ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Production Note Project Unica Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 2015 LETT T O Dr. SACHEVEi^ELL. Suppos’d to be Written by St. JAMES, The First BISHOP OF f E ‘¡{'V SALEM. ,."Sa^ .Sa.'r'f a LONDON-, Printed for John Lawrence. And DUBLIN) Re-Printed, 1710. ( 2 ) A / E r i i E f TO Dr. Sacheyere/j,See, SIR, H E Zeal of my much beloved Brother Paul was found no lefe ufeful to the Church after his Cori-ff verfion, than it was in/'urious to u before; and be- | caule your Z"a]} and the Z al of many others of ' your Sortment wants Light rather than Heat, I befeech you 1 and them, not to take it amils, if I endeavour to convince 1 you that you are ftrangely forgetful of Lome of the firft : Principles of the Oracles of God, and to render your Z al ’ far God according to Knowledge. 1 You and your friends profefs a great Reverence for An- -tiquity,- and yet altho" I and my Fellow-Apoftles held but z one Council on the Sub/edl of keeping the Church in Peace, $ tho5 there was but one '■effion of that Council, and but one ^ Canon made at that Seilion, and altho’a Religious Oblcrvas *• tiO ' of that Canon-wou’d make and eftabiiih Peace in the i C riflian World, you take no manner of Notice of it, but & aoi as if you never look'd into your Bible nor had any ft Reverence for the Apoffolical College. A ¿is ly. i. The H i (Lory of this Matter you have in the ll A than I *nd rh, X a this firit Principle is lo evident, J?r fh-Conlrquence drawn irom it, fo juft, yet ieveral Chuo. hes, even under our infallible Direftion, had their dif- As' forU\«ioW,ilrT [1":,ceforeI Anathematizing one another, rttrcemiit ,h ?l,UrCheu’- there is no Uivim Diteilion Cbe2iu bBt ?°t'n’ 0U6ht ,0 exc;u‘!'’3 Chnftian , . m btin§ a. Member of a National, which doth not exclude vo” rMn8 8 01 the Catholick Church, even . you you* lelj being Judge, You know, Sir '¡hat my Names=fake fames, the Brother _ ■jJ’«,one of the Bar,erg,s, or Sons of Thunder, ¡ncal= ! " ,r'r,,hire lr°7 He3v:Jt> on thofe who wou’d not receive I In!, • ", «»'Book »hit Nature of his Thunder, as much as j 1 a > o he Nature or Lxcoitimunicatjon ; and it pleas’d the , Jjmoe rrovide,1;y to permit him to luff* Death thefirftof yu n V , ColJe8ey And you cannot hut know, that , ino ? • cfobn,- aScho rpoft exprefs and copious in sflert- , it g me Divinity of our Lord, is alio fo in incu’cacing Chri= 1 i i ”,5,^ Chanty. Such was the Influence which Rr ler StRepr?°f had uP°n him, when he told the two t ll> ^1af :p?y knew not what Spirit they were oi, -L rvf •!UC u oprhe intimacy, which that beloved Dnupa.- had with our Biefted Lord : And as his .Brother dyJd ihehrlS ,0 he liv d the longed of as all. Coniider, Sir, in ®tier t0 ^fJnS >’our ¿ell into Temper, that the Names of Blihop 'J' ( 5 ) Bifhop and Presbyter were promifeudufly us’d, and no difference ot Order thought of by us the Apoiiles, orourSuc-ceffors, for the firft two hundred Years th«c we the ApoftleS left many Churches govern’d by their Biihops, together with their Presbyters ^ and divers other Churchy, particularly j the Churches of Corimb and Philippi, govern’d by Presbyters j without Biihops, that is to fay, without any (fated Prefi-dent, or xVosriy?, and in this regard the preient Confliru= tion of G'entzBritain, is more agreeable to the primitive Pattern, than that ot any other Nation, part of the Iflind being under Epifcopal, the other part under Presbyterian Government. Coniider alio, that we the Apoiiles, not any of us refus’d to Communicate occafionally with theChurchs es who had different Uf3ges, or quarrel'd with any Church j for that Reaion, unlels (uch Ullages were added to Chriilia-I nity, or impos'd $ and altho’ thro fear of thofe I of the Circurncifion, who came from me, my Gal. z, 11» Brother Peter did withdraw from Communion with the Gentile Church of Anticcb, yet by the Rebukes of my Brother Paul, he ifood corre&ed, and none of us were ever after guilty of that Miitake : Altho’ my Brother Paul fold the Gentile Churches