P R E F A C E. .[elves. If Cbrijt bad appoin~ed ~?~ inf~l!ib(e ju~ge upon. earth ; or mm r,vere to be determined by an tmp!lC1t fcuth m thetr fuperzon, there would be an end ifJuch differences; but all the engines o/ human policy that have beenJet at work to obtain it, have hitherto f ailed if foccefs. Suf:Jjri~tions, and a variety if oaths a?Jd other t~(ts, have occaftoned great mifclmfs to the church ; by Jkife. memp men qf weak morals, and ambitious vie'U}f, ha'l!e 6een raifed to the higbejt preferments, while !_t~ers if.flriCler virtue, and jitperior talents, have been neg!eCled and (at~ ajide; an~ p_ower has been lodged in the hands of thofe who have ufed tt m an unchrifttan man– ner, to force men to an agreement ilz fou nds and outward appearances, . contrary to the true conviClion andjen_(e if their minds ; and thus a la fling · reproach has been brought on the chrijtian name, and on the genuine prin– ciples if a protejtant church. SEcoNDLY, All..2ar~es of.chriflians, when in power, have been ' guilty of perfecutioQ for confc1ence fake. The annals if the church are · a mofl melancholy demonjlration if this truth. Let the reader call to mind ' the bloody proceedings if the popifh bifhops in queen Mary's reign; and · the account that has been given if the il:ar-chamber and high commiffion– court in later times; what numbers o/ ujful minijlers have bem Jequefler– ed, imprifoned, and their families reduced to poverty and dijgrace, for re- · f¥fing to wear a white furplice, or to comply with a few indifferent ceremonies! What havock did the preiliyterians make with their covmant miiformity ; their jure divino dijcipline, and their rigid prohibition if reading the old fervice book! And though the independents had a better notion of the rights of confcience, how difeC!ive was their il!flrument if government under Cromwell! How arbitrary the proceedings of their tr_yersI How narrow their lift offundamentals I And bo'iv jevere their rejlraints of the prefs I And though the rigorous proceedings of the puritam o/ this age, did by no means rival thoje qj the prelates before and cifter the civil wars, yet they are Jo many Jpecies qf per{ccution, and not to be}l!jlified, . even by the conjitjion if the times in which they were atled. THIRDLY, It._ is .unfafe and dangerous to in troll: any fort of clergy · wi~h the power of the fword; for our Saviour's kingdom · is not of tbis world, if it were (jays be), then would my fervants fight; but now is my kingdom not from hence. The church and }late fhould .fl,wd on a diflintl bajis, and their jurij(iitlion be agreeable to the nature of their c~i~tes; thoft qf t~e church pu.rely fpiritual, a~d thofe if the }late purely c1v1l; as the kmg zs fupream m the /late, he zs alfo head, or guardian o/' the church, in thofe /piritual rights that Chrijl has intrujled it ·with. When the church in former ages Jirfl a/Jumr:d the Jecular power, it not omy · VoL. II.. c ~ rivalled ' xvii
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