THis Epistle was written by St. Paul when he was a Prisoner at Rome, as we may see in the first Chap­ter, vers. 13. where he speaks of his bonds in Christ, which were manifest in all the Palace; and here again among the salutations, which he sends to the Philippians from all the Saints, he makes a particular mention of those of Caesars House­hold; All the Saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesars Houshold.

We see see then that there were Saints at Rome, when St. Paul wrote this Epistle, not on­ly in the City, but at the Court. Now who these Saints were, and why here is so particular a mention of those of Caesars Houshold, are [Page 2]the Points which we are here to consider.

And first, by the Saints, without all doubt, he meant the Christians, for that is the name by which he commonly calleth them, the name by which they were called before they were called Christians; for they were called Christians first at Antioch, where he and Barnabas had spent a whole year in settling a Church of them, as we read, Acts 11.26. but they were called Saints before he was called to be an Apostle; for they whom he persecuted at Jerusalem, are called the Saints at Jerusalem, Acts 9.13.

This name of Saints was appropriated by the Greeks to their Priests, because they were conse­crated after their manner to the service of those whom they called Gods. But upon a better ac­count it was appropriated by God himself to the people of Israel, whom he consecrated to him­self, Exod. 19.6. Ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests, and a holy Nation. And Deut. 14.2. Thou art an holy people to the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the Nations that are upon the Earth. But the people of Israel were herein, as in some other things, the types and figures of those of the Christian Church, whom St. Paul calls the Israel of God, Gal. 6.16. and of whom St. Peter saith, Ye are a chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, an holy Nation, a peculiar people, 1 Pet. 2.9.

The name of Saints is appropriated to them up­on several accounts, of which I will mention but two.

1. Upon the account of their most holy pro­fession, of the most pure, and holy, and perfect Religion that ever was, or ever can be. For to say nothing of the Religion of the Heathen, which serv'd not to sanctifie, but to make them more unholy: The Religion of the Jews was not so pure and holy and perfect; for though it was in­stituted by God, it was not instituted by him as the best, but the best that they were then capable of: for besides the Laws, which were indulg'd to them for the hardness of their hearts, as Christ saith of the Law of Divorce, Matth. 19.8. Their Religion was incumbred with diverse Laws about meats and drinks, and diverse washings, and carnal Ordinances, imposed on them, until the time of Reformation, Heb. 9.10. which is a manifest evidence that they were not the best, but only the best for them at that time; for if they had been the best, they could not have been capable of a reformation, For if that first Covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second, Heb. 8.7. But this second Cove­nant is called the everlasting Covenant, Heb. 13.20. because it is so pure, and holy, and perfect, that it is not capable of a reformation. For no pre­cepts can be more pure and holy, no promises more [Page 4] high and heavenly, no confirmations of them more divine. For what precepts can be more pure and holy than that of cleansing our selves from all polluti­on both of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, 2 Cor. 7.1? and that of being holy in all manner of conversation, as he who hath called us is holy, 1 Pet. 1.15? and many more to the like purpose. What promises can be more high and heavenly than that of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, 1 Pet. 1.4? The Kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world, Mat. 25.34? and many the like expressions of it. What con­firmation can be more divine than that of a Cove­nant, in which God hath made himself a party, of which the Son of God is the Mediator, of which his blood is the seal, and all the miracles wrought by him in his Fathers name, and upon him in his Resurrection from the dead, and all the glory that followed, are the hand of God, by which this Covenant was sign'd by him, and the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, was the pledge and the earnest? Which is therefore called a better Covenant established upon better promises, Heb. 8.6. better in many respects, and particularly in this, that it is more effectually to sanctifie them that have made themselves parties to it. For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw nigh [Page 5]to God, Heb. 7.19. And the Gospel is the bring­ing in of that better hope, a hope of which St. John saith, Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure, 1 Joh. 3.3.

