ESSA YS CIVIL AND MORAL 



Church, and drive men out of the Church, as breach of unity : and 

 therefore, whensoever it cometh to that pass, that one saith, &quot; ecce in 

 dcscrto;&quot; another saith, &quot;ccce in penetralibus;&quot; that is, when some 

 men seek Christ in the conventicles of heretics, and others in ;m out 

 ward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in 

 men s cars, &quot; nolitc cxirc,&quot; go not out. The doctor of the Gentiles, the 

 propriety of whose vocation drew him to have a special care of those 

 without, saith: &quot; If an heathen come in, and hear you speak with 

 several tongues, will he not say that you are mad ? &quot; And certainly it is 

 little better when atheists and profane persons do hear of so many 

 discordant and contrary opinions in religion ; it doth avert them from 

 the Church, and maketh them &quot; to sit down in the chair of the scorners.&quot; 

 It is but a light thing to be vouched in so serious a manner, but yet 

 it expressed! well the deformity : there is a master of scoffing, that 

 in his catalogue of books of a feigned library sets down this title of a 

 book, &quot; The Morris-dance of Hcrctiqucs.&quot; For indeed every sect ot 

 them hath a diverse posture or cringe by themselves, which cannot 

 but move derision in worldlings and depraved politics, who are apt to 

 contemn holy things. 



As for the fruit towards those that are within, it is peace ; which 

 containcth infinite blessings : it established! faith ; it kindleth charily j 

 the outward peace of the Church distilleth into peace of conscience; 

 and it turncth the labours of writing and reading of controversies into 

 treatises of mortification and devotion. 



Concerning the bonds of unity; the true placing of them importc .h 

 exceedingly. There appear to be two extremes. For to certain zealots 

 all speech of pacification is odious. &quot; Is it peace, Jehu? What hast 

 thou to do with peace? turn thcc behind me.&quot; Peace is not the matter, 

 but following and party. Contrariwise, certain Laodiceans, and hike- 

 warn! persons, think they may accommodate points of religion by 

 middle-ways, and taking part of both, and witty reconcilements ; as if 

 they would make an arbitremcnt between God and man. Both these 

 extremes arc to be avoided ; which will be done, if the league of Chris 

 tians, penned by our Saviour himself, were, in the two cross clauses 

 thereof, soundly and plainly expounded : &quot;he that is not with us is 

 againat us :&quot; and again, &quot; he that is not against us is with us :&quot; that is, 

 if the points fundamental, and of substance, in religion, were truly 

 discerned and distinguished from points not merely of faith, but of 

 opinion, order, or good intention. This is a thing may seem to many 

 a matter trivial, and done already; but if it were done less partially, it 

 would be embraced more generally. 



Of this I may give only this advice, according to my small model. 

 Men ought to take heed of rending God s Church by two kinds of 

 controversies. The one is, when the matter of the point controverted 

 is too small and light, not worth the heat and strife about it, kindled 

 only by contradiction. For, as it is noted by one of the Fathers, 

 Christ s coat indeed had no seam ; but the Church s vesture was of 

 divers colours : whereupon he saith, &quot; in veste varietas sit, scissura 

 bit;&quot; they be two things, unity, and uniformity. The other is, 



