5. In Queen Elizabeth's time, when all the abbeys were pulled down, all good works defaced, then the preachers must cry up justification by faith, not by good works.

ARTICLES.

THE nine and thirty articles are much another thing in Latin, in which tongue they were made, than they are translated into English. They were made at three several convocations, and confirmed by act of parliament six or seven times after. There is a secret concerning them of late ministers have subscribed to all of them; but by act of parliament that confirmed them, they ought only to subscribe to those articles which contain matter of faith, and the doctrine of the sacraments, as appears by the first subscriptions.* But Bishop Bancroft, in the convocation held in King James's days, he began it, that ministers should subscribe to three things, to the king's supremacy, to the common prayer, and to the thirty-nine articles many of them do not contain matter

*

A more ample and satisfactory discussion of this subject may be found in Blackburne's Confessional.

of faith.

Is it matter of faith how the church

should be governed? whether infants should be baptized? whether we have any property in our goods? &c.

BAPTIS M.

1. 'T was a good way to persuade men to be christened, to tell them that they had a foulness about them, viz. original sin, that could not be washed away but by baptism.

2. The baptizing of children with us does only prepare a child, against he comes to be a man, to understand what Christianity means. In the church of Rome it has this effect, it frees children from hell. They say they go into "limbus infantum." It succeeds circumcision, and we are sure the child understood nothing of that at eight days' old: why then may not we as reasonably baptize a child at that age? In England, of late years, I ever thought the parson baptized his own fingers rather than the child.

3. In the primitive times they had godfathers to see the children brought up in the Christian religion, because many times, when the father was a Christian, the mother was not,

and sometimes when the mother was a Christian, the father was not; and therefore they made choice of two or more that were Christians to see their children brought up in that faith.

BASTARD.

'Tis said, the xxiii. of Deuteron. 2. 'A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation.' "Non ingredietur in ecclesiam Domini," he shall not enter into the church. The meaning of the phrase is, he shall not marry a Jewish. woman. But upon this, grossly mistaken, a bastard at this day in the church of Rome, without a dispensation, cannot take orders: the thing haply well enough where 't is so settled; but that 't is upon a mistake, (the place having no reference to the church,) appears plainly by what follows at the third verse: "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation." Now you know, with the Jews an Ammonite or a Moabite could never be a priest, because their priests were born so, not made.

BIBLE, SCRIPTURE.

1. 'Tis a great question how we know Scripture to be Scripture, whether by the church, or by man's private spirit. Let me ask you, how I know any thing? how I know this carpet to be green? First, because somebody told me it was green that you call the church in your way. Then after I have been told it is green, when I see that color again, I know it to be green; my own eyes tell me it is green that you call the private spirit.

2. The English translation of the Bible is the best translation in the world, and renders the sense of the original best, taking in for the English translation, the Bishops' Bible,* as well as King James's. The translation in King James's time took an excellent way. That part of the Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a tongue, as the Apocrypha to Andrew Downs; and then they met together, and one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the

* This translation, executed under the direction of Archbishop Parker, was published at London, in folio, in the year 1568. Eight of the translators were bishops, and from this circumstance the book was commonly called the Bishops' Bible. See Archbishop's Newcome's "Historical View of the English Biblical Translations."

learned tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian, &c. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on.

3. There is no book so translated as the Bible for the purpose. If I translate a French book into English, I turn it into English phrase, not into French English. "Il fait froid"; I say 't is cold, not, it makes cold; but the Bible is rather translated into English words than into English phrase. The Hebraisms are kept, and the phrase of that language is kept as for example, "he uncovered her shame "; which is well enough, so long as scholars have to do with it; but when it comes among the common people, Lord, what gear do they make of it!

4." Scrutamini Scripturas." These two words have undone the world. Because Christ spake it to his disciples, therefore we must all, men, women, and children, read and interpret the Scripture.

5. Henry the Eighth made a law, that all men might read the Scripture, except servants; but no woman, except ladies and gentlewomen who had leisure, and might ask somebody the meaning. The law was repealed in Edward the Sixth's days.

6. Laymen have best interpreted the hard places in the Bible, such as Johannes Picus, Scaliger, Grotius, Salmasius, Heinsius, &c.