did he expoftulate the Matter with his unconfidering Converts? St. Paul was an Apostle of Jefus Chrift, not of Men, neither by Men; Apollos was a Man of incomparable Eloquence and Zeal, and mighty in the Scriptures; Cephas or Peter was the eldeft of the Apoftolical College, and the firft Perfon employ'd by his Mafter to publish the glad Tydings of Salvation, both to Jews and Gentiles: Yet how was St. Paul mov'd against the Schifmatical Humour then appearing among the Corinthians, when Chriftians would diftinguish themselves from one another by the feveral Names of Cephas, of Apollos, and of himself, as if they had been not Co-Founders of one,but diftin&t Founders of fo many feparate Churches? What, 1 Cor. 1. fays he, is Chrift divided? Was Paul crucify'd for you? or were you baptis'd in the Name of 1 Cor. 3. Paul? What, fays he again, Are ye not yet car

13.

3, 4, 5.

nal, when there are among yon Envyings, Strifes, and Divifions? Are ye not carnal, and walk as Men? For while one fays, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, Are ye not carnal? He adds, Who then is Paul? and who is Apollos? are they not Minifters, by whom ye believed, as God gave to every Man? And if that great Apoftle were fo exceedingly troubled at them for their Dotage on his own wonderful Zeal and Induftry, or on Peter for his extraordinary Holinefs and Gravity, or an Apollos for his charming and irresistible Eloquence, tho' they were all truly divine Preachers, and lawfully commiffion'd by their Heavenly Mafter; If it were a Sin to run after fuch very great Names, how impatient may we fuppofe he would

have been, had they admired a Simon Magus, or an Elymas, a Phygellus, or Hermogenes, or a maliciously prating Diotrephes? Had they, as the Galatians did, follow'd fome pragmatical Few, who would have introduced Circumcifion, or had they pretended to be Christians, and yet have call'd themselves by any of their Names? St. Paul argues against himself, and againft Apollos, I have planted, Apollos wa- ver. 6. tered, but God gave the Increase. They indeed, as Apoftles, had labour'd diligently among the Corinthians; they had preach'd the Gospel, and had confirm'd it againft all the Pains and Artifices of their Enemies; but all their Labours had been vain and fruitless, had not God's all-fubduing Power intervened and made their Endeavours effectual.

This Confideration alone was enough to make them look up only to their Saviour Jefus Chrift: And fome among them, as it feems, were fo wife, as only to call themfelves by his Name. This Confideration was enough to make the Corinthians unite themfelves altogether, under that one facred Appellation; fince it was He only, who by the Influences of his facred Spirit, tho' ufing the Apoftles as inferior Inftruments, who had happily brought them out of Darkness into the glorious Light of his Gofpel. So then, Nei- ver. 7. ther is he who planteth any thing, nor he who watereth, but God who giveth the Increase, as the Apoftle proceeds to argue. Now, if this Argument were good against real Apoftles; how much more muft it be valid against having the Perfons of thofe Men in Admiration, who have lived in these later Ages, and

N 3

not

not only have a Name inferiour by far to that of the Apoftles, but did of old, and do to this Day, directly contradict both the Do&trine and Practice of the Apoftles and their Affiftants?

Thefe fatal Divifions among those who profefs'd Faith in Chrift, in thofe very early Days, deftroy'd the very Effence of Religion by Degrees, and in a few Centuries, reduced it to little more than meer Speculation and Jangling. Thefe Divifions gave great Opportunities to Paganifm, Mabommedism and Popifh Idolatry, and all forts of damnable Herefies to re-engage a great Part of the deluded World. And thefe very Things prevented the Progrefs of the Reformation in many Places, giving too apparent and notorious Occafions of Scandal to pious and well-meaning Men: And fuch Scandals made way apace for the Restoration of Popery in other Places, where it had been juftly thrown off before. and can we imagine the fame kind of Divifions will have more happy Effects in these -Days, than they have had in those before us ? How many Years has our excellent Religion been dwindling only into Froth and Air, by Means of thofe fhameful Contentions among thofe who profefs it? Where is that invinci ble Courage now, that inceffant Vigilance, that prudent but unquenchable Zeal, that enflam'd Devotion, that holy Life and univerfal Charity, which was once fo remarkable in the Church of God? When the Multitude of them who believed were all of one Heart and of one Mind? And what have the great Factors for Separation done? What Miracles have

they

they wrought to put a Stop to that prodigious Torrent of Debauchery and Wickedness which has almoft overrun these, as well as our Neigbouring Nations? They talk indeed of purer Services, purer Ordinances, and more powerful and Soul-faving Preaching than ours: Excellent Things, doubtlefs, they would be, and if really attainable, they'd be much to be defired: But are they, indeed, to be met with among thefe vain-glorious Pretenders? So they fay, and you may believe them if you please. But when Men of good Senfe. and Understandings no way clouded with Prejudices, come to hear them with the kindeft Intentions, and read their extraordinary Performances, of which they take Care to give us enough and to fpare; nothing appears more trifling, more impertinent, more scandalous or offenfive. Their great LegendWriter, Mr. Calamy, tells us in his Abridgment of Mr. Baxter's Life, what infinite Number of Converts almost every one of his Nonconformifts had made; how many Seals of their Ministry they have had: Which Account, if true, a Man would almoft wonder there should be any Sinners left in thefe Nations, efpecially fince the fetting up of their Jefuitical Seminaries to fupport and increase the Schifin. But if we look into the Truth of Matters, we fhall find, that when thefe admirable Preachers, who pray'd like Angels, were in the Saddle, they converted very few to any thing but to groundless Scruples, Pharifaical Self-Conceit, and Perjury and Rebellion. Their naufeous ex Tempore Effufions put infinite Numbers wholly out of Conceit with N 4 Reli

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Religion and all its Ordinances, and laid the black Foundation of all that horrible Atheism and Profaneness which ftill, by their Afliftance, grows upon us.

What they had of found Doctrine among them, fince the Reftoration of the Government, both in Church and State, at the happy Return of King Charles II. was owing to their University Education, and what they had been acquainted with, of the Doctrine and Difcipline of the Epifcopal Church: But even in thofe Days the Performances of their Bridges's, Watfons, Brooks's, Eurge's, &c. gave us a full and literal Demonftration of their Foolishness of Preaching, fuch indeed as St. Paul never thought of,and fuch as would never have conduced much to the Converfion of the unbelieving World. And yet what Numbers of Men and Women who have been their Followers in their firft Endeavours to confound the Church, and ftill run eagerly after their wanton and ignorant Succeffors, have brought themselves to that Degree of Impiety, as to contemn and ridicule all Ordinances? as appears by thofe Multitudes who go to hear and fcoff at them, but never trouble themselves about their Sacraments or Difciplinary Contrivances. They talk eagerly against Papifts and Popery; nor can we charge them as faulty for that, if they understood rightly what Popery was in all its Habits and Difguifes: But it was obferved a good while fince, that "The Sepa"ration of Schifmaticks from the establish'd "Epifcopal Church of England highly gratify'd "the Papifts, and greatly hazarded the Pro"teftant Religion: Nay, that, by their Se"paration