you M. White, to propound the Articles distinctly, and severally, and then I will answer them punctually. But before I hold up s●…ptemplicem clypeum, to ward off your sevenfold stroke, I am constrained to make a motion to you that some order be taken, that I may safely wait upon this Honourable Committee▪ For, animam meam in manu mea porto; I cannot go and come, without evident peril of my life; besides, jeering, and railing at me, by those of my accuser's sect, in a most unchristian, and uncivil manner; the grounds of my fear are these. The next day after the bloody Fray at Lambeth, as I landed at the stairs, there a soldier that stood sentinel, one Alexander Bagwood holding his Musket at my breast, charged me before divers of the Parish, that I was he who kindled the late fire; of which words of his I took present witness, and promised to call him to an account for them; on the Tuesday following, one of the soldiers of captain Andrew●…s his Company, being asked when they meant to leave the court of Guard at Lambeth, said, they meant not to go away, till they had made an end of me: this Tho. Addams testifieth upon ●…he doctors life ●…ught by ●…e 〈◊〉. Oath. On Wednesday being the Fast day, one of Kennigton told a Gent. my neighbour, that she heard the soldiers spe●…ke amongst themselves, that they had missed their mark, and that they did look for me, if they could have met with me. The Monday following, one of the Parishioners sent me word, that a Gent. in her hearing, reported, that some of captain Andrew's his Company said, that they had a Warrant to Plunder me. In these regards, I humbly desire, that according to the custom of all Courts in this case, I may have a protection both for my person, and estate, during my attendance here. I know no such thing as you speak of, therefore answer to 〈◊〉. White. your charge. The D. being somewhat moved, that so necessary a motion for the safety of his life should be so slighted, after a little pause to recollect himself, went on in his speec●…, as followeth. Hoc uno die plus vixi, quam oportuit, this is the first day in all my life, that I ever heard Articles read against me in any Court ecclesiastical, or temporal, or Committee of Parliament. For, what the Prophet jeremy spoke in another case; I have neither lent ●…5. 10. on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury, yet they curse me: I may truly say in this, I never drew Articles against any, nor had any till After 〈◊〉 wa●…e 〈◊〉 ed for 〈◊〉 Chann●… and aft●… for M. Foreb●… last of: for M: White Dorch●… ster. Heb. 〈◊〉 now drawn against me: yet they seek not only my Living (which, I heard in Westminster hall, was designed already for one M. Putie) but (as you hear) my life also. But my comfort is, that the like hard measure hath been offered to the Prophets of God, and Ministers of Christ in all ages. * Nay the prince of our salvation was consecrated through afflictions; and give me leave to apologise for myself in the words of the blessed Martyr S. Cyprian, nec mihi ignominiosum est pati a meis, quod passus est Christus, nec illis gloriosum facere, quod fecit Judas. All the favour that I shall desire is but this, for as much as all human laws ought to veil bonnet to divine (as Joseph's brethren's sheaves bowed to his) that you will not receive an accusation 1 Tim. 19 against an Elder under two or three witnesses, and those not liable to just exceptions. I beseech you to take notice of it, the Apostle saith not, condemn not an Elder, under two or three witnesses, for so no other man by the Law of God might be, in case of life; but receive not an accusation against an Elder; and Calvin yields a good reason for it, cur hoc singulari privilegio presbyteros munit? respondeo, Deut. 〈◊〉 hoc esse necessarium remedium adversus hominum malignitatem: nulli enim calumniis, & obtrectationibus magis sunt obnoxii, quam pii doctores; qui, quamvis exactefungantur suis partibus, utneminimum quidem erratum admittant, nunquam tamen mille reprehensiones effugiunt; atque hic est astus Satanae, alienare hominum animos a ministris, ut doctrina paulatim veniat in contemptum. Why doth the Apostle arm Elders with this singular privilege above other men, that no accusation may be admitted against them but under two or three witnesses? I answer (saith he) that this is a necessary remedy against the malignity of men, for no men are more subject to calumniations, and back bitings, then godly doctors or teachers; who though they acquit themselves never so well in their function, that they cannot be taxed with the least error, or fault therein: yet they can never escape a world of calumnies. And this is the cunning of Satan, to alienate men's minds from the Ministers of God, that so by degrees he may bring the Word of God into contempt. As for the Articles, forex suo indicio; the contriver of them sufficiently discovereth himself; the very Articles themselves show that they were patched together by a Tailor of two names, who is the accuser by the name of Ambrose Glover, but brought for a witness by the name of Ambrose Andrew's: he had time enough to have stitched them better, for he confesseth that he had been about them this twelve month; yet how miserably are they botched? there is neither method, nor order, nor coherence, nor sense in them. In the first Article, there are two distinct Articles comprised, in the second six, in the third five, in the fourth two, in the fift three, and to fill up the number; th●… first is repeated again in this fift, in the sixt there are two, in the seventh five, in which Article also there is most eloquent Non sense; The keys taken from the Church and left in such hands (who left them?) as have laid them by, until they became rusty: so that sodomy, murder, Felony, Pillage, and Plunder, is daily committed without punishment, as if sodomy, murder, &c. were ever punished by the ecclesiastical Courts, or power of the keys, for which all men know, men are arraigned and condemned at the assizes and Sessions. Leave these speeches and answer punctually to the Articles. In general, I answer negatively to them all, so far as they contain White. ●…atley. any offensive matter or criminal, punishable either by the Law of God, or man, civil, Canon, municipal, or common. In particular to the first, which is. The first Article. He suffereth new Cer●…monies, as standing up at gloria patri, which many of his Parish practice, and preacheth for bowing at the Name of Jesus; and doth bow at the Name of Jesus himself, and said, that it was blasphemy and ignorance for any to speak against bowing at the Name of Jesus. Answer. Standing up at gloria patri is no new Ceremony, or gesture; 〈◊〉 it hath been used in colleges, cathedral Churches, and chapels of Noble men, and some Parish Churches for a long time. It is a commendable custom to express some outward reverence in that doxology, wherein the Three Persons of the most Glorious trinity are named: yet do I not hold it a matter of necessity but indifferency; and therefore as S. Ambrose, when he was at Milan, fasted on Saturday, because