was his; but the matter, which was none of his, he could not give me, nor I be said to take it from him. It is not the goodness of matter therefore which is not, nor can be owed to the liturgy, that will bear it out, if the form, which is the effence of it, be fantastic and fuperftitious, the end finifter, and the impofition violent.

Remonft. Had it been compofed into this frame on purpose to bring papifts to our churches.

Anfw. To bring them to our churches? alas, what was that? unless they had been firft fitted by repentance, and right inftruction. You will fay, the word was there preached, which is the means of converfion; you should have given fo much honour then to the word preached, as to have left it to God's working without the interloping of a liturgy baited for them to bite at.

Remonft. The project had been charitable and gracious.

Anfw. It was pharifaical, and vain-glorious, a greedy defire to win profelytes by conforming to them unlawfully; like the defire of Tamar, who, to raise up feed to her husband, fate in the common road dreft like a courtezan, and he that came to her committed inceft with her. This was that which made the old chriftians paganize, while by their scandalous and bafe conforming to heathenifm they did no more, when they had done their utmost, but bring fome pagans to chriftianize; for true chriftians they neither were themselves, nor could make other fuch in this fashion.

Remonft. If there be found aught in liturgy that may endanger a fcandal, it is under careful hands to remove it.

Anfw. Such careful hands as have shown themselves fooner bent to remove and expel the men from the scandals, than the scandals from the men, and to lose a foul rather than a fyllable or a furplice.

Remonft. It is idolized they fay in England, they mean at Amfterdam,

Answ. Be it idolized therefore where it will, it is only idolatrized in England.

Remonft. Multitudes of people they fay diftafte it; more fhame for those that have fo miftaught them.

Anfw. More shame for those that regard not the trou

bling God's church with things by themselves confeffed to be indifferent, fince true charity is afflicted, and burns at the offence of every little one. As for the chriftian multitude which you affirm to be fo miftaught, it is evident enough, though you would declaim never fo long to the contrary, that God hath now taught them to deteft your liturgy and prelacy; God who hath promifed to teach all his children, and to deliver them out of your hands that hunt and worry their fouls: hence is it that a man shall commonly find more favoury knowledge in one layman, than in a dozen of cathedral prelates; as we read in our Saviour's time that the common people had a reverend efteem of him, and held him a great prophet, whilst the gowned rabbies, the incomparable and invincible doctors were of opinion that he was a friend of Beelzebub.

Remonft. If the multitude distaste wholesome doctrine, fhall we, to humour them, abandon it?

Anfw. Yet again! as if there were like neceffity of faving doctrine, and arbitrary, if not unlawful, or inconvenient liturgy who would have thought a man could have thwacked together fo many incongruous fimilitudes, had it not been to defend the motley incoherence of a patched miffal?

Remonft. Why did not other churches conform to us? Imay boldly fay ours was, and is, the more noble church.

Anfw. O Laodicean, how vainly and how carnally doft thou boast of noblenefs and precedency! more lordly you have made our church indeed, but not more noble.

Remonft. The second quære is so weak, that I wonder it could fall from the pens of wife men.

Anfw. You are but a bad fencer, for you never make a proffer against another man's weaknefs; but you leave your own fide always open: mark what follows.

Remonft. Brethren, can ye think that our reformers had any other intentions than all the other founders of liturgies, the leaft part of whofe care was the help of the minifter's weakness ?

Anfw. Do you not perceive the noofe you have brought yourself into, whilft you were fo brief to taunt other men with weaknefs? Is it clean out of your mind cited from among the councils; that the prin

what you

cipal scope of those liturgy-founders was to prevent either the malice or the weakness of the minifters; their malice, of infufing herefy in their forms of prayer; their weakness, left fomething might be compofed by them through ignorance or want of care contrary to the faith? Is it not now rather to be wondered, that such a weakness could fall from the pen of fuch a wife remonftrant man?

Remonft. Their main drift was the help of the people's devotion, that they knowing before the matter that fhould be fued for,

Anfw. A folicitous care, as if the people could be ignorant of the matter to be prayed for; seeing the heads of public prayer are either ever conftant, or very frequently the fame.

Remonft. And the words wherewith it fhould be clothed, might be the more prepared, and be so much the more intent and lefs diftracted.

Anfw. As for the words, it is more to be feared left the fame continually fhould make them careless or fleepy, than that variety on the fame known subject should diftract; variety (as both mufic and rhetoric teacheth us) erects and roufes an auditory, like the masterful running óver many chords and divifions; whereas if men fhould ever be thumbing the drone of one plain fong, it would be a dull opiate to the most wakeful attention.

