Sam. Ld. Bp. of Oxon, his celebrated reasons for abrogating the test and notions of idolatry, answered by Samuel, Arch-Deacon of Canterbury. Phillips, John, 1631-1706. 1688 Approx. 32 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A54782 Wing P2100 ESTC R32293 12619938 ocm 12619938 64497 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A54782) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 64497) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1533:19) Sam. Ld. Bp. of Oxon, his celebrated reasons for abrogating the test and notions of idolatry, answered by Samuel, Arch-Deacon of Canterbury. Phillips, John, 1631-1706. The third edition. [2], 22 p. [s.n.], London printed : 1688. "Samuel Parker was Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1686 when he became Bishop of Oxford"--NUC pre-1956 imprints. Attributed by Wing and NUC pre-1956 imprints to Phillips. Reproduction of original in the Union Theological Seminary Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Parker, Samuel, 1640-1688. -- Reasons for abrogating the test imposed upon all members of Parliament. Test Act (1673) Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1660-1688. 2002-09 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2002-10 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-11 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2002-11 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-12 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion SAM . L d. B p. of OXON , His Celebrated REASONS FOR ABROGATING THE TEST , And NOTIONS of IDOLATRY , ANSWERED BY SAMUEL , Arch-Deacon of Canterbury . The Third Edition . It 's better to Indulge Mens Vices and Debaucheries , than their Consciences . Sam. Park . Eccles. Pol. Pag. 54. LONDON , Printed in the Year , 1688. THere is nothing hereby intended to impugn the Abrogation of the TEST : May His Majesty's Sacred Will and Pleasure be fulfill'd ; and may the Rights of the English Peerage remain Inviolable . But there seems to have been an absolute Necessity , for the AUTHOR of the Reasons for Abrogating the TEST , to have Repeal'd his most bitter Invectives against the Nonconformists , and his Tempestuous Indignation against Dissenters in general ; so diametrically opposite to the Serene and Pious Desires and Resolutions of His Majesty , to make His Subjects happy , and unite them to Him as well by Inclination , as Duty ; and to have shew'd his Compliance to His Majesty in all His most Laudable and Generous Designs , before he had singl'd out that particular Point of the TEST , meerly to hook in a Plea for Transubstantiation , and his own New modell'd Notions of Idolatry . But let Others , whom it may concern , dispute those Controversies : The present Question is , Whether his Lordship of Oxon , have Retracted his Discouses of Ecclesiastical Polity , or at least , those Passages in them , which run so apparently counter to His Majesty's Gracious Declaration for Liberty of Conscience ? Otherwise he may seem to have calculated his Writings for the various Meridians of State ; and his Arguments will not bear that Weight , which ( tho' the same , yet ) coming from Another Person , they would have done . NOW , there cannot be a more certain Touch-stone of Truth of the Bishop's , or Arch-Deacon's ( which you please , for they are both the same Person 's ) Ecclesiastical Polity , than the Declaration it self : Only , out of his Christian Charity , the Arch-Deacon has Peopled the Kingdom with such a dreadful Canaille , ( all but those of the Church of England ) that Astonishment it self might wonder well , were his unconscionable Epithetes to be allow'd , that so Gracious , so Indulgent , so Soft and Calm a Declaration , should come forth in Kindness to such a Rabble : For Those whom His Majesty calls His Good Subjects , the Arch-Deacon continually strigmatizes with the foul Epithetes of Iugglers , Dissemblers , Wicked Rebellious , Hypocrites , Sons of Strife and Singularity , and most notorious Hereticks . And , upon this Supposition , as the Foundation of his Pile , that the Generality of the People of England are such , ( for he excepts none but Those of the Church of England ) he rears the Fabrick of his Ecclesiastical Polity ; wherein he had only this Misfortune , to be of a quite contrary Opinion to His Prince ; and that his Draconicks were not Repeal'd , before the Declaration came forth . The Declaration expresses His Majesty's Earnest Desire to Establish His Government on such a Foundation , as to make His Subjects happy , and unite Them to Him as well by Inclination , as Duty ; which He thinks can be done by no means so effectually , as by Granting Them the Free Exercise of their Religion . But the Arch-Deacon's Politicks