of Ga? Gal. j. %% latia, that if they were circumcis’d, Chriil | ihould profit them nothin?.; yet neither he, nor any of the Apoiiles, nor their Succeffors, did excommunicate any of my thirteen Succeflors in the See of ?erujahm, who were circumcis’d 5 nor did I, or my Succeflors. refu’fe Commu. mon with any Chriiiians who came to pferufalem, becaufe they were not circumcis'd. The Chriiiians in the Apoiio= heal Age, had le rn d to lpeak the fame thing without any Lituigies or Homilies, altho’ in latter Ages they have been found of great Ule, And what a ridiculous thing is it for you, Reverend Sir, to lend Millions to the Devil and his Angels, for praying and preaching as we did 5 to make no difference between Chriiiians and Infidels; to make it a Marx of a Falie Brother, to hold, that a Chriilian may ferve | ' °d ,n any Way, or Congregation pf Woribip, as well by extemporary Prayers, as by a preicrib’d Form and Liturgy. [Serm at St. Paul's, Page 10.) By which the whole Chris lan v orld for the firft 200 Years, are condemn'd as FaHe ret ren ; for, as to the Liturgy father d on me, and other • !#cn pretended ancient Liturgies, you cannot but know, that(6) thev are fpurious* l cannot but obferve what a grange Turn Bigotry hath given your Thoughts, and particularly with reiptft to the Danger of the Church 5, for as you take Elifba to have been m Danger, from the Horfes and Chariots of Fire which were round about him, which were his Defence and Security, and are not at all apprehensive- of his Danger ot the Heft of Syrians, which had encotnpals d him 5 o you have no Apprehenfions from the formidable Power of Rome, and its Votaries, but all your Apprehenfions are from that Union, and Chnftian Liberty, which is the Glory and Safety of GreatzBritdin. Sir, you cannot but remember that my Brother Paul advifes Chriftians to bew'are left Tul 2 8 any Man lpoil them thro’ Philoiophy, and vain C + 4 Deceit after the Tradition of Men, after the Rudiments of the World, and not after Chr.ft, in which PaiTase he had a particular Regard to the then famous Mo-ia’ifts eipecially the juftly ad.mir d Seneca ; and gives a ne-neceflary^Caution againft taking up with moral Rudiments and the Charms ot . their Philoiophy. t° the ntgieft of the Chrii^ian Doftrine •, and th refore he immediately adds concerning our Blefled Saviour, tnat in him dwelt all the Fub-neis ot the Godhead bodily,,and we are comp eat m him , glorious was the Influence of the Ctyiitian InUtuuon ; 0 B Which is the tame thing in other words, he Tit z Hi 12. Grace of God, which brought Salvation in teaching Men, that denying Ungodliruds and Wor'dlv Lufts they ihou’d live ioberly, ngh eoully, and Sy inLth\s*preieynt World-, many Thoutand glonous Saints Martyrs, and ConfefTots, were foim d by fnfof ihe Apoftie, whilft Philoiophy, manag'd by form’d a Nero, and wrought very little Rerormat ^And yet Sir, how did year Patty, thro’ all the Reign ot King" Chirlnthe Second, negleit mtbtw, and ffm, and make your Pulpits ring with Stcrt ,, > Seme* and EpiSena ? How did they expole other 1 reaching as Cant and Enthufiatm, and when by n!jf e| >‘ ‘ veal'd Religion, Opportunity- was given to thw Kife numerous Generation ot Atheills, Deite Now you roar at your own Progeny, and P«ten ' rhpm and the Party who preiervd reveal d Religion, t Take my Advice, if you would te- let •;wi the In! in; wh in( 7 ) i cure the Chriftian Religion, don’t rail at Men who worih.P Rod alter the fame manner with the ApoRles, and th Chrittians of the firft three Centuries; and if you are really defirous to prevent the growth of Atheiim, Deiim, and So-dniamim, in the firft place remember what I ' lone fince taught you, That ii any Man teem James i. z$. to be Religious, and bridleth not his Tongue, _ . but deceiveth his own Heart that Man’s Religion is vain. 1 cold you long fince, that the Tongue is a Fire a World of iniquity, io is the Tongue James 3. 