No More Learning

O. Do you aver this for truth ?
C. I do, having it from undoubted hands, and I have
named the person, day and place, to give full room for a
disproof, if any body's curiofity leads him to it; for I could wish it were not true, and that none who bear the
name of Christian could be capable of such outraging blasphemy against Christ, which would be punished'by
death at Constantinople ! but moderation heals all here!
2. O. Did the kirk-judicatories take no notice of this?
or the privy-council, in whose hands is the administration of the civil government in that kingdom.
C. No. I heard nothing of that, and we mould hate heard had any such thing been done. But what do vou expect from Presbyterians? What from such privy-council as them who gave order for solemn pro
at Edinburgh, which was celebrated there on the th day of last March, wherein the hangman and his men were dress priests robes, with crosses upon their heads to execute Christ in effigy, his picture being carry upon the point of halberd, together with the holy sacrament, which he calls his body. And with that
the holy hible, and chalice and all together being cai-
lied thus thro' the streets at noon-day, were put into
great fire, provided for that purpose at the market-cross, by the hands of the common hangman. And this not
denyd, but justify and glory them to this day This has been print before and moderate cler gyman in London reading could sind nofault all this!
which gives us such picture of moderation ! ——And how far will cany men —And whither we are foing and how prepared to preserve any reverence foi
things, and support religion
Of this there was trial made in jest in the last
reign. One told certain grave doctor, that there was
very comprehenfive design on foot, to unite all protestants, not excepting the Mahometans, to bring whom in, and iiave tl>e Turks for our allies, the Alcoran would be en-
joined
cession
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The REHEARSAL.
171
joined to be read so many-times in the year in bur churches ; and that under pain of deprivation.
The doffor mused a While, and at last faid, Why truly, there are several good things in the Alcoran: There is saith in the one God establish'd. Out Saviour Jesus
Christ is there called the MeJJiah, and the wordof God; and the Turks preserve a great reverence for him, arid punish even with death the blasphemies arid contempt which
the Jews cast upon him. And their Alcoran does ac
knowledge the scriptures of the old and neva testament. And are not these good things ?
O. Does the Alcoran acknowledge all these things ? I prosess I begin to believe that they are very good protest ants. And they set not up their Mahomet for a God, but
only as a. prophet\zter than Christ, as Christ was later than Moses. And what great rhatter is we bestow on them one prophet more into the bargain We have had many prophets set up here, fox, Muggleton, and Welsh,
&c. among the presbyterians.
was certainly the high-fliers, that have no modera
tion, and stand so stiff upon their church and mission, arid talk of schism, and such like fulsome stuff. It was cer
tainly these who have caused the breach betwixt the
Turks and us. They hinder union wherever they come
unless upon church-principles, as they call it.
C. will maintain that the Turks are as much chri
stians as the Sotinians, arid more than the Quakers, Mug- glet'onians, or your Yule Presbyterians who would be gas- footed in Turk'y for those contempts of Christ, . which mode-
ration can pass over here.
4. The Socin'ian here in the reign of K. Char. II. pre
sented an address to the Morocco ambassador, then in Lon don, with a confession of their faith, copy of both which have now me, and have seen the latter since in' print wherein except some sew objections relating to Mahomet, they own themselves of the fame faith with the Mahometans, wherein differs from that of the Chri
stian, and with all the force they have, they battle the
doctrines of the Holy Trinity arid 'incarnation, &c.
And
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The REHEARSAL.
And yet after this, these Socinic. ns, or Unitarians they cali themielves) were allowed to pass under the name ofprctejiant:. And moderation was set on work (for what cannot moderation do? ) not to convert, but to accommodate with these, but without retraStint any thing of their faith. As we are told in the life of Thom. Fiimin. printed and fold A. Baldwin m Warwick-lane, 1698, p. 20. That the hands
concur to this re-union
unreconcilec. bly divided,
agreement, &c. This acreement was one of the Unitarian pamphlets, shewing their faith to be the truth, and their agreement therein w ith the doctrine of the church of England, as explained some of our modern divines.