Remonft. Tell me, is this liturgy good or evil? Anfw. It is evil: repair the acheloian horn of your dilemma how you can, against the next push.

Remonft. If it be evil, it is unlawful to be used.

Anfw. We grant you, and we find you have not your

falve about you.

Remonft. Were the impofition amifs, what is that to the people?

Anfw. Not a little, because they bear an equal part with the priest in many places, and have their cues and verses as well as he.

Remonft. The ears and hearts of our people look for a fettled liturgy.

Anfw. You deceive yourself in their ears and hearts, they look for no fuch matter.

Remonft. The like answer ferves for homilies, furely they were enjoined to all, &c.

Anfw.

Anfw. Let it ferve for them that will be ignorant, we know that Hayward their own creature writes, that for defect of preachers, homilies were appointed to be read in churches, while Edward VI reigned.

Remonft. Away then with the book, whilft it may be fupplied with a more profitable nonsense.

Anfw. Away with it rather, because it will be hardly fupplied with a more unprofitable nonfenfe, than is in fome paffages of it to be feen.

SECT. III.

Remonft. Thus their cavils concerning liturgy are vanished.

Answ. You wanted but hey pafs, to have made your tranfition like a myftical man of Sturbridge. But for all your fleight of hand, our juft exceptions against liturgy are not vanifhed, they ftare you ftill in the face.

Remonft. Certainly had I done fo, I had been no less worthy to be spitten upon for my faucy uncharitableness, than they are now for their uncharitable falfehood.

Anfw. We see you are in choler, therefore till you cool awhile we turn us to the ingenuous reader. See how this Remonftrant would inveft himself conditionally with all the rheum of the town, that he might have fufficient to befpaul his brethren. They are accused by him of uncharitable falfehood, whereas their only crime hath been, that they have too credulously thought him, if not an overlogical, yet a well-meaning man; but now we find him either grofsly deficient in his principles of logic, or elfe purpofely bent to delude the parliament with equivocal fophiftry, fcattering among his periods ambiguous words, whose interpretation he will afterwards difpenfe according to his pleasure, laying before us univerfal propofitions, and then thinks when he will to pinion them with a limitation: for fay, Remonftrant,

Remonft. Episcopal government is cried down abroad by either weak or factious perfons.

Anfw. Choose you whether you will have this propo. fition proved to you to be ridiculous or fophiftical; for one of the two it must be. Step again to bishop Downam your patron, and let him gently catechise you in the grounds of logic; he will fhow you that this axiom,

"episcopal

"epifcopal government is cried down abroad by either weak or factious perfons," is as much as to say, they that cry down epifcopacy abroad, are either weak or factious perfons. He will tell you, that this axiom contains a diftribution, and that all fuch axioms are general; and laftly, that the diftribution in which any part is wanting, or abundant, is faulty, and fallacious. If therefore diftributing by the adjuncts of faction and weakness, the perfons that decry epifcopacy, and you made your diftribution imperfect for the nonce, you cannot but be guilty of fraud intended toward the honourable court, to whom you wrote. If you had rather vindicate your honefty, and fuffer in your want of art, you cannot condemn them of uncharitable falfehood, that attributed to you more fkill than you had, thinking you had been able to have made a diftribution, as it ought to be, general and full; and fo any man would take it, the rather as being accompanied with that large word (abroad) and fo take again either your manifeft leafing, or manifeft ignorance.

Remonft. Now come these brotherly flanderers.

Anfw. Go on, diffembling Joab, as ftill your ufe is, call brother and fmite; call brother and smite, till it be said of you, as the like was of Herod, a man had better be your hog than your brother.

Remonft. Which never came within the verge of my thoughts.

Anfw. Take a metaphor or two more as good, the precinct, or the diocese of your thoughts.

Remonft. Brethren, if you have any remainders of modefty or truth, cry God mercy.

Anfw. Remonftrant, if you have no groundwork of logic, or plaindealing in you, learn both as fast as you

can.

Remonft. Of the same strain is their witty defcant of my confoundedness.

Anfw. Speak no more of it, it was a fatal word that God put into your mouth when you began to speak for epifcopacy, as boding confufion to it.

Remonft. I am still, and fhall ever be thus felf-confounded, as confidently to say, that he is no peaceable

and