such was the custom there; but when he was at Rome, fasted not, because there they had no such custom: so if I come to a Church where such standing is used, I join with them in it, but if I come to any other place where it is not used, I sorbear it, that I may give no offence, either way. Howsoever the best is, my Informer chargeth me not with bringing in this gesture, or pressing it, but only with suffering some of my Parish to use it. What power have I to prohibit them? or what Law of God or man forbiddeth this gesture, in saying or singing, Glory be to the Father, and to the son, & c? It is forbidden by the Law, in that it is not commanded. M. W●… D. Fe●… By your favour that is no good inference (such a thing is not commanded, Ergo it is forbidden by the Law) for indifferene things are such as neither are commanded, nor forbidden; The standing up at the gospel, the Nicene creed, and that of Athanasius, the sitting down in pews, or Galleries at Sermon, the preaching in a high Pulpit, with Steps, Mats, Pulpit-cloth, and Cushions, and an hour glass, are nowhere commanded; will it therefore follow that they are forbidden? To instance also in the Law of God, though it be true in matter of substance of Religion and points of Faith or manners, and generally in all things necessary to 〈◊〉, that what soever is not commanded is forbidden, yet in matter of circumstance, of time, place, h●…bit, or gesture, or something that belongs to the exterior acts of God's worship only, that maxim holds not; for example, the setting the psalms to be sung to such ●…unes, and played upon such instruments, as are mentioned in the title of the psalms, the keeping Fasts on the fift and seventh Zac. 7●… 10. 10. month, celebrating the feasts of dedication, the reading Chapters intermingled with psalms, in such or such a number, or order; the lecturing on such or such days of the week, the receiving the Communion thrice a year, or once a month, the covering the Communion Table with a linen cloth, or silk carpet, the standing of Godfathers and Godmothers at the font, nay to have a font in every Church, or to use such forms in christening, marriages, and burials, as now we use, are things not commanded by the law of God, will it follow therefore that they are forbidden? By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this reason I might argue against them, who in other Churches sit aet gloria patri (which it seems M. White you approve of by your practice) or kneel, neither of these gestures are commanded. Ergo they are forbidden? or they are forbidden, in that they are not commanded. Here one of the Members of the House of Commons being present, said, Doctor you forget yourself, you think you are in the schools, or words to the like effect: whereupon the D. desisted from prosecuting any more that point, and proceeded to his answer, to the bowing at the Name of Jesus. For bowing at the Name of Jesus: Upon occasion of a Sermon preached by a puny Divine at Lambeth in my absence, who said 〈◊〉 that Lambeth was the most superstitious place that ever he came in; for whensoever he named Jesus, they either bowed the head, or knee, or put off their hats, which he affirmed to be a popish innovation and idolising. I the next Lord's day after, at the earnest entreaty of the prime gent. of the parish, in my Sermon apologized in this manner, both for the Canon of the Church, and the practice of our parish. First, that bowing at the Name of Jesus was very ignorantly termed by him an innovation: for besides the Canon in B. Bancroft's time, confirmed by the royal authority of King James of blessed memory, there was an injunction for it, 1o. Elizabethae, and the most exquisitely learned and most Orthodox Doctor of the Reformed Church, Hieronimus Zanchius saith, it was a most ancient custom of the Christians so to do; and before him S. Jerome, who flourished in the year of our Lord 390. in his comment upon these words of the Prophet Esay, to me every knee shall bow, testifieth that in his time there was mos ecclesiasticus Christo genua flectere: &c. Secondly, that it could be no idolising, to bow at the Name of Jesus, for that: Idolum being derived from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} video, is properly the object of the eye, not of the ear: which argument God himself useth, to deter the people from Idolatry. You heard D 12. the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice v. 15. 16. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, for ye saw no manner of similitude on that day, lest you corrupt yourselves, and make any graven Image, the similitude of any figure. Thirdly, it is one thing to (bow to the Name of Jesus, another thing to bow in or at the Name of Jesus, as it is one {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} thing to kneel at the Communion Table, another thing to kneel to the Communion Table; it is one thing, adorare ad scabellum ejus, to worship towards his footstool, which is commanded in Scripture, another thing adorare scabellum pedum ejus, to worship his footstool, which is flat Idolatry. To how to the Name of Jesus, whether we mean thereby the syllables, or the sound, is gross superstition: but to bow in, or at the Name of Ies●…s is not so. Now what the Canon prescribeth & we in obedience Can thereunto practise, is, when in the time of divine service, the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, to do lowly reverence to his person, test●…fiing by this outward ceremony, and gesture, our inward humility, and christian resolution, and due acknowledgement that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true eternal son of God, and only Saviour of the World, in whom alone all the mercies, graces, and promises of God to mankind for this life, and the life to come, are fully and wholly comprised. In this manner & to this end, in the time of divine service, to bow to the person of our S●…viour in or at his Name Jesus, I said, was so far from being an Idolatrous ceremony, that to affirm it to be Idolatry in this sense, was no better than blasphemy, which I proved by this syllogism. Whosoever maketh Christ an idol is a Blasphemer. But he that saith, it is Idolatry to bow to Christ's Person in or at his name Jesus, makes Christ an idol; Ergo he that saith that bowing to the person of Christ in or at his name Jesus is idolising, is a Blasphemer; Howsoever, say I had said (which I utterly deny) that it was ignorance and blasphemy to speak against bowing at the Name of Jesus, the words may very well be justified. M. 〈◊〉 What! will you maintain, that it is ignorance and blasphemy to speak against bowing at the Name of Jesus? I will maintain it, for thus I frame my argument. ●…y. To speak against the text of the Holy Ghost is ignorance, and blasphemy. But bowing in or at the Name of Josus, is the text of the Holy Ghost. Phil. 2. 