Bishop Bramhall's vindication of himself and the episcopal clergy, from the Presbyterian charge of popery, as it is managed by Mr. Baxter in his treatise of the Grotian religion together with a preface shewing what grounds there are of fears and jealousies of popery.

CHAP. I.

Of Mr. Baxter and his Books, and Sequestrations.

BEfore I saw Mr. Baxters late Trea∣tise called, The Grotian Religion, it was to me, nec beneficio nec injuria, neither known for good nor hurt. I acknowledge the very Title of his

Book did not please me. Different Opinions do not make different Reli∣gions. It is the Golden Rule of Ju∣stice, not to do thus to another, which a man would not have done to himself. He would take it unkindly himself to have his own Religion contradistingui∣shed into the Prelatical Religion, from which he doth not much dissent, so he might have the naming of the Prelates; and the Presbyterian Religion, which he doth profess for the present; and the Independent Religion, which he shaketh kindly by the hand; and the Anabaptistical Religion, which chal∣lengeth Seniority of all Modern Sects. And then to have his Presbyterian Re∣ligion subdivided either according to the number of the Churches, into the English Religion, and the Scotish Reli∣gion, and the Gallician Religion, and the Belgian Religion, and the Helve∣tian Religion, and the Allobrogian Re∣ligion; of all the names of the Refor∣mers, into the Calvinistical Religion, and Brownistical Religion, Zuinglian Religion, and Erastian Religion, &c.

For all these have their differences. And so himself in his Preface to this very Treatise, admits those things for pious Truths, for which we have been branded with the names of Papists and Arminians, and have been plundered and spoiled of all that we had.

Let himself be judge whether this be not to have the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ with respect of persons. Iam. 2. 1. The Church of Christ is but one, one Fold and one Shepherd; Christian Religion is but one, one Lord, one Faith, one Hope. Then why doth he multiply Religions, and cut the Christian Faith into shreds, as if every Opinion were a fundamental Article of Religion? Let him re∣member that of St. Hierome; If you shall hear those who are said to be Chri∣stians any where, to be denominated not from the Lord Iesus Christ, but from some other person, know that this is not the Church of Christ, but the Sy∣nagogue of Antichrist.

So much for the Title of Mr. Baxters Book, now for his design. His main

scope is to shew that Grotius under a pretence of reconciling the Protestant Churches with the Roman Church, hath acted the part of a Coy-duck, willingly or unwillingly to lead Prote∣stants into Popery. And therefore he held himself obliged in duty to give warning to Protestants to beware of Grotius his followers in England, who under the name of Episcopal Divines, do prosecute the design of Cassander and Grotius, to reconcile us to the Pope, Page 2. And being pressed by his ad∣versary to name those Episcopal Di∣vines (vir dolosus versatur in genera∣libus) he gives no instance of any one man throughout his Book, but of my self. I shall borrow a word with him of himself, a word of Grotius, and a word or two concerning my self.

First for himself, he doth but wound himself through Grotius his sides, and in his censuring Grotius, teach his own Fellows to serve him with the same sawce. Grotius and Mr. Baxter both prosecute the same design of reconcilia∣tion, but Mr. Baxters object is the Bri∣tish

World, and Grotius his Object is the Christian World. Mr. Baxter as well as Grotius in prosecuting his de∣sign, doth admit many things which the greater part of his own Fellows do re∣ject. As that Praeterition is an act of justice in God, Praef. Sect. 7. That God giveth sufficient grace (in the Je∣suits sense) to those that perish, Sect. 8. That Redemption is universal, They (the Synod of Dort) give more to Christs Death for the Elect than we, but no less that he knows of to his Death for all than we, Sect. 10. He is as much for Free-will as we, They all profess that Man hath the natural faculty of Free-will, Sect. 11. He who had all his other Treatises which I did never see, in probability might find much more of the same kind. I do not dislike him for this, but rather commend him for unwrapping himself as warily as he could without any noise, out of the endless train of Error. And for other points wherein he is still at a default, I hope a little time and better informa∣tion, may set him right in those as well

as these. But others of his own Party do believe all these points which he ad∣mits to be as downright Popery as any is within the Walls of Rome. And with the same freedom and reason that he censures Grotius, they may censure him for the Popes stalking Horse or Coy-duck to reconcile us to Rome. Neither can he plead any thing for him∣self, which may not be pleaded as strongly, or more strongly for Gro∣tius.

