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Show ~ 36 Confidtr.-tionJ, touching the Edification, and I)acification; ' t~e l!cclejtiflica~ State, fhou1d ~ill continue, u~on the Dreggll of Ttme, and receive, no Alteration now, for rhts Five and Forty years, and more? If any Man, iliall objeCt, that if rhe like Intermiffion:~ had been ufed,in Cieil Cattfes alfo,tbe Errour had not been great; Surely the W1fedome of the Kingdome, h.ath been other- . wife, in Experience, for Three Hundred years fpace, at the leaft. But, if it be faid to me, that there is a Difference, between Civil! Caufo.r, and Ecclejiaflicall, they may as well tell me,that Ch11rches, and Chaptels:~ need no Reparations, though ca.ftles, and Houfes)do; Where·as commonly, to (peak truth,Dilapidations, of the Inward and Spirituall,Edijications, of the Church:~ of God, are, in all time/ as great, as t~e Out~ard, and Materiall. Sure I am, that the very . word:> and Sule, of Reformation, ufea by our Saviour; Ab initio n"n fuit fie; was applyed,to chur:ch Matter.r; And thofe, of the higheft Nature, concerning the Law M6rall. Nevertheleife, He were both unthankfull, and unwife, that would deny, but that the Church, of England, during the time of !2!!_een Elizabeth, of famons Memory, did flouri{b. If I fi1ould com· pare it, with Forrain churches, I would rather, the Comparifuo fhould be, in the Vertue1, then, as fame make it, in the Defects; Rather,I fay,a~ between the Pine; and the olive, which iliould be mofi fruitfull,And not, as between the Briar,& the 7 hiflle, which-lhould be mofr unprofitable. For that Reverence) iliould be ufed, to the Church, which the goodsonJofNoah,ufed,to their Fathers Na/zednefs; That is, as it were, to go backwards, and to help, the Defects thereof, and yet to diffemble them. And it is to b~ acknowledged , that fcarcely any church, fince the rrimitive Church, yielded, in like Number ofYears, and Latitude of Country, a greater Number, of Excellent Preacher.!, F amoui Writer1, and GraveGoverneu: ~ut for the Difcipline,and Orders)ofthe church~as many, & the chiefefi, ofthem,are HoJy,and Good;So yet,ifSaint John, were to indjte an Epple, to the chnrch of E1tgland, as he did, to them of .Aja, it would, fure, have the Claufe; Mabco adverfiu · te pauc a. And no more, for this Point; Saving that, as an A ppendix thereunto, it is not amHfe, to touch that objelfion, which is made to the Time, and not to the Matter; Pretending, that if Reformation, were necdfary, ye~ it wete not now feafonable, at your Majefties Firfi Entrance: Yet Hippocrates faith; Si q1tid moves, a principio move: And the wifedom, of all Examples,do fhew, that the wifefrl'rinces, as they have ever bern, the mofl fparing, in Removing, or Alteration, of Servttnts, and officers, upon their Coming in; So, for. Removing of Abufes, and Enormities; Aad for Reforming of Lawes, and the Policy of their States, they have, chiefly, fought toennoble,and commegd,their Beginnings therewith; Knowing, that the 1irft Jmprdfion, with People, co~ti- . nueth long; And when Mens Minds, are moft in Expectation, and Sufpence, then, are they bdt wrougbt, and mannaged :And · therefore it feemcth to me; that as the Spring of Nat1tre, (I mean, the ------~------------------------~-------------------- of the ehurcb t>fEngland. . t~e~~pring of theyeJr,) is the befi.Time; for purging, and Medtctmng, the Natural! Bedy; So t.he Sprin~ of Kingdonir, is the mo~ proper Seafon, for the purgmg, and H..ectif,ying of Politic!. Bodrer. · ' '\. There remaineth yet, an obje{Jion; rather of Sufpition then of ~eafon; _And yet fuch.., as I think, maketh a great Imprefii?~, tn th~mmds, o~very wife, a.nd wdlaffech:d, Petfons,which IS, ihatif. way be gzven~ to M11!atrq'!, thqugh i~ be in tdkjng a'tvay Abufes, y~t 1t may fo ac.q~tlrnt Men, wtth fweetnejfe of chan<~e, as it wilf undermrne, the Stab.,lzty, e11en of that) whrcfJ i1 found, and good. This, furely, ~ad bee~ a g_oc;ct, and true, allegation, in the Ancient Contenuons, and D1vtfions, between the People and thes t f R h h. ' ena e, o ~me: .w ere t mgs were ca~ri~d, at the Appetiter of MJllti· tudei ~ whtch can never ~eep, wtthm the Compalle of anv Mo· deratiOn: But the~e Thmgs, being with us, to h.a~e an o~d erly paffage:~ under a Kmg, who hath a Royall power, afld approved Judgement; And knoweth, as well the Meajitre of Things as the Nature of them; It is, furely, a needleffe, Fear. F'o; they need ~ot ~oubt, b1,1t your ~fajefly, ~ith tbe advife of your Councell, wdl dtfcern, what Thmgs are mtermingled like th Taru, amonffl the wheat; which have their zwotJ, fo cn~rappede and en~:tng!ed, as the one, cannot be pulled up, without en~ dangenng the o~her; And what, <He mingled> bu_t as the chajfe, and the Corn, ~h1chneed but a Fanne, ~o Jift~ andfever them. So m~ch therefore, for the firfr PQint, of no R~formation to be ad .. muted, at all. ~ For the Second Point, a hat there fhould be but one c m f D~;;rc;r. p t·m e., t. n a1 1 Ch u rches; An.d that, impofe' d, by neceilriotyr , o'ofa Commandement, and prefcnpt, out ot the word of God· It is Mat!er, Po~HmeJ have been compiled of, and therefore ~anno~ receive~ bnefRedargution. I, for my .part, do confeife, that in R.evolvJ.tlg the Scriptures, I could never find any fuch Thin . But that God, had left, the like Liberty,to the' church Governme~Z as h~ had done to the Civil/ Go'l.fernme11t; To be varied accord in ~ to Ttm.e, ~nd J>lace,.and Accidents; · which, neverthelefi~, his high~ and Dtvine, Providence, doth order, and difpofe. For all Civil Govern'!lent1, are refirained,from God, unto the general Grounds of Jufhce, .and Manner.r; But the Policies and Forms of them' ar~ left.Free; So that Mon.trchies, and Ki,;gdoms; Se;tteJ, and · Setgnortes, Popular States, and Comnnmalties; are Jaw full; And where they are planted, ought to be maintained inviolate Solikewife, in Chnrch Mat(ers, the Subftance of Dof1rine, is Imm':'table; And fo are, the generall Rules, o(Government; But ~~~Rites, and Cere1Jionies;· And for the particular Hierarchies, Polrcru, an~ J?ifciplines, of Churches, they be left at large. And , t~erefore, .It ts good, we ~eturn~ unto the ancient BoundS' ofVnrty, tn·the Chu~ch of Goc/.; which was, One Faith; One Baptifme · A~d not, one Hrer11rchy, one Difcipline: And that we ob(erve th~ · League ~37 |
