BEAUFRONS; OR, A New-DISCOVERY of TREASON, UNDER The FAIR-FACE and MASK OF RELIGION, AND OF LIBERTY of CONSCIENCE. In an ANSWER to the Protestant Reconciler. In which is PROVED, That the Protestant-Reconciler Encouraged the New Discovered Plot, by his giving out unto the People, That the King and Governors were, and are, the Betrayers of their Liberties; And therefore Deserve Death.  
By One of HIS MAJESTIE'S Chaplains.  
LONDON, Printed for Charles Morden, Bookseller in Cambridge, MDCLXXXIII.   

REVERENDO Admodum in Christo Patri, Doctissimóque Antistiti, ac DOMINO D. SETHO EPISCOPO SARISBURIENSI, Nec-non NOBILISSIMI ORDINIS à Periscelide Dicti Cancellario, Tractatum Hunc In Summae Observantiae Symbolum Humillimè Dicat Dedicátque, Ecclesiae verè Anglicanae Filius Observantissimus.   

TO THE READER.  
COURTEOUS SIR,  
IT is humbly conceived, that this TREATISE, small in its Bulk, but great in its Weight, will be Acceptable unto all who Love their King and Church;  
Because, it so Seasonably Discovers the Plots and Designs of the Enemies to Both.  
And although the Author was fully Satisfied,  
That the Dissenters Principles were Treasonable, and inconsistent with the Safety of our English Monarchy, and of our Church's Welfare;  
Yet, he little thought, They would so soon have given the World a Proof thereof, as they have done in their NEW PLOT against the King's Most Sacred Person, and against His Royal Highness the Duke of York, which, by Divine Providence, is so happily discovered, and, we hope, Totally Prevented.  
Stephen Colledge's, and their Treason detected, fully Answers the Reconciler, and proves sufficiently,  
That no Condescension can safely be Granted unto the Dissenting Brethren, until they have openly Renounced their Traitorous Principles, and have given some Better Signs of their Loyalty.  
For, as this TREATISE Foretold, so now, their New Treason Discovered, has proved it to be a Truth, that they are, and will be, as Dangerous, if not more, than the Papists.  
And, this Plot, together with the Popish Plot, does clearly evidence, farther, this Truth also,  
That our King and Governors have no true Friends to trust unto, but only the True Episcopal-Church-Men of England.  
For the Principles of all other Parties lead them into Faction and Rebellion: from which Good Lord Deliver Us.  
July 2d, 1683.   

THE Contents.  
CHAP. I. 
THE True Notion of a Protestant. p. 1.  CHAP. II. 
The Presbyterians no Protestants. p. 8.  CHAP. III. 
The Independents no Protestants. p. 17.  CHAP. IU. 
The Ànabaptists no Protestant's. p. 29.  CHAP. V. 
The Quakers no Protestant's. p. 36.  CHAP. VI 
The Reconciler's Design, as pretended, proved to be Impossible. p. 40.  CHAP. VII. 
The Reconciler's Design, proved to be, as Managed, Malicious and Treasonable towards the King and Governors, both of Church and State. p. 60.  SECT. I. 
The Reconciler gives out to the People, That our King and Governors are the Authors of our Present Schisms and Factions. p. 61.  SECT. II. 
According to the Reconciler, Our King and Governors are Proud Men, and, The Plagues of the Earth, For Imposing things Indifferent. p. 67.  SECT. III. 
According to the Reconciler, Our King and Governors Deserve Death, For Imposing on the People things Indifferent. p. 68  SECT. iv 
The King and Governors, according to the Reconciler, are Traitors to the Commonwealth, and Betrayers of the People's Liberties, for Imposing upon them things Indifferent; And, that therefore the People ought not to yield to their Impositions, But aught to Rebel and vindicate their Christian Liberty. p. 70.  SECT. V 
The Reconciler scandalously affirms, That the King and Governors want Piety and Prudence, And that therefore it is, they Impose upon the People Things Indifferent. p. 74.  SECT. VI 
According to the Reconciler, The King and Governors are the Destroyer's of the Work of God, and are the Murderers of Myriad of Souls, for Imposing things Indifferent. p. 77.  SECT. VII. 
According to the Reconciler, The King Commands Men to Sin, when he Commands their Obedience as to things Indifferent. p. 79.  SECT. VIII. 
The Reconciler's Rule for the King and Governors to observe, in case any Evil Consequents should happen, through the Dissenters Disobedience, after a Condescension granted to them, to wit, To leave the Event to God. p. 81.   
CHAP. VIII. 


The Reconciler's Proposition, to wit, That (considering the Circumstances our Church and State at present are in) Things Indifferent ought not to be Imposed by the Legislators, as Conditions of Church-Communion. This Proposition, if taken absolutely and simply in itself, is proved to be false. p. 84.  
Secondly, It is proved to be false, and unseasonably Propounded, if taken Relatively, in Reference to the Circumstances our Church and State are in at present. p. 96.      


CHAP. I. The true Notion of a PROTESTANT.  
NEver was the Christian World more abused with any Word, under the Pretence of Religion, than with this of Protestant: And especially in this Our Factious and Disloyal Age and Country; In which, this Word has been, and still is, made odious, and a very Covert for all Religious-Male-Contents in Church and State. For, All Parties and Sects, that would not be deemed Papists, have Christened and Styled themselves Protestants, Although they have been, and still are, the most erroneous, vicious and dissolute Persons in the World, both as to Principles and Practices.  
And for as much as a Late Author Entitles himself and his Book, THE PROTESTANT RECONCILER.  
But has not told his Reader, Who are the Persons he understands by Protestants; We therefore entreat the said Reconciler, to inform the World, What he means by, A Protestant:  
For, if by Protestants the Reconciler understands, All those men who disown, and Protest against, the Name of Papist; Than, in truth, the Turks and Jews may, as deservedly, be called Protestants: But if he says, that by Protestants, he means, All Christians who Renounce Popery,  
Then he would do well, 

1. To define what is Popery.  
2. To let us know, who are the Persons that renounce Popery so defined.    
For by Popery, the Church of Rome means, the Pope's Supremacy, and whoever denies that, is no Papist at Rome, Let his other Opinions be never so Canonical.  
And by Protestantism, the Church of England understands, the Pious Doctrine of the King's Supremacy in Opposition unto that of the Pope's; And whoever denies the King's Supremacy, is no Protestant in England, Let his other Tenets be never so Orthodox.  
Wherefore, Once again, We request the Reconciler, not to amuse the World with any  Words— But in plain English to Unridle,  
Who, and What, are the Persons, he discriminates, from all others, by the Specious Title of Protestants:  
For, if the Reconciler be a genuine Son of the Church of England, as now established (which we very much doubt) He cannot but know, That our Church and State, own and acknowledge, None to be Protestants in England, but only such, who in their Consciences and Principles, allow of, and Protest for, The King's Supremacy:  
And, by the King's Supremacy we mean, 
Full. Ch. Hist. l. 9 p. 53.  A Power in the King, given to him by Almighty God, to Restore Religion when decayed, to Reform the Church when corrupted, and to Protect the same when Reformed.  
This is the Supremacy which the Germane Princes (being the first Reformers) Assumed to themselves, exercising their own Authority, in Ordering and Settling Church-Matters within their own Dominions. And because they all Protested against the Pope's Supremacy, and Defended that of their own, Therefore were they called Protestants.  
In like manner, King Henry the Eighth was the first Protestant Prince in England, for no other Reason, But because he was the first King of England (since the Reformation) who strenuously vindicated his Own Regal Supremacy, And Protested against the Pope's Usurpation and Tyranny over Kings and their Subjects.  
For which the Pope of Rome Excommunicated King Henry the Eighth, and Branded him with the Name of Heretic and Protestant.  
And notwithstanding King Henry's being a perfect and Rigid Papist, in all points of Doctrine, according to the Church of Rome; yet, because he Assumed his Own Supremacy, and Abjured that of the Pope's, he is Therefore styled (and that very truly) A Protestant:  
And our Statute-Laws call all them who deny the King's Supremacy, Recusants, whether they be Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, or Quakers, The Law Names all Recusants; and indeed such They are, and Not Protestant's.  
For, as in the Church of Rome, no man is counted a Papist, but only he who declares for the Pope's Supremacy; So in the Church of England, no man is, nor aught to be reckoned, a Protestant, but only he, who, in Thought, Word and Deed, is for the King's Supremacy, as above stated:  
These things being Premised,  
We are of Opinion, That the Reconciler has Mistaken his own Title: for in equity and honesty, he should have Entitled  
Himself and his Book,  
The Recusant (and not the Protestant) Reconciler.  
For we know no Protestants in England that need any Reconciliation, unless it be the Beaufronts, alias, Fair-faced Protestants, Who have God and the King in their Mouths, but the Devil in their Hearts; Who Speak their Prince fair to his face, but will Wound his Reputation, and cut his Throat behind his Back.  
Who will take and swallow all Oaths, particularly, those of Supremacy and Allegiance; And yet, will enter into a Scotch-Covenant, or into a Shaftsburian-ASSOCIATION, and Plot Treason and Rebellion against their King and his Government.  
Who will cry-up the Church of England, and yet cry-down the Bishops.  
Who will on a Sunday-Morning go to Divine-Service in the Parish-Church, and receive the Sacrament Kneeling, and yet in the Afternoon, Contrary to their Oath of Allegiance, will go to a Seditious Conventicle: These are the Tares among the Wheat, the very Pests of the Nation:  
And indeed, They want a Reconciliation, that is, 

Of their ungodly Principles and Practices to Piety.  
Of their Knavery to Honesty.  
Of their Perjury and Hypocrisy to Truth.  
Of their Faction to Loyalty.    
Except these dissembling Beaufronts, we know no Protestants that need any Reconciliation: for in England there are no Protestants (except the Beaufronts) but only the truehearted and Loyal Episcopal men, who, in Heart and Conscience, Own, and Protest for (according to our Church's Articles, 34, 36, 37.)  

(1.) The King's Supremacy.  
(2.) The Church's Authority in Ordering Rites and Ceremonies.  
(3.) The Episcopal Government, as now established, Asserting the Distinct Orders, of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.  
(4.) Who give due Obedience to the Church's Orders and Constitutions.   
These are the only Protestants in England: As for all others, the Laws of the Realm Notify them by the Name of Recusants:  
So then, it is a most Certain Truth (though a Paradox to the Vulgar) That although there be Myriad of Men in England, who pass for Protestants, and call themselves Protestant's, yet in truth and reality, they are Recusants; They all, Combining and Siding with the Papists against the King's Supremacy, do, by so doing, declare themselves to be No Protestants:  
And, the only way to Reconcile these Recusants unto our Church, is, in the first place, to persuade them to become Protestants, that is to say, to persuade them to Own, and Protest for, the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastic Matters, and to become Obedient to his Laws, Civil and Ecclesiastic, for till this be done, as was said before, They are No Protestants:  
And, of this Nature and Character are all the Dissenters in England, to wit, Recusants, and not Protestant's.  
For, they all deny the King's Supremacy; which is the Essence and Foundation of Protestantism in Opposition to Popery.  
And whoever pleads for them to be Reconciled to the Church of England, without an open Recantation of their Popish Principles (as does the Reconciler) is guilty of a Praemunire, and smells more of a Papist, than of a Protestant.  
This then being the proper Notion of a Protestant,  
We once more petition the Reconciler, That he would be pleased to inform us, who are the Protestants, for whom he so earnestly pleads, and unto whom he so passionately craves a Condescension may be granted by the King, and the Governors:  
If he says, They be the Dissenting-brethrens (as he has it in his Title Page) than he grossly mistakes himself;  
For the Dissenters are No Protestants, Because, they all deny The King's Supremacy.  
Which is the only Badge and Characteristical Note of a Protestant.  
Now, that All the Dissenters do so, is easily proved, by their own Avowed and Declared Principles and Practices:  
The Dissenters in England, although they be very numerous, yet, they may be reduced unto four Ranks and Sects, which will comprehend them all, at least all those which are of any Bulk and Note among us; 
Such as the 


Presbyterians.  
Independents.  
Anabaptists.  
Quakers.      
All which Sects we shall in order prove, to be No Protestants.   

CHAP. II. The Presbyterians No Protestant's.  
THe Presbyterians are no Protestants, in as much as They Deny The King's Supremacy:  
And in Opposition thereunto, They Set up their own Ecclesiastic Consistory above the King and his Power:  
For by their Consistorian Power They pretend they may, and actually they have censured and deposed their own Natural Prince, raised War by Oath and Covenant against Him; when he would not yield himself a slave to their Demands and Consistorian Tyranny.  
This is too well known in Scotland and England; and needs no farther proof:  
And although they do declare with the French Presbyterians, 
French Disci. Eccles. c. 5. of the Consistory.   
That a Magistrate may be called and employed in the charge of an Elder in the Consistory, yet, it is with such a Restraint and Limitation, as that the Execution of one of the Functions must not hinder the other, and bring no prejudice to the Church; that is, to their Consistorian Power, which is to overrule and control the Magistrate in matters Ecclesiastic.  
It is to be Noted,  
That the first Presbyterian Consistory, erected in Opposition to Monarchy and Episcopacy, that ever we heard of, was first in Geneva, Settled by Calvin and Beza.  
And the First Presbyterian Confistory Settled in Scotland, was by John Knox, who came from Geneva, and brought from thence the Platform of Presbytery.  
And the First Presbyterian Consistory, 
Bishop Bancrost English Scotizing, l. 3. c. 1. Full. Hist. l. 9 p. 103.  that ever was in England, was held at Wandsworth in Surrey, Anno Dom. 1572.  
And most of the Chief Men of this Presbyterian Consistory (which was the Firstborn of all Presbytery in England) came from Geneva, especially Mr. Tho. Cartwright, and Walter Travers, who both meeting with discontents in Trinity College in Cambridge, traveled to Geneva, and there were Catechised in the Presbyterian Doctrine and Discipline. And Mr. Travers, 
G. G. Ch. Hist. p. 237.  after he had left Geneva, went to Antwerp, and there having received Ordination of the Presbyterians, upon his return, he in England bitterly exclaimed against the Episcopal Government of our Church, as then established in Queen Elizabeth's Reign.  
Thus Geneva and Antwerp gave the first Breath to Presbytery in England and Scotland.  
And that all these Presbyterian Consistories, in their very first Foundation and Erection, were against Monarchy and Regal Supremacy, is evident, from John Calvin the Primo-Pater of them all, who has openly in Print, Declared his Judgement in Two Remarkable Points concerning Kingly Government: 