2. They were called Saints upon the account of their lives and conversations, which were agree­able to their profession. For the primitive Christi­ans have a very good testimony both in the Scriptures, and from the Heathen among whom they lived. The Scriptures bear witness of their constancy and stedfastness in observing that rule, which they had received from the Apostles, of their piety and devotion to God, of their unanimity among themselves, of their mutual offices of Love and Charity, of their sincerity and singleness of heart, of their patience in suffering afflictions, for the tryal of their Faith, and the testimony of their conscience, not only without complain­ing, but with rejoycing. They continued stedfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in Prayers, Acts 2.42. And they con­tinuing daily with one accord in the Temple, and break­ing bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people, vers. 46, 47. And in the sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the He­brews we read of their work and labour of love, which was so good, that God could no more [Page 6]forget it than he could be unjust, vers. 10. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name. And Heb. 10.32. we read of a great fight of affliction, which they endured, not only without repining, but with rejoycing, as it follows at the 34. vers. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in your selves that ye have in Heaven a better and an en­during substance.

And though the Heathen among whom many of them liv'd, were willing to accuse them of great crimes and enormities, to render them the more hateful; they knew them to be so innocent and free from them, that they never offered to make any proof of them, but did in effect confess that they had nothing to object to them, but that they were Christians, as Tertullian expresseth it, Bonus vir Caius Seius, malus tantum quòd Christianus; Caius Seius is a good man, he hath no fault but that he is a Christian. Such were the primitive Saints, and such were they at Rome, for it is of them that St. Paul saith, Rom. 15.14. I am per­swaded of you my brethren, that ye are full of all goodness. And St. Paul did not say that to flatter them, for in the same Epistle he speaks of their Faith and Obedience as things well known to the world; Your Faith is spoken of throughout the world, Rom. 1.8. Your obedience is come abroad unto all men, [Page 7]Rom. 16.19. And for their sincerity we need no other testimony than that of Tacitus, who speaking of the Persecutions, which they suffered for the testimony of it under Nero, saith that infinite numbers of them were convicted, of which some were cloathed in the Skins of Beasts, and torn with Dogs, some were Crucified, some were burnt in the fire, and when the day failed, they were burnt in the night to give light, and that they were pitied, because they suffered, not for any publick good, but to satisfie one mans cruelty. And as the Children of Israel in Egypt, the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplyed and grew, so did the Saints at Rome, so that Rome became more renowned for Christian piety and vertue, than ever it had been for the greatness of her power, and the largeness of her dominion. The Church of Rome was then, and many years after, a Catholick Church, not because it had Dominion over all other Christian Churches, for that it had not; but because it held the Catholick Faith, and all other Churches that held the same Faith, were as Catholick as it. And though the Com­munion of the Church of Rome, was very much desired and sought by all other Christi­an [Page 8]Churches, by reason of the eminence of the City, and the splendour of the Court, and the free access which the Bishops of Rome had to the Emperours, when they be­came Christian, and the great power which they had with him, especially in the affairs of the Church; it was desired and sought much the rather, because it held not only the right but the entire Faith, and was not only a true but a sound Church.

