MiJJ 
 
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LIBRARY 
 
 PRINCETON, M. J. 
 
 DONATION OF 
 
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 COLLECTION OF PURITAN AND 
 ENGLISH THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE 
 
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 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 
 
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 IMPRIMATUR, 
 
 J aft. 27. 
 1677. 
 
 GVIL. JJNE, R. P. D. 
 Hen. Epzfc. Lond. a Sacris* 
 Dam. 
 
 
 t 
 
 
T H E 
 
 f^efent i&eparatuwt 
 
 SELF-CONDEM N^5$I* C 
 And Proved to be 
 
 8CHI8 
 
 As it is Exemplified in a Sermon Preached 
 upon that Subject, by 
 
 Ur.W.f. E W^K^Y ®£j: 
 
 And is further attefted by divers others of his 
 own Perfuafion. 
 
 All produced in Anfwer to a 
 
 LETTER from a F'BJE.T^'D. 
 
 MANTON on J A M E S, pag. 404. 
 True Wifdom, as it will not fin againji Faith by 
 Error, fo not againU Love by Schifnt. 
 
 LONDON^ 
 
 Printed for Edward Croft at the Seven Starr in 
 Little Lumber d ttr.et. 1 678. 
 
 
 *v** 
 
(O 
 
 
 
 JP 
 
 SIR, 
 
 UPon the Difcourfe that pafled not long fincc 
 betwixt you and me, concerning the pre- 
 fent Differences amongft us in this Nation, and the 
 Difficulties you then prefled me with, about the 
 Nature and Reafons of Schijm, and the Side which 
 the Sin of it would lie upon \ I began to confider 
 of it, and forthwith refolved to fee what I could 
 meet with of that Subjecl amongft that Party you 
 fb boldly charge with it, efpecially before their ex- 
 clufion, when they might be fuppofed to /peak im- 
 partially. And amongft the reft, having procured 
 of a Friend the Notes of a Sermon long f]nce 
 preached by Mr. Jenkln, I diligently read it over, 
 and thought it a Difcourfe very well calculated 
 to bring this matter to an iffue betwixt us : for 
 which end, having compared it w T ith and corrected 
 it by what he afterward printed upon that Text, 
 I did reiblve to fend it to you. This, I confefs, I 
 the rather pitched upon, as he is yet alive, and is 
 able to juftifie it ; and bccaufe you alfb urged me 
 with fome Objections offered in particular againft 
 him, and his proceedings in the cafe, and did af- 
 
 B firm, 
 
(O 
 
 firm, That he, with the reft of his Brethren, durft 
 not now own what they had formerly preached, 
 or preach what they formerly did about Separation, 
 left they fhould revive what they hope is. by this 
 time forgotten, and difquiet the Allies of the old 
 Nonconformiiis, whofe Followers they profeis to be ? 
 but herein, as you faid, widely differ from. 
 
 I muft confefs my (elf not to have been a little 
 difturbed at thofe Paflages that you produced out 
 of fomc of them, and could not but tranferibe that 
 from Vr. Calamy, in bis Apologk again ft an unjuft 
 InvcSlive, pag. i o. viz. What will Mr. Burton fay to 
 old Mr. Dod y Mr. Hilderfljam, Mr. Ball, Mr. Rath- 
 band, &-c P Did not thefe Reverend Minifters fee tlie 
 Pattern of Gods Houfe ? And yet it is well Imow/ij 
 that they wrote many Books againft thofe that refufed 
 Communion with our Churches ( he means the Epi- 
 fcopalf, and were their great eft Enemies. And I can- 
 not forget another you [hewed me out of the Vin- 
 dicate n of the Presbyterial Government •, pag. 1 3 c;. 
 publifhed by the Provincial Aflembly of London, 
 1 650. (of whom you told me Mr. Jenhfn was one) 
 viz. There were many godly and learned Nonconformifts 
 of this laft Age, that were perfuaded in their Consci- 
 ences, that they could not hold Communion with the 
 Church of England > in receiving the Sacrament 
 kneeling^ without fin \ yet did they not feparate from 
 
 her. 
 
her. Indeed f , in that particular ASt they withdrew, 
 but yet fo, as that they held Communion with her in 
 the reft ; being far from a negative, much more from 
 a pofitive Separation. Nay, fome of them, even when 
 our Churches were full of finful Mixtures, with great 
 Zeal and Learning defended them fo far, as to write 
 againfi thofe that did feparate from them. 
 
 I do acknowledge, that I am not able to recon- 
 cile all things of this nature, and that it is very hard 
 to mew where the difference lies betwixt now and 
 then, and to find out what the People have tofcare 
 them from Communion with the Church of England 
 now, that they had not in thofe Times ; and why 
 what Mr. Cartwright, iX'v.Dod^&c. wrote then in 
 defence of it, will not (till fo far hold good. But 
 I hope you ealily conceive, that the Cafe is not the 
 fame with the Minifters as the People. For the Peo- 
 ple, it is confeffed, and you gave me an undeniable 
 Proof of the general Belief of the prefent Noncon- 
 formifls in this matter, vi%. That when by the late 
 A6i of Parliament every one that was in any Office 
 of Truft was required to receive the Sacrament of 
 the Lords Supper according to the ufage of the 
 Church of England, they that amongft them were 
 concerned , were generally advifed to it by their 
 own Paflors, and few, if any, were found to re- 
 fufe it ', which doubtlefs they would have done, if 
 
 B 2 either 
 
(4) 
 either they or their Paflors had thought that they 
 had finned in fo doing ; and their own Intereft, 
 or the capacity they might be in of doing better 
 Service in their Places, than out of them, would 
 not have made it lawful, if it had not been thought 
 lawful in it ielf. 
 
 And therefore I do very readily grant this. But 
 wirhal I hope you do perceive, that there is a great 
 difference betwixt the People and their Miniflers^ 
 betwixt the Peoples Communicating with, and the 
 Nlinifters Officiating in the Church : for the Mini- 
 flers are in order to this required to renounce the 
 Covenant^ and to affent and confent to the ufe of 
 the Liturgie. And therefore, though the People 
 may now Communicate upon the fame terms that 
 the People did before the Wars ( when Separation 
 from the Church of England was proved to be 
 Schifm by the great Nonconformifls of thofe Times, 
 as is abovefaid), and the Miniflers may now Com- 
 municate upon the fame terms as the People^ yet 
 they cannot do it as Miniflers j and what reafon is 
 there that they mould degrade themfelvcs,who are 
 (as Mr. Jenhj-n faith, on Jude y pag. 21.) Church- 
 Officers betrufled with the ordering of the Churchy and 
 for opening the Doors of the Churches Communion , by 
 the Keys of DoEirine and Difcipline ; and be no 
 more than private Chriftians, that have no power 
 
 1:1 
 
(?) 
 in thefe matters, as he there obferves ? Is this no- 
 thing, to be, from Rulers of the Flock, turned down 
 among;ft the common Herd ; and from being keep- 
 ers of the Keys, to be brought under the power 
 of them ? 
 
 But fuppofing that they could thus far conde- 
 scend, yet do you make nothing of the Apojiles ne~ 
 cejpty, and woe is me P or think you it fit, after fo 
 facred a Character as that of Ordination, that they 
 can clear themfelves if they neglecl it ? Coniidcr 
 what is written in a Book called Sacrilegious De* 
 fertion of the Holy Miniflry rebuked, pag. go. viz. // 
 a Vow and Dedication to preach the Go/pel, no reafon 
 to preach it elfewhere , when if s forbidden in your 
 Affemblies ? Is the alienation of Confecrated Perfons 
 7to Sacrilege ? You told me indeed, That fuppofing; 
 they were under the like neceffity (which you laid 
 they were not), yet, that as St. Paul's necejpty did 
 not, fo neither did theirs confine them to any par- 
 ticular Place, Time, or Number 5 that Preaching 
 was not more fo, when it was to many, than to 
 few, in publick than in private, in London than the 
 Countrey \ and that as the Law did permit tJiera to 
 preach- to Five beildes their own Family, fo it did 
 not forbid them private Conference efiewhere 5 a 
 way that the Nonconformijis do fo much recom- 
 mend, that one of them., in bis A chncc to the r 
 
faith of it, That Publicly hearing "without Perfonal 
 conference , feldom bringeth men to understand well 
 what yon fay, (Sacrileg.Difert. pag.yz,.) And there- 
 fore that you couceived not how St. Paul's Wo, or 
 their Ordination, did oblige them to flock up to 
 the Capital City , or to betake themielvcs to the 
 chiefeft Towns, and to draw great numbers toge- 
 ther ; no more than it did before Bartholomew in 
 62 , to follow the lame courfe. 
 
 But, Sir, I will onely ask you, whether you 
 think it not better to preach to many, than to few ', 
 and in publick, than in corners ; and in Towns, 
 than Villages ; and in London, than the ountry ? 
 In Villages People will jog on in thv^ir old way, 
 they have neither much curioiicy nor leifure ; or 
 whatever is there taught or learned, ipreads no 
 further : But you know , teach London, and you 
 teach the whole Nation ; thence the Light before 
 the Wars fhone forth into all parrs ; and after 
 when Herefies were hatched and nonriffjed up under 
 her wings, from her they fpr cad all the Kingdom over, 
 as is obferved by the Provincial Aflembly of London, 
 in their Vindication, pag, 119. and the lame way 
 doubtlefs is ftill to be obferved, if any good is to 
 be done. And it is the fame as to the Places of 
 eminency in the Country. And therefore whate- 
 ver becomes of the remote Parts, and the little 
 
 Places, 
 
.(7) 
 Places, great care is here to be taken, that the 
 Souls in Cities and Corporations be not deferted, as 
 the Author of Sacrilegious Defertion doth hint^.69. 
 and better leave thofe to fliift for themfelves, than 
 to leave thefe unfupplied. Which gives a very 
 good account , why they flock fo much from the 
 country to the Town. And if you ftill pe^fift to 
 demand, why it was not thought fo before 62 ? 
 the Anfwer is ready ; for then London was their 
 own, and the Pulpits were fafe, when kept by thofe 
 that were of their own Perfuaiion : But the cafe 
 being now otherwife, if they mould retire, and 
 not keep up a diftinct Party, the City would be 
 another thing, and the whole Nation be in danger 
 of Infection. And then what would become of 
 them and their Families? For there are not vrry 
 many of them that were bred up to the under- 
 ftanding of Trade, or keeping Books of Account, 
 and that can fliift for themfelves as other Men ; 
 and if put by that way of Livelihood, where muft 
 they feck for it ) As there cannot be a walking, with- 
 out a moving (as Mr. Jenl^in judicioufly obferves 
 on Jnde, fag. 447.) '•> fo there cannot be an eating 
 without Food : and how Food is to be had on 
 their part, without Preaching, is not eafie to ima- 
 gine. 
 
 Do you think, if they had betaken themfelves 
 
 to 
 
( 8 ) . 
 to inftrufh. their Flocks, that they left, by private 
 Conference ( as the Author of the Addrefs to the 
 Nonconformijis propounds, pdg<i99 ), that thofe who 
 7iow fupport them in point of Livelihood in the way 
 they are in y would do the fame in the other way, as 
 that Author conjectures ? Nay, if they were left to 
 the mef cv of the ASi of Parliament^ which allows 
 Five beiide their own Family, and did govern 
 themfelvcs by it, can you think that would turn 
 to any account ? 
 
 Alas, Sir, you know Charity is grown cold in 
 thefe times j and if they put all upon that ifTue, 
 we may fay, God help them, for it may be feared 
 the People will not. We know, Sir, and you can- 
 not be ignorant of it, that it's a Publick way, and 
 the being followed and admired by Multitudes, 
 when the Members have the reputation of being 
 joyned to a numerous and wealthy Congregation, 
 and w T here Trade may be promoted, that opens 
 the Purles, and, (hall I fay, engages the Hearts of 
 not a few ; and therefore if you will not allow 
 them to preach in this way, you muft not allow 
 them to live and eat as other Folk. 
 
 Methinks your own experience fhould open your 
 eyes, and let you fee what difference is made be- 
 twixt him that labours in the Word, and him that 
 doth not j betwixt him that preacheth at fuch con- 
 venient 
 
(?) 
 
 vcnient Seafons, that he may refbrt to the Publick 
 Worfhip, and is willing to fhew, that he and the 
 Church of England in effecl are one ; and him that 
 preacheth in oppoiition to it, at the fame time with 
 the Publick, and thereby proclaimed!, that he and 
 the Church are two. Alas, Sir^ the City-Moufe 
 did not more excel the Country, than one here 
 doth the other, in the Proviflons of his Table, and 
 the Munificence of his Benefa&ors. The one lives 
 by Preaching, and lives plentifully , the other lives 
 by his Learning, in the fenfe of the Scholar that 
 fold his Books to maintain himfelf with, as fome 
 of them whom I know you love and reverence are 
 reported to do ; and others forced to be beholden 
 to ConformiUsy that have made private Collections 
 for them. Thefe are they that the Author of Sa- 
 crilegious Dejertion, pag.i n. is to be underftood of, 
 when he faith, That the French Imprejpon of the 
 Councils is too dear for the Purfe of a Nonconform- 
 able Mmifler. And befides, S7r, is it nothing, think 
 you, for a Man to walk difconfolately through the 
 Streets, hardly taken notice of, and his Worth and 
 Learning covered by his Cloak and Modefty ; and 
 another in the mean time failing along, perhaps with 
 two or three Attendants, and ever and anon one 
 or other ftepping forth to falute him with a low- 
 ly Reverence ? And is not this another material 
 
 C difference 
 
(io) 
 
 difference betwixt him that preacheth , and him 
 that preacheth not j betwixt him that preacheth 
 in the one way, and him that preacheth in the 
 other before fpoken of? Nay, is it not come to 
 this, that thole they call moderate yielding men arc 
 icarcely endured, but even their Reputations are 
 clancularly ftruck at by their Brethren ; infomuch 
 that they are fain to carry it with more warineis, 
 and comply more than otherwife they would, that 
 they may not be the Marks of their Reproches t 
 Hence, I believe, it was, that after the Book cnti- 
 tuled The Cure of Xbnrch-Divifions had exafpc rated 
 the Party, Anno 1670. the Author , to lick himfelf 
 a little whole in their efteem, made fome amends 
 for his tranfgreilion, in his thundring Book of Sa- 
 crilegious Defert ion, in the Year 1672. And I guels, 
 that it is for the fame reaion, that when he pub- 
 lick ly profefTcd, That the notorious nccejfity of the 
 People^ who were more than the P ariflj-Clmrch could 
 hold j moved him to preach at the fame hours with the 
 Fublickj) and that he met not under any colour and 
 pretence of any Religions Exercife in other manner 
 than according to the Liturgie, and the Practice of the 
 Church of England ; and were he able^ that he would 
 accordingly read himfelf: yet that he never had that 
 read 5 and fince his difpofal of that Place , doth 
 preach occafionally in the Meeting-places of the 
 
 City) 
 
City , at the fame hours, where there is none of that 
 neceflity before pleaded by him, and where the 
 Churches generally rather want Auditors, than Au- 
 ditors Churches. And fo much are they under the 
 awe of this, that you know, when Dr. Manton him- 
 lelf was asked why he ufed not the Lords Prayer y 
 he replied, That he omitted it, not that he thought 
 it unlawful, but left by the ufe of it he fliould give 
 cfffence to fome of his Brethren, and his own Peo- 
 ple. So that you fee, Sir, to what a pafs things 
 are brought, and that it is as necefTary for them 
 thus to do , as it is to retain the efteem of their 
 Party ; and as neceffary to retain that efteem, as it 
 is to have a Livelihood where it is wanted, or to 
 be accounted Godly and Religious. Now, Sir, I 
 know not how you may like this, to naffer difre- 
 ipect, and want, and difcouragement 5 but if you 
 do. Tie afliire you that I know but few that are of 
 your mind. For is not Reipeft to be valued before 
 Contempt j providing for a Mans Houfe, before 
 negle&ing it 5 and efpecially, when this is confiftent 
 with, and obtained in the Service of God ? 
 
 And now I am fallen upon the thing that I per- 
 ceive you would bring me to, when you charge 
 them upon Mr. Jenkins trinciples, who faith, that 
 admiration of mens per fons, and felf-conceit,felffeeh^ 
 tng, and pride, are the moft general Caufes of 
 
 C 2 Schifnij 
 
O)) 
 
 Schrfm, as I ice that lie doth, pag. 16,17, 18. of rhfs 
 Sermon. Caufcs, you (aid, as evident among them., 
 as their Schifm it fclf, and by which, with no little 
 art, they bolfter it up. Thus they take to them- 
 fclves the Title of the Servants of God, and give 
 to the People that of the godly and the gr adopt* j 
 and for their encouragement, magnifie their "Num- 
 bers, and which they take all occafions to reprefent. 
 As, a Nonconformift can no fboner die, but it fhall 
 be fpread through all the Congregations, who aYc 
 told by their Miniflers the Lords-day before his In- 
 terment, that fuch a one is lately dead, and to be 
 buried at fuch a time, from fuch a place, where he 
 defires them to be, and to (hew 'their ReipccTs by 
 attending his Corps to its Funeral. In order to 
 which, his Praifes are founded from the Pulpit, and 
 he Sainted by fomc little Poet, and his Sayings,that 
 have either been ordinarily ufed by him in Di- 
 fcourfe, or frequently dropped from him in the 
 Pulpit, are collected ; and then Sermon, Poem, and 
 Sayings vented amongfi: the Multitudes crowding 
 from all Quarters of the Town, and that are as 
 proud to carry one of them home, as the poor Zea- 
 lots in the Church of Kome are to get any Rag that 
 hath but touched the Reliques of their Saint in a 
 folemn Proceillon. After which rehearfal, you bid 
 me confider , how this would look if done in the 
 Church of England. But, 
 
( , 3 ) 
 
 Bur, Sir, this is a courfe that Teems to me not at 
 all unreafonable, in their circumstances \ it being 
 very neceflary, that they ihould, above all things, 
 get the Peoples cfteem, and very fit that the People 
 fhould teftifie their efleem of them 5 and why not 
 in this way of Attendance on them ? For, Firfl, It's 
 a comfort to the L Lurch under the lols of their 
 P aft or, to fee him rcfpected when dead, as he was 
 when alive. Secondly, By burying their Paflor with 
 honour, and putting themfelves into Mourning, and 
 engaging others to follow him to his Burial, they 
 do lliew the relpeft that they had to him in a day 
 of Perfecution and Diftreis , when defpifed by 
 others ', and that they continued conftant to him 
 to the death. 'Thirdly, It's good to fhew the World 
 that they are not ib defpicable for Quality or 
 Number, as is pretended. And are not thefe Rea- 
 fbns fufficient to juftifie their Practice in this cafe, 
 and to fhew, how it would not fo well become you 
 in your Church, as it doth them in theirs P 
 
 But, I perceive, this that I faid laft of all ftuck 
 moft in your ftomach, as you judged it a kind of 
 an open Challenge and Defiance to Authority ', 
 and you thought that you had me at a great ad- 
 vantage, when you fo readily brought Chapter and 
 Page upon me from Mr. Jenh^n on J ude, pag.62%. 
 viz. That miferable is that Commonwealth whoje Man- 
 ners 
 
(H) 
 
 ncrs have brought their Laws tinder their power. For 
 you confidered not, that this is fpoken of Irreligious 
 Perfons, and Civil Affairs ; but in the Matters of 
 Religion, I hope, you know better, and that the 
 more contemptible the Laws about thofe things are 
 made, and the weaker the Authority is to put them 
 into execution, the fafer they themfelves be whom 
 the Laws are defigned againft. And befidcs,do you 
 think, that Men ought not to make as publick a 
 Profeffion of their Religion as with fecurity they 
 can ; and to let the Power undcrftand, how much it 
 would be for their Safety and Intereft to come 
 over to the ftrongeft Side ? And is it not far better 
 for Authority to depend upon Religion, than Reli- 
 gion upon Authority ? Where have you lived all this 
 while, that are yet to learn in (6 neceilary a Point 
 of Cafuiftical Divinity ? 
 
 As for Mr. Jenkin himfelf, w r hen you faid, that 
 he made very bold with the Reputation of others, 
 and took as great a liberty to revile, as to commend } 
 and did produce him againft himtelf, on Jude,pag. 
 184. viz. ihat it is Seducers policy to afperfethe Mi- 
 niJiers,to caufe a diflzkg of their Miniliry : and again, 
 fag. 394. that the great endeavour of Seducers is, to 
 be magnified, or rather omnijied^ to have all others de- 
 based and nullijied: I muft confefs that I have no- 
 thing to fay : and that what you pointed me to in 
 
 the 
 
the fame Book, pag^m. I akp away this fin fit! ewfu- 
 ving from many Profejfors, and there will nothing re- 
 main to fljew them Religious \ whereas a juji man is 
 fevere onely to him felf, holds ftill true. It is a great 
 fault in them, and what, if he hath miicarried in, 
 as I hope he hath repented of, fb by his iJlenee 
 upon that gentle Reproof given him in The Vindi- 
 cation of the Conforming Clergie, doth feem to own. 
 I muft acknowledge, that my own Temper, as well 
 as my Religion, hath lb much endeared me to that 
 mo ft excellent Defcription of Charity , l Cor. 13. 
 Charity envieth not ; Charity vaunteth not it felf is 
 not puffed up, doth not behave it felf unfeemly, &-c. 
 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, &c. that were all other things in the Church 
 of England as agreeable to me, as the Temper of 
 it, it would mightily reconcile me to it. We find 
 no Martins, no Centuries, no Gangranas, no Glo- 
 cejier-Coblers, no Stories or uncertain Reports, pick- 
 ed up, and malicioufly improved, by which the Re- 
 putations of their Adverfaries are invaded , and 
 expofed to the World ', notwithstanding the Pro- 
 vocations they have received, and the abundant 
 matter that hath been formerly and of late afford- 
 ed for fuch an Hiftory. And there is nothing hath 
 made me more out of love with my old Friend 
 Mr. J. than a certain pronenels that he hath difco- 
 
 vered, 
 
o<?; 
 
 THE 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 JUDE, ver. 19. 
 
 Thefe be they who feparate them/elves , fenfual, ha- 
 ving not the Spirit. 
 
 IN the 1 7 verfe Jude produceth the Teftimony 
 of the Apoflles of Jefus Chrift^ in confirmation 
 of what he had before faid : In which Teftimony 
 I note five Particulars. 
 
 1. To whom it is commended ', to his beloved. 
 
 2. How it was to be improved ; by remembring it. 
 5. From w r hom it proceeded ; the Apoflles of our 
 
 Lord Jefos. 
 
 4. Wherein it confifted ; in a Prediction, That 
 there fliould be mockers^ walking after their ungodly 
 Mis. 
 
 D 2 «;. To 
 
(ao) 
 
 t. To whom it is oppofed, vi^. to thefe Sedu- 
 cers : Tbefe are they who feparate themfelves. 
 
 In which Words the Apoftls (hews , That thcfe 
 who feparate themfelves from the Church, were 
 Scomers \ and that thefe who were fenfual and void 
 of the Spirit, did follow their ungodly tufts. Or, in 
 the Words Jude exprefleth, 
 
 i. The Sin of thefe Seducers, in feparating then** 
 felves. 
 
 2. The Caufe thereof, which was, 
 i. Their being fenfual : And, 
 2. Their not having the Spirit. 
 
 For the firft, their Separation 3 Two things are 
 here to be opened. 
 
 1. What the Apoftle here intends by feparating 
 themfelves. 
 
 2. Wherein the Sinfulnefs of it confifts. 
 
 1. Forthefirft : The Original word may figni- 
 fie the unbounding of a thing , and the removing 
 of a thing from thofe Bounds and Limits wherein 
 it was fet and placed, &>c. Or it imports, the part- 
 ing and feparating of one thing from another, by 
 Bounds and Limits put between them \ and the 
 putting of Bounds and Limits, for diftinclion and 
 leparation, between feveral things : it being (thus) 
 a Refemblance taken from Fields or Countries^ 
 which are diftinguiflied and parted from each o- 
 
 thcr 
 
ther by certain Boundaries and Land-marks let up 
 to that end : and thus it's commonly taken by In- 
 terpreters in this place, wherein thefe Seducers may 
 be laid to feparate thewf elves, divide or bound 
 themf elves from others, cither fir ft, Doctrinal ly ; 
 or, fecondly, Practically. 
 
 1. DoSrinally, by falfe and Heretical Doctrines, 
 whereby they divided themfclves from the Truth 
 and Faithful, who were guided by the Truth of 
 Scripture, and walked according to the Rule of the 
 Word, &c. 
 
