this brief discourse, which, if you will, you may style 'Acris correptio,' with Gildas; or Planctus Ecclesiæ,' with Alv. Pelag. or, The groans of the church,' with a late conformable divine. It hath been cast by four years, at first because it would not be endured, and after in a vain hope that our church reformation would make such a complaint less necessary. But now I perceive the devil will be the devil, and mankind will be born blind, sensual and malignant, till there be a new heaven and earth in which dwelleth righteousness. Come, Lord Jesus. August 24, 1689, the fatal day of silencing in England in 1662. CAIN AND ABEL MALIGNITY. CHAPTER I. A Lamentation for the Case of the Deluded, Malignant, 1. THE depraved and miserable condition of mankind, hath long been the astonishing wonder of the sober and inquisitive part of the world: philosophers were puzzled with the difficult questions, whence it first came; and why it is ne more remedied. Christians are taught by the sacred Scriptures how to answer both, by laying it on man's misusing of his freewill, supposing God's permission of his trial and temptations; and on his resistance and rejection of remedying grace, in the degree that it is vouchsafed or offered. But still there are difficulties, and our understandings are dark, and hardly satisfied. And whencesoever it comes, the case is doleful, and we cannot but think of it with astonishment and lamentation. When we saw a hundred thousand made dead corpses by the London plague, 1665, it did not take off the terror to know how it begun. And when we saw the city on a dreadful flame, which none could stop, it cured not the general astonishment to conjecture how it was kindled or carried on: no doubt but hell itself proclaimeth that God is holy, wise and just, and devils and men are the cause of their own everlasting punishment. But yet if we had a sight of it, amazement and dread would overwhelm us, And, alas! what a map of hell is the greatest part of earth! Hell is a place of lying, malignant and murderous, hurtful spirits, miserable by and for their wickedness: and is not this in a low degree, a true description of most of the earth? 2. Nineteen parts in thirty of the earth are idolaters and heathens. And do I need to say, how ignorant, wicked and miserable they are? Many of them publicly worship the devil, as witches do with us; and he deludeth them, and appeareth in divers shapes to them, and ruleth them as he doth witches. And those that are more civil, are strangers or enemies to Christ. Six parts of the thirty are ignorant Mahometans, destroyers indeed of heathenish idolatry, and such as take Christ for a great and true prophet, but know him not as a Saviour, but equal to prefer a gross deceiver, and live under barbarous tyrants, who by violence keep them in the dark. The other five parts that are called Christians, alas! consist most of people bred up in lamentable ignorance, mostly barbarous or debased by the oppression of tyrants, such as the Muscovites, most of the Greeks, the Abassines, Armenians, and many eastern sects and nations. What ignorance the vulgar Papists are bred in in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, France, and other countries, and what enmity to true reformation prevaileth in princes, priests, and people; and by what lying and cruelty they fight against truth, and what inquisitions, murders, and inhuman massacres have been their powerful means, I need not use many words to tell. And are the Protestant reformed churches free from fleshly, worldly, wicked men? From ignorant, malignant, cruel enemies to truth, and piety, and peace? 3. Our king's dominions are the best and happiest nations on earth. Here is most knowledge of the truth, and most proportionably that truly love it, and live in a holy obedience thereto, and fain would live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness, honesty, and sobriety. But alas! they must be contented with their own personal uprightness and reward, and the peace of their consciences in God's acceptBut with men there seemeth to be no hopes of common wisdom, piety, love, and peace. ance. We are all baptized with one baptism; we all profess to be the servants of one God, and the faithful followers of one Christ, and to believe in one holy, sanctifying Spirit, and to believe the same canonical Scriptures as the word of God, indited by that Spirit; and to be of one holy catholic church, which is all the members of Christ on earth; and to hold the communion of saints. We mostly in England and Scotland agree in the Protestant reformed doctrine, and sacraments; our concord in profession is so great, that if some men had not devised some oaths, professions, covenants, practices, knacks, and engines of their own (which they dare not say God made) to become the matter of unavoidable dissent, they could hardly have known how to pretend any difference in religion among us, and hell would scarce have found any cloak for malicious accusations, enmity and discord. You shall scarce meet with a man that will not speak well of love and peace, and say that we must love God above all, and our neighbours as ourselves, and do as we would have others do to us. And yet is there any enmity or disagreement? Alas how great, and how incurable! 4. Who would think that knew us not by our profession, but only by our actions, but that the three kingdoms consisted of the most deadly enemies to each other? Of Turks and Christians; of wolves and sheep; that I say not of devils and men? Yea, Turks and Christians can live together in Hungary and all the eastern countries. Orthodox and heretics can live together in Poland, Helvetia, Holland, &c. But Protestants and Protestants cannot live together in Britain. Cities and corporations, countries and churches, if not families also, are distracted in enmity and more than mental feuds and war. Guelphs and Gibelines, party against party, studying accusations against each other, as if they were scholars daily exercised in the school of him that is the accuser of the brethren. All their learning and wit is called up, and poured out, to render others as odious as they are able. All their power, interest, friends, and diligence, are used to ruin and destroy each other. No lies or perjury with some seem unlawful to accomplish so desired an effect. In all companies, the discourse and converse that should be to edify each other in love, and comfort each other by the hopes of dwelling together in heaven, is taken up with slanders, backbitings, scorning, railing, and plotting the overthrow of the best of their neighbours. Innocency never wants odious or scornful names. As if they were acting their part that called Christ and his apostles, and the ancient Christians deceivers, blasphemers, enemies to Cæsar, ringleaders of sedition, that taught men to worship God contrary to the law. Every drunkard and wicked liver can as easily make his conscionable neighbour a rogue, or a traitor, or a schis matic, or a hypocrite, as he can open his mouth and speak. And to justify all this malice is become a virtue; hating the most religious, is zeal for government and order; destroying Christ's members, is standing up for the church; hunting them as dogs do hares, or as hawks do the lesser birds, is a meritorious work, of supererogation no doubt, and will not finally lose its reward. God is served by hating and scorning them that are serious in his service. It is religion to make religion odious, and call it hypocrisy, and to be for that which is uppermost, and befriends their worldly interest, and to make him suspected of disloyalty, who is for obedience to God. Conscience, and fear of sinning, and of damnation, is the mortal enemy to be conquered or driven out of the land; as if there were no quietness to be expected in men's minds, no concord in the church, no obedience to the clergy, or the laws, no safety from sedition, till conscience be silenced or banished, and men give over fearing God; or as if Christ and Cæsar could not both reign, but God or princes must be dethroned. And O that the sacred tribe were innocent, and none of them were the leaders in such hypocritical malignity! Their canons ipso facto' excommunicate all (not excepting princes, parliaments, or judges) that do but say, that any of their ceremonies, liturgy, or officers in church government (not excepting the lowest, or laymen's power of the church keys by decreeing excommunications and absolutions) are repugnant to the word of God. And when they have ' ipso facto' excommunicated them all, they call them separatists for not coming to their communion. Think not the contradiction and hypocrisy incredible. Read but the fifth, sixth and eighth canon, and judge. They have a law, and by their law he is cut off from the church of Christ, that doth but call any of these the inventions of prelates sinful, or to say, that God forbids them. And the gaol must be his dwelling till he die there, who in ten cases remaineth excommunicate and doth not openly profess that he repenteth, and judgeth that to be sinless, which he is utterly unable so to judge. When we have preached seven and seven years, to persuade a drunkard, a liar, and profane swearer, or an atheist to repent, he liveth quietly out of the gaol though he repent not. But if a man repent not (when he cannot) of judging that God forbids such human inventions and impositions in reli |