6. amongft our Members, that defiiethxhe whole Body and fetteth on fire the Courfe of Nature, and it is let on fire of Hell, that therewith Men Blefs God, and therewith they curie Men, at the lame time/inftrudting you, that tbele things ought not to be. But by your negleft oi thfele Inftru&ions, you have made your felt a flam= ing Inftance ot my Observation, how great a James 3. y. Matter a little Fire kindleth. Leave off. Sir, your bitter Envying, and Strife, and remember what 1 have told you, That Wifdom defeehdeth not from Above, but is earthly, feniual, devilifh: Do James 3. iy. not therefore go on railing, damning, and curling, but if you would enteirly reconcile the Diffenrers to the Church, and make it heedleis to re-idify the Chaples which your Party have riemoliih’d, or rebuild them_ to be Chaples of Eaie in the reipefoive Parilhes, pray with all Fervency that God would incline the Hearts both of the Governours, and the private Members of the Chriiiian Body throughout the World, to reduce the Chriftian Faith and Worlhipto its primitive Simplicity and Intes grity, and to lay the btreis of Religion more upon Practice, than upon Proteffion. And if you wou d put a flop to the Growth of A= [theifm, Deiirn, and Socinianilm, do you and your Brethren prefwade your People to read, and ftudy the Epiftle of my Brother $uie, and the2.d Chapter ol the zd Epiftle of my Fellow^Apoftle. Peter; in which they will find the Charters, Practices, Errors, and Fate of thofe Men, Particularly deferib’d, foretold, cons luted, and pronounc’d j and it you agree to preach on proper Texts in thole Chapters, you will expofe their Characters, reform their Practices, coniute their Errors, and prevent ¡heir Infection, and by converting their Per ions, hinder, er Dr. Brad-s ford i Sermon, June 36. 17^9* Page ii*other wife báñen their Fate 5 and do this, as remembring that the lait Sentence which Í left to the World in Writs ing, this, is That he that converteth the Sinner lames?,2.0. from the Error of his Way, (hall laveaSoid from Death, and iliall hide a multitude of Sins; and that I have alfo told you, that the YVifdom which is rrom Above, .is firft pure, then peaceable gen= James 3. 17. tie, and eaiy to be intreated, lull ot Mercy and good Fruits, without Partiality, and without Hypocrify^ and the Fruit of Rigbteouineis is (own in Peace of theirs that make Peace. But it you will always drive Atheids, Deifb and Sic.nim, .end Chriftians 0} leveral Denominations, who preferve tile whole (acred P pofitum, into the fame Herd, and hunt them all together with the Devil and his Angels, you will run your felt off your Legs, and your own Pack will dc tour you. I have, Sir, one Requeft to you in behalf of my felf. You know', that the isedl ot the Jjtcobitts in the Enji are a nume= rous Stif, and beiide the Sign of the Crofs, which they make with one. Finger, to lhew that there is but one Perlon in Oppofition to the Trinity, have a ilrange Cuftom ot baps tizingwith a red hot t on in the Forehead ; now althoJ this Cuifom feetns agreeable enough to the Terns g^»Matc. per ot you and your Brethren, yet becaufe i, xi> there is a Text that feems to countenance it, you have not elpous’d it in the but are extremely fond of that other Addition to Baptiim, which hath not the lead Colour from any Text. Now my Requed is, that you would plearfe to Inform your People, that the Se’ft of the ff ¿whites took their Name from Jacob Bordaus, a Syrian, a Diicfole of,Eutycbes, and Drofcorus, and not from rne who never heard ot either of thole Cudoms in my Life-time, choJ I fat a Bifhop of feruphn tor twenty nine Years, You might poiTsbiy, Sir. have expected that l fliould have taken Notice ot the Politicks with which your Sermon a= bounds, but, becaufe neither our Lord and Matter, when on Earth, nor any ot his Apodies did ever intermeddle with the Condkutions ot Governments, nor to determine the Right ot Piinces or States, I mud be excus d from ammadc verting thereon, and leave that matter to my Amxmenp^ concluding with repeating that (ingle Canon, truly Apo o-iical, made ro prelerve Peace in the Church, Vo not unnec (¡¿rj TbingJ. f AM E S* 7.T M T S.