 2. V radically 5 they might feparate themf elves 
 as by Bounds and Limits, 
 
 1. By Prophanenefs, and living in a different way 
 from the Saints \ namely, in all loofnefs and uu- 
 cleannefs. 
 
 2. By S chifmaticahiefs, and making of ieparation 
 from, and divifions in the Church : Becaufe they 
 proudly defpifed the Doctrines or Perfbns of the 
 Chriftians, as contemptible and unworthy 5 or be- 
 caufe they would not endure the holy fevcrity of 
 the Churches Difcipline, they (faith Calvin} de- 
 parted from it. They might make Rents and Di- 
 vifions in the Church, by Schifinatical withdrawing 
 themfelves from Fellowfhip and Communion with 
 it. Their Herefies were perverie and damnable Opi- 
 nions ^ their Schiim was a perverie feparation from 
 
 Chunk- 
 
Church-communion : The former was in DoSirinals, 
 the latter in Practical J. The former was oppofite 
 to Faith, this latter to Charity. By Faith all the 
 Members are united to the Head ', by Charity, one 
 to another : And as the breaking of the former is 
 Herefie, fo their breaking of the latter was Schifm. 
 And this Schifm (lands in the dilfolving the Spiri- 
 tual Band of Love and Union among Chriflians, 
 and appears in the withdrawing from the perfor- 
 mance of thofe Duties which are both the Signs of, 
 and Helps to Chriflian ZJnity ; as Frayer, Hearing, 
 Receiving of Sacraments, &c. For, becaufe the dif- 
 folving of Chriflian ZJnion chiefly appears in the 
 undue fepa ration from Church-communion, therefore 
 this rending is rightly called Schifm. It is ufually 
 fa id to be twofold, Negative, and Fofitive. 
 
 i. Negative is when there is onely fimplcx fecef 
 fw, when there is onely a bare feceilion, a peacea- 
 ble and quiet withdrawing from Communion with 
 a Church, without making any head againft that 
 Church from which the departure is. 
 
 2. Fojitive is when Perlons fo withdrawing do 
 Co confociate and draw themfelves into a diftinct 
 and oppofite Body, letting up a Church againft a 
 Church, or, as Divines cxprefs it, from Augufline, 
 an Altar againft an Altar : And this it is which in 
 a peculiar manner, and by way of eminency, is 
 
 called 
 
called by the name of Schifm, and becomes (infill 
 either in refpccT, fi r ft-> of the groundlejnefs, or, /o 
 condly, the manner thereof 
 
 i. The groundlefnefs ; when there is no calling 
 of Perfons out of the Church by an unjuft Cen~ 
 lure of Excommunication, no departure by unfujj'e- 
 rabk Perfecution , no Here fie nor Idolatry in the 
 Church maintained, no necellity (if Communion be 
 held with a Church) of communicating in its Sins 
 and Corruptions. 
 
 2. The manner of Separation makes it unlaw- 
 ful ; when 'tis made without -due endeavour and 
 waiting for Reformation of the Church from which 
 the departure is : and fuch a rafli departure is a- 
 gainft Charity , which fnffers both much and long, all 
 tolerable things : It is not prefently diftaftcd,when 
 the jufteil: occalion is given ; it firft ufeth all pot- 
 fible means of remedy. The Chyrurgeon referves 
 Difmembringy as the laft remedy. It looks upon a 
 fudden breaking off from Communion with a Church 
 (which is a Difwembring) not as Chyrurgery, but 
 Butchery ', not as medicinal, but cruel 
 
 2. The Sinfulneis of this Schifmatical feparation 
 appears feveral ways. I mail not fpend time to com- 
 pare it with Herejie, though fome have (aid, that 
 Schifm is the greater Sin of the two. Augufl. com. 
 Donat. lib. 2, cap. 6. tells the Donatifls, that Schifm 
 
 was. 
 
(H) 
 was a greater Sin than that of the Traditores, who 
 in time of Ferfecntion^ through fear, delivered up 
 their Bibles to the Per {editors to be burnt. (A Sin 
 at which the Donatifls took fo much offence, that 
 it was the ground of their feparation.) But to pais 
 by thefe things : By thefe three Considerations e- 
 fpecially the finfulnefs of Schifm fhews it felf. 
 [i, Chrijit. 
 In relpcct o{< 2. I he Parties feparatitig. 
 
 I 3. Tbofe from whom they feparate. 
 1. In refptct of vhriflt, it is, 
 
 1. An horrible Indignity offered to his Body, it 
 dividing Chr/Ji (as the ApoSile fpcaks, 1 Cor. 1.15.) 
 and makes him to appear the Head of two Bodies. 
 Mow monftrous and diihonourable is the very con- 
 ceit hereof! 
 
 2. It's Rebellion againft his Command, his great 
 Command of Love. The Grace oi'Love is by fome 
 called the Qjieen of Graces ; and it's greater than 
 Faith in refpcct of its ObjccT, not God onely, but 
 Man j its duration, which is eternal , its manner of 
 working, not in a way of receiving Chriji (as Faith} 
 but of giving out the Soul to him : and the Com- 
 mand of Love is the greateft Command, in refpect 
 of its cowprehenfivenefs ', it taking in all the Com- 
 mandments, the end of them all being Love, and it 
 being the fulfilling of them all. 
 
 3. It's 
 
(=5) 
 
 g. It's oppofite to one great End of CbriJVs 
 greateft Undertaking (his Death), which was, that 
 all his Saints mould be one. 
 
 4. It tends to fruftrate his Prayer for Unity a- 
 mong Saints, John 17. and endeavours that Chriji 
 may not be heard by his Father. 
 
 5. It oppofeth his Example : By this ft ball all men 
 (faith he) know that ye are my difciples^ if ye love 
 one another. Love is the Livery and Cognifance 
 which Chriji gives to every Chrijiian. If there be 
 no Fellowfhip among Chrijiians, there's no follow- 
 ing of Christ. Let this mind he in you^ that was in 
 Chriji Jefus^ Phil. 2. 5. 
 
 6. It's injurious to his Service and Worfhip.How 
 can Men pray, if in wrath and divifion? How can 
 Chrijiians fight with Heaven and prevail, when they 
 are in fo many divided Troops? What worthiness 
 can be in thofe Communicants^ who celebrate a Feaft 
 of Love, with Hearts full of rancour and malice ? 
 
 2. In refpeel: of the Parties fepar at ing : For, 
 1. It caufeth a decay of all Grace. By di virions 
 among our {elves, we endeavour to divide our 
 felves from him, in and from whom is all our ful- 
 nefs. All wickednefs follows contention. Upon the 
 Stock of Schifm commonly Herefze is grafted. There 
 is no Schifm (faith Jerome) but ordinarily it invent- 
 eth and produceth fbme Herefee, that fo the Sepa- 
 
 E ration 
 
( 26) 
 
 ration may feem the more juftifiablc. The Novati- 
 ng s and Donatifts from Schifm fell to Here fees. 
 Our Times fadly comment upon this Truth, they 
 equally arifing to both. The farther Lines are di- 
 fianced one from another, the greater is their di- 
 itance from the Center : And the more divided 
 Christians are among themfelves, the more they di- 
 vide themfelves from ChriSl. Branches divided from 
 the Tree, receive no Sap from the Root. The Soul 
 gives Life to Members which are joyned together, 
 not pluck'd aftinder. 
 
 2. Schifm is the greatefl difgrace to the Schifma- 
 ticks. A Schifmaticl^ is a Name much difowned, 
 becaufe very difhonourable : All Po fieri ty loads the 
 name of finful Separatists with difgrace and abhor- 
 rency. He ipoke truly, who faid, Ihe Jin and mifery 
 of Schifm cannot be blotted out with the blood of 
 Martyrdom. He cannot honourably give his Life for 
 Chrijt, who makes divifions in his Church, for which 
 ChriU gave his Life. 
 
 5. In refpeft of the Church from whom this fe- 
 paralion is made. For, 
 i. It's injurious to the Honour of the Church, 
 whofe greateft glory is ZJnion. How can a Body be 
 rent and torn, without the impairing of its Beau- 
 ty ? Befides, how difgraceful an imputation is caft 
 upon any Church, when we profefi it unworthy for 
 
 any 
 
any to abide in it ; that ChriU will not, and there- 
 fore that we cannot have Communion with it ? 
 
 i. It's injurious to the peace and quietnefs of the 
 Church. Schijmatickg more oppofe the Peace of the 
 Churchy than do Heathens. If the natural Body be 
 divided and torn, pain and fmart muft needs fol- 
 low. The tearing and rending of the Myftical Bo- 
 dy goes to the Heart of all fenfible Members. They 
 often caufe the Feverifh Diftempers of Hatred, 
 Wraths Seditions, TLnvyings, Murders. Sehijm in the 
 Church, puts the Members out of joynt ; and di£ 
 joynted Bones are painful : All my bones (faith Da- 
 vidj are out . of joynt. Cburch-divifions caufe fad 
 thoughts of heart. True Members are fenfible of 
 thefe SchifmS) though artificial ones feel nothing. 
 None rejoyce but our Enemies. Oh impiety, to 
 make Satan mufick, and to make mourning for the 
 Saints ! 
 
 5. It's oppofite to the Edification of the Church. 
 Divifion of Tongues hindred the building of Ba~ 
 bel j and doubtlefs divifion in Hearts, Tongues, 
 Hands, Heads, muft needs hinder the building of 
 Jerufalem. While Parties are contending, Churches 
 and Commonwealths fuffer. In troublous times the 
 Walls and Temple of Jerufalem went but flowly on. 
 Though Jefus ibrfit the Head, be the onely Foun- 
 tain of Spiritual Life j yet the ufual way of Chri&s 
 
 E 2 ftrengthning 
 
( »8 ; 
 
 ftrengthning it, and perfecting thereof, is the fel- 
 lowihip of the Body, that by what every joynt [ap- 
 plies, the whole may be encreafed. When Church- 
 members are put out of joynt, they are made un- 
 ferviceable, and unfit to perform their feveral Offi- 
 ces : They who were wont to joyn in Prayer, Sa- 
 craments, Faffing, and were ready to all mutual 
 Offices of Love, are now fallen off from all. 
 
 4. It's oppofite to the future Eftate of the Church 
 in Glory. In Heaven the Faithful fhall be of one 
 mind : We pall all meet (faith the Apoflle) in the 
 unity of the faith, Ephef 4. 13. when we are come 
 to our Manly age : Wrangling is the work of our 
 Childhood. Luther and Calvin are of one mind in 
 Heaven, though their Difciples wrangle here on 
 Earth. 
 
 Obfervations. 
 
 Obf 1 . Naturally men love to be boundlefs ', they 
 will not be kept within any Spiritual compais. 
 
 Obf 2. Our feparation from Rome cannot be char- 
 ged with Schifm. This will evidently appear, if we 
 confider either the ground, or the manner of our 
 Separation. 
 
 1. For the £7w#rf and caufe thereof: Our fepa- 
 ration from Rome was not for fbme (light and tole- 
 rable Errours, but damnable Herefies, and grois Ido- 
 latries : 
 
Op) 
 
 latries : The Herefies Fundamental, and Idolatries 
 fuch, as thole who hold Communion with her, can- 
 not but partake of: In refpec"r. of both which, the 
 Church of Rome was fir ft apoftati^d, before ever we 
 feparatecl : Nor was there any feparation from it, as 
 it had any thing of thrift, or as it was Chrifti.ui ; 
 but as it was KOMAN and POPISH, &c 
 
 2. For the fecond, the manner of our Separation ; 
 it was not uncharitable, rafli, heady, and unadviled ; 
 nor before all means were ufed for the Cure and*. 
 Reformation of the Komanifts, by the difcovery of 
 their Errours, that poffibly could be thought of: 
 notwithstanding all which (though fome have been 
 enforced to an acknowledgement of them) they 
 ftill obftinately perfift in them. Our famous, god- 
 ly, and learned Reformers would have healed Baby- 
 lon, but jbe is not healed: Many skilful Phyficianr 
 have had her in hand, but (like the Woman in the 
 Go/pel) Jbe grew fo much the worje. By Prayer, 
 Preaching, Writing, yea by fealing their DocTrine 
 with their Bloods, have fundry eminent Jnftruments 
 of Chrift endeavoured to reclaim the Popiftj from 
 their Errours ; but in ftead of being reclaimed, 
 they anathematized them with the dreadfulcft Cur- 
 fes y excommunicated, yea, murdered and deftroyed 
 multitudes of thofe who endeavoured their Reduce- 
 ment, not permitting any to trade, buy or fell, to 
 
 have 
 
_(3o) 
 have either Religious or Civil Communion with 
 them, except they received the Beafis marl^ in their 
 hands and foreheads. All which considered, we might 
 fafely foriake her ', nay, could not fafely do other- 
 wile. Since, in ftead of our healing of Babylon, we 
 could not be preferved from her deflroying of us, we 
 did defervedly depart from her, and every one go 
 into his own Country : and unlefs we had done fb, 
 we could not have obeyed the clear Precept of the 
 K Word, A foe, 1 8. Come out of her my people, &c. 
 Timothy is commanded to withdraw him f elf from 
 perverfe and unfound Teachers, i Tim. 6. 3, 5. Though 
 Paul went into the Synagogue, difputing and perfua- 
 ding the things concerning the Kingdom of God \ yet 
 when divers were hardened, and believed not, but 
 fpake evil of that way, he departed from them, and Se- 
 parated the Difciples, Ac*ts 19. 9. And exprefly is 
 Communion with Idolaters forbidden, 2 Cor. <5. 14^ 17* 
 What fellowjlAp hath right eoufnefs with unrighteouf- 
 nefs ? what communion hath light with darknefsP what 
 concord hath ChriB with Belial P what agreement hath 
 the Temple of God with Idols P Come out from among 
 them, and be ye feparate. And, Hof. 4. 1 5. Though 
 thou Tfrael play the harlot, yet let not judah offend', 
 and come ye not unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth- 
 aven. Though in name that place was Bethel, the 
 Houfe of God ; yet becaufe Jeroboams Calf was let 
 
 up 
 
(30 
 up there, it was indeed Bethaven, the Houfe of Vd* 
 nity. If Rome be a Bethaven 3 for Idolatry, and cor- 
 rupting of Gods Worfljip, our departure from it may 
 be fafely acknowledged and juftified. In vai ^there- 
 fore, do the K omamfls, Stapleton, Sander s,&c. brand 
 our feparation from them with the odious name of 
 Donation, and Schifm ; it being evident out of Au- 
 gufline, that the Donatifts never objected any thing 
 againfr, nor could blame any thing in the Church 
 (from which they Separated) either for Faith or 
 Worjljip : whereas we have unanfwerably proved 
 the pfeudo-C atholic\Roman Church to be notorious- 
 ly guilty both of Herejie and Idolatry ', and our Ad- 
 verfaries themfelves grant, in whatever Church ei- 
 ther of thefe depravations are founds Communion 
 with it is to be broken offi I (hall conclude this 
 Diicourfe with that Paflage out of Mufculm, con- 
 cerning Schifm. There is (faith he) a double Schifm ; 
 the one bad, the other good: the bad is that whereby a 
 good Union, the good whereby a bad Union is broken 
 of under. If ours be a Schifm, it is of the latter fort. 
 Obf. 3. The voluntary and unnecefiary dividing 
 and feparation from a true Church, is Schifmatical. 
 When we put bounds and partitions between it 
 and our ielves, we i7n (fay fome) as did thefe Se- 
 ducers here taxed by Jude. If the Church be not 
 Heretical, or Idolatrous, or do not by Excommu- 
 nication^ 
 
C3>) 
 
 nication, Perfecution, &>c. thruft us out of its Com- 
 munion \ If it be fuch as Chrift the Head hath Com- 
 munion with, we the Members ought not by fepa- 
 ration to rend and divide the Body. To feparate 
 from Congregations, where the Word of Truth and 
 Gojpel of Salvation are held forth in an ordinary- 
 way, as the Proclamations of Princes are held forth 
 upon Pillars to which they are affixed j where the 
 Light of the Truth is fet up as upon a Candleftick, 
 to guide Paffengers to Heaven : To feparate from 
 them to whom belong the Covenants, and where 
 the Sacraments, the Seals of the Covenant, are for 
 fub fiance rightly difpenfed ', where Chrift walhgth 
 in the mid ft of his golden candleftichf, and difcovers 
 his Prefence in his Ordinances , whereby they are 
 made effectual to the Conversion and Edification of 
 Souls, in an ordinary way ', where the Members 
 are Saints, bv a profefTed fubje&ion to Chrift and 
 his Gojpel, and haply have promifed this explicitly 
 and openly \ where there are fundry who in the 
 judgment of Charity may be conceived to have the 
 work of Grace really wrought in their Hearts, by 
 walking in fome meafiire anfwerable to their Pro- 
 feflion : I fay, to feparate from thefe, as thofe with 
 whom Church-communion is not to be held and main- 
 tained, is unwarrantable, and Schifmatical. Pre- 
 fences for Separation (flam not ignorantj) are al- 
 
 ledgcd : 
 
(33) 
 ledged 5 frequently, and mofi: plaufibly, that of 
 Mixt Communion^ and of admitting into Church-* 
 feUorvflnp the vile with the precious, and thofe who 
 are Chaff, and therefore ought not to lodge with 
 the Wheat. 
 
 Anjw. 1. Not to infill: upon what fbme have 
 ure;ed, vi%. That this hath been the flone at which 
 moji Schifmaticks have flumblecl, and the Pretence 
 which they have of old alledged, as having ever 
 had a Spiritum Exconwnmicatorium, a Spirit rather 
 putting them upon dividing from thofe who, they 
 fay, are unholy, than putting them upon any godly 
 endeavours of making themfelves holy *, as is evi- 
 dent in the Examples of the Aud^ans, Novatians, 
 Vonarifls, Anabaptijis^ Brorvnifts, <&c. 
 
 1. Let them confider, Whether the want of the 
 exacl purging and reforming of thefe Abufes, pro- 
 ceed not rather from (ome unhappy Obfkru&ions and 
 political Reftridlions ( whether or no catifed by 
 thole who make this Objection, God knows) in 
 the exercife of Difcipline \ than from the allowance 
 or negLeft of the Church it felf. Nay, 
 
 3. Let them confider, Whether when they fe- 
 parate from Jihfid mixtures, the Church be not at 
 that very time purging out thofe jinful mixtures : 
 And is, that a ri. ie o make a fcparatton from a 
 Chnichj by depaiti^g ftowi it, when the Servants of 
 
 F Chrift 
 
(34) 
 Chrifv are making a Reparation in that Church, by- 
 reforming it ? But, 
 
 4. Let it be fcrioufly weighed, That feme ftnful 
 mixtures are not a diffident caufe oi Reparation from 
 a Church. Hath not God his Church, even where 
 corruption of Manners hath crept into a Church, if 
 purity of io&rine be maintained ? And is fepara- 
 tion from that Church lawful, from which God doth 
 not (eparate ? Did the Apoftle, becaufe of the ftn- 
 ful mixtures in the Church of Corinth , direct the 
 Faithful to [eparate ? Muft not he who will for- 
 bear Communion with a Church, till it be altogether 
 freed from mixtures, tarry till the day of Judge- 
 ment > till when, we have no promife, that Chrtii 
 will gather out of his Church whatsoever doth of- 
 fend. 
 
 5. Let them confider, Whether God hath made^rf- 
 vate Chriflians Stewards in his Houfe , to determine 
 whether thofe with whom they Communicate are fit 
 Members of the Church, or not ? Or rather,Whether 
 it be not their duty,when they diicover Tares in the 
 Church, in Head of feparating from it, to labour that 
 they may be found good Corn ; that fo when God 
 fhall come to gather his Corn into his Garner, they 
 may not be thrown out? Church-Officers are mini fte- 
 rially betrufted with the Ordering of the Church, 
 and for the opening and {hutting of the doors of the 
 
 Churches 
 
Churches Communion, by the Keys of Doftrine 
 and Difcipline : And herein if they {hall either be 
 hindred, or negligent, private Chriftians (hall not 
 be intangled in the guilt of their Sin, if they be 
 humbled, and ufe all lawful means for remedy, 
 though they do Communicate. 
 
 6. Let them fearch, Whether there be any Scri- 
 pture-warrant to break off Communion with any 
 Church, when there is no defeft in the Ordinances 
 them/elves, onely upon this ground, becaufe fome 
 are admitted to them, who, becaufe of their perfo- 
 nal mifcarriages, ought to be debarred ? The Jews 
 of old, though they feparated when the Worfhip 
 it felf was corrupted, 2 Chron. n. 14, 16. yet not 
 becaufe wicked men were fuffered to be in out- 
 ward Communion with them, Jer. 7. 9, 10. Nor 
 do the Precepts or Patterns of the Chriftian Chur- 
 ches, for cafting out of Offenders, give any liberty 
 to feparation^ in cafe of failing to caft them out 5 
 and though the fuftering of fcandalous Perfons be 
 blamed, yet not the Communicating with them. 
 The Command not to eat with a Brother who is a 
 fornicator , or covetous^ <&c. 1 Cor. cj. 1 1. concerns 
 not Religious, but Civil Communion, by a volun- 
 tary, familiar, intimate Converfation, either in be- 
 ing invited, or inviting ; as is clear by thefe two 
 Arguments. 
 
 Fa i. That 
 
(3*) 
 
 i. That Eating which is here forbidden with a 
 Brother, is allowed to be with an Heathen : But 
 it's the Civil Eating which is onely allowed to be 
 with an Heathen : Therefore, it's the Civil Eating 
 which is forbidden to be with a Brother. 
 
 2. The Eating here forbidden, is for the punifli- 
 ment of the nocent, not for a punilhmcnt to the in- 
 nocent. Now though fuch Civil Eating was to be 
 forborn, yet it follows not at all, much lefs much 
 more, that Religious Eating is forbidden. 
 
 i. Becaufe Civil Eating is arbitrary, and unne- 
 cessary , not fo Religious, which is enjoyned, and 
 a commanded Duty. 
 
 2. There is danger of being infecled by the 
 wicked in civil, familiar, and arbitrary Eatings \ 
 not fo in joyning with them in an holy and com- 
 manded Service and Ordinance. 
 
 3. Civil Eating is done out of love to the Party 
 inviting or invited ; but Religious is done out of 
 love to Jefm Chrijl, were it not for whom, we 
 would neither eat at Sacrament: with wicked men, 
 nor at all. 
 
 To conclude this 5 Separation from Churches fiom 
 which Chriji doth not fcparate, is Schifmatical. Now 
 it's clear in the Scripture^ that ChriB owneth Chur- 
 ches where Faith is found for the fubftance, and 
 their WorjlAp CoJpel-rrorfhip 7 though there be many 
 
 defers 
 
(37) • 
 defccls and jinful mixtures among them. And what 
 I have laid concerning the Schifmaticalnefs offepa- 
 ration^ becaufe of the finfttl mixtures of thofe who 
 are wicked in practice, is as true concerning fepaira- 
 tion from them who are erroneous in judgment ^ if 
 the Errours of thofe from whom the Reparation is 
 made, be not Fundamental, and hinder Communi- 
 on with Cbriji the Head. And much more clear 
 (if clearer can be) is the Schifmaticalmfs of thofe 
 who feparate from , and renounce all Communion 
 with thole Churches which are not of their own 
 manner of conftitution^ and modell'd according to 
 the Platform of their own particular Church-order, 
 To refrain Fellowship and Communion with fiich 
 Churches who profe is Chrift their Lord^ whofe Faith 
 is lbund, whole IVcrflip is Cojpel-worfhip y whofe 
 hives are holy, becaufe they come not into that 
 particular way of Church-Order which we have 
 pitch'dupon, is a Schifmatical rending of the Church 
 of Chrift to pieces. Of this the Church of Rome are 
 moll: guilty, who do mod: plainly ^wwcW i^™, and 
 eircumlcribe and bound the Church of Chrift with- 
 in the Limits and Boundaries of the Roman Jurif- 
 diEiion, even fb, as that they call: off all Churches 
 in the World, yea and cut them off from all hope 
 of Salvation, who fubjeel: not themfelves to their 
 way. Herein likewife thofe Separatifts among our 
 
 felves 
 
• (38) 
 felvcs are hcinoufly faulty , who cenfure and con- 
 demn all other Churches, though their Faith, Wor- 
 jl/ip, and Conversation be never fo Scriptural, meer- 
 ly bccaufe they are not gathered into Cburch-order 
 according to their own Patterns. In Scripture, 
 Churches are commended and dignified, according 
 as their fundamental Faith was found , and their 
 Lives holy ; not according to the regularity of their 
 firft manner of gathering : And notwithstanding 
 the exa&eft regularity of their firft gathering, when 
 Churches have once apoftatizcd from Faith and 
 Manners, Chrifl hath withdrawn Communion from 
 them. And this making of the firft gathering of 
 People into Church* fellowjbip, to be the Rule to di- 
 recl us with whom we may hold Communion, will 
 make us refufe feme Churches upon whom are {een 
 the Scripture-charaders of true Churches, and joyn 
 with others onely upon an Humane teftimony, be- 
 cauie Men onely tell us they were orlerly gathered. 
 
 Obi. ult. It jhould be our care to (bun Separation. 
 To this end, 
 
 i. Labour to be progrefilvein the work of Mor- 
 tification. The lels carnal we are, the lefs contenti- 
 on and diviiion will be among us. Are ye not carnal? 
 (faith the Apoflle) : and he proves it from their di- 
 viiions. Separation is uiually, but very abfurdly, ac- 
 counted a fign of an high-grown Chriftian. We 
 
 wrangle 
 
(39) 
 wrangle becaufe we are Children, and are men in 
 malice becaufe children in bolineft , Wars among 
 our lelves proceed from the Infls that war in our 
 members ', James 4. 1 . 
 
 2. Admire no Mans Perfon. The exceffive re- 
 garding of lome, makes us defpife others in re/peel 
 of them. When one Man feems a Gyant, another 
 will feem a Dwarf in comparifon of him. This 
 caufed the Corinthian Schifm. Take heed of Man- 
 worfhip, as well as Image-worfliip : Let not Idolatry 
 be changed, but aboliiri'd. Of this largely before, 
 upon having mens perfons in admiration. 
 