And in the account Mr. Firmin's religion, printed
the fame year, 1698, 49. Mr. Tirmin called the curator of the Unitarian religion. And tells p. 50. That he prepofid to hold ass'cmhlies for divine worfiip, dif. iiicl
from the assemblies of any other denomination of Chriseians, but not way schism, or separation from the church— No, not all! this would make no schism! modera
tion could fave that from schism too tho' faid, 51. in plain words, That the whole christian church
172
a great many excellent persons did
parties that fetm'd so •widely and and did encourage the author the
heathen alriady in the majority its members
these, terms, that of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation,
Satisfaction, &c. What encouragement was given for this propofal of having Socinian churches set up among us,
will not enquire, only we are told that many excellent per sons were engaged in but the death of their curator
put stop to at that time. But tho' know not their churches, there sermon said to be preached on the death of Mr. Tirmin, which printed by the faid Bali- win, the faid year, 1698, and bound up together with the other two before nam'd. And this srmon makeshim an excellent christian, tho' owning him to have been at the fame time, sirm and rooted Socinian or Unitarian, denying the Holy Trinity, the Divinity, Incarnation and
Satisfaction of Christ our Lord.
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The REHEARSAL.
173 See now what moderation can do, or what it cannot
do !
O. But what is that thou call'st gaffooting in Turky ?
C. To have a stake run thro' thee, from one end to
the other, and stuck in the ground till thou rot off from
it.
O. And would they have served John Wylie that trick for his yule sermou?
C. Aye, and the prestyterian eal'aleaders too at the Cress at Edinburgh. They would have taken them for Jivvs, (as any body else would) who did this in despite
and contempt of Christ ; of whom the Aleoran speaks very henourabh, and will sufser no such villifying of him,
as we sind practis'd among the unchristian faction
!
5. O. Nay, then, I will be no Turk. What ! punish men
for their opinions in religion !
C. Then they must keep their opinions to themselves.
To blaspheme God orthe king was dsath by the la•u> ori
God- And no christian government O'Jght to sufser Christ our Lord to be ridicuF d or blasphem'd. And even in Scotland, since this revolution, one Mr. Aikinhead wa»
put to death for blasphemy.
O. Thou frights me ! what ! gastooting there to ! We
whigs, who are deists, must have a care how we let the
presbyterians into the saddle ; tho' at present we agree, as to our common destgns against the church and crmvn.
C. You'll be out of the frying-pan into the fire ! they know neither moderation nor toleration.
6. O. Then we'll have a government all of deists, and have no religion at all, Our puss has none.
C. No matter for that, she must counterfeit some or other, and set it up too, and establish it by law. The people will have some religion. You'll never get that ba-
nish'd out of the world.
O. O the fatality of suffering these priests ! they have
rooted religion so deep in the minds of the people, that all our skill cannot get it out! and priests of all religion are
the same, as one of our noble patriots repeated it upon
the occafional bill, in an honouraIble assembly, with a gust 3 of
i74 The REHEARSAL
of gallantry. We will not be under the jurisdiction of
of any of these priests.
C. You must and shall! while there is religion in
the world, there must be some to administer it ; and these
must have a fewer, and will have an insuence upon the
people, and must before'd to estallish such, and give thtm the authority of the Iqws in being. All the choice that
is left you, is, whether you will have priests of God's ap pointment, who can derive the succession all the way fiom the apostles; or Jeroboam's priests of the meanest of the
people, and consecrate whom you will.
O. Jeroboam's by all means of the two; for they
will not be troubling us with their jure divino and sue
cession.
C. They'll pretend to it as much as any other when
they are once in, as the kirk does now in Scotland, and all our sectaries here. All their commissioKs ate immedi ately from God or by inspiration.
O. That's harder to judge of than succrssjqn. What
shall we do now ? Must we be for ever prieji-tiddin wjfj) these block-heads ?