1. That Aristocracy or Democracy is to be preferred before Monarchy.  
2. That if Kings prove Heretical, , or Tyrannical, Then, they may, and aught to be Deposed by the Tribunes or Primes of the people.    
As to the first Point, Calvin delivers himself in these words, scil.  
Equidem si in se considerentur tres illoe quas ponunt Philosophi, 
Calvin. Instit. l. 4. c. 20. §. 8. p. 306.  Regiminis Formoe, minimè negaverim vel Aristocratiam, vel temperatum ex ipsa & Politia Statum aliis Omnibus longè excellere, etc.  
That, if all the Forms of Government, which Philosophers and Ancient Statesmen have propounded, were well weighed and considered, then in his judgement, That of Aristocracy, or a Common wealth Modelled out of it, would appear to be infinitely the best Form: And that because, Rarissimè contingit Reges ità sibi moderari, etc. It rarely happens that Kings Govern either themselves, or others, well.  
Wherefore, says Calvin,  libenter fateor nullum esse Gubernationis genus isto beatius, sic & Beatissimos censeo quibus hac conditione frui licet, etc. As I freely confess there is no kind of Government more happy, than that of a Free Commonwealth; So I judge them most happy who are permitted to enjoy the same: And, Patrioe suoe Proditores, etc. They are all Traitors to their Country who do not use their utmost endeavours to promote and maintain the same.  
These expressions are sufficient to show what a bad opinion Calvin had of either Kings or Monarchy.  
As to his Second Position,  
That Kings may, and aught to be deposed, if they be wicked and ungodly, and do not Govern according to God's Word: Be pleased to read his Comment on Dan. 6.22, 25. where he assures his Reader.  
That, 
Calvin in Dan. 6.22.  earthly Princes (abdicant se) divest themselves of all right to Power, when they Rebel against God, and are unworthy to be accounted in the number of Men (that is, as Dr. Nalson descants upon his words, in plain English, 
Nalson's Common Inter. p. 226.  They do not deserve to live) and men ought rather to spit in their faces, than to obey them (ubi sic proterviunt) when they become so malepertly proud or froward, as to endeavour to despoil God of his Right, etc.  
And in his Institutes, 
(a) Si qui nunc sint populares Magistratus ad moderandam Begum libidinem constituti, (quales olim erant, qui Lacedaemoniis Regibus oppositi erant, Ephori, aut Romanis Consulibus, Tribuni Plebis, aut Atheniensium Senatui, Demarchi;) Et qua etiam fortè potestate, ut nunc res babent, funguntur in Singulis Regnis Tres Ordines quum Primarios Conventus peragunt) adeo illos ferocienti Regum Licentiae pro Officio intercedere non veto, ut si Regibus impotenter grassantibus, & humili Plebeculae insultantibus conniveant, eorum dissimulationem nefariâ perfidiâ non carere affirmem: quia Populi Libertatem, cujus se Dei Ordinatione Tutores positos nôrunt, fraudulenter produnt. Calvin. Institu. l. 4. c. 20. §. 31. p. 311.  Mr. Calvin confesses, That although it be not lawful for Private Men to rise up against their King, yet, Si qui nunc sint Populares Magistratus ad Moderandam Regum Libidinem constituti, etc. Where there are Magistrates elected out of the People, or where there are Three Orders or States, such as of King, Lords and Commons; There the People ought, by their Representatives, to moderate their King's Ill Government, to punish his Vice and Tyranny, and to Overrule Him, as the Ephori did the Lacedaemonian Kings, and as the People's Tribunes did the Roman Consuls, whom they Deposed and turned out of Office, when they thought fit.  
These Treasonable Positions of Calvin made Adrian Seravia (a Dutchman) whom Learning and Piety preferred in England, 
Heyl. Hist. of Queen Eliz.  hate to be called a Calvinist.  
As Calvin, so also in like manner did John Knox the other Founder of a Presbyterian Consistory in Scotland, in Opposition to Episcopacy and Regal Supremacy, Declare himself thus,  
To wit, 
Knox Hist. of Refor. of Scotland, p. 392.  That Subjects may not only lawfully oppose themselves against their Kings, whensoever they do any thing that expressly oppugns God's Commandment, but also that they may execute judgement upon them according to God's Law; So that, if the King be a Murderer, Adulterer, or Idolater, he shall Suffer according to God's Law, not as a King, but as an Offender.  
And Knox is seconded in his Treason, by his Countryman Buchanan, whose Maxim was this, Populo jus est imperium cui velit, deferat. That the People may alter the Government, and bestow the Crown upon whom they please.  
And the Learned Archbishop Spotswood (though a friend to Knox) when he heard Bishop Bancroft Preach at Hampton-Court-Conference before King James, and heard his Learned Arguments against Knox, for the King's Supremacy, did declare, That he was wonderfully pleased and satisfied with the said Arguments, though (as he reports in his History, l. 7. p. 497●) The Scotch Ministers then present at Court, 
Heyl. in vit. Laud. p. 49.  were grieved at Heart, to hear their Scotch-Presbytery, and Popery, so often equalled in their Opposition to Sovereign Princes.  
And this caused our English Cyprian Archbishop Laud so often to say, and more particularly in his Sermon at Oxon, 1614  
That the Presbyterians were as bad as the Papists. Because they denied The King's Supremacy.  
And he (Good Man) found them to be so, by woeful experience; for it was the Factious Scotch and English Presbyterians, and not the Papists, that Cut off his Head.  
Which lead them the way, soon after, to Act a Blacker Tragedy, upon the Sacred Person of their Dread Sovereign the King.  
Nor is it to be forgotten, What Samuel Clarke (a Noted Presbyterian) writes of Knox.  
How that in Queen mary's days, 
Clark's Martyrol. p. 293.  Mr. Knox fled into Germany, where at Frankfort, an English Congregation was settled, who served God after the English Rubric published by King Edward the Sixth: But Mr. Knox coming thither, disturbed the aforesaid Congregation; and made a Schism among them— for Knox cried down the English Service-Book, And drew up a Liturgy, which was (says Clark) the very same with that used at Geneva, which Calvin had composed.  
But Dr. Cox, a Prelatical Man, stood up stoutly in Defence of the English Service Book. And he complained to the Magistrates, That Mr. Knox his Doctrine and Discipline was inconsistent with the safety of Monarchical Government, And that he had Preached and Published Seditious Doctrine against the Emperor.  
All which being proved, Mr. Knox fled to Basil, And there he set up the Genevian-Anti-Monarchical Discipline.  
Afterwards, upon the Death of Queen Mary, the said Mr. Knox went into Scotland, And infected that Nation with his Presbyterian Doctrine;  
Preaching, That Kings are to give an Account of their evil Government, not only unto God, but also unto the People, who entrusted them with the Magistratical Power. And that  Princes, such as are all Popish Princes, are no less enemies to Christ, than was Nero, etc. And there in Scotland the said Knox set up his Scotch-Kirk and Presbyterian Consistory, which assumed to its self a Power over Kings, to that Degree, as that King James the Sixth of Scotland, and First of England (who knew them too well to trust them) said, He would never admit of the Presbyterian Government in England, 
G. G. Ch. Hist. of Gr. Brit. p. 268.  lest every Jack and Tom in the Consistory should Censure Him and his Council, as they had done in Scotland.  
And, as thus, Calvin in Geneva, and Knox in Scotland, settled Presbyterian Consistories in Opposition to Monarchy, Episcopacy, and all Regal Supremacy;  
So did, Whittingham, Cartwright and Travers, who every one of them had been New-principled at Geneva, come over from beyond Sea, and endeavoured to settle the Like here in England.  
To which purpose, One of them broached his Anti-Monarchical Principles at Cambridge, being there made a Professor, and slily poisoned That Fountain with the putrid waters of Geneva's Lake; for which he was Deposed.  
Another of them did the like in the Temple at London, being chosen Lecturer thereof; And there he infected the other sort of Gown Men, even the Lawyers; for which he was Silenced.  
They, i. e. the Presbyterians, thus having got (as they thought) both Law and Divinity on their side, proceeded so high, as to fix their Consistories in several places of this our Land.  
In all which Consistories, they Declared against Subscription to the English Rubric, and against the Queen's Supremacy, and the Orders of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, and against the Ceremonies of the Church.  
And thus they would have run on to an higher rate, even to the unsettling the Established Government both in Church and State, Had not Queen Elizabeth interposed her Authority, and by her care and prudence soon put a stop to their carreir.  
The like did King James in Scotland, soon after, by the advice of Bishop Bancroft, who, before Queen Elizabeth's Death, kept correspondence with King James, and discovered to him the Inconsistency of the Presbyterian Principles and Consistories with Monarchy, in that they Denied The King's Supremacy:  
And King James was so far convinced of the truth of what he Asserted, 
Heyl. Life of Archbishop Laud, p. 62.63.  as that when he came to the Crown of England, he caused several eminent Scotch-Divines to be Consecrated Bishops according to our English Rubric.  
And sent them hence, back into their own Country, and placed them in several Dioceses in Scotland.  
And by their Prudence and Assistence, King James restored His own Supremacy, and the Protestant Episcopacy again in that Kingdom, which ever since has had a Being there, though not a Wellbeing, by reason of the late Bloudy-Rebellions made against the King by the Presbyterians, who all were, and still are under an Oath and Covenant to maintain their Consistorian Power against the King's Supremacy and the Church's Episcopacy; which verifies King James his Proverb, No BISHOP, No KING.  
And what the Presbyterians have been in Scotland, the very same have they been, and still are, here in England:  
For they All are still (if not by Oath, yet by Principle) against The King's Supremacy.  
And therefore we may safely conclude them to be No PROTESTANTS.   