 3. Labour for experimental benefit by the Ordi- 
 nances. Men feparate to thofe Churches which they 
 account better, becaufe they never found thole 
 where they were before (to them) good. Call not 
 Mini&ers good (as the young man in the Gojpel did 
 Chrifl) complementally onely ; for if fo, you will 
 foon call them bad. Find the letting up of ChriU 
 in your Hearts by the Ministry, and then you will 
 not dare to account it AntichriUian. If, with J a- 
 cob j we could lay of our Bethels, God k here, we 
 would let up Pillars,, nay be fuch, for our conftan- 
 cy in abiding in them. 
 
 4. Neither give nor receive Scandals. Give them 
 not, to occafion others to feparate 5 nor receive 
 them, to occafion thy own feparation : Watch ex- 
 actly 5 
 
(4°) 
 a&ly j conftrue doubtful matters charitably. Look 
 not upon Blcmiilics withMultiplying-glafleSjOr old 
 Mens Spectacles : Hide them, though not imitate 
 them : Sport not your felves with others nakednefs. 
 Turn feparation from, into lamentation for the Scan- 
 dalous. 
 
 5. Be not much taken with "Novelties. New- 
 Lights have fet this Church on fire : For the moll: 
 part they are taken out of the Dark-Lanthorns of 
 old Heretkks. They are falle and Fools-fires, to lead 
 Men into the Precipice of Separation. Love Truth 
 in an old drefs \ let not Antiquity be a prejudice 
 againft, nor Novelty an inducement to the enter- 
 tainment of Truth. 
 
 6. Give not way to letfer differences. A little 
 divillon will loon rife up to greater : Small Wedges 
 make way for bigger. Our Hearts are like to Tin- 
 der *, a little Spark will enflame them. Be jealous 
 of your Hearts when Contentions begin, ftifle them 
 ill the Cradle. Fanl and Barnabas feparaced about 
 a fmall matter, the taking of an Allbciate. 
 
 7. Beware of Frzde, the Mother of Contention 
 and Separation. Love not the preheminence. Rather 
 befit for, than defirous .of Rule. Defpife not the 
 mean eft ; lay not, J have no need of thee. All Schifms 
 and Herejies are mofily grafted upon the Stock of 
 Pride. The firft rent that was ever made in God's 
 
 Family, 
 
(40 
 
 Family, was by the Pride of Angels, ver. 14. and 
 that Pride was nothing elfe but the defire oilnde* 
 pendency. 
 
 8. Avoid Self-feeding. He who fecks his own 
 things and profit , will not mind the good and 
 peace of the Church. Oh take heed left thy Secular 
 Intereft draw thee to a new Communion, and thou 
 colour over thy departure with Religion and Con- 
 fcience. 
 
 Thus have we fpoken of the firft, <vi%. What 
 thefe Seducers did, vi***. feparate them] elves. 
 
 2. The Caufe of their feparation, or what they 
 were, in thefe words, fenfual, not having the Spirit. 
 
 [This I will onely give the Breviate of (flill keeping 
 to hk own words) leaving it to his Commentary 
 on Jude, fince print ed.~\ 
 
 By the word -\oytvk the Apo&le feems to me to 
 make their bruit ijh fenfuality and propenfions to be 
 the caufe of their feparation : as if he had faid,They 
 will not live under the JlriB Difcipline, whe ^ they 
 mull: be curb'd and reftrain'd from following their 
 luHs \ no, thefe Senfuallifts will be alone by them- 
 felves, in Companies, where they may have their 
 fill of fenfual pleafures, and where they may grati- 
 fie their genius to the utmoft. 
 
 The Apofxle feems to add this their fenfuality, 
 
 G and 
 
(4 2 ) 
 and want of the Spirit, to their fcparatiug themfefocs, 
 not onclv to fhew, that fenfuality was the cauie of 
 their feparation^ and the want of the Spirit the cauie 
 of both'-, but as if he intended dircftly to thwart 
 and crofs them in their pretences of having an high 
 and extrordinary meafure of fpir it ualnefs above o- 
 thcrs, who,as thefe Seducers might pretend, were in 
 fb low a Form of Chriftianity, and had fo little Jpi- 
 ritualnefs, that they were not worthy to keep them 
 company : whereas J tide tells thefe Christians, that 
 thefe Seducers were fo far from being more fpiritu- 
 al than others, that they were nicer SenfualliUs, 
 and had nothing in them of the Spirit at all, &c. 
 
 Obfervations. 
 
 Obf i. Commonly fenfuality lies at the bottom of 
 pvful feparation, and mailing of SeSis. Separate them- 
 f elves, fenfual, &>c. 
 
 Obf. 2. It's pojpble for thofe who are fenfual, and 
 without the Spirit, to boaft of Spiriiualnefs. Or thefe 
 before. 
 
 Obf 5. SanEiity and Sen futility cannot agree to- 
 oether. 
 
 Obi. 4. They who want the Spirit, are eafdy brought 
 aver to Senjuality. 
 
(V) 
 
 To his Worthy Friend EL N. 
 
 S I R y 
 
 I Heartily thank you for putting me in mind of 
 our late Difcourfe, and for giving me lb fair an 
 opportunity to purliie it, by the Sermon that you 
 fent me \ which I greedily read, and had no fbbn- 
 er run over, but I blefs'd my felf to find, that you 
 mould put the Caufe upon this Irlue, and to appeal 
 to that for the juftification of the prefent Separa- 
 tion. I look'd again, and thought that you might 
 be miftaken, and had fent me a Sermon againft 
 Mr. JenJ^ti^ rather than one for him. It was a Di- 
 fcourie that I do acknowledge my felf not to be 
 altogether a Stranger to, and what I then retained 
 fome remembrance of; but yet wholly to unde- 
 ceive my felf, I fent for the Book which you fay 
 you compared it with, and, to my no finall fatisfa- 
 clion, found them (as to what concerns the matter 
 of our Dilpute) honeftly to agree ; and that you 
 may as well bring the one to vouch for the credit 
 
 G 2 of 
 
(44) 
 of the other, as he himfelf may (if there were oc- 
 cafion) Mr. Brinfleys Arraignment of Schifm (from 
 whence he hath borrowed the fubftance of this 
 Sermon) in the ju unification of what he hath laid 
 here upon that Subject. 
 
 And now, Sir, I am glad that I have brought you 
 thus far ; for I defire no better advantage than 
 what this Sermon will afford me, and fhall decline 
 the Order that we obferved in our Difcourfe, on 
 purpofe to comply with it. 
 
 You may remember, that I then undertook to 
 fhew, 
 
 i. That the old Nonconformi&s did themfelves 
 hold hay 'Communion with the Church of Eng- 
 land, and accounted thofe that did not, guil- 
 ty of Schifm, as by their Writings yet extant 
 doth appear. 
 2. That the prefent Nonconformijrs, who are Fref- 
 byterians , did plead their Practice, and ufc 
 their Arguments, againft the Independents ,and 
 others , that, did in the late Times feparate 
 from themfelves. 
 g. That Lay-Communion with the Church of Eng* 
 land, is the fame in our Times, that it was in 
 the Times of the old Nonconformist s ', and that 
 the Church of England hath as much to fay 
 for it felf now., as it had then. 
 
 4. That 
 
(4=0 
 
 4- That therefore the new Separation doth not 
 in reality diller from the old, and is truly 
 Schifm, if either they, or the old Noiiconformifts. 
 fpoke true. 
 
 Now this I look upon as a very covenient Me- 
 thod to bring the Cafe to a Decifion ■; but becaufe 
 I will fliew how willing I am to meet you, and 
 how confident I am in the goodnefs of my Caufe, 
 I (hall take that courfe which will more readily 
 lead me to make ufe of the Sermon, though in the 
 purfuing of that, I fliall al(b lay what will ierve 
 for the proof of the Yropofitions before laid down. 
 
 In the firft place, it will be ncceflary to fliew 
 what Schifm is. Now, that, as may be collected 
 from Mr. Jenhin here, is a perverfe or undue fepa- 
 ration from Church-Communion, pag. 21, 22. or, a 
 voluntary and unnecefsary dividing and feparation 
 from a true Church, pag. 31. 
 
 And upon this Definition I mall proceed, and 
 fliew, 
 
 1 . That the Church of England is a true Church* 
 
 a. That there is a Separation from it. 
 
 g. That this Separation is voluntary and nnnecef- 
 
 fary. 
 
 4. That therefore the prefent Separation is fchif 
 maticah 
 
 1.. That the Church of England k a true Church. 
 
 But 
 
(40 
 But here we arc put to it, to tell what the Church of 
 England is, by the Author of Sacrilegious Defertion, 
 pag. 35. We are told (faith he) of Scbifm from the 
 Church of England^ when I would give all the Money 
 in my Purfe, to mahg me underhand what the Church 
 of England is. I might here , without any more 
 ado, refer him to Mr. Baxter for refolution,- of 
 whom, Mr. Hickjnan faith, in his Bonafus Vapulans, 
 printed the fame Yc^pag. r 38. That he has Com- 
 munion with the Church of England in all Ordinan- 
 ces ; who cannot but certainly know what that 
 Church is, or c\{q how can he hold Communion 
 wirh it ? But becaufe there is fo great a Profit like 
 to attend it, and in compafllon to him that hath 
 there railed fo much dufi: that he cannot fee his 
 own way, I mall for once tell him what it is by 
 Wife Men thought to be, m. That Company of 
 Perfons, in this Nation, that doth joyn together in 
 the Ordinances of God, according to the Laws efta- 
 bliflied amongfi: us for Ecclefiaftical Matters. It is 
 the joyning together in the Ordinances of God^ which 
 makes a Church a True Churchy as Mr. Brinjley faith, 
 in his Arraignment of Schifm^ pag. 31. And it's the 
 joyning together in them , according to the Laws 
 eftablifhed amongfi: us, that makes filch a Church 
 to be the Church of England. I muft profeis, Sir, 
 to you, That I cm hardly forbear to expofe- that 
 
 Book 
 
(47) 
 Book of Sacrilegious Defert ion, that as much abounds 
 with Ill-nature, Self- conceit, Coniiifion, and Self- 
 contradiction, as any that I have met with of that 
 kind 3 but becauie the ■ Author hath been in many 
 things of good ufe to the Church of Cod, I iliall not 
 treat him with that rigour fuch a Book deferyes 5 
 and fliall therefore proceed to ihew,Tte this Church 
 is a True Church. He indeed, pag. 43. of that Book, 
 when it had been objected againft the prefent Repa- 
 ration , That their Members are taken out of Irue 
 Churches, replies, Horn many Bifljops have written, 
 that the Church of Rome is a Irue Church, ^c. and 
 mult no Churches therefore be gathered out of them ? 
 \_Uer, it mould be. J thereby difingenuoufly inimu- 
 ating, That the L hurch of England is no other wile 
 a true Church than that of Rome, and may as fafely 
 be feparated from. Now how the Church of Rome 
 is raid to be a true Church, Mr. Brinfley will inform 
 us, pag. 1 6* of his Arraignment of Schifm : There is 
 a twofold Truenefs 5 Natural, the one j Moral, the 
 other : In the former fenfe, a Cheater, a 1 hief may be 
 faid to be a true Man, and a Whore a true Woman, 
 and (till floe be divorced^) a true Wife \ yea, and the 
 Devil him/elf, though the Father of Lies, yet a true 
 Spirit. And in this fenfe we fljall not need to grutch 
 the Church of Rome the name of a true Church 5 if 
 not fo, why do we call her a Church ? A Church fixe 
 
t¥0 
 
 is, in regard of the outward Profejpon of Chriftiani* 
 ty ', but yet a falfe Church : true in Exigence, but 
 falfe in Belief, &c. not fo a true Churchy but that 
 (he is alfo a falfe Church, an Heretical, Apoftatical, 
 Autichriftian Synagogue. But whether the Author 
 of Sacrilegious Defertion hath the fame thoughts of 
 the Church of England, let pag. y6. mew, where he 
 faith, As I confantly joyn in my Parifl-Cburch in hi- 
 tnrgie and Sacraments, fo I hope to do while I live 
 (if I live under as honeft a Minijier) at due times. 
 And he would by all means have their Aflcmblies 
 accounted oncly as ChappeUMeetings, pag. 15. with 
 refpeft to the Publick. Now God forbid that all 
 this mould be, and that in the mean time he mould 
 think, that the Church of England is no more a true 
 Church than the Church of Rome, and not more to 
 be held Communion with. But the contrary is evi- 
 dent from him, and fo his abovefaid Inf Inuatiori the 
 more blame-worthy. But however, let him think 
 as he plcafcth, it is very obvious, that the conftant 
 Opinion of the old Nonconformijls was , That the 
 Church of England was a true Church, and what, as 
 fuch, they thought that they were oblig'd to hold 
 Communion with. So Mr. Baxter, in his Preface to 
 the Cure of Church-Divifions, faith of them ', The 
 old Nonconformists, who wrote fo much again f Separa- 
 tion, were neither blind, nor Temporizers. I hey faw 
 
 the 
 
(49) 
 the clanger on that fide. Even Brightman on the Re- 
 velation, that writeth againjl the Prelacy and Cere- 
 monies ', feverely reprehendeth the Separates, Read 
 but the Writings of Mr. J. Paget, Mr. J.Ball, Mr.Hil- 
 derfham, Mr. Bradfliaw, Mr. Bains, Mr. Rathband, 
 and many fuch others, dgainft the Separatifis of thofe 
 limes, and you may read, that our Light is not great- 
 er, but left than theirs, <&c. So Mr. Crofton, in his 
 Reformation not Separation, (though feveral of them 
 he evidently wrongs, that were far from any difaf- 
 feclion to the Order and Difciplineof the Churches 
 Ridley, &c.) pag. 43. Tindal, Hooper, Ridley, La- 
 timer, Farrar, Whitaker, Cartwright, Bains, Sibbs, 
 Prefton, Rogers, Geree, J. Ball, Langly, Hind, Ni~ 
 cols, &c. groaning under retained Corruptions, &>c. 
 yet lived, to their laji breath in conftant Communion 
 with the Church.. And this they did, upon the fup- 
 pofition of this Truth. Nay, lo far were they per- 
 fuaded of this, that they did prefer it to mod 
 Churches in the World. So the Letters betwixt 
 the Minifters of Old and "New-England, published 
 by Mr. AJb and Mr. Rathband, 1643. If we deny 
 Communion with fuch a Church as ours , there hath 
 been no Church this thou f and years with which a Chri- 
 flian might lawfully joyn. When the Wars began, 
 there were thole indeed that talked otherwife, and 
 then they would perfuade the People, that there 
 
 H was 
 
<>) 
 
 was no difference betwixt that and Rome ; as Mr. 
 Marjbaly in his Sermon upon the c Vnion of the Two 
 Hatfes, Jan. 18. 1^47- All Chriftendom, except Ma- 
 lign ants in England, do now fee, that the Qu eft ion in 
 England is , Whether thrift or Antichrift JJjall be 
 Lord and King? Then thofe that were fufpended 
 before the Long-Parliament time, were the H'itnef- 
 fes that were (lain, and the Prelacy was an Antichri- 
 Jiian Power ; and the taking away of that, and the 
 Ceremonies, was the tenth part of the City falling, as 
 Mr. Woodcoch^ did expound it, in his Sermons of the 
 two Witneftfes, 1643. pag. 83, &* 8£. Then they 
 were the Amor he?, and there was the cup of abomi- 
 nation amongft them, as you may find it in a Book 
 called The Principal A&s of the General AJfembly 
 convened at Edinburgh, May 19. 1644. pag. 19. 
 But when the Tide began to turn, and Presbytery 
 was oppoied, and in great danger of being run 
 down by Independency, they changed their Tune, 
 and began to plead for the Truth of it, and their 
 Propriety in it. Thus we find Ordination according 
 to the Church of England maintained by the Lon- 
 don-Mini ft ers, in their Vindication, pag. 143. We 
 do not deny , but that the way of Minifters entring 
 into the Miniftry by the Bifbops, had many defers in 
 it : — But we add^ That notwithftanding all the acci- 
 dental corruptions ', yet it is not fubft ant tally and effen- 
 
 tially 
 
tially corrupted : By Dr. Seaman, in his Anfwer to 
 the Diatribe \ by Mr. Brinfley of Schifm, page g 1 . 
 by Mr. Firm in, in his Separation examined, page 23. 
 Then we are told. That Preaching and Prayer were 
 kept pure in the Epifcopal days, by Mr. Firmin, 
 ibid. pag. 19. And to fliew you how reverendly 
 they fpoke of this Church , I will onely quote it 
 from one that mull be thought to fpeak out of no 
 affection, and that is J. -Goodwin, in his Sion College 
 vifited,pag. 16. Doubtlefi the real and true Miniflers 
 of the Province of Lo?idon , having fitch abundant 
 opportunity of converfe with Travellers from all Parts, 
 cannot but be full of the truth of this Information, 
 That there was more of the truth and power of Keli- 
 gion in England, under the late Prelatical Govern- 
 ment, than in all the Re formed Churches be fides. 
 
 But you will fay, All this may be granted, and 
 yet nothing faid ; for the Cafe is altered, the Church 
 of Engla?id not being now what it was then. This, 
 I acknowledge, the Author of Sacrilegious Defertion, 
 fag. 43. doth fuggeft ', The love of Peace, and the 
 fear of fright ning any further from Parijh-Communi- 
 on than I defire, do oblige me to forbear fo much as 
 to defcribe or name the additional Conformity, and that 
 Sin which Nonconformists fear and fly from, which 
 maketh it harder to us that defire it , to draw many 
 good People to Communion with Conformists, than it 
 
 H 2 was 
 
was of old. But this additional Conformity that the 
 People are concerned in, I am yet to underftand ; 
 and I fear he had another Reafon to tbibcar the 
 deici iption of it, *vi%. becaufe he could not. How- 
 ever, for once fiippofc this j yet he grants, that it's 
 onely harder \ but that doth not make it unlaw- 
 ful : For then what fhall we fay to Mr. Corbet, 
 that in his Di/courfe of the Religion of England, An- 
 no \66j. fag. 33. doth declare, That the tresbyte- 
 rians generally hold the church of England to be a true 
 Church, though defeStive in its Order and Difcipline, 
 and frequent the Worfhip of God in the Publicly Af- 
 femblies ? (I believe he fpeaks of thofe that he con- 
 verfes with, for here it is generally otherwife as to 
 the point of Pra&ice.) What mail we fay to Mr. 
 Hicty/an, that in his Bonafus Vapulans, page 133.. 
 faith of himfelf, / profefs, where-ever I come, I make 
 it my bufinefs to reconcile People to the Publicly Affem- 
 blies ', my Confcience would fly in my Face, if IJhould 
 do otherwife ? What fhall be laid to that of Mr. Bax- 
 ter, in his Cure of Church- Divifwns, pag. 263,264., 
 265. where he faith, Thoufands of well-meaning 
 People live as if England were ahnoU all the Worlds 
 and do boldly feparate from their Neighbours here ; 
 which they durji not do, if they foberly confidered, that 
 almoft all the Chriflian World are worfe than they ? 
 And that the prefent State of this Church is far bet- 
 ter 
 
(53) 
 ter than almoft any in the World, he there doth 
 largely prove. So far as the Profeffion of thefe Per- 
 form doth hold (who both deferve, and lam confix 
 dent have your reverence} we are (afe. 
 
 But flill fuppofe the worft, I will be bold to fay, 
 and I queftion not to prove, that our Church is 
 more a Churchy than what theirs was, when theyfo 
 briskly affaulted the Independents^ and charged them 
 with nqleis than Schifm, for their fe part ion from it. 
 For, if you confider, you will find, that their Con* 
 jiitution was not ietled, nor the Church in any or- 
 der, when this Controverfie began, and was carried 
 on amongft them. How it was in 1642. Sir Ed- 
 ward Deringy in his Speeches then made and print- 
 ed, will inform us, fag. 47. " The Church of Eng- 
 " land (not long iince the Glory of the Preformed 
 " Religion) is miierably torn and di (traded : you 
 " can hardly now lay, which is the Church of Eng- 
 " land. A little above, in the fame page, he faith 
 thus : " Mr. Speaker y There is a certain new-born, 
 " unfeen, ignorant, dangerous, delperate way of In- 
 " dependency : Are we, S/V, for this Independent 
 Ci way > Nay, (S/r) are we for the elder Brother of 
 cc it, the Fresbyterial Form ? I have not yet heard 
 " any one Gentleman within thefe Walls ftand up 
 l t and affert his Thoughts here, for either of theie 
 "■ Ways : And yet QSify we are made the Patrons 
 
 a and 
 
(54) 
 cc and Prote&ors of thefe fo different, Co repugnant 
 " Innovations, <&c. How it was in 1645. you may 
 guels, when the Sovereign Argument they had was, 
 That they had hopes of a Settlement, So Mr. Ca- 
 lam\\ in a FaSl-Sermon preached that Year, " did 
 " call upon his People to be afliamed and confound- 
 a ed, as for divers other things, fo, amongft the reft, 
 " for this, that whilft the Parliament is fitting, and 
 " labouring to fettle things, and while the Aifem- 
 u bly of Miniflers are ftudying to fettle Religion, 
 " and labouring to heal our Breaches , that any 
 " mould be feparating from us : as we may learn 
 out o(The Door of Truth opened, pag. 5. So again, 
 pag. 6. " They engage themfelves into feparated 
 " Congregations, and do not wait and tarry to fee 
 r what Reformation the Parliament will make. So 
 it is confeffed by the London-Minifters, in their Let- 
 ter to the Afiembly, pag. a. Jan. 1. 1645. " That the 
 a Reformation of K eligion is not yet fetled among 
 cc us according to the Covenant \ and urge it to 
 mew, that the Defires and Endeavours of the Inde- 
 pendents for a Toleration at that time , were very 
 unreafonable. How it was in 1646. you may fee 
 in Mr. Brinfleys Arraignment, pag. 48, 49. u It h 
 " alledgcd, That in this Kingdom at prefent there 
 " is no way laid forth for the Churches to w r alk in : 
 " And then, why may they not take liberty to let 
 
 "up 
 
(sO 
 
 ' up their way, as well as others theirs ? /info. Sup- 
 u pole the Church hath not her way laid out, yet 
 i it will not be denied, but that (he hath been all 
 c this while feeking it out, &c. Neither can ic be 
 c truly faid, that the Church is fo wholly deftitute 
 c of a way to w r alk in, whether for Worfhip, or 
 c Government \ the former of which is (and for 
 c feme good time hath been) fully agreed upon : 
 c the latter, however not fully compleated, yet is 
 i it for fubftance both determined and held forth. 
 How it was 1 6 $6. Dr. Dral^e, in his Bar to Free 
 admijjion, doth acknowledge, £4g. 132. " Howma- 
 M ny Congregations have for ten or twelve Years 
 " together affembled conflantly at the Word and 
 " Prayer, without the Lords Supper, yea fame of 
 " them haply without Baptifm : A great fault , I 
 « grant ; but, I hope, not fo great as to unchurch 
 " them. To favour whom, he is drove to affirm, 
 That " I dare not (ay, the Sacraments are effential 
 M Notes of the Church vifible. This was that which 
 lay hard upon them, and w T hat the Independents 
 took great advantage of, «?/%, That they were fome 
 Years without any fetlcd Conftitution, and at laft 
 fo defective in fuch a considerable part as Govern- 
 ment and Difcipline. So it was urged by the Five 
 Diifenting Brethren , in their Apologetic al Narrati- 
 on, 1643. P a £> 2 3* When the others charged th?ei 
 
 with 
 
( sO 
 
 with Schifm, they thus anfwcr : a Scbifm , which 
 tu yet muft either relate to a differing from the 
 M former Fxclefiaftical Government of this Church 
 ■ c cftabliflied ; and then, who is not involved in it, 
 4t as well as we ? or, to the Conftitution and Go- 
 w vernment that is yet to come 5 and until that be 
 <; agreed on, eftablifhedj and declared, and aft u- 
 u ally exiff, there can be no guilt or imputation of 
 (t Schijm from it. This was what the Presbyterians 
 themfel ves lamented ; as the Norrvich-Miniflers, in 
 their Hue and Cry after Vox Populi, Anno 1646. 
 pag. g 1. "We could wifli fome Penal Law were 
 14 againft the Independents, Anabaptifls, and fome 
 u <jovernment fetled. And when it is objected 
 there, " The Parliament hath given full Power and 
 ct Authority for Ordination,c£w7. They anfwer, " For 
 <c what, Sir ? to Ordain Paftors for each Congre- 
 c - gation ? or to chufe Elders ? In what Ordinance 
 u is this Power given to any but the City of hon- 
 *• don ? The want of this, was what their Adver- 
 saries did continually objeft 5 and this was what 
 they ufed all their skill to refute, as Mr. Brinfley, 
 pag, 3 1 . Objeft. We want an Ordinance, viz. Dif- 
 cipltne. So in Knuttons Seven Quefkions about Sepa~ 
 ration, 1^45. And which Mr. Firmin is fo pefter- 
 ed with, that he anfwers it after this fort, in his Se- 
 paration examined ', ^£..285 2 p. " But this Objefti- 
 
 4C on 
 
( % 7 ) 
 
 * c on hath no place in thefe Churches ; for, Prayer, 
 4< Preaching, Adminiftration of the Sacraments, yea, 
 " Difcipline they had in the Epifcopal days, &c. As 
 if that were fufficient to vindicate what they want- 
 ed in theirs. 
 
