To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
I Need not pre∣mise any thing for distinguish∣ing the three Parties concer∣ned in this case. They are too much at odds, and their differences too many and notorious; yet lest there be a mistake in Names, (because all the Sects in this Nation call themselves Churches, and Churches of England) therefore by the Church of England is under∣stood the Church of Christ in this
Land established upon the Reforma∣tion, holding out her Doctrine and Government in the 39. Articles, her Liturgy and Publick Divine Service in the Book of Common-Prayer: and all those are called Sectaries, and are proved so to be, who (of what perswasion soever) have departed from, or refused to hold communion with this Church upon dislike of Doctrine, Government, Liturgy, Rites and Ceremonies, or any of these.
The Church of England, standing thus between the Church of Rome on the one hand, and the aforesaid Sects, which have divided from it on the other hand, is challenged, and as∣saulted by both, put now to defend it self against both. Which brings to mind the Device of some Romanist, who to make himself merry, has pi∣ctured an English Protestant standing between a Papist and an Indepen∣dent, borrowing Arguments and Reasons from the One, to oppose or answer the Other: Against the Pa∣pists he must plead (as do all Secta∣ries) Invisibility of the Church, Scri∣pture
alone, Liberty of private judg∣ment: against other Sects he must help himself by urging (as do the Pa∣pists) the visible condition of the Church, the Authority of it, Catho∣lick Tradition and Practice, and the Succession of Bishops and Pastors. Well, the Romanists may thus seem∣ingly▪ please themselves, but indeed This of all other Reformed Churches has been, and is, by reason of its most regular Reformation, their great eye-sore and heart-sorrow. And the English Protestant, or obe∣dient Son of the Church of England, as he is well set between a Papist and Sectarie, as between two Extremes, so he onely is able to stand against the opposition or pretensions of both; for if we examine the false Grounds and deceiving Principles of Both, as to this point of the Consti∣tution, Government, and Commu∣nion of the Church: we shall clear∣ly see the Truth lyes in the midst between both, and the Church of ENGLAND holds and main∣tains it. To give some Instan∣ces.
It holds the truth between Romanists and Secta∣ries.