C. 'Till you have more wit than these bhck-heaa) !
You lay they invented religion, and keep it up in
the world, and force or persuade all governments to esta blish of one sort or other. Why then do not you men
orsense rescue the world and government from under the dominion of these block-beads, whom you so much iff-
fit'
But religion was not the invention ofpriests (as most
certainly was not) then was the institution of Gon,
and consequently so priest-hood for Qod ordained priists both under the law and the gospel. And to throw
oft' these, and take upon our selves to appoint deputies, or vice-gerents for God to stgn and seal his covenants with us, and to kiess in his name to usurp the prerogative the Most High and therefore justly called, the
case of Korah, rebellion against the Lord. would, be the fame in any angel of heaven, he, without God's
express command, should commissionate any to tranjap with
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The REHEARSAL.
175 "with men in the name of God. It is a glory which
Christ himself could not assume; and therefore, No nan can take this honour to himself but he that is called cf God, as •was Aaron. Heb. v. 4, 5,6. This was the
sn of feroboam, which Cut him off, and his house from off theface of the earth. I Kin. xiii 33, 34. . But now we
! and a
with our brethren ! This schism in Jeroboam and the Tea
Tribes, as well as their rebellion against the house of Da
vid, brought them from one error to anorher, to Idolatry * at last ; and destroy'd them all in a little time from off the earth that their name is cxtinct ; all the Jews now known
in the world being of two loyal tribes with the Levites,
which adher'd to their priests and to their king.
And it was never yet known but that errors and cor ruptions in doctrine did follow schism in the church and re
beilion in the states. Witness our godly times offorty-one when there were above threescore different sects astd reli
gions amongst us at one time. Accounts of which were then wrote, and we have them still remaining, besides some of the chief of them which have furviv'd ; and others which have revived in the fame foil of late years.
7. O. All this proceeded from want of moderation,
as it plainly made out in The history of non-conformity, lately printed, with a huge long title-page, which I have so often advertis'd at full length in my Observators to sill up room, when I had nothing to fay. There the pre
small
face begins with a history of MPPP ration in several reigns; and what fine things moderation would have
done, if she had been, let alone !
We
The understanding there was betwixt the moderate hi
shops, and the puritans in the reigns of K. James and K. Charles I. And p. 2. The proceedings of the divines at
Westminster, who were all of them (fay we) except eight
or nine conformable ministers.
C. And what did this assembly of divines at Westminster
do ?
Did not make root and branch work with
they episcopacy, liturgy,
churches and all i
This gives us a pretty picture of moderation I and
14
shews
set
dpwn, 1 . p.
176
The REHEARSAL.
shews us that the church cannot be destrcyd but by h<# seif.
And that moderation wi'l stop at nothings not at episcopacy, or any thing s/JÆ ; and can sind some good thing even in the Alcoran!
Moderation
is a than: of zeal, and will leave no
icec. clc of confistency.
8. But we hope better things, and that the clergy be
gin to open their eyes ; for this year they have revived what has been long dis-uid, tho' enjoin'd by lam, to
read the royal proclamation, appointed to be read in their churches, in time of divine service, on the Lord's Dry immediately before each 30th of January ; which was
accordingly
done in the churches of London, Westminster,
and the parishes adjacent, on the Lord's Dry, the 28th of
last December. Wherein the mob principles ofgovernment
are torn up by the roots. And it is declared from our
laves and arts of parliament, STliat till tlje UiiDOUbtCO
fundamental im? of tins' hinabom nritiiec tlje rcetf of tlje realm 1102 t! je commons, nn: tlje people, noi
botij toactlier 115 parliament, no: tlje people collet' ti'oeln 02 repjesentatibeln, noj any otljer persons totjst* foeber, eber had, jjatfj 02 oujjht to Iiabe ann roerclM
jpoteec ober tlie persons of tlje Fungs' of tlii. ^ realm. Here's a few hung about the neck of my puss with a
witness! which thou vapour'd'st none durst attempt, in thy Observator of the 3d Instant. N° 84.
From z§at. Feb. 1 o, to &at. Feb. 17, 170s. N°2Q.
Of the dissenters observation of the yyth of January. the nature of their fasts.