are of another Strain : For , in his Preface to his Ecclesiastical Polity , p. 12. he say ; That the Aim of his Discourse is , by representing the Palpable Inconsistency of Phanatick Tempers and Principles , with the Welfare and Security of Government , to awaken Authority to beware of its worst , and most dangerous Enemies , and force them to Modesty and Obedience by Severity of Laws . Pag. 52. of the same Preface : If Princes ( says he ) would but consider , how liable Mankind are to abuse themselves with serious and conscientious Villanies , they would quickly see it to be absolutely necessary to the Peace and Happiness of their Kingdoms , that there be set up a more severe Government over Men 's Consciences , than over their Vices and Immoralities . Pag. 54. of the same , He boasts his having prov'd , That Indulgence and Toleration is the most Absolute sort of Anarchy ; and that Princes may with less Hazard give Liberty to Men 's Vices and Debaucheries , than to their Consciences . But the Declaration is quite of another Temper : VVe humhly thank Almighty God , it is , and hath of a long Time been , Our constant Sense and Opinion , which upon divers Occasions VVe have declared , That Conscience ought not to be constrain'd , nor People forc'd in Matters of meer Religion . But this will not be admitted by the Arch-Deacon : For , ( says he , Ecclesiast . Pol. pag. 321. ) when Men's Consciences are so squemish , that they will rise against the Customs and Injunctions of the Church , She must scourge them into Order and chastize them for their troublesome Peevishness , Pag. 324. ( Eccles. Polit. ) He pretnnds to have prov'd the Vnavoidable danger of Toleration , and keeping Religious Differances , that Religion must be govern'd by the same Rules , as all other Transactions of Human Life ; and that nothing can do it but severe Laws ; nor they neither , unless severely Executed . Ecclesiast . Pol : Pag. 311. if Princes ( says he ) will suffer themselves to be checked in their Laws Spiritual by every Systematical Theologue , they may as well bare to see themselves affronted in their Laws Civil by every Viliage-Attorney . Pag. 284. But to indulge Ideots in their folly because they threaten Authority to be peevish and , Scrupulous , and to Infest the Government with a sullen , and cross-grain'd Godliness , ( an Artifice not much unlike the Tricks of forward Children ) is to suffer Ignorance to ride in Triumph ; and therefore such Humorsom Saints must be lash'd out of their Sullenness , into Compliance , and better Manners . This ( as the Arch-Deacon calls it , Preface to Brambal 's Vindication ) was one his Rhapsodies of hasty and huddled Thoughts . Most Divine Words , and most Seraphick Charity ! but the Arch-Deacon will have Tenderness of Conscience to be Pride ; Vanity , and Insolence , though all the Seven Champions should contradict him . Pag. 273. He that pretends Conscience to vouch his Humour , and his Insolence , is a Villian , and an Hypocrite ; and so far from deserving Pity , especially from Authority , than no Offenders can more need or provoke their Severity . This may be True : But , where the Supream Government , which must of necessity be Absolute , Uncontroulable , and Unlimited , as well in matters of Religion , &c. more Sagaciously discerns beyond the Arch-Deacon 's , that same Conscience to be neither Humouor nor Insolence - nor will comprehend it under that Notion ; there , it is to be hoped , the Man is not a Villian , nor an Hypocrite , and so not liable to the Fury of Correction . Pag. 271. And therefore , if Princes will be Resolute , they may easily make the most Stubborn Consciences bend to their Commands ; But , if they will not , they must subbmit Themselves , and their Power , to all the Follies and Passions of their Subjects . Probatum est . S. P. Pag. 270. Governours must look to the Publick , and let Tender Consciences look to Themselves . Laws must be of an unyielding , and unflexible Temper , and not soft and easie Things . Princes must not be diffident in their Maxims of Policy ; but , as they must set up some to Themselves ; so they must Act roundly up to them Dii te donent Tonsore . — Quaere , Why this Counsel was not taken , since the Counsel was given so long before the Declaration came forth ? Answ. Because it was ever contrary to His Majesty's Inclination , Pag. 269. 