Seconcl Commtfiii/ment. not plead the fame? Did not other5 upon th~ . fame Pretenc~s feparate from their Communion, upon which they now feparate from ours? And may not the fame Argument fcrve to crumble them into infinite FraCtions and Sub-divifions, till at laft we come to have alrnoft as many Churches as Men, and fcarcc a Man confrant and coherent to himfelf? . . But, what is it in our Worlhip whic~ they ·<J ifiike? The Subltantia\s of It are all the fame with their own: We utterly dda.vow, thlt we make that any Part ofWorJhip which the Scripture hath not; and I t)1ink that lif~n very much forfaken of Rcafon and common Underftanding, who Ihall Cl)deavour to perfitade llS, that we in-. tend Worfbip, when we our felvcs moft carneftly and feriouOy profefs thecontr~~1·t then that we differ about mcer Accidents and Clrcumfi:anccs? I c;onfefs we • Alii jej/Uiant StJbb•tD; a/it verb non: alii qu~ttd,~ ctmmttmi• &~lt mp~ri & fimg11ini D~mini· t11; aliittrtir Jitb:ut~uipiullt; t~li6innU1ud!n itJttrmittlfMrqu> non offiralur; alibi ftJ!!bt~tct"'t• t~m~ & DDminit~. Aug. Ep. ad )~nuarium Ep 1 dl. do; but alfert withal, that thefe things are not a jt!ft ~ufe ~f Separation from us. * If we look hac~ upon the l'rumttve Ttmes, we flull find that almo!t every Church had its different Rites and Obfervances; and yet under that Diverfity maintained Unity and Communion : Yea, and at this day, the reformed Churches obferve different Cull:oms one from another, and yet they inviolably ltold Communi9n together, and we Witb them. The Gallican, 1Jtlgick1 Helverian,. and .German C~ur::h~s reje(} us not, no: we the.m, a.ltho' we differ In Rites and Difc1plme, and thofe tlungs whtch are left tO the prudence of every Church to conftitute as they fball judge moft ncceffary for Order and Edification. Now certainiy, if thefe dHfcrent Rites and Obfervances be no ground for one National Church to fcparatc from the Commun io11 of another, they can be no.ground for private Pcrfons to feparate from the Communion of that Church to which they belonged. N:~y, altho' they might with reafon dinikc n\any Ufages either as frivolons or incongruous, yet it becomes thC temper and modefty of a pions Chriftian, in things l)leerly circumfrantial, to fi!lnnit his Pra.:; dice to the Judgment of that Autl.lDrity under whi"h he lives, and not to feparate from the Co.mmunLon of the Church, to forfakc.its Am~mblles, to difown hs Adminifl:tations, only becaufe he thi.nks fome things might be more conveniently ordered, acc0rding to the Model of his own, or other Men's apprehenfions: Which in the Folly and fad Confequences ofit, would be to a(t like him who took t!p a Beetle, and ftruck with all his force to kill a Flic that he [1w on his Friend's Forehead. \.VJ1at clfe were this but to rend the Body of Chrift by an angry contending about the Fafhion of its Garments? aud to tear away its Limbs by a violent ftrh·ing- w f1riy off thofe Cloaths which they think indecent? For my p.1rt, I freely profefs 1 That were my Lot c.1ll' among any of the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas, I would prcfcntly join in their Communion, and not at a;! fcruple to conform my felf tn their receivcdCuft:oms, altho' perhaps in my own private Perfilafion, I may judcre fame of them to be lefs ferious, and lefs reverent than thofc of the Church of En~- gl.md, which arc now f? plffionatelf decried and condemned. * J have ever vener~- • Nu a: f. ted that Oracular Adv ice of St. Ambrofc t.o St. Auftin: If thou wilt neither give Of,;p!; 1111 ul· fen;;e, nor tal:.e Ojfincc, conform thy {elf to a/! the Lawful Cuftoms of the Churches n'hrre thou la eft inh£1 comcft. m.elio~ gl'a• . 'tit fmrdm- tiqut Chrfjlian~, q~e:.m ut eo modo ~g.rt, quo. agcl't vidt1it &clifiam ad qtlll111c:tnqttt fqrtt de-t~mt>it. Q..uod tnim 11tqu~ ttmtrll fidem, 11t1J!4l 'ontr11 btn:or n:ortr i'IJUngttur, uuliiJ.ertnt~r efl hafmtdum, & pro tDrttm inter IJIIDI vivitur jc,ittatr Ji:l'tJa~tdum eft, qrid agerit~ 1:~e:n ;;;~:h~~~='7::~~b:,~:njt;t;~o;~;e:;r!,'~;:,foi*J1e~h..;~ ~:71 f:~:iff,~;':n~m~~~;i~f::~~r;;~~Ju:~~~~:j;:n! d1t fe ~tihi! doetrt tnt pcffi niji qucd ipfe f:ueret, qfliaji mfliM ttoj{tt, id potbis chflrvaut. Cttmque tgo ptt14({tm nuU.i redda.; f'lfticne, at~tqritnte foM fu:., ttot vcl11if]t admcnert de Sabbat~, jejun11rmme, fub{ewtru tjl, & 11it tRihi, Cum' Rome vmic jejune S4bb4tc. &"m hie JUm ~c1~ jejuw. Si& tli.r,m tu,, ad qlta'!',fo~te E:difiam vmtrir, tju.s tno;em {t;va, ftcuiquam nmvU eft fliJmJ"lc, nu qumrp14m t1b1.-- Ego ver• de htr,; fmrmtl" ett•m alqru etiam ugit•fls, it• fimper habui tanqu.,m !•Ill '~ltfli or<~&ulo {uf"P"im. Aug. ad J~n. Ep. J 18. But I wiU not farther inlarge on this cholerk;k Jnd touchy Controverfie · only I pr:ty, that our wJ.nton Dilfentions about thefe lefs important Matters, ma/not pro~ voke God to dep:i.ve us of t!1c SUbftance and Eff~ntials of our Religion ; 'and reduce 11s to fuch a condrtLon whcretn ~ve fhonld be heartily glad, coul~ we enjoy the Liber.. ty of the Gofpd,_ and the Ordinances of our Lo~<;i. JeliJS Chrift, under any of thofe porm~ of Admintftt:atto~, wluch. are now fofunoufly debated amongft us. It were JUlt With God to cxtmgmlh the Ltght of the GofpcJ. when w~ ufe it not to work by bt~t all our frudy and ltrife is how to lituff it. · And
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