He may object that those things which he admitteth, are all evident Truths; but sundry of those things which are admitted by Grotius, are Po∣pish Errors. This is confidently said, but how is he able to make it good to other men. Grotius took himself to have as much reason as Mr. Baxter, and much more learning and reading than Mr. Baxter. But still if his Fellows do no more approve of what he saith, than he approveth of that which Gro∣tius saith, they have as good ground to censure him, as he hath to censure Gro∣tius. Those very points which are ad∣mitted

by Mr. Baxter, are esteemed by his Fellows to be as gross and funda∣mental Errors, as any of those other su∣pernumerary points which are maintain∣ed by Grotius. But to come up closer to him, What if those other points disputed between Grotius and him be meer logomachies, or contentions a∣bout words, or mistaken Truths? He himself confesseth as much now of all the Arminian tenets, Pref. Sect. 15. I am grown to a very great confidence that most of our contentions about those [Arminian] points are more about words than matter. Again, in the same Section; The doctrine of the divine decrees is resolved into that of the di∣vine operations. Let us agree of the last, and we agree of the former. And almost all the doctrine of the divine operations about which we differ, de∣pendeth on the point of Free-will, and will be determined with that. And how far we differ (if at all) in the point of Free will, &c. I see Truth is the daughter of Time. Now our Armi∣nian Controversies are avowed to have

been but contentions about words. Now it is become a doubtful case, and deser∣ving an if. whether we have any diffe∣rence at all about Free-will or no. The wind is gotten into the other dore, since we were prosecuted and decried as Pe∣lagians, and enemies of Grace, because we maintained some old innocent Truths which the Church of England and the Catholick Church even taught her Sons, before Arminius was born. Some of their greatest Sticklers do owe a great account to God, and a great re∣paration to us, for those groundless ca∣lumnies, which they cast upon us at that time. For the present I only lay down this disjunctive Conclusion; Either Mr. Baxter and his Fellows have chan∣ged their judgment from what it was then, which makes the distance seem less now, or they did us abominable wrong then; or both these Propositions without any disjunction, are undoubt∣edly true. Mr. Baxter, who was so much mistaken in his Arminian points then, may be as much mistaken in his Grotian points now.

He noteth the time when he began his Book, April 9. 1658. and when he ended it, April 14. 1658. by which ac∣count it cost him but six days inclusive∣ly, comprehending both the day when he began, and the day when he ended. In my judgment this circumstance might better have been omitted. Among those who seem to approve his Work, some will ascribe it to the fortune of Augustus in Suetonius in the life of Clau∣dius, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, hap∣py men may have children at 3 months. Some others will take it as a symptom of vain-glory, other men must dig deep to lay a good foundation; but Mr. Bax∣ters happiness is only by turning the Cock to spout out whole Pages in an instant, as if he had found them set to his hands, and his part had been only to imprint them. Here was neither multa dies, nor multa litura, neither much time lost, nor much pains taken in cor∣recting. Thirdly, All men will say that he undervalues his Adversary, and makes his Victory too cheap, without ei∣ther blood or sweat.

And on the other side, among those who dislike his Work, some will make bold to tell him, that he presumes too much upon his Readers courtesie to pub∣lish such raw undigested fansies upon fewer days deliberation than the Poet requires years, nonumque prematur in armum. Others will not stick to say that they knew by the Treatise it self, though he had held his peace, that it cost him no great labour. And lastly, His saddest and most judicious Readers will suspect that he hath not weighed his Citations as he ought. Certainly all those testimonies which he produces out of Grotius in this Book, if he had ex∣amined them as exactly as he ought, with their coherence with the Antecedents and Consequents; and compared them with those Authors whom Grotius doth alledge for confirming of his own judg∣ment, would have taken up thrice as many days as he assigneth to this Work, yea though he had made use of Aristo∣tles Ball and his Bason to keep him wa∣king.

Before I leave his own part, I cannot

choose but tell him that I do not, I can∣not approve of his defence of Seque∣strations. And what he believeth of idle ignorant unworthy Pastours that they are obliged to make restitution, the same do I firmly believe of his Se∣questrators, that without restitution according to the extent of their power, they can have small hope of salvation. But first I must crave leave to tell him, that he doth utterly mistake the que∣stion. First he doth disown the casting out of able and godly Ministers, because they are Prelatical, or supposed Armi∣nians, or interested in the late civil differences. But we know that the greatest part of sequestred persons were such; and ejected for those very reasons. So he disowns the question.