'T is all one to the Concernments of Government , whether Tenderness of Conscience be Serious or Counterfeit : for whether so or so , 't is directly contrary to the Ends and Interest of Government . Better unsaid , than not Believed . Pag. 263. And what can be more destructive to all manner of Government , than to make all the Rules of Order and Discipline less Sacred , than the Whimsies of every Phanatick Zealot ? Pray be patient , Sir , there 's no such thing done . Ibid. When to pick Quarrels with the Laws , and make Scruple of Obeying them , shall be made the Specifick Character of the Godly : When giddy and humorous Zeal shall not only excuse , but hallow Disobedience ; when every one that has Fancy enough to fancy himself a Child of God , shall have License to dispise Authority . Who would have been at the trouble of all this Rhetorick , had he known what would have followed ? Pag. 253. In brief The only Cause of all our Troubles and Disturbances , is , the Inflexible Perverseness of about an hundred Proud Ignorant , and Seditious Preachers ; against whom , if the Severity of the Laws were particularly levell'd , how easie would it be to reduce the People to a Peacable Temper ? There were just Three more than his Number , and that spoild the Project . Pag. 187. What can be more apparently vain , than to talk of Accommodations , or to hope for any Possibility of Quiet or Settlement , till Authority shall see it necessary to scourge them into better Manners , and wiser Opinions ? Pag. 219. T is easie possible for well-meaning People , through Ignorance or Inadvertency , to be betraid into such unhappy Errors , as may tend to the Publick Desturbance ; which , though it be not so much their Crime ●as Infelecity ; yet is there no Remedy , but it must expose them to the Correction of the Publick Rods and Axes . Surely , Rhadamanthus 's own Chaplain could not have preached more severe Divinity ? Pag. 271. In brief , There is nothing so ungovernable , as a Tender Conscience ; or so restiff and inflexible , as Folly or Wickedness , when hardned with Religion : And therefore , instead of being Comply'd with , they must be Restrain'd with a more peremtory and unyielding Rigor , than naked and unsanctify'd Villany . Pag. 223. Nay , so easie it is for Men to deserve to be Punish'd for their Consciences , that there is no Nation in the World , ( were Government rightly understood , and duly manag'd ) wherein Mistakes and Abuses in Religion , would not supply the Galleys with vastly greater Numbers , than Villany . 'T is a comfort , curst Cows have now short Horns . However , to this the Tender Declaration makes a Reply , declaring one of the Reasons of His Majesty's Indulgence to be , Because He finds , That Force in Matters of meer Religion , tends to the Depopulating of Countries . On the other side , the Arch-Deacon in Opposition to the KING 's Reason , is for Depopulating the Land , and Peopling the Galleys ; and arraigns that Government for want of Understanding , and due Management , that does not observe his Method of Cruelty . He is for Pillories , Whipping-Posts , Rods , Axes , Scourges , &c. as if no Government pleas'd him , but that described by Virgil in Hell : Hinc exaudiri gemitus , & saeva sonare Verbera ; tum stridor Ferri , tractaeque catenae . — Accincta flagella Tisiphone quatit insultans , torvosque sinistra Intentans Angues vocat Agmina saeva sororum . This , in the Arch-Deacon 's Ecclesaistical Polity ; and to shew , that no other Government will content him but this , Pag. 18. I leave it , ( says he ) to Governors themselves to judge , whether it does not concern them , with as much Vigilance and Severity , either to prevent the Rise , or suppress the Growth , ( of Phanaticks he means , that find themselves aggrieved by the Penal Laws ) as to punish any the foulest Crimes of Immortality ? And if they would but seriously consider into what Exorbitances peevish and nntoward Principles about Religion improve themselves , they could not but perceive it to be as much their Concernment to punish them with the severest Inflictions , as any whatsoever Principles and Rebellions in the State — Well! The Business is consider'd , and his Ecclesiastical Polity is found to be Deficient . Nay , he goes farther , and arraigns all Kings and Princes for their Folly , under the Title of Governors : For , says he , in the following Pag. 19. This certainly has ever been one of the Fatal Miscarriages of all Governors , in that they have not been aware of this Fierce and Implacable Enemy , ( meaning the Phanaticks , who care no more for Whips and Scourges , than the Devil does for Holy-Water ) but have gone about to govern unruly Consciences by more easie and remiss Laws than those that are only able to suppress scandalous and confess'd Villanies ; and have thought them sufficiently restrain'd , by threatning Punishments , without inflicting them . And indeed , in most Kingdoms , so little have Princes understood their own Interests in Matters of Religion , &c. Hearken , O ye Princes of Europe , and go to School again to the Author of the Discourses of Ecclesiastical ●●lity . But , here is another bold Touch : Prohibition disobliges Dissenters , and that is one Evil ; Impunity allows them Toleration , but that is a Greater ; and where Governors permit what their Laws permit , ( This is not the present Case ) there the Commonwealth must at once feel all the Evils both of Restraint and Liberty . So that , as they would expect Peace and Settlement , they must be sure , at first , to bind on their Ecclesiastical Laws with the streightest Knot ; and afterwards keep them in Force and Countenance , by the Severity of the Law. Their Restraint must be proportion'd to their Unruliness of the Conscience ; and they must be manag'd with so much the greater Strictness , than all other Principles of Disturbance , by how much they are the more dangerous . Gratias Domine , now Princes understand what they have to do . Yet a little more of the Arch-Deacon 's Ecclesiastical Polity . Beloved , in his Preface to Bishop Bra●hal 's Vindication , ( for it is not Pag'd ) you shall find it thus written : They ( meaning the Phanaticks , or Complainants against the Penal Statutes ) have been so long accustom'd to undutiful Demeanor , that it is to be fear'd , they are grown too Head-strong and Incorrigible , to be aw'd into a more modest Behaviour by Threatnings of Severity . Therefore , it will be thought necessary to bridle their ungovern'd Tongues and Spirits with Pillories and Whipping-Posts . And at the Bottom of the same Page : To this Peevishness of their Humors , I might add the Restlesness of their Minds , that is always displeas'd with the settled Frame of Things , ( innuendo , the settled Penal Laws ; ) and that no Alterations can satisfy . If you condescend to their First Demands , you only encourage them to be making New Remonstrances : Appease all their Old Complaints , and they are immediately picking New Faults to be Redress'd . They that at first only request Indulgence , will , when strong enough , demand it . In short , Give the Non-conformists an Inch , and they 'll take an Ell. But , ( in the same Preface ) should it ever so happen hereafter , that any King of England should be prevail'd with to deliver up the Church , ( That is to say , to dispence with the Penal Laws and TEST ; for the TEST , notwithstanding the Reasons against it , must be included in this long Parenthesis , because the Church fram'd it ) he had as good , at the same Time , resign up his Crown . And thus you see the Danger of the Present Government , through the Non-conformity to the Arch-Deacon 's Ecclesiastical Polity . There is another Reason , why His Majesty was graciously pleas'd to Think , Force in Matters of meer Religion directly contrary to the Interest of Government ; and that is , Spoyling of TRADE . Trade ! cries the Arch-Deacon : Trade ! No. Let Grass grow about the Custom-House , rather than abate one Tittle of my Ecclesiastical Polity : For , ( in his Preface to his Ecclesiast . Pol. Pag. 49. ) 'T is notorious , ( says he ) that there is not any sort of People so inclinable to Seditious Practices , as the Trading Part of a Nation ; and their Pride and Arrogance naturally increases with the Improvement of their Stock . And if we reflect upon our late Miserable Distractions , 't is easie to observe , how the Quarrel was hatcht in Trade , Men's Shops , and cherisht by the Zeal of Prentices : ( By the way , this is plausible Nonsense all over . ) But he goes on , Pag. 50. 'T is a very odd , and preposterous Piece of Policy , to design the enriching this sort of People , while their Heads are distemper'd with Religious Lunacies . And , Pag. 51. He is a very silly Man , and understands nothing of the Follies , Passions , and Inclinations of Human Nature , who sees not there is no Creature so ungovernable , as a Wealthy Phanatick . And therefore , ( Pag. 48. ) I confess , I cannot but smile , when I observe how some , that would be thought wonderful grave and solemn Statesmen , labour with mighty Projects of setting up this and that Manufacture , in their several respective Towns and Corporations ; and how eagerly they pursue these Petty Attempts , beyond the Great Affairs of a more Publick Concernment , ( Meaning the dreadful and terrible Execution of the Penal Laws ; ) and how wisely they neglect the Settlement of a whole Nation , for the Benefit of a Village or Burrough ? Very pleasant Ecclesiastical Polity ! No Man must eat or drink , or maintain his Family : The grand Relation of Human Necessities , depending one upon another , must stand still , to oblige the Arch-Deacon 's Ecclesiastical Polity . Here 's a Quietus est for above the Third Part of the Nation . None but those that can swallow a Surplice , and adore the Parochial Levite , must weave Camlets at Norwich , make Bays at Colchester , Spurrs at Rippon , Nayls at Brommigeham , or Saddles at Burford . For why ? There is not any sort of People so Seditious , as the Trading Part of the Nation . So that , supposing the Greater Part of the Trading Part of the Nation be , as the Arch-Deacon calls them , Phanaticks , and Nonconformists , ( that is , Men Conscientiously scrupuling the Ceremonies of the Church of England ) they must either be Scourg'd into better Manners with Bryars and Thorns ; or else the Nation must be laid waste and desolate . For , to tell you true , as good have no People , as those that will not pay Tithes ; 't is no matter for the KING's Duties , nor how the Nation may be otherwise weakn'd and expos'd . There is yet behind one more Reason urg'd in the Declaration , and that is this ; That Force in Matters of meer Religion , never obtain'd the End for which it was imploy'd ; wherein His Majesty declares Himself the more Confirm'd , by the Reflections He had made upon the Conduct of the Four last Reigns . Now , here 's the utter Subversion of the Arch-Deacon 's Ecclesiastical Policy ; All meer Labour in vain , abundance of Ranting , Raving , Reviling expressions , insomuch , that the Arch-Angel was more civil to the Devil , than the Arch-Deacon to the Dissenters ; and yet all to no purpose . He has been at a great deal of pains in setting up Pillories and Whipping-Posts in all Parts and Corners of the Kingdom ; and now he may e'ne go , and pull 'em down again . What are now become of all his Politick Let but 's ? In his Preface to Bishop Bramhall 's Vindication ; Let but the Government think it seasonable at any time to Reprieve them ( meaning the Dissenters ) from the Severity of the Laws , and they immediately start up into that Confidence , as to imagine themselves the only Darlings of State. Let but the Publick Rods be removed from their Backs , and they are presently full of Expectations to have them put into their own hands . If they are not always Scourg'd and Chastis'd , they will grow Sawcy , and must by all means become Cronies to Kings and Princes . Many other Passages might have been Collected out of his several Bitter ( if they may not be said to be Scurrilous ) Invectives against the Dissenters ; but here are sufficient to make it apparently Manifest , that the Author of the Ecclesiastical Polity , was as great a Dissenter from the mild and tender Maxims of his Majesty's Government , and his constant Sense and Opinion , of a long time professed and declared upon several Occasions in Matters of Religion , as the Dissenters were dissatisfied with the Rigid Severity of the Church of England ; or , at least , with the Principles of his Ecclesiastical Polity . Which makes it seem questionable , whether a Person , who has brandish'd his Pen with that Virulency , against the Dissenters in general , and His Majesty's Royal Opinion , and the Mature Results of his most serious Deliberations , may be a proper Champion against the Test ? For most certainly , there has been much more said already , and much more to the purpose , than he has produced . On the other side , he has most Dogmatically avouch'd , That if ever the Boisterous and unreasonable Opposition ( as he calls it ) of the Nonconformists to the Church of England , be Re-erected it must be upon its Ruins : And that if ever the Roman Catholicks get any Ground , or Advantage of the Church of England , they will be bound to make their Acknowledgments to the Puritans , and the Strength of their Assistance . Whence he draws his Conclusion , That it would be a pleasant Spectacle , ( that is to say , A ridiculous over-sight in Government ) to see either the Classical or Congregational Discipline establish'd by Authority . Moreover , in the 721. Pag. of the Vindication of his Eccles. Pol. He appeals to all Men , whether Liberty of Conscience be any better , than a License for Anarchy and Confusion ? Pag. 238. He says , That to grant Subjects a lawless and uncontroul'd Liberty of Conscience , in all Matters and Pretences of Religion , is to dissolve one half of the Government into perfect Anarchy , and yield up the Constitution of all Publick Affairs , to the Humor of every wild Enthusiast . And Pag. 553. you find it thus written ; So that , seeing an Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction ( of Pillories and Whipping-Posts , Thorns and Bryars ) is absolutely necessary to prevent all Confusions , arising from unrestrain'd Liberty , it is better that Mankind should be sometimes exposed to the Miseries of Tyranny and Persecution , than always Groan under the Intolerable Disorders of Anarchy , or Reluctancy to Penal Statutes . If then the Church of England be Establish'd upon such a firm Foundation , that