PART II. Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter. 261'. Since theprintingof this Declaratrofeveral SeditiousPamphlets and Queries ` have,been publifhed and fcattered abroad, to, infufe Diflike and Jealoufes into the ' Heat to of the People, and of the Army ; and fome who ought rather to have ' repented their former Mifchief theyhave wrought, than to have endeavoured to ` improve it, have had the hardinefs to publifh, That the Do6trineof the Church, againft which no Man with whom we have conferred hath Excepted, ought to ` be reformed as well as the Difcipline. Thisover-paflìonate and turbulent wayof Proceeding, and the Impatience we find in many for fome ¡needy Determination in there Matters, Whereby the Minds ' of Men may becompofed, and the Peace of the Church efablilhed, hath pre- . vailedwith us to invert the Methodwe had'propofedto our Pelf, and even in or- ' der to the better Calling andCompofingof a Synod ( which the prefent "pion- ` fies will hardly agree Opon ) by the of iltanceof God's bleffed Spirit, which we ' daily invoke and fupplicate, to give fome determination our felt to the Matters in difference , until fuch a Synod may be called, as may without paffìon or pre- judice, give us fuch a further affìftance towardsa perfe& Union of Affe&ions, as ` well as Submiffion toAuthority, as is neceffary. And we are the rather induced ` to take this upon us, by finding upon the full Conference we have had with the ' Learned Menof feveral Pedwaftons, that the Mifchiefs under which both the ` Church and State do at prefect fuller, do not refult from any formedDo&rine of ' Concluuonwhich either Party niaimáinsor avows s but from the Pallionand Ap- petite and Intereft of particular Perfons, who contra& greater Prejudice to each ` other from thofe Affe&ions, than would naturally wife from their Opinions; and Mote Diltempers muff be in tome degree allayed, before theMeeting in a Synod can be attended with better Succefs, thantheir Meeting in other places,and their . ` Difcourfes in Pulpitshave hitherto been : and till all thoughts of V ietory are laid ` afide, the humbleand neceffary Thoughts for the vindication of Truth cannot be ` enough entertained. ' We muff for theHonour of all thofe ofeither Perfwafion, with whomwe have `conferred, declare, That the Profeffions and Deliiresof all for the Advancement of Piety, and true Godlinefs, are the fame: their Profeffions of Zeal for the ' Peace of the Church, the fame ; of Affe&ion. and Duty to us, the" fame :: They all approve Epifcopacy: They all approve,a, Set-Form of Liturgy : And they difapprove and dillike the Sin of Sacriledge , and the Alienation of the ` Revenue of the Church : And if upon thefe excellent Foundations, in Sub- 'million towhich there is fuch a Harmony of Affe&ions, any Superffru&urea Ihould be railed to the fhaking thOfe Foundations,. and to thecontraeling and let- ' fening the bleffed Gift of Charity, which is a Vital part of Chriflian Religion,we ` null think our foif veryunfortunate, and even fùfpe& that we are defe&ive in ' that Adminiffrationof Government, withwhich God bath intrufted us. . We neednot profefs the high Affe&ion and Deem we have for the Church of England, as it is eftablifhed by Law ; the Reverence to which hath fupported ' us, with God's Blefling, againft manyTemptations; Nor do we think that Re- ` verence in the leap degree diminifhed by our Condefcenfions, not peremptorily to infili upon fome Particularsof Ceremony, which however introduced, by the ` Piety and Devotion andOrder of former Times, may not be fo agreeable to the `prefent; but may even leffen that Piety and Devotion, for the- improvement ' whereof they might happily be MR introduced, and confeguently may well be ' difpenfed with. And we hope, this Charitable compliance of ours, will difpofe the Minds of all Men to a chearful Submiflion to that Authority , the prefervati- ` on whereof is fo neceffary for the Unity and Peace of the Church : and that they will acknowledge the Support of the Epifcopal Authority, to be the beE Support of Religion ; by being the beE means to contain the Minds of fvfenwith in the Rules of Government. And they who would refrain theExercife of that holy Fun&ion, within the Rules whichwere obferved in the PrimitiVe Times, ` muti remember and confider, that theEcclefiaftical Power being in thole bleffed Times always fubordinate and fubje& to the Civil, it was likewife proportioned to fuch an Extent of Jurifdi&ion as wasagreeable to diat : And as the San&icy and Simplicity and Refignation of that Age, did then refer many things to the ` Bifhops, which the Policy of fucceedingAges would not admit, at kalt did o- f therwife provide for fo it can be no ReproachtoPrimitive Épifcopacy, ifwhere ` therehave been great'Alterations in the Civil Government from what was then, there have been likewife force Difference and Alteration in the Ecclefiafical, the Effence and Foundation beingDill prelerved t And upon this Ground, with- ' out
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