WT7HERE wast thou, master, last 30th ofJa-
nuetryf ! it was our lefiurt- O. 1 observed it most religioufly
Co*n. \
day at Salters-Hall, which thou know'st may pass for
our observance of the day! and then I went to our CAlVES-
And
The REHEARSAL.
i77
IcK^yjEs-HEADj-efrf^'ment in Southmoark, where we sung antbcmsl and drank suitable healths, as to the pious me mory of that noble Britain who struck the stroke, and
off the head of that anti-christian tyrant, See.
Of w hich
I am told complaint has been made ; and it may prove a second trial of the Observator ! For since I am come ost j we now sear none of these things !
C. But do'sn't the law require your conventicles to be shut up that day, as well as the stops ? where they sell not half such sophisticated ware, and by such false lights.
0. And we observe the one as well as the other, Do'st
think we would put off one of our lecture-days for your
madding- day ? in obedience to your episcopal, tory-rory,. tantivy acts of parliament.
C. But if not in obedience, yet methinks, in complai sance tathe queen, it being in memory of her royal grand
'father !
0. We never compliment away our rights. We know *>
what use is made of precedents.
T'other year her majesty was pleased to send her letter
to the lord mayor desiring the stops to be shut up on Good-
Friday, and the day observ'd as it ought to be. His lord ship accordingly sent his officers about to see the stops shot up. But they coming to one of our friends, he refused to do it (as we generally all did) and the officers threat,
ning to /hut it up for him, he stood upon his pantostles, and bade them do it at their peril, for the queer, did but defire which left him at his liberty to grant or re
fuse! What - do'st think that we who stand out bluffi against the laws, will be wheedledby their petitioning!
We keep the 30th of January as we do Good-F>iday, infeasting and gratifying our carcasses, not way of sensuality, but only in spite, because these are no days for
vs
Then, by the fame spirit os contradiction, you
ought to sast at Christmas, and all the rest of our festi vals.
0. What should we get by that hungry bellies No, Re thank you, you shall never cateh us at that we re- nounce
I 5.
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178
The
REHEARSAL.
Bounce fasting, mortification, and keeping under the be efy, as rank popery. If these be not popery, there is not a word of sense in all we have faid against the church of England. We neverfast, but when we are really grienid at the heart, as when the church or the croiim gains any ad•vantage over us ; or, when we have some defign in
hand against them ; as now we are fasting and pfaying like mad in Scotland, for the extirpation of popetye and all tendency thereto, as the order of the general assembly words which the Pest-Man, N. 340 has given us at full length. And this tendency thereto, they sufficiently explained to be prelacy, which they call rag of the whore of Babylon and have vovsd their fo« and for tunes to extirpate prelacy by in the afw afftciatms of both their provincial synods, which are likewise print and tho' prelacy abolistsd there by /aou, yet we are now fasting for something else, that is, to stir up our
people, (whom fasting irritates beyond any thing, be ing little used to to make use pf their power, whik in their hands, toseize and disarm all that they suspect
are not well-affected, &c. as in, the overtures thou hast rehears'd, N. 26. to make root and branch work with them, that they never rise up any more to turn us out as they did before and to do the fame in England, when we their good brethren here shall help them and theii covenant hither, as we did before. For these things we fast, and you will sind none other fasts among us, from forty to sixty, nor fince therefore the cavaliers us'd to be terribly afraid of our fasts, they were sure then there was some mischies brewing! was like hanging
out the bloody flag. These are occasional fasts, for
valuable confideration, to do bustnifs, to inspirit OVK gion, and intimidate our foes. For the fame reason we
had festivals and thanksgivings too, occasionally,
when we obtain'd for your christian
anniversary too, as alhoi\
victory over the king, or so. But feasts and fasts — and to make them never to beforgotten, that our SOUlS
C. Why?
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The REHEARSAL.
179
C Why? you geneially keep the 5th of Nowmlir, and that is an anniversary.
O. O ! that is for bufiness too ; it is against the pa-
But the joth of January is kept with us like the second commandment with them, as much out of sight as
we can. It brings our fins (we daily practice ) to remem brance, which must be ungrateful, while we resolve not to amend, I'd rather junket with you at Christmas, than
fast with you on the 30th of January.
C. If you come to me at Christmas, I'll make you fast
out ofspite.
