Reading
Working
Further vindication of the Church of England
Text Profile
Genre
Petition Pamphlet
Date
1682
Full Title
A further vindication of the Church of England, with Advice to all Emperours and Kings of the Romish Faith. Also some Arguments used to prove the Church of Rome no true Church, but Antichristian and Bloody
Source
Wing C1935A
Sampling
Sample 1
The original format is quarto.
The original contains new paragraphas are introduced by indentation,contains elements such as italics,
To the Kings most Excellent Majesty, CHALES the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Great Brittain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.
Most gracious and dread Soveraign, HAving made a most diligent inquiryinto the state of the Church
of God, militant upon Earth, I
do find that it is not limited to
any one Country or Nation, as the Donatists
held; who fondly imagined the Catholick
Church of God to be confined to a
Corner of Africa, in which they dwelt; nor
yet inclosed within one Bishops Diocess, or
Jurisdiction, as the Roman Catholicks pretend,
who uncharitably exclude all Christians
Heaven, putting them into the State of
Damnation, who are not subject to their
A2
1
Bishop; vainly pretending to be truly Catholickor Universal; as we do believe in our
holy Creed. The Apostles preached not to
one Country or Nation only, but to the
whole World, according to our Lords Command;
Go teach all Nations, baptizing them in
the Name of the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Ghost.
I shall speak something of this persecuted
Episcopal Church of England, whom the
Lord, by his Providence, hath made Your
Majesty Overseer: This Church, which was
first planted by Joseph of Arimathea, some
years before Rome, according to the purest
way, as he had it from Christ and his Apostles,
the great Bishop of our Souls; and so
hath continued a true Church, through
much Persecution by the Heathen, and by
the common Enemy the Papists, and by
the Dissenters. As Gamaliel told the Jews;
take heed, if it be of God ye cannot overthrow
it, lest you be fighters against God:
No doubt this Church of England is of God,
and cannot be overthrown. You have
heard of the Persecution in Queen Maries
2
days, how she burnt twelve Bishops andDoctors, who sealed it with their Blood in
the Fire, and Charles the First, who sealed
it with his Royal Blood also; the Blood of
the Martyrs is the Seed and Seal of a true
Church.
We most humbly thank Your Majesty,
that Your Majesty hath taken such care for
this persecuted Church, which without doubt
God prizes as the Apple of his Eye, in preserving
it from all these Eminent dangers.
And we most humbly thank Your Majesty,
that Your most Royal Majesty hath
been pleased to put those good Laws in Execution,
against those Enemies of the Church
of England, that many of them have received
Justice according to the merit of their Cause.
The Lord bless Your Majesty, for taking such
special care over both Church and State,
for the good of us your unworthy Subjects,
not doubting but Your Majesty will have
the same care, so long as Breath shall remain
in Your Royal Majesty, which the Lord of
his Mercy grant for many Years to come,
that we may receive the Benefit, and give
3
God the Glory: And all this we beg forthe sake of our Blessed Redeemer Jesus
Christ.
A word to his Royal Highness the Duke
of York, under Grace and Favour. O Royal
James! live for ever; Son to one of the best
Kings that ever reigned; though David were
a Man after Gods own Heart, and Solomon
was a wise Man, yet Your Royal Father had
less Errors than any of them. O Royal
James, Heir to the Crown of England, after
Your Royal Brothers Decease; as the case
now stands, the Lord bless Your Lives with
all blessings Spiritual and Temporal; and if
ever Providence ordereth it so that You be
Crowned King of England, and of the Dominions
thereunto belonging, that you may
come to it in peace, and not swim to it in
Blood, for then it will prove to you a Curse,
and not a Blessing.
The Lord grant that you may maintain
the true Government both in Church and
State, as it now standeth, as Your Royal Brother
doth at this time, and your Royal Father
4
of ever blessed memory hath done, andas your Royal Grandfather King James hath
done; especially this Episcopal Church of
England, which Your Royal Grandfather told
Your Royal Father, he having studied to find
the true Church of God, he was very well satisfied
that the Church of England was the nearest to
the Primitive Church planted by the Apostles.
