as it feemed juft and reafonable. The pope took his reafon rightly from the above cited place, 1 Cor. ix. 11.: But falfely fuppofed every one to be inftructed by his parifh-prieft. Whether this were then firft fo decreed, or rather long before, as may feem by the laws of Edgar and Canute, that tithes were to be paid, not to whom he would that paid them, but to the cathedral church or the parifh-prieft, it imports not; fince the reafon which they themselves bring, built on falfe fuppofition, becomes alike infirm and abfurd, that he should reap from me, who fows not to me; be the caufe either his defect, or my free choice.

But here it will be readily objected, What if they who are to be inftructed be not able to maintain a minifter, as in many villages? I anfwer, that the fcripture fhews in many places what ought to be done herein. Firf, I offer it to the reafon of any man, whether he think the knowledge of Chriftian religion harder than any other art or science to attain. I fuppofe he will grant that it is far easier; both of itself, and in regard of God's affifting Spirit, not particularly promised us to the attainment of any other knowledge, but of this only: Since it was preached as well to the fhepherds of Bethlehem by angels, as to the eastern wife men by that ftar: And our Saviour declares himself anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, Luke iv. 18. then furely to their capacity. They who after him first taught it, were otherwise unlearned men: They who before Hufs and Luther first reformed it, were for the meannefs of their condition called, the poor men of Lyons: And in Flanders at this day, les gueus, which is to fay, beggars. Therefore are the fcriptures tranflated into every vulgar tongue, as being held in main matters of belief and falvation, plain and eafy to the pooreft: And fuch, no less than their teachers, have the Spirit to guide them in all truth, John xiv. 26. and xvi. 13.

Hence we may conclude, if men be not all their lifetime under a teacher to learn logic, natural philofophy, ethics, or mathematics, which are more difficult, that certainly it is not neceflary to the attainment of Chriftian

knowledge,

1

knowledge, that men fhould fit all their life-long at the feet of a pulpited divine; while he, a Lollard indeed over his elbow cushion, in almoft the seventh part of 40 or 50 years teaches them fcarce half the principles of religion and his fheep oft-times fit the while to as little purpose of benefiting as the fheep in their pews at Smithfield; and for the moft part by fome fimony or other, bought and fold like them: Or, if this comparison be too low, like those women, 1 Tim. iii. 7. ever learning, and never attaining; yet not fo much through their own fault, as through the unfkilful and immethodical teaching of their paftor, teaching here and there at random out of this or that text as his eafe or fancy, and oft-times as his ftealth guides him.

Seeing then that Chriflian religion may be fo easily attained, and by meaneft capacities, it cannot be much difficult to find ways, both how the poor, yea all men, may be foon taught what is to be known of Christianity, and they who teach them, recompenfed. First, If minifters of their own accord, who pretend that they are called and fent to preach the gofpel, thofe efpecially