406 The LIFE of the !ABA. B- I, 347. 9. And it lamentably conduceth to the hardening of the Heathens and In- fidels of theWorld, and hindering their Converfion to the Chrillian Faith : It wouldmake a Believer'sheart to bleed ( if any thing in all the World will do it ) to think that five parts in fixof the World are fill Heathens, Mahometans and In- fidels, and that the wicked Livesof Chriflians ( with Fopperies, Ignorance and Divifions) is the great Impediment to their Converfion ! To read and hear Tra- vellers and Merchants tell, that the Banians and other Heathens in Indettan , Cam- baia, and manyotherLands, and the Mahometans adjoyning to theGreeks, and the 4baffineg &c. do commonly fly from Chrifianity, as the Separatistsamong us do from Prelacy, and fay, God will not fiveus if we be Chriftians; for Chriftiansare Drunkards, and proud, and Deceivers, &r. And that the Mahometans, and many Heathens have more, both of Devotion and Honefly, than the common fort of Chrifianshave that live among them L O. wretched Chriftians ! that are not con- tent to damn themfelves, but thus lay fumblingblocks before the World ! It were better for thefe men that they had never been born ! But ifall thefe notorious ones were difownedby the Churches, it would quit our Profeflîon much from the dif- honour, and fhewpoor Infidels that our Religion is good, though their Lives be bad. § ;48. to: Lay, it galleth the Confciences of the Minifers in their admini- ftrationsof. the Sacraments to the openly ungodly and gro(ly ignorant : It hinder- eth the Comfort of the Church in its Communion : It filleth the Heads of poor Chriftians with Scruples, and their Hearts with Fears ''and is the great caulk of unavoidable Separations amongus, and confequently of ll the Cenfures onone fide, andwrathful Penaltieson the other,and uncharitablenefs on both fides,which follow thereupon. If the Pafors will not differ between the precious and the vile, by neceffary regular Difcipline; tenderChriftians will be tempted to difference by ir- regular Separations ; and to think, as Cyprian faith, That it belongeth to the People to forfake a finfal Pallor r They will feparate further than they ought ; and will take our Churches as Sinks of Pollution, and fly from the noifornnefs of them ; and comeout front among us, for fear of partaking in our Plagues, as menrun outof a ruinous Houle left it fall upon their Heads. And then they will fall into Seas a- mong themfelves, and fall under the hot difpleafure of theBifhops, and then they will be reproached and vexed as Schifmaticks, while they reproach our Churches as Hypocritical and Prophane, that call filch Societies, the Communion of Saints : Thishath been, .and this is, and this will be the Caufe of Separations, Seas, Perfe- cutions, Malice and Ruins in theChrifianWorld : And it will never be cured, till force tolerableDifcipline cure the Churches. § 49. ro. The tenth and laf Charge againf ourFrame of Prelacy is, That by its me of Civil or Coercive Power, it at once breaketh the Command of Christ, and greatly injureth the Civil Government. Both whichare thus proved by the -Nonconformifls. § 35o. r. It violateth all thefe Laws ofChrifl : Luke 22. a4, 25. And there was a flrife among them whichof themfheuld be accountedthe greátefl : And hefail unto them, the Kings of the Gentile, exercife Lordfhip over them, and they that. exercife Authorityupon them, are called Benefatoro r butye ¡hall not befo ;- but be that is greatefb among you, let him be as the younger, and be that is chief err he that Both feerve. That is, it is a Mini- fterial Dignity, and not a Magifratical, which you are called to : that which is al- lowed to Kings here, is denied to Minifers, even Apofles : But it is notTyranny or Abufeof Power, but Secular Magifiratical Power it (elf, which is all owed to Kings : Ergo it is this which is forbidden Minifers. This is thevery fence of the Text whichis given by Proteflant Epifcopal Divinesthemfelves, when they reje& the Presbyterians fence, who fay that it forbiddeth Ecclefiaflical Superiority and Power ofone Ministerover another, as well as Coercive. Therefore the old Rhy- mer Paid againfthe Prelates, Cbrifius dixit guodam loco [Vol non!Wino dixit joco Dixitfun: Ergo ifli Cajusfont? non certo Cbrifli. So a Pet. s. r, a, 3. Feed the Flockof Godwhich is among yore, taking the overf:gbt there. n ,, not byconftraint but willingly; Not for filthy lucre, batof a ready mind: Neither as beingLark over God'sheritage, but being enfamples to the Flock. But our Bifhops take the overfight of thofe that are not among them, andwhom they feed not ; and they rule
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