A LETTER TO Dr du Moulin, CONTAINING A CHARITABLE REPROOF FOR HIS SCHISMATICAL BOOK entitled, A Short and True Account of the Several Advances the CHURCH of ENGLAND hath made towards ROME, &c.  
TO WHICH ARE ADDED Some Seasonable Words TO MR. RICHARD BAXTER.  
Magna est Veritas,& Prevalebit.  
London, Printed in the Year 1680.   

A LETTER TO Doctor Du Moulin, &c.  
SIR,  
THis comes from one that has a great Esteem of your Parts and Learning, and is most hearty grieved that a Person of such Endowments, whose Father was so Intimate a Friend of the most Renowned Bishop ANDREWS, whose Brother is at this time so Great an Ornament of our Church; I say, that such a Man should condescend to the clamours of those Ignorant, Low-spirited People, that cry out Popery, Popery, at every thing that savours of Antiquity in the Circumstantials of Religion: though indeed Popery itself be nothing else but a Novelty, as it hath been plainly Demonstrated by the Reverend Dr. pierce, now Dean of Salisbury, in that so much Celebrated Sermon of his, which the Papists have so often barked at; but none of them could ever fix a Tooth on it. I Beseech you to red with all Seriousness, and Deliberation the decade of Caveats, which the same Learned, and Pious, and Truly Obedient Son of the Church of England hath lately published.  
You revile the Books of Heylin, Thorndike, Jeremy tailor, and Archbishop Bramhal( you might have said Dr. Heylin, &c.) as being infected with the Venom of Arminianism, Pelagianism, and Socinianism, and the Maxims of Dr. Hobbes. Sir, I beseech you by the Meekness and Gentleness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you would not be so Angry with me, as it seems you were of late with one of my Brethren for Exhorting you to Repentance. Is it one of the Reasons you Dislike our Church, that she obliges all those that undertake the care of Souls, to teach all Children as soon they are able, to learn, that it is a part of their Duty towards their Neighbour, to keep their Tongue from Evil Speaking, Lying and slandering. But you will say, all the World knows these men were Arminians. To this I answer; 'tis true, They did Declare their Dissent from Mr. Calvins Conceits about Predestination, especially the three first: And for ever Blessed be the Father of Lights, that so Learned Persons were delivered from that Error, which so many still lye under. We are not Arminians but Sincere Christians, in that we Oppose Calvin in this matter. One of the Sons of the Church of England published some latin Papers against Jansenius and Calvin about two years since: and finding in your Friends CELEUSMA, a most wicked slanderous Imputation of Innovation in Religion, cast upon the Author of that Excellent Book, entitled The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety: He Printed a Brief Paraenesis to your Friend, annexed to some other Papers, and sent it to Mr. Jenkins, together with these Papers against Jansenius& Calvin. But the Messenger could never come to speak with him, wherefore at length he left a Letter for him with a Friend of his, part of which I shall here recite. The Author of this Book did desire me to deliver it into your own hand; and I have often sought to do it accordingly, but could not get an opportunity. He did further enjoin me to tell you, that if you please( or any of your Friends or Party) to controvert these points with him in the latin Tongue; he doth hereby promise you to give you an Answer in three weeks time, to any thing whatsoever shall be written by you.  
The Author of these Papers, against Jansenius, has ever had a Due Reverence for that Authority, that has enjoined us not to trouble the Vulgar with Subtle Disputes about Predestination, and therefore has ever been Averse, even from Writing in English on this Controversial Subject. But though he does acknowledge, that some very Good and Learned Men may Dissent from him; he is so Confident, that what he has published in the above mentioned Papers, is a Truth contained in the Gospel, that his Life shall never be so Dear to him, as the Vindication of it. So much for their Arminianism.  
As for Pelagianism, and Socinianism, and the Maxims of Dr. Hobbes( I suppose you mean Thomas Hobbes of Malmsbury) Believe it, I cannot apprehended, how it is possible for you to Enjoy the God of Truth in this World, or in the World to come, unless you speedily repent of this most Abominable Slander. To go about to confute it, would be as Absurd to one that has red the Writings of these Great Men, as to prove that 1& 2 make 3.  