nothing can endanger it , but Indulgence to the Dissenters , 't is to be admir'd , that a Man , so knowing in Ecclesiastical Policy , and so great a Friend to th● Church of England , would open such a Gap as to plead for the Abrogation of the Test , which the Church-Men of England fram'd and set-up , as the only Bulwark to prevent her Dissolution . So that , to use his own Words , 'T is very hardly Credible , That a Person , who has lately appear'd so Vigorously in her Cause , should , notwithstanding all his seeming Zeal and Earnestness , be really i● good Earnest , in his Pretences , against the Test. For what signifies the Abrogating the Test , if there be no way to shake the otherwise immovable Church of England , but by making two Bridge● of Dissenters , one between Callice and Dover , the other between Diepe and Rye , for Popery to return into England : For , when he comes to tha● part of his Preface to Bishop Bramhall 's Vindication , where he considers what likelyhood , o● how much danger there is of the Return o● Popery into this Nation : For my own part , says he● I know none , but the Nonconformist's boisterous an unreasonable Opposition to the Church of England ▪ If he think , that the Abrogation of the T●●● may be a means to unite the Papist , and the Di●senter , which he seems to intimate , by saying That the Faction of the Dissenters may be made use of , ●● instruments ( Iourney-men Tools ) to dissolve and unravel the establish'd Frame of things , and destroy the Church of England ; and so make an unobstructed Passage for the Return of Popery in Glory and Triumph ; then he has left his Cause in the Lurch , and relinquish'd all his Ecclesiastical Polity at once . As for the Papists , he deals with them after such a rate , that no Man living knows where to have him . In his Preface to Bishop Bramhall 's Vindication , he seems neither to Love nor Fear 'em : For that , as long as the Church of England stands in Power and Reputation , it will easily beat back and baffle all the Attempts of Rome , and its Adherents ; Their Plausible Reasons being evidently no more , than little Tricks and Sophisms , and seem intended by themselves , rather to abuse the Simple , than satisfie the Wise , Their Innovations are so undeniable , and the Design of the Church of England's Reformation , so apparently Apostolical , that those People must needs argue at a strange wild rate , that will be demonstrating against Experience , and Ocular Inspection . So then , the Reformation made by the Church of England , in the Points of Transubstantiation , Worship of Images , Adoration of the Host , and Invocation of Saints , being Apostolical ; What must be thought of his Reasons against the Test ? Nay , there is Nothing could preserve the Papists from being hiss'd out of the Pit , but that they are extreamly Confident , and most Readers sufficiently ignorant : So that the Church of England may safely defie all their Opposition . She does not stand upon such Trembling Foundations , as to be thrust down with Bull-rush Spears , and Oral Traditions , with Labyrinths , and Castles in the Air. But then his Heart misgives him again , and he begins to fear the Return of Popery into the Nation , should the Nonconformists joyn with the Papists : And therefore , at the End of his Preface , he begs the Hearty Prayers of his Friend , for the Peace and Prosperity of the Church of England ; for when That is gone , ( farewel Frost ) 't will he hard to find out Another , with which any , that are either Honest or Wise , will be over forward to joyn in Communion . Notwithstanding all this , upon better Consideration , as it were in Compassion of the despis'd Weakness of the Church of Rome , and her Adherents , he undertakes to furnish Them with better Arguments of his own , than any they have Themselves , to vindicate Transubstantiation , and clear them from Idolatry : For which he strains an Argument deduc'd from the Cherubims , that cover'd the Ark. And yet , in his Defence of his Ecclesiastical Polity , Pag. 285 , 286. he condemns both Turk and Pope together in a Breath ; the One for giving Divine Worship to a lewd Impostor ; the Other , to a Senseless Piece of Matter . And thus , what , by Vertue of Apparent , Apostolical Reformation , he call'd ( Before ) a Senseless Piece of Matter , he has ( Now ) cover'd with the Cherubim 's Golden Wings , and render'd Adorable by Scripture - Warrant : But , Bene scribit , qui bene intelligitur ; What he has Written , he has Written . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A54782-e180 Ecclesiast . Polit , pag. 241 , 242 , 273 , 319 , 187. Eccles. Pol. p. 27 , 28 , 36 , &c. Declar. P. 2. Preface to Bramhal 's Vindication . Preface to Bishop Bramhall's Vindicat.