to the Church. king's majesty, and the governors of our Church, inforce Necessity of enthem to the observation of our orders, which have been forcing obedience established by the whole Church in a lawful Synod, and confirmed by Act of Parliament, and by his majesty's royal authority? Oh, my brethren, deceive not yourselves; think not that the Church, the king, the state, the law, and all, will stoop to your fancies! No, if you will not obey the constitutions of the Church, you must feel the weight of her censures: if you will not submit yourselves unto the Church, as to your mother, she will not own you for her children, but cast you out, as Hagar and Ismael were cast out of Abraham's house, for their mocking and proud disobedience." treatise. The sermon, or treatise, from which these ex- Value of this tracts have been taken, being rare and little known, but containing at the same time much valuable matter, clearly expressed and forcibly urged; and being, at the same time, not merely conversant with the concerns of a particular diocese, but immediately connected with the general controversy between the Church and the non-conformists, and throwing light upon the points in controversy; it has been judged not amiss to introduce the foregoing arguments of Bishop Leslie, delivered, with many others, for the purpose of keeping, if possible, the dissentient ministers in his fold. The following affectionate appeal concluded the sermon; and it cannot be read without sentiments of respect for this faithful pastor, and of concern that his exertions were rendered ineffectual by the unhappy prepossessions and pertinacity of his bearers. "All these things," he concluded, "deserve your consideration, and may give you occasion to repent hereafter, when it will be too late. I thought it, therefore, my duty to warn you, as Reuben did his brethren; beseeching you, for God's sake, if there be any bowels of compassion in you towards the Church your mother, your brethren, your Affectionate ap peal at its con lusion. The bishop's willingness to hear and discuss objections. His conference with the dissentients. friends, your flock, yourselves, that you would yet lay aside all prejudice and partiality, and the spirit of contradiction, and compose yourselves to peace, unity, and love. O pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Let peace be within her walls, and prosperity within her palaces!' Think not that you are wiser than the Church, than all Churches; as if the Word of God had come only from you, or to you, and to none besides. But remember that you are men, and so may err; that better men have erred, and have thought no shame to acknowledge the same, and retract their error. In this life we shall never be resolved of all doubts. The safest course is, where you doubt, especially about matters of this kind, concerning order and church polity, to submit yourselves peaceably to the judgment of the Church; and then, if ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even the same unto you.' Phil. iii. 5. Now the God of peace and consolation give us, that we may be like-minded one towards another; that we may all speak one thing, and that there be no dissensions amongst us; but that we be knit together in one mind, and in one judgment, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.' Amen." The bishop, having concluded his discourse, called upon the five non-conforming ministers to come forward: when, declining to hold any private conference with them, by reason of the misrepresentation which had been made of what had passed on the former occasion, he professed his willingness to meet them the following day in the presence of the persons then assembled, and to hear and discuss their objections. On meeting next day in the church, agreeably to this proposal, the bishop called upon the five dissentients "to know, if they would subscribe the first four canons; or, if they were ready to lay open their objections, and he would answer in behalf of the Church to defend all that was commanded." It was answered by one of the party, that "seeing he had done them that favour to offer them an hearing, they were ready to lay open their doubts; and, that there might be no confusion, the company had intrusted to one of their number to lay open their minds, to whom they prayed the bishop to give audience with patience." account of it. And this he accordingly did, with patience most No authentick admirable. But of the conference which ensued there is no authentick account, and such as is altogether worthy to be relied on. There appears, indeed, to have been one by Mr. Patrick Adair, circulated in manuscript by the Presbyterian party, and since printed; but the bishop impeached its accuracy at the time, and contradicted its statements, and described it as a "libel," and as "falsely traducing all his proceedings." Such a document therefore is not of historical authority, and is calculated to deceive and mislead rather than to instruct and inform. by the Presby terians to con formity. So far, indeed, as it sets forth the opinions of Objections made the party which it was intended to favour, it may, perhaps, be admitted: and thus it makes us acquainted with the objections of these non-conformists, being indeed the usual objections of the sectarists of the time; such as alleged corruptions in the authorized translation of the Holy Scriptures, the untruths contained in the Apocrypha, the publick reading of the Apocrypha in the Church service, the omission of reading much of the canonical Scripture, the avouching of the day of Christ's nativity, the avouching that Christ was born seven days together, the kneeling at the sacrament of the Lord's supper, which was the chief stumbling-block, and most fully and strongly urged. The Bishop of Derry, who is said to have been Result of the meeting. Painfulness of the sentence. Necessity of the not present during the greater part of the debate, but to have come into the church when the six first topicks had been discussed, is reported to have expostulated with his brother of Down, commending his charity, but not his wisdom, in suffering such open objections against the orders of the Church; and assuring him that he could not answer it, that he had given the objectors such liberty that day. The result was an adjournment of the meeting, first to the afternoon, and then to the following morning; when the non-conformists still continuing to refuse subscription to the canons, the bishop pronounced upon them the sentence of deposition. This sentence, distressing as it may have been and doubtless was, not to the deposed ministers only, but to their friends and partisans, was, it may be safely affirmed, to no one more painful than to the bishop whose office called upon him to pronounce it. His conduct throughout the discussion was marked by patience, moderation, and forbearance, and by a spirit of good will and conciliation, which prompted him to make concessions to the prejudices of the dissentients, exceeding the strict line of his duty. As to the act itself of deposition, it was renact of deposition. dered necessary by the circumstances. For to have permitted these ministers to persist in their nonconformity, still professing themselves nevertheless ministers of the Church, would have been to abandon all pretence to ecclesiastical authority and discipline. At the same time his language in answer to one of the deposed delinquents, who appealed to the consciences of all present concerning his life and doctrine during his ministry, was kind and respectful to the individual, at the same time that it intimated the proper ground on which the whole question Exemplary con duct of the bishop. should be made to rest. "Mr. Cunningham, I con SECTION VII. Scotch Covenant introduced into Ireland. Precautions of the Government. Case of a Clergyman named Galbrath. Northern counties infected. Correspondence of Bishop of Down and Connor with Lord Deputy. High character of the Bishop. His Speech, or Visitation Charge, at Lisnegarvey, 1638. Its important contents in connexion with the History of the Church. His continued intercourse with the Government. THE tumultuary and rebellious spirit which had for some time taken possession of Scotland, and desolated her Church, was now spreading itself into Ireland, The Scotch, who had acquired property in Part II. chap. i. p. 225. Scotch Covenant introduced into Ireland. |