6:0) Anf. r.-1hey alledge the veryLaw ofnaturefor'it, that it mull be fo even in Heathen Empires ex natura rei , as. Dr. Hammond before cited. 2. All meer pofitves give places tonatural duties,ceteris paribus : in cafes of trueneceflity wemay break the reft of the Lords day, we may omit the Lords Supper,- wemay flay from the Church affemblies, we mayforbear to preach or pray or meditate or read. So that the éxcepti- on only of neceflity will but equal this Diocefan model , to other puf- fitiveordinances, whichare indeed Divine. Obj. What ifwe prove but the lawfulnefs of it, though not the Duty ? Anf. Ifyou prove it not ofDivine inliitution,.I have proved`iì to be Fulfill, and (ball do muchmore, by all evils which attend it. And fo much for thefe City Diocefe and Metropolitansand modelling the Church Government to the (late. CHAP. VII. The Definition and reafoon,r of a Diocefan Church cot f dered, and overthrown. g Have already (hewed, that wedifpute not about aery notions, nor, j Non-exitlence, but about fuch Diocefes as we fee and have ; and that by a Diocefe we Non-conformifis mean only a large circuit of ground with its inhabitants conteining manyperticularPari(hes: And by a Diocefan Church, we mean all the Chriffians within that circuit, who have but one Bifhop over them, though they be of many Parifh Churches, yea few Presbyterians take the word fo narrow as this. For (I think too) many of them do with Rutherford diftinguifh between a wor(hipping Church and a Governed Church (and fadling the horfe for Prelacy tomount on) do affirm that many (about twelveufualy) of thefe worshiping Churches (like our Pari(hes) may make but one -Go- verned or Presbyterial Church: But à Diocefe in England containeth manyhundred, and fome above a thoutänd Pariflaes (as isfaid.) But the Diecefans (Hammondand Downám) definenot aDiocefe (as we fee it) as conteiningmany Churches or holy alièthblies; but only as being the Church ofone City with its territories. Now the queftion is, what it is that is the fpecifying difference by which a Diocefan Church is diftinguifhed fromothers, and couítituted. a. Not that it is in a City: For an Independent Church, or a Presbyterian Church taay be in a City: V hen there is but one Church there, or many Inde- rendent ones, thefe are no other than thole allow, whom you take for your chief adverfaries. a. Is it then the circuit of ground that is tie bourdary of thefç Ch inches,
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