As for Dr. Hobbes, how has he been Confounded, and exposed to Contempt by the most Reverend Bishop Bramhal! And yet you reckon him amongst those whose Books are infected with the Venom of the Maxims of Dr. Hobbes. Do you, and your Hot-headed Party take any heed to what you speak or writ? How injurious are you to the Memory of that Excellent Man, Archbishop Laud, in endeavouring to persuade the Vulgar, that he was Popishly-Affected! I say, the Vulgar: For they that red his Incomparable Book against Fisher, will Despise the most strenuous Attempts( much more such as yours) to Violate the Honour of His Memory: Whose Blood has made such a slain upon the Reputation of your Party, that it shall remain throughout All Generations. In the 24th. page. of your Angry Book, your Malice reaches one of the Highest of the Friends of the Church of England that ever was, or ever can be. So Natural is it to those that Revile BISHOPS, to make as light of KINGS. How villainous, how traitorous is it for Private Persons to put the worst Construction upon the Intricate Actions of PRINCES! The Learned Writings of this Great KING against Popery shall ever remain as a Brand of Infamy to those fanatics who shall ever Slander him, as you have done. Can you think it possible that Our most Gracious sovereign will ever think well of such Bitter Enemies of the Church of England, who have thus slandered His Grandfather, and murdered His Father, a Prince whose Clemency could never be paralleled but by His own? whose, Life upon the account of his Clemency, 'tis certainly the Interest of all Parties to Endeavour to Preserve.  
The next thing I think fit to mind you of is this; That you say, p. 31. That the most numerous Party of our Church have been these twenty years endeavouring to make their Advances towards Rome, and have run themselves into Pelagianism and Socinianism, &c. Strange! that one of your years should writ so Inconsiderately! Call the Papists what you please rather than Pelagians or Socinians! Do they not expressly aclowledge the Decrees of those Councils which Condemned Pelagius's his Doctrine? And does not any man that knows any thing in Religion, know this, tht The Papists are no Socinians? How Ridiculous then is this your Accusation, that they make Advances towards Rome, and run into Pelagianism and Socinianism! Will you never be ashamed of such Folly? Now you fall upon Doctor Patrick, and talk your pleasure of him, and recite many of his words, wherein he Elegantly sets forth the Folly of those men, who make such ill Descriptions of the Nature of Saving Faith, that according to those Descriptions, men are apt to soothe up themselves in their Carnal Security; and Conceit that they have Saving Faith, though they are so grossly sinful that 'tis impossible they should suppose themselves to have a Real Propensity to Keep GODS Holy Will and Commandments, and Walk in the same all the dayes of their Life.  
At length you say, and that( in my judgement) very Truly, To be short, Doctor Patrick makes no other Account of Justification by Faith( I suppose you mean, of Justifying Faith) but of an Hearty Assent to the Truth of the Gospel, and an Endeavouring to live according to it. An Endavouring, to wit, a sincere and Effectual Endeavouring. This I know to be sound Doctrine. But however, sith you Carp at the Learned Doctor's Expressions, I shall endeavour by some other Expressions to draw off yourself and others from your too high Esteem of such kind of Descriptions of Justifying Faith, by which so many men( to my certain knowledge) have soothed up themselves in their Iniquities. I shall here Transcribe some part of a Brief Discourse entitled, Justifying Faith, &c. Printed for William Crooke at the Sign of the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar:  
Alas, what Stirs, and Petulant Controversies have there been, and are still continued amongst those that jointly Profess the Christian Religion, concerning the Nature of Faith in Christ, of the Faith of Gods Elect! A man can hardly say any thing by way of Description of it, but presently up starts one or other, with some Argument to Disprove what we say. I shall do what I can in Declaring my Sense of it, to speak Convincingly and unexceptionably, and therefore I shall pass by such Descriptions of it as I have found to have been Controverted, though I do hearty approve many of them, as Implying the same Truth, which I shall endeavour to set forth in these words: The Faith we speak of, Faith by which the Just do Live, Faith that Overcometh the World, Faith that worketh by Love, is such an ASSENT to the Truths contained in the Holy Scriptures, which includes in its Nature, the Trusting in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, for Grace and for Glory, through the Merits of the Past Sufferings, and the Power and Virtue of the Present Intercession of Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord.  