10. Ergo speaking against the bowing in or at the Name of Jesus, is ignorance, and blasphemy. It is true; that there is some question among learned Divines, concerning the meaning of the Text, whether it be literal or figurative, whether by bowing we ought to understand corporal and external bowing of the knee, or inward bowing of the heart. Et adhuc subjudice lis est. But all agree in this; that some bowing in or at the Name of Jesus, is here both warranted and commanded, to speak then against it simply and absolutely, without any distinction of meaning, or M. was 〈◊〉 manner of bowing, is not only gross ignorance, but direct blasphemy against the divinely inspired text of Scripture. ●…d The second Article. Whereas the Communion Table did stand in the middle of the chancel, but is new removed and is set at the East end of the chancel, and three ways compassed about with rails, the said Table standing divers steps high, and he boweth towards the East end of the chancel: he likewise preacheth for the ceremonies, and calleth them innocent ceremonies, and calleth the Surplice a spotless garment, and refuseth to give the Sacrament to such as will not come up and kneel at the rails. Answer. For the Communion Table, I never gave order for the 〈◊〉. placing or displacing it, it standeth as it did when I came first to the Parish. Only once M. Woodward, when he was churchwarden, about 20. years ago, brought it down to the middle of the chancel, and compassed it about with a most decent and useful frame at his own charge but the parishioners (finding the standing of it there to be very inconvenient, partly because it stopped up the passage from Lees Isle to Hawards' chapel, partly because it debared 30. or 40. at least from hearing the Preacher) with public consent removed it to the place where it first stood time out of mind, and is the fittest place for it to stand in, that the communicants may best both hear and see the Minister at the Communion. For the steps in the chancel, at a public meeting of all the 〈◊〉 parish, it was proved that the chancel had for above 60. years such an ascent as now it hath, and that by reason of store of corpses lately interred there, it could not be leveled without great wrong to the dead, and danger to the living from the stench. For the frame about the Communion Table. It was made for 3 four reasons especially, 1. That we might come as near as might be to the example of Christ and his Apostles, who at the first institution of the Sacrament received it about a table, 2. that the communicants might according to the rubric draw near to the holy table, 3. That the Communions might be with more facility & decent order celebrated and in more convenient time finished then before they could be, 4. That irreverent abuses might be prevented, as the coming in of dogs, catching at the consecrated elements, and ill mannered peoplesthrowing their hats and cloaks, & sitting upon it. In these regards, when, upon the receipt of an order from the house of Common a●…ainst innovations, I assembled the whole parish together to put in execution that order, and asked them concerning this frame, they cried all with one consent, it is no innovation, let it stand, let it stand. For bowing towards the East. If they mean thereby bowing towards 4 the Communion Table, at coming into the Church, and going out, though some men of good account in the Church both approve, and use it, yet neither I, nor my Curate ever do so. But true it is that, as my pew is made, I kneel towards the East, as in the pulpit I do towards the North, and at the Communion Table towards the South, but without any manner of superstition; some way I must bow, and I understand not but that it is as lawful to bow or kneel towards the East, after the manner of all christians in the primitive Church, as well as towards the West after the manner of the Jews, ●…o it be not done with any opinion of holiness, or devotion to any part of the heaven, but in honour to him who made heaven and earth. For the ceremonies. According to an order made by the House of ●…eeres, I have (as my text led me) sometimes preached for such 〈◊〉. decent ceremonies as are established by law, and commanded to be used in the rubric of the book of Common Prayer: but for any new popish ceremonies I have mainly opposed them, and could never be brought, neither by persuasions, nor by threats, nor by presentments, ●…or citations, from the chancellor of Winton, or archdeacon of Surry, or his official to turn the Communion Table altarwise. Nay I preached a Sermon professedly against such changing it, or calling it by the Name of an Altar. For the Surplice. I said that it was a decent vest, and had been used 6. many years before popery crept into the Church or there was a whore of Babylon, and therefore ought not to be termed her smock. For refusing to give the Communion. If I had repelled any from the Communion who refuse to kneel at the receiving that holy 7. Sacrament, I conceive, with submission to better judgements, that the rubric of the book of Common Prayer est●…blished by law would bear me out in it, where we find these formal words, the minister shall deliver the Communion to the pe●…ple in their hands kneeling. Yet the truth is, I never repelled any for not kneeling: only I remember that a prachant youth●… a prentice to Ambrose Andrew's coming to the rails refused to kneel and when I admonished him thereof that he should not give scandal to the communicants who were all upon their knees, but conform himself to the humble gesture prescribed by the Church, and he notwithstanding would not so much as bow a knee, I passed him for the present: but when afterwards he presented himself again at the same communion, and I saw tears in his eyes, I came to him and demanded of him whether he came prepared, and refused to kneel merely upon scruple of conscience, and when he seriously affirmed that he did so, I gave him the communion, and wished him to come to me the next day to take away his scruples: and when he ca●…e, because Andrew's his wife had said before many, that this apprentice of hers could make a better Sermon than I; I examined him in points of catechism, and sound him tardy and ignorant enough. The third Article. He preacheth for Organs, showing how necessary they are to be in Churches, and hath preached against prayer ex tempore, and saith of such praying, whereas such were never in, so they are ever out; and the said Doctor preacheth but seld●… ne to his people, having two great livings, yet he pressed hard for 2 s. 9 d. in the pound of his parishioners, until it came near the commencing of a suit at law to prevent him. Answ. For Organs. I remember that commenting upon that text 〈◊〉 of the Apostle, Col. 3. 