I shall add something more concerning
the common Enemy the Papists, and Nonconformists.
Our Saviour Christ saith, The time shall
come, when they that kill you shall think
they do God good Service: So did the Dissenters
when they killed one of the best
Kings that ever reigned; and so would the
Papists, if they could have killed our King
that now is; you see how they tollerated
Murder, Treason, Perjury, and Rebellion;
and he that could have killed Gods Vicegerent,
should have done God good Service;
yea, it was thought he should have
been Sainted for his good Service: Yea, this
temporal Man of Sin might as well have
Sainted the Spiritual Man of Sin, the Devil,
5
as to have Sainted these Priests and Jesuits,whom Satan had put into their Hearts
to do his will; let this temporal Man of
sin pretend what he will, yet this wicked Plot,
to kill our Soveraign Lord the King, came
from the Devil, who is the original of all
sin; for they reckoned to have sacrificed His
Royal Body to God, for the Honour of
their Church; when God tells them to obey
is better than Sacrifice; that is, thou
shalt do no Murder, and Rebellion is as
the sin of Witchcraft.
Our Saviour Christ saith, I have chosen
twelve, and one of them was a Devil; but
what shall we call these Priests and Jesuits
sent by the Man of sin, to kill Gods Vicegerent,
the King? We may call them, as the
Devil said their Name is, Legion, for they
are many. Judas betrayed his Lord and
Master for thirty pieces of Silver, but these
Bloody Priests were to murder their Lord
and Master for a bigger sum. Judas, when
he had betrayed Christ, repented, and said,
I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent
Blood; but these Men were so far from repenting,
6
that they would not confess upontheir Tryal, though it were proved by two
of the Kings Witnesses.
You see then, Judas, for all he was counted
a Devil, yet shewed more of a Christian
in repenting, and in laying down his Money
again, than those Jesuitical Devils, which
would not confess the Fact of their Devilish
Designs, though it was proved against them.
The Wise Man saith; He that covereth his
Sin shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and
forsaketh his Sin shall find Mercy: Yea, when
the Man of Sin heard of the good success
of this wicked Plot going on so well, the
Conclave of Hell sang te Deum, and the Man
of Sin gave them his Blessing; you see for
all they sung to God for Joy, and the Man
of Sin gave them his Blessing; their myrth
was turned into sadness, and their blessing
into a Curse upon them, as TYBURN will
witness, and many Spectators that beheld
them. O my Beloved, take special notice,
that this Plot was not from God, but of
themselves, with the help of Satan, and came
B
7
to nothing, as Gamaliel saith: I beseech youall good People that fear God, to take special
notice of the Death of Sir Edmundbury
Godfrey, which discovers more of inhumanity
in their Religion, than any other of their
wicked devices; if all the Devils in Hell had
been let loose to their assistance, they could
not have done more than these wicked Men
did; they enticed him with flattering and
lying words; as St. Paul saith; they told him
if he would go along with them, they would
shew him more of that wicked Conclave; and
he being a Justice of the Peace, he might
apprehend them: this honest Justice being
willing to serve the King, according to his
Oath, went with them, and they had him into
a place, where they secured him from the
help of all his Friends; there, as I may say,
they opened Hell Gates, and let out the Devils,
who fell upon him, and wickedly murdered
him, he being without any comfort,
but the mercy of Christ Jesus upon his
Soul.
8
O all you Emperours, Kings, Princes, andDukes, whom God hath ordained as his Vicegerents
to execute his will upon Earth, take care
you come not near the man of Sin, nor adhere
to his deceivable bloody Doctrine, who
allows his Priests to colour their Coats with
the blood of Kings and Princes, and to wash
their Altars with the blood of Gods Saints,
and garnish their Sepulchres with the blood
of Gods Elect; as our Saviour saith; and
will not God avenge the blood of his Elect,
that cry to him day and night? yea, he will
avenge them speedily.
You see this Scripture fulfilled quickly after
the death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey,
how God did avenge his Blood upon his
Murderers, witness TYBURN, and many
that beheld them.