CHAP. III. The Independents no Protestants.  
THis Sect and Generation of People are as Dangerous to the State and Church, as the Presbyterians, and in some respect worse, Because they are against a National Church, which the Presbyterians acknowledge.  
They make every Individual Gathered Congregation, An absolute Church, Independent on all other Congregational Churches:  
And therefore are they called Independents.  
So that, Every Individual Independent Congregation is invested with a Supremacy of their own:  
And challenge to themselves a Power to Censure, Condemn, and to Excommunicate any man whether Magistrate, Prince, or Peasant.  
And that which excels Popery itself, The Independent individual Church will allow of no Appeal from their Sentence (whether right or wrong) unto any other Power:  
And the Reason for it is this, scil.  
Because, They own no Power on Earth to be above them: They being a perfect Church of themselves, have the Supremacy absolutely within themselves.  
Hence it is, that Dr. Owen, the greatest Independent in England, says, and that very consistently with his own Independent Principles,  
That all Church Power is Originally in the People, 
Owen's Vindica. p. 37.  who have the casting Vote in their Congregational Church.  
And this is the Professed Doctrine of the Independent Churches in New-England: Whose Supreme Magistrates are all chosen Annually, by the People of God, that is, 
* This is one of their Fundamental Laws. Vid. New-England Statutes. And if our King should par pari refer, in Old England, than none should be chosen, or Choose Parliament-Men, but only Protestants, i e. Only such who are for the King's Supremacy, and the Church's Episcopacy.  by the Members of the Independent Congregations, and by no other:  
For, in New-England, Let a Man be never so virtuous and sober, so rich and wealthy, yet, if he be not a Member of some of their particular Independent Congregations, He is not capable of giving a Vote for a Governor, nor of being chosen a Governor among them: And as all Governors in New-England are chosen by the People, so all their Governors and Magistrates (if they err and transgress in Government, or become wicked and vicious in manners, they are all) subject to the censure of the People and the Church: for in New England, none is to be a Governor or Magistrate, but he, who is endued with Grace, and is Godly, in their Sense;  
Their great State- Maxim being this, scil.  Dominium Fundatur in Gratia, 
That, All Dominion and Government is Founded in Grace and Godliness.  
And, among them, the Censores, Judges of the governor's Grace and Godliness, are the people of that Independent Congregational Church unto which the said Governor or Magistrate belongs: For, as was hinted before, every Governor must be a Member of some Individual Congregational Church:  
And before he can be admitted a Member, he must declare, 
The time of his Conversion,  
The Marks and Evidences of his Conversion.   
This he must do in the open Face of the Congregation, where, every Individual Member of the Church is a Judge of his Grace and Fitness.  
And if it be objected, That he has not given sufficient Evidence of his Conversion, than he shall not be admitted a Member of their Church. Nor shall he be chosen a Governor or Magistrate of their Commonwealth; And all, because, he wanted Grace:  
This is the constant Doctrine and Practice of the Independents in New-England.  
And although this kind of Doctrine and Practice may be consistent with a Commonwealth;  
Yet we are sure it is Diametrically Opposite to the very Being of Monarchy, which Jure Divino challengeth to itself a Regal Supremacy over all its Subjects, whether Ecclesiastic or Civil.  
And hence it is, that all Independents are against Kingly Government, to wit, Because they are against Kingly Supremacy.  
The Independents indeed, would allow of Kingly Government, if their King would let them choose him, and if he would submit himself to their Congregational Censures and Orders:  
And in case, their King should by them be found unfit for Government, through want, either of Grace or Prudence, if then, he would suffer himself quietly and meekly to be Deposed by them; Upon These Terms, and no other, will, or can, the Independents (according to their professed Principles) admit of a King: For hence it came to pass, that, Because the Independents, in the Late Rebellion, were of Opinion,  
That King Charles the First was an  Man, One void of Grace, an Idolater, and therefore Unfit for Government; Hence it was, That They (the Independents) Deposed Him, and then Cut off His Head, and that (as They termed it) by the Axe of High Justice.  
And, Because (after they had Murdered the Father) they Feared, that The Son, King Charles the Second, did also want Grace, and trod in his Father's Steps, and would not love the People of God, i. e. Themselves; Therefore it was, That they (the Independents) strove by force of Arms, with all their Might and Main, to keep him Out of the Royal Throne:  
For proof of this, Witness a most virulent Independent Writer, in his Treatise, Entitled, PEACE and TRUTH; MOSES and AARON Kissing each Other.  
The Author of the said Treatise Writes his Name, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; i. e. John Blackbdell.  
In his Preface to the Independent Army, Dissuading them from Setting up the Present King in the Throne of his Father; He Writes thus,  
God was angry with the Israelites for desiring a King, and that, 
Page 7.  because God was against the Form of Kingly Government, and preferred the Government of Judges before that of Kings.  
And what, Will you desire a King?  
Now, Dear Friends, 
Page 9  Concerning the Fruits that came by Kings, I Appeal to God, to his Sacred Word, to the Records, to the Chronicles, to the experience both of our own and other Nations,  
Whether Kings have been to be compared with those Judges? for, Have not Kings been addicted to Vices, and very empty of such Graces as were requisite for Men in such eminent Places? Kings were neither the first, nor the best way of Government:  
God disliked Kings and loved Judges: And I verily believe, These are the very times, in which God will destroy corrupt Government and Governors, and will give and restore to us Judges as at the first.  
I am not desirous (says he) to call back those things that are done and passed: and therefore, 
Page 14.   
Touching the late King's Death,  
Consider, that we cannot recall that. What then? Are you Resolved to set up the Eldest Son upon the Throne of his Father?  
Consider well of it. Can you tell, whether He will care for the Flock? Can you tell, whether he will prove wise or foolish?  
Will you expect Grapes from Throns'?  
Do you see any Tokens of Godliness in Him? David saith, 
Page 15.  That he loveth those that love the Lord, and hateth those that are God's enemies.  
And (Page 22.) he highly commends the Army for Defending the Rump and Commonwealth against the King and his Party.  
And (Page 25.) he upbraids Prinn and the Presbyterian Party for showing their Teeth, but durst not By't; for going about to Manacle King Charles the First, and for endeavouring to restrain and lessen his Regal Power, But durst not strike where his strength lay, to wit, his Head.  
Whereas, the Independents did better, for by Cutting off his Anointed Head, they deprived Him of all Strength.  
The Scripture (says he) is evident, 
Page 31, 34  That the People have Right in divers Cases, You Depose and Punish wicked Kings and Governors, when the Said People are Strong enough to Do it.  
Though (says he) woeful experience tells us, How hard a matter it is for a People to get Strength enough to Remove a King, though never so apparently Delinquent:  
And therefore, Dear Friends, Let us be warned— 
* Pray Mark this.  Not to admit of the Son, lest, when he is in the Throne, we shall not be able to Remove him.  
But that which is most Prodigious of all, and which speaks This Saintlike Independent, a Worse, and more irreconcilable Enemy to the King, than any other, except some of his own Gang and Sect, is this,  
That this Author was so far from excusing The King's Murder, as that he impudently Glories in that Bloody and Hellish Action; and dignifies the Regicides with the Title of The Worthies of the Lord:  
And whereas, it had been Objected,  
That, the Jesuits and Papists had a great hand in carrying on the late War against the King, and in Cutting off his Sacred Head;  
This Author, Johannes Melaina Bdella, 
Page 41.  denies that it was the Jesuits or Papists Do; But boasts, that it was only the Independents, and their Godly Army (whom Almighty God crowned with success, it was they) who conquered the late King and his mighty Host; who, By God's Law Deposed him, and then, after a fair and open Trial, justly Condemned him to Suffer Death for his Delinquency and Treason towards the people, committed to his Government.  
Oh, the height of Villainy, and impudence! not only to commit Murder and Rebellion, but also to Vaunt and Glory in it! and without Blushing to proclaim their own shame, and with a Brazen Forehead to stand at the Market Cross, and cry, O, ye good People! Believe us; we, we, the Godly Independents, that walk by Scripture-Rule; We, the People of the Lord, and no body else, are the Saviour's of the Nation: We, and not ye Cowardly faint-hearted Presbyterians; We, and not ye wicked Jesuits, nor ye Idolatrous Papists; We, and not ye, nor any else, are the Courageous, Gallant Spirited Men, who in Our Zeal for God and his Glory, Killed (not to say Murdered) the late King. We were the Justiciaries who paid unto Him the proper Wages of his sin, which was death.  
And now, Surely, any pious heart would have thought, That all the Sect of Independents, with one consent would have sharply exclaimed against this Traitor and his Treason;  
But (pudet dictu!) instead of that,  
The Independents Cried up, and Applauded this their Champion:  
And sent forth into the Field two others, to be his Seconds.  
For, Soon after Johannes Melaina Bdella, alias, John Blackbdell, appears 
* Milton's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  John Milton, the Blind Independent Historian, and 
† Jo. Goodwin's Defence of the SENTENCE passed on the KING.  John Goodwin, the Independent Pastor of Colemanstreet, London: Both Wrote in Justification of King Charles his Trial and Execution.  
And we hearty wish, Dr. Owen, yet Surviving, would Recant his Treasonable Words spoken to the Commons of the Rump Parliament, the very day after the King's Murder, on Jan. 31. 1648. when he said,  
He that is trusted with the Sword, and dares not do Justice on every one that dares do Injustice, is afraid of the Creature; But makes very bold with the Creator.  
From these, and an hundred other Instances which might be brought, it is evident,  
That the Independents were the Professed Enemies of the late King, and of this his present Majesty.  
And although the Presbyterians began the War and the Rebellion against King Charles the First, yet it was the Independents, who carried it on unto the Death.  
For, Who, but the Independents, debarred the Secluded Presbyterian-Members (that began to Repent of their Rebellion) from entering the House of Commons?  
Who, but the Independents, Broke up the Presbyterian-Assembly of Divines? What was Oliver, and his New-reformed Army, But Independents and Anabaptists?  
Who continued the War and Rebellion, after the King's Murder, But the Independents? And when the Whole Nation Groaned under the Oliverian-Tyranny and Oppression, And Longed for the Present King's-Restauration,  
Who opposed it but the Independents? Was it not Mr. caryl the Great Independent, that was Sent 
* Church-Hist. of Gr. Brit. p. 367.  in the Name of all the Independent Churches unto General Monk in Scotland, with Arguments to divert and hinder him from Marching on into England; urging this for one Reason, to wit,  
That if he did persist,  
Then 
† Mr. Caryll's Speech in the Name of the Independent Churches.  Charles Stuart King of the Scots, and his Party, would reap Great Advantages, and as it was feared, would soon be Restored; and the Perizzites and Canaanites in the Land would Triumph; And the People of God (for so he called his own Party) would be brought into great danger?  
And when General Monk was Marched into England against Lambert,  
Who was it, But the Independents that in their Juncto, Voted on Jan. 2. 1659. That No man whatever should be a Councillour of State, But only he who took an Oath of Abjuration of the King, his Family and Government?  
And I pray, Who was it, But Doctor Owen (Head of the present Independents) that since the Act of Oblivion and of Uniformity, 
Dr. Owen's Vindica. cult. Evang.  Satirically called All the Church of England (and therefore among them the King) Limbs of Antichrist: and said, 
Dissenters Sayings.  That the Ministry of the Church of England, is False, Superstitious and Idolatrous: And that Persons performing the Publick-Worship in the Church of England, are No Officers appointed by Christ: But are an Antichristian Ministry, and Idolaters?  
Now, What is all this? But the very same Raillery and Doctrine continued, which was formerly Preached and Vented by the same Man, 
Dr. Owen's Thanksgiving Sermon 1651.  on Octob. 24. 1651. when he Queried— in the Pulpit—  
What is this Prelacy? A mere Antichristian Encroachment upon the Inheritance of Christ?  
And it is to be noted, That this Independent Doctor Preached and Printed this his Anti-Prelatical Sermon, soon after Worcester-Fight, when the Oppressed Nation was in great Hopes, That Monarchy and Episcopacy would have been restored.  
And truly in all probability they both had been Restored, had not the Independent Army prevailed and prevented.  
So that, all the Calamities and Troubles which our King and our Nation met with, after Worcester-Fight, they were all occasioned by the Independents: And all the Blood Shed then, and since, in the Defence of the Present King and his Government (as also the Blood of King Charles the Martyr) it all chief lies at the Independents Door:  
And more particularly at That Man's Door who has in Print Justified the said Murder and Rebellion;  
So that we may truly say to him, what Nathan said to David, Thou Art The Man.  
We will add only two instances more, as,  
First, That of the Independent Author;  
His BOOK Entitled; One Blow more at BABYLON, Printed, 1650.  
It is well known (saith he) that the late King was not Murdered by the Parliament, 
Page 57  but fell by the stroke of Justice; and that so Legally and Righteously administered for his bloody Crimes he became guilty of in the Face of Heaven, that we doubt not but God was well pleased with it; and will clear the inflicters of it (if they keep their integrity) against all their Accusers and Condemners whatsoever.  
Secondly, The Character which Dr. Bastwick and Mr. Burton gave of the Independents, in which they say,  
That the Independents are Revilers, Covenant-Breakers with God and Man: Heretics, Causers of Divisions and Offences, and such as all Christians ought to take heed of, and not to bid them God Speed.  
And yet, these are the Godly, the Conscientious Men, Our Reconciler would have the King and Government to admit into the Bosom and Communion of our Church of England, and that without any Public- Penance or Abrenunciation of their Treasonable and Anti Protestant Positions.  
But,  
For as much as these Men have, and still do, peremptorily deny The King's Supremacy;  
We therefore, Conclude them (as we did the Presbyterians) to be  
No Protestants.   

CHAP. IU. The Anabaptists No Protestant's.  
THis Sect has as many Names, as Hydra had Heads; 
Full. Hist. l. 5. p. 229.  and therefore it may well be called, The Monster of Religion, or rather of Impiety.  
This Monster Swimming over from Amsterdam (as did the Presbyterian from Geneva) made its first unlucky Arrival in England about 29 Hen. 8.1538.  
Their Opinions are innumerable: And therefore we will only take notice of such of them, as speak them Enemies, 

1. To the King's Supremacy in the Church.  
2. To his Monarchy in the State.    
1. The King, by his Supremacy, is to order all matters in the Church so, as in his Royal wisdom he shall think most consistent with the revealed will of God in his written word, and most conducing to the advancement of God's Glory, Religion's Honour, and of the Church's welfare.  
Whereas the Anabaptists deny this power to be granted by God unto Kings, or to any Civil Magistrates.  
For now, under the Gospel, nothing is to Govern the Church of God, 
Calvin Instit. l. 4. c. 20. §. 1, 2.  but only the Spirit of God: And because the Spirit of God is invisible, Therefore the Regimen of God's Church must also be invisible and spiritual.  
Upon this account it is, That All, or most of the Anabaptists, Cry-down all External Forms and Orders of Church Polity and Government.  
And many of them decry the Religious use of any outward visible Elements, such as Water in Baptism; Or Bread and Wine in the Eucharist. Because, now we are to be Baptised only with the Holy Ghost.  
And now, we are Only to eat and drink Christ's Body and Blood Spiritually by Faith in our hearts, and not Carnally with our Mouths. Now, by the illumination of God's Holy Spirit, without the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments, Men may be saved.  
Hence it was, 
Simpson Ch. Hist, p. 445.  that the Anabaptist, Gasper Suenkfeldius, born in Silesia, maintained, That the Outward Ministry of the Word and Sacraments was not necessary to eternal life.  
Their General Opinion is, That the Supreme Magistrate highly sins, when he makes Laws and Orders for the Outward Worship of God, and for the External Celebration of the Sacraments, or for any thing else which is visibly to be observed in Divine Worship.  
They being of opinion, That every Christian is left to the particular Guidance and Persuasion of the Holy Ghost: And that he is to do nothing, but what he is persuaded to do by some secret and immediate Impulse of the Spirit.  
2. As to matters of State;  
They deny the Civil Magistrate to have any Right unto the Secular Sword:  
But that All are to veil unto Christ's Sceptre of Grace.  
Hence it is, that They deny Princes to have power to put to Death any Malefactors, though never so Criminal.  
And if any of their Faction be executed, although it be for Murder, Treason and Rebellion, yet they will cry out of Persecution; and will Canonize such an one for a Martyr; Declaring to the World, that that their Brother died giving his Testimony to the Truth (as died Scot the Regicide) and, that according to his Duty and Conscience, he resisted unto Blood the Anti-Gospel Powers; as they Maliciously (at least Erroneously) Nickname all Civil Magistracy.  
For, Totam politioe rationem, rem esse pollutam, 
Calv. ut supra.  etc. They condemn the whole Polity of Civil Government, as a thing corrupt and Anti Christian. And affirm, Nec judicia sint, nec Leges, nec Magistratus, etc. That in these glorious times of the Gospel, there ought to be no Laws, Statutes, or Magistracies obliging Christians to the obedience of Humane Ordinances, nor any Tie put upon men, whereby their Christian Liberty may be obstructed. For now, 
Alexand Ross View of Relig. §. 12. p. 362.  Mortui sumus per Christum elementis hujus Mundi, etc. We are dead through Christ unto the Elements and Ordinances of this World.  
And therefore, upon this account, they style themselves, Liberi, Freemen, because they being in Christ, are made Free (by Christ) from all Obedience unto Humane Laws.  
Hence it is, that They all, deny to take an Oath, and to Swear before a Lawful Civil Magistrate.  
And therefore, they are so far from taking the Oath of Supremacy, as that they will not so much as take the Oath of Allegiance:  
So that, the King has from these Men, no other Security for the preservation of his own Life, and of his Subjects Properties, than their Bare-Word and Promise—  
Which word and promise they may, and have Broke, and again will soon break, when ever the Spirit shall Dictate and Reveal to them, That it is for God's Glory, so to do.  
For all Anabaptists are of this Belief, scil.  
That God revealeth his Will, 
P. Sim's Ch. Hist. 443.  not only by the written word, but also, and that very frequently, by immediate Visions and Dreams, the which, the Saints (i. e. themselves) ought as well to follow, as the written word.  
So that, through pretended Revelations, and sudden impulses of the Spirit, they have oft times, in their Zeal, been irritated to draw the Sword against the Civil Magistrate, and have sheathed it in the Bowels of many Innocent Christian people, who would not be carried away with their wind of Doctrine.  
And they have been so far hurried on, and actuated by a Spirit of Delusion, as that in imitation of Jonathan and his Armour Bearer, a few of them have essayed to chase thousands, though they have wretchedly fallen and miserably miscarried in their bloody Attempts. A fresh and desperate instance of this, we have had in London, since the King's Happy Restauration, when the Wine Cooper, Thomas Venner, an Anabaptist, and a Fifth-Monarchy Man, who had before, in 1657, styled himself the Champion of Christ's Monarchy on earth, and an Enemy to all Monarchies besides Christ's; He did on January, 7, 8, 9, 1660, with about Sixty of his own Opinion, Armed with Back, Breast, and Head-piece, enter London-streets, crying, King Jesus, King Jesus: threatening present Death to all those that would not yield, and side with him for K. Jesus. And such was their Madness, as that they believed, That they, and the rest of their own judgement, were called by the Spirit of God, to reform the wicked, Anti-christian World, and to make all the Earthly Powers (which they called Babylon) subservient to the Kingdom of Jesus. And in Order hereunto, Venner and his Company Vowed never to Sheath their Swords, till the Powers of the World were subdued.  
And although their Number was but small, not exceeding Threescore, yet they taught, and believed, that One of them should subdue a Thousand, making an account, that when they had conquered England, they should have passed over the Seas, and have subdued France, Spain, Italy and all Christendom, if not all the other parts of the World; And thus have brought Satan and all the Kingdoms of the Earth under the Sceptre and Obedience of King Jesus.  
Dr. Featley and other Writers have noted, that the Anabaptists have been the Great (if not the first) Incendiaries, and Fomenters of Rebellion against their Lawful Princes: And that it is impossible they should be otherwise, unless they should act contrary, and inconsistently, to their own avouched Principles.  
For the two fundamental Articles of their Faith, are these, scil.  
1. That the Offices of Kings and Emperors, and of all Civil Magistrates, are not approved by God under the New Testament.  
There being (in their judgement) no other Monarchy, or Government, but only that of King Jesus.  
2. That no man ought to take any Corporal Oath, or to enter into any Covenant, to preserve, or to obey the Secular Powers, Royalties and Dignities, there being no Covenant, but that of Grace, among Christians.  
And therefore, saith the  Historian, It was no wonder, that Men who had laid such Grounds of Seditious Doctrine, were also found in their lives to be Authors of Seditious Commotions and Insurrections against their Princes: As was Thomas Muntzer, one of the first Anabaptists in Europe, who gathered a great number of Common people together upon the account of Religion and Tender Conscience, and Headed them in a Bloody Rebellion against the Princes of Germany. Though it pleased God, that this Religious Traitor was overcome in Battle, and deservedly executed for his Treason.  
It would be endless to enumerate all their Treasonable Principles; for with them, as with all others, the Proverb is true, Mores sequuntur Humores.  
men's Practices are the Natural Results and effects of their Principles.  
And therefore, forasmuch as the Anabaptists Principles are Treasonable and Anti-Protestant, Declaring against  
The King's Supremacy in Church, And His Monarchy in State;  
We may, and aught to, Conclude them (as we did the Presbyterians and Independents)  
To be No PROTESTANTS.   

