A LETTER FROM A CLERGYMAN in the Country, TO A MINISTER in the City, Concerning MINISTERS Intermeddling with State-Affairs IN THEIR SERMONS & DISCOURSE.  
London: Printed in the Year 1689.   

A LETTER FROM A CLERGYMAN in the Country, TO A MINISTER in the City.  
SIR,  
YOU have desired to know of me the Reasons why I make it a scruple of Conscience to do as others on all sides have done, and still continue to do, viz. to intermeddle with matters of State in my Sermons and Discourse. I shall briefly let you know the grounds of my Scruple concerning this matter, and leaving them to your serious consideration, suggest some impartial thoughts, which perhaps may ease you of the scruples which you have on the other hand; for which you think it either unlawful for you, or unexpedient for your Auditory, to leave intermeddling in those matters.  
Let us first agree what we mean by matters of State.  
As for myself, I conceive State-matters to be all manner of Counsels, Designs, Endeavours and Actings which are undertaken or prosecuted by those that manage with Power and Authority, public Affairs, relating to the outward Possessions, Rights, Freedoms, Privileges, Prerogatives, and Persons of Men, as they are Members of an outward Commonwealth or worldly Kingdom. Concerning which matters, I think it not at all lawful for me to interpose my judgement in the Pulpit, or to intermeddle towards the People, farther than the Apostle hath commanded, Rom. 13. ver. 1. to the 8, and 1 Tim. 2. 2. and Tit. 3. 1. And the Reasons why I conceive it not lawful so to do, are these:  
First, I know no Law either of God or Man, obliging me to meddle with such matters, by interposing my Judgement concerning them in the Pulpit: and if no Law either expressly commanding, or by a good inference warranting this intermeddling can be showed, I understand not how it can be counted lawful for us so to do.  
Secondly, I find a Law both of God and Man forbidding me to judge of matters which belong not unto me, or which particularly concern other men.  
The Law of God is this: Be not busy in other men's affairs, 1 Pet. 4. 15. And what have I to do to judge them that are without? 1 Cor. 5. 12. And who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own Master he standeth or falleth, Rom. 14. 4. And judge not, that ye be not judged, Mat. 7. 1. Now when I reflect upon myself in reference unto these Laws, my Conscience doth tell me, that I am not called to manage the Affairs of State, but that they belong to other men; and therefore that I ought not to be busy in them, and trouble myself about them. And if I judge the Magistrates Employment (as a Civil Magistrate) to be without the Church, I have scarce so much, (sure I am) no more right than St. Paul had to judge of them, now he tells us, that he had no-nothing to do to judge them, but that the judgement of those that are without the Church, God hath reserved unto himself, 1 Cor. 5. 13. therefore it doth not appertain to me to meddle with them. But if as a Christian Magistrate, I take him to be within the Church, yet his Employment, quatenus a Magistrate, is not mine, nor is he therein my servant, but Christ's; and then the other Rule doth take place, Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? Now the Magistrate is undoubtedly God's servant, Rom. 13. 4. therefore I must let him stand or fall to his own Master, in matters of outward government, which God hath entrusted him, and not me withal. And in case I do look upon him as a Brother, and his Actions or Designs as the Affairs of a private man, than still the former Rules do hold; and Christ doth forbid me to judge him in public, or to lay his faults open to any, till I have dealt with him in private, and by degrees brought him to the Judicature of those who are his competent Judges, Mat. 18. 15. etc. It is not lawful therefore for me, in my private way to condemn him, whether I look upon him as a Brother, or not; and far less is it lawful to judge him in public, and make myself an Informer against him towards the Multitude, who are not his competent Judges.  
Moreover, the Law of God in the fifth Commandment is, Honour thy father and mother, that thy days may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. All Divines have understood this, as well of the Respect due unto the Civil Magistrate, as to natural Parents. Now to take upon us to judge and censure their actions, or to blast and blame their proceedings in public before the Multitude, directly or indirectly, is manifestly to dishonour them; and if this is unlawful in a Son to deal so with his Parents, it is also unlawful in a Subject to deal so with his Magistrates.  