All the Massacres, both in France, and other
places, the Chronicles speak of, in murdering
many hundred of poor innocent Protestants,
was done by that bloody Church
of Rome.
B2
9
All you Emperours, Kings, and Dukes,whom God hath ordered to execute his
Will upon Earth, have a care that you do
not oblige your selves to the Man of sin,
by swearing Allegiance, or Canonical obedience;
for then he makes you under the
Man of Sin and Satan, his Vassals and Slaves,
that when he calls his Councils, you must
agree to his unlawful Decrees, which if you
do not, he will put you into the state of
Damnation, as he thinketh.
We see how this Church of England hath
been approved on, going through the Firy-Tryal,
witness the twelve Doctors and Bishops
in Queen Maries days, who sealed it by
Blood and Fire; and Charles the First, of ever
blessed memory, sealed it with his Royal
Blood also, who without doubt is now a
Saint in Heaven; which except we could expect
a better place of happiness than ever was
spoken of in Scripture, we could never desire
to go to a better place of Joy, than where
this good King is gone, by the mercy of
10
Jesus Christ, who dyed for the Priviledge of thisChurch and State, hoping, and not doubting
but his Royal Issue will maintain the same, according
to their Royal Fathers last Will
and Testament, that they should take care of
the Church, and love one another, then
will their poor Subjects love their Royal Majesty
above measure, in taking such care of this
true Church of God, wherein contains all our
happiness, both of Soul and Body; then will
God love us, when we love him and his Vicegerent;
for God is Love, and in him is no hatred;
then will he dwell in us, and we in him,
then will God bless us with blessings both temporal
and spiritual, wherein our whole happiness,
both of Soul and Body, consists.
The honour of a King is to have the love of
his Subjects; and what is the comfort of the
Subjects, but a Godly and a pious King; which
the Lord grant to us such a measure of grace,
that we may, every one of us, love one another,
but especially our King, and then shall Babylon
mourn, but Zion shall rejoyce.
11
One thing more I shall not forget to put HisMajesties Subjects in mind of, That if ever
His Majesty should call a Parliament, that they
chuse no Dissenters; for if God do not bless
them to agree in matters of Religion, he will
not bless them when they come to sit upon matters
of State.
In the Fifth of the Galatians, it is said, The
Works of the Flesh are these, Adultery, Fornication,
Uncleanness, Lasciviousness, Witchcraft, Hatred,
Variance, Emulation, Wrath, Strife, Heresie,
Sedition, Envying, Murder, Drunkenness, which do
appear to be some of the sins of the Church of
Rome; and that they that do such things shall
not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven: But the
Fruits of the Spirit is, joy, love, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, Faith, meekness,
temperance, against such there is no Law; of
which you can find very little in the actions
of the Man of sin, but quite contrary
to the said good Fruits.
12
A word in answer to the Presbyterians, whoma Person of our Neighbourhood told me, that
they did attest they had no hand in the
Death of King Charles the First: Which I
wish from my Heart that it were true, which I
fear is not, because the Scots sold him for certain
hundreds of thousand pounds; because
that blessed King spake in his little Book, called
his Meditation, that he was sorry he was sold for
more than his Saviour. Without doubt they
sold him to the other Dissenters, which at last
Crucified him. If it were a sin in Judas for selling
and betraying of his Lord and Master, I
fear it was a sin in them for betraying and selling
of their Lord and Master the King. Judas
had some remorse in him, and seemed to repent
in, throwing down the Money, and saying,
I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent
Blood; and so I hope will these repent from the
bottom of their Hearts, that their Souls may
be saved in the day of the Lord; the which I
beseech the Lord Jesus Christ to grant unto
them through his Grace and Mercy, and that
they may return to us again from whence they
went out; and that they may renounce that
13
wicked Covenant, if they have taken it; thatthey together with us, and we with them, may
serve God together in love, that this Church
militant may fit us for the Church triumphant,
where we may all meet together to sing Halilujah
to the great God that reigns for ever; where
there is no division nor dissention, but all love
and unity, which the Lord of his Mercy grant.
FINIS.