CHAP. V The Quakers No Protestant's.  
THis is a Sect of Men, who also pretend to Religion, and, like bad Weeds, have in a very short time grown high and numerous within this our pleasant Garden of England.  
And truly, they are, outwardly (whatever they be inwardly) more modest than the three former Dissenters: in that these men, knowing their own Principles and Practices to be directly opposite to the Protestant Religion, have not presumed (as did the three other) to Name themselves Protestant's;  
But have been Content to pass under the Denomination of The PEOPLE of GOD, Commonly Called QUAKERS.  
And as for their Tenets and Principles, no man is able to give a perfect Account of them, They being a Maniple of Confusion: Nor are they among themselves agreed, what are their own Doctrines and Principles: Witness their own Writers, who Contradict one another.  
Only in these particulars they all agree; 

1. To deny, The King's Supremacy.  
2. The Church's Episcopacy.  
3. The Lawfulness of taking an Oath, and of Swearing before a Civil Magistrate.    
And in one thing they are (out of a Principle of pretended Sanctity) more Rude and Inhuman, than any of their Dissenting Brethren; In that they obstinately refuse to pay to the King, or to any Person whatever, the Common Civility of outward Respect and Reverence, and do deny the King and all Magistrates the Civil Honour and Compliment of the very Hat.  
And this is to be noted, That although the Quakers will not Swear in their own Persons, Because it is a sin to Swear, yet they will desire (and sometimes hire) others to take an Oath and Swear for them, and to sin in their stead; as frequently they do, in the case of Burying in Woollen only: nay, sometimes they will procure Knights of the Post to Swear for them, Persons who never saw their Dead either laid forth, wound up, or Buried, and yet have Sworn and made Affidavit before the Justice of the Peace, only upon the Credit of their Word; As the Writer of these Lines once discovered; and advised the said Quakers to take up their Dead out of the Grave, and to get a true Oath to be made according to Law, the which advice they (within the time) did follow, and saved their forfeiture.  
In truth, this Action of the Quakers, in getting others to Swear for them, seems to us, very like David's killing the poor Man's Lamb to save his own.  
But, forasmuch as the Quakers abhor a Reconciliation with the Episcopal-Protestant Church of England—  
We therefore think, it had been more proper for the Reconciler to have urged Arguments rather for their Conviction, than for their Reconciliation.  
For, until He has convinced them, and the other Dissenters, of their Errors, and Disloyalties, it is Impertinency, not to say Teason, for him or any other to persuade the King and Government unto a Condescension towards them, or such as them, who are all by their Principles, obliged for ever to be Enemies to The King's Supremacy.  
And as Impertinent and Ridiculous is it, for the Reconciler to persuade his Mother (as he calls) the Church of England, to be reconciled to such as these; This being to persuade a Reconciliation  
Between LIGHT and DARKNESS.  
Between YEA and NAY.  
Wherefore, seeing these things are impossible, we do from the Premises Conclude The Quakers,  
As we did their former Brethren, In DISSENSION, Not to say, In INIQUITY, To be No PROTESTANTS.   