But as a sound man may grow sick, so may a sound Church also, and so did the Church of Rome: It grew so sick, that we may say of it in the words of the Prophet, The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is heavy. For the sickness began with a swel­ling in the head, and soon after in the body of that Church, which is a disease to which the Romans were naturally subject. For that pride and ambition, which was the first sin of the Angels that kept not their first estate, and the first sin to which the Devil tempted in­nocence in Paradise, was, as St. Jerome speaks, the natural vice of the Romans, which not­withstanding the many warnings against it, given them by St. Paul in his Epistle to them, Rom. 12.3, &c. I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to [Page 9]think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of Faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office: so we being many are one body in Christ, and eve­ry one members one of another. And again at the tenth verse, Be kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love, in honour prefer­ring one another. And yet again, vers. 16. Be of the same mind one towards another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own con­ceits. I say, notwithstanding all those warnings, this pride and ambition prevailed so much upon the Church of Rome, that not content to be an honourable member of the Catholick Church, it would not allow any other Church to be Catholick, but such as were members of it. And the Bishops of Rome, not content to be Bishops of Rome, as they were stil'd in the most ancient Ge­neral Councils, and by the most ancient and learned Fathers, and in their own subscrip­tions; nor with the honour of being the Bishops of the first See, which honour they had, not because it was the Chair of [Page 10] Peter, but because it was the Imperial Ci­ty; for when the Empire was remov'd to Constantinople, the Bishops of that See had the same honour and priviledge with that of Rome, because that was New Rome, which reason is expressed in the Canon: They had likewise the honour to be the first Patriarchs upon the same ac­count; first in order of Precedence, not in superiority of jurisdiction; for the other Patriarchs were not under the jurisdicti­on of the Roman, but had the same Au­thority, Honour, and Power within their own limits, which they of Rome had in theirs, and by the same right, which was not di­vine but Ecclesiastical right. But the Bi­shops of Rome not content with all this honour, began to exalt their Throne above the Stars of Heaven, as St. Gregory expres­seth it, to assume a power and authority over all other Bishops and Churches, and to exercise a jurisdiction in and over them, by the name of Universal Bishops, which he called a prophane name, and a name of Blasphemy, a presage of the near approach of Antichrist. But though he was so hum­ble and so modest, as not only to refuse it, [Page 11]when it was given to him by Eulogius the Patriarch of Alexandria, but to rebuke him for it, calling it a proud title which none of his Predecessors had used, and which was a degrading of himself, and all other Bishops; his next Successor but one, who held the See but some few Months, know­ing how much it was against the ancient Canons of the Church, and against the sense of the most learned Fathers, and so injuri­ous to all other Bishops, that he could not think that they would be so tame as to yield it quietly to him; he procured the Emperour to confer that Title upon him; making use of the temporal Sword, as ma­ny of his Successors did to wrest the spi­ritual out of the hands of all other Bishops, and exercising a jurisdiction over them, in receiving Appeals from them, in reservation of Cases, in Collation to Benefices which belonged to them, in inflicting censures within their limits, and upon them, in absolving men from those censures which were inflicted by them, in granting In­dulgences, and Dispensations in matters of Vowes, Order, Matrimony, and in effect, leaving them the Mitre and the Staff, and [Page 12]a part of the care, assumed to themselves the fulness of the Power. And having thus made use of the temporal Sword to get the spiritual, they made use of the spiri­tual Sword to get the temporal. For it was upon the account of this spiritual Sword, that they took upon them to depose Emperours and Kings, to dispose of their Dominions, to excite other Kings to invade them with force of Arms, to dis­charge their Subjects from their natural obe­dience, to absolve them from their Oaths of Fidelity and Allegiance, to stir them up to make Conspiracies, to commit Treasons and Rebellions.

And thus came the Church to be rent and torn with Schisms, Christian Kingdoms to be imbroyled in Wars and Blood, and the World filled with scandals.

The Papacy, which is the greatest Schism that ever was in the Church, hath been the cause of thirty Schisms in that Church of Rome; one of which lasted fifty years, and diverse of the rest had lasted longer than they did, had not the Emperours used that Authority, which they had then, to put an end to them. In which times, [Page 13]the Church of Rome was so far from being that visible Church, with which all Christians were bound to hold Com­munion, upon pain of Damnation, that it was not visible where that Church of Rome was, with which they were bound to hold Communion; for having many times two heads, and sometimes three, and each head had a Body which was joyned to it, and if the one were the true, the other must of necessity be schismatical; the world could not know with which of them it should hold Communion, because it could not know which was the true, and which was the schismatical. And if a Canonical Election were necessary to make a true head, it was many times without a head; while some invaded the See with violence, and hands imbrued in Blood; some with Fraud and Subtilty; and some as the Centurion in the twenty second Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, obtained the freedom of a Roman, with a great summ of Money. By which means the See was filled some­times with such as were so ignorant and [Page 14] unlearned, that their own Writers confess they had not so much as the first Rudi­ments of Learning: Sometimes with such as were so wicked, that they call them filthy Monsters of Men; and some­times with Novices, within the years of their Minority, who were fitter to be put to School than to be placed in the Apostolical Chair, and were more glad that they were past the fear of the Rod, than that they had obtained the Crofier Staff, and the triple Crown.

It would require a long time to speak of the many bloody Wars, which have been made and caused in the Empire and Christian Kingdoms, by this usurped pow­er of the two Swords.

The errours and abuses in Doctrine and Worship, against which there was a remedy before; that remedy which St. Cyprian mentions, Subvenient Caeterae, if one Church fall into any Errour, let all other Churches bring it out. But this exorbitant power of the Bishops of [Page 15]Rome, hath not only disabled all other Churches from bringing that or any other Church out of those Errours and abuses into which it might fall, but en­abled them to bring other Churches into the same Errours and Abuses.