O. No, I'll eat out ot spite, and fast too, that eat
fishes.
sast, and drink fast, to destroy your mined pyes, and) plumb-porrage, and guzzle your o/a' a/? , that these super stitious things may be dispatch'd quickly out of the way
and then I'll entertain you with a. yule sermon. with, C. Thou shalt break thy neck as soon as thy fast
me, at that rate. We ought not to receive such into our houses, nor to bid them God speed, lest we be partakers of their evil deeds. Thou did'st not sall last 30th of Janu ary, I'll warrant thee. Wast thou at church that day
O. As told thee, happen'd this year upon Tues day, which leEiure-day wkh us at Salters-Hall.
C. How did you perform there Did you take any no tice of the day?
O. Yes, we did, and fung the 23d and 24th •verses of
the
psalm, which are these
This was the mighty work God> This was the Lord' own fact
And it wondrous to behold With eyes that noh'e act.
This thejoyful day inked,
Which God himself has wrought Let us be glad andjoy therein,
In heart, in mind, and thought.
C O devils devils incarnate
O. What! for repeating the words of holy scripture? '
16 C The
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i8o The REHEARSAL.
C. The devil, whose children ye are, tempted oui blcsscd Lord, what a text ofscripture every time.
The applying of holy scripture to evil purposes, aggra vates the wickedness even to blasphemy ! for which reason this your rejoicing at Salters-Hall, in what you call di vine service, exceeds, by far, the openly prophane and rebellious songs of your calves-he ad-feasts, which yon
call anthems, in ridicule of all things sacred.
And as if calves-head and Salters-Hall were not suffi cient indications of your godly intentions, we have an other instance of a dissenter, living not far from Bartho
who on the 30th of January last 1704, did crect a calf's-head upon a publick place over his shop er HOUSE, to the view of a promiscuous crowd of neighbour! who are ready to make oath of the fame.
O. This you have in one of our precious papers, call'd truth and honesty, printed on the back of the London Poft, N. 10*2. (seehow long we have reign d! ) But there are several excuses set down there on behalf of the dissenters, which thou should'st answer when you repeat the objec
tion.
C. Let's hear them.
O. He was one call'd a dissenter-
C. Was he not a dissenter ?
O. Yes, but he was called so !
C. Well, go on to the next.
O. He has brought a publick nssront and reproach vpor.
the dissenters in. general, who abhor and condemn all
such barbarous proceedings.
C. Why then do not they excommunicate him ? for the
taw takes hold of no excommunications, but those of the church of England. All the rest are sree, and not cogni zable by any secular courts. What fign or mark of dis
pleasure have they put upon him for this barbarous proceed ing? Or have they oblig'd him to a recantation, and as
publick a corfission of his fault, as the scandal was note- r. cus ?
O. It is not the way of the dissenters to punish any fifll which they don't dij-likc, or which does them no harm ;
and
lomew-close,
The REHEARSAL.
and this shews their moderation ! as their seeming to dis own it to others shews their prudence !
But I go on : He fays in the next place, that he (that
disinter who set up the calfs-head) hath been heard to
justify the proceedings of forty-one to such a degree, that good manners hath forsook him, and deliver 'd him over t»
the language of the beast.
C. This is an exact description of my master Nobbs ;
his de-collation and de-truncation of K. Charles I. And
sending his son, like Cain, a vagabond and fugitive on the eaith ; and triumphing over them in faying, They viotid have done sooner, they cou'd. And justifying all those who had any hand in either of their tragedies as tliou dost in thy Observator, Vol. II. N. 89.