By Grace I understand Principally All those Measures of Holiness, of Purity of Heart, of Participation of the Divine Nature, which are Attainable here upon Earth, and Secondarily whatsoever the Only Wise God Judges to be the Means of attaining thereunto; By Glory I understand the Full, Perfect, Eternal Enjoyments of the Holy, Blessed, and Glorious TRINITY, in the Kingdom of Heaven. By Trusting in God for Grace and for Glory Through the Merits and Intercession of Jesus Christ, I understand a Sincere Absolute Expectation from God, of whatsoever He Knows to conduce to our Eternal Happiness, that is, a Perfect CONFORMITY to Our Blessed Redeemer, both in Body and Soul, Upon the bare Account of his Promise to Give us Freely whatsoever we shall ask of Him in the Name of his SON, that is to say, in a Sincere Belief that the SON, Being Over All, GOD Blessed for Ever, did in time, for Us Sinful Creatures to Recoucile Us to the Holy Creator of all things, take upon Him the Nature of Man, was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was Crucified, Dead and butted, he descended into Hell, the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  
The Sincerity of this Belief consists in a true and real Bent or Intention of the Heart to Live no longer unto ourselves, but unto him that died for us, and Rose again. But here it may be sai'd, why do you not mention the Pardon of our sins? Must you not trust in God for that also? I answer, God's Pardoning of our sins, is implyed in the giving us his Grace, in making us Partakers of the Divine Nature, in shedding abroad his Love in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost: For they that are Partakers of the Divine Nature, they that Love God above all things, from whence necessary flows the Loving of Every Man as themselves, They are in Christ, and Christ in them : and you know the Apostle says, There is no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom. 8. 1.  
From the Due Consideration of what has been said, this most important Truth shines forth most evidently, that we cannot Do any thing acceptable unto God, but only in the Power of the Holy, Blessed, and Glorious TRNITY: and hence it is that the Frequent Repetition of the Gloria Patri, that most Excellent Doxology, Glory be to the Father &c. and the like frequent mention of the Name, and Merits of Jesus Chaist our Lord; Hence it is, I say, that these Excellent Passages in Our Liturgy, which some Naughty Men have called Vain Repetitions, cannot but be exceeding pleasing, and satisfactory to all truly Christian Devout Souls. As for those, who are still so Mad, as to Dislike this truly catholic doxology, they are more fit for our Pity than our Arguments: and let that Pity ever move us to pray Our Almighty and most Merciful Father to draw them out of those Waters of Srife, those Loose, Variable, Turbulent Opinions, and to led them by His Good Spirit in the pleasant ways of Truth and Peace.  
As for Kneeling at the Sacrament, sith it cannot be supposed that any man Receives the Holy Communion as he ought to do, unless at that Time He Solemnly Adore the Person of our Crucified LORD, how it is possible that any man that has a Sincere Love and Reverence for His Infinite Majesty, can so wrangle against that reverend Posture at such a time, I could never apprehended. O Blessed Jesus, put an End to such Controversies, we Beseech thee; and Enable Us, who Use this Humble Posture, whilst we Eat thy Flesh, and Drink thy Blood, to Work mightily upon the Hearts of our Adversaries by the Purity of our Lives and Conversations, that they may be Fully convinced that we Love Thee, as Our SAVIOUR, and Fear Thee too, as Our LORD and Our GOD.  
Your clamour, that we have given Encouragement to the Papists, &c, is so notoriously Wicked, that it needs no Answer, but only a sharp rebuk. I profess, Sir, I Pity you from the bottom of my heart: And I beseech Our Almighty and most Merciful Father to give you true Repentance, and to wash your Soul in the Blood of our Redeemer from that Foul Uncharitableness, which you so plainly discover in the Conclusion of what you call A Short and True Account, &c. As to the Zeal and Passion( say you) which many of the Prelatical party have testified at this time against the Papists, it must be confessed they do it not without reason; for commonly the greatest Friends become irreconcilable Enemies, when those Bonds that kept them together come to be dissolved, Proximorum odia acerrima; when it once comes to the dividing of the spoil, &c. so that the best interpretation that can be made of their present Carriage, is, that the Love they have for their benefice and Preferments, for their bishoprics, deaneries and Prebendaries hath sufficiently awakened them, and sharpened their Hatred, and raised their Indignation against Rome, &c.  
