OBSERVATIONS ON A LIBEL. 409 



England, is the great and wonderful confusion 

 which, he saith, is in the state of the Church; which 

 is subdivided again into two parts : the one, the 

 prosecutions against the catholics ; the other, the 

 discords and controversies amongst ourselves : the 

 former of which two parts I have made an article 

 by itself; wherein I have set down a clear and 

 simple narration of the proceedings of state against, 

 that sort of subjects ; adding this by the way, that 

 there are two extremities in state concerning the 

 causes of faith and religion ; that is to say, the 

 permission of the exercises of more religions than 

 one, which is a dangerous indulgence and toleration; 

 the other is the entering and sifting into men s 

 consciences when no overt scandal is given, which is 

 rigorous and strainable inquisition ; and I avouch 

 the proceedings towards the pretended catholics to 

 have been a mean between these two extremities, 

 referring the demonstration thereof unto the afore 

 said narration in the articles following. 



Touching the divisions in our Church, the libel 

 ler affirmeth that the protestantical Calvinism, for so 

 it pleaseth him with very good grace to term the 

 religion with us established, is grown contemptible, 

 and detected of idolatry, heresy, and many other 

 superstitious abuses, by a purified sort of professors 

 of the same gospel. And this contention is yet 

 grown to be more intricate, by reason of a third 

 kind of gospellers called Brownists : who, being 

 directed by the great fervour of the unholy ghost, 

 do expressly affirm, that the protestantical Church 