16. admonish●…ng one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, I said that some noted upon the word Psalmoi derived from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} tango to touch, that psalms properly signified such songs as were made to be sung, and played upon the lute, harp, or some such like instrument: & hereupon inferred the lawful use of instrumental music, which though I conceived to be no very strong argument, because drawn from a mere etymology: yet for the doctrine itself, I held it very sound and good, that it is lawful to proise God as well with instrumental as vocal music. And for Organs in particular, I said they were not to be accounted popish, for S. Ambrose and S. Austin commended the use of them in the Church in their time, & at this day the protestants use them both in the low Countries, and in England; and for the Pope he hath none in his chapel: yet his Majesty hath in his, as his predecessors had before him. Howsoever I am sure that no man can testify that ever I undertook to show how necessary Organs be; I do not hold them necessary, but very lawful, and of good use both in the King's chapel, cathedral Chutches, colleges, and elsewhere. The law forbiddeth them, for the Act of Parliament forbiddeth M. W●… any to use any other form, or manner of Prayer, Service, or Sacraments; then is there expressed. I deny your argument, and my reason is, an Organ is no manner ●…atley. or form of singing, or service, but a mere instrument wherewith we stir up our affections, the more to praise God, and sing more tuneable, and delightfully. As a sword is no form or manner of fighting, a tool is no form or manner of working, a knife is no form or manner of cutting: so neither is an Organ, Lute, or Harp, any form or manner of singing, or praising God, but an instrument only, wherewith we pray or praise, or sing more melodiously White- plus- the sedtime. & gracefully; & sith it is evident, that no Organ or other musical instruments are any types of Christ, or parts of the abrogated Law of Moses: I am yet to learn, why we may not as lawfully use Organs in our Churches, as King David used them in the Temple; 150. 34 Praise God with the sound of the Trumpet, praise him with the Psal●…ery and harp, praise him with the timbrel and Pipe, praise him with the stringed 〈◊〉 instruments and Organs. For praying ex tempore. I never condemned it absolutely, but 2, 〈◊〉 contrariwise when I preached at Lambeth, upon these words of the Apostle, The spirit maketh intercession withsighes and groans which cannot be expressed. I much pressed the use thereof, especially when according to our saviour's precept, we retire into our closets, and pray to our Father in secret; but I found fault with some careless preachers in our days, who came into the Pulpit at public Fasts, and presumed without any premeditation to pray many hours ex tempore, in which their prayers they used much battology and vain repetitions against the express commandment of our Saviour, & excluded his prayer, which is the perfect pattern of all prayer. The words of my Sermon transc●…ibed verbatim, are these. They expunge the Lord's prayer, and do not at all rehearse before or after it their own, how long soever they make them. Whereas the Reformed Churches generally conclude their prayers, before Sermon with the Lord's prayer, partly in opposition to Papists, who close up their devotions with an Ave Maria, partly to supply all the defects and imperfections of their own these leave out that sanctified form of prayer, in which, it being the quintessence of all prayer, one drop is more worth, and hath in it more virtue, being poured out in Faith, than an Ocean of their conceived abortive prayers, in which they are never out, because indeed never in, neither can they easily make an end, because they never knew how to begin. For my seldom preaching. Besides ten distinct books, and some of them of no small volume, which I have published in the defence of the Orthodox Protest●…nt Religion, against Atheists, Papists, and Arminians, I have been a constant preacher in England, and in France, for these 32 years at least. This last year I have preached sometimes twice and sometimes thrice in a week, though not so often at Lambeth as I used to do, partly by reason of my attendance two months at Court, by command of the than Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Essex, partly in reg●…rd of a double task recommended to me, from some Members of the Honourable House of Commons: the former writing annot●…tions upon all S. Paul's Epistles, the latter, an answer to a treatise of a Popish Priest, entitled, A safeguard from shipwreck; the former ready for the press; the latter Printed with the approbation of the House. Only this is true, that I have very seldom or never preached at Lambeth Church this y●…are in their hearing; for five of them have not been at Lambeth Church at divine prayer these 9 mon●…ths, for which their delinquency, I humbly desire that according to the To mot●… Wh●… tur●… dea Statute they may pay their ●…2d to the poor, for every Sunday and holiday they have been absent from their Parish Church. For my two great Li●…ings. They were I confess good Livings, if I might have my 〈◊〉: but f●…rst for rent of houses, and the tenth part of ●…he clear gains of Merchants and Artificers (according to the Statute of K Edward the sixt) I never received a penny, and for the land in the Parish, whereof there was wont formerly to be 1000 acres in tillage; t●…ere are now not above 120, the Parishioners turning their a rabble land (the tenth where of was worth at least 4s per acre) into pasture for cow-keeping, for which I receive according to the custom but 4d per acre, yet out of these I pay to the King and my Curat●…, and other charg●…s, 100 l per annum. For 2s 9 per pound. I never demanded it of any man, nor receive any more from them who live in the greatest, and fairest houses of Lambeth (and have not land there) then two pence for their oblation at Easter; so little doth the food of their souls stand them in. Howbeit thus much truth is in the Article, that when the ministers and Ci●…izens of London referred the great difference between them concerning Rent of houses to the ●…rbitration of his Majesty, and a proposition was made to all the Suburbs & parts add oyning, that they should likewise submit all controversies concerning their tithes to his Majesty, for the preventing of litigious suits as well in spiritual Courts, as at common ●…aw. I being sent to, appeared with the rest, and under my h●…nd and seal bound myself to stand to his Majesti●…s Order: but the parishioners by the advice of M. Holborn, refused to submit to the sa n●…, and so nothing was done. The fourth Article. The said Doctor in a Sermon preached the 25 of July, 1641, said, that all those that pull down the Raile●… from the Communion Table, or speak against the●…, and oppose the ceremonies of the Church, are of the seed of the Serpent, and enemies to God. Answ. I said no such thing, but describing the seed of the Serpent, I said, they were his seed, who did the works of the devil, as our Saviour conclude●…h them to be the children of Abraham, who do the works of Abraham: now the works of the devil are all manner of works of iniquity, impurity, or impiety: iniquity, as exaction, extortion, opp●…ession, sacrisedge, &c. impurity, as whoredom, adultery, incest, etc of impiety, as profaning the Lord's 〈◊〉, ●…nd his Sanctuary, breaking into Churches, and without any authority fro●… the lawful Magistrate, plucking up P●…wes and rails, and pulli●… down Organs, and defacing