And upon the head of maintaining the principles of forty-one, what one single person of all the iohigs and disinters can be exceyted What one of them does not iustify the forty-one principle ofpower in the people, evert-
to coerce their kings was this this which cut off
the principle which possess'd them, that was the original and formal executioner. And whoever hold the fame principle must be ready for the fame •work again,
they will be true to themselves. They cannot fay, that K. Charles did suffer unjustly, because he deny'd' the jurisdiction of the court, and resus'd to plead. He wou'd not own the sovereign authority of the people which was the highest treason, the principles of forty- vie be true and he deserv'd to die, like criminal that stands mute, whether he was guilty of the particular facts eharg'd upon him, or not. And whoever hold these
principles are calves-head men, whether they go to their stasis, or not. And with whatever good manners they ex- pieis themselves, and not in the language of the beast
as thou, my dirty master uses to do, to the scandal «ven of thy own scandalous party
0. But he has another . excuse: That the calfs-head was
ifri
the king's head.
struck with ptnverd him
was not the ax, but the hand that was not the hand, but those who im- was not those who impower'd him, but
;
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i8a The REHEARSAL.
was his mum , and might he not do what he pleases with, his own ?
C. It his own calfs-head had been set up on the top of his house, instead of the more innocent beast, whose head he plac'd there, it wou'd have been of better in-
firutiion
to his neighbourhood, than the emblem he set
UPO. Thou'rt for persecution.
C. Is stealing a horse, or robhing on the high- •way i
To ,
crime equal to this ? trample upon Majesty tiAHs-
sol•ve the whole foundation of government throughout the worId ! To affront our /aoe-s while they stand iB
sarce ; and to propagate such principles as make
for us to have any peace or settlement to the «iiof
the wet Id! And while all the rest of the nation are hum bling themselves before God, in fasting and prayer, to deprecate the . /fo of these miscreants, as the proclamation read in our churches (of which told thee in my last)
justly calls them {hat they themselves shou'd be ridi culing our clxerity for them, and re-a8ing the fame most horrid wickedness, for which we mourn, in circumftanca which exceed, after long time past, even the dismal tragedy of the day and provoking God to send still moie •vengeance upon the nation, for that £/W which thus daily shed over again, and will not sufser his indignation to sleep? This piacular fin, for which the nation. and our posterity are answerable, till they punifi as deserves. And next to the shedding of that roya/ and innocent blood, the pardoning of the greatest ww,
A»d this be persecution, to us and to our chil dren, from whom, his blood cannot othewise be «- nurvd.
We feel to this day all that has befalfn us fince, and what we have still in pvosfect-, being the csnuin essects, and natural product' of that bittbr not
ponuer in the staple* We may fay of this, as the
did
or suffering these cursd as well as senseless
to live (as far as in our power) which, as faid befoie* were the executioner.
principle*
if it
;
it is
it is
I
it of k
is
it.
I
is a;
; so
REHEARS AU 183
did of the golden-cals, that there was a grain of it in all
their asm judgments.
What a mocJting of God is to pray that the guilt of
that blood may be taken off from us, while we hug the principle that and take those into our bosom, who promote that fame principle, and glory in
There something in this, exceeds even the horror
ihecalves-bead-feafis
He that owns that principle iV/a/f and he that
dares not disown Judas. And he who thinks /•u-isf of it, and can believe proof against contradiction and denies the authority of £a/y> scripture!
From&at. Feb. 17, to &at. Feb. 24, 170s. N° 30.
i. Canonizations wof »sV in the church England. 2. But among the dissenters. Particularly the
The
Lord Brook.
their pastors. and what
4. Of the right the people to elect And their kings. Wherein 0/liberty,
meant
in the present election
(i. ) dun. %HIS
sons Belial. Exemplify St. Michael's Cornhil.
St. Matthias's day, wherein we That the church may be prefers
srom false ape les, and guided faithful and true pas tors.
0. Ay That's against us. We know your mean ing.
Guilty conscience
0. Pr'ythee, let's alone with your saints. We call
none suints but ourselves we caren't for sip- load of your old out of fashion saints. They were nothing like ours! Let you, and the church of Rome canonize whom you will.
The church of England canonizes none, nor keeps the memorials of any, but who are recorded for
faints in holy scripture whom you desire to ft. 'get, be cause
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1 84 The REHEARSAL.
cause their doctrine and practice was so contrary to YOUrS.
(2. ) But, tell me, is not putting a man in heaven, a
canonizing of him ?
O. It is something like it. If we cannot take him
out again !
C. You can do both! and you have don it ! For your
Baxter (who bragg'd, that he had spent gallons of his blood sighting against the king) in his Saints everlasting rest, Edit.