 The Cafe then was plainly thus : That they were 
 fbme Years without any fetled Constitution ; That 
 though the Province of London was by an Ordinance, 
 1645. divided into Twelve Clajpcal Elder/hips, yet 
 after all the Ordinances about it, the very Form of 
 Government was not ordered to be publifhed till 
 2 9 dug. 1648. nay, nor the Articles of Religion 
 agreed to be printed till about a Month before : 
 And yet notwithstanding, then the Cry was, Inde- 
 pendency a great Schifm, and rvorfc than Popery, (as 
 Adam Steuart in his Zerubbabel to Sanballat,p. 53.) 
 and Separation from them, Schifmatical. Now, if it 
 muft be fo, when no body knew what the Church 
 was, nor they themfelves knew what Foundation 
 to lay it upon (if J. Goodwin, in his Sim College vi- 
 fited, pag. 10. or J. L. in his Plain Truth, pag. 6\ 
 are to be believed, and as Mr. Brinjley, pag.^9. dcth 
 not deny) ; then what muft it not be, when it is 
 from a Church that is eftabliflied, and whole Arti- 
 cles, Conftitutions, and Orders are, and have been 
 time out of mind fetled, as ours is? If in 1647. 
 there was a Churchy and a Church of England, as the 
 
 I Minijiers 
 
(*8) 
 
 Ministers fent by the Parliament in that Year to 
 Oxford did maintain , and as the Form of Church- 
 Government to be ufed in the Church of England, 
 printed by Order of Parliament, 1648. doth ac- 
 knowledge - then certainly fuch a thinor there is 
 now to be found. 
 
 To conclude this: If the old Nonconform ifls thought 
 the Church of England to be a true Church, and 
 what they did think themfelves obliged to hold 
 Communion with ; If the prelenc Nonconformists, 
 when time was, did declare as much ; If the Church 
 of England doth not now differ from what it was 
 when they fo thought of it 5 aud that it is much 
 more a Church, than what that was that the lnde* 
 -pendents were accounted by them Schifmaticl^s for 
 withdrawing from : Then I hope their Separation 
 from us, will be allowed to be %mw arrant able. 
 
 And now I know not what can be faid, unlefs, 
 with the Author of Sacrilegious Defertion, pag. 33. 
 it be faid, that this is onely local diSiinciion, not fe- 
 paration. But that is the fecond thing I mall pro- 
 ceed to (hew. 
 
 2. There is a Separation from the Church of Eng- 
 land. If there was no more to be faid in this Cafe, 
 than what Adam Steuart, in his Zerubbabel to San- 
 ballat , wrote againft the Independents, 1644.. it 
 would be fufficient 3 m, $ If ye be not feparated 
 
 " from 
 
« from us , but entertain Union and Communion 
 " with us, what need ye more a Toleration, rather 
 " than the reft of the Members of our Church ? 
 The pains the "Nonconformifls took to compafs, and 
 the joy which they expreffed at obtaining a Tolera- 
 tion, (hews that they were not of its Communion. 
 But what credit can we give to fuch a Declarati- 
 on ? " For alas, (as Mr. Brinfley, fag. 28. faith in the 
 " fame cafe) what meaneth the lowing of the Oxen, 
 " and the bleating of the Sheep ? I mean, the con- 
 " fufed noife of our lefler and greater Divifions ? 
 " — Divifions, not onely without Separations, Se&s, 
 " and Factions ; but Divifions of an higher na- 
 u ture, amounting to no left than direct Separati- 
 " on *, and that not barely to a negative, but to a 
 " pofitive Separation, to the fetting up of Altars 
 u againft Altars, Churches againft Churches. That 
 " it is ib de faSlo, I think it will not, it cannot be 
 " denied. For, if Mr. Baxter , and fbme others, 
 fliall profefs, That they meet not at the fame hour 
 with the Publick, under any colour and pretence, in 
 any Religious Exercife, than according to the Liturgie ; 
 and yet in the mean time ufe it not : the Dividers 
 will not fee (fas the Author of Sacrilegious Defertion 
 faith, pag, 10.) the different Principles on which they 
 go, while their Practice feemeth to be the fame. But 
 if we fliould grant this, to thofe that are willing to 
 
 I 2 hold 
 
hold Communion with us ; yet thefc arc very few, 
 to what do wholly decline and deny it. Mr. Jen- 
 hin here faith, pag. 22. That Separation appears 
 " in the withdrawing from the performance of thole 
 " Duties which are both the Signs of, and Helps to 
 u Christian Unity, as Vrayer, Hearing Receiving of 
 " Sacraments, &c. And that a Schifm is negative, 
 u when there is onely a fimple feceffion, &c. with- 
 " out making head againft that Church from which 
 " the departure is ', or pofitive, when Perfons Co 
 " withdrawing do fo confociate and draw them- 
 " felves into a diftind and oppofite Body,ictting up 
 " a Church againft a Church. Now I dare appeal 
 to all that know them, whether Mr. Jenlyn, and 
 the far greater part of his Brethren, have been ever 
 feen in our Congregations (unlefs at feme times the 
 more adventurous of them have thruft their Heads 
 in at the Door ; when, if they heard all, as it is 
 ufually but very little of the Sermon that they have 
 patience to hear, Mr. Brinfley will tell them, That 
 as for Occafional hearing, it is agreed on all hands, it 
 is not properly an aSt ofCburcb-Communion,pag^$.) 
 And I will appeal to your Eyes, whether they do 
 not conftantly keep up their Meetings in opposition 
 to thofe of the Church. But what need I go fo far 
 about, when this is not onely acknowledged, but 
 defended ? See Mr. Wadfoorth, in his Separation yet 
 
 no 
 
no Schifm, Epift. to the Reader, where he puts the 
 Cafe of the Nonconform/Jis thus : " There are ibme 
 u hundreds of true Minifters of Jefus Chrifl, — and 
 ct there are many thoufands likewife of vifible Pro- 
 " fellbrs of Christianity, do willingly hear and joyn 
 u with thefe Minijlers in the Worjbip of God, and 
 <c in a participation of Sacraments : — Thefe meet in 
 a diflinSt Congregations , feparate from the legally- 
 u ejiablijbed Congregations in the Land, with whom 
 " they will not, becaufe they cannot hold Comtnu- 
 u nion. And now it is out, and what you fee is 
 plainly avowed : So that I have leave to pais to 
 the next Head* 
 
 3. That this Separation is voluntary, and nnnecef- 
 fary. The fin of Schifm, will all lay, is very great, 
 and what cannot be blotted out with the blood of 
 Martyrdom, as Mr. Jenkin here faith, pag. 16. one 
 Jpofy very well. But, as he obferves from Mufodus, 
 pag. 3 1. There is a double Schifm, the one bad, the 
 otfjer good', the bad is that whereby a good Union, 
 the good whereby a bad Union is broken afunder. 
 And of what fort the prefent Separation is, comes 
 now to be tried , which I fliall do, by making my 
 Obfervations from what this Sermon will afford, 
 and bv fhewing from thence, when a Separation is 
 jnflijiable, and when not. From all which, if it ap- 
 pears , that the Reafons produced by them fall 
 
 within 
 
within the compafs of the Negative, but hold not 
 as to the Affirmative, it will appear, That their Se- 
 paration is voluntary, and nnncceffary. Now there 
 are Six Cafes, as may be collected from this Ser- 
 mon, in which Separation is unwarrantable, and fcbif* 
 maticaL 
 
 i. It is not to be allowed, when it is by reafbn 
 of Mixt-Communion , and admitting into Cburch-fel- 
 lowpip the vile with the preciom. This he handles 
 at large, from pag. 33. to pag. 37. and faith, That it 
 hath no Scripture-warrant, And this hath been their 
 conftant Opinion. So Mr. Firmin, in his Separa- 
 tion examined, pag. 40. u Corrupt Members there 
 " were enough in the Jewifb Church, and fo in the 
 ic Christian Churches foon after, and in the Apoflles 
 " times ', but you have no example of feparating 
 cc from them. So the Provincial Afiembly of Lon- 
 don, in their Vindication of the Fresbyterial Govern- 
 ment^ pag. 134. " Suppofe there were fome finful 
 cC mixtures at our Sacraments, yet we conceive this 
 u is not a fiifficicnt ground of a negative, much leis 
 
 " of a poftive feparation. This they give the 
 
 Reafon of, Becaufe " in what Church fbever there 
 " is purity of DoStrine, there God hath his Church, 
 a though overwhelmed with fcandals. And there- 
 " fore whofoever Separates from fuch an Ajfembly, 
 " feparates from that place where. God hath his 
 
 " Church, 
 
(*3) 
 
 " C hmrb jwhich is ra/7; and unwarrantable. Mr. Vines, 
 in his Treatife of the Sacrament, hath a whole Chap- 
 ter, .£>/%. C4f. 20. to (hew theunlawfulneisof it, and 
 faith, ^7£, 23*5. " That to excommunicate our felves 
 " from Gods Ordinances (if Men of wicked Life be 
 cc not excommunicate) for fear of pollution by 
 " them, is Donatijiical. So Dr. Manton, on Jude y 
 fag, 496. " The Scandals of Profeflbrs are ground 
 " of mourning, but not of feparation. And Mr. Bax- 
 ter doth fpeak fully to it, in his Cure of Church-Di- 
 vifions, fag 8 1. " If you mark all the Texts of the 
 " Gojpel, you fliall find, that all the feparation which 
 " is commanded in fuch cafes (befides the feparation 
 " from Infidels and the Idolatrous Wcrld~) is but one 
 "of thefe two forts: 1. That either the Church 
 " caft out impenitent Sinners by the Power of the 
 " Keys \ or, 2. That private Men avoid all private 
 " familiarity with them. But that the private Mem- 
 " bers mould feparate from the Church, becaufe fuch 
 " Perfbns are not caft out of it, fhew me one Text 
 cc to Prove it if you can. The confederation of this, 
 made the Author of the Book called Nonconformifts 
 no Scbifmatickfjto quit this Argument, concluding, 
 pag. 1 6. with good reafon, " That if one Mans fin 
 " deiileth another that Communicates with him, 
 "who can affure himfelf of any Scriptural Com- 
 " munion on this Side Heaven I All which I have 
 
 produced 
 
produced (and could indeed tire you with Quota- 
 tions of this kind) on purpofe to let you fee how 
 much the Author of Separation yet no Schifm^ doth 
 run counter to his own Party, and withal, how lit- 
 tle acquaintance with this Argument will ferve to 
 fhew the weaknefs and inconfiftency of that Trail. 
 He puts the cafe thus, pag. 56. " If Miniftcrs, or 
 "many of the Members are much corrupted, or the 
 " Members onely commonly fo, but connived at, it 
 " is a fufficient ground for the found to withdraw. 
 And for this he gives two Reafbns .• " 1. Left under 
 " the pretence of Peace, they mould be guilty of 
 u the greateft LTncharitablenefs, and that is the hard- 
 cc ning and encouraging them in their abominable 
 a Impieties. 2. Becaufe the found ought, by the Law 
 "of God and Nature, to provide for their own 
 
 " fafety, for they cannot but be in apparent 
 
 " danger by Communicating with fuch. Now grant- 
 ing the Cafe fo to be, yet feparation will not be 
 granted lawful by themfelves, upon the Reafbns 
 which he there gives. I (hall refer him for an An- 
 fwer to the firft of the Letters that paffed betwixt 
 the Miniflers of Old and New England^ published 
 by Mr. Ajh and Mr. Ratbband, 1643. (as thought 
 by them at that time very fcafbnable). When thofe 
 of New England had laid, That by joyning with an 
 infnfficient and unworthy Miniflry-, they did counte- 
 nance 
 
nance them in their Place and Office*, fag, 8. it is an* 
 {wered, pag. i r. The Scripture teacheth evidently, not 
 onely that the People by joyning do not countenance 
 them in their Place and Office ', but that they mujb 
 and ought to joyn with them in the Worflnp of God : 
 and in Separating from the Ordinance, they /hall fin 
 againji God. From whence you may obferve, That 
 the countenancing of fuch whom the Word of 1 ruth 
 doth condemn, as not approved Min/Jiers of God, (as 
 it's there faid) is no reaibn to difcharge us of our 
 Duty ', and if Separation be not otherwife our Du- 
 ty, the fear of hardning others, by our Communi- 
 on with them, will never make it to be fo. Surely 
 this might have been very well thought to be the 
 effecT: of the fame Practice in the Church of Corinth, 
 where there was (as the Provincial Affembly of Lon- 
 don obierveth, in their Vindication, pag. 134.9 fuch 
 a profane mixture at their Sacrament, as we believe 
 few Qf any \) of our Congregations can be charged 
 withal ; And yet the Apoftle doth not perfuade the 
 godly Party to feparate, much left to gather a Church 
 out of a Church : Which yet had been very necefc 
 fary r if this Author's Reaibn had been of any force. 
 And his fecond Reafon, vi'z,. Care of our own 
 fafety, will alfo have no place here, if Mr. Jenkins 
 Authority will fignifle any thing with him ; who 
 fpeaking in this Sermon, p. 36. of that Text, 1 Cor. 
 
 K 5. 11. 
 
(66) 
 
 ^. 1 1. of Hot eating with a Brother, &c. fliews very 
 well, that it is to be underftood of Civil, and not 
 Religious eating , and gives this as one Reafon for 
 it, er/gqu That there is danger of being infe&ed by the 
 wicked in civil, familiar^ and arbitrary eatings \ not 
 fo in joyning with them in an holy and commanded 
 Service and Ordinance. If we follow the Apoftles 
 Precept, of having no familiar and ordinary converfe 
 with Fornicators, Covetous, Idolaters, Drunkards, 
 CJW- we may be affured, that we fhall be in no dan- 
 ger of Infection by their Company in Religious 
 Offices and Duties, where there is little or no con- 
 vert, opportunity, and way for it. The cafe, I 
 acknowledge, is fad, when fuch are to be found a- 
 mongft ChriflianSy and that Discipline is not exer- 
 cifed upon them : but I ought not to leave my 
 Place and Duty, becaufe flich do joyn with me in 
 it '-> or to feparate from the Church of God, becaufe 
 fuch continue in its Communion : For, this is to tear 
 the Church in pieces, and the Do&rine that drives 
 to it is very pernicious. Take the Character of it 
 from the Provincial Ajfembly, in their Vindication, 
 pag. 124. That Do&rine that crieth up Turity, to the 
 mine of Unity, is contrary to the Do&rine of the Go- 
 
 But truly, the cafe is not fo bad with us, as it is 
 reprcfented I know there are fome that do ob- 
 
 iefr, 
 
(*7) 
 
 je&, as J. R^er* did in 1653- The Parijl-Churches. 
 are not rightly constituted) for there is in them rant- 
 ing, revelling, — To whom I fhall reply, as Mr. Crof- 
 ton did then to him, in his Bethfiemefv clouded^ pag. 
 102. fiarp fentehce ! fevere cenfure ! at one word 
 pronounced on all Purifies indefinitely : the Pofition 
 whence it flows had need be well proved, and the In- 
 ference well bached. For, I mufl needs lay, that what 
 Mr. Firmin, in his Separation examined, p. 42. once 
 fa id of the Presbyterial, is true of the Epifcopal, lhat 
 there are many Minijiers that have as fen> wicked at 
 that Ordinance [[of the Lords Supper J, as ever were 
 in the Church of Corinth. I muft conlefs, that I was 
 pleafed with the ingenuous acknowledgment of the 
 Author of The Cry of a Stone, in 1642. who faith, 
 pag. 39. " Ifreely acknowledge, that there are ma- 
 " ny in the Parifhes of England, which are of a ve- 
 " ry godly Lif£ and Converfation , and fome that 
 " go as far therein, as ever I faw any in my life .• 
 tC And if I fhould prefer any of the Separated be- 
 " fore them in Converfation, I fhould fpeak againft 
 " my own Confidence : but in the Church-ftate and 
 tc Order, I mufl: prefer the other. And I queftion 
 not , but that the State of the Church is ftill as 
 good, in that refpe£r, as it was then , and might 
 have been better, had thofe kept \a it that are run 
 away from it, and that by their Divifions in Ke/i- 
 
 K 2 gi° n -i 
 
gion, make many to queftion whether there be any 
 iiich thing in the World. Certainly, were our en- 
 deavours rightly placed and united, there is fcarcely 
 any Church in the World whofe Temper would pro- 
 mife more fuccefs, than that of ours : And if we 
 would deal fairly (as J. G. in his Cretcnfis, pag. 5. 
 once laid} in comparing them together, and ??ot fet the 
 Head of the one againSi the Tail of the other, but mea- 
 fure Head with Head, and Tail with Tail ; I will not 
 fay of our Church, as he did of Independency, That 
 if that hath its Tens, Presbytery hath its Thoufands 
 of the Sons of Belial in its Retinue : but I will lay, 
 That even the fepar at ed Churches, as they now ftand, 
 are not without them, as well as we : ,And if they 
 would as well look out the Extortioner, and Un- 
 jutt, and Covetous, and Railer, (not to ipeak of o- 
 thers) amongft themfelves, as they do pick out the 
 Fornicator and Drunkard, that are (as they infinu- 
 ate) with us, they would find their own Churches 
 not Co good, and others not fo bad as they imagine. 
 But fuppofing that fuch are in the Communion 
 of our Church (fas it is not to be altogether denied^) 
 yet is not the Church prefently to be blamed. Hear 
 what Mr.BrinJley faith, in his Arraignment of Schifm, 
 pag. gp f "Supposing fuch unwarrantable Mixtures 
 " have been, and yet are to. be found ', yet it can^ 
 <c not properly be put upon the Churches fcore. 
 
 "What 
 
" What her Ordinance was touching the keeping 
 " back fcandalous Perfons from the Sacrament ; they 
 Cc which have read her ancient Rubric!^ cannot be 
 cl ignorant. And Mr. Vines of the Sacrament, r. ic?. 
 p. 233. fpeaking about the Power which the Mini* 
 Ster \\7ith. of keeping off unworthy Perfons from the 
 Lords Supper , faith, " I as little doubt of the Inten- 
 " tion of the Church of England-, in the Rule given 
 cC to the Minifler before the Communion, in the cafe 
 <c of fbme emergent Scandal at the prefent time. 
 The Church hath provided for the correcting of Of. 
 fenders ; and perhaps there may be as good reafbn 
 why the Ceniures of it are not now executed, a3 
 there was in the late Times. Mr. Crofton once told 
 the Independents, in his Bethpjemejlj clouded, p. no* 
 "The continuance of our difordered Difcipline, h 
 " the fruit of their difordered Separation from us< 
 I would fain be refolved in what Adam Steuart, in 
 his Zerubbabel to SanbalJat,pag. 70. puts to the Que- 
 rie : *f I would willingly know (f faith he J whether 
 " it were not better for them that aim at Tolerati- 
 <c on and Separation, to ftay in the Church-, and to 
 <c joyn all their endeavours with their Brethren to 
 f 5 reform Abufes ; than by their feparation, to let the 
 " Church of God perifli in Abufes ? Whether they 
 Cc do not better, that ftay in the Church to reform 
 " it, when it may be reformed, than to quit it for 
 
 " fear 
 
(7o) 
 « fear to be deformed in it ? If they had taken this 
 courfe, and had given us their help, in ftead of 
 withdrawing from it, doubtlcfs the Cenfures of the 
 Church would have fignified more, and the Members 
 of it have been in a much better condition than 
 now they are. I lhall conclude this with what is 
 fa id by a well-experienced Per ion, in his AddreJJ to 
 the Nonconformists, pag. 1 61. "If, in ftead of this 
 " [Separation^, each Chriflian of you had kept to 
 ^Parochial communion, and each outed Mmifler had 
 C£ kept their Refidence among them, and Coinmu- 
 cC nion with them, as private Members,* in the Pa- 
 " rifli-way ; and had alfo in a private capacity joyn- 
 "ed with thofe Minivers which have fucceeded 
 " them, in doing all the good they could in the Pa- 
 " riih, — I nothing doubt, but that by 10 doing, you 
 " would have taken an unfpcakable far better 
 cc courfe to promote the Power of Religion in the 
 cC Nation, than by what you have done. It*s they 
 that have in great meafure weakned, if not tied 
 our Hands, and then complain that we do not fight. 
 If all things therefore were confldered , I believe 
 that they would have as little reafon to condemn 
 our Churches for Corruptions in this kind, as I am 
 fure 5 if they will be conftant to themfelves , that 
 they have none to feparate from us upon account 
 of them. 
 
 2. Separation 
 
(70 
 
 i. Separation is not to be allowed for flight and 
 tolerable Errors, which are not Fundamental, and hin- 
 der Communion with Chrift the Head ', as may be 
 collected from pag. 28. d> 37. of this Sermon. So 
 alfb fay the old Nonconformists, in their Confutation 
 of the Brownifls, published by Mr. Rathband, pag. 4. 
 " We defire the Reader to confider, that a People 
 a may be a true Church, though they know not, nor 
 cC hold not every Truth contained in the Scriptures, 
 a but contrarily hold many Errors repugnant to 
 u them. This was the Primitive Opinion and Pra- 
 ctice, fay the provincial Affembly, in their Vindica- 
 tion, pag. 1 3 <p. " All fuch who profefTed Chrijiiani- 
 " ty, held Communion together, as one Church, not- 
 cC withftanding the difference of Judgments in leffer 
 "things, and much corruption in Conversation. 
 And now, that the Church of England doth hold no 
 Fundamental Errors, I appeal to themfelves. What 
 it was before the Wars, let the Author of Church- 
 Levellers, printed for Iho. Zander hi I, 1 644. (peak : 
 When it was objedled , That the Presbyterians, 
 whilft perfecuted by the Bijbops, did hold forth a 
 full Liberty of Confcience ; he anfwers , This is a 
 Slander, — the difference between them and the Pre- 
 lates being not in DoBrinals, but Ceremonials. And 
 therefore after the Covenant was taken, whilft the 
 Lords had the Power of Admiflion to Benefices , all 
 
 Perfons 
 
(70 
 
 Perfons prefented were to read the Articles publick- 
 ]y, and profeft their confent to them. And that 
 it is the fame ftill , is confefled. So Mr. C. in his 
 Difcourfe of the Religion of England, pag. 43. "The 
 " Do&rine of Faith and Sacraments by Law efta- 
 " blifhed, is heartily received by the Nonconformifts. 
 So Sacrilegious Defertion, pag. 4^. cc We differ not 
 a at all from the Do&rine of the Church of England 
 cc (till the new DoEirine about Infants was brought 
 " into the new Rubric^ And certainly, that is, if 
 an Error, no dangerous or fundamental one. So 
 Dr. Owen^ in his ?e ace-offering, i66j. p. 12. "The 
 " Confejpon — of the Church of England, declared in 
 " the Articles of Religion, and herein what is purely 
 " Doctrinal, we fully embrace, and conftantly ad- 
 H here unto* Again, pag. 17. " We know full well, 
 " that we differ in nothing from the whole Form of 
 " Religion eftabliflied in England, but onely in fome 
 " few things in outward Worfhip. Herein too we 
 have the concurrence of Mr. W. himfelf, in his Se- 
 paration yet 710 Schifm, p. 60. " If you take it \jhe 
 " Church of England^ for fuch Christians onely who 
 f 4 are of the Faith in Do&rinals with thofe that hold 
 " the Thirty nine Articles ', here the Nonconformijis 
 "come in for a (hare alio, who are of your Faith 
 " therein : excepting thofe which refpect Difcipline 
 "and Ceremonies. And pag. 61. " It is evident, that 
 
 "fome 
 
(73) 
 " fome fort of Errors in a Church, though but tole- 
 "rated, may be a juft ground of withdrawing j 
 "though I do not charge the Church of England 
 " with any fuch Errors. 
 
 This therefore being thus acknowledged, one 
 would have thought the Argument might be fairly 
 dilmiffed, and that here could be no reafon found 
 for Separation : And yet when we are come thus 
 near, it is like the two Mountains fpoken of in 
 Wales , upon whofe tops you may exchange Di- 
 fcourfe, and almoft come to making of Hands ; and 
 notwithftanding all, there is little left than a days 
 Journey betwixt you. We feem to have brought 
 the Matter to a perfect reconciliation 5 but when 
 we leafr. thought of it, we are at open War again : 
 For the Author lafc-mentioned grants as much as 
 we can ask ; but immediately thrufts in a Reafon 
 or two, that he thinks will maintain their Ground, 
 and vindicate their Pra&ice notwithftanding. The 
 DoSirine he hath nothing againft ; but yet the Trea- 
 cher s are Sometimes he faith, they are contrary 
 
 one to another \ fome are for the DoSirine of Predejii- 
 nation, others againU it, &c. and how Jh all he then 
 judge of their Faith and DoSirinals ? fag, 60. Some- 
 times he faith, It h conceived, many of them preach 
 contrary to the Articles, ibid. Sometimes again, It is 
 conceived, that fever al of them do not honejlly believe 
 
 L thofe 
 
(74) 
 
 thofe Ay tides that they have prof e fled t$ believe, p.6l. 
 And to make all fure, becaufe it may be objected, 
 1 hat the People have liberty in this cafe of conrplain* 
 ing \ he anfwers, lo what purpofe ? when fitch Er+ 
 rors are publicity profeffed in printed Books, and no 
 courfe takgn for correcting or ejecting of the Authors? 
 pag. 6 1. Things as impertinently, as (landeroufly 
 fuggefted. For, what though the MtniUers differ 
 among themfelves in fome Points, as he doth after 
 his Predeceflbrs the Brownifts affirm, (as you may 
 fee in the Nonconformifis Anfwer to them, pag. 4.) 
 is that a reafon to forfake our Communion? and 
 doth he that forfakes ours for theirs, find the cafe 
 much amended ? Do not the Non conform ifls as mucH 
 differ from each other, as any amongfr, us? If not, 
 from whence proceed all thofe Difputes about Com* 
 nmnion and "Non-communion with us, about the Im- 
 putation oiChrijVs Right eoufnefs, the nature of j uni- 
 fying Faith, lawfulnefs and unlawfulnefs of prefer /- 
 bed Forms of Prayer, of God's Prefcience, &>c. And 
 why are Mr. How, and Mr. Baxter^ &c. fo much 
 teazed by, fome of their Fellows, and the latter cal- 
 led Slanderer , Dictator ', Selffaver, and accufed of 
 Trofanenefs, Blafphsmy, and what not, as you may 
 fee in the Antidote to his Cure, 1670? Is it not be- 
 cauie they will not fwallow down the abfurdeft of 
 their Principles, or do go further toward an accom- 
 modation 
 
modation of our unhappy Differences, than they 
 will allow? 
 