all the Ornaments of the Church, and Monuments of the dead. And for this just reproof of outrages committed in the Church, I have good warrant, both from the Law of God, and an Ordinance of both Houses of Parliament. The words here alleged by the accuser, I never spoke in terminis, prout j●…cent: yet, if their testimonies, though not upon Oath, may bear down my bare negation, let them stand as they do, there is nothing in them, but may very well be defended. For I speak not of any Popish Ceremonies, but of such Ceremonies as are established by law in our Church, and are no way repugnant to the word of God; those who not ignorantly, but ●…ilfully oppose such rires and Ceremonies, and continue in their opposition to the true Church of God, they are the seed of the Serpent and enemies to God. For Christ commandeth us to hold them for heathens and publicans, who refuse to hear the Mat. 17, Lu. 1●… Church, and he saith, He who heareth you, heareth me, and he who heareth me, heareth him that sent me: and the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrew●…s, Obey them that hav●… the rule over you, & submit yourselves, for 13. 〈◊〉 they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. The fift Article. The Doctor said in a Sermon, that bowing at the Name of Jesus was used, till Cartwright that arch-heretic and those that followed him opposed it, but Q. Eliz●…beth crushed Marprelates brood, and put Penry to death, and Udall in prison till he died: and because they would not bow their knees, she bowed their backs in the Starchamber. And further said, that the State had sa●…e long and done nothing, but unless something be done, we are all undone; a fowl that sitteth long and doth not hatch, her eggs are addle; and a woman always conceiving and never bringing forth, what comfort can she be to her husband? Answ. Concerning Cartwright, and Penry, &c. and the contents of this whole Article, they are arrows shot at random, no time or place is expressed where any such Sermon should be preached by me: and therefore I conceive, under favour of this Honourable Court, that I am not bound to answer them. But I would willingly hear from my accusers, what was the Text upon which I delivered this doctrine, how I divided it, and from what branch or part I made any such inferences, or uses: if they cannot show this, as I know they cannot it will evidently appear that these men came to Church, not as Bees to gather honey, but, as spiders, to suck some juice, which they might turn to poison. Yet I will not deny, that in some sermon it is possible, I might inveigh against Cartwright, and Martin Marprelate, and Penry, that Arch-schismaticke, and Barrow, and some others of their sect, whereof some were deservedly censured in the Starchamber, and others sentenced to death. Have you any more to say to this passage? ●…te. Nothing, but that to my best remembrance I used not the word ●…ley. arch-heretic, but Arch schismatic; and for the rest, I never heard it till now to be criminal, to allege a true story or narration, out of the life of Q. Elizabeth, and the Chronicles of England. Here one of the Committee said, but doth the Chronicler of England, or the Writer of the life of Q. Elizabeth, say, that she bowed down their ob●…n: 〈◊〉 ●…r, & ●…udg sus●…y of ●…f the ●…rs ●…s. ●…tley. backs? He doth not say Q. Elizabeth bowed down their backs, but he saith, that she by the Lords of the Starchamber fined them, and imprisoned some of them; and that by her Judges she condemned Penry and Barrow to death. I spoke therefore within compass, when I said she bowed down their backs. But whereas it is objected that I should say the State sat long and had done nothing, it is as far from truth as common sense; I never uttered any such words, I have by me the copy of that Sermon, wherein the similitudes of a fowl sitting and never hatching, and of a woman conceiving and never bringing forth, are to be seen and read, but nothing that tendeth that way. The doctrine was general, that laws served to little purpose without execution, or good intentions 〈◊〉 actions, for acta laudantur, & omnis laus virtutis est in actione, the particular application to the State was not mine, but theirs; and if by the State they meant the Parliament, they deserve the just censure thereof. The formal words in that Sermon transcribed out of the original are these: Dictum Sexti Pompeii, non acta laudantur, if a Hen sitteth and never hatch, or a woman be ever breeding and never bring forth, what profit is by the one, or comfort from the other? Habemus senatus consultum sicut gladium in vagina reconditum, we have good Laws against Recusants, Brownists, Drunkards, &c. but these laws are like a sword locked fast in the scabbard, the Magistrate needs will or strength to draw it out; execution is the life of the Law, if something be not done, we are all undone. Howsoever date & non concesso, if one witness in the affirmative mustsway more than a hundred in the negative, who yet were present at the sermon, and heard all passages, and remember those very similitudes of a Hen, and of a woman, and yet not these of the State sitting long, let it be so. I confidently affirm, that there is no malignity or offensive matter in the speech, if it betaken with the antecedents & consequents; for Sextus Pompeius would very fain have had that very act done, which he spoke of to the pilot, and a Hen that sitteth upon her eggs would hatch them, if it were in her power; and the cause why they come to no good, is in the eggs, because they are addle, not in the Hen; and questionless a woman in travail striveth what she is able, and would with all the veins in her heart be delivered if she could possibly by any means: therefore if I had spoken those words (which I never did) for neither I, nor any other man, to my knowledge, calleth the Parliament the State, but the assembly of the three estates) the meaning in that place could be no other than this, that by reason of the great distractions in the kingdom, and divisions between the Members of both Houses, though they had sat long and desired nothing more than to settle Church and commonwealth in Peace: yet little hitherto could be done. The sixt Article. When the Doctor was demanded what moneys he would give or lend to the King or Parliament, he used delays in giving an answer, and at last would do nothing; and further, being demanded by one of his Parish whether it were good to lend; he answered him, it was not safe for him to give or lend. Answ. I never denied to give or lend to the King and Parliament, 〈◊〉 but it is true, that seeing contrary commands, both published in Print from His Majesty and the high Court of Parliament; I desired at the first that the Collectors would repair to the Knights, Ladies, and others of the chief rank of the Parish, and show me what they gave or lent, which they refused to do: but when they came a second time unto me, I appointed them to meet me at the Vestry the Tuesday following, and there I would resolve them, but they never came unto me, yet certified that I denied to