350 A SERMON OF REPENTANCE. so the terms on which the differing parties most considerable among us may safely, easily, and suddenly unite, are very obvious, and our concord a very easy thing, if the prudent and moderate might be the guides, and selfish interests and passion did not set us at a further distance than our principles have done. And to show you the facility of such an agreement, were it not that such personal matters are much liable to misinterpretations, I should tell you, that the late reverend Primate of Ireland consented, in less than half an hour's debate, to five or six propositions which I offered him, as sufficient for the concord of the moderate Episco- pal and Presbyterians, without forsaking the principles of their parties. O that the Lord would yet show so much mercy to a sinful nation, as to put it into your hearts to promote but the prac- tice of those Christian principles which we are all agreed in ! I hope there is no controversy among us whether God should be obeyed, and hell avoided, and heaven first sought, and Scripture be the rule and test ofour religion, and sin abhorred and cast out. O that youwouldbut further the practice ofthis with all your might ! We crave not of you any lordship or dominion, nor riches, nor in- terest in your temporal affairs; we had rather see a law to exclude all ecclesiastics from all power of force. The God of heaven, that will judge you and us, will be a righteous judge betwixt us, wheth- er we crave any thing unreasonable at your hands. These are the sum of our requests :-1. That holiness may be encouraged, and the overspreading profaneness of this nation effectuallykept down. 2. That an able, diligent ministry may be encouraged, and not corrupted by temporal power. 3. That discipline may be seriously promoted, and ministers no more hindered by magistrates in the exercise, of their office than physicians and schoolmasters are in theirs, seeing it is but a government like theirs, consisting in the liberty of conscionably managing the works of our own 'office, that we expect. Give us but leave to labor in Christ's vineyard with such encouragements as the necessity of obstinate souls requireth, and we will ask no more. You have less cause to restrain us from discipline than from preaching. For it is amore flesh- displeasing work that we are hardlier brought to. I foretell you thatyou, shut out me, and all that are of my mind, if you would force us to ad- minister sacraments, without discipline, and without the conduct of our own discretion, to whom the magistrate appoints it, as if a physician must give no physic but by your prescript. The anti- disciplinarian magistrate I could as resolutely suffer under as the superstitious, it being worse to cast out discipline than to err in the circumstances of it. The question is not, whether bishops or no, but whether discipline or none. And whether enough to use it. ' 4. We earnestly request that Scripture sufficiency, as the test of our religion and only universal law of Christ, may be maintained,
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