 But what are thole Points that our Minifters thus 
 differ among themfelves , or from our Church in ? 
 Is it about the mode in Imputation, or about the Ob- 
 ject of Predeftination ? <&c. Thefe things the Church 
 of England is not fb minute and pofitive in. If he 
 will not believe me, I mall turn him over to Mr. 
 Hichyian (''who hath in feveral Tra&s particularly 
 concerned himfelf in this Argument, and may be 
 fuppofed to nnderftand it). He, in his Latin Ser- 
 mon De H&reftum origine, 16^9. pag. 37. underta- 
 king to anfwer Tilenus about the Doctrine of our 
 Church concerning the ObjeSt of Predestination, whe- 
 ther maffa corrupta, or no, faith, Apage nugas 5 Non 
 folet Ecclefia Anglicana in myfleriis hujufmodi exp/i- 
 candis vagari in eas qu^ftiones, qu<e nimia fubtilitate 
 popular em captum effughwt. Is it about the fpecial 
 Grace of God in. the conversion of a Sinner, or the 
 influence of the Holy Spirit in it? Then I will dare 
 him to produce any that are herein Nonconformists 
 to the Vo&rine of the Church of England, and that 
 teach j That there is no fpecial Grace exerted in the con- 
 verfion of a Sinner ', or, That the Holy Ghofl is of no 
 further nfe in the converfion of Men, than as he frjl 
 inffired thofe that delivered the DoSirine of Chriflia- 
 nity, &c. as he flanderoufly doth fay. He may force, 
 
 L £ and 
 
and feme, and wreft ; but he cannot do it honeft- 
 ly and fairly. But fuppofing there were feveral 
 that did thus teach, and that fuch Books were Li- 
 cenfed where this is affirmed : Doth this prefently 
 make the Clmrch Heretical ? Notwithstanding this, 
 I believe that the Church of England is in it (elf as 
 Orthodox, as theirs was in i £46. when Sblichtin- 
 gius his Comment on the Hebrews, or what was little 
 better, came out thus attefted by Mr. J. Downame : 
 1 have per ufe d this Comment , and finding it to be 
 learned and judicious , plain and very profitable , I 
 allow it to be printed and publifoed. I doubt they 
 would have taken it very ill, to have been then 
 charged with Socinianifm, becaufe that Book came 
 out with fuch an Imprimatur, from him that was 
 deputed in thofe Times to give it: And yet I never 
 heard that Mr. Downame was corrected or ejected 
 for fo doing. And may they continue Orthodox 
 notwithftanding,and we for fuch an cfcape be count- 
 ed Heretical ? But how far a Church is concerned 
 in fuch Cafes, I think will appear from what is (aid 
 in The Divine Right of the Presbyterial Govern- 
 ment,pag.i6^ cC The Church of Rome (fetting afide 
 <c thofe particular Perfons among them that main- 
 " tained damnable Errors, which were not of the 
 c< Churchy but a predominant Faction in the Church) 
 iC continued to be a true Church oiChrijl until Lu- 
 
 a thers 
 
(77) 
 a thers time, — as the unanimous confent of the 
 cc Orthodox Divines confefs ; yea, as fome think, 
 " till the curfed Council of Trentj~u\\ when, the 
 <c Errors among them, were not the Errors of the 
 " Churchy but of particular Men. Now I hope they 
 will be as favourable to us, and give our Church as 
 much allowance in this cafe as that of Rome, and 
 not count it the Error of the Church, till by fome 
 Decree, Canon, or Article it is owned fo to be. 
 
 Sir, You may by this time perceive, how hard 
 thefe Perfons are put to it, when it makes them (b 
 quick to efpy, and bufie to rake all the dirt they 
 can together, to make our Church deformed, and 
 worthy of all that defamation they have branded 
 it with, and of that diftance they obferve and keep 
 from it. How do they torture Phrafes, hale along 
 ExpreiTIonSj whithout due Procefs, to the Gibbet 
 and the Stake, and cry out Yelagianijm, and Socini- 
 anifm^ nay Mahomet if m ? Mr. Jenhjn and his Bre- 
 thren once laid, in the Vindication of the fresbytcrial 
 Government, pag. 140. "To make ruptures in the 
 Cc Body of ChriH^nd to divide Church from Church, 
 <c and to fet up Church againft Church, and to ga- 
 " ther Churches out of true Churches, and becaufe 
 " we differ in fome things, therefore to hold Com- 
 LC munion in nothing '•> this we think hath no war- 
 *'rant out of the Word of God, and will introduce 
 
 "all 
 
(78) 
 c£ all manner of Confufion in Churches,— and fet 
 cC opcn a wide gap to bring in Atbeifm, Popen, tlc- 
 u re fie, and all manner of wickednefo And all 
 People would be apt to fay the fame, and could not 
 fee into the Reafon of this Separation , if it came 
 to this, Whether the Righteoujnefs of Chritf be the 
 meritorious or formal Caufe of our "J unification ? or, 
 Whether Moral Vertue and Grace differ in their 
 nature, or onely in their caufe } It muft be fbme- 
 what grois and tangible that they can judge of; 
 and therefore charge them home, That they hold 
 no necejfity of the Right eoufnefs of Chriji ', and, That 
 Moral Fertue y as it was in the Heathens, or in Chri- 
 ji ians without any Divine Grace, will fave ; and 
 you do the work : This is a Lord have Mercy wrote 
 upon their Church-doors ; and People will be taught 
 by this, to avoid them as they would the Plague, 
 and to be as wary of trufting their Souls with them, 
 as their Bodies with Tygers, Bears, and Wolves. 
 It is truly and well obferved by Mr. Hicfynan, in 
 his Sermon De Harefium origine, pag. 12. Ipfa fa- 
 lus non fervet eas oves, quiz deque metuunt a pa ft or i- 
 bm &> lupis : Once render their Paftors formidable 
 to them, and we may know how the day will go. 
 Beat up thefe Kettle-Drums , and you may eafily 
 gather, and fccurely Hive the Bees. 
 
 f (hall conclude this with what Mr. Baxter faith, 
 
 in 
 
(79) 
 in his Cure of Church* Divi]wns,pag. 393, 394* "As 
 " I have known many unlearned Sots, that had no 
 " other Artifice to keep up the reputation of their 
 u Learning, than in all Companies to cry down 
 "fuch and fuch (who were wifer than themfelves) 
 < c for no Scholars j — So, many that are, or ihould 
 Cc be confeious of the dulneis and ignorance of their 
 Ct fumbling aud unfurnihYd Brains, have no way to 
 u keep up the reputation of their Wifdom with 
 " their fimple Followers, but to tell them, fuch 
 < c an one hath danger om Errors^ and fuch a Booh^ is a 
 <c dangerous Booh^ and they hold this, and they hold 
 "that j and fo to make odicus the Opinions and 
 
 " Practices of others. * And if Ignorance get pofc 
 
 ^feillon of the ancient and gray-headed, it triumph- 
 "eth there, and faith. Give me a Man^ that I may 
 " difyute with him \ or rather, Array with this He- 
 " reticle, . he is not Jit to be dijputed with. How far 
 Mr. Jenkjn is concerned in this Character, I leave 
 to his consideration ; but if you have a mind to 
 inquire into it,you may repair to his Exodus^ where 
 he comes like another Samfon y iliaking his Locks, 
 and rufliing forthwith his mouth full of Menaces 
 againft: the uncircumcifed Fhiliflims^ thoie audacious 
 Heretic!^ that lie fculking in the corners of the 
 Church of England : but (poor man) meets with 
 the misfortune of that Champion, to be led away 
 
 in 
 
(8o) 
 in triumph ; and in flcad of anfwering others, is 
 not able to defend himfelf. 
 
 3. Separation is not to be allowed for the manner 
 of Church-con flit nt ion. So faith Mr. J. here, pag.^j. 
 Much more clear (if clearer can be) is the Schifmati- 
 calnefl of thofe who feparate from , and renounce all 
 Communion with thofe Churches which are not of their 
 own manner of Conflitution. For which he gives three 
 Reafbns, pag. 38. And herein he agrees with Mr. 
 Brinjley, in his Arraignment, pag. 32. and in his 
 Church-Remedy, pag. 51. Now if this Argument 
 held for Presbytery againft Independency, and that 
 the feparation of the latter was for that reaibn Schif- 
 matical, I fee not why it fhould not be of as equal 
 force to condemn the former, who yet do prefume 
 to offer it on their own behalf againft us, and think 
 that they have faid enough, when they have been 
 able to pick ibme quarrel with the prefent Confli- 
 tution. 
 
 4. Separation is not to be allowed when it is up- 
 on thofe terms which will make us refufe fome Chur- 
 ches upon which are feen the Scripture-charaCiers of 
 true Churches. This Mr. J. gives as a Reafbn to 
 confirm the former, pag. 38. Now what thofe Cha- 
 racters arc, he tells us a little before, in the fame 
 page, viz. In Scripture, Churches are commended, ac- 
 cording as their fundamental Faith was found, and 
 
 their 
 
(8i) 
 
 their Lives holy. Nay, he feems to refblve it whol- 
 ly into the former, fag. 34. where he faith, Hath 
 not God his Churchy even where corruption of Man- 
 ners hath crept into a Churchy if purity of DoSirine 
 he maintained ? Now how far our Church hath up- 
 on it thcfe Characters, I appeal to what is above- 
 faid, to Ihew j and for which, I queftion not but it 
 may contend with any Church in the World. 
 
 5. It is not to be allowed becaufe other Churches 
 are by them accounted better. So fag. 39. Men fe- 
 farate to thcfe Churches which they account better^ 
 becaufe they never found thofe where they were before 
 (to them J good. Which he there condemns, and as 
 a remedy againft it, advifes to labour for experiment 
 tal benefit by the Ordinances. The reafon of this Se- 
 faration (fairh Mr. Vines on the Sacrament ,p. 235.} 
 feems plaufible to eafie capacities ', fuch as the Apoflle 
 calls y Rom. 16. 18. the hsmx the fimfle\ but if it 
 be urged by the Standard of Scripture, it will be found 
 too light. But now the cafe is altered, and it is be- 
 come a confiderable Argument ; A more profitable 
 Minijiry^ a furer Worflnp^ a ftri&er Difcipline^ an 
 holier Society and Fellow/JjifyZre fbme of the maflle 
 Pillars upon which the weight of this new Sepa- 
 ration is laid. Hither the Author of Sefaration 
 yet no Schifm doth with confidence betake himfelf, 
 fag, 65, 66 j 6 j. The Reafon fuffofeth that which is 
 
 M not 
 
(so 
 
 not to be fuppofed^ i. c. that to withdraw from a. 
 Church -for the bene jit of a more profitable Miniftry ^ 
 is a Crime. Now herd fhall confider, whether this 
 Rcafbn will hold, andferve to juftific a Separation 
 from a Church ; and, if it were granted, whether 
 yet it is a Reafon amengft us. 
 
 Whether it is fo in it (elf, let Mr. Brinfley fpeak, 
 in his Arraignment^ pag. 47. where the Cafe is put 
 thus ; a May not People make choice of what Mi- 
 <c nifters they pleaie, putting themfelves under fuch 
 "a Miniftry as by which they may edifie moft? 
 <c Anfrv. Suppofe it, That a People have fuch a Pow- 
 "er and Right to chufe their own Minifters ; yet 
 < c having once chofen them, and God by giving a 
 " Blefling to their Miniftry having ratified and con- 
 Ct firmed that Choice, evidencing that they are the 
 cC Minifters of God to them ; whether they may 
 " now, upon pretext of greater Edification, take a 
 Li liberty to themfelves to chufe new ones as oft as 
 " they pleafe .• this the moderate Author of the late 
 " Irenicon \j. e. Mr. Burroughs^ will by no means 
 * allow, but condemns, as the direct way to bring 
 " in all kind of diforder and confufion into the 
 u Church. This both Yresbyterians and Independents 
 then are agreed in, That Edification alone is no fuf- 
 ficient Reafon to forfake one Church for another ; 
 and that a Perfons own Opinion of his Cafe in that 
 
 matter, 
 
<T8 3 J) 
 
 matter , will not make that lawful to him, which 
 will be the unavoidable means of bringing in con- 
 fofion to the churches which he either leaves, or 
 joyns himfelf to. But the Author of Separation yet 
 no Schifm thinks he hath fufficient Reafbn for his 
 Opinion, who doth thus argue, vii,. " You call it 
 cC a Crime^ becaule you fuppofe it is a tranfgrefllon 
 " the Law of vifible Communion with fbme parti- 
 " cular Church : But I fay, That the Laws of vifible 
 4C Communion with this or that particular Church, 
 "are but pofitive-, and therefore fubordinate to 
 " Laws more natural and necejsary *, fuch is that 
 " wherein we are commanded to take care of our 
 <c Souls and Salvation : So that if Christians do (hift 
 " particular Churches, for the obtaining of very ap- 
 iQ parent advantages to their Salvation, above what 
 cC they -have had where they were, I fee therein no 
 u Crime at all committed. I grant indeed , that 
 pofitive Laws muft give way to natural ; but then 
 there muft be a plain necefllty that muft intervene, 
 to make them inconfiftent : tor otherwife, both re- 
 main in force, as I conceive they do in the Inftance 
 here given. If indeed Salvation was inconfiftent 
 with, or what we run the apparent hazard of, in 
 Communion with a particular Church, then there 
 is fufficient reafon for feparation from it : but if it 
 be onely that I conceive the increafe of Knowledge, 
 
 M 2 or 
 
(8+) 
 
 or the engaging of my Affections, may be better 
 
 attained by feparation from , than continuance in 
 its Communion, this is far from a necejpty^ and io 
 no fufficient Reaion to break it. As it is in a Fa- 
 mily, If the Mafter takes no care to provide for 
 his Children and Servants (who of old were efteem- 
 ed the Goods of their M after) but that they muft 
 ftarve if they continue with him ; or if what he 
 provides, is fuch as will rather poyfbn than nourifli 
 them, or what is abfolutely forbid fas Srvwes flefb 
 under the haw') : in fuch a cafe they may ifiift 
 for themfelves, and refufe to live with him, till he 
 mends their Condition. But if what he provides is 
 lawful, wholefbm, and fufficient, though not of fo 
 good nourifliment as might be wiilied, they are to 
 content themfelves, and to keep within the bounds 
 of Duty and Obfervance. So it is here ; If we 
 were in a Church that either denied us what is ne- 
 ceflary to Salvation, or that would engage us to do 
 what will bring it into imminent hazard, we have 
 an unquefiionable Rcafon to forbear Communion 
 with her : But when the means of Salvation that 
 we enjoy are fufficient to it, and what we delibe^ 
 rate about is onely the Degree and Meafure, \rvhat 
 is better and fitterj we cannot quit a Church with- 
 out fin, and our departure is unneceffary. And that 
 will further appear, if we confider, 
 
 i. 'that 
 
(8 5 ) 
 
 I. That no further Knowledge or Edification is 
 necejfary, than what we can attain to in a lawful way , 
 and what is otherwife lawful in it felf\ by taking an 
 •undue courfe for it, is made unlawful. As, Hearing, 
 Reading, and Christian Converfe, are very fit Means 
 for my Improvement 3 but if I for it do injure my 
 Family, and neglect my Calling, it is lb far from 
 being my duty, that it is my fin. So to edifie my 
 felf, and to acquire a greater meafure of Knowledge 
 and Christian Vertices, is a noble and moft excel- 
 lent End ; but if I for it break off Communion 
 with the Church whereof I am a Member, I make 
 my feJf a Tranigreffor. All which, if well confide- 
 red, the falacy of our Author's Argument will ap- 
 pear. For , fuppofe I reafbn thus : I he Laws of 
 particular Families are but pofitive, and therefore fub- 
 ordinate to haws more necejfary ', fitch is that where' 
 in we are commanded to tal^e care of our Souls : arid 
 therefore if I negleCi the former for the good of the 
 latter, I fee no Crime therein committed. Would not 
 this appear very conceited and imaginary ? And if 
 it's falfe here, it is fo in the Cafe that he offers. 
 The grounds of his miftake herein, feem to be* 
 1. That he was fb intent upon the p'ofitive Laws of 
 particular Churches, that he had no refpeel: to Church- 
 communion in it felf, which is highly neceflary ', by 
 which means he did not confider, that this Princi- 
 ple 
 
(SO 
 pie of fhifting Communion for the expectation of 
 further Improvement, is what tends fo to the diffo- 
 lution of a Church, that he that holds it is capable 
 of continuing in no Communion whatfoever *> and 
 what cannot be put in practice, but confufion in, 
 and breaking up of Churches will mod certainly 
 follow. This was what they of New-England had 
 experience of, and therefore provided againft, in 
 their Platform of Church- Difcipline, cap.> 3. church- 
 Members (fay they) may not depart from the Church, 
 and fo one from another, as they pleafe, nor without 
 jujt and weighty caufe. — Such departure tends to the 
 diflolution of the Body. — Juji Keafons for a Members 
 removal of himfelf, are, 1 . If a man cannot continue, 
 without fin. 1. In cafe of Ferfecution. But not a 
 word of a more profitable Min/Jiry, and greater edi- 
 fication. Now if this be the neceffary and conftant 
 Effect: of this Principle, it cannot be true. 
 
 2. Another ground of his miftake feems to be, 
 That the notion of a particular Church, led him to 
 think , that their feparation into Societies diftinct 
 from our Church, was no more than to go from one 
 Y ariflj-Church to another (which is alfo the conceit 
 of the Author* of Sacrilegious DefertionJ : This he 
 infinuates pag. 66. But this is apparently falfe, as I 
 have mewed in part before 5 and which will be 
 further evident, if you obfervc, that their Agree- 
 ment 
 
C«7) 
 
 ment with us in Thirty fix of our Articles, makes 
 them to be no more of us (whilft they differ in the 
 others that refer to our Conftitution, and which they 
 feparate from us for, as they profefs), than that of 
 the Independents made them one with the Fresbyte- 
 Hans \ who in all matters of Faith did freely and 
 fully confent to the Confejpon pnblijbed by the Af- 
 fembly, the things of Church-Government and Difci- 
 pline onely excepted, as they fay in the Preface to the 
 Platform of Church- Discipline in New-England. And 
 much to the fame purpofe is that of the Congrega- 
 tional (hurches met at the Savoy, 1658. But yet for 
 all this, they neither of them think themfelves one 
 with the other ; and the Independents, for their ffr 
 paration, were notwithstanding accufed of Schifm 
 by the other. 
 
 a. This Courfe is unneceffary, and fb unlawful, 
 becaufe even in the way in which a Perfon is (whilft 
 a Member of a true church in the fenfe all along 
 fpoken of )> he may attain to all due Improvement. 
 The Author of Prelatique Preachers none of Chriifs 
 Teachers, pag. 3 1. to encourage People rather to fit 
 at home than hear the Publicly Mimflers, tells them, 
 That they might otherwife help themfelves, and 
 that they had Means fufficient without it , as the 
 Scriptures, mutual Edification and Conference, Prayer, 
 and Meditation, <&c. and that, though never fo few or 
 
 wea\ , 
 
(88) 
 
 weah^, Chrifl was amongfl them. And if this would 
 be fufficient when wholly deftitute of a Miniflry, I 
 am apt to think it would do as well with one,though 
 not altogether fo well qualified as might be defired. 
 I (hall conclude this with what the fame Author 
 &\t\\,pag. 28. When God hath vouchfafed a fuffici- 
 ency of Means, and thofe unqueflionably lawful, though 
 not of fo rank^ flefh, or Jo highly prom if ng as fome 
 others, for the attaining of any good and de fir able End-, 
 a declining and forfalqng of thofe Means (whether 
 out of a diffidence of the fufficiency of them for the 
 End defired, or upon any other rcafon wbatfoeverj to 
 efpoufe 1 hers pretending to more fir ength and efficacy, 
 hath been ft ill difpleafing unto God, and of fad confe- 
 rence to thofe that have been no better advifed than 
 to make trial of them. 
 
 But is it really thus, that there is any fuch diffe- 
 rence betwixt the Abilities of their and our Teach- 
 ers ? and that the obtaining apparent Advantages 
 to their Salvation in that refpecl, above what they 
 could have had with us, is what they feparatefor? 
 So they would have it thought, as you may fee in 
 the Call to Archippus, printed 1664. pag. 10, 2 r. 
 7 here is indeed a Minifiry, and Preaching Quch as 
 it isf) ; but whether finch as is likely to anfwer the 
 Ends of it, judge ye. Are thofe like to convert Souls, 
 that have neither will nor skill to deal with them 
 
 about 
 
(Sp) 
 
 about their Conversion P So again, When there is no 
 better help than an idle, ignorant ^ loofe-living Mini- 
 ftry-> C unc ^ er which) God l^nows, we fpeal^ it with grief 
 of hearty too many, not to fay the moft of tbofe that 
 are of late come in, may be reckoned} or than the cold 
 and lyeartlefs way that is generally in nfe\ th§ Coal of 
 Religion doth ever go out. An high and daring 
 Charge, which he will be concerned to make good, 
 or to fufter under the imputation of a foul Defa- 
 mer. Have they neither will nor styll to convert 
 Soids P From whence then proceed thofe moft ex- 
 cellent and laborious Sermons that the Wileft of 
 the Nation do ib extol the prefent Generation for ? 
 Whence was it, that when we were bewildred with 
 Phrafes, and Religion made hard and unintelligible, 
 and Cafes intricate and perplexed, that the things 
 of it were made eafie, and to lie near to Mens Un- 
 derftandings 5 and that the part of Cafuislical Divi- 
 nity is not near fo cumber (bm as it was in the days 
 of fbme Men? Are they idle and ignorant P From 
 whence then is it that their Adverfaries of all forts 
 are fo well oppofed, not to fay confuted, that they 
 are made to quit their ground, and to betake them- 
 felves to new Principles in their own defence ; to 
 fall from the Infallibility of the Perfon, to that of 
 Tradition,, as they do abroad j from old Nonconfor- 
 mity, to Brownifm \ and from t resbyterianifm to hi- 
 ts dependency^ 
 
(50) 
 dependency, as foine do at home ? In what Age and 
 Church have the great Truths and Principles of our 
 Religion been more eftcclually confidcred, more di- 
 ligently fearched into, more clearly ftated and cx- 
 J>lained,or more fucccfsfully defended, than in ours j 
 and which I may challenge the whole Party of the 
 Separation to mew any thing equal to ? From 
 whence comes all this to pafs, if our Church did fo 
 abound with uncatechifed ZJptf arts, poor Shrubs, and 
 empty and un accompli ffjed Predicants, as Mr. Jenl^in, 
 with an holy indignation, doth in his Exodtts, p. 55. 
 complain? Surely if thcfeMen had but duly weigh- 
 ed things, and had been converfantin the Writings 
 of our Church, or looked amongft themfelves, they 
 would not have dared thus to reproch the moft 
 Learned and Induftrious Miniftry that perhaps Eng- 
 land ever yet had. Let me recommend to fuch, 
 what Mr. Baxter faith in the like cafe, in his Ex- 
 plication of Pdjptges in the Profejjion of the J Force- 
 Jierjhire Affociation, printed i^^.pag. 110. I defire 
 thoje Brethren that objeCt this, but to fearch their hearts 
 and ways, and remember what may be faid againji 
 themfehes, and caji the beam frji out of their own 
 eye , at lea ft to cenfure as humble men, that are fenfi- 
 ble of their own miscarriages and imperfeEiions. And 
 if they did according to this advice, I am perfwa- 
 ded that they would think there were as good and 
 
 ufeful 
 
(pO 
 
 ufcful Men in the World as themfelves. Do we 
 not find fome of themfelves forced to acknowledge 
 as much? Confult Sacrilegious Defertion, pag. 86. 
 I really fear , left meer "Nonconformity hath brought 
 fome into reputation as confciencioits^ who by weah^ 
 Preaching will lofe the reputation of being judicious y 
 more than their filence loft it. And a little after, 
 fpeaking of their own Minifters-, he faith, Verily the 
 injudicioufnefs of too many among you^ is for a lamen- 
 tation : And, pag. 88. he adds, Through Gods mercy , 
 fome Conformifts preach better than many of you can 
 do. Truly when I confidcr what a Stock of wor- 
 thy and accomplifhed Perfons in that Quality ,whc- 
 ther for Sobriety and Learning, our Church is at 
 prefent furniflied with, (though it mull: be confef- 
 led, there are that are defective in both ; as when 
 were they not ?) I look upon Men of this quarrel- 
 fom temper, to be fuch as are defcribed in Sacrile- 
 gious Defertion-) pag. 9 1 . That having fet themfelves 
 in a dividing way^ fecretly do rejoyce at the difparage- 
 ment of Conformists^ and draw as many from them as 
 they can , and that therefore deferve the Character 
 he there gives, That they are but destroyers of the 
 Church of God: Such that to flrengthen themfelves, 
 and carry on their own Intereft, care not what 
 they do or fay } but how worthily, let the Author 
 of the Antidote to Mr. Baxter s Cure judge , who 
 
 N 2 faith, 
 
(pO 
 
 faith, pag. 20. That to reproch a whole Party y for the 
 wifcarriages of jome few, without taking notice how 
 many faults are in thofe whom they would defend, is 
 the ufual artifice of fuch that thinly themfelves con- 
 cerned, upon any wretched terms whatfoevtr, to main- 
 tain an ill Caufe, and have profiituted their Consci- 
 ences to defend an Argnment. I will leave fuch to 
 confider what Mr. Watfon faith, in his Sermon of 
 God's Anatomy upon the Heart, pag. 1 6y. which is 
 fo fevere, that I care not to transcribe. 
 