The time would fail me, if I should speak of the many Scandals, which they have given by their Pride and Ambition, in exalting the Mitre above the Crown, and making them stoop to kiss their Feet, at whose Feet their pious Predecessors were wont to bow, and prostrate them­selves.

By their Avarice, in making sale of those things, which were Sacred, and raising vast summs of Money in Christi­an Kingdoms, and particularly in this, upon specious pretences, as if the Keys of Heaven had been made and put into their hands to open and unlock the Treasures of the Earth.

By their Cruelty, in contriving and [Page 16]countenancing Massacres, Murders of Kings and Princes, Persecutions with Fire and Sword, driving Men as Sheep to the slaughter, instead of leading them to the Pasture, as if they had been set over them, not to feed but to fley them; and so making themselves no less hateful to the Christian World, than their Predeces­sors were venerable. But to leave them, and return to my Text, which speaks not of them, but of the Saints at Rome.

Where it is not unworthy our Ob­servation, how speedy and successful a progress the Christian Faith and Doctrine had throughout the World, not only in the Eastern Countries, Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and Samaria, the most famous Cities of Asia and Greece, but in these Western parts of the World, even at Rome, that Proud and Stately City, that was full of people, great among the Nations, and Princess among the Provinces, which had subdued mighty Kingdoms with the force of her Arms, and made her self dreadful to the world with the fame of [Page 17]her Victories, and was then come to the height of all her Pride and Glory, and grown so insolent, as to exalt her self above all that is called God, or Wor­shipped: For what else meant that chal­lenge, which Caius, one of the Caesars, sent to Jupiter, Thou shalt down with me, or I will down with thee; and that Com­mand which he gave under a great pain and peril, to set up his own Statue in the Temple of Jerusalem, to be Worship­ped by the name of Jupiter; and that Decree of the Senate, that no God should be Worshipped at Rome, but by their leave? And yet we see it was not long before the sound of the Gospel, which began at first to be heard at Jerusalem, was heard as far as Rome, and not on­ly heard but received, not only by Stran­gers at Rome, Jews, and Proselytes, but by Romans, for it was to them that St. Paul directed his Epistle, and it was of them that he saith, Rom. 1.13. I would not have you ignorant, Brethren, that often­times I purposed to come unto you—That I might have some fruit among you also, even [Page 18]as among other Gentiles. And when he came to them, he had much fruit among them as among other Gentiles, even that fruit, which he promised himself, Rom. 15.29. I am sure that when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. For as when he came to Ephesus, and Preached the Gospel to them, All they that dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks, Acts 19.10. And when he came to the Cities of Greece, he made Saints in Macedonia, and all Achaia, as we read, 1 Thes. 1.7. and 2 Cor. 1.1. So when he came to Rome, Where he dwelt two whole years in his own hired House, Preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him, as we read in the last Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, the two last verses; he made Saints, not only in the City, and in the Country about, but at the Court, as it follows in my Text, Chiefly they that are of Caesars House­hold.

The name of Caesar was common to the Roman Emperours, particularly to the first six of them, of whom Nero, under whom St. Paul was a Prisoner, when he wrote this Epistle, was the last, and the first Persecutor of the Saints. A man of that prodigious impiety, and iniquity, that Tertullian thought it was no small honour to the Saints, that their Blood was dedicated by Nero; and that it was a good Argument that they were very worthy to be ranked among the best of men, because they were the most hateful to him, who was so much the worst. And it seems some of his own Houshold were of the same mind and judgement; for they chose rather to ex­pose themselves to his rage and fury by taking upon them the Profession of Saints, than to ingratiate themselves with him by a seeming compliance against them, with all the hopes of honour and advan­tage which they might have expected from his favour.

Who these Saints were that were of Caesars Houshold, is neither easie to find, nor much material to enquire. For there is not much credit to be given to that, which some have said of Seneca and Lucan, especially that of Lucan. And although St. Jerome hath placed Seneca among the Ecclesiastical Writers, be­ing provoked to it, (as he saith) by those Epistles of Paul to Seneca, and Se­neca to Paul, which are extant with us; it is much to be doubted, whether Paul or Seneca had any hand in those Epi­stles.