Are you the man that shew'd such a Disgust against one of our Brethren, for persuading you to Repentance? Can you hope to Overcome Death, unless first you Overcome the Violence of that Disorderly Spirit, that moved you to pour forth such an Abundance of Slanderous Speeches? When our Fathers, and Brethren, according to their Duty have written, and spoken so Vigorously and Effectually against the Church of Rome, will you tell the World, they do it not out of Conscience, and the Love of the Truth, but by the Impulse of a Carnal Mind? Consider we shall give account at the Day of judgement of every Idle Word: Ah, Sir, what account will you give of so Many Bitter, Malicious, most horrid slanderous Words! Why will you not receive the Instructions of those Our Reverend Fathers now Living, whom you Deservedly Commend? One of the Bishops whom your Party to my Knowledge have most devilishly slandered, as if he favoured Popery, has ever Approved himself to be one of the most Strenuous Adversaries the Papists ever had; though he has not thought fit to Publish the Controversies he has had with them. And I am sure He lives so, that he must needs be a Person of a Defiled Conscience, who will not aclowledge that Common Charity Obliges us to Believe that His Conversation is in Heaven.  
You have done Mr. Baxter great wrong in Reciting those wicked Invectives against the Church of England, which we hope, he has long repented of; if he have not, I pray God to bring him speedily to Repentance. He knows not what he Does( if he Love God sincerely in any measure, as I hope he does) in bearing such a part of the Schism of this Distracted Nation. I verily believe he cannot imagine that such a Number of his Followers Despise the Common Prayer, as Popish, Superstitious, and I know not what, and consequently Despise the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion Contained in those several Forms of Sacred Words; placing their Religion in Hearing, remembering, Repeating, &c. Various Forms of Words delivered in a Pulpit, rather than in a True and Real Despising of this Present World, in Exercising Love upon all Occasions even to their Enemies, in rejoicing in Tribulation, taking Rational Delight, and Satisfaction even in the Greatest Objects of Sensible Anguish and Vexation, that is to say, In Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost. This I writ not to Calumniate them, but upon certain Knowledge of the Gross hypocrisy of Many that Run from our Churches to Conventicles. I Consider, whilst I am writing, that we must All appear before the judgement Seat of Christ; And I beseech you to join with me in that Consideration. So Wishing you all Happiness, I remain,  
Your Servant for Christ's Sake, PHILOTHEUS.   

Some Seasonable Words TO MR. RICHARD BAXTER.  
SIR,  
SInce the writing of this to Dr. du Moulin, I have seen a late Book of yours, entitled, The True and only Way of Concord, &c. I beseech you to Consider the reflections I shall make on some Passages of the said Book with that seriousness which you profess in those Words; You and I by God's great Mercy are yet alive, and may review our Actions, before we come to the Bar of God, which is like to be speedily to me, &c. Really, Sir, it seems to me, that notwithstanding your Old Age, and manifold Professions of Christian Gravity, you are still guilty of much Vain-Glory, particularly in your Ostentation of your skill( or rather your Reading) in logic, physics, &c. It being your business to describe the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace; Unity, say you, pag. 10. is sometimes the Attribute of an Universal, which is but Ens Rationis, or a General Inadaequate partial conception of an existent singular Being; and so all men are ONE, as to the Species of Humantiy; and all Living things are One in the Genus of Vitality, &c.  