 But to proceed : As little reafon is there to fe- 
 parate from a Church for rcmifnefs of Difcipline. 
 This the Author of Separation yet no Schifm faith 
 that he feeth no fin in, pag. 6y. for the Reafon gi- 
 ven before ; and to which my abovefaid Anfwer, 
 and what I have alio (aid pag. 66. will be fufficient. 
 I (hall onely add, That care is taken by our Church 
 and Conftitution (fas I have already fhewed) for the 
 due Adminiitration of Difcipline : And if it be or> 
 je&ed, That it fails in the exercife and application of 
 it; I will anfwer with Mr. Jenhj-n here, pag. 33. 
 Let them confider, whether the want of purging and 
 reforming of Abufes, proceed not rather from fome un- 
 happy and political rejiriSiions — in the exercife of Di- 
 fcipline, than from the allowance or negleSi of the 
 Church it felf. If you would fee more of their 
 Opinion formerly as to this cafe, I refer you to 
 
 Mr. 
 
( 93 ) 
 Mr. Brinfley y in his Arraignment of Schifm, pag. 5 2. 
 to Mr. Firming in his Separation examined, pag. 28'. 
 the Confutation of the Brownijis, publiilied by Mr. 
 Rathband, pag 18. and Mr. Vines on the Sacrament, 
 pag, 22. 
 
 6. We mu ft not feparate from a Church as long 
 as Chriji holds Communion with it. So Mr. Jenkjn 
 here, pag. 56*. faith ; Separation from Churches from 
 which ChriH doth not feparate, is Schifmatical. So 
 3Mr. Vines on the Sacrament, pag. 242. <c If God afc 
 " ford his Communion with a Church by his own 
 " Ordinances, and his Grace and Spirit, we are not 
 " to feparate. It would be unnatural and peevifh 
 " in a Child to for lake his Mother, while his Fa- 
 " ther owns her for his Wife. Now whether Chriji 
 holds not Communion with our Church, I refer you 
 to the feveral Marks given in this Sermon by Mr. 
 fenkin, p. 52. fiich as the having the Cojpel of Sal- 
 vation preached in an ordinary way, &>c. which you 
 may compare with what is faid in the Vindication 
 of the Provincial Afiembly, pag, 141. And fo much 
 is exprefly granted by T. P. or rather D. (as Mr. 
 Crofton unriddles it) in his Jerubbaal (wrote in an- 
 fwer to Mr. Crofton, 1662.) pag. 18. Ci The Eflen- 
 <c tials conftitutive-of a True Church are, 1. The 
 "Head. 2. The Body. 3. The Union that is be- 
 "tween them: Wkich three concurring in the 
 
 " Church 
 
(94) :, 
 
 " Church of England, Chrifl being the profefTcd 
 " Head, She being Chritts profeffed Body, and the 
 u Catholic\ Faith being the Union-bond whereby 
 cC they are coupled together, She cannot in juftice 
 " be denied a True (though, God knows, far from 
 a a pure) Church. So much is granted by the Au- 
 thor of No?iconformifls no Schifmaticks,pag.i^. who 
 having ftarted an Objection, v?%. " You own the 
 " Church of England to be a true Church of Chrifl -, 
 "and if fo, Chrifl is in it, and with it; and why 
 " will you leave that Church from which Chrifl is 
 " not withdrawn ? Replies after this fort : cC We 
 " acknowledge the Church of England to be a true 
 " Church, and that w r e are Members of the fame 
 iC viilble Church with them ', but it's one thing to 
 cc leave a Church, and another thing to leave her 
 " external Communion. To leave a Church, is to 
 " difown it, andceafe to be a Member of it or with 
 u it, by ceafing to have thofe Requifites that con- 
 "fiitute a Member of it, as Faith and Obedience. 
 I will not quarrel at this time with the diftinc"tion ; 
 but I do not underftand what fervicc ic can be of 
 to them, when after all the accuracy of it, fuch that 
 have nothing more to fay, will notwithstanding that 
 be Schipnaticly, if his own Definition of Schifln 
 hold true ', for, pag. 12. he faith, That Schifln is a 
 caufelefs feparation of one part of the Church from 
 
 another 
 
(95) 
 another in external Communion. Now if the Church 
 of England is fo a Church, that Christ holds Com- 
 munion with it i and they Members of that Church , 
 as he acknowledged : then they that leave her ex- 
 ternal Communion are guilty' of Schifm : and then 
 it's no matter whether there be any difference be- 
 twixt leaving a Church, and leaving her external 
 Communion, when the lea ft of them makes thofc 
 that are guilty of it to be Schifmaticly. 
 
 To fnm up now what hath been faid : Though 
 there be Errors in a Church (if not fundamental^ ', 
 though there be corruption of Manners, mixture in 
 Communion \ though there be not a perfect Confuta- 
 tion and Order, and other Churches may be thought 
 better : yet if it hath the Scripture-Characters of a 
 true Church upon it, and Christ holds Communion 
 with it, it is not to be feparated from, and Separa- 
 tion from it is Schifm at icaL So that as far as the 
 Negative part holds, we are fecure. 
 
 2. For whatReafons may a Church be feparated 
 from, and Pcrfons be juftifled in it ? 
 
 Dr. Manton on Jude, pag. 496. faith, The onely 
 lawful grounds of Separation are three, viz. Intole- 
 rable F erf edition, Damnable Here fie, and grofs Ido- 
 latry. To which Mv.Jenkitrdoth here, pag. 23. add 
 tinjuji Excommunication, and a necefiary Communion 
 with a Church in its Sins. All which I fhall now 
 
 confiJer. 
 
confider, and enquire, whether they are Caufcs 
 cxiftent at the preient amongft. us, and what they 
 of the Separation have reafon to plead. 
 
 i. Damnable Here fie. This I have before fuffici- 
 ently acquitted our Church of, and therefore con- 
 ceive that I may without more ado proceed. 
 
 2. Grofs Idolatry. I find rhofe that deny the law- 
 fulnefs of hearing the cftabliihed Ministers, are moft 
 forward to charge this upon us. With this the 
 confident Author of trelaiique Preachers none of 
 Chrisls Teachers, that he might poflefs the unwary 
 Reader betimes, thought fafeft to begin his Book, 
 vi%. " The Idolatrous madnefs of the Common- 
 c< Prayer-Book- Worfhip, hath of late been made fo 
 " manifeft to all the Houfhold of Faith in this Na- 
 
 Cc tion, As if it was a thing fo certain, plain, 
 
 and notorious , that he muft not be one of the 
 Houfhold of Faith that dcth not difcern it, and 
 abhor the Church for it. With the like boldnefs 
 are we ailaulted by the Author of A Chriji/an and 
 fober lefthnony againft finful Compliance, or the un- 
 lawful nefs of hearing the prefent Miniftcrs of the 
 Church of England, pag. 55. printed 1664. An 
 Author of ereat forwardnels, but of intolerable ig- 
 norance or malice, that* tells you, pag. 44. Cc That 
 "our Church doth own, that Men ought to be 
 "made Miniftcrs oncly by Lord Bifhops ; (And 
 
 then 
 
(97) 
 then what a breach is made upon our Church by 
 the Bijlop of Soder in the Ifle of Man, that takes 
 upon him to Ordain without that Title ?) "That 
 " the Office of Suffragans, Deans, Canons, Petty- 
 <c Canons, Prebendaries, Chorifters, Organifts,Com- 
 li miuaries, OfliciaIs,e*M\ is not onely accounted by 
 " us lawful, but neceflary to be had in the Church : 
 And, pag. 45. That Women may admin ijier Baptifm. 
 And, pag. 94. reveals a further Secret, That the Re- 
 formed Churches generally renounce the Minifiry of 
 the Church of England, not admitting any by <vertue 
 of it to the Charge of Soul /. Now do you not think 
 that fuch as thefe are able Champions , and fit to 
 enter the Lifts of Controverfie, that take up things 
 by hear-fay ? By this you may guefs to what Tribe 
 they belong ; and you may learn it from Mr. Bax- 
 ter, in his Cure, pag. 193. " It is an ordinary found, 
 "to hear an ignorant, rafh, felf-conceited Perfbn, 
 li especially a treachery to cry out Idolatry, Idolatry, 
 a againft his Brothers Prayers to God. But what 
 occafion hath our Church given for this Out-cry ? 
 Is it for the Matter , or the Form of its Prayers ? 
 Not the Matter : for Mr. D. in his Jerubbaal, pag. 
 35. doth thus fay of it, Moji of the Matter I grant 
 to be Divine. And Mr. Crofton, in his Reformation 
 no Separation, pag. 25. fpeaks more universally ', "I 
 " confefs their Common-Prayer is my Burden ;— yet 
 
 JO "I 
 
(?8) 
 "I muft confefs, I find in it no Matter to which 
 a (on a charitable Interpretation) a fbber, ferious 
 " Chriflian may not fay, nay can deny his Amen, 
 Not for the Form : for then it muft be either be- 
 caufe every Form is Idolatrous , or that this Form is 
 efpecially fo, or becaufe it is prescribed and impofed. 
 The firft of thefe is affirmed by the angry Author 
 of The Antidote to Mr. Baxter s Cure, pag. i 1 . who 
 faith, " We do not think any thing to be Idolatry, 
 " becaufe it hath fbmerhing in it to be amended j 
 < c but becaufe it is ufed in the Worfhip of God, 
 " without any Command from God to make it law- 
 11 ful : and this we muft tell our DiClator^ is a fpe- 
 cC cies of Idolatry, and forbidden in the Second Com- 
 " mandment. But this Author hath warily declined 
 the main Argument which Mr. Baxter infilled upon 
 three Pages before, and falls upon the Rere, and 
 picked up an accidental Expreffion : for you will 
 find him, pag. icpo. of his Cure, to reafon after this 
 manner \ " Where did thefe Men learn to call their 
 lC Brethrens Worfhip falfe, any more than their 
 c * own, upon the account that God hath not com- 
 Cc manded the manner of it ; when he hath neither 
 <c commanded us to ufe a Form, or to forbear it ? 
 Now I believe it would be as hard for him to find 
 a Command for the perpetual ufe of a Conceived 
 Payer, as he thinks it will be to find one for a Form ; 
 
 and 
 
and then they that pray without a Form , are as 
 much guilty of Idolatry , as thofe that ufe it : Nay, 
 if the Divine Authority hath left it free, thefe are 
 the Superstitious, that would make that a Duty com- 
 manded, and that a Sin forbidden, which is not ', as 
 Mr. Baxter there faith, fag, 282. But if you would 
 fee more of this, I {hall refer you to the Confutati- 
 on of the Brownitfs, pag. 12, 13. 
 
 It is not Idolatrous, as this Form is elpecially fo. 
 This indeed fome have ventured to fay, as fuppo- 
 fing the Liturgie to be taken out of the Mafs-Bool^. 
 So faith the Author of the Anatomy of the Service- 
 Bool^: And therefore Mr. Robert Baily wrote a Book 
 called A Parallel of the Liturgie with the Mafs-Bool^, 
 reprinted 1 66 1 . But it fhall fuffice to fay to this, 
 what Mr. Ball, in the Name of the Nonconformifts, 
 replied, in the Letters betwixt the Miniflers of Old 
 and New England, pag. 14, 15. "The Liturgie was 
 "not taken out of the Mafs-Booh^, in fuch fenfe as 
 " you object j but rather the Mafs, and other Ido- 
 " latrous Prayers, were added to it : for Popery is a 
 
 "Scab or Leprofie cleaving to the Church. It is 
 
 "no hard Task to (hew, that our Ser<vice-Boo\yj2LS 
 " reformed in moft things, according to the pureft 
 < c Liturgies which were in ufe in the Church long 
 " before the Mafs was heard of in the World. And 
 " if that could not be (hewed, yet forms of Speech 
 
 O 2 "generally 
 
(ioo) 
 u generally taken (we /peak not of this or that fpe- 
 "cial Word or Phrafe), is no more defiled by Ido- 
 u latry, than the light Air, or Place where Idolatry 
 " is committed. It is not unlawful to pray, Lord 
 u help-) or Lord have mercy -, or to give Thanks, frai- 
 " fed be God \ becaufe the Papifls lay, Lady help, 
 " o* Praifed be God and the Virgin Mary. 
 
 Laftly, It is not Idolatrous as it is a Form impo- 
 fed. So much indeed is faid in the Chriftian and fo~ 
 her Testimony-, pag. 68. To pray by an impofed Form, 
 is Idolatry ', and therefore doth not ipare to fay, 
 pag. 70. That Latimer, Ridley, and Hooper, and ma* 
 ny other Martyrs, were Idolaters : and yet in the 
 mean time grants, That they were fitch eminent Wit- 
 mffes of Chrift, that they pjall come with him, and 
 fit upon Thrones. But I cannot underftand how Im- 
 fofition can alter the Nature of Things, and make 
 that unlawful which was otherwife in it ielf law- 
 ful ; and I fee it is as little underftood by the bet- 
 ter part among themfelves. So the Nonconformists 
 Confutation of the Brorvnifis, pag. 15. "If Forms thus 
 <c devifed by Men be found to be lawful and pro- 
 * c fitable, what fin can it be for the Governors of 
 u the Church to command that filch Forms be ufed ; 
 Ki or for us, that are perfwaded of the lawfulnefs of 
 i{ them, to life them, being impofed ? unlefs they 
 uC will fay, That therefore it is unlawful to hear the 
 
 " Word, 
 
(IOI) 
 
 " Word, receive the Sacraments, &c. becaufe we 
 "are commanded by the Magiftrates fo to do, 
 a Whereas indeed we ought the rather to do good 
 " things, that are agreeable unto the Word, when 
 "we know them alio to be commanded by the 
 " Chriflian Magiftrate. So Mr. Baxter, in his Cure % 
 pag. i%6. "If you command your Child to learn a 
 u Catechifm, or Form of Prayer, will you teach him 
 " to fay, Father, or Mother, it had been /awful for 
 a me to ufe this Form, if neither you nor any body had 
 t£ bid me \ but becaufe you bid me, it is unlawful. O, 
 " whither will not partiality lead men ! And it will 
 be worth your while, to fee how Mr. Brinfley, in 
 his Church-Remedy, argues againft. it 5 where he con- 
 cludes, That amongtf all the monflrous and mif-Jbapen 
 Conceptions which thefe brooding Times have hatched 
 and brought forth, I do not kgow any more prodigious 
 than this, viz. That things indifferent in themfelves, 
 are made unlawful by being commanded. And then 
 much lefs are they thereby made Idolatrous. If our 
 Liturgie then is good for the Matter, and that the 
 Matter is not altered by the Form', then you may 
 fee where the Storm will fall, and what they are 
 to be thought of that are guilty of thefe Reproches, 
 and how much they diftruft the goodnefs of their 
 Caufe, that betake themfelves to fuch Arts as thefe 
 to fupport if. 
 
 rJ-A 
 
(ioO 
 
 3. A Church may be feparated from upon into* 
 lerable Ferfecution. Where I fhould confider, whe- 
 ther it be Ferfecution^ before I proceed to enquire 
 whether it be intolerable. But becaufe I have no 
 mind to aggravate the Cafe, by (hewing what hath 
 been by them formerly thought Ferfecution , and 
 what not, I (hall omit that part of it , and enter 
 upon the other, <vi*z*. the intolerablenefs of what is 
 fuffered, as a Reafon for which they fuppofe them- 
 felves compelled to quit Communion. And it muft 
 arife to this degree , or el(e it will not juftifie a Se- 
 paration : Ferfecution alone will not warrant it, un- 
 Icis it comes to be infuff'erable. Now this muft be 
 cither on the part of the Ministers^ or on the Peo- 
 ple. Not on the Minijiers : for all the difference 
 betwixt them and the People is, that they are re- 
 quired to lay down the prefent Exercife of their 
 Miniflry r till they are fatisfied in the fubmiffion they 
 muft give to the Rules and Orders of the Church : 
 But this is no Ferfecution, much lefs what is intole- 
 rable No Ferfecution : for it is a Security required 
 in all Churches of the World, that thofe who are 
 intrufted with that Office, fhould obferve the Or- 
 der and Difcipline that is amongft them. So it was 
 in the Church of Scotland whilft Presbyterian, where 
 it was refolved, " That whofoever hath born Office 
 "in the Miniftry of the Kirh^ or that prefently 
 
 " bears, 
 
( io 3 ) 
 " bears, or fhall hereafter bear Office herein, mail 
 "be charged by every particular Presbytery where 
 "their Residence is, to fubferive the Heads of Di- 
 " fcipline of the Kir^ betwixt this and the next 
 " Synodal Afiemblies of the Provinces, under the 
 "pain of Excommunication j as you may fee in the 
 Do&rine and Discipline of the Kirl^ of Scotland.print- 
 ed 1 64 1. pag. f2. And as they there declared the 
 Office of a Bijbop to be unlawful in it felf, pdg. 1 9. 
 fo I find, that the General A jfembly did require, that 
 befides this Subfcription to the Book of Discipline y 
 fbme Perfons (I fuppofe fufpected of afrec"tion that 
 way) mould fubferibe a particular Declaration of. 
 the unlawfulnefs of Epifcopacy, as was the Cafe of 
 Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Hay, in the Principal A&s of 
 the General J jfembly ^ 1 644. And thus it was amongft 
 us, when all Perfons to be Ordained, were to bring 
 a Teftimonial of their having taken the Covenant, 
 as you may find it in the Form of Church-Govern- 
 ment, pag. 20. and in all Places required to take it, 
 and to read the Dire&ory the next Lords-day after 
 the receipt of it, by an Ordinance, Aug. 23. 1645. 
 So that taking Security by Profeffion and Subfcri- 
 ption, that the Order of the Church fhall be obfer- 
 ved by Perfons intrufted in the Miniftrations of it, 
 and Sufpenfion in cafe of refufal, is no Perfection. 
 But fuppofing that fo it was, yet it is not intolera- 
 ble* 
 
(fio4J) 
 ble. I do grant, that it muft needs be a great trou- 
 ble to a good Man, that he cannot do God and the 
 Church that Service which he hath devoted himfelf 
 unto, by reafon of fome Limitations put upon him ; 
 but yet I think, that this is not fufficient to carry 
 him oft* from Communion with a Churchy and to 
 fet up another, becaufe he is denied this Liberty : 
 for he is ftill capable of being a private Member of 
 it, and therefore he ought to continue in the latter 
 Capacity, when fufpended from the former. So 
 faith Mr. Crof tonkin his Reformation not Separation y 
 Epijt. to the Reader : I cannot be perfwaded, that I 
 am disbanded from Chrijts Army, jo foon as I am fu~ 
 perfeded to my ConduSl ', J muH march under his 
 Banner ', when I may not be permitted to march at the 
 Head of a Company. So again, pag. 98. / conceive, 
 Adminiflration of God's Worjhip is much different 
 from Attendance on God's Worfloip ; and I Hand 
 bound to the laH, when I am C) H ftty or unjuUly) bar- 
 red from the jirjk. And this was the Opinion of the 
 old Nonconformijls. But now we find it otherwife \ 
 and lbmetimes thefe plead the obligation of their Or- 
 dination, fometimes the Relation which they have to 
 a peculiar People, and fometimes the necejpty of mnU 
 titndes of Souls. The firft we find infifted upon by 
 the Author of Separation yet no Schijm, Epiji. to 
 the Reader : If it be asl^ed. May not Supreme Magi- 
 
 jtrates, 
 
( to? ) 
 
 ftrates, within their Dominion-, fufpend fome Mini/lew 
 from the Exercife of their Office, when they conceive 
 it is for the peace of the reft P It will be anfwercd, 
 That the Lord of Lords, who giveth the Office and 
 the Commiffion , — hath certainly with the Office 
 defigned them to the Exercife thereof, and bath 
 therein placed, not onely the Office, but the Exercife 
 thereof , above the reftraint of any towers ivhatfo- 
 ever, fo long as the Exercife thereof continues to be re- 
 gulated by the Laws of Chrift. And in this cafe, 
 nothing is more ordinarily produced than that of 
 the Apoftlc, Wo is me, &>c. But is not this to ad- 
 vance every one beyond the cognifance of Superi- 
 ors, and to fall in with the Church of Rome, whilft 
 they decry it? l£ indeed theirs was the Apoftle's 
 ca(e, the Apoftle's refolution of obeying God rather 
 than Man, would become them : But how little it 
 is fo, let the old Nonconformifts mew, in their Con- 
 futation of the Brownifts, pag. 4 1 . How unshjlfidly 
 that fpeech of the Apoftles is alledged, will appear to 
 them that will confider thefe three differences between 
 their Cafe and ours. 1 . They that inhibited the Apo- 
 ftles, were profefjed Enemies to the Gojpel. 2. ihe 
 Apoftles were charged not to teach in the "Name of 
 -Chrift, nor to publijh any part of the DoSlrine of the 
 Gojpel. 3. Ihe Apoftles received not their Calling and 
 Authority from men, nor by the hands of men-> but 
 
 P immediately 
 
immediately from God him f elf y and therefore might 
 not be retrained or depofed by men : whereas we, 
 though we exercife a FunSiion whereof God is the 
 Author ', and we are alfo called of God- to it, yet we 
 are called and ordained by the ministry of men, and 
 may therefore by men be depofed, and retrained from 
 the exercife of it. I fliall conclude this with what 
 Mr Crofton faith, in his Reformation not Separation, 
 pag. 70. If the Being of Christianity depended upon 
 my Ferfonal Minijiry, as the being or appearing a Chri- 
 ftian doth on my Communion with the Church vifible, 
 the Inference might be of fome force ; But till that 
 be proved, I think it is of little. 
 
 But is this really the cafe ? Then what becomes 
 of thofe that among thcmfelves have taken up whol- 
 ly with other Profeffions, and yet were never char- 
 ged by their Brethren, for fo doing, (as Mr. Baxter 
 is by the Author of the Antidote, pag. i^.J) with ha- 
 ving left the Lord's IVorkJ? Now I queftion not, but 
 the lame Rcafbn that did induce fome to take up 
 with other Employments to theneglecT: of this, and 
 fo fatisfie the reft, that they acquielce in it, will al- 
 io be fufficient to mew, That mcer Ordination can- 
 not bind to the Exercife of that Office, when the 
 Magiftrate and Church forbids ; and confequently, 
 that a Restraint is no intolerable ter/ecution. 
 
 But the relation that they have to a peculiar People 
 
 makes 
 
... (I07) 
 
 makes this Inhibition intolerable. This is indeed 
 pleaded in Sacrilegious Defertion, pag. 1 1 . &* 45» 
 tC I undertake to prove, that Paftors and People are 
 " the conftitutive Eflentials of a true Church ; that 
 "Dr. Seaman, Mr. Calamy, Dr. Uanton, &c. with 
 « the People fubjecl: to them as Paftors, were true 
 tf Churches : Prove you, if you can, that on Auguft 
 "24. 1662. they were degraded, or thefe true 
 " Churches diffolved. But before he puts others to 
 prove the contrary, he ought to have made good 
 his own Propoiltion, by proving, That the Relation 
 betwixt particular Paftors and People is not to be dif- 
 folved. For what though Paftors and People are 
 the Constitutive Effentials of a true Church ? what 
 though Dr. Seaman, Mr. Calamy, &c. and the Peo- 
 ple with them, were true Churches ? Can neither 
 Dr. Seaman, <&c. remove , or be removed from a 
 People, but all this mifchief follows, that Minifters 
 are prefently degraded , and Churches diflblved ? 
 Could not Mr. Calamy remove from St. Edmonds- 
 bury to tiochford, and from Rochford to Alderman- 
 bury, as he himfelf doth declare in his Apologie P 
 Could not Mr. Jenhjn remove from BlacJ^Fryers to 
 Chrift- church, without all this difordcr ? What 
 wreck was here made in Churches, if this Relation 
 was indillbluble ? But if a Paftor may thus remove 
 himfelf from one Church, upon invitation to ano- 
 
 P 2 ther? 
 
(io8) 
 
 rher, (as it fccms he may) it mews, that the Rela- 
 tion is not fb ftricl: as is pretended j and that, con- 
 fequently, Superiors in Church and State may fb 
 far diiiblve that Relation, as well as thePaftor him- 
 fclf. But however, what relief will this afford to 
 thole that leave thofe Places where they had any 
 pretence of fuch a Relation , and bufie themfelves 
 where they had none? What relief will this be to 
 thofe that contract a new Relation, and that do ga- 
 ther Churches out of Churches ? Surely Dr. Sea- 
 man s y Dr. Jacobs, and Mr. Jenkins Flocks now, 
 are taken from other Places than Alhallows Bread- 
 ftreetj Martins Lndgate, &c. 
 