As for the Laws of men in this matter, I shall not need to mention any, for it is evident in all Nations, that to control the actions of the Civil Magistrate, and to traduce him in his proceedings, is a Crime punishable in Subjects by those that have power and are in Authority over them, with death, imprisonment, fines or banishment, according to the nature of the Fact, and as the Supreme Authority doth judge fit.  
Thirdly, The nature of the Gospel whereunto I am appointed a Minister by Christ, is inconsistent with the care of those things wherewith I must intermeddle, if I should take upon me to judge of them. For the Gospel is the Testimony of Jesus, to reveal him to the World, and to invite all men from the Cares and Lusts of the World, to enter into his Kingdom and Rest; which is a Kingdom of Truth, and not of this World, whereof the Kingdoms are but lies and restless vanities. If then I account myself appointed to this Employment by Christ, to mind the Mysteries of his Truth; and that wisdom which is of God, which none of the Princes of this World know, or as Princes of this World care for; I ought not to apply myself to intermeddle in their Affairs: and if I ought not to do this, I conceive it is not lawful for me to judge of their Affairs in public, either to commend or condemn them in the Pulpit. For Christ being entreated to employ his Authority, to cause one Brother to divide the inheritance with the other, did refuse to do it, upon this ground, because God had not appointed him a Judge, or a Divider over men in temporal matters: the Disciple is not above the Master; and if the Master had no right to meddle in small matters between man and man, what right have I to meddle in the greatest between State and State, or Rulers and Subjects? When Christ called one of his Disciples to follow him, and he desired leave, first to go and bury his Father, Christ bid him, let the dead bury their dead; but go thou (saith he) and preach the Kingdom of God. If then those that are called to preach the Kingdom of God, aught to free their minds from the cares which through natural Affection, and a kind of Civil Duty, so nearly concern themselves and their Kindred; how much more ought they to be disinteressed in matters of State, which at all do not concern them?  
The Cares of a quite contrary nature cannot be at once rightly entertained in the same mind, they are like two opposite Masters whom none can serve at the same time acceptably, nor at different times faithfully; therefore he that will be Christ's Servant, and a faithful Soldier in his Warfare, must not be entangled in the Affairs of this Life; otherwise he will not be able to please him, who hath chosen him to be a Soldier, 2 Tim. 2. 4. Now all the Affairs of State concern only this Life, and nothing else directly and principally.  
Fourthly, The intermeddling with State-matters in Sermons, is contrary to the Rule of Preaching, and to the true aim which ought to be maintained in the performance of that Duty.  
The Rule of Preaching is, If any man speak, let him speak as the Oracles of God, 1 Pet. 4. 11. We are warranted to speak nothing, (if we speak in God's Name) but that which is undeniably his Word; nothing can beget Faith, and build up the Soul unto godliness, but the Truth of God: if we speak other matters which the Wisdom of earthly men, or our own Imagination or Passions dictate, we profane the Ordinance of God, and destroy the Faith of the Hearers. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? by the Prophet Jeremiah. Our own words and dreams about temporal concernments, are less worth than Chaff; and the Faith of Professors cannot stand in the Wisdom of Men, but in the Power of God. And because Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God, therefore in our preaching, we should determine to know nothing amongst our hearers, but Jesus Christ and him crucified.  
The aim to be maintained in preaching, is to persuade God only and not men; and not to please men, or become their servants, but God's alone, Gal. 1. 10. for he that intendeth to please men, is no more the servant of Christ. Now when men set themselves to speak of State-matters in the Pulpit, their aim is either to please the Magistrates by commending them to the people, or to show their dislike against their proceedings by reproving the same, which doth tend to make the People displeased with their Magistrates: Now whether the design be the one or the other, it is altogether unworthy of the Minister of the Gospel; and a man cannot possibly mention the Affairs of State in public, but it must be either way, and therefore he ought neither way to do it.  