give or lend, and would have certified also that I dissuaded others; but M. Day, one of the Collectors, struck that clause out, saying, there was no reason to certify that as from me, which they never heard me speak, but only another man, was said, could affirm as much. To the accusation itself, of not lending money, my answer is, that when colonel Urrey was at Action, he lay in my Parsonage house, and his soldiers not content with such corn and H●…y as they received from my Farmer at their own price, demanded the keys of the great barn, and had them in their hands for four days; in which time, through the carelessness of one of the soldiers that lay in the barn, (if not purposely) the stack of corn was set on fire, and the whole B●…rne and two stables were burned down to the ground, the loss thereof estimated by divers of the Parishioners, was 211 pound at the least. Besides this, when the maimed soldiers were placed in the Savoy, my whole stipend was laid out towards the buying of beds for them. In which consideration, I conceive that this honourable Committee will hold me excused from any further gift or loan, I being not presently furnished with money, and having no temporal Living, nor ecclesiastical dignity, Deanery, Archdeaconry, or Prebend. For that one of the Parish, whom they affirmed I dissuaded 2. 〈◊〉 from lending to the King and Parliament, I desire that he may be called face to face, in the mean while I offer this Certificate under his own hand. Meeting D. Featley about S. Ma●…garets Hill, by and by after M. White, M. Goad, and some others, were appointed for Lambeth Parish, to see what the Inhabitants would do upon the Propositions; after other discourse, I demanded of D. Featley what he thought of it, he replied, that he thought the business would speed the worse, because they had made choice of such men as were not beloved in our Parish, nor came to our Church: But whereas it is reported, that D. featly should dissuade me, or any other to my knowledge, it is falsely suggested, for beyond my ability I freely lent 38 li. per me Neariah Mormay. The seventh Article. The said D. said in a Sermon, the 4. December, 1642. are not these resisting times, wherein authority is trampled upon, God's true Ministers despised, all laws neglected and contemned, the keys taken from the Church, and left them in such hands as have laid them by until they become rusty and of no use, so that sacrilege, Wheredome, sodomy, murder, Felony, Pillage, Plunder (and what not?) i●… daily committed without punishment and is not the whole tenure of the gospel against that, which is preached almost in every Pulpit in London, who do nothing but cry arm, arm; Fight, Fight, Blood, Blood, battle, battle, Kill, Kill, and they pretend they fight for Religion, and the privileges of Parliament, and the right of the Subject; but he said, the wise have lost their wisdom, and the physician his kill, and the remedy is worse than the disease. Answ. To speak nothing of the incoherent nonsense in this Article, where it is said, the keys were taken from the Church, and 〈◊〉. Featly. left them in such hands as have laid them by: I say, that none of the particulars alleged in this Article are found in that Sermon; true it is, that in another Sermon preached at a Fast, I inveighed against the great disorders committed in the Church & commonwealth, by such. who made advantage of the present distractions, promising themselves impunity by reason that the keys of the Church now grew rusty through disuse, & the temporal sword was otherwise employed. All that I spoke in the Sermon here objected was this. There is no ecclesiastical Discipline at all exercised for Lay●…mens usurping upon the priest's function, and handicrafts men's handling the word with their black and impure hands, for preaching heretical, schismatical, and blasphemous Doctrine, for Adultery, Incest, and filthiness not to be named, no punishment of ecclesiastical censure now inflicted: And the tenure of the gospel runs thus, fear God and honour the King, speak not evil of the Ruler of God's people, curse him not, no not so much as in thy thought; whereas they publicly in the greatest assemblies speak evil of dignities, and slander the footsteps of the Lord's anointed, and compare our Religious and most gracious sovereign, my Master, Quo nihil immensus mitius orbis habet, to wicked Tyrants and persecutors of God's Saints. The Scripture everywhere exhorts us to peace and reconciliation, Revenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath, for vengeance is mine, I will repay it saith the Lord; render to no man evil for evil, nor rebuke for rebuke: be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good: seek peace & ensue it, let righteousness and peace kiss each other, O pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love it: if it be possible have peace with all men: and blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall see God: and follow after peace and holiness, without which no man shall see God: but their preaching is nothing but horrentia martis arma, arm, arm, Kill, Kill, thunder with the Cannon, Plunder, etc, And for the last words pretended to be spoken by me in that Sermon, viz. the wise have lost their wisdom, and the physician his skill, and the remedy is worse than the disease, they are very unfaithfully related, for I uttered them not positively, but suppositively, and divisim not conjunctim. The passage transcribed verbatim out of the original is this. Though divers remedies have been applied to the maladies above mentioned, yet the remedies have hitherto proved, in the event, worse than the diseases; an evident argument that either the wise physicians fail in their skill, or the malady is grown incurable, or God giveth no blessing to their method of curing. Concerning the witnesses, and the just exceptions to be taken against them, let the testimony under the hand of the clerk of the peace, and the certificate of the Parish, under the hands of the Churchwardens and Vestry be read; All which I humbly submit to the wisdom and justice of this Honourable Committee, preferring a like petition to that which the Roman Orator tendered for poor Roscius Amerina, that you would be pleased to afford this cause so noble, gracious and equitable a hearing; that my adversaries who daily associate themselves with those soldiers, against whom I have strong presumptions, that they seek not only to deprive me of my Living, but my life, may never have cause to glory, Eum, quem militum gladiis non potuerunt, vestris sententiis jugulasse. At the next sitting of the Committee on Thursday last being the 23 of this instant month of March, 1642. M. White, whether he thought the other Articles frivolous and of no consequence at all, or whether he and the Committee rested satisfied with the answers formerly given, it is not certainly known, but on this day he pretermitted diverse of them, instanced only in a branch of the first, and of the fourth, and two of the fift, and one of the sixt, and two of the seventh; and because the