 Laftly, The necefftty of the People is what doth 
 make their Preaching neceflary (as they would have 
 it underftood. So Sacrilegious Defertion^ fag. 5 Q.J), 
 and fo therr Sulpenfion intolerable Perfection. But 
 iiippofing this, (as doubtlels there is and ever was 
 Work mfficient for a greater number of skilful and 
 faithful LabourersJ) ; yet is there no way to be ufe- 
 fulj but by facing a numerous Congregation, and 
 preaching at fuch Times, and in fuch Places, as do 
 declare a defiance to the Church, which they there- 
 by make a maniieft rupture in, and open feparati- 
 on from ? Is there no good to be done by preach- 
 ing to Five, befides a Mans own Family, and by 
 Perfonal Conference and Inftruclion ? How came 
 
 then 
 
C I0 9 ) 
 then our Saviour and his Apoftles oftentimes to be- 
 take themfelves to this way, as an Author of their 
 own, in his Archippus, doth inform us, pag. 7 \ ? 
 But if it be of great advantage, and that it is m 
 little part of a Miniflers Duty, perfonally to Inftruci, 
 and breach from Honfe to Honfe, as that Author 
 faith, how conies it to be fo faclly negleSied by them, 
 as he there complains? and how comes the Apo- 
 ftles Wo to be pleade d for the one, and not to bind 
 the other ? Hear what the Author of Sacrilegious 
 Defertion fairh, pag. 03. " Is it not too much Hy- 
 cc pocrifie to cry out againft them that forbid us 
 Ci Preaching, and in the mean time to neglecl: that 
 tc which none forbids us, m. Chriftian Conference. 
 Certainly, as he faith, pag. 04. Sincerity inclineth 
 men to that way of Duty that hath leaft OJientation. 
 
 But if the ftate of the People be indeed the rea- 
 ion, why do we not find them where there is moft 
 need of their Afliftance ? Are we not told, in Sa- 
 crilegious Defertion , pag. 10. That the Nonconformijis 
 have found, that fome t laces of many Tears ' paSt have 
 had no Ministers at all ? Are there no Places in Eng- 
 land and Wales, that do much more abound in Ig- 
 norance, than London, and the adjacent Parts ? and 
 are the Nonconformists there to be met with ? No, 
 that Work is left to one (good &>ul) that having 
 not a Liberty by the Law to exercife his Office in 
 
 the 
 
(no) 
 
 the more Publick way, doth with unwearied dili- 
 gence purfue the Ends of it, in travelling over fteep 
 Mountains and craggy Rocks, and converfing with 
 the rude and untaught Natives, whilft others do 
 more confult their Eafe and Profit. 
 
 You fee then, upon the whole, that their Su£ 
 pen Hon is not intolerable Perfecution , or what will 
 be fufficient to juftifie their Separation j but that 
 ftill, notwithftanding their Pleas, they are upon 
 the fame terms with the People j and what will 
 not juftifie the Separation of the People, will not 
 juftifie that of the Miniftcr , and what is fufficient 
 to retain the People in Communion, is fufficient to 
 retain the Minifler. 
 
 And fo we are left to confider the State of the 
 People, and whether there be on their part intole- 
 rable Perfecution. Not to difpute whether what is 
 fuftcred be Perfection, or not \ I fhall onely confi- 
 der, whether it be what is fufficient to warrant their 
 Separation : And that will appear, if we obferve, 
 That their Suffering muft be either becaufe they do 
 not at all Communicate with the Church, or that 
 there arc fome particular things onely which they 
 do not Communicate with us in. If it be for the 
 former, then they did feparatc before their fufter- 
 ing, and confcqtiently their Suffering can be no rea- 
 fon for their Separation. If it be onely as to par- 
 ticular 
 
ticular things, then, I fay, it will be hard to ihevv> 
 that any Perfbn doth fuffer intolerably upon that 
 fcorej the Church proceeding in fo great tender- 
 nels, where Perfons have fhewed their readineis to 
 hold Communion with her in what they can H and 
 have fo far given fatisfadlion of their Piety? Peace- 
 ablencfs, and Compliance, that in the Cafes where 
 the Laws have been thought fevere, they have rare- 
 ly been executed upon fuch in their feverity. Which 
 I conceive is a fufficient Reply to thofe that cry out, 
 Perfecution, and intolerable, becaufe of the great Pe- 
 nalties that Offenders in fuch kind are liable unto* 
 For, the mecr fuppofal and expectation of ieverity, 
 is no good Rcafon for Separation, as long as it is 
 not, nor is likely to be actually inflicted. For, as 
 Mr. Bradpaw the Nonconfbrmrft, in his ^Vnreafona- 
 bknefs of Separation, printed 1640. pag. 107. doth 
 fay, Though Humane Laws, under never fo great Pu- 
 nifl.ments, jbould bind us ta never fo great Corrupti- 
 ons in Gods Service \ yet fo long as we do not actually 
 communicate in thofe Corruptions, our Communicating 
 is never the worfe for the f aid haws : So I fay, Though 
 Laws threaten never fo great Punilhments, yet fo 
 long as we do not actually fuffer them, our Condi- 
 tion is not the worfe for the(e La^s. And this was 
 thought a good Argument by Mr. Baily, in his Hi- 
 ftorical Vindication of the Church of Scotland, 1 6\6. 
 
 pag. 2 o. 
 
fag. 20. who, when charged, That the King and his 
 Family are fubjecT: to the Clajpcal Ajfemby^nCwcrSy 
 I hat any Presbyterian did ever fo much as begin a 
 Froccfs with any Prince^ when they had the greatelt 
 Provocations thereto^ it cannot be ftjewed to this day. 
 The Church of Scotland, notwithflanding all the crofs 
 A3 ions of King James, or King Charles, — yet never 
 did fo much as bcihinh^themf elves of drawing againji 
 them the Sword of Church-Cenfures. Where he de- 
 nies not the Charge of their Churches claiming fuch 
 a Power 5 but thinks it enough to reply, That fhe 
 had never fo ufed it. So then you fee, that it is 
 not the Power that our Superiors have, nor the Pe- 
 nalties that a Law threatens, that will fervein this 
 cafe '•) as long as the life of that Power, and Exe- 
 cution of thofe Laws is fuipended : and a Perlbn 
 ought not any more to quit the Church, than he 
 will his Country, as long as he may be differed to 
 abide in ir. And that lie may do with us, that will 
 hold Communion with our Church in what he can, 
 and doth behave himfelf with modefty in thofe 
 things which for the prefent he cannot Communi- 
 cate in. 
 
 4. Unjuft Excommunication is another Realbn gi- 
 ven to make Separation warrantable. But that being 
 a Jpiritual Perj cent ion (as Camero calls it} doth not 
 really differ from the former, and therefore will 
 receive the fame Anfvver. 5. That 
 
("3) 
 
 5- That which will warrant a Separation from a 
 Church, is a necejfary Communion with it in its Sins. 
 Towards the refolution of which, I fhall obferve, 
 
 i. That bare Communion with a Church, doth not 
 neceffarily make a Perfon to communicate with the Sins 
 of it. This is granted by all that fay, We muft not 
 Separate from a Church, becauie of the ungodly that 
 are in its Communion, or becaufe of fome mixtures 
 that are in its Worfhip ; And if we muft not fe- 
 parate from them, it is certain we may continue 
 there, without being guilty of the Sin of them. How 
 far the firft of thefe is and ought to be acknow- 
 ledged, I have fliewed above, at pag. 61. And how 
 far the latter, you may fee in Mr. Britifleys Ar- 
 raignment of Schifm 7 pagj. 50. Though toleration of 
 fome unwarrantable mixtures in a Church, be an evil', 
 yet it is not fo great an evil, as Separation upon that 
 ground. This was the Opinion of the Five diilent- 
 ing Brethren, in their Apologetic al Narration, pag. 6. 
 We have always profejsed, and that in thoje times 
 when the Churches of England were the moU either 
 actually over-Jpread with deflanents, or in the great- 
 ' eH danger thereof, — That we both did and would hold 
 a Communion with them^ as the Churches of Chrifl* 
 And this they agreed to, upon this confideration, 
 that other wife there hath been no Church yet, nor 
 will be to the day of Judgment, which Perfons 
 
 Q_ othcrwife 
 
Oh) 
 
 otherwife perfwaded, could or can hold Communi- 
 on with ; as you may find it in the old Nonconform 
 mifls Letters to thole of New-England , pag. 12. 
 Mr. Firmins Separation examined-, pag. 2 5. and the 
 Vindication of the Provincial Afiembly, pag. 1 3 <j. 
 
 a. I add, That the imposition of things unlawful, 
 or fo thought to be , /;/ a Church-, makes a Perfon in 
 this cafe no farther concerned, than as they are impofed 
 on him. For, if Corruptions tolerated are no bar to 
 Communion, then they are not when impofed j meer 
 In/pofition not altering the Nature, as Mr.Crofton faith, 
 in his Jertibbaal, pag. 2 7. 
 
 5. hnpofition in jome things unlawful, or fuppofed 
 fo to be, will not jtiftifle a feparation from what is law- 
 ful. The Author of Separation yet no Schijm, in his 
 EpiUle to the Reader, thus pleads for the People : 
 " The People are not always free from fuch Impo- 
 u iltions which they extremely fuipect as finful j as 
 cc tbat they cannot enjoy Baptijm for their Chil- 
 dren without the Crojs, nor receive the Lords 
 * " Supper without Kneeling ; to name no more, (as 
 well he could not). But fuppofe that thefe things 
 are impofed , and what they extremely fufpecl: --, 
 can this be a Reaibn for their Separation in thofe 
 things where nothing of this nature is ? Certainly, 
 in obedience to Magistrates, and for Communion 
 with a Church, we ought to go as far as we can •■> 
 
 and 
 
Oh} 
 
 and what I cannot do, is no excufe for the omiffion 
 of what I can. Thus did the old Nonconformifis 
 think and practice , as I obferved to you before, 
 from the Vindication of the Provincial Affembly^ pag. 
 I2<. That though fome of them thought it unlawful 
 to receive the Sacrament kneeling, yet they held Com" 
 munion with the Church in the reft. And according- 
 ly Mr. Firmin argues, in his Separation examined, 
 pag. 2 9. Suppofe there jhould be fome Humane mixtures, 
 are all the Ordinances polluted P Why do you not com- 
 municate with them in thofe Ordinances which are 
 pure ? 
 
 Now if this be true, what mall we fay to them 
 that have nothing to object againft the greateft part 
 of what they are required to communicate with us 
 in ; and yet keep up a total and pofitive Separati- 
 on from us, as if all Parts were alike infe&ed, and 
 that from the Crown of the Head, to the Sole of 
 the Foot, there was nothing but Wounds and pu- 
 trifying Sores ? 
 
 4. The meer fujpicion that a Perfon may have of 
 the unlawfulnefs of what is impofed, will not juflijjie 
 his omiffion of, or feparation in that particular. For, 
 he ought to come to fome refolution in it, and in 
 cafe of Obedience, Communion, and Charity, to go 
 againft fuch his Sufpicion. To this purpofe {peaks 
 Mr. Geree, in his Refolution of Ten Cafes, 1644. 
 
 Q^2 " Things 
 
K Things wherein doubts arifc, are of a double na- 
 ture : i. Meerly arbitrary, and at my own di- 
 "fpofe: 2. Thar are under command '-; as coming 
 cc to the Sacrament, Obedience to the Richer Po w- 
 "crs in things Javvful. If Scruples arife about thefe, 
 "and a Man doubts he fins if he aeTs, and he alio 
 "doubts he fins if he forbears, &>c. Jn this cafe he 
 " muft weigh the Scales, and where he apprehends 
 "molt weight of Reaibn, muft incline that way, 
 " though the other Scale be not altogether empty. 
 " And this done, after humble and diligent fearch, 
 " with bewailing our infirmity, that w 7 e are no more 
 " ditcerning, will be accepted by God : God puts 
 " not his People on neceflity of finning, nor can our 
 " Scruples 4iip nfe with his Commands. So Mr. Fal- 
 do-, in his Quakerifm no Cbriftiamty^ /><?£. 93. Cc In 
 " doubtful and difficult Cafes, wherein we cannot 
 "reach the knowledge of our Duty, it's our Duty 
 ic to follow the Examples of the greateft number 
 "of the Saints, &>c. And then furely, what will 
 ferve iri fuch a cafe to l<jt us diipenfe with our 
 Doubts, will much more in ubedience to Gover-_ 
 nours, and for Communion with a Church. This I 
 thought to have more largely handled , as it's 
 thought a new and late Argument, ufed by BilTiop 
 £ anclerfoftj &c. (but what 1 can prove to be of old 
 the common Refolution of the Cafe), and as the 
 
 contrary 
 
(II7) 
 
 contrary is pleaded for from Mr. Hales : Rut light- 
 ing happily upon a Book called Mr. Hales 9 s Trea- 
 iife of Schifm examined-, wrote by a Learned Per- 
 ion, I (hall refer you to it, where he particularly 
 undertakes this Point, pag. 1 10, &*c. 
 
 Having thus made good the Three Propofitions 
 above/aid, and fhewed, That the Church of England 
 is a True Church 5 That there is a Separation from 
 it v and. That this Separation h voluntary and unne- 
 ceffary : that which remains is not to be denied, viz,. 
 lhat therefore the prefent Separation is Schifmatical. 
 So that now you may fee in what condition thofe 
 of our diilentine Brethren are, that withdraw from 
 the Communion of our Church ; and how little 
 able they will be to reconcile their p relent Proceed- 
 ings, to their former Principles and ProfeiUons. It 
 was once fa id by them , in the Vindication of the 
 Fresbyterial Government, pag. 133. U e dare not make 
 Reparation from a true Church, by departing from it^ 
 as yon do, [Tpeaking to the Independents.^ Then In- 
 dependency was what they proved to be Schifm, be- 
 canfe, 1 . Independents da depart from our Churches, 
 being true Churches, and fo acknowledged by themfelves. 
 2. They draw and j educe Members from our Congrega- 
 tions. 3. They ereCt feparate Congregations. 4. They 
 refufe Communion with our Churches in the Sacra- 
 ments. Now we judge, that no Schifm is to be tolera* 
 
 ted 
 
(nS) 
 
 ted in the Church ', as fay the London-Minifiers, in 
 their Letter to the Affembly,pag. 3. Then the inevi- 
 table Confequences of it could be difcovered and 
 rep relented , as that by it Peoples minds -would be 
 troubled, and in danger to be fubverted ', bitter heart- 
 burning would be fomented and perpetuated ', godly, 
 painful, and orthodox Miniflers be difcouraged , and 
 defpifed ', the life and power of Godlinefs be eaten out, 
 by frivolous Di flutes ; and the whole Course of Re- 
 ligion in private Families be interrupted, and under- 
 mined', as they there lay, pag. 4. Then Church-Di- 
 vifion was as great a Sin as Adultery and Theft, as 
 Dr. Bryan maintains, in the Publicly Diflutation at 
 Kilingworth) 1655. pag. 28. Then it was pleaded, 
 That they Covenanted not onely againfl Sin,but Schifm, 
 as faith Mr. Watfon, in his Anatomy upon the Heart, 
 pag. 1 <5o. But is not that now true, which he there 
 charges upon themfelves, We have gone againfl the 
 Lethr of it ? For, do not many of them that have 
 faid all this, jet up Churches againfl Churches, exer- 
 cife the Worjhip of God, adminifler Ordinances, the 
 Word, Sacraments, apart, and in a feparated Body P 
 Which in a peculiar manner, and by way of eminency, 
 is called Schifm, (aith Mr. Brinjley, pag. 1 6. Is Schifm 
 all on a fudden grown fo innocent a thing, that Per- 
 fons are to be indulged, and tamely permitted to 
 continue in it ? And is it not as fad now, as it was 
 
 then, 
 
(up) 
 then, that many that pretend to Religion, make no 
 Conscience of Schifm, as Dr. Manton on Jndi>, pag. 
 45>2. doth obferve ? Certainly, That ftill remains 
 good which was (aid by Mr. Brinjley, pag. 17. The 
 Schifms and Divifwns which are broken in, and that 
 amongU God's own People, are what I cannot but look^ 
 upon as one of the blackeji Clouds, one of the faddeji 
 Judgments which hang over the head of this Kingdom 
 at this day ', of fad influence for the prefent, and, un- 
 lefs they be healed, of dangerous confequence for the 
 ftiture. Have we not Atheifm, and Infidelity, and 
 Profanenefs enough to encounter ; but muft we have 
 more Work found us, by thofe that have given us 
 Arguments to oppofe themfelves with ? Are we in 
 no danger of being over-run with a Foreign Power, 
 and that the Romans Jhall come and take away our 
 Name and Church ; when we, which are at difference 
 amongft our felves, mail without any oppofition be 
 fwallowed up by them ? Are they yet to be taught, 
 that as nothing can, lb nothing will (boner make 
 us a prey to them, than mutual Hostilities amongft 
 our felves ? And whence is it, that they will run the 
 adventure , and care not what they expofe us to ? 
 Is it that Rome is nearer to them, than they are to 
 us ? That will not be fuppofed. Is it that they ex- 
 pefl: better Quarter from that, than they meet with 
 from our Church ? That let Experience decide. Is 
 
 it 
 
C **o) 
 
 it that by bringing all to confufion, and a common 
 fcramble, they may hope to go away with the Su- 
 premacy ? That their Divifions amongft themfelves 
 doth confute. For, can they think, becaufc they 
 agree againft us, that they will agree among them- 
 felves ? Or, can they think, if they do not, that one 
 alone can carry the Victory from the Common Ene- 
 my ? Let a fober Author of their own, in his Di- 
 fconrfe of the Religion of England, be heard, who 
 faith, pag. 39. That the common fafety and advance- 
 ment of true Religion cannot ft and by a multiplicity of 
 petty Forms \ but requires an ample and well-fetled 
 State, to defend and propagate it againjl ths amplitude 
 and potency of the RomifJj Inierefl. And are not thefe 
 the thoughts of the wifeft in this Nation? and mall 
 Men yet continue to keep up Feuds and Ani mod- 
 ties, and make no fcruplc of contradicting them- 
 felyes to feed them ?■ It was once faid by Mr. Briu- 
 fleyipag. 62. That it's a foul blemiffj to a iviinifker of 
 Chrijiy to (peak^ one thing to day, and another thing to 
 morrow, to fay and nnfay. And I will appeal to all 
 the World, whether this be not what our Brethren 
 arc guilty of Surely, if they would but take the 
 pains to review what they have written, and weigh 
 thole Arguments, againft Schijm and Separation that 
 they formerly publiihed, they would return to them- 
 felves, and to that Church which they have fo un- 
 
 adviiedly 
 
(IS!) 
 
 advifcdly broken off from 5 they would then think 
 it their Duty, with the old "Nonconformifts^ to come 
 as far as they can , and their Happinels to live in 
 the Communion of that Church where they may be 
 as good as they will ; they would then fee, that 
 Schifm is a great Sin, and that their prefent Separa- 
 tion is Schifm, 
 
 I mould now conclude, but that I may fear that 
 Mr. Jenh^n will proclaim , and others think me a 
 Slanderer, for faying, fag. 44. That he hath borrow- 
 ed the Subftance of this Sermon from Mr. Brinfleys 
 Arraignment of Schifm^ if I do not make it good : 
 and therefore in my own vindication, and alfo to 
 (hew you how far holinefs and indignation may be 
 pretended, when indeed it is little better than bypo- 
 crifie and calumny that prompts Men on, I (liall draw 
 the Comparifon , and leave you and all others to 
 judge , whether he be not one of thole empty and 
 unaccomplijhed Tredicants fpoken of in his ExodttSy 
 pag. $6. that preach the Sermons of others , and, more 
 than that, dare before all the World publiiTi them 
 as his own : the like to which is alio done by him, 
 or one of his Brethren, in the Vindication of the 
 Fresbyterial Government , pag. 132. compared with 
 Mr. Brinjley^ pag. 16. and pag. 134. with 52. and 
 pag. 135. with 41. Nor hath he borrowed from 
 Nir. Brinfley alone, but hath rifled divers other Au- 
 
 R thors 
 
(122) 
 
 thors for the greateft part of his Book, as might ea- 
 fily be proved, were it either rcquifite, or worth 
 the while. How far he is beholden to others for 
 that kind of Wit and tawdry Eloquence that a i^rois 
 and bribed Flatterer , in his Yatronm bona Widely 
 gives him the Title of Seneca for, the Author of 
 the Vindication of the Conforming Clergie hath alrea- 
 dy (hewed : And how bold he hath made with 
 others for Argument and Reafon, the following In- 
 ftances will be a fufficient Specimen, where he hath 
 fcarcely left any thing untouched that he then 
 thought might ferve his purpofe. 
 
 A Sermon 
 
(I2 3 ) 
 
 A Sermon preached by W. 
 Jenkin, herewith Printed, 
 and alfo to be found in his 
 Comment on Judejrinted 
 in Quarto, 1652. 
 
 THcir Herefies were per- 
 verle and damnable Opi- 
 nions ••> their Schifm was a 
 perverfe Separation from Church- 
 communion : The former was in 
 Doclrinals, the latter in Praclicals ; 
 the former was oppofite to Faith, 
 this latter to Charity. By Faith all 
 the Members are united to the 
 Head, by Chanty one to another : 
 and as the breaking of the former 
 is Herefie, fo their breaking of the 
 latter was Schifm. . pag.2.1. 
 
 Schifm is ufually faid to be two- 
 fold, negative, and pofitive. 1 . Ne- 
 gative is, when there is onely (im- 
 plex CeceJJio, when there is onely a 
 bare feceffion, a peaceable and qui- 
 et withdrawing from Communion 
 with a Church, without making a- 
 ny head againft that Church from 
 which the departure is. 2. Pofitive 
 is, when perfons fo withdrawing 
 do fo coniociate and draw them- 
 felvcs into a diftin<ft and oppofite 
 Body, fettir.-g up a Church againft 
 a Church, or, as Divines exprefs it, 
 
 from 
 
 The Arraignment of the 
 prefent Schifm, by John 
 M^LONDON, 
 1646. 
 
 Erefie (faith Jerome) is 
 properly a perverfe Opi- 
 nion, Schifm is a perverfe 
 Separation. The one a DoSlrhal, 
 the other a practical Error. The one 
 oppofite to Faiths the other to Chart- 
 tj.- -By the one (Faith) all the Mem- 
 bers are united to the Head; by the 
 other ( Charity ) they are united to 
 one another. Now the breaking of 
 the firfl efthefe Bands is Herefie, 
 the latter Schifm. pag. 14. 
 
 There is, to ufe his terms fCame- 
 ro), a negative and a pofitive Sepa- 
 ration. The former is fimplex fe- 
 ceflio, when one or more do quietly 
 and peaceably withdraw themfelves 
 from Communion with a Ch'irch, — ■ 
 not making head againfi that Church 
 from which they are departed : The 
 other ? when perfons fo withdrawing 
 do confociate and draw themfelves in- 
 to a difiintl and oppofite Body,fetting 
 
 up a Church againfi a Church. ■ 
 
 This is that which Auguftine, and 0- 
 
 ther Divines after him, call the fet- 
 
 R 2 ting 
 
( »m) 
 
 A/r. Jenhin. I 
 
 from Augrftine, an Altar againft an 
 Altar. And this is it which in a pe- 
 culiar.manner, and by way of cmi- 
 nency, is called by the name of 
 Schifin. pag.zz. 
 
 Schifm becomes finful, cither in 
 refpedt, i. of the groundlcfnefs , 
 or, 2. the manner thereof, i. Th. 
 groundleinefs j when there is no 
 carting of pcrfons out of the 
 Church by an ui juft Cenfure of 
 Excommunication, no departure 
 by unfufTerable Pci fccution,no He- 
 retic nor Idolatry in the Church 
 maintained. 2. The manner of Se- 
 paration makes it unlawful i when 
 "ris made without due endeavour, 
 and waiting for Reformation of 
 the Church from which the depar- 
 ture is: and fuch a rafh departure 
 is againft Charity , which fuffers 
 both much and long all tolerable 
 things : It is not prcfently diftafted, 
 when the jufteft occafion is given ; 
 it firft ufcth all poffiblc means of 
 remedy. The Chyrurgeon referves 
 Difmembring as the I aft remedy. 
 It Jooks upon a fudden breaking off 
 from Communion with a Church 
 (which is a difmembring) not as 
 
 Mr. Brinfley.- 
 
 ting up of an Altar againft an Altar. 
 And this is it (faith that judicious 
 Author) which in a peculiar manner, 
 and by way of eminencj, is called by 
 the name if Schifm. pag'. 1 6, 
 
 ZJnwarrantabh, either for around, 
 or manner ; The former an unjufl, 
 the latter a rafl* Separation-, each a 
 Schifm. ZJnj.fi , when there is no 
 Perfecution, no fpreading Error or 
 Here fie, no Idolatry. 2. The manner, 
 which if fudJ.en and heady, without 
 due endeavour and expeclance of Re- 
 formation in that Church, it may be a 
 rap} y and confequently an unwarranta- 
 ble Separation, inafmuch as it is op- 
 pofite to Charity, — it being the na- 
 ture of Charity to fujfer much and 
 
 long, all things which are fuffera- 
 
 ble : It is not prefently difiafted, fo 
 
 as to fly off upon every f mall and tri- 
 vial occafon > no nor jet upon a jnft 
 and weighty one, without fir ft a {fay- 
 ing all pojjlble means of remedy. So 
 deals the wary and careful Chyrurge- 
 on with his Patient ; not pre/ently 
 
 fall to difmembring, referving it 
 
 for the lafl remedy. So deals Charity 
 by' the Church ; not prefentlj fepa- 
 rate and break^off Communion (which 
 
 Chyrurgeiy, but Butchery, /wjj.23. j # the difmembring of a Church.) No, 
 
 1 this (faith Camero) is not Chyrur- 
 but Carnificina 
 
 I {hall not fpend time to conv I 
 
 Chyi 
 
 gia, but Carnihcina i which Air. 
 Cotton — cnglifheth rightly, not Cby- 
 rurgery, but Butchery, pag.24,25. 
 Mufculus informs me of fome who 
 
 pare it with Kercfic, though fome in point of fwfnlnefs have compared 
 
 have 
 
 Schifm 
 
(»0 
 
 Mr Jenkin. 
 
 have faid that Schifm is the greater 
 fin of the two. Aug. contr. Don.Lz. 
 c.6. tells the Donatifis, that Schifm 
 was a greater fin than that of the 
 Tr adit ore s, who in time of Perfe- 
 cution,through fear, delivered their 
 Bibles to Perfecutors to be burnt. 
 A fin at which the Donatifis took 
 fo much offence, that it was the 
 ground of their Separation.^.24. 
 