And whatsoever a man's aim may be in meddling thus with State matters, as he doth no service to God in it, so he perverts the minds of the Hearers from the integrity and simplicity of the Gospel, to reflect upon and affect (with reference to worldly Wisdom) the ways of a Party: for all State-matters are continually carried by some Plots in the hands of one Party or other; and whosoever doth meddle with them, either to commend or discommend the proceedings, must be the servant of a Party, and so forsakes the spiritual liberty and unpartiality wherein he ought to stand, and whereunto he ought to bring the minds of his Hearers, that they may be willing to serve all men in love, for their spiritual edification, without prejudice for Christ's sake. The interest of Statesmen and matters, change according to circumstances by which those that manage public Affairs find their advantages; if the Minister of the Gospel will oblige himself to meddle with these matters, he will be constrained either to say and un-say the same things, if he follow State Principles (which is to discredit the truth of the Gospel, for when men are swayed with carnal Considerations, they must needs make the same thing in their Preaching, yea, yea, and nay, nay, (as we have found many do of late) or if he will be inflexible and not change his note with the times, he will be engaged into occasions of strife and controversies with others for worldly matters as oft as they change, which how inconvenient it is for a Minister of the Gospel to do, and how prejudicial it is unto his Profession, I leave you to judge.  
The scandals which are given against the Gospel to those that are discerning, and perceive men's drifts in Preaching for Interests, are very heinous and hurful to the Truth, and to the Ministry thereof to discredit it: for by this means natural men become Atheists, for thereupon they count all Religion nothing else but a cloak of Hypocrisy: these practices stagger the weak also who are led with blind zeal to be engaged into Faction against their Brethren, and to maintain divisions, which overthrow the Church's Peace and Unity, and thereby subtle Statesmen take advantages to lay snares before unwary Ministers who have more zeal than prudence, to entrap them, and make use of them for their own ends, and then when they have made them their hackneys, and served their turns with them, they turn them away with neglect and contempt at the journey's end, because they deserve no better.  
Now I knowing these things to be the natural consequents of Ministers intermeddling with State-matters, cannot think it lawful for me to come within the reach of these snares, and therefore must avoid the occasions thereof, and am willing to warn you of the same, whereof we see many examples before our eyes.  
These are the chief heads of Reasons which have made me abstain from that way of Preaching which some have followed, and, as I conceive, these grounds which justify my way to be unanswerable, so I never could find any solidity in those pretences which are alleged for the contrary practice.  
For that which is pretended from Ezech. 3. 17 to the 22, and 33. ver. 7. That Ministers are made Watchmen, to give warning to the wicked, to warn them from their wicked way; and to the Righteous also, that they turn not from their Righteousness, is not otherwise to be understood but in clear cases, wherein God's Commandment is manifestly transgressed, and to be directed immediately towards the persons themselves, who are transgressors, to make them sensible of the guilt and danger under which they stand. But in doubtful cases, wherein there is no clear word from God's Mouth, wherein the Magistrates actions may be misinterpreted; wherein he pretends to walk by a just Rule; wherein his secret aim and intention, by a jealousy of State, is rather condemned than his Fact, and wherein he is not expressly dealt withal himself to convict his Conscience concerning the Iniquity of his Proceedings to rectify it, but is cried out upon before others, and censured before the multitude, who are not his competent Judges, (which is the practice of those that in the Pulpits have meddled and do meddle with State-matters): I say in such cases, and in such a way of proceeding, no colour can be taken from the Watch-Office of Ezechiel, to warrant it: for look upon the Charge which he doth receive, and the way how he is to discharge it, and you will see that your practice is nothing like it. The Charge is, That the Watchman should hear the word at God's mouth, and give the house of Israel warning from God, ver. 17. This imports an express Commandment, and a clear transgression of the Commandment, in those that are to be warned, and a peculiar Mission from God to give the warning: The way how this warning is to be given to the Wicked and to the Righteous, is by a particular Address, which the Watchman was to make as from God unto themselves immediately. If the Ministers that meddle with State-matters will observe these Rules, far be it from me to condemn them; but if their arguing against the proceedings of those that are in places of Authority, hath nothing in it approaching unto this way, than I must be dispensed from following it; and I think it my duty to discover the irregularity of it, by testifying against it. If men will make themselves, through State-jealousies and evil Surmises against those that manage public Affairs, Watchmen over their Rulers, when they are divided among themselves for State-interests, for the advantage of one Party, to blast and discredit another, and then pretend that they discharge the Watch-Office which is committed unto them, I shall leave them to answer it to the chief Shepherd of the Flock; for it becometh not me to judge another man's Servants, farther than by putting them in mind of the Commands of their Master, which are undeniably his known Will.  
But from the Contemplation of the Watchman's Office over the Souls of the Flock, and their obligation to give an account thereof unto God, there is an Objection and Doubt which may be raised, thus: But what if I see my Flock like to be led away (by the example of those that are in Authority, or the instigation of those that have Power) unto wicked and unjust courses, which are destructive to the true Religion, and the safety of the State; shall I not warn them of the danger in this case? I answer, Yes, you are bound to forewarn them of the danger which you think they are like to fall into, if the thing be evident and clearly a transgression of God's will; I say, you are bound to forewarn as well those that by their authority and power led others out of the way, as those that are led by them. Thus in cases of Idolatry and Oppression, the Prophets did address themselves directly to the Rulers of the people? they showed them the undoubted Commandment of God, and their undeniable Practice opposite unto it, and in a case which evidently doth pervert the truth of Religion, and endanger the safety of the State; the Fact itself, and the unrighteousness thereof, is to be laid open before all, from the Word of God, and all are to be warned of the dangerous consequences thereof, which may be done in Thesi, leaving the Hpothesis and particular application to every man's judgement, to discharge his Conscience towards God therein; but now we have seen men that accuse those whom they would discredit before the Multitude, not to meddle with the matter in Thesi, but with the Hypothesis of their own coining, upon conjectural appearances, charging Faults suspiciously, and by way of insinuation, whereupon a strict examination none were to be found. He that insists upon the Hypothesis of a matter, to charge some body with the guilt thereof, doth evidently show that his aim is is not so much to rectify the fault, as to make him odious, whom he chargeth with it; but he that handleth the Thesis of a matter, doth it to instruct and warn all Men of their Duty, that they may look to their ways.  
They that were used to Preach of late at Court, for the generality calculate their Sermons for the Humour of the Prince, and lie digging for Texts in Holy Writ, on purpose to uphold some State-Interest; which, it may be certainly alleged, the Sacred Author never had so much as in his thoughts: and all this merely for Church-Preferment. And such a one was that Parson, who to please the Humour of the Times, undertaking to prove the Excellency of Monarchy, took his Text out of Judges 17. vers. 6. In those days there was no King in Israel. And by this means they make themselves ridiculous: For there is always such an unlucky Fate attends that sort of People which are called Busybodies, and Meddlers with other Concerns than their own, that they are despicable even in common Conversation, much more in the Pulpit.  
There is another pretence taken to colour this practice, from the Commandments which the Apostle doth give to Timothy and Titus: Them that sin, rebuke before all, 1 Tim. 5. 20. Be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, etc. 2 Tim. 4. 2. And, Rebuke them sharply, etc. Titus 1. 13. and suchlike.  
But, I conceive, that all these Directions are given to Pastors, only in reference to those that are immediately under the Pastoral Charge in clear Cases, wherein they are to deal with the Parties themselves immediately: it is therefore a great mistake, to apply them unto other persons who are not under their Pastoral charge, and in eases which are Mysteries of State, and not obvious to the cognizance of every one, and which are handled, not before the parties themselves, but before others who are not capable to judge thereof, as the common people are. If we look to that which Christ did in this way of reproof towards the Scribes and Pharisees, Mat. 23. we shall see how these reproofs ought to be managed. First, it may be observed, that Christ came not to this sharpness with them till towards the latter end of his Ministry, after that he had in all probability dealt many times with them in a milder way, to make them sensible of their Duty: For it is said of him, that he did not break the bruised Reed, nor quench the smoking Flax, that he did not strive, nor caused his voice to be heard in the streets, Mat. 12. 19, 20. whence we must conclude, that he never at first dealt with any man sharply, but gently always, but when he found these Scribes and Pharisees incorrigible, then lest the people might be seduced by their practiees, he doth give them a necessary warning to preserve them from being perverted by the example of their Leaders, and reproves the open faults of their Leaders, in clear Cases convincingly before them. Secondly, he doth it in such a way which is without all exception. For he doth not intend to discredit them in their places, or blast their Authority towards the people, but establisheth it, commanding the People to hearken to them as they sit in Moses seat, ver. 2, 3. than he reproves them not behind their back to the People, but to their faces in the presence of the People. And lastly, he insists upon particular matters of Fact, which were undeniable, wherein he not only discovers their Hypocrisy, to convince them of it, but shows them the Duty which ought to be done; and warns them of the Judgement which is to come upon them if they neglect it. Now if the Ministers that meddle with State-affairs in the Pulpit would observe this way and method; their practice would be free from all exceptions; for if they can deal with those that manage public Affairs, to rectify that which they find opposite to Christianity, and amiss in them, first, by way of Counsel in private; and if afterward finding that private Admonitions profit not, but that they persevere in a course of State-hypocrisie, to endanger the salvation of others, whom they may seduce by their example from the sincerity of the Holy Profession: if (I say) in such a case without prejudice to their just Authority, they can deal roundly and openly with them, to convince of the perverseness of their way, and to reclaim them from the errors thereof, this would not only be warrantable, but commendable: but how far this is intended by any, I leave to you to judge; and to the conscience of those that handle State-matters in their Sermons to determine between God and themselves.  
As for that which some say, that Men must not be lukewarm Neutralists, but zealous in the Cause of God and for the Public good. I answer it is so; but we must also take heed, that we mistake not the Cause of God, and that we make not our own partial Aims and private Interests, that which we call God's Cause: let God's Cause be stated as it relates to the Gospel of Christ, let it be handled in Thesi & Antithesi, as it reflects upon the Conscience of all Men by the manifestation of the Truth; and let no personal Reproaches, Insinuations, Reflections, and particular Worldly matters, to asperse any body, be mixed with it; and let it be held forth with all Spiritual Fervency from the Word; and so let it be recommended to God's Blessing upon the hearts of the Hearers; but let us not call our own contrivements Gods Cause, nor humane Passions raised upon Jealousies or Discontents, Zeal. Do we not see evidently that no party doth count any thing a public good, but that which is for its own way: and that all its Zeal and Strength is spent, nor so much to advance the Interest, as to set up itself over the adverse Party and to cast down every thing which is not for its own Interest: This is evidently all the Zeal of these times, viz. to strive for power over others; and then to act by mere will according to power, against all that are found or suspected to be opposites. And if not to be active in this way of partiality, or puffed up for the Interest of one against another, to have the Rule, be counted to be a lukewarm Neutralist, I shall confess myself to be one of these, and yet I hope I shall never be found a Neutralist before God in his Cause, nor lukewarm toward the way of Truth and Peace, which is without Partiality and without Hypocrisy.  
And as it ill becomes the Ministry to talk like Politicians and Statesmen in their Pulpits, so is it a thing altogether as undecent, to see so many Preachers of the Gospel haunting and crowding the Parliament-Lobbies, and Antichambers of public Lay-Assemblies, whispering here, and buzzing there, and as busy as Bees. As if the Public Affairs of the Nation could not be managed, without their having an Oar in the Boat. And yet no Rational Man can give any good Reason, why those ecclesiastics should be so busy and active in such places as those, unless it be to side with, or make Parties, and to bespeak Friends for the carrying on such or such an Interest: which how ill it becomes them, they themselves well know, only they follow the Deteriora. It would be a piece of Ill Manners, for them to believe that the Lords and Gentlemen now convened together, will not be as careful of the Protestant Religion, as they can be: Nor can they be thought to want their Directions. But if they hover and brood over their own worldly Interests and Advantages, 'tis an unseasonable Piece of double Diligence; as if they could not confide in the Wisdom of those Persons whom the Nation has made choice of in this Exigence of Affairs, without their Intermeddling and Disturbing their Debates.  
The Clergy of England cannot but be deeply sensible, how wide a Gash the Protestant Religion lately received in this Kingdom, and how that both Houses of Parliament are now met to soader up the Wound; what will the World then think, when they shall be the first that give the Interruption to so good a Work? The Churchof- England-men had most reason of all others, to be sensible of the Invasions made upon their Privileges and Properties, by their being turned out of their Colleges, while Popery began to sit triumphant in the very UNIVERSITIES of the Nation; and they themselves commanded to read a Declaration, to the Violation of their Consciences. And is it fair for them to be the first that Quarrel, who are the first who receive the Benefit of the Application? Or are they willing to undergo the same Severities again, till at length they are Outed out of All?  