D. denied them all, he called in witnesses to prove them, and required the D. to take legal exceptions against them, if he had any. To prove that the D. should say it was ignorance and blasphemy to speak against the bowing at the Name of Jesus; John Goad (and Ambrose Andrew's, were produced: to prove that he said in a sermon the 25 of July 1641, that all that pull down rails and oppose the ceremonies of the Church, are the seed of the Serpent, Edward Searles, and Edmond Rayner, a shipwright, * Because he said, he was as much the Lord's anointed as the King. commonly called the ancient King, were produced: to prove that he called Cartwright an arch heretic, and that the state had sat long and done nothing, and that the keys were taken from the Church, and laid in such hands as laid them by till they became rusty, & that he inveighed against the London Preachers, who do nothing but cry arm, arm, fight, fight, &c. Thomas Sharpe and John clerk were produced, who also both testified to the first article concerning bowing at the Name of Jesus. Lastly, to the sixt article only M. Neariah Mormay was produced. When the witnesses appeared, the D. first proposed some interrogatories to them, and after took exceptions against them, both in general, and particular. The interrogatories he propounded to them, by M. White, were these; First, at what time the Sermon was preached, which is mentioned in the first Article, and likewise when the Sermon was preached that is mentioned in the fift Article. Item, upon what text such sermons were preached, and what they remembered else in those sermons, to which they all could answer nothing. Whereupon the D. desired that the Committee would give no credit to such loose and indefinite testimonies, especially against the original sermons written in his book, from which, it is well known, he never used to vary. This authentical original wherein there was no blot, scratch, or rasure in the places, to which the Articles had reference, the D. exhibited; but M. White would not look upon it, though in other Courts, and namely the high Commission and Star Chamber, and council table, where' Sermons have been questioned, the undisproved original hath been always preferred before broken notes taken by ignorant and illiterate men. The exceptions he took against the witnesses in general, were, that competent witnesses, especially against an ecclesiastical person & D. of Divinity ought to be men of good rank & quality, at least without any taint or brand on them, such as are free from all malevolent affections to their pastors: for the rules of the law concerning witnesses to be admitted are these: In teste attendenda, status, dignitas, fidei puritas, et morum gravitas; item cujus conditionis, cujus opinionis fuerit, et ne forte aliquis contra praefatum pastorem inimicitias habuerit: Item testes absque ulla infamia aut suspitione aut manifesta macula esse debent. That the witnesses here produced are not so qualified, I desire the certificate of the vestry, under their hands (which I have here to show, and there are divers of the said Vestry here present to make it good) may be read; but M. White said, he would take no papers (yet he took both the Articles, and other notes, and informations against the D. from his adversaries) nor would permit the D. to read it, The certificate was as followeth: we the parishioners of the parish of Lambeth, do certify that John Goad, Ambrose Andrew's, alias Glover, Edward Searles, and Westmall Burrell, of the said parish of Lambeth, are disaffected persons to the discipline and liturgy of the Church of England established by Act of Parliament, have openly depraved the book of Common Prayer, some of them do not come to the Church at all and stand indicted as delinquents at Sessions and assizes, and that they are accounted turbulent persons, and sowers of strife and contention. This certificate being refused, the D. required that the record he had from the Sessions might be read and considered of; this, after M. Harper the Church warden had testified before the Committee, that it was subscribed by the hand of the Clerk of the Peace, and that he himself saw him write it, was admitted for an evidence: the record followeth. At the general quarter sessions of this year, for the county of Surry, holden at Gilford, on Tuesday next after the feast of the translation of Thomas the Martyr in the 18 year of his majesty's reign that now is. John Goad of Lambeth, Ambrose Andrew's of the same, Edward Searles of the same and John Hopkins of the same, were by the Jury of the high Constables of the County indicted for not repairing to the parish church of Lambeth, to hear divine service and the common prayers of the Church, by the space of 12 Sundays, but did voluntarily and obstinately absent themselves from the same, contrary to the statute in that case provided. Ita testor Tho. Foster, clericus pacis Com. Sur. In particular, I except against Io. Goad. That he is a man who stands indicted at the Sessions, ex record, supr. 1. That he hath spoken often, as he cannot deny, much in derogation of the book of Common Prayer, as namely, against diverse 2. passages in the litany, the cross in baptism, and the form of absolution in the visitation of the sick. That he is a breaker of the Sabbath himself, and causeth his servants to work upon that day, as he did on the 28 of 3. November last. To the former two exceptions, Goad could answer nothing; but to the last, he said, it was in case only of necessity; but the D replied it was mere covetousness, and no necessity at all, as his neighbour Andrew Bartlet an ancient vestry man would testify against him, whom the D. earnestly desired to be called in, he being ready & waiting in the next room, but he could not obtain it of M. White to have him called. Item against Ambrose Andrew's. That he stands indicted as is abovesaid. 1. That he likewise, as Goad, hath spoken much in derogation of 2. the Common Prayer book, and hath not come to the prayers and Sacrament at Lambeth these nine months at least, as the Reader, clerk, and Sexton, and churchwardens also were ready to testify, That whilst he came to Church (as he did formerly) he frequently 3. disturbed the Preacher, he usually talked and laughed in the Sermon, jeering at the Minister, and once when the D. himself preached, spoke aloud in his sermon, saying; It is time thou hadst done already, and other such contemptuous and disgraceful words; for which by the statute 10. Mariae Sess. 2. he is, if it be proved against him by two witnesses, to be committed without bail or mainprize to the goal; the two witnesses, said the D. are here present to testify it, Richard Hooke, & William Chapman. but M. White would not have them called in. That when his wife had said before one of the neighbours, that 4. at Lambeth Church they had nothing but pottage, and that they must go to London for rostemeat, & that the Church was no better than a barn or stable; and that neighbour reproved her for it, her husband, the said Ambrose Andrew's, said, he would justify and maintain what his wife had said. Item, against Edward Searles. That he stands indicted at the Sessions: ut supra. 