But we see, say you, p. 14. in Passive Matter that the parts have a natural propensity to Union, and the aggregative inclination is so strong, that thence the Learned Dr. Glisson( Lib. De Vita Naturae) copiously maintaineth that all Matter hath Life, or a Natural Vital self-moving Virtue, not as a compounding part, but as a formal inadaequate conception: In which though I consent not, &c. You had said in p. 13.` Whether there be any one Passive Element( Earth, Water, or Air) any where existent in an Union of its proper atoms without a mixture of any other Element, is a thing unknown to Mortals. So it is whether there be any where existent a Body of the United atoms, &c. Bullatae Nugae! What's all this to the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace? viz. that you dissent from the Learned Dr. Glisson, that such and such things are( as you conceit) Unknown to Mortals? Certainly you have been very Defective in the contemplation of the deep Sense of that Divine Saying, KNOWLEDGE puffeth up, but Charity edifieth. No wonder that you vaunt of your dissent from Dr. Glisson, who, p. 169. are advanced to that height of Confidence as to condemn a General Council for their severity against the Nestorians, and other heretics: If all the mischievous, unskilful, proud, wrangling, and worldly ambitious strife by which the Christians were divided into Nestorians, Eutychians, &c. and their Anathematizers, &c. had been turned into an united force and diligence, by Light and Love, to have converted Infidels, what an happy case had the World been in? And their Anathematizers: It seems you put them all together. turn them out for Wranglers; no abiding for any of them in your Holy Commonwealth. Yea, you usurp a kind of Jurisdiction over St. CYRIL, pag. 188. and pass Sentence upon Him, as a very Faulty Person. Cyril so carried it by Wit and Grandeur, and the Countenance of the Court, that all went for right that he had said. What's the Matter now? Are you become a Nestorian heretic? Else, I pray, why so angry with that Glorious Instrument of the Only wise God, in kerbing the Folly and Madness of the Nestorians? But all their strife, say you, was but about Words. Shall we believe you, or St. CYRYL, and the mayor part of that Great Council? Sir, In Defiance of this wicked Censure of yours, and in Vindication of that Excellent Man, that most Reverend Bishop St. CYRIL, I shall here repeat what I declared to the World about this Matter, in another Language, about ten years since, in a Treatise entitled, Amor Dei, Lux ainae, p. 6, 7.  
Nestorius( ut loquitur Vincentius Lyrinensis Lib. contra profanas {αβγδ} Novationes, c. 17.) dum se duas in CHRISTO substantias distinguere simulat( quas insanus Haereticus Apollinaris quasi in unam contraxit, ut idem Vincentius ibidem ostendit) duas introducit repent personas& inaudito secelere duos vult esse Filios DEI, duos CHRISTOS, unum DEUM, alterum HOMINEM: ●num qui ex Patre, alterum qui sit generatus ex master. Atque ideo asserit Sanctam Mariam, non Theotocon, said Christotocon esse dicendam; quia scilicet ex ea non ille CHRISTUS, qui DEUS, said ille qui erat HOMO natus. Dogma hoc scel eratissimum, Vera ac Viva Gehennae Soboles, Fundamentum Ecclesiae manifesto diruit. Aufert illum a nobis CHRISTUM, qui {αβγδ}, Per DIVINAM HUMANITATEM, Lapsos HOMINES Evehit ad DEUM, Viam omnibus patefaciens in Gratiam redeundi cum Justo& Irato DEO, Plena ac Perfecta Satisfactione pro omnibus HOMINUM Omnium Peccatis PATRI OMNIPOTENTI exhibita per Unam Sui in Cruce aacrificati Oblationem. {αβγδ}( ut loquitur Proclus Episcopus Cyzicus in Homilia habita sedente Nestorio in magna Ecclesia Constantinopolis, quam videre est apud Binium, Tom. 2.) {αβγδ}.  
Certainly, Sir, you render yourself a most unfit person to compose Differences amongst Christians, who endeavour thus to persuade us to condemn a General Council, even for that, wherein they were most Orthodox, and to cast a Cloud upon the Illustrious Name of so Great a Champion of the Truth. I join with you in your highest Commendations of Unity, &c. But, I pray, Sir, should we not rather desire, and contend for this, viz. that Dissenters may at length comply and submit themselves to the Laws and Constitutions both Civil and Ecclesiastical, than that those who have the Rule over them should abolish any of their Laws and Constitutions in Compliance with these Opinions Real or Pretended, which they still judge to be most Peevish and Erroneous?  
I Beseech you, Sir, to consider what you cannot but know of the Crooked, and Perverse Conceits, and practices, that Thousands have run into that have taken a Disgust to that Form of found Words, the Liturgy of the Church of England, which you know, most of the men you pled for would fain have to be abolished, and cast out of all Churches once again, to the great Dishonour of GOD, and Scandal to the World. We grant that there are in this very Kingdom a sort of People no less Angry with St Athanasius, than you are with St. Cyril, yea such as plainly deny the Deity of our Saviour. We boldly Aver that those that would lessen that Authority of Bishops, are Instrumental to the Grand Design of the Devil, and his Principal Agents to destroy those Ecclesiastical Constitutions, whereby we uphold the Solemn Profession of the Fundamental Truths pertaining to Life and Godliness. I shall here repeat some words of a Letter that has been formerly sent you: And I beseech you by the Meekness and Gentleness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to consider them: for I am sure that I first wrote, and do now Repeat them upon a mature Consideration, that I must shortly appear before the Judgement-Seat of Christ.  
