The popish argument from multitudes. David and the princes and thirty thousand of Israel, a type of God’s best servants reforming, yet not after the due order. An excellent confession of the papists concerning scripture.
For my not hearkening to the second voice, the testimony of so many elders and brethren of other churches: because I truly esteem and honour the persons of which the New English churches are constituted, I will not answer the argument of numbers and multitudes against one, as we use to answer the popish universality, that God sometimes stirs up one Elijah against eight hundred of Baal’s priests,[233] one Micaiah against four hundred of Ahab’s prophets, one Athanasius against many hundreds of Arian bishops, one John Huss against the whole council of Constance, Luther and the two witnesses against many thousands, &c. Let this I may truly say, that David himself, and the princes of Israel, and thirty thousand Israel, carrying up the ark, were not to be hearkened to nor followed in their (as I may say) holy rejoicings and triumphings, the due order of the Lord yet being wanting to their holy intentions and affections, and the Lord at last sending in a sad stop and breach of Uzzah amongst them (Perez Uzzah), as he hath ever yet done, and will do in all the reformations that have been hitherto made by his Davids which are not after the due order. To which purpose, it is maintained by the papists themselves, and by their councils, that scripture only must be heard: yea, one scripture in the mouth of one simple mechanic before the whole council. By that only do I desire to stand or fall in trial or judgment; for all flesh is grass, and the beauty of flesh, the most wisest, holiest, learnedest, is but the flower or beauty of grass: only the word of Jehovah standeth fast for ever.
CHAP. III.
Thirdly, Mr. Cotton endeavoureth to discover the sandiness of those grounds out of which, as he saith, I have banished myself, &c.
Good intentions and affections in God’s people, accepted with God, when their endeavours perish and burn like stubble, &c. Many grounds seemed sandy to Mr. Cotton in Old England, which now he confesseth to be rocky.
I answer, I question not his holy and loving intentions and affections, and that my grounds seem sandy to himself and others. Those intentions and affections may be accepted, as his person, with the Lord, as David of his desires to build the Lord a temple, though on sandy grounds. Yet Mr. Cotton’s endeavours to prove the firm rock of the truth of Jesus to be the weak and uncertain sand of man’s invention, those shall perish and burn like hay or stubble. The rocky strength of those grounds shall more appear in the Lord’s season, and himself may yet confess so much, as since he came into New England he hath confessed the sandiness of the grounds of many of his practices in which he walked in Old England, and the rockiness of their grounds that witnessed against them and himself in those practices, though for that time their grounds seemed sandy to him.
Mr. Cotton formerly persuaded to practise Common Prayer; but since hath written against it.
When myself heretofore, through the mercy of the Most High, discovered to himself and other eminent servants of God my grounds against their using of the Common Prayer, my grounds seemed sandy to them, which since in New England Mr. Cotton hath acknowledged rocky, and hath seen cause so to publish to the world, in his discourse to Mr. Ball against set forms of prayer.[234]
But because the reader may ask, both Mr. Cotton and me, what were the grounds of such a sentence of banishment against me, which are here called sandy, I shall relate in brief what those grounds were, some whereof he is pleased to discuss in this letter, and others of them not to mention.[235]
After my public trial and answers at the general court, one of the most eminent magistrates, whose name and speech may by others be remembered, stood up and spake: