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V. ART. XIII. Of works

CHURCH OF ROME.

I. No man, fo long as he liveth in this mortal life, ought fo far to prefume concerning the hidden myftery of divine predeftination, as pofitively to conclude that he is actually in the number of the predeftinate.

Concil.Trid. Seff.6.c.xii.

II. If any perfon fball say, that fince the fall of Adam, man's free will is loft and extinct, &c. Let him be accurfed.

Ibid. Seff. 6. can. v.

III. If any person fhall fay, that men are justified, either by the alone righteoufnefs of Chrift, or by a bare forgiveness of fins. Let bim be accurfed.

Ibid. can. xi.

IV. If any one shall say, that the ungodly is justified by faith only, fo as to mean that nothing else is required, &c. Let him be accurfed. Ibid. can, ix.

V. If any one fhall fay,

done before juftification. that all the works, done be

Works

VOL. V. (24.)

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Even from this flight furvey, muft not a man be blind, not to difcern that Calvinifm is the religion of England, and that Arminianifin is the herefy of Rome*; yet far be it from me to think, that all, among us, who efpouse the Arminian tenets, are intentional Papifts, or have any affection for Papery, as fuch. But this I cannot help believing, that Arminianifm is the forerunner which prepares the way for Romanism, and, if not difcarded in time, will, one day, open the door to it.

To clofe all, our doctrines are the precious depofitum, committed, in a particular manner, to the guardianship of us, who have the honour to minifter in holy things. How thofe, who make no fcruple to betray this inestimable truft, which they have fo folemnly and repeatedly engaged to preferve, can anfwer it in confcience, must be fubmitted to God

* So Heylin exprefsly owns; Life of Laud, p. 33. After which he adds, impudently, "fo near, &c." p. 36, and wishes for a reconciliation with Rome, ibid.

and

and themselves. For a clergyman to fubfcribe to our articles in the prefence of his bishop, and after his admiffion to a benefice, to read over thofe articles in his Church, deliberately, and word by word; and there, in the prefence of God, and in the hearing of his own parishioners, publicly to teftify his unfeigned affent and confent to all and every thing therein contained; while he disbelieves, and it may be, the fame day, contradicts, in the pulpit, what he had fo lately affented to from the desk; is, I believe, a fpecies of guilt, unknown to any Proteftant nation but these. I fear, fuch a clergyman, if fuch a clergyman is to be found, may take home those awful words to himself, Thou haft not only lied unto men, but unto God.

We have had long experience of the fad effects, that have attended that mere ethical way of preaching which has been in fashion ever fince the restoration. When that happy event took place, the generality of the clergy ran fo faft and fo far from puritanism, that they out-ran the thirty-nine articles, and loft fight of the Church itself. "Good

works, good works," was the cry of that age, and is the cry of the prefent. I heartily wish, good works abounded more among us, than they do: but I am certain they never will, until they are enforced on Christian principles; even the doctrines of grace. Under a pretence of magnifying good works, we have almoft kicked faith out of doors: whereas they will always ftand or fall together. There can be no good works which do not flow from faith; and no true faith but what is productive of good works. I appeal to demonftration, the life of argument. Faith is banished, and good works are posting after it as faft as they can. Contempt of gospel doctrines, and neglect of gofpel-morals, are infeparable. That morality, which does not refult from faith, is, (as Luther fays of free-will) no more than

* See Hume's Hift, vol. v.

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titulus et nomen fie re. Faith according to the united determinations of Scripture, and our own Church, is the root and fource of all true obedience. And

fhall we idly think to render the tree more fruitful, by fevering it from its root? or to enlarge the ftream by cutting off its communication with the fountain? When the genuine doctrines of the Church of England are reftored to her fons, then, and not till then, will good works flourish and abound.

Veneration and affection for the Church of Eng land, gave birth to the preceding pages. I have endeavoured to rub off the extraneous varnish, with which you, fir, have difguifed her; and to restore her complexion to its native beauty and fimplicity. The doctrines which he avows cannot but appear amiable in the eyes of all her genuine fons and upon a nearer view, Calvinifm, I would hope, is not found to be that horrid, hideous thing, which they would make it, who first dress up the dove in raven's plumes, and then cry out, "How black she looks!"

I thall conclude, with apologizing for this freedom: which, however, I fhould not have taken, had not you firft made fo free with the Church. I have no interest, abftracted from her's, to promote; no refentment, to gratify; no party, to ferve. I never had, to my knowledge, the pleasure of fo much as feeing the author of Pietas Oxonienfis; nor have I the leaft acquaintance with any one of the expelled ftudents. So far, at leaft, as the doctrines of the Church, are concerned, it feems incumbent on you to retract what you have done. The ableft lawyers, when they find themfelves embarked in an abfolutely indefenfible cause, think it no difparagement, but a point of honour, to throw up their briefs. However, as I am addreffing myfelf to a clergyman, I fhall remind you of a very great man, an ornament to his country, as well as to the Church, who, after

having long been a zealous Arminian, facrificed his prejudices, fubmitted to fuperior evidence, and boldly avowed thofe Calviniftic doctrines, which once he laboured to deftroy. You will readily guefs, that I mean the justly famous Dr. South, who, moreover, was, like you, public orator of Oxford. After the mention of a fuch a name, it can be no infult to Dr. Nowell, to with, that he may go and do likewife. The doctrines of the Church have not been changed, fince the happily emerged at the reformation. Religious truths are not, like lead, or any other fufible metal, to be melted down, and thrown into what form we please: but, like their adorable author, are the fame, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Nor, until the Church changes, fhould we.

You will excufe my not fubjoining my name. Where truth is fought, names are of little account. An arrow from an unknown hand, may do as much execution, as if the contending parties were acquainted. I fhall, therefore, only fubfcribe myself, with undiffembled refpect,

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