h
chalked out to us in His word. No more can heresy, which is the
opposition to sound doctrine; nor schism, which is the rent of the
church's peace; nor profaneness, the poison of her conversation. None
but superstitious heretics, schismatics, profane persons, will call
these the way to Zion; nor these neither, under the name and notion of
superstition, heresy, schism, profaneness; for the heretic will not call
his doctrine heresy; nor the superstitious, his innovation superstition;
nor the schismatic, his turbulent practices schism; nor lastly, the
profane person, his lewdness profaneness; tho' they love the thing, they
hate the name.

And this, before we go further, occasions another objection, which you
must give me leave both to make and answer in a parenthesis, and then I
will return.

_Object._ How can we swear the extirpation of these, since, who shall be
judge? While some will be ready to call that schism and superstition,
which is not; and others deny that to be heresy, superstition, schism,
which is?

_Answ._ 1. To which I answer, By the same argument, we ought not to
covenant against popery and drunkenness, sabbath-breaking, nor any other
sin whatsoever, there being nothing so gross but it will find some
friends to justify, and plead for it; which if we shall not condemn till
all parties be agreed on the verdict, we shall never proceed to
judgment, while the world stands. 2. The word must be the rule and the
judge, say men what they please, _pro_ or _con_. 3. And if the matter be
indeed so disputable, that it lies not in my faculty to pronounce
sentence, I have my dispensation to suspend, till the world determine
the controversy.

I now return; if then in none of these, the doubt must of necessity lie
in that word prelacy. And is that indeed the way of gospel government?
Is that it indeed which bears away the bell of _jure divino_? What is it
then that hath destroyed all gospel order, and government and worship,
in these kingdoms, as in other places of the Christian world, even down
to the ground? Hath it not been prelacy? What is it that hath taken down
a teaching ministry, and set up in the room a teaching-ceremony? Is it
not prelacy? What is it that hath silenced, suspended, imprisoned,
deprived, banished, so many godly, learned, able ministers of the
gospel; yea, and killed some of them with their unheard of cruelties,
and thrust into their places idol, idle shepherds; dumb dogs that
cannot bark (un