 In refpccl of Chrifr, r. It's, an 
 horrible indignity offered to his 
 Body fastheApofilefpeaks, iCor. 
 1. 15.) and makes him to appear 
 the Head of two Bodies. How 
 monftrous and difhonourable is the 
 very conceit hereof ! 2. It's rebel- 
 lion againft his Command,his great 
 Command of Love. The Grace of 
 Love is by fome called the Queen 
 of Graces; and it's greater than 
 Faith in refpecl of its Object, not 
 God onely, but Man; its Durati- 
 on, which is eternal ; its manner of I manner of working : Faith worketh 
 
 Mr Brinfley. 
 
 Schifm with Here fie, and others who 
 have aggravated it beyond it. as the 
 neater evil of the two. Auguitinc 
 tells the Donntifts, contr,' Don. I. 2. 
 C 6. that their Schifm was a greater 
 fin than that which they toot^ [ttth 
 hiqh offence at-, and which was the 
 ground of their feperation (viz. the 
 fin of the TradltGYCS, fuch as in time 
 of P erf ecu t ion had through fear de- 
 livered up their Bibles to the Perfe- 
 cutors to be burnt?) pag. 17, 18. 
 
 It is injurious to Chrifi , who 
 fcemeth by this means to be as it were 
 divided. So Paul urgeth it, Is Chrift 
 
 divided ? Himfelf hereby made 
 
 the Head of two dif agreeing Bodies ; 
 which is difbonourable, and monfirous 
 to conceive of him. pag. 19. 
 
 Ifs oppofite to fo great a Grace 
 as Charity Charity, the Queen of 
 
 Graces, -greater than Faith,—— - 
 
 I. In regard of the Object : Faith 
 
 refpeVteth God onely, but Charity both 
 God and Alan. 2. In regard of the 
 
 working, not in a way of receiving 
 Chrift (as FaithJ, but of giving the 
 Soul to him. pag. 24 
 
 By Divifions among our felves, 
 wc endeavour to divide our felves 
 from him, in and from whom is all 
 
 ourfulnefs- Upon the Stock of 
 
 Schifm commonly Herefie is graft- 
 ed. There is no Schifm (faith Je- 
 rome') 
 
 intramittendo, by receiving and let- 
 ting in Chrifi and his Benefits ; but 
 Charity extramittendo, by giving 
 out the So/I. 3. In regard of du- 
 ration :- Charity is for eternitj.p.lS. 
 By dividing themfclves from the 
 Body., they are in a dangerous way to 
 divide themfclves from the Head.— 
 Schifm maketh way to Herefie. So 
 Jerome. There is no Schifm, but or- 
 dinarily it inventeth and broacheth 
 
 fome 
 
(ia«0 
 
 Mr. Jenhlu. 
 
 tome) but ordinarily it inventeth 
 and produccth iome Herefic, that 
 fo the Separation may feem the 
 more juftifiable. The Novations 
 and Donatifls from Schifm fell to 
 Hcrcfies. Our Times fadly com- 
 ment upon this Truth, they equally 
 arifing unto both. pag. 25, 26. 
 
 Its. injurious to the peace and 
 
 quictnefs of the Church. — If the 
 natural Body be divided and torn, 
 pain and {mart muft needs follow. 
 The tearing and rending of the my- 
 ftical Body, goes to the Heart of 
 all fenfible Members: they often 
 caufc the Feverifh D.ftempers of 
 Hatred, Wiath, Seditions,Envying, 
 Murders. Schifm in the Church 
 puts the Members out of joynt 5 
 and disjoynted Bones are painful : 
 All my hones (faith David) are out 
 of joynt. Chureh-Diviiions caufc 
 lad thoughts of Heart. pag. 27. 
 
 It's oppofitc to the Edification 
 of the Church. Divifion of Tongues 
 hundred the building of Babel; 
 and doubtlefs Divifion in Hearts, 
 Tongues, Hands, and Heads, 
 muft needs hinder the building or 
 jerufalem. While Parties are con- 
 tending, Churches and Common- 
 wealths fufTer. In troublous times 
 
 the 
 
 Mr. Brinfley. 
 
 fome Here fie, that fo the Separation 
 may feem the more juflifiable. — . A 
 Truth fuffciently experimented in 
 thofe ancient Schifmaticks, the No- 
 vatians and Donatifls , who from. 
 Schifm fell to be Authors or Defen- 
 ders of Heretical Opinions. We have 
 a late and dreadful Jnflance, &c. 
 
 pag.22. 
 
 The Church is hereby difquieted. 
 Even as it is in the natural Body, if 
 there be a folutio continui, fo as it 
 be divided , it breedeth fmart and 
 pain. — The myflical Boaj cannot be 
 rent and torn by Divifions, but it go- 
 eth to the heart of all the fenfible 
 Members. The divifions of Reuben 
 were great thoughts of heart, oft- 
 times breeding thofe Fever i/h difiem- 
 pers of Hatred, Variance, Wrath, 
 Seditions, I and Aiurdcrs too.^.Zl. 
 
 Schifm in the Church puts the 
 
 Members out of joynt', Bones out 
 
 of joynt are painful. Thence David 
 borrows this expreJJ?on,M\ my bones 
 are out of joynt. Such are Schifms 
 in the Church, caufing fad thoughts 
 of heart. pag. 67. 
 
 The Church is hereby kindred in 
 the Edification of it. We know what 
 it was that hindred the building of Ba- 
 bel, even a Schifm in their Tongues, 
 divifion of Languages. And f: re- 
 ly there is no one thing that can more 
 
 hinder the building of J eruf 1 1 em, 
 
 when Chrijlians /hall be divided in 
 t heir B eads. Hearts, Tongues, Hands. 
 
 As 
 
("7) 
 Mr. Jenkin. 
 
 the Walls and Temple of fcrufa 
 lent went but (lowly on. pag. 27 
 
 When Church- Members are put 
 out of joynt, they arc made unfer- 
 viceable, and unfit to perform their 
 feveral Offices. They who were 
 wont to joyn in Prayer,Sacraments, 
 and Fading, and were ready to all 
 mutual Offices of Love, are how 
 fallen off from all. pag. 28. 
 
 Our Separation(from Rome)\vas 
 not before all means were ufed for 
 the cure and reformation of the 
 Romanifls , by the discovery of 
 their Errours, that pofllbly couid 
 be thought of: notwithstanding all 
 which (though fomc have been en- 
 forced to an acknowledgement of 
 xhem) they ftill obftinately perfift 
 in them. Our famous, godly, and 
 learned Reformers would have 
 healed Babylon, but fhe is not heal- 
 ed. Many skilful Phyficians have 
 had her in hand, but fhe grew fo 
 much the worfe. In ftead of be- 
 ing reclaimed, they anathematized 
 them with the drcadfulleft Curfcs, 
 excommunicated , yea murdered 
 and deftroyed multitudes of thofe 
 who endeavoured their reduce- 
 ment ; not permitting any to trade. 
 
 buy or fell, to have either Religi- 
 ous 
 
 Mr. Br in (ley. 
 
 As it is in Civil Wars, whilft 
 
 tie Parties are contending, the Com- 
 monwealth faff ers. The Wall and 
 
 Temple of Jcrufalem went /lowly on 
 in troublous Times. pa?. 2 r. 
 
 Ai r embers ofihe Church being put 
 out of joynt by Schifm, become unufe- 
 ful to the Body, unapt to thofe Du- 
 ties and Services which before they 
 
 performed. How is it that thofe 
 
 who were wont to joyn with the 
 Churches in Hearing, Prayer, $X- 
 cran.ents. and were fo ready to all 
 mutual Offices cf Love, are now fal- 
 len off fr om all? pa g. 67. 
 Our Separation was neceffitated, 
 through their obfinacy in their Er- 
 rors j which notwithstanding the di" 
 fecvery of them, and that fo clear, ai 
 that fame of their own have been en- 
 forced to an acknowledgement of 
 them, and all ways and means ufed, 
 for their Reformation, they fill per- 
 ft ft in. what then remains, hut a cut- 
 ting off? IVe would have healed Ba- 
 bylon, but fie is not healed. What 
 then follow eth ? For fake her , and 
 let us go every one to his own Coun- 
 try. How many Phyficians have had 
 her in hand, Luther, &c. and the reft 
 of our pious Reformers ? b. ■ t all to 
 
 no purpofe. ——We were enforced 
 
 fie not permitting any to trade, buy 
 or fell , to have either Religious or 
 Civil Communion with her, except 
 they receive her Markjh their Hands 
 and Foreheads: But, on the ether 
 
 hand, 
 
Mr. Jenhtn. 
 
 ous or Civil Communion with 
 them, except they received the 
 lkaits Mark in their Hands and 
 Foreheads. All which confidered, 
 we might fafcly forfake her.- Since 
 in ftead of healing Babylon , we 
 could not be preferved trom her 
 deftroying of us, we did deferved- 
 ly depart from her, and every one 
 go into his own Country : and un- 
 lefs we had done fo, we could not 
 have obeyed the clear Precept, 
 Apoc. 1 8. Come out of her my peo- 
 ple-, pag 29, 30. 
 To feparate from Congregati- 
 ons where the Word of Truth and 
 Gofpelof Salvation are held out in 
 an ordinary way., as the Proclama- 
 tions of Princes are held forth up- 
 on Pillars, to which they are af- 
 'fxcdj where the Light- of Truth is 
 fet up, as it were upon a Candle- 
 ftick, to guide PalTcngers to Hea- 
 ven : to Separate irom them, to 
 whom belong the Covenants, and 
 where the Sacraments, the Seals of 
 the Covenant, are for fubftance 
 rightly difpenfed \ where Chrift 
 walketh in the midft of his golden 
 Gandlefticks, and difcovercth his 
 prefetiCc in his Ordinances, where- 
 by they arc made effectual to the 
 convcrfion and edification of Souls 
 in an ordinary way ; where the 
 Members arc Saints, by a profelTed 
 fubjedtion to Chrift, - where there 
 arc fundry who in the judgement 
 
 of 
 
 Mr. Brinfley. 
 
 band, anathematizing them. — Thefe 
 things confidered, let God and the 
 World be judge, whether our Sepa- 
 ration from them be voluntary.—— 
 Nat unjuft, being warranted by Au- 
 thority of Scripture, commanding this 
 feparation , Come out of her my 
 People, Rev. 18. 4. pag. 27, 28. 
 
 Are not our Congregations true 
 Churches ? What , are not here the 
 Pillars of Truth ? Is not the Word 
 of Truth , the Go/pel of Salvation 
 here held forth, and that in an or- 
 dinary and conflant way , even as 
 the Edicls and Proclamations of 
 Princes are wont to be held forth 
 by Pillars to which they are affixed ? 
 
 where the Light of Gods Truth 
 
 is fet up and held forth , for the 
 guiding of paffengers in the way to 
 Eternal Life ? Are not here the 
 golden Candlefiicks, where the Seals 
 of Gods Covenant , the Sacraments 
 of the New Teflament, are for fub- 
 
 fiance rightly difpenfed; where 
 
 there is the prefence of Chrift in the 
 midfi of his Ordinances, fo as in an 
 ordinary way they are made effectu- 
 al to the converfon and falvation of 
 many-, where Chrift fit teth, walketh 
 in the midfi of his golden Candle- 
 
 ticks V 
 
( I2 P) 
 
 Mr. J engirt. 
 
 of Charity may be conceived to 
 have the wori of Grace really 
 wrought in their hearts, by walk 
 ing in fome meafure anfwcrable to 
 their Profeflion : 1 fay, to feparate 
 from thefe, as thofe with whom 
 Church Communion is not to be 
 held, isSchifmatical. pag. 31,32. 
 
 The voluntary and unnecefTary 
 Separation from a true Church, is 
 Schifmaticaf. pag.^i. 
 
 Pretences for Separation are 
 alkdged; frequcntly,and moft plau 
 fibly , Mixt Communion, and of 
 admitting into Church- fellowfhip 
 the vile with the precious, and 
 thofe who are Chaff, and therefore 
 ought not to lodge with the 
 Wheat. 
 
 An fa. 1. Not to infift upon 
 what fome have urged, 01*. That 
 this hath been the Stone at which 
 moft Schifmaticks have Humbled, 
 and the pretence which they have 
 
 of old alledged, as is evident in 
 
 the examples of the Audaans. No- 
 vations , Donatifts , Ayiabaptifts , 
 Brownifts. pag^ 3 3 . 
 
 2. Let them confidcr, whether 
 the want of reforming abufes, pro- 
 ceed not from lome unhappy ob- 
 structions in the exercife of Difci- 
 plinc, rather than from the allow- 
 ance of the Church. 
 • 3. Let them confider, whether 
 
 when 
 
 Mr. Brinflcy. 
 
 picks,—— where there are Societies 
 of vijible Saint s, all fuch bj out- 
 ward pr'feffton , and a confederate 
 part of them walking in meafure an- 
 faerable to that profeffion \ can it be 
 queflioned, wh-te tkefe are, whether 
 there be true Churches of Chrift? 
 pag.29,30. 
 
 Schifm is a voluntary and unwar- 
 rantable Separation from a true 
 Church. pag. 23. 
 
 Sinful mixtures are tolerated a- 
 mong j opt :— There is not that due 
 feparation of the Wheat from the 
 Chaffs the precious from the vile > 
 but all forts are admitted. 
 
 Anfw. 1. I might here mind them y 
 That this hath been the common 
 Stock whereufn Schifm hath been 
 ' fnally grafted^ the common pretence 
 
 taken up by a 1 I Schifmaticks, the 
 
 Novatfans, Audasans, Dona tilts : — 
 fom the fame Root fprung that later 
 Schifm of the Anabaptifts : — It was 
 the fame Stone <*t which Brown and 
 his Followers firft fiumbled. pdg, 
 
 37,38-39. 
 What though there are fome fail- 
 ings in the execution , through fome 
 unhappy obflruElions in the exercife of 
 Difcipline? yet cannot the Church 
 fl and charged with them.\ pag. 40. 
 
 Confider the manner in fep orating 
 S at 
 
Mr. Jenhiu. 
 
 when they (eparate from Sinful 
 mixtures , the Church be not at 
 that very rime purging out thofe 
 Sinful mixtures. pag.^. 
 
 Hath not God his Church, even 
 where corruption of Manners hath 
 crept into a Church, it purity of 
 
 Mr. Briniley. 
 
 at fveh a time, in a time of Refor- 
 mat ion. What, f eparate from a 
 
 reforming Church t pag. 51,52. 
 
 Suppofe there maj be (ome.,nay ma- 
 ny juft Scandals among ft m, by reafon 
 of corruption of manners ; jet ts not 
 Doctrine be maintained? And is 1 this a [efficient ground of feparation 
 fep.racion from that Church law- from a Church wherein there u purity 
 
 ful, from which God doth not fe 
 parate? fag. 34. 
 
 Let them confider, whether God 
 hath made private Chriftians Stew- 
 ards in his Houfe , to determine 
 whether thofe with whom they 
 communicate are fit Members of 
 the Church , or not ? or rather, 
 whether it be not their duty, when 
 they difcover Tares in the Church, 
 in ftead of fcparating from it, to 
 labour that they may be found 
 good Corn ; that fo when Gou 
 (nail come to gather his Corn in 
 to his Garner , they may not be 
 thrown out? Church-Officers ari 
 Miniftcrially betrufted with the or 
 dcring of the Church, and for the 
 opening and (hutting of the Doors 
 of the Churches Communion, by 
 the Keys of Doclrine and Difci- 
 pline=, and herein if they (hall be 
 either hindred, or negligent, pri 
 vate Chriftians fhall not be intang 
 fvd in the guilt of their Sin.^.34,35. 
 
 if Doclrine. pag. 50. 
 
 How dare any for fake th.it Church 
 which Godh.ith not forfaken? p. 59. 
 
 God hath not made all private 
 Chriftians Stewards, nor yet Survey- 
 ors in his HouJe y fo as that every one 
 fhould take an exact notice of the con- 
 ditions of all thofe whom they hold 
 Communion with , who are fit to be 
 members of the Church, and who not. 
 Jt is Cyprian 5 / counfeL What though 
 there be fome Tares dif covered in the 
 Churchy — vet let us, for our part .^la- 
 bour that we ma) be found good Corn, 
 th.it fort hen God fhall come to father 
 his Crop into his Garner, we may not 
 
 be caft out. Adinifterially the 
 
 Church-Officers , whom Chrift hath 
 betnfted with the ordering of the 
 Church them he hath made the Por- 
 ters in hts Houfe, for the opening and 
 {hutting the doors ef the Churches 
 Communion, by the keys of Doclrine 
 and Difcipline. Now, in th s cafe, if 
 either their hands be tied by any hu- 
 
 mane reftriflionSy or if through ne- 
 gligence they let loofe the Rains, how 
 private Chriftians fkotild be entangled in the guilt of that Jin, if ctnnet be 
 €utceived. pag. 414. The 
 
( 
 
 Mr. Jentyn. 
 
 The Command not to eat with 4 
 Brother, &c. I Cor. 5. 1 1. concerns 
 not Religious but Civil Communi- 
 on, by a voluntary, familiar, inti- 
 mate Converiation, either in being 
 invited, or inviting. pag. 3 5. 
 
 Now though fuch Civil eating 
 was to be forborn, yet it follows 
 not at all, much lels much more, 
 that Religious eating is forbidden : 
 Becaufe, Civil eating is arbitrary 
 and unnecefTary ^ not fo Religious, 
 which is en joyned,and a command 
 ed Duty. pag. 36. 
 
 It (hould be our care to prevent 
 Separation : To this end, 
 
 1. Labour to be progrefiive in 
 the work of Mortification, pag. 38. 
 
 2. Admire no Mans Pcrlon. 
 
 This caufed the Corinthian Schifm. 
 Take heed of Man-worfhip. 
 
 3. Labour for Experimental be- 
 nefit by the Ordinances. — Find 
 the letting up of Chrift in your 
 hearts by the Miniftry , and then 
 you will not d:treto account it An 
 tichriftian. If with facob,we could 
 fay ot our Bethels, God is here, we 
 would fet up Millars. 
 
 4. Neither give nor receive 
 Scandals. Give them not, to occa- 
 
 fion 
 
 I 3 I ) 
 
 Mr. Brinfley. 
 
 That which Paul prohibit s there^ 
 is not properly a Religions, but a Ci- 
 vil Communion, not to mingle them- 
 [elves with fuch fcandalous Livers, 
 by a voluntary, familiar, and intimate 
 Converfation,-—in an ordinary way, 
 repairing to their Tables, or inviting 
 them to yours. 
 
 If we may not have Civil, much 
 lefs Religious Communion. Anf. Not 
 fo neither j inafmuch as the one is ar- 
 bitrary and voluntary, the other a ne- 
 cejfary Communion. pag. 4 J. 
 
 How Jhall this Vnity be attained ? 
 1. To this end labour after new 
 hearts. 
 
 How may Schifm be prevented t 
 6. Take heed of having the Per- 
 fons of Men in admiration. This 
 occajioned all thofe Divifons in the 
 
 Ch: rch of Corinth. Take we heed 
 
 how we lookjoo much at Men. p. 59. 
 4. Labour to fee and acknowledge 
 
 God in our Congregations. Now if 
 
 he be here, how dare any withdraw ? 
 When Jacob apprehended God pre- 
 fent with him at Bethel, (Surely the 
 Lord is in this place. ) he fets up his 
 
 Pillar there. Have we met with 
 
 him ? why do we not fet up our Pil- 
 lar here? pag. 58. 
 3. Take heed of Scandals, whe- 
 ther of giving or receiving: Of giving, 
 S 2 to 
 
Air, Jenfy?. 
 Hon others tofeparatc i nor receive 
 them, to occafion thy own Scpa 
 ration. — Conftrue doubtful mat- 
 ters charitably. Look not upon 
 Blcmifhes with Multiplying glafT.s, 
 or old Mens Spectacles : Hide 
 them, though not imitate them. 
 Sport not your (lives with others 
 nakednefs, 
 
 5. Be not much taken with 
 Novelties. New Lights hav^ fct 
 this Church on fire. For the mod 
 part they are taken out of the 
 Dark-Lanthorns ot old Hereticks. 
 They are falfe and Fools-fires, to 
 lead Men into the Precipice of Se- 
 paration. Love Truth in an old 
 drefsi let not Antiquity be a pre- 
 judice againff, nor Novelty an in- 
 ducement to the entertainment of 
 Truth, 
 
 6. Give not way to IcfTer d'ffc- 
 rerces : A li tie divifion will foon 
 rife up to a greater. Small Wedg- 
 es make way for bigger. Our 
 hearts are like to Tinder, a little 
 fpaik will enflame them. Be jc - 
 
 fous of your hearts. Paul and 
 
 Barnabas feparated about a fmall 
 matter, the takiivg of an AfTociatc. 
 
 fag. 40, &c. 
 
 Mr. Brinfley. 
 
 to drive off others', of receiving, to 
 fet off our [elves Doubtful mat- 
 ters fill I con fir ue them on the better 
 part i So doth Char in i not locking 
 upon Blemifkes with Multiplying or 
 
 ■Magnify ing-gl a ffes. So far as 
 
 may be without fin, hide them. 
 
 Curfed Cham cfp cs the nakednefs of 
 his Father, and makes (port with it. 
 
 p 3 g. 56. 
 
 2. Be not over- affected with No- 
 velties At for thofc New Lights 
 
 which have fet this Kingdom on fire 
 at this day, for the mo ft part they 
 are no other than what have been ta- 
 ken out of the Darl^ Lanthorns of 
 
 former Heretickj , w other but ig- 
 
 nes fatui, falfe fires, ufiful onely to 
 
 mi fie ad. Tr th is lovely, and ought 
 
 to be embraced in whatever drefs (he 
 ccmeth, whether new or old. jis not 
 Antiquity, [0 neither Jhould Nvielty 
 be any prejudice to Verity, 
 
 J. Take heed of leffer divifion s. 
 Small Wedges make w^y for great 
 ones. Small differences fometimes 
 rife to Divifions. pjg. 57. 
 
 4. B falous over our own hearts '■> 
 they being like unto Tmder 7 ready to 
 
 take fire Lj the lea ft fparkj It was 
 
 no (rreat matter that Paul and Bar- 
 nabas differed r pon, onely abmt the 
 tahvng of an Affociate. pag. ji,&c. 
 
 Now, 
 
(*33) 
 
 Now, 57r, by this you may perceive, how Tome 
 Men do make their Books and Sermons , and by 
 what ways a Man may rife to the reputation of 
 being a confiderable Author : he may cull and 
 pick, pilfer and fteal , and become Learned to a 
 miracle, an excellent Preacher, and write even to 
 a Folio \ and if he had but the Art of keeping men 
 from poring into ncglefted Authors , and prying 
 into Books that are cad: into corners, might pais as 
 fiich : but as long as what is forgotten in one Age, 
 is revived in another, and as long as it is become a 
 Trade to collect Pamphlets, I would advife your 
 Friend to be more wary for the future , and keep 
 from writing a Folio and a Comment again. 
 
 And now, Sir, it is high time for me to con- 
 clude, to whom it is no pleafiire to deal in fuch a 
 way, and to converfe wich thofe kind of Books 
 that ycu fee my Defign hath put me upon. Ic is 
 Charity to you and the World that hath led me 
 along 5 and I hope I have io managed it, as fliall 
 be to the offence of none, but thofe that are Enem es 
 to Truth : I am fure I have fo much avoided all 
 that might exafperate , that I have for chat reafon 
 caft a fide Leaves of what fbme others might be 
 tempted to have taken in. If Mr. Jenkin hath been 
 hardly dealt with, he mull; thank himfelf, who ha- 
 ving, 
 
(i34) 
 
 ving , without provocation , defamed others, could 
 not be fuftered to run away with that out-cry 
 which he hath made, without a juft Rebuke. I am, 
 
 (SIR) 
 
 Tour Servant , 
 
 s. R. 
 
 f i w^i s. 
 
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