PART I. Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter. 113 that revealeth it, and ufe him accordingly, and never be afharned when they have done it, and thereby declaredallwhich he foretold to be true. § t7o. I s. Having in the Poflfcript of my True Catbolick, given a íhort touch a- gainit a bitter Bookof Mr.Tbomas Pierce's, against the Puritans and me, it pleafed him to write another Volumeagainft Mr. Hickman and me, juft like the Man ; full of malignant bitternefs against Godly men that werenot of his Opinion ; and breathing out blood-thirfty malice, in a very Rhetorical fluent Lyle. Abundance of Lies elfoare in it againft the old Puritans, as well as againft me;and in particu- lar in charging Hacket's Villany upon Cartwrightas a Confederate : which I inftance in becaufe I have (out of old Mr. AJh's Library) aManufcript ofMr. Cartwright's containing his fullVindication againft that Calumny, which fame would fain have fastened on him in his time. But Mr. Pierce's principal bufinefs was to defend Grátius : In anfwer to which I .wrotea little Treadle, called, The Gratian Religion difcovered, at the Invitation of Mr. Thomas Pierce : In which I cited his own words, efpecially out of his Dif- cule Apalogerici Rivetiani, wherein he openeth his -Terms of Reconciliation with Rome, viz. That it be acknowledged the Miltrefs Church, and the Pope have his Supream Government, but not Arbitrary, but only according to the Canons ; To which end he defendeth the Councilof Trent it felt,- Pope Phil's Oath, and all the Councils, which.is no other than theFrench fort of. Popery : I had not then heard of theBook written in France called Grouts., Papizans, nor ofSarraaius's Epiflei, in which he witneffeth it from his ownmouth. But the very words which I cited con- tain anopen Profeflionof Popery. This Book the Printer abufed, printing every Setion fo diftant, to fill up Paper, as if they had been feveral Chapters. And ina Preface before it, Ivindicated the Synod ofDort ( where the Divines of England were chief Members ) from the abufrve virulent Accufations of one that called himfelf Tilenus junior. Hereupon Pierce wrote a much morerailing ma- licious Volume than the former, ( the livelieft Exprefs of Satan's Image, malignity, bloody malice, and falfhood, covered in handfome railing Rhetorick, (that ever I have feen from any that calledhimfelf a Proteftant). Andthe Preface was anfwer- ed juft in the fame manner by one that ftiled himfelf Pbìlo-Tilenu,. Three filch Men as this Tilenus junior, Pierce and Gunning, Ihave not heard of betides in Eng- land ! Of the JefuitesOpinion in Doótrinals, andof the old DominicanComplexi on ; the ableltMen that their Party hath in all the Land ; of great diligence inBu- 'dy and reading; of excellent Oratory (efpecially Tilenus junior and Pierce ); of temperate Lives; but all their Parts fo fharpened with a furious perfecuting Zeal, againft thofe that diflike Arminianifm, high Prelacy, or full Conformity, that they are like the Briars and Thorns which are not to be handled, butby a fenced hand, andbreathe out Tereatnings against God's Servants better than themfelves ; and feem unfatisfied with bloodand ruines, and !till cry, Give, Give ; bidding as lowd defiance to Cbríflian Charity, as ever Amite,: or any Heretick didtoFaith. This Book of mine of the Grattan Religion greatly offended many others : but none of them couldfpeak any Sence againft it, the Citations for Matter of Fall being unanfwerable. And it was only the Matter ofFa&which I undertook, viz, To prove that Gratiue profeft himfelf a moderate Papift : But for his fault in fo do- ing, I little medled with it. § t71. t6. Mr. Blake having replyed to'fome things in my Apology, efpecially about Right, to Sacraments, or the lust Subjeet of Baptifm and the Lord's Supper, I wrote five Difputations on thofe Points, proving that it is not the realityof á Dogmatical (or Juttifying) Faith, noryet the Profeflion of bare Afnt ( called à Dogmatical Faith by many ); but only the Profefon of a Saving Faith, which is the Condition of Mens title to Church-CommunionCoram Ecclefá : and that Hy- pocrites are but Analogically or Equivocally called Cbriflians, and Believers, and Saint,, &c. with much more to decide the molt troublefome Controverte of that Time, which was about the NeceffaryQualification and Title of Church-Mem- bers and Communicants: Manymen have been perplexed about that Point, and that Book. Some think it cometh too near the Independants, and Come that it is too tar from them ; and many think it very hard, that [ A Credible Profeion ] of True Faith and Repentance,.Ihould be made the Crated Qualification; becaufe they . think it incredible that all the Jewifh Members werefilch : But I have lifted this Point more exa&ly and diligently in my thoughts, than almoft any Controverte whatfoever:And fain I would have found forceother Qualificationto take up with, ( a. Either theProfellionof force lower Faith than that which bath the Promife of Salvation ; z. Or at leafi filch a Profetlion of Saving Faith, as needed' not to Q: be
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=