CHAP. VI The RECONCILER'S Design proved to be, as Pretended, IMPOSSIBLE.  
HAving hitherto given the Reader a short account of all the most considerable Sects in England; and proved them to be No Protestants.  
We now presume, That the Reconciler cannot but by this time, perceive his own Mistake, and Confess, That the TITLE of his Book is False.  
And that he has gratified (by Printing it) no Party of Protestants, but the Beaufronts (alias Whigs and Trimmers) who are of no Religion, Because they are of every Religion, according to their company and interest.  
And we hope he will acknowledge his Pretended Design (if true) to be impossible.  
Because, Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, Quakers, and All Dissenters, if true and constant to their own Principles, will ever remain such, i. e. Dissenters: for no Soap can wash the Blackamoor white.  
And therefore, it is utterly impossible for the Church of England to be Reconciled to them.  
Unless the Reconciler would have the Church of England to Vnchurch herself, and become the Mother and Patroness of all Sects and Religions at one and the same time. Now, if this should ever happen to be, as the Reconciler desires may be, pray, What an uggly Monster, what a deformable Beast, must the Church of England be? even worse than the Scarlet-coloured Beast in the Revelations, 
Rev. 17.3.  which was full of Names of Blasphemy, full of Abominations and Filthiness.  
But we cannot imagine, the Reconciler's Brains to be so shallow, as ever to think Impossibilities feasible, as he must, if ever he thinks it feasible to reconcile the Episcopal Church of England and the Dissenters, whilst they continue such.  
In our apprehension, the Reconciler may as well plead for the Church of England's Condescension to, and Reconciliation with, the Papists, as with the Dissenters.  
For the Dissenters are as dangerous to the King and his Monarchy, and to the Church of England and her Episcopacy, as the Papists.  
And therefore, if the Dissenters may be brought into the Body of our Church, and be indulged, because of their tender Consciences, notwithstanding their erroneous and treasonable Principles  
Than pray, Mr. Reconciler, Why may not the Papists also, for the same reason, be indulged?  
For Thousands of the Papists have proved themselves to be men of great Conscience, by their constant Loyalty to the King in Temporals, notwithstanding their Obligations to the Pope in Spirituals; as also by strict and frequent Fasts, according to their Church's Orders, and by their daily devotions and great Charity even to their very Enemies, as well as to their Friends, and by their sober inoffensive Lives: by these and other instances, you may see, that the Papists do not only profess, but also live Christianity in many degrees above the generality of Dissenters, or of the Beaufront Protestants.  
Now, if this be a truth, as verily it is, then pray, Sir, (seeing as you pretend, that you wrote your Book, only to ease your own Conscience, and that poor Dissenters may not be damned by being excluded our Church, why then, Sir,) will you damn the Conscientious Papists, by excluding them? for you do in your Book exclude all the Papists, as the Only Common Enemy to our Church and State.  
As if the Dissenters were no Enemies to either; as if they, dear innocent Souls, had no Gall or Bitterness, no Malice or Ill-will against the King and his Government?  
Sir, you are become an eloquent Tertullus, a great Apologizer for, not only some, but even all the Dissenters.  
When in Page 108, and Page 114, of your Book, you declare to the whole world in these very words, Their Innocency and your own good opinion of them, 
Protestant Reconciler, p. 113, 114.  saying, I Sincerely profess, I know not any pure Malice, Obstinacy and Wilfulness, which can certainly be applied unto the Case of the Dissenters.  
Surely, Sir, you will for once eat your words; and Confess, That you know some, yet Surviving, who entered into a Malicious Scotch-Covenant against the late King, and obstinately raised a Bloudy-War against Him and his present Majesty: and you know farther, That They have not (as yet) Openly declared their Repentance and sorrow for so doing;  
Ergo, You know some, that still continue Obstinate and Malicious, as the Learned Dr. Womack and Faulkland have informed you.  
Surely, Sir, you knew (or at least have heard of) Oliver Cromwell and his Malicious Army that Murdered King Charles the First; and you know many of that Army do yet survive without declaring the least Abhorrency of that Horrid Action; Ergo—  
Did you never know nor hear of Tho. Venner and his Company, who in 1660, shot and fired at the King's peaceable Subjects in London Streets, and pleaded, They did it out of a Tender Conscience, and for King Jesus his sake: And is there not one Fifth Monarchy Man of all your Acquaintance?  
Did you never hear of a late Malicious Association, carried on by the Beaufronts and the Dissenters against the King and the Church Government, The which (if you will believe the King's late Declaration) would, in all likelihood, had it took effect, have proved more fatal and destructive to the King and the Church of England, as now established, than ever the Scotch Covenant? And, I pray, Sir, don't you know one of these Associatours?  
Did you never know Stephen College that was hanged at Oxford?  
I wonder in what County you live:  
For in all Counties the Associatours exceedingly abound, both Beaufronts and Dissenters. And 'tis observed, that the Beaufronts are of this humour, That they will on Sunday Morning go to their Parish-Church, and in the Afternoon to a Conventicle: in the Afternoons they will never come to Divine Service, nor to Catechising, nor to Exposition on the Church Catechism, though never so profitable and large, yet if there be no Sermon in the Pulpit, they will turn their back upon Divine Service, and either go to another Church where there is no Catechising but a Sermon, or to a Conventicle, or else they will stay at home, and Scurrilously Rail at the King and Bishops, and be sure at their own Parson, and complain that he is lazy and idle, although he be never so laborious and painful in his Exposition on the Church Catechism, and in instructing old and young, according to the Church- Canons, in the Desk. Yet because he does not in the Afternoon ascend the Pulpit, and beat the Cushion, he cannot escape the Virulency of their Tongues; And, Mr. Reconciler, in one County a Canonical Parson being sent for, to Preach before his Diocesan, he was thereby prevented from Reading Divine Service the next day (which fell out to be an Holiday) at his own Parish Church;  
Hereupon, it happened, that the Dissenters and Beaufronts in the said Parish (who never came to Divine Service on holidays) went from House to House in the said Town, railing on the said Parson, tauntingly, saying, Look ye, Neighbours! ye see what care the Parson has of his Parishioners Souls: He is gone out of Town, and has left no Body to Read Prayers to morrow, it is very true (for we have been with the Clerk to know the truth.) And if we should die before Sunday, we may all be Damned, for all the Parson's care of us.  
A Vengeance on him, and on all his Tribe! They mind only the Fleece and not the Flock, etc.  
And yet, you must know, that when the said Parson is at home, he never misses (if he be well) the Reading of Divine Service on Holy days at his Parish Church; no, although he has had no other Auditors but the Walls, and those few of his own Family: And when the said Parson has (as he often has) called upon the aforesaid Dissenters and Beaufronts to frequent the Divine Service on the holidays;  
They have answered him to his very face, and complained, That Holy days were first of the Pope's Superstitious Appointment, And that they do more hurt than good, for they make Servants idle, and bad Husbands. And farther, said they," What need we go to Church on the Weekdays, Sunday is enough? God required but One Day in Seven: We can Pray at home, as well as at the Church: Come Sir, we must tell you, that you have a Pope in your Heart, and that makes you so Superstitious as to Observe Days of Man's Inventions  
And now, pray, Mr. Reconciler, be ingenuous, and tell the truth; What think you of this true Story, for it is no Romance? Do you not think, these men were, and all men like them are, Malicious, Obstinate and Turbulent?  
But, because you profess you know not one of them, pray, Know you not one Associatour or Beaufront (besides your Dear Self) in all your Town and Country? Know you none of the Men of Shaftsbury? Or, Are they, and all your Acquaintance, since Stephen College his Execution, transformed from Associatours into Abhorrers? from Knaves into Honest Men?  
If so, it is very good News.  
But if not, then pray, Sir, What makes you plead so earnestly in their behalf, as even to Damn the King and Government, if they do not Humour you in Granting to the aforesaid Factious Beaufronts and Dissenters, a speedy Condescension?  
But to wave this Digression, and to return to our former Querie.  
Pray, Sir, tell us,  
What Reason is there, That the Dissenters should be indulged, and the Papists prosecuted? Or why should the Dissenters only be saved by an Admission into our Church-Communion; But the Papists, though never so Religious, be Damned by an Exclusion? for according to your Doctrine,  
If Exclusion will damn the one, it must also damn the other:  
But you will object and plead;  
1. That the Papists are Idolaters, and therefore ought not to be indulged. But, I pray, Does not Doctor Owen in totidem verbis say the like of us? How that all the Ministers of the Episcopal Protestant Church of England, 
Vide, p. 33.  are Idolaters.  
But, pray, Mr. Reconciler, be pleased to tell us, Wherein the Papists are Idolaters? I presume you will answer (if any thing to the purpose) That  
The Papists are Idolaters,  
Either because they worship the Host:  
Or, because they Bow down to, and Worship Images and Crucifixes.  
Very Good: If they do Worship the Host, Crucifixes, or Images, we then are of your Opinion, and do believe, that they are Idolaters: and our Church of England concludes the same of them, whilst they worship the Host as God, which indeed is no God: for otherwise, were the Host (as all Papists believe) Transubstantiated into the very Body and Blood of Christ, God-Man, than it would be no Idolatry to Worship the Host.  
But, Sir, As to Crucifixes and Images,  
If a Religious bowing down to, and praying before, an Image, or Crucifix, with the Eye directed towards it and cast upon it, Be Idolatry;  
Then we must tell you, that Mr. Richard Baxter, your admired Author, and your Great Dissenter, is a Notorious Idolater. For, if Mr. Baxter himself, in his Christian Directory, or if Doctor Edw. Stilling-fleet, in his unreasonableness of Separation, may be credited,  
The said Mr. Baxter Writes, That it is Lawful to fall down, and Pray, before a Crucifix, and that it is Lawful to Direct our Eye towards the said Image or Crucifix, for the better Stirring up of our Devotions; and therefore Mr. Baxter calls a Crucifix, Medium Excitans, not Medium Terminans, of our Devotion.  
And no more say the Papists for themselves, when they Bow to, or Pray before, a Crucifix, or Image.  
And now (to argue a little with you.) If Mr. Baxter, a Presbyterian-Idolater, may be indulged, and admitted into our Church-Communion,  
Then, pray, Why may not another Man, who is a Popish-Idolater, in like manner be indulged, and admitted too?  
Verily, you must grant the Demand, and Indulge them Both, or else discover the partiality of your Conscience and Affections.  
But, pray, Sir, What is it that weighs down the Balance of your affections more towards the Dissenters, than towards the Papists, seeing neither of them are Protestants?  
The one party as well as the other are your Native Countrymen, and therefore upon that account they both equally challenge your love.  
And Christ died for Papists as well as for Dissenters and Beaufronts, and therefore according to your Own Argument, you ought to be as solicitous for their Salvation, as for the others.  
2. But you will again Object,  
That the Papists are Superstitious.  
And so are the Dissenters, as also the Beaufronts?  
It being a great Superstition for any Man to oblige himself and his Party to serve God only in such and such a particular way, 
Jos. Glanvill. Essay 4. p. 13.  Displeasing to his Lawful Prince, and contrary to his Royal Commands, when at the same time he might as well have served God in the way commanded, which was and is, as pleasing unto God, and much more pleasing unto his Prince.  
This is the great Superstition All the Dissenters and Beaufronts are Guilty of.  
And farther, it is 
† The Plain Man's Way, Sect. 19 p. 40.  as great a Breach of, and as great a Restraint put upon Christian Liberty, for any man to oblige himself not to Do a Thing indifferent, as to be Obliged by his Prince to do it.  
For every man in that case, is more his King's and Sovereign's Man, than his Own: And therefore, All those Persons who oblige themselves and their Followers, Not to observe the Orders and Ceremaonies of our Church, which are acknowledged to be things indifferent, and which are commanded by the King. All such Persons, whether Beaufronts or Dissenters, are, not only Disloyal and Schismatical, but also Selfwilled, and highly Superstitious, as well as the Papists.  
3. But you will plead farther;  
That the Papists are so wedded to their Principles, as that neither Scripture, Reason, nor Antiquity, can divert them. And pray, Are not all the Dissenters wedded as strongly to theirs, if they be men of any settled Principles and Humours? indeed, as for the Beaufronts, they will not wait for either Scripture or Reason, But like the Weathercock, will turn with every wind.  
4. But say you, The Papists have Vowed Obedience to the Pope of Rome.  
And I pray, Have not the Presbyterians Vowed Obedience to their Consistory? And have not the Independents Vowed and Promised the like to their Congregational-Church?  
5. But the Papists do all Deny the King's Supremacy.  
And have we not proved, That all the Dissenters Deny the Same, and that therefore they are No Protestants?  
6. But the Papists are Bloody-minded Men, and hold with Bellarmin, 
* Papam habere plenitudinem potestat is super omnes Reges & Principes Christianos, & Posse eos Regnis privare, & in temporalibus prorsus eximere plebem Christianam ab eorum obedientia & subjectione, etc. Bellarmin. de potestate summi Pontif. in Reb. Temporal. c. 13. p. 149. Edit. Colon. Agrip. 1511. Vid. Stephen Colleges Trial.  and other Jesuits, such as Joan. Driedo, That Christian Kings (if Heretics) may, and aught to, be Deposed, and put to Death.  
And pray, Do not all the Dissenters hold the same Bloody Opinions?  
For, (Because I know you love Repetition) pray, Who, but the Dissenters and the Beaufronts, raised the late Bloody War and Rebellion, upon no other account (as was pretended) but that of tender Conscience and Religion? Who, but they, Deposed and Murdered the late King? of which you take not the least notice (as I remember) in all your Book.  
Who but they entered into a New Association against the King, to seize on his Person at Oxford, and to Depose Old Rowland (as they most Opprobriously nicknamed Our and Their own Dread Sovereign the King) in case he should not yield to their Demands?  
Was it not they, who Beheaded Archbishop Laud in England, for being true to the King and the Church?  
And was it not they, the Dissenters, who the other day in Scotland Assassinated, and most barbarously Butchered and Murdered in the King's Highway, the most pious and eminently virtuous Protestant-Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews, and that for no other Reason (as their own Party confessed on the Gallows) but because the said Archbishop was a true Liege's-Man, and a true Churchman?  
And now, Sir, Will you not grant that the Dissenters and Beaufronts, are Bloody-minded Men, as well as the Papists? And if they be so, pray tell the World, what's the Reason you so passionately Love them, and so bitterly hate the Papists?  
In truth, Sir, If you would not Rail, and say (as some Dissenters and Beaufronts already have done, and said) that I am a Papist; the which, I bless God, I am not, and hope never to be; But (if I must confess) I am, and through God's Assistence I resolve to be, and to die (what I ever professed myself to be) an hearty Episcopal Protestant of the Church of England; But were it not for such a Calumny, in truth, I would tell you, that if you are a right, true Episcopal Protestant (which I fear)  
That, then in Reason, you ought to love the Papists, rather than the Obstinate Dissenters; Not but that you ought to use your best arguments to convert both; yet, if you will be partial in your Respect, than you ought to show it to the Papists.  
And the Reason for so doing, is this, scil.  
Because, The Papists are more like the Episcopal-Protestants, than any of the Dissenters.  
And you cannot but know so much Philosophy,  
That where there is the greatest Parity and Likeness, There aught to be the greatest Love.  
The Parity and Likeness between them is this,  
1. The Papists are (as the Episcopal-Protestants are) for the Sacred Order of Episcopacy, distinct from that of Presbytery and Deaconship.  
But the Dissenters are all against it.  
2. The Papists (as the Episcopal-Protestants) are for Monarchy rather than for Democracy.  
Whereas All the Dissenters are (as was Calvin) rather for Aristocracy and Democracy, 
Calv. Instit. l. 4. c. 20.  than Monarchy in the State.  
3. The Papists (as the Episcopal-Protestants) are for solemnly Consecrating and Dedicating Churches and Chapels unto the peculiar Service of Almighty God, and his Holy Worship.  
But the Dissenters are all against any such pious Dedications and Consecrations, for fear (say they) of placing Holiness in one place more than in another.  
4. The Papists (as the Episcopal Protestants) are for an Uniformity in Divine Service, and for a Set-Liturgy, and for the People's Responsals, That so all Persons may serve God with one voice and mind, and in one way.  
But the Dissenters are against the Impositions of any such Set-Forms and Liturgies.  
5. The Papists (as the Episcopal Protestants) are for Imposition of the Decent Ceremonies of the Cross in Baptism, of Kneeling in the Eucharist, of the Surplice, and of Bowing at the Name of Jesus.  
But the Dissenters and Beaufronts (and the Reconciler) are all against the imposition of them: Though it is to be Noted, that the Reconciler, to hold his Great and manifold Preferments, uses them all, and one more, to wit, Bowing to the Altar, as he hints to us in his Book.  
6. The Papists (as the Episcopal Protestants) do not prefer the Pulpit before the Desk, a Sermon before the Judicious Prayers of the Church; But they Command, and Commend both in their due places and order.  
Whereas the Dissenters and Beaufronts Idolise the Rulpit, and slight the Desk: highly admire and cry-up Sermons and Preaching, but cry-down the Prayers of the Church, and sometimes in derision, have called the Holy Prayers of our Church, no better than a Mess of Pottage.  
7. The Papists (as the Episcopal Protestants) are strict for Catechising, and for expounding upon the Catechism (according to Canon) on Sundays in the Afternoon, in the open face of the Congregation, that thereby not only the youth, but also the elder people, may be taught the Principles of Christianity.  
Whereas the Beaufronts and Dissenters will not come to Church at all on a Sunday in the Afternoon, if there be only Catechising and Exposition, and no Sermon.  
8. The Papists (as also the Episcopal Protestants) will not allow of any Irreverence, or walking up and down in any part of the Church, or sitting with their Hats on in the Church.  
But all the Beaufronts and Dissenters do permit, and allow of this Irreverence, and will tell you, That a man is Superstitious, and Worships the Walls, if he Religiously uncovers his head, when there is neither Singing nor Praying in the Church.  
But one thing I have observed among them, when they have come to our Churches, That in time of Sermon (which they so much Idolise, and prefer before the Prayers) they will sit with their Hats on, but in time of Prayer they will pull them off; as if God was not present in the time of Preaching, as well as of praying.  
I wondered at their do, and once I asked of them, Their Reason for it.  
Their Answer was this;  
That in Prayer, they, by the Minister, spoke to God; and therefore, in Reverence to God, they, in Prayer pull off their Hats: and, for this Reason, the Quaker now will put off the Hat in Prayer.  
But, said they, In Sermon, or Preaching, God, by the Minister, speaks to us, and therefore we put on our Hats, lest we should be thought to adore the Minister instead of God.  
As if God was not as much to be adored when he speaks, as when he is spoken to: Yet, this is the Superstition of all the Dissenters, I will not except any, no not the Presbyterians, nor the Independents; for though I never was in any of their Conventicles, as I know of, yet I have frequently observed in our Churches this Superstition in them, that is, to put on the Hat in Sermon, and to put it off in Prayer-time.  
9 The Papists (as the Episcopal Protestants) are for Burying all Baptised Persons Christianlike, i.e. decently and piously, with a Solemn Funeral Office.  
But the Presbyterians are indifferent, 
Presbyterian Directory for Burying.  whether there be at the Grave any Prayers or Exhortation made to the Living or no; They that will, may; and they that will not, may let it alone.  
Just as our Reconciler says, p. 341. 
Reconcil. p. 341.  They that will have a Maypole, shall have one, and they that will not have a Maypole, shall have none.  
But the Independents and all the other Dissenters are against all Funeral Offices. And their Buryals, for the most part, are no better than that of a Dead Dog or an Ass.  
10. The Papists (as the Episcopal Protestants) are for keeping God's House, the Church, Neat and Clean; and if the Papists err in this respect, it is in their excess.  
Whereas the Dissenters are for the other extreme, to wit, for Sordidness and Nastiness in their places of Divine Worship.  
By these and other instances, the unprejudiced Reader may perceive in the Papists a great Parity with, and resemblance unto, the Episcopal Protestants.  
And therefore, if the Reconciler be an Episcopal Protestant, and if he will be partial in his Affection (which is not at all necessary) than he ought, in Reason, to like that Party best, which is most like himself.  
But yet, I would not have the Reconciler, nor my Ingenuous Reader to mistake me, As if I pleaded for an Indulgence and favour to be shown by the King and Government unto the Papists, because in some things they resemble us; and none to the Dissenters, because in no one Essential of either our Church, or our State Government, are they like us.  
For in truth, I am, as I ought to be, against both Parties, Papists and Dissenters.  
This being my Opinion (with submission to my Superiors better judgements)  
That, if either Papists or Dissenters get the upper hand, our Church of England, as now Established, and our King's Supremacy and Authority, will be utterly destroyed.  
And therefore, it is humbly conceived, That a Reconciliation with the Papists, is as impossible, and as Pernicious and Dangerous (if possible) as a Reconciliation with the Dissenters: For it is evident,  
That unless the Papists will Renounce the Pope's Supremacy, and so cease to be Papists;  
And unless the Dissenters will acknowledge the King's Supremacy, and so cease to be Dissenters:  
Unless these two things be granted, It is impossible for the Church of England, as now established, to be Reconciled unto either of these Schismatics, whether Papists or Dissenters.  
Nor is it safe for the Government to admit of Schismatics into our Church-Fellowship, 
S. Cyprian. de Vnit. Eccl. §. 8.298.  for Schismatici duos Episcopos, duos Greges in una Ecclesia constituunt; and they will bring in Confusion, which is the destruction of all Order and Government: Et dum Conventicula sibi diversa constituunt, 
Ibid. 299.  veritatis caput atque originem reliquerunt, etc. which words of St. Cyprian we will leave to the Conventiclers of both Parties to translate, and seriously to consider. We being well assured, that the Principles of both Papists and Dissenters are inconsistent with Truth, and with the Wellbeing of our Established Government in Church and State.  
For, as has been already proved, Papists and Dissenters Deny the King's Supremacy.  
And therefore, notwithstanding their taking the Oath of Allegiance (which many of them have taken) the King has no firm Security for the Preservation of his Life and Crown, from either Papists or Dissenters.  
For if the Pope should command the Papists (as he did Ravillac) or if the Consistory bid the Presbyterians (as it did in the Deposition and Expulsion of Mary Queen of Scotland) or if the Congregational-Church bid the Independent (as in the Murdering of the late King) or if the Spirit move, and bid the Anabaptist and Quaker (as it did Venner) to raise War against the King, because he is an Heretic, and an ungodly Man, and to Depose and Kill him, not being fit for Government,  
Then they all, both Papists and Dissenters, must (according to their several Principles) obey their several Orders, and must Fight against, Depose and Murder the King, and destroy all that side with him.  
Wherefore, that neither the King's Life and Crown, nor our own Privileges and Immunities, may be exposed to their Cruelty and Usurpation;  
We humbly conceive it necessary, That the Laws of the Realm should stand in force equally against both, Papists and Dissenters.  
Because there is no party of men in this Kingdom, that ever were, or can be, according to their Principles, true and faithful in all respects, to the King and the Government in Church and State, as now Established, but only the Episcopal Protestants.  
And for a farther confirmation of this great Truth, we have the Attest of our present Dread Sovereign, in his Royal and Noble Speech unto the 
* Dr. Gower Vicechancellor.  University of Cambridge, upon their humble and Loyal Address made to him at New Market, Sept. 18. 1681. In which, His Majesty was graciously pleased to Oblige them, and indeed the whole Nation, with the following words and Assurances, to wit,  
That He would constantly own and defend the Church of England, 
King Charles the Second his Speech to the University of Cambridge, Printed in the London-Gazette by Authority.  as Established by Law: of this He bid them be Assured, for He would be as good as his word, Notwithstanding whatever Representation either had or should be made of him to the contrary: Being farther pleased to add,  
That there was no other Church in the World, that Taught and Practised Loyalty so Conscientiously, as that did.  
In truth, This short, but pithy Speech of His Sacred Majesty, is a full Answer to the Reconciler's whole Book, especially to that part of it, which so unworthily Misrepresents His majesty's former Declarations, to the eye and ear of the World.   

CHAP. VII. The Reconciler's Design proved to be, As Managed, Malicious, and Treasonable, towards the King and Governors, both of Church and State.  
OUr Church and State of England at present, God be Praised, are, by the Divine Providence, and by the King's wise Conduct of Affairs, in a very prosperous, well-ordered, and Settled State and Condition: And therefore, for any Man to wish, and endeavour (as does the Reconciler) their disturbance by an unnecessary Alteration of their Established Laws, is truly to wish them a worse state and condition than at present they are in.  
And so to wish and endeavour, is (according to the Stoics Philosophy) the height of Envy and Hatred. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Diog. Laert. Zeno l. 7. p. 506.  etc.  
Now, that the Reconciler's Design is (as he has managed it) thus Malicious and Treasonable,  
Towards the King, in Scandalising and Blaspheming Him,  
And towards the Church (as now Established) in representing her Bishops and Governors as Anti christian, Cruel, and Tyrannising over Godly men's Consciences; And in prostituting her pious Orders and Constitutions to Public Scorn and Derision;  
That it is so,  
Will be the Task of the following Lines and Sections, to prove.  

