fuch a Perfon as I fuppofe, believe, that the King took Care to fatisfy every particular Perfon of the Lawfulness of that Alteration he had made by his prefent Decree? Or do we hear of any diffatisfy'd or Diffenting Perfons from that new and unusual Order? Or can he suppose that Hezekiah and his Council would have deferv'd the Name of Perfecutors, had they punish'd those, who had disobey'd his Proclamation, tho' they had pretended Doubts and Scruples in Defence of their Nonconformity.

Or, to inftance in one more Cafe: It was a pofitive Command of God, An Altar of Earth Jhalt thou make unto me, and shalt facrifice thereon Exod. 10. thy Burnt-Offerings and thy Peace Offerings. And 24,25, 26. if thou wilt make me an Altar of Stone, thou shalt not build it of hewen Stone; for if thou lift up thy Tool upon it, thou haft defil'd it. And it follows, Neither halt thou go up by Steps unto mine Altar, that thy Nakedness be not difcover'd thereon. Yet, this so plain a Rule notwithstanding, when Solomon built his glorious Temple, he tranfgrefs'd this Rule in every Particular; For, as the Sacred Story informs us, Solomon made an Altar of Brafs,and not either of Earth or of rough Stone; 2 Chron. and fuch an Altar was not eafy to be framed 4. 1. without lifting up a Tool upon it; and then he made it Ten Cubits high, fo as it was not to be come at without Steps: Neither was that Altar framed only for State or Shew, for there were as many Sacrifices offer'd upon it, as it could poffibly receive at the folemn Dedication 2 Chron. of that Temple. After an this, we neither find 7• 7• Solomon condemn'd nor cenfur'd for his Tranfgref

fion of that particular Law: Nor do we find

H 4

any

any of the People troubled with Scruples upon that Occafion, or that they refused to communicate with their King, or with the Priests who offer'd Sacrifices upon that Altar: Nor is it at all probable that either Solomon himfelf, or the Priests, or the Princes would have taken it well, had any of the People fhewn themselves diffatisfy'd with that Novelty, or who had refus'd Uniformity with them,even in that Trespass upon a confeffedly Divine Law.

If then, in fuch feemingly clear Cafes, as thefe which I have inftanced in, the People of God might conform to Publick Order, tho' it feem'd to contradi& fuch Laws as were of unqueftionably Divine Authority, and yet not be guilty of Sin: Nay, if it be reasonable to believe, that the People had really finn'd, had they not conform'd, as it appears they did; how can they, who make Divifions in a Church, only upon Account of Matters which they count doubtful and disputable, and which Multitudes of at least as much Learning, Judgment and Piety as themselves, know to be indifputably lawful? How can thofe, who refufe to obey Decrees made by a juft Authority, and contrary to no pofitive Law of God? How can fuch Perfons excuse themselves? Or how can they imagine, that a Parcel of ungrounded Doubts and Scruples can be a fufficient Plea for Difobedience? We know of no Allowance for fuch Behaviour in the Word of God: And, if Men in general but weigh Things well, and if those who go about to defend their Errors by Scripture, would only appeal to fuch Texts as are pertinent to the Matter in Hand, this Way of Procedure would prevent most of those unhappy Miftakes, which

now rend the Church of God among us in Pieces. For, it's no eafy Matter to produce pertinent Texts of Scripture in Defence of Error.

And thus have I taken away the pretended Support of this Paffage of St. Paul, For whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin, from thole who complain of being perfecuted by the Pastors and Governors of the Church of England on Account of their Confciences, or who fuppofe Doubts and Scruples, or a Pretence to them to be a fufficient Protection for Difobedience to the conftituent Laws of our Church; and I doubt not to conclude from hence, that Faults and Miscarriages flowing from fuch Originals, júftly come under the Cognizance of our Spiritual Governours, and may juftly, and without Breach of Charity be cenfur'd by them Nor can it, with any Shew of Reafon be call'd Perfecution in our Ecclefiaftical Superiors, when they animadvert upon thefe Things, unless we can as plainly prove, that we are cenfur'd only for not finning against God, or that our Spiritual Governours of themselves or our Civil Governors by their Inftigation, would, by the Severity of Penal Laws, force them upon Sin, unless we can prove all this as plainly, as we can plainly prove from the Word of God, that we ought to promote the Peace of the Church, and to be obedient to the Inftructions of our lawful Paftors. As for any Officers of the Church, or belonging to it, being concern'd, in Matters Teftamentary, Diffamatory or Matrimonial, &c. We fuppofe, there are none fo fenfelefs, as to call them Perfecutors on any fuch Account.

But the Governours of the Church of England, and indeed, of every Chriftian Church go far

ther

thy? But if God's Houfe be the House of Prayer, as our Saviour himself tells us it is, and therefore all Perfons ought there to offer up their humble Devotions to God in the midst of his Congregation; and if the humblest Prayers of him, who turns away his Ear from hearing the Law of God,be an Abomination, as Solomon assures us,then, if the Word of God be of any Authority, these Things, viz. Negligence and Irreverence in performing our publick religious Duties are Sins. If, indeed,the eftablifh'd Church of England impofes upon any of her Members, Things as apparently finful, as it is apparently a Duty to obey them who are over us in the Lord, then the Sin would lie at her Door, if the fhould cenfure any of them who fhould refufe Obedience: But if that Church requires nothing of her Members, but what may lawfully be done, then fhe, by her Paftors and Governors, may lawfully take Cognizance of fuch as neglect what the requires.

As for our holy Mother the Church of Eagland, the pretends not to take away the Key of Knowledge from her Children, but exhorts them with all the compaffionate Earnestness in the World, to fearch the Scriptures, because she knows very well, that a careful, conftant and humble Reading and meditating upon Scripture would foon reduce all thofe, who now feparate themfelves from her, and yet are baptis'd lawfully into the Name of Chrift into her Bofom, and those who are not fo baptis'd, and have yet been deluded into an Opinion that they were, into impatient Longings to be fo truly baptiz'd. She cuts not off any of God's Commandments, nor fets any human Authority above them. She has added no new Article to the Ancient Chri

ftian Creeds: Nor does the order us to pay our Devotions to our Maker in a Language we understand not: She has not prefumed to give us any other Sacraments, as generally neceffary to Salvation, than those two instituted by our Mafter himself, of Baptifm and the Lord's Supper. And has it been ever yet prov'd a Sin for any Chriftian diligently to fearch the Scriptures? To believe all the Articles of the Chriftian Faith? To defire God's Grace to inable us to keep his Word and Commandments? To make his written Word the great Standard of our Faith and Practice? To pray fo, as that we may underftand our felves? Or was it ever thought a Sin to communicate in the Chriftian Sacraments? If none of these Things be Sin, then we may be fure, that there can be no Sin as to thefe and fuch like Matters, in our Church's requiring all her Members to conform to her Laws about them.

But it's objected against our Church, that our Church restrains or quenches the Spirit, by prefcribing Forms of Prayer to be us'd by all her Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons, and confequently all her Children in her publick folemn Adminiftrations: And, if thofe, who may be Partakers of more Spiritual Devotions, fhould yet fubmit themselves to fueh mean Rudiments, they muft certainly at a very imprudent Part, not to give it a worse Name. But for Answer to this ObjeЯion, I would fain know, where we may find in Scripture, (for to Scripture we maft piincipally appeal) Where do we find an Extemporary, or a conceiv'd Prayer, as they fometimes call it, spoken of as a Prayer indited by the Spirit? Where do we find, any fuch Prayer either us'd or recommended