The Roman Martyrologies mention Torpetes, one of Nero's Houshold, and Euelius, one of his Councellours, who were not only Saints but Martyrs under him. St. Chrysostom speaks of a Lady of his Court, whom Baronius thinks to have been Poppaea Sabina, and cites an ancient Writer, who mentions Proculus, one of his Houshold Servants. But not to enquire further who they were, this [Page 21]we find for certain, that when St. Paul wrote this Epistle, there were some of Nero's Houshold, whom he thought worthy of the name of Saints. Which is the more observable because it is so incident to men, to conform them­selves to the minds and manners of those, with whom they live, and fami­liarly converse, that even good company is a very good meanes to reclaim men that are vicious. But as sound men are more easily infected in the company of them that are sick, than sick men reco­vered in the company of them that are sound: so good men are more easily corrupted in bad company, than ill men reformed in the company of them that are good. But it depends much upon the will and choice of men, whether they will be corrupted in the one, or reformed in the other. For there are some men so much addicted to wickedness and vice, that the best company cannot reclaim them; and there be others so well af­fected to Piety and Vertue, that the worst company cannot pervert them. There [Page 22]was a Devil in the Colledge of the Apo­stles, and there were Saints in the Houshold of Nero. And not only Saints, but such Saints as St. Paul thought worthy to be mentioned with a particular respect to them; for he doth not say, All the Saints salute you, and among them, they that are of Caesars Houshold, but chiefly they that are of Caesars House­hold.

Which may serve to shew a particu­lar respect, which St. Paul had to those Saints of the Court: he would not have them lost in the croud of those of the City; but would take notice of them, not only as of Saints, but as Saints of Caesars Houshold. For though it was not so much honour to the Saints, that some of them were of Caesars Houshold, as it was to Caesars Houshold that some of them were Saints; it was a good evi­dence that they were the better Saints, because they were Saints of Nero's House­hold. For as it is an Argument of a most wicked and perverse disposition of [Page 23]mind, to live in a Houshold of Saints, and yet be Idolaters or Infidels: so it is as good an Argument of a good af­fection to piety and vertue to live in a Houshold of Idolaters and Infidels, and yet to be Saints.

Our Saviour takes a special notice of it in the Angel of the Church of Per­gamos, Rev. 2.13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satans seat is, and thou hast held my name, and hast not denied my Faith. And it is mentioned as a singular honour and praise of Noah, that he was a just man in his Generation, Gen 6.9. Not only a just man, which is commendable in any man, of any place, at any time, but a just man in his Ge­neration, a Generation in which all flesh had corrupted their way, as it follows at the twelfth verse. Such Saints are said to shine as Lights in the World, Phil. 2.15. Be blameless and harmless, the Sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

Secondly, This particular mention of the Saints in Nero's Houshold, after the general mention of them among all the Saints, might serve very well to com­mend them to a more particular no­tice of the Philippians, which was very much to the scope of the Epistle. For the scope of the Epistle was to arm and strengthen them against some false teach­ers crept in among them, of whom he gives them warning, Chapter 3.2. Be­ware of Dogs, beware of evil workers, be­ware of the concision; and vers. 18, &c. he calls them Enemies to the Cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. These false Teach­ers took occasion from St. Pauls bonds and imprisonment, to strike a terrour into them, as we may see in the first Chapter, at the 28th verse; and the better to arm the Philippians against them, he would have them take a special notice of this, at the twelfth and thirteenth Verses, I would have you to understand, Brethren, that the things which have happened unto me, [Page 25]have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel: So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the Palace. St. Paul would have them to understand that his Chain with which he was bound for the name of Christ, had not so much dishonoured him, as honoured that name for which he was bound; and that Nero's malice and cruelty to the Saints had not so much shewed his Power and Authority over them, as betrayed his weakness and his folly. For that very means which he used to suppress the number of them, had serv'd to increase it, and while he thought to drive them all out of the City, he brought some of them into his Court. As therefore it was for the com­fort and encouragement of the Saints of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia that St. Peter concludes his Epi­stle to them with a salutation from the Church, which was in Babylon, 1 Pet. 5.13. The Church which is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; so it was no less for the comfort and encourage­ment of the Philippians, that St. Paul [Page 26]concludes his Epistle to them, with a salutation from all the Saints at Rome, and chiefly from those of Caesar's House­hold.