The Clergy have the greatest Advantage in this particular, that if they happen to be disgusted at any thing, they presently get up into their Pulpits, and in a State-Sermon ring the Bells backward, and then their Party come in. But at such an unseasonable time as this, when Ireland lies a bleeding, when there was never more need of Union, when the last Efforts of a struggling Enemy require our utmost Opposition, it looks as if they had no sense of the Danger; that they from whom it was least expected, should be the first Obstructors of all that is offered to secure both them and us: or at least, that Popery and Slavery are no such formidable things to some, who are now under another Profession, as it is and ever will be to such Protestants as are endued with a perfect love of Truth. Certain it is, that the Gentlemen of the Church of England are not so bigoted to their Passive Obedience, but that they can lay it aside, in a Concern that touches their own Copyhold, as they did by their Refusal to read the Declaration for Liberty of Conscience; which makes it the less consistent with any Reason, why they should be so squeamish in the Grand Affair of the Kingdom. For where the Religion of a Nation lies at stake, it will be transmitted to Posterity as a very unkind Contention, to trouble the Progress of National Settlement with Disputes about the significations of Words. Good Authority has laid this down for a Maxim, That Princes, from the time that they begin to break the Laws, and those ancient Manners and Customs, under which the People have been long governed, begin to lose their Sovereignty.  
Strada speaking of the Revolt of the Low Countries from the King of Spain, It is not to be questioned, says he, but that same Liberty to which the People has been for a long time accustomed, if there be any Attempt to alter or diminish it, occasions fatal Commotions. And Sir Thomas Smith tells us, That it is the Parliament which gives Form of Succession to the Crown. Besides, that the words of Henry the Forth, King of France, in Thuanus, were these: Legis non Regis esse de regni Successione decernere.  
These therefore being the Maxims of Secular Politics, conformable to the Laws and Statutes of the Land, and the Concessions of great Princes themselves, and such things wherein the Clergy have nothing to do to meddle, it is so much the more to be wondered at, that any Contest among them should be set on foot to interrupt the intended Provisions for the future Security of the Nation.  
True it is, that it was a general Refreshment, and universally revived the drooping Spirits of the Nation, to see the constant Firmness of the Church of England Gentlemen in their Refusal to read the King's Declaration, and their steadfast adhering to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the rest of those worthy Suffragans, who led them the way, and confirmed them by their noble Example. Never were persons in their eminent station, so generally bewailed upon their Commitment, nor ever caressed with louder Acclamations, or a more universal Joy for their Acquittal. Story will immortalize the Glory of that Action to all Posterity. For indeed they may be said to have given the first Check to the Insulting Power of Popery at Whitehall.  
Of these Honours it cannot be said, but that the rest of the Ministry that moved in a lower Orb, had gained a great share; and it was hoped that they would have continued under the same Conduct that inspired them with their first Resolutions. But it was not without the sorrow and perplexity of many, to observe that Harmony of Temper, and Agreement of Resolution, tending so much to the Good of the Nation, disturbed by the moody discontent of some men that seemed to study more the Interest of the Common Enemy, than the Public Welfare. There is no question to be made, but that the Enemies of our Religion and Liberties, would be the most joyful People in the World, to see that there were among ourselves any People so much their kind Friends, as to kindle Divisions among those Worthy Patriots who are now consulting the Settlement of the Nation upon the lasting Foundations of Peace and Safety. But it would ill become those who have acted hitherto so much to the satisfaction of the Kingdom, to be the first that should save our Enemies the labour, and blow up those Flames that should put us into new Conflagrations, and disturb that Great Work which is now carrying on to Restore this Nation to its ancient Luster and Grandeur. All men know that Relapses are worse than the Diseases themselves. But for those that should be the Samaritans that should pour Balsam into our Wounds, to fester the mending Scars with new Corrosives, is so far from savouring of Christianity, that Morality would be ashamed of it. Besides, that it would be a Presumption in acting as it were against Heaven, by going about to disturb what Providence has hitherto so fairly brought about; which certainly could never happen from the Ministry, if they were kept within the bounds of their Function, and not deviate from the Precepts of their Lord and Master.  
FINIS.