SECT. I. The Reconciler Scandalously makes The King and Governors, the Authors of all our present Schisms and Factions;  
And that for Two Reasons;  
1. BEcause they impose things indifferent upon the People.  
2. Because the King and Governors require of the Clergy subscriptions to the things Imposed.  
As to the First—— the Reconciler's own words are—  
Why do Superiors still continue the Imposition of those Indifferent things, 
Reconciler, c. 1. p. 30, 31.  which do occasion the Schism, & c?  
And in Page 339. he Argues and Queries thus; 
Page 339.   
Whether those Rules of the Church which concern things indifferent— should not be altered or relaxed, when it so happeneth that an Horrid Schism with all its dreadful consequences, is by Imposition of them caused throughout the Body of the Nation?  
But, a little to stop the Carreir of this fierce WRITER, and to Vindicate the Honour and Justice of our King and Governors, as to this particular, we entreat, it may be noted—  
That the Reconciler is not only Disloyal towards his Prince and Superiors, in so Aspersing them,  
But also Disingenuous towards his Ignorant Reader, in so miserably imposing upon him:  
For the truth of the matter is briefly this,  
To wit,  
Not the Imposers of things indifferent, But the Separatists and Disobedient, are the Sole Causes of the Schism.  
For it is Confessed by the Reconciler, and by the Separatists, that the things Imposed are things Indifferent in themselves, and have no sinfulness in them.  
And therefore the not observing them, when by Lawful Authority Commanded, is a Sin of Rebellion and Disobedience.  
And this sin of not Observing things Indifferent, when Lawfully imposed, is the sole and Prime Cause: of the Schism. Nay, Mr. Baxter presses farther, scil.  
That, although it be a sin in the Magistrate to Command, yet it is a Duty in the People to Obey His Command, in things not sinful in themselves.  
Mr. Baxter's own words are—  
Many a Ruler sinneth in his Commands, 
Baxter's Cure of Church-Divisions, Direct. 34. p. 194.  when it is no Sin, but a Duty of the Inferior to Obey them: A Ruler that hath but a bad end, or bad circumstances, may sin in commanding, And yet it will be the Subjects Duty to Obey. Yea, as to the Matter itself, it may be unlawful for a Ruler to command a thing that will do no good, And yet it may be the Subjects Duty to do it.  
Therefore (says Mr. Baxter) remember that ye do not prove it sinful in you to do such things, 
Ibid. p. 195.  by proving it a sin in the Imposer, unless ye have some better Reason, and can show a Law of God forbidding you.  
And elsewhere he tells his Reader,  
That a Form or Liturgy defective, may, and must be used, rather than a Schism by Separation be made, and rather than the Church's Edification be hindered by our Noncompliance with such a defective Form— His own words are—  
If I am restrained from the Public Preaching of the Gospel, or exercise of my Ministry, 
Ibid. Direct. 32. p. 185, 186.  unless I will use a more disordered or defective Form, I shall take it for my Duty then to use it— for to use a more defective Form, with Liberty to use my best Gifts also, and to exercise my Ministry publicly to all, is more to the Church's Edification, than (by Separation) to use my Gifts only a few days in a Corner, and then (for my Disobedience) to he in Prison, and use them no more.  
Thus far Mr. Baxter pleads excellently for Obedience to our King and Governors, in things indifferent; and which are not forbidden by some express Law of God; and that not the King, nor the Imposers, but the Separatists and Disobedient, are the Authors and Causes of the Schism and Faction throughout the Body of the Nation.  
And great pity it is, 
☞  that Mr. Baxter's own practice, by a daily Separation from the Church of England, and by his Constant Disobedience to the King's and Governors' Impositions of things Indifferent, should so Notoriously Contradict his own Doctrine.  
But to return to our Reconciler, and to speak ad hominem.  
The Sin of not observe things indifferent, when lawfully commanded, is the sole and chief cause of the Schism.  
This is no more than what the Reconciler himself has owned to be true in many places of his 
* Protest. Recon. c. 1. p. 22. c. 2. p. 29. c. 3. p. 58, 59 c. 5. p. 145. and Preface, p. 59  Book, When, he Exhorts the Dissenters to obey the King and Governors, and to Conform to their Impositions.  
And his Argument, persuading the Dissenters to Obedience and Conformity, is this, scil.  
Because the Ceremonies imposed are things Indifferent,  
Ergo, The Dissenters ought to Obey and Conform,  
Lest, by their Disobedience, they become Guilty of Schism—  
For Separating when they ought not to Separate 
* I verily believe all Separate Congregations in the Nation, which are not Subject to the Government of our Diocesans, are Schismatical; and that all they who abet and head them, and exercise among themselves a Spiritual Jurisdiction Independent on them, do set up Altar against Altar. Prot. Recon. Preface, p. 59 .  
Thus our Reconciler is become a very Bifrons, a Janus with Two Faces.  
And with the One,  
He looks upon the King and Governors as the only Authors of our Schisms and Factions, for Imposing things Indifferent:  
But with the other,  
He looks on the Dissenters, as the only Authors and Causes of the Schisms throughout the Nation, for their not Conforming to the Ceremonies imposed, which are things Lawfully to be observed, they being things Indifferent.  
As to the Reconciler's other Reason, scil.  
That the King and Governors are therefore the Authors of all our Schisms, Because they require Subscription 
† Protestant Reconciler, c. 1. p. 7.  to things Indifferent, etc.  
It is, as scandalous to the King and Governors, and as false, as the other Argument: And can be published for no other end, But to amuse the World, and to prejudice the People against the King and his Government.  
For did not God himself require an Oath (which is much more than Subscription) of the Priests and People of Israel, thereby strictly binding them to observe, not only his Moral, but also his Ceremonial Law, which chief consisted of things Indifferent, before they were lawfully Imposed and Commanded?  
And, I pray, Are not King's God's Vicegerents? And is it not their Prerogative to be like God, and to Imitate him, in all things lawful and expedient? And did not the Religious Kings and Princes of old, 
Nehem. 5.12. c. 10.29. 2 Chron. 15.14. 2 Chron. 34.21, 33.  particularly Nehemiah, Asa and Josias, make the People take an Oath, and to Swear Uniformity and Conformity to God's Laws, and to some things that were Indifferent in themselves?  
And have not all Christian Kings and Princes, throughout all Ages, imitated those Godly Kings, when they went about Reformation? Have they not required Subscription to their Pious Orders and Constitutions? The Reconciler is not able to mention any one Christian Council, or Christian Emperor, King, or Prince, that ever made any Canons, Laws, or Constitutions for Government of the Church and State, but they required either an Oath, or Subscription, for the better observation of their said Canons and Laws; or else they subjoined a dreadful Punishment, such as an Anathema and Excommunication upon Obstinate Disobedience.  
And yet, those Primitive Councils, and Ancient Christian Emperors, 
☞  were never Scandalised, as is our Gracious King, and Governors; nor ever said to be the Authors of Schisms and Factions, for requiring Subscriptions and strict Obedience unto their Impositions of things indifferent, as our King, Bishops and Governors are said to be by the Scurrilous Reconciler.   

SECT. II. According to the Reconciler, The King and Governors are Proud Men, and the Plagues of the Earth, for Imposing things Indifferent.  
Take the Reconciler's own words—  
IT seemeth Pride for men to institute unnecessary Rites and Ceremonies, and say, I Command you all to Worship God according to these my Institutions and Inventions; and he that will not thus Worship him, shall not have liberty to Worship him at all (Note Reader, 
* A Great Lie cast upon the Kingand Government.  that this is an Abominable Lie told of the King and our Governors, for by Act of Parliament, Any Man with any Company, not exceeding five, may in his own House worship God in any manner.)" If (says the Reconciler) the work of Church-Government be to make small Matters great, and make that damnable which before was lawful, and this without any Necessity at all, 
Prot. Recon. c. 10. p. 328.  it will tempt the People (as it does the Reconciler) to think such Governors to be The Plagues of the Earth.  
To confirm all this Harangue, the Reconciler quotes Mr. Baxter's Disp. 5th of Human. Cerem. Ch. 14. Sect. 8. and Ch. 5. Sect. 4.  
And in the following words, he says, 
Prot. Recon. ibid. p. 328, 329.  That not the Dissenters for Disobeying, But the Governors for Commanding Obedience, in things Indifferent, are the Disturbers of the Church's Peace.   

SECT. III. Accord tot he Reconciler, The King and Governors Deserve Death for imposing things Indifferent.  
The Reconciler's own Words are—  
YOu (Superiors, 
Sect. Recon. c. 10. p. 329.  King and Governors) disturb the Church much more Sinfully (than the Dissenters) by laying such Snares as shall unavoidably procure it (i. e. a disturbance) and then taking occasion by it, to make a greater disturbance by your Cruel Execution. 
☞  If the Fly offend, and deserve death, by incautelously falling into the Spider's Web; What doth the Spider (that is, the King and Governors) deserve, that out of her own Bowels Spread this Net in the way, and kills the Fly that is taken in it? Your own Actions most concern yourselves, try therefore whether you do well in Commanding and Punishing, as well as whether others offend in disobeying. Thus far the Reconciler, for which he again quotes Mr. Baxter.  
Now, What Sense can there be made of this Similitude between the Fly and the Spider, but this? to wit,  
That the Venomous Spider, is the King and the Governors, who lay Snares for the People, by Imposing on them Strict Laws for the Observation of Ceremonies and things Indifferent: And that the Harmless innocent Fly, are the Dissenters, who are caught in the Snares of the Laws made by the King and Governors, and for their Rebellion and Disobedience are either put to Death, or Cruelly Punished.  
And therefore (according to the Reconciler) as the Spider Deserved Death for making Webs, by which the Fly was Caught; So does the King and Governors deserve Death, for making Laws, by which the People are Caught, and Restrained their Liberty, and their Tender Consciences Imposed upon, as to things Indifferent.  
Never let this Author any more Write against the Jesuits for their Treason, until he quits himself of the same.   

SECT. iv The King and Governors (according to the Reconciler) are Traitors to the Commonwealth, and Betrayers of the People's Liberties, for Imposing upon them, Things Indifferent: And that, therefore, the People ought not to yield to their Impositions; But aught To Rebel, and Vindicate their Christian Liberty.  
The Reconciler's own Words are—  
BOth these things (that is, 
Prot. Recon. c. 5. p. 160, 161.  the Superiors, King and Governors Imposing things Indifferent, and requiring Subscription to them, Both these things) do put a necessary abstention and restraint upon us, as to the use of these things; if therefore (says the Reconciler) by so doing (i. e. the Superiors, our King and Governors, if they) in effect Betray our Liberties, Dissenters ought not to yield to them in the least: nor should good Christians by a Vow restrain themselves from the free use of things Indifferent.  
And as bad, or rather worse Treason, does the Reconciler utter, p. 338.  
Where he plainly Suggests Two things; by which Suggestions he extremely prejudices and incends the-Giddy-Vulgar against the King and his Government.  
He Suggests, 

1. That the King and Governors are going about to Betray the City and Commonwealth unto the Enemy.  
2. That therefore, The Subjects May, and Ought to Rebel, and Vindicate their own Privileges.    
For the Subjects may (says the Reconciler) neglect and transgress the Orders and Commands of their King and Superiors, In hopes of a Greater Good;  
The Reconciler's own Words are—  
Secondly, I Answer with the Learned Camero, 
Prot. Recon. c. 10. p. 338.  That even Order may be not only laid aside, but even neglected and transgressed, for a Greater Good; As when a Citizen doth volantarily rise up against a Magistrate, who is endeavouring to Betray the City to the Enemy, or a common Soldier against a Rebellious Officer.  
Never did Hugh Peter's Preach and Print greater Treason.  
For, upon the pretended force of this very Treasonable Argument of the Reconciler's, did Oliver, and the Rump, with their Rebellious Army, cut off King Charles the First His Head,  
Pretending to the People, That the said King was going about to bring in Popery, and to Betray the City (of London) and the whole Nation to their Enemies, and deprive them of their Liberties.  
And because (as they alleged) that He Imposed such Ceremonies and Orders upon Tender Consciences as would Damn the Souls of Myriad—  
Therefore it was, that the late Rebels made War against the said King and Murdered Him.  
And lo! Here is a Second Hugh Peter, one that styles himself, not only a Protestant, but a Priest, nay, a Cathedral-Man, and therefore Doubly obliged to the King and the Church; yet lo! Here is Such an One, That dares publish in Print, That it is not only lawful, but necessary, to Neglect, and Transgress the Magistrate's Orders, and to Rebel, if so be, The Subjects apprehend a Greater Good will accrue to them thereby:  
That is to say,  
If the Subjects do fear, that Myriads of Souls will be Damned by the King's and Magistrate's Impositions: But may, and will be Saved by their Rebellion, and Transgressing such Orders and Impositions,  
Then (according to the Reconciler) the Subjects May, and Ought to Rebel.  
The Reconciler's own words farther are—  
Now (says he) Charity is greater than Faith, 
Ibid. c. 10. p. 338.  and therefore is a greater Good than Order in Extrinsecalls, and the Salvation of Souls is the end of Order, That therefore must be better than the Means, and consequently Order may be transgressed, when it is Necessary for that end to be so.  
That is, in plain English,  
The King's and Governors' Orders and Laws may Lawfully be Transgressed; Treason and Rebellion may Lawfully be Committed, whenever the People shall think, for their Greater Good and Ease, it should be So.  
Thus the Reconciler takes the Liberty and Confidence to speak out that Treason, which the Shamefaced Dissenter dares only conceive in heart and mind;  
And which of the Two, is the most Malicious, and dangerous to the King and his Government, we will leave to others to determine.   

SECT. V The Reconciler Scandalously affirms, That the King and Governors want Piety and Prudence, And therefore it is, that they impose upon the People, Things Indifferent.  
FOr Proof of this, the Reconciler quotes Doctor Tillotson, though very Falsely:  
The Reconciler's own words, are—  
If then this be not done (to wit, 
Prot. Recon. Preface, p. 19  an Abolition of things Indifferent) it must be, in his Judgement (that is, in Dr. Tillotson's Judgement) through defect of Piety and Prudence in some men (that is, if he writes sense, 
Tillots. Serm. on St. John, 13, 34.34. p. 28.  through defect of Piety and Prudence in the King and Governors (especially of the Church) for of such Dr. Tillotson treats in his said Sermon) or through Consent with what is reasonable in others, etc.  
Now that the Reconciler means the King and Governors, by what he says, is evident;  
Because, he knows, and confesses, that it is in the power of none, but only of the King and Governors, to alter the Imposition of things Indifferent. And therefore (according to the Reconciler) The King and Governors continue the Imposition of things Indifferent, through want and defect of Piety and Prudence.  
And now, pray, Is not this Reconciler worthy of Reproof? to call his King and Governors, , Imprudent.  
What can he call them worse?  
In our thinking, it is all one, as if the Reconciler had Mounted the Stage at Newmarket (where the King was, much about the Time when his Book came forth) and there had made Proclamation in the open Market, and Harangued the Discontented People with such Phrase as this—  
O Brethren! Be wise, and look to yourselves, for our King is a Fool, our Governors are all like him, unwise and imprudent; they are, as he is, ungodly, wicked men, and for want of Grace, and through Defect of Piety and Prudence, Therefore it is,  
That they continue the Imposition of things Indifferent upon you; for, I will assure you, had they the Wisdom and Prudence which is from above, or were they acted by a Spirit of Grace and Holiness, They would ease men's Consciences, and would soon take away these Heavy Yokes and Burdens (I mean, the Imposition of things Indifferent) from off your Necks.  
But alas! Dear Brethren, I tell you, and so does Doctor Tillotson tell you, That the King and Governors want Piety and Prudence, And that is the very Reason of their Impositions.  
Now, What is all this? But a New Plot against the King and Government: What is it? But to Alarm the People,  
First, That the King and Governors are , Imprudent.  
Secondly, That (according to Calvin's Doctrine) Because they are Foolish and , they are therefore unfit for Government. And,  
Thirdly, Because they are , Imprudent, and Unfit for Government, 
Calv. Instit. l. 4. c. 20.  Therefore, the People may Oppose them, and may (as Calvin and Knox Taught) Depose them.  
Thus (in our apprehension) the Reconciler again Sounds the Trumpet to a New Rebellion, Odiously and Maliciously misrepresenting the King and Governors unto the People, as Idiots and Fools, as Wicked and .   