Now though my Text speaks of Saints a great way off, at Rome, and in Caesar's Houshold, we may easily bring the Consideration of it Home, to them who are not only of the Coun­try, but of the Houshold of Kings, who are Defenders of that Faith, of which Nero was the Persecutor, and hear it of­ten Preach'd to them by those who are of the same Houshold, now it is become the Faith which hath overcome the World, which they heard when it was a new and a strange thing, and the World set against it, from one that was a stranger to them, and a Prisoner. They liv'd in a Court in which the name of Saints was a greater reproach than that of Idolaters and Infidels; we may well think it too great a reproach to us not to be thought worthy to be ranked among the chief of Saints. For if the [Page 27]Church of Christ be as he calls it, a City set upon a Hill, which cannot be hid; they of the Court are upon the top of the Hill, whose Christian Piety and Vertues would be so much more exem­plary to the whole City and Country, as their station is more eminent and conspi­cuous.

Indeed the name of Saints hath been so Prophan'd of late, that not only good Christians, but honest men may be ashamed of it. For it hath not only been assumed, but impropriated by a Ge­neration of men who take upon them the name of Saints, not because they have their Conversation in Heaven, but that they may seem to have a better Right and Title to inherit the Earth, and look upon all other men as Usurpers of those good things which belong to them. The Saints that must judge the World, and they themselves be judged of no man. Such Saints as they that arose up against Moses and against Aaron, saying, All the Congregation are holy, every [Page 28]one of them, and the Lord is among them, wherefore then lift ye up your selves above the Congregation of the Lord? And have so great a prejudice against those of the Court, as to be ready to say of them, Exeat aulâ qui vult esse pius, He that will be a Saint, must not be a Courtier. Others there are who would perswade us, that we cannot be Saints, unless we be Romans: though we hold the same entire Catholick Faith, which the whole Christian Church received from the Apostles, and they from Jesus the Au­thor and finisher of our Faith; yet are not ashamed to call us schismaticks and He­reticks, because we do not believe that we owe an obedience and subjection to the pretended successors of St. Peter, as Mo­narchs of the whole Church, which St. Peter himself never had, nor ever offered to require upon any such ac­count. But neither are the one the bet­ter Saints, because they look upon those, who are not of their Faction, as unholy and prophane; nor the other the better Catholicks, because they are so impudent, [Page 29]as to call us Schismaticks and Here­ticks. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered be­tween two Malefactors, and so it is in effect with us; but with this difference, there was but one of them that railed upon him, but here both exclaim against us. We have no better way to stop their mouths, than to contend earnestly for that Faith, which was once delivered to the Saints, and to shew forth the fruits of it in our lives and Conversations, by giving up our selves to him, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. That they who call us unholy and prophane, may be ashamed when they see our Piety and De­votion to God, who is highly to be ho­noured in the Congregation of the Saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that draw nigh to him: Our Justice and Equity, our Love and Charity, our Fidelity and Sincerity in all our Conversation with men: Our Prudence in governing our selves with that sobriety and tempe­rance in the use of those things, which [Page 30] God hath made for our welfare, that they, and all men may see, that as we know that all things are lawful for us, so we consider that all things are not ex­pedient; and though we know that all things are lawful for us, we are not so much the servants of our own liberty, as to be brought under the power of any thing. And that they who call us Schismaticks and Hereticks may be ashamed when they see that we are the better Christians, because we have not been bred and brought up under Jesuits, and that we are the more Catholick, because we are not so much Roman as they would have us. And that as we know no other Head of the Universal Church, but him who is the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls; so we honour him, not only by calling him Lord, Lord, but by doing the things which he commands us: though we do no more believe that he hath made one Catholick or Universal Bishop over all Bishops and Churches, than we believe that he hath made one Catholick or Universal King over all Kings and [Page 31] Kingdoms. And though we do not offer up our Prayers to the Saints, nor give that Worship to them, which St. Peter would not receive from Cornelius the Centurion, nor an Angel from St. John, we honour the memory of them, holding fast the profes­sion of their Faith, and following the ex­amples of their good and Godly lives, that we together with them may at last receive the end of our Faith, which is the Salva­tion of our Souls, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, now and for ever.