1. That he confessed that the cause of their preferring Articles 2. against D. Featley, was to stay the prosecution of a bill against him the said Searles at Sessions, and said, that if the D. would take off the indictment, th●… articles against the D. should soon be withdrawn: this is testified by Tho. Pibus and another. That this Searles is a Blasphemer of the holy Scripture; say- 3. nancy against the Parliament, and the proceedings thereof; saying openly in his preaching, that our State had sat long and done nothing, comparing themto a fowl that sitteth long and hatcheth not, whose eggs be addle, and to a woman that always conceiveth and never bringeth forth, who can be no comfort to her husband; and hath not only not given or lent to the present necessary preservation of the kingdom, but declared to others that it is not safe to give or lend to the Parliament, and hath openly preached that these are resisting times, and that the keys are taken from the Church, and left in such hands as have laid them by till they be rusty, and that the whole tenure of the gospel is against that which is preached commonly in London, where arm, arm, Blood, Blood, Fight, Fight, is commonly preached; and they pretend they fight for Religion, and privilege of Parliament, and the liberty of the Subjects, but the wife have lost their wisdom, and the physician his skill, and the cure is worse than the disease. All which the Commons in Parliament assembled, taking into consideration, for the provision of a Godly, Learned, and Orthodox Divine for the said Parish, and for fit maintenance for such an one, do Order, that the said Church and the profits thereof, be forthwith sequestered, &c. Die Martis, II Iulii, 1643. The Order for sequestering the Parsonage of Lambeth from D. Featley, being put to the question; It was resolved negatively. H. Elsinge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Notwithstanding this resolution of the house of Commons, in justification of D. F. a substitute of M. White's of Dor●…hester, who bears his character in his name, stretched his Chevarel conscience so far, that to gratify some schismatical Separatists at Lambeth, read a Paper upon the 9 of November last, in the Parish Church of Lambeth on the Lord's day, in which D. F. is charged with the Articles above mentioned, formally in terminis (which were rejected by the house of Commons, as partly idle and frivolous, partly false and scandalous, and the D. cleared and acquitted of them all) and they made the ground of the sentence of Sequestration, pronounced against him September 29. Now sith a Judge cannot justly pronounce different sentences, and give divers judgements upon the self same evidence, neither is it possible after a cause is fully informed and sentenced, that the same party should be both guilty, and not guilty of the same Delinquencies numero: And forasmuch as the sentence above mentioned, whereby the D. is cleared, acquitted, and absolved, is upon Record, and may be seen by any who shall search for it, in the authentical Register of the Acts of the house of Commons: It followeth necessarily and unavoidably, that D. F. not only remaineth still Rector of Lambeth (as he is styled in the very form of Sequestration) but also standeth rectus in curia. As for the Letter to the Primate of Armagh, intercepted, wherewith alone he is charged in another Declaration, it is answered above: It was no Letter but an unsealed note drawn from D. F. by a wile, See the Gentle Lash. it discovers no secrets at all, nor lays any imputation upon the Assembly or Parliament, and is so far from containing any offensive matter, or subject to any just exception or censure; that the close Committee who exactly perused it, and took a Copy of it, sent the true original to the Primate of Armagh at Oxon, who hath it in his keeping. The Doctors Manifesto and CHALLENGE. Whereas a false and scandalous report is bruited by the Semi-separatists and Anabaptists, and readily entertained by divers zealots of the new Reformation; that I, who have preached and printed so much against Popery heretofore, now in my old days being ready to leave this world, have fallen away from my holy profession, and am in heart a Papist, there being found very many popish books in my study. And because I have learned from the mouth of S. ●…erome, that though other wrongs may be put up and answered with silence, committing the revenge thereof to the righteous Judge, injustissime judicato justissime judicaturo: yet, that in suspitione haereseos r●…eminem oportet silere, that no man ought to be silent when he is charged with heresy. I have thought fit to make known to all whom it may concern, that being chosen Provost of Chelsey college, I have under the broad seal of England, a Warrant to buy, have, and keep, all manner of popish books, and that I never bought or kept any of them, but to this end and purpose, the better to inform myself to refute them; and for my judgement and resolution in point of Religion. I profess before God and his holy Angels, and the whole world, that what I have heretofore preached, written, and Printed, against the errors, heresies, Idolatry, and manifold superstitions of the Romish church, is the truth of God, and that I am most ready and willing, if I be called thereunto, to sign and seal it with my blood. And whereas I am certainly informed, that divers Lecturers and Preachers in London and the Suburbs, who have entered upon the labours of many worthy Divines, and reaped their harvest, do in their own Pulpits, after a most insolent manner, insult upon them; demanding, where are they now that dare stand up in defend of Church Hierarchy or book of Common Prayer, or any may oppose or impugn the new intended Reformation, both in doctrine and discipline of the Church of England? I do here protest, that I do and will maintain by disputation or writing, against any of them, these three conclusions. First, that the Articles of Religion, agreed upon in the year 1. of our Lord, 1562. by both houses of Convocation, and ratified by Q. Elizabeth, need no alteration at all, but only an Orthodox explication in some ambiguous phrases, and a vindication against false aspersions. Secondly, that the Discipline of the Church of England, established 2. by many laws and Acts of Parliament; that is, the government by Bishops (removing all late innovations and abuses in the execution thereof) is agreeable to God's Word, and a truly, ancient, and apostolical Institution. Thirdly, that there ought to be a set form of public prayer, ●…3 and that the book of Common Prayer (the Calendar being reformed, in point of Apochryphill Saints and Chapters, some rubrics explained, and some expressions revised, and the whole correctly Printed, with all the psalms, Chapters, and allegations out of the old and new Testament, according to the last translation) is the most complete, perfect, and exact liturgy now extant in the Christian world. DANIEL FEATLEY. FINIS.