SECT. VI According to the Reconciler, The King and Governors are the Destroyer's of the Work of God, and the Murderers of Myriad of Souls, for imposing things Indifferent.  
The Reconciler's own words are—  
IF I durst (says he) make the Parallel, 
Protest. Recon. c. 4. p. 98.  it unavoidably would be this; That since Superiors, by using of their Power, in the Commanding of these things Indifferent, do that which, accidentally, and through the weakness of Dissenters, doth Minister unto that Schism, which is Destructive to them, it may be feared, that they (i. e. the King and Superiors) destroy the work of God, and unnecessarily cause the Souls to perish for whom Christ died.  
And Page 99 He adds.  
Were I worthy to advise my Governors, 
Ibid. p. 99  I would say, Hast thou (O King!) power in these things Indifferent? Have it to thyself before God; and use it to that end, for which alone he gave it, for Edification, and not for Destruction.  
Here is plain English, and there is no need of an Oedipus to unriddle and find out the Odium and Scandal cast upon the King and our Superiors.  
And, in Page 195,  
The Reconciler has these words, to the same purpose—  
A Scandal (says he) in the Nature of it being Spiritual Murder, 
Prot. Recon. c. 6. p. 195.  it is to me a wonder how Men (that is, the King and Governors) can think it is consistent with Christian Charity to enjoin any thing unnecessary, whence, by experience, they (i. e. the King and Governors) know the Murder of innumerable Souls is like to follow: Now, must it not oblige Superiors to lay aside a thing Indifferent (as all the Ceremonies are) for the preserving of many Myriads of Souls from Ruin?  
It being then not necessary for Superiors to Command things Indifferent, 
Page 196.  much rather should they Quit them, than be (as they are) Accessary to these sad Consequents of that Command, to wit, the Murder of so many Myriad of Men— God Grant (says he) That our Lawgivers (the King and Governors) may make the due Inference from the Premises, etc.  
Now, Good Sir, What Inference would you have us think, the King and Governors, in Honour and Justice, should make from your Premises, But to Reward the Traitor according to his Treason? unless he shall timely Repent, Openly Recant, and beg Mercy: which God grant he may, and then we hope the King's Clemency will be farther signalised in Pardoning so Notorious an Offender.   

SECT. VII. The King Commands Men to Sin, according to the Reconciler, When he Commands their Obedience as to things Indifferent.  
The Reconciler's own words are—  
MOreover this may be farther Argued, 
Prot. Recon. c. 6. p. 200.  That, Qui non vetat peccare cum possit, jubet.  
He that, being a Superior (as is the King) doth not what lawfully he may for the prevention of his Subjects Sinning, does Command his Subjects to Sin. Now it is confessed by our Superiors, that if they please, they may abate these Impositions of things indifferent.  
And it is also certain, that the not abating of them is the Occasion of the Schism, and so of the Great Sin of many of their Subjects; How then will they avoid (according to this Rule, Qui non vetat peccare cum possit, jubet) from commanding their Subjects to Sin, when they may, but will not, prevent their sinning?  
Most Excellent Logic!  
The King and Parliament Command by Law, that whoever calls the King Fool, or Papist, shall be hanged:  
A certain Rebellious Fellow wilfully transgresses that Law, And is hanged for it;  
Ergo, Because the King and Parliament had Power, not to make that Law, and after they had made it, they had power to Repeal that Law, But would not, Therefore the King and Parliament Commanded that Rebel to Sin, and therefore the King and Parliament are doubly Guilty,  
First, Of the Rebel's Sin.  
Secondly, Of his Death; in not preventing both, by Repealing the said Law:  
For, according to the Reconciler, Qui non vetat peccare cum possit, jubet.   

SECT. VIII.  
The Reconciler's Rule, for the King and Governors to Observe, in case any Evil Consequents should happen through the Dissenters Disobedience after a Condescension Granted; to wit, To leave the Event to God.  
The Reconciler's own words are—  
IF (says he) it be Objected, 
Prot. Recon. c. 10. p. 326.  That should our Superiors Indulge Dissenters in these Matters, the Dissenters would never be contented with the Abatement of three Ceremonies, unless (as Dr. Womack urges) we should also yield up the Church's Government, and leave the Bishop and every Parish-Priest unto the Choice of the People.  
The Answer and Rule—  
To this (says the Reconciler) I Answer, if so (God's will be done) however, let us do our Duty, and Abolish these three Ceremonies, scil. Cross in Baptism, Kneeling at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and Bowing at the Name of Jesus, let us do our Duty, And leave the event to God, etc.  
That is, to speak plainly,  
If the Dissenters will not be satisfied, However, the King and Governors ought to Indulge them, and Leave the Event to God.  
And if by such an Indulgence, the Dissenters shall destroy all our Church-Government, and bring in Confusion among us, God's will be done; However, the King and Governors must do their Duty, and INDULGE them, and then, Leave the Event to God.  
And if the Pragmatical People shall usurp an unlawful power to themselves, and shall choose their own Bishop, and every Parish Priest, Volens Nolens the King, or any Proper Patron, God's will be done: However, the King and Governors must do their Duty, and give the People their Liberty, and then, Leave the Event to God.  
If Dissenters should (as they did in 48) Mutiny, Rebel, and Cut off this King's Sacred Head, as they did his Fathers, and destroy all Good Order and Government in Church and State (as formerly) under the fair Pretence of Liberty of Conscience, if so, God's will be done; However, The King and Governors must do their Duty, that is, Indulge the Dissenters, and meekly resign up their Lives and Concerns to the Mercy and Courtesy of their Rebellious Enemies, and then Leave the Event to God.  
Now, should this Rule of the Reconciler's, take place in its full Latitude, without the due use of Means, for the Support of Government, and for the Suppression of Vice, Rebellion and Treason, Then there would be nothing but Anarchy and Confusion in Church and State: Which evil Design to bring to pass, has been the great endeavour of All the Reconciler's Arguings.  
For, the main force of all his Arguments for Condescension to the Dissenters, have tended to nothing more, than to break down the Hedge of all our Good Laws and Orders for Uniformity and Conformity, and to introduce an Unbounded Licentiousness and Confusion.  
And therefore, we may very truly Conclude,  
The Reconciler's Design in Publishing his Book, as Managed by him, to be Malicious and Treasonable towards the King, the Church and the State, as now Established.    

CHAP. VIII. The Reconciler's Proposition Proved to be False.  
His Proposition is this, scil.  
THat Things Indifferent (considering the Circumstances our Church and State at present are in) ought not to be Imposed by the Legislatours, 
Prot. Recon. c. 1. p. 4.  as Conditions of Church Communion.  
This Proposition, as it is propounded by the Reconciler is to be considered two ways, 

1. Simply and Absolutely in itself,  
2. Relatively, as it refers to the present Circumstances our Church and State are in.    
In both respects it will appear to be false.  
1. For take it Absolutely, as simply considered in itself, And then his Proposition, which is the main hinge and Herculean Pillar on which his whole Book depends, runs thus, scil.  
That at no time Things Indifferent ought to be imposed upon the People as Conditions of Church-Communion.  
The Falsity of this Proposition is Proved, 

1. By the Testimony of Sacred Scriptures to the contrary.  
2. By the Authority and Canons of the first and most Ancient Councils, And by the examples and practices of the Primitive Christians in their Church-Government.  
3. By Reason, and the Natural Grounds of Ecclesiastic Polity and Government.    
All these speak the expediency and lawfulness (if not Necessity) of imposing Things Indifferent as Conditions of Church Communion.  
The prosecution of these Arguments at large, we shall leave for an entire Discourse of itself.  
And at present only touch briefly upon them in their order.  
And therefore, as to the first.  
1. Several Instances in Canonical Scripture speak it lawful to impose things Indifferent as Conditions of Church Communion; For God, in the very first founding of all good Order and Government, between Himself and Mankind, did Impose a thing in itself Indifferent, to wit, the not eating of the Forbidden Fruit, as a necessary condition of Communion and Fellowship with Himself.  
And God Excommunicated Adam and Eva his presence, his love and favour, for not observing that Ceremony and Imposition of not eating the Forbidden Fruit, which fruit might have been eaten, as well as any other fruit in the Garden of Eden (as Clem. Alexandrinus notes) had not God by a strict Imposition commanded the contrary, on purpose to try the sincerity of Man's obedience to him his Lord and Creator.  
And farther, under the Mosaical Law, God Himself, and Moses by his Command, Imposed many indifferent and unnecessary things, as necessary conditions of Church Communion, such as All or most of the Levitical Rites and Ceremonies were, whose observation was enjoined upon pain of Excommunication, and sometimes of Death, in case they were wilfully neglected.  
And God gave Authority not only to Moses and Aaron, but also to other his Vicegerents, such as the Judges and Kings of his chosen people the Jews to impose things Indifferent as Terms and Conditions of Church-Communion, such as the use of Blood, Oil, Salt, and other things in their Sacrifices, such as the use of Garments, Ephods, Veils and Surplices, and Bowings in Divine Worship; Washings and Purifications of their very Garments. And all manner of Music, such as their Superiors, especially such as King David and King Solomon should judge most conducing to God's Glory, and to the better stirring up of the People's Devotions and Affections in the Worship and Service of God.  
The Imposition of Holy Days is the Imposing of a thing Indifferent, for all Days in themselves are alike. And yet, God highly approved of Queen esther's and her Uncle Mordecai's Imposition of the holidays called Purim, upon the People, for ever to be solemnly kept, as necessary Conditions of Church-Communion: And, it is to be noted, that this Imposition was laid upon the People without any Command from God, in time of Banishment, when the Church was in Persecution, yet, even then, in such Circumstances as those, did Queen Esther use her Authority, as to the Imposing of things Indifferent. And if so, then surely much rather may Kings and Queens use the same Authority in times of Prosperity.  
The Feasts of Dedication of the Temple and of the Altar, but especially of the Wall of Jerusalem, 
Dr. Keller. Tricen. l. 1. c. 5. part. 8. p. 23.  was in itself a Thing Indifferent, and yet they were so strictly Imposed, as that whosoever wilfully neglected their Observation, was under an Anathema Maranatha.  
And it is very Remarkable, that our Lord Jesus Christ who came to fulfil all Righteousness, and to set an unerring pattern and example of Obedience unto all under Command, Did himself approve of the Feast of Dedication instituted by the Macchabees; (l. 1. c. 4. v. 59) Judas and his Brethren, with the whole Congregation of Israel, Ordained, that the days of Dedication of the Altar should be kept in their season, from year to year, by the space of eight days.)  
For, St. John 10.22. It was at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication, and it was Winter, and Jesus walked in the Temple, etc.  
So that (if you read on) our Saviour Christ did not only honour with his Presence these holidays of the Macchabees appointment, But he also confirmed the lawful use and Imposition of them, by his working of Miracles on those very holidays.  
And farther, That Christ might set a perfect Example of Obedience unto all Subjects, as to things Indifferent, when by Lawful Authority imposed,  
Christ himself did therefore observe all the Minuter Rites and Ceremonies of the Law, and of the Passover, which none ever did, or was able to do, before him.  
And lest Christ should give any offence to the Superiors then in power, he observed the Impositions and Ceremonies of the very Pharisees, which they by their own Laws had enjoined upon the People, as Terms and Conditions of their Church-Communion. And particularly, Christ observed the Pharisees Religious Orders of Washing the Feet at Feasts, and at the Passover; which was only an Ordinance of Humane Invention. 
St. Luk. 7.44.  And Christ did publicly blame the Pharisee for not giving him Water to Wash withal, according to the Pharisees Orders and Impositions.  
St. Peter positively determines against the Reconciler's Proposition, not only Categorically, but also universally, commanding Submission and Obedience unto every Ordinance of the King and Governors, which is not against the written word of Cod, 1 St. Pet. 2.13.18. Submit yourselves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the King as Supreme, or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by him; 
Eras. & Grot. in Loc.  that is, sent by God and the King, such as are Magistrates in the State, and Bishops in the Church, all sent, and set over the People, by God and the King.  
And in v. 18. of that Chapter, St. Peter adds, as the Whole Duty of Man, this Injunction, Fear God, Honour the King: Thereby plainly intimating unto us this excellent Truth, scil.  
That if we will not peaceably submit to every Ordinance of the King, as to Things Indifferent, but will become Mutinous and Rebellious, and make a Schism and Faction in the Church and State, by our Disobedience, then, notwithstanding our high Profession of Religion, we neither Fear God, nor Honour the King.  
Secondly, The Practice of the Primitive times of Christianity sufficiently Declares the Reconciler's Proposition (as taken absolutely and simply in itself) to be false.  
In the First place, if we consider the Author of our Christian Religion Jesus Christ, and his Practice, we shall find,  
That although Christ Instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and commanded Bread and Wine to be used in the Celebration thereof,  
Yet He (even Christ) left it to the prudence of the Governors of the Church to determine the things Indifferent in that Holy Sacrament.  
As for instance, He left it wholly to the Governors of the Church to determine what kind of Bread, whether Barley, Oaten, or Wheaten; whether fine or course, whether (as among the Jews at the Passover) only unleavened, or leavened Bread;  
As also what kind of Wine, Red or White, whether Wine only, or Wine mixed with Water, as is the use of many Churches in Remembrance of Water and Blood that issued out of Jesus his side on the Cross. In like manner, Christ determined nothing, as to the Priests and Ministers Garments, nor as to the People's Posture and Gesture (whether Sitting, Kneeling, or Standing, or Lying along) at the Receiving of the Sacrament; But he left these indifferent things wholly to the Determination of the Governors of every National Church: And, as Christ determined nothing in these particulars,  
So, neither did the Apostles, nor does any part of the Canonical Scriptures Determine, what Form and Liturgy, what kind of Garments, what Posture and Gesture, the Priests and People shall use and observe in Divine Worship, and in Receiving the Lord's Supper, But leaves all such circumstances and things of Indifferency unto the Prudence of the Supreme Governors.  
And therefore, 
Counterm. c. 4. p. 41.  it is judiciously noted by the Countermine,  
That although the Sacred Scriptures are a perfect Rule for Faith and Doctrine, yet they do not lay down particular Rules for particular Discipline and Modes of Worship; Nor do they determine that in such a particular Garment, Posture or Way and in no other, All Nations shall in the Sacrament, or in Divine Worship serve God.  
For God (in his infinite Wisdom) has left the Particular Rules of Discipline and Modes of Worship, unto the Care, Wisdom and Prudence of the Supreme Magistrate to determine.  
Only, the Scriptures lay down certain General Rules, which the Supreme Magistrate, and all Imposers of Laws (whether Civil or Ecclesiastic) are bound in Conscience to observe, such as,  
1. To enact, and do all things to the Glory of God.  
2. To do all things with Decency and Order.  
3. To be Moderate towards all Men, that is, not to be bitter and wrathful, but meek and mild towards all men, as far as Law and Reason will permit, 
* Vid. Mr. Evans Excellent Discourse on the True Notion of Moderation, Preached before the Lord Mayor of London.  with all Resolution and Firmness of Mind to hold fast the Form of sound words, of Good Order and Discipline; it being inconsistent with the Honour, Trust and Dignity of the Superiors and Governors, to be tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine, or Popular Persuasion.  
This is the Moderation, and these are the General Rules which the Scriptures enjoin the Legislatours to observe in their Impositions of things indifferent.  
As for the Ancient Councils and Fathers, they declare (by their practice) the Lawfulness, and sometimes the Necessity of Imposing things Indifferent, as Conditions of Church-Communion.  
Take for instance,  
The First Christian Council that ever was, to wit, that at Jerusalem, where St. James (Bishop of Jerusalem) presided; In which, Abstention from the use of things, Indifferent in themselves, was Imposed: Such as the Abstaining from Pollutions of Idols, i.e. from Meats and Drinks offered to Idols: and from things strangled and from blood: These things, in themselves, were good, for every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer, 1 Tim. 4.4.  
And yet, the Apostolical Council Imposed the Abstaining from the use of these things, Good in themselves, as necessary conditions of Church-Communion, Act. 15.20, 28, 29.  
It is confessed, That the Reconciler makes mention of this Apostolical Council at Jerusalem: But in his Notes upon it, he gives himself a shrewd Box on the Ear, 
Prot. Recon. c. 8. p. 302.  p. 302. for his words are—  
The things imposed by the Apostles, were, in their nature, things Unnecessary— But yet for preservation of the Church's Peace and Union, and for prevention of Scandal to the Believing Jews, they were necessary to be Imposed, as Conditions of Church-Communion, etc.  
Now, from the Reconciler's words, we thus argue, scil.  
That if the Apostles did Impose things Unnecessary and Indifferent, when they saw it necessary for the Good, i. e. for the Peace and Union of the Church, and for the prevention of Schism and Scandal; Then may the King and Governors Now Impose things Indifferent and Unnecessary, when they see it is Necessary, for prevention of Scandal and Offence unto the Episcopal-Protestants, who are the Only Supporters of the Established Government in Church and State: And Thousands of these Canonical, Pious Conformists do think in their Consciences, the present Ceremonies in the Church ought to be Continued, for the Fame, Peace and Uniformity, of the Glorious Church of England, which ever used them; And for their own great Antiquity, Decency and Utility; 
Hook. Eccles. Pol. 1.5.  as Judicious Hooker Argues.  
Farther, as the First Christian Council at Jerusalem, so the Four First General Councils, did Impose things Indifferent upon both Clergy and Laity, as Conditions of Church Communion; as any one may know, who will but consult their Acts and Deeds.  
The observation of Easter-Day, whether on the Jews Passover Day, or on the First Day of the week, was a thing Indifferent, and some observed it at one time, as did the Jews, others observed it at another time, as did the Romanists. But, for Uniformity sake, the First General Council at Nice (the Emperor Constantine being present) determined, 
Euseb. in vit, Const. 1. 3. ● 18.  That all Christians throughout the World should celebrate Easter on one and the same Lord's Day in the year.  
To Pray unto Almighty God on Sundays, whether Kneeling or Standing was in itself a thing Indifferent,  
But yet, the General Council at Nice, 
Canon 20.  for Uniformity sake, Imposed upon the People the Posture of Kneeling in Prayer-Time on the Weekdays, but Standing in time of Prayer on the Lord's Days, commonly, called Sundays.  
And Tertullian informs us, that in his time, Die Dominico jejunium Nefas ducimus, vel de Geniculis adorare, etc. It was counted a Sin on the Lord's-Day, 
Tertull. Corona Mil. c. 3●  either to Fast, or to Pray and Adore God Kneeling.  
To Dip, or Sprinkle the Party Baptised, was a thing Necessary in Holy Baptism to be observed;  
But, to Dip, or Sprinkle the Party Baptised more than Once, was a thing Indifferent.  
But yet, by the Ancients, it was Imposed upon the Clergy and People, that the Party Baptised should be thrice Dipped or Sprinkled, in Reference to the Three Sacred Persons in the Holy Trinity. Hence that of Tertullian, 
Tertul. Ibid. Apostolical Can. 49.  Dehinc ter Mergitamur, etc. And the same Order was commanded upon the pain of Deposition. And Zonaras, on that Canon, saith, (as our Reconciler himself well notes) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That it is an ungodly thing to dip in Holy Baptism but Once. Tertullian mentions many things Imposed upon the People as terms of Church-Communion, and he says, the Ground and Warrant for those Impositions was not the Scripture, 
Tertull. Coro. Mil. c. 4.  but Ancient Custom and Tradition. Harum & aliarum ejusmodi Disciplinarum si Legem expostules Scripturarum, nullam invenies: Traditio tibi proetendetur Auctrix, Consuetudo Confirmatrix, & Fides Observatrix.  
Thirdly, As Reason speaks a necessity of making Civil Laws for prevention of disorder, and confusion in the State, so Reason speaks it as necessary to make Laws Ecclesiastical for preventing the same Mischiefs and Inconveniences in the Church.  
And when such Laws are made, and nothing can be found in them which is absolutely sinful, than Reason, as well as Religion, commands Obedience to them.  
As Moral Wisdom preserves Common Life, by ordering what is Convenient, so Civil and Ecclesiastic Wisdom preserves Life in the State and Church, by ordering what is Necessary and Expedient.  
And (as the Learned Hooker notes) Whatever the Church, 
Hook. Eccles. Pol. l. 5. p. 136, 138.  by her Ecclesiastic Authority shall, in matters of Order and Comeliness, probably think and define to be True or Good, must, in Congruity of Reason Overrule all other inferior judgements whatsoever, and must be thought Convenient: And all things in the Church which are void of Superstition, and are of long Continuance in the Church, are things which edify, and are not lightly to be altered: Nothing is unfit or inconvenient, which the King and Governors shall think fit and convenient:  
Unless the said thing imposed be against, 

