Nor would I thence the Word no rule infer,
But none without the church-interpreter;
Because, as I have urg'd before, 'tis mute,
And is itself the subject of dispute.
But what th' Apostles their successors taught,
They to the next from them to us is brought:
Th' undoubted sense which is in Scripture sought.
From hence the church is arm'd, when errors rise.
To stop their entrance, and prevent surprise,
And, safe intrench'd within, her foes without defies.
By these, all-fest'ring sores her councils heal,
Which time or has disclos'd, or shall reveal;
For discord cannot end without a last appeal,
Nor can a council national decide,
But with subordination to her guide;
I wish the cause were on that issue try'd:
Much less the Scripture; for suppose debate
Betwixt pretenders to a fair estate.
Bequeath'd by some legator's last intent,
(Such is our dying Saviour's testament)
The will is prov'd, is open'd, and is read;
The doubtful heirs their diff'ring titles plead;
All vouch the words their int'rest to maintain,
And each pretends by those his cause is plain:
Shall then the testament award the right?
No, that's the Hungary for which they fight:
The field of battle, subject of debate;
The thing contended for the fair estate.
Dryden.
The sense is intricate, 'tis only clear
What vowels and what consonants are there :
Therefore tis plain its meaning must be try'd
Before some judge appointed to decide.
Suppose, the fair Apostate said, I grant
The faithful flock some living guide should want,
Your arguments an endless chase pursue:
Produce this vaunted leader to our view,
This mighty Moses of the chosen crew.
The Dame, who saw her fainting foe retir'd,
With force renew'd, to victory aspir'd;
And, looking upward to her kindred sky,
As once our Saviour own'd his deity,
Pronounc'd his words---" She whom ye seek am I.”
Nor less amaz'd this voice the Panther heard,
Than were those Jews to hear a God declar'd;
Then thus the Matron modestly renew'd:
Let all your prophets and their sects be view'd,
And see to which of them yourselves think fit
The conduct of your conscience to submit :
Each proselyte would vote his doctor best,
With absolute exclusion to the rest:
Thus would your Polish diet disagree,
And end as it began in anarchy:
Yourself the fairest for election stand,
Because you seem crown-gen'ral of the land;
But soon against your superstitious lawn
Some Presbyterian sabre would be drawn.
In your establish'd laws of sov'reignty,
The rest some fundamental law would see,
And call rebellion Gospel-liberty.
To church-decrees your articles require
Submission mollify'd, if not entire.
Homage deny'd, to censures you proceed;
But when Curtana will not do the deed,
You lay that pointless clergy-weapon by,
And to the laws, your sword of justice, fly.
Now this your sects the more unkindly take,
(Those prying varlets hit the blots you make)
Because some ancient friends of yours declare,
Your only rule of faith the Scriptures are,
Interpreted by men of judgment sound,
Which every sect will for themselves expound;
Nor thinks less rev'rence to their doctors due
For sound interpretation, than to you.
If then, by able heads, are understood
Your brother prophets, who reform'd abroad,
Those able heads expound a wiser way,
That their own sheep their shepherd should obey:
But if you mean yourselves are only sound,
That doctrine turns the reformation round,
And all the rest are false reformers found;
Because in sundry points you stand alone,
Not in communion join'd with any one,
And therefore must be all the church, or none. 440
Then, till you have agreed whose judge is best,
Against this forc'd submission they protest;
While sound and sound a diff'rent sense explains,
Both play at hard-head till they break their brains;
And from their chairs each others force defy,
While unregarded thunders vainly fly.
I pass the rest, because your church alone,
Of all usurpers, best could fill the throne:
But neither you, nor any sect beside,
For this high office can be qualify'd
With necessary gifts requir'd in such a guide."
For that which must direct the whole must be
Bound in one bond of faith and unity;
But all your several churches disagree.
The consubstantiating church and priest
Refuse communion to the Calvinist :
The French reform'd from preaching you restrain,
Because you judge their ordination vain ;
And so they judge of your's; but doners must or-
In short, in doctrine, or in discipline,
Not one reform'd can with another join;
But all from each, as from damnation, fly;
No union they pretend but in Non-popery:
Nor, should their members in a synod meet,
Could any church presume to mount the seat
Above the rest their discords to decide;
None would obey, but each would be the guide:
And face to face, dissensions would increase;
For only distance now preserves the peace.
All in their turns accusers, and accus'd,
Babel was never half so much confus'd,
What one can plead, the rest can plead as well;
For amongst equals lies no last appeal,
And all confess themselves are fallible.
Now since you grant some necessary guide,
All who can err are justly laid aside;
Because a trust so sacred to confer,
Shews want of such a sure interpreter;
And how can he be needful who can err?
Then granting that unerring guide we want,
That such there is you stand oblig'd to grant:
Our Saviour else were wanting to supply
Qur needs, and obviate that necessity.
It then remains that church can only be
The guide, which owns unfailing certainty:
Or else you slip your hold, and change your side,
Relapsing from a necessary guide.
But this annex'd condition of the crown,
Immunity from errors, you disown:
Here then you shrink, and lay your weak pretensions
For petty royalties you raise debate;
But this unfailing universal state
You shun, nor dare succeed to such a glorious weight:
And for that cause those promises detest,
With which our Saviour did his church invest;
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