Part III. Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter. 4 h fo the people thought they put in their Duties among their fins, when they called them to repent ; And if a man had profeffed repentance for the one without the other, and had not mentioned all that they expeftcd, and madehis Confeffions ac cording to their prefcripts, they would have cryed oat, Traytors, Traytors, and have preffed everyword to be the Proclamation of another War ; So that all their callingfor repentancewas but an Ambe.fcade and Snare, and molt effèétualiy prchi- bitedall open repentance, becaufe it would have been Treafon if it had not comeup to their moounjuft meafures ; And all men thought Glene fafer with Techmen, than Confefrion of fin : (And the feftarieswere the moreperfaaded that their fin was no fin) : And thisoccalioned the greater obduration of their Enemies, who cryed nut, None of them all repenteth, and therefore they are ready to do the fame again ; And fo they jnftifyed themfelves in all the Silencings, Confinings, Imprifonments, en. Which they infli&ed on them, and all theodious reprefentations of them. § 91. But that greatLie that thePresbyterians in the Englilh Parliamentbegan the War, is fuch as doth as much tempt men that know it, to gneftion all the Hiftory- that ever was written in the World, as any thing that ever I heard fpoken: Rea- der, I will tell it thee to thy admiration. When theWar was firft raifed, there was butone Presbyterian known inall the Parliament ; Therewas not one Presbyteri- an known among all the LordLieutanants whom the ParliamentCommittedthe Mili- tia to : There wasnot one Presbyterian known amongall theGeneral Officers of the Earl of firerArmy ; nor one among all the EnglfhColonels, Majors or Captains, that ever I couldhear of (There were two or three fweariagSeats, of whom Vrrcy turned to the King : Wleat their opinion was I know not, nor is it conlderable). The truth is, Presbytery was not then known in England, except among á few Itudi- ous Scholars, nor wellby them. But it was the moderate Conformifts and Epifco- pal Protefìants, who had been long in Parliaments crying out of Innovations, Armi- nianifm, Popery, but Specially of Monopolies, illegal taxes, and the danger of Arbi- trary Government, who now raifed theWar againft the reft whom they took to be guilty of all thefethings : And a few Independentswere among them, but no coati- derable Number. And yet thefe Conformifts never cry out [Repent ye Fpifcopal Conformifts; for it was you that began the War.] Much lefs [Repentye Arminian, Grati- an, innoveling prelates, who were reducingus fo near Rome as Heylin in the Life ofLaud deferibeth; for it wasyou that kindled the Fire, and that fee your own party thus againft you, and made them wifh foran Epifeopacy doublyreformed r with better Bfhops z with left fecular power, and fmallerDioceffes.j § 92. Some moderate worthy men did excellently well anfwer this Book of Dr. Patrick's ; fo as would have Bated matters rightly ; but the danger of the Times made them fupprefs them, and fo they were never printed ; But Mr. Rewles late Minifter at Thiftleworth printed an Anfwer, which fiafticiently opened the faul- tinefs of what he wrote againft ; but wanting the Mafcoline ftrength, and caute- lonfnefs which was necelfary to deal with fech anAdverfary, he wasquickly anfwer- ed (by fattening on the weakeft parts) with new reproach and triumph ; And the Author was doubly expofed to fulfering : For whereas he was fo neer Conformity as that he had taken the OxfordOath, and read fome Common prayer, and therefore by connivancewas permitted to preach inSouth-Work to anHofpital, where he had401. per cnn. andwas now in expe&ation of Liberty at a bettet place in Bridewell, he was nowdeprivedof that ; And yet had little relief from the Nonconformios, becaafe he Conformed fo far as he did * : And having a numerous family was in great* Beoafter want. § 93 The next year came outa far more virulent bookcalled, Ecclefiaffieal Policy ed. written by Sons. Parker a young Man of pregnant parts, who had been brought up among the Seftaries, and feting fome weakneffes among them, and beingof an eager Spirit, was èurned with the Times into the contrary extreme for which he giveth thanks to God ; And judging of thofe called Puritans and Nonconforrnifts by the people that he was bred amongft, and being now made.Arch Bithop Sheldon's hoof- hold Chaplain, where Bch work was tobe done, hewriteth the moft fcornfnlly, and rattily, andprophancly, and cruelly, againft the Nonconformifts, of any man that ever yet afpanited thew (that I have heard of :) And in a fissent fervent ingenious Style of Natural Rhetorick, poureth out floods of Odious reproaches, and (with in- eautelousExtremities) faithas much to make themhated, and toBit up the Parlia- ment todeftroy them as he could well fpeak. And all this was to play the old game, at once to pleafc the Devil, the Prelatesand the prophane, and fo to.twift all three F f f f into
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