1. The Sacred Scriptures.  
2. Right Reason.  
3. The practice of Piety.    
Whatever is otherwise thought to be inconvenient by the Subject, it is the Result either, 

1. Of Pride, or  
2. Of an unsettled Mind, a Melancholic phanoy and imagination, or  
3. Of Capriciousness.    
And now, let the Reconciler choose and tell us, which of them is in the Dissenters, and is the Cause of their Noncompliance with the King's Lawful Commands, as to things Indifferent.  
Thus far, Scripture, Councils and Reason conclude the Reconciler's Proposition, as considered absolutely and simply in itself, to be false; for, by these Testimonies, it is a very great Truth, scil.  
That things Indifferent may, and sometimes necessarily aught to be Imposed, as Conditions of Church-Communion, Contrary to what the Reconciler has Suggested to the Vulgar.  
Secondly, If we consider the Reconciler's Proposition Relatively, as it Refers to the Circumstances our Church and State are in, than it will appear also to be very False, and Unseasonably Propounded.  
The present Circumstances of our Church and State, 
Are either 


Good,  
or  
Bad.      
Consider we them as Good, And then they are,  
1. The enjoyment of present Peace and Quietness, in stead of the late Intestine Wars and Rebellion.  
2. The enjoyment of good Order and Settlement, in stead of the late Confusion and Anarchy. God be Praised! Now, our King sits on his Throne of Inheritance: Our Bishops and Clergv are repossessed of their Dues quoad Officium & Beneficium, both as to Office and Benefice.  
And the People, Nobles, Gentry and Commons, are now restored to their Rights and Privileges.  
3. We enjoy Justice and Equity, in stead of the late Oppressions, Extortions and Tyranny: Our King demands and takes no more than what by Law is his Due. And the People receive and enjoy all that by Law and Inheritance is their Right and Property.  
4. As to our Impositions, in reference to Religious Worship, they are all the very same which the Primitive Christians observed, who died Confessors and Martyrs for the Truth.  
And they are not more, than were at the first Reformation, in King Edward the Sixth's and Queen Elizabeth's Reign, when there was, less Talk, but greater Exercise, of Conscience and of Godliness, than is now a-days.  
Nay, in this our Day, there is an enjoyment of greater Liberty of Conscience, than ever was granted by any Prince, or by any Law or Act of Parliament whatever, since the Reformation in England.  
For now, by Act of Parliament, Men of all Persuasions may, in their own Families, use what Liberty they please, as to their private Modes of Worship; which Freedom none could enjoy under Popery. Whereas, now, there is by Law a Toleration for all Sects and Religious Persons to Meet, not exceeding the number of Five, and to serve God after their own Desire.  
And pray, What Kingdom is there in the Christian World, where, by Law, Greater Moderation and Clemency is shown, than this?  
These are some of the Good circumstances our Church and State are in, at present: And therefore, for any man to desire that our present Laws, especially those of Uniformity, may be altered, it is really to desire,  
That our present Good State and Condition may be Altered, especially in the Church, whose Good and Welfare does, and aught to go hand in hand with that of the State.  
And although an Alteration of the Established Laws may possibly be for the better, yet, it is an hundred to one, but such an Alteration may be infinitely for the worse, if we duly consider the great Divisions, Heats, Animosities, and Bloudy-Plots on foot among us, and all under the Pretence of Reformation, and of setting up a more holy and purer way of Worship, than what is Established by Law.  
And therefore, these things considered, it seems to be the wisest and safest way, to keep our present Station, and to be what we are, that is, Well and Prosperous; Lest, by Changing, we prove to be otherwise, that is, Convulsive, Sick and Unsettled in both Church and State.  
Secondly, If we consider our present circumstances as to the Time we live in, then, in truth, they are bad enough.  
For our Church and State, as now established, have Enemies abroad, and (which is worse) at home.  
The times we live in are full of Deceit and Hypocrisy, of Divisions and Distractions: full of Plots and Treasons, And these Clandestine Treasons are Hatched not only by Papists, but also by Dissenters.  
So that, our King and Governors have no real Friends, no True Trojanes to Trust unto, but only the Episcopal Protestants of the Church of England; whose Honour and Glory it is, that they were never sound Guilty of any Treasons or Plots against their King and his Government.  
And in truth, it is impossible, They should ever be Disloyal, unless they shall renounce their own professed Principles, and act contrary thereunto: and then they would cease to be Episcopal Protestants.  
Whereas, on the other side; it is impossible for the other Parties, whether Papists or Dissenters, ever to be constantly Loyal and Faithful to the King and his Government, if they shall continue to act according to their own professed Doctrines, as has already been proved.  
For, Sinon will ever be a Sinon. And if King Priamus shall hearken to his Advice, Sinon will persuade him to break down Troy's Wall, and let in the Trojan-Horse, 
Nirgil. Aen. l. 2.  and then in the Nighttime of Security, Sinon (contrary to his Vows and Promises, his Plighted Faith and Troth, Sinon) will Betray the over-credulous King, and the (Coeci furore) Citizens, into the hands of the Grecians, and set City and all into a Combustion.  
And as my Lord Verulam observes, the Wolf will ever be a Wolf, though in Sheep's Clothing: And the Fox will ever remain a Fox: No Art nor Argument can ever prevail with the one, to lay aside his Ravening and Cruelty; Nor with the other, to lay aside his Deceit and Cunning.  
And therefore, it can be no part of Prudence, nor of Fidelity, in the Shepherd, to let either the Wolf or the Fox into the Fold among the Flock, lest the Sheep and the Lambs become a prey to them both. Wherefore Queen Elizabeth, for the preservation of Peace and Good Order in Church and State, and for the prevention of Error, Heresy and Schism, did wisely make a strict Law for Uniformity, and She Severely punished the Rebellious and Obstinate Offenders, Notwithstanding their great and earnest Plea of tenderness of Conscience for their Nonconformity. And She hanged some of the first Independents that ever were known to be in England, 
Full. Hist. l. 9 p. 169.  such as Mr. Barrow, Elias Thacker, and John Coping, for their Seditious and Treasonable Practices.  
But to show, that she could be Merciful, as well as Severe, she graciously pardoned Mr. Brown the Independent.  
But our present Gracious King, has, in Acts of Mercy, infinitely outdone Queen Elizabeth, for he has saved from Death many of the Presbyterian and Independent-Regicides, and has pardoned the whole Body of them for that and other their Treasons.  
But, because he found, that they, and the rest of their Dissenting-brethrens, were restless, and by their daily Separations made a Dangerous Schism in the Church, and as Pernicious a Faction in the State, setting up Church against Church, Government against Government, and thus rendering the Kingdom Divided;  
Therefore was the King and Governors forced to make Laws, to Restrain them, and to bring all things into their Pristine Order and Uniformity.  
And forasmuch as the Causes and Occasions of the said Laws of Uniformity are still in Being,  
Therefore, the said Laws themselves ought, in Reason and Prudence, to be continued, and to stand still in their full force and power.  
And if our King should execute the Laws of Uniformity with Rigour and Severity, yet, His Majesty would do no more than what the Independents in New England have done for the Suppression of Dissenters among themselves.  
For they Excommunicate and Banish all Anabaptists into Long-Island; All Quakers into Road-Island, or other parts; and all Episcopal-Men they Expel their Territories.  
And it is not to be forgot, how Severely they dealt with Mr. Dunster, the first Master of Harvey College in Cambridge in New-England, whom the Independents first Excommunicated out of their Congregational-Church at Cambridge, then deprived him of his Mastership, and Expelled him the said College, and after all they Banished him and his Wife out of their Dominions, upon Suspicion of his being an Anabaptist, or rather, as some believe, for his being an Arminian, and for uttering some words in favour of the Church of England's Episcopacy.  
Nor may we pass by their Severity towards two or three Quakers, whom they Hanged, for returning after Banishment, and for disturbing their Congregations in New-England.  
Thus the Reader may see what Strict Laws the Dissenters (where they have power) do make, for maintaining their own Ecclesiastic Orders and Impositions, and how severely they execute them upon the Offenders.  
And therefore, neither the Dissenters (nor the Reconciler) have any Reason to complain of our King, for want of an Indulgence and Condescension toward them, when by executing His Laws for Conformity, He does but give them their own Measure, and does only par pari refer, Do to them, as they do to others.  
This being Granted: We may now from the Premises, Rationally Conclude against the RECONCILER and his Proposition,  
That, Considering the Circumstances of Treason and Rebellion, of Schisms and Factions, our Church and State, our King and Governors at present are Molested withal, Therefore, Things Indifferent ought the rather, by Strict Laws of Uniformity and Conformity, to be Imposed, as Conditions of Church-Communion.  
FINIS.