And as he disowns the question, so he diverts it from sequestred Ministers, to ignorant unsufficient reading Mini∣sters. There was no need why he should have put reading Ministers in∣to his Apology: and yet he cannot choose but know that good use may be made of reading Ministers in a consti∣tuted

Church; and that there is much less danger of them than of ignorant or seditious Preachers. Our reading Ministers of all the Clergy were in least danger of their Sequestrators, who looked more at the value of the Benefice, than at the qualifications of those per∣sons who were turned out. He who doubteth of this general Truth, upon inquiry into particular Cases, may quickly satisfie himself.

And as he disowns the question, and diverts the question, so he begs the que∣stion; that those Ministers whom they put in, were incomparably better than those they turned out. No, nor yet worthy to be named the same day with them. Compare those Provosts, and Presidents, and Professors, and Fellows, and Scholars, who were turned out of our Universities, with those Bulrushes in comparison, whom for the most part they introduced, or read but the Marty∣rology of the City of London alone with an impartial eye, and consider sadly how many eminent persons for Learning, Piety, and Industry, have

been turned out of their livelihoods, meerly for those reasons which he dis∣owneth, and dares not justifie. He who shall do this thing seriously, and compare them with their crawling Suc∣cessors, will find cause enough to write upon the dores of their habitations, O domus antiqua quam dispari domina∣ris Domino? From this Foot a man may easily conjecture the proportion of the whole Body, and what have been the sufferings of our Orthodox Clergy throughout the whole Kingdom, con∣trary to the Laws of God and Man; how many of them have been beggered and necessitated to turn Mechanicks or Day-Labourers; how many imprison∣ed, or forced to forsake their Native Country and seek their bread among strangers; how many have had their hearts broken, some starved, some mur∣thered, and the spoyl of their houses gi∣ven for a Reward to the Murtherer. But this is a sad Subject to dwell upon. God Almighty pardon them who have had any hand in these cruel courses, and give them true repentance. In the

mean time their Sequestrators, notwith∣standing their former censures against all Pluralists, and their present preten∣ded self-denial, were well contented to hold Pluralities themselves with con∣fidence enough.

But now I will suppose all that which he desires, and which he is never able to prove; yea which his own conscience tells him to be much otherwise, that all persons who have been sequestred or turned out of their Benefices by them, had been such undeserving persons as he feigneth: and all those who were put in their places had been such lear∣ned, honest, and Orthodox Divines; such as out of conscience and a desire to do good, did seek as much after the sti∣pendiary Cures of Reading Ministers, as after the larger Benefices of more eminent Scholars; yet these sequestred persons had a just title to their Benefices by the Laws of England.

That which was theirs by Law, can∣not be taken from them without Law, or against Law. Dominion is founded in Nature, not in Grace. Nothing is

more hidden than true Grace: we un∣derstand it not certainly in another, hardly in our selves. Therefore if Grace should give every one that pre∣tends to it, interest in that which is ano∣ther mans lawful Possession, no mans title could be certain to another, scarce∣ly to himself; from whence must neces∣sarily follow an incredible confusion, and an inevitable perturbation of all estates.

By the Laws of England they were possessed of their Benefices, and by the Laws of England they ought to be outed of their Benefices. They who decried Arbitrary Government, should not be the only men to introduce Arbitrary Government into England. The Law of England knoweth no way to out a man of his Benefice but death, cession, or deprivation. It knoweth no depri∣vation but for crimes committed against Law, and that Law more ancient than those Crimes, where there is no Law, there is no transgression, and where there is no transgression, there can be no deprivation. The Law of England

knoweth no deprivation but by persons to whom the ancient Law of England hath committed the power of depri∣ving. So every way their Sequestra∣tions are unlawful, and they who hold them are like Moths which inhabit in other mens Garments. Of all the Com∣mandments the eighth is most dange∣rous; other Commandments oblige to Repentance, but that obligeth both to Repentance and Restitution. His in∣stances of a Physitian, and a Comman∣der, and a Pilot, who hold their Offices ad voluntatem Domini, so long as their Masters think fit, are not appliable to a Benefice, which is the inheritance of the present Incumbent and his Succes∣sors. Sequestration may have place during the vacancie of a Benefice, or until the decision of some Process de∣pending, or for the discharge of some Duty which by Law is incumbent upon the Benefice; but such lawless Arbi∣trary Sequestrations as these were, are plain Robbery by all Laws of God and Man.