Here I could run out with much Fervour of Indignation against the Despisers of these Means of Grace, and strong Guards from those Accursed Errors, Socinianism, &c. which whilst I lived in Oxford, seemed to me to be coming in like a Mighty Torrent upon this Distracted Kingdom, whilst the frequent Professions of Belief of the TRINITY, Gloria Patri, and the Three Creeds, were cast out of our Churches. If it be said, what Reformation have we now? &c. I Reply that one Reason of this Kingdoms Miscarriages, I might say, Abominations, is, that some of those, that are sincerely Learned, and Pious, have not such an Esteem of our Liturgy, as they Ought to have; and hundreds that are thought by the Vulgar to be so, do themselves despise it, or Countenance others in so doing.  
And now, Sir, I shall tell you, you are very Disingenuous, in speaking of Persecution &c. Having so long time enjoyed so Great Forbearance from the Magistrate in your Open and most Notorious Violation of the Law, still in Force against Conventicles. Verbum sapienti. It is not the Spirit and Genius of the Church of England, that has ever prompted any man to speak to this effect; That the most conscientious Non-Conformists Deserve to be most Severely Punished, rather than the most lewd and debauched Sort of People. No, Sir, I doubt not but you well know, that the Sincere and Obedient Sons of the Church of England, desire that no other Punishment should be inflicted on you, but what is Truly Paternal, viz. that which is not so Heavy, as to weigh down a Mans Conscience, by any Strong and Vehement Temptation, to Do that which he still Believes to be Sinful, or so Light, that any man could be willing to incur the Danger of it, rather than Perform or Abstain from such Actions, whose Performance or Omission is such, that 'tis very possible for him to Learn that it is not any way Forbidden by the LORD Our God, who has commanded us to Submit ourselves to Every Ordinance of Man for his Sake: So that nothing can take off the Obligation, which the Eternal God has laid on us, to be Actively Obedient to Our Superiors upon Earth; but his own Prohibition of what they Command us. This Sir, I beseech you to Consider: and I must earnestly Beg of you By all the Professions you have made of a Tender Love to the Souls of Men, that you would not Dissemble what you know of this Great Concern of the Souls of all the Non-Conformists, But endeavour still( as you once began to do) to show them their Sins, &c. And Consider I pray you, whether yourself have not performed many Actions, contrary to the Laws, both of Church and State, which you would not have done, if you had been persuaded that you should have been punished for so doing, according to those Laws: If you have been guilty of such Actions, Consider whether you have not been very Scandalous, and an Encourager of Gross Impiety, in the Violation of that clear Apostolical Injunction: Submit yourselves, &c. Ah, Sir, if you will keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace; Consider the Force of these words; and do not in the least Connive at their Wickedness; who either out of a Stubborn Humour, or a loose unsettled Opinion Rush into Sin, as the Horse Rusheth into the Battle, by the most wilful Violation of Known Laws, and Constitutions, &c. You say in your Pleading for our Unity with the Non-Conformists: Is not he a Christian, that believeth according to the sense of the Institution( of Baptism) in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and by a solemn Vow and Covenant devoteth himself to him, as his God and Father, his Redeemer and Saviour, and his Sanctifier and Comforter, and the Witness of Christ; and hereupon that hath Right to Justification, Adoption, and the heavenly Inheritance? Who is a Christian, if this be not? p. 102. doubtless such a man a is sincere Christian; But yet certainly our Superiors have sufficient grounds to exclude that man from the Holy Communion, though he makes Profession of being such a one, as you have here described, who Refuse at the Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine, by KNEELING to make the most Humble acknowledgement of his Due SUBJECTION to our Crucified LORD: I say they have sufficient grounds to Exclude him, viz. upon a Just suspicion of his Insincerity, whatever his Pretences be.  
I shall take the Confidence to Recite unto you the forepart of a Discourse I delivered some years since to a very Knowing Auditory, in the Vindication of the Orders and Constitutions of our Church. But here perhaps some will be ready to say, It seems to us very strange, that a Christian should be so zealous for such things as you were speaking of, Things which you yourself confess to be extrinsical to Religion, that they are not of the Substance or Nature of it. To this I Answer, that Nothing is to be lightly esteemed, that is enjoined to be observed, By those that have the Rule over us, in matters appertaining to Religion. This Zeal for the Observance of such Injunctions does arise in Meek and Humble Souls, from a sense both of Ecclesiastical and Civil Authority, enjoining them to be observed; and this Zeal doth also Arise from a due Value, or Esteem of the Things themselves. The Force of Ecclesiastical Authority is plainly expressed in these words, in the Epistle to Hebrews. C. 7. v. 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you, &c. And the Power that Civil Authority has over the Conscience, that is to say, that Charge which God gives to all that Fear his Holy Name, to obey our Earthly Governours in all things, not contrary to the Commands of the God of Heaven; this I say is as plainly expressed in the words of the Apostle, as was ever any thing expressed in any words whatsoever. Rom. 13.15. Ye must needs be subject, not only for Wrath, but also for Conscience sake. O! then submit yourselves as S. Peter Exhorts, 1 Pet 2. 13. to Every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake. The extraordinary great Value or Esteem, which truly Pious and Devout Souls have for these Things, Abstracting from the Authority, by which they are enjoined, is grounded upon a Belief, that there is much more of Concern and Usefulness to the public in them, than 'tis easy for any man, According to his Private judgement to apprehended: And secondarily, upon Experience of this Usefulness for the improving of the Life and Power of True Religion, which Experience such Souls attain unto more and more in the Conscientious Observance of the said Injunctions of our Church, viz. That St. Athanasius's Creed shall be said on several Sundays, and holidays that the NICENE( or if you will, the Constinopolitan) CREED shall be Said Every Sunday, and Every Holy Day; And that the Gloria Patri, shall be said after Every Psalm, and divers other Parts of the Liturgy. Certainly the most Sober and truly Devout Christians cannot but have a Great Zeal, and Fervent Love for those Excellent Forms of sound words, rejoicing exceedingly, whilst the whole Congregation gives Glory to God, in that Heavenly Doxology: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,& c.. Though perhaps, many of them have never heard of, Arrius, Socinus, and such like heretics, from whose Dangerous Temptations the Church has taken care to Defend her Children, by calling them to such Frequent Acts of Adherence to those Fundamental Truths, from which these most Abominable heretics so subtly Endeavour to seduce them.  
Here I cannot but break forth into the highest Indignation, against those Absurd and Malicious Men, who charge our Church with the Horrid Guilt of Countenancing Socinianism; whereas 'tis as clear as the Sun at Noon, that every Socinian in any of his Majesties Dominions is a Non-Conformist: And Let those other Non-Conmists, who Endeavour to get that strong Fortification Against All 'vice and Error, to be slighted and demolished, I mean Our Liturgy; Let them, I say, Think with themselves what service they do to the DEVIL, and his Chiefest Assistants, the SOCINIANS, Whilst they Teach the People to Despise that Plain, and most ●ntelligible Form of sound Words; how is it possible, but that they should at least Cool their Affections towards the Truths therein contained? What readier way can there be to Prepare them for the Reception of the most Damnable Doctrine of the Anti-Trinitarians, than by teaching them to slight the Common prayer, which is the very Extract and Quintessence of the Sound Doctrine and Fervent Devotion of the ancient Fathers; Those who lived Five Hundred Years after the Sun of Righteousness had Illuminated all the Dark Corners of the Earth? Call all the Labours of the Church of God, for the Estabishment of Fundamental Points of the Christian Religiion, in Opposition to Arrius, and other heretics in those Days, go for nothing? Shall Our Congregations be no way advantaged by them? Shall the Loose Scribbles, or Extemporary Harangues of any Gifted Brother,( as they use to speak) be preferred before them? Hear, O Heavens, and harken, O Earth! What a Generation is This! Who Pretend to Assert the Doctrine of the Trinity, and yet slight the Gloria Patri, slight St. Athanasius's Creed! This fort of Men you so earnestly pled for, as if Our superiors could not keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace, unless they will Comply with their Turbulent Humours. I wish that all Men of your Disputing Genius, would be deeply Thoughtful of that Divine Maxim, In multit udine Verborum non deerit Peccatum: And of that saying of the Royal Philosopher, {αβγδ} Simplifica Teipsum. farewell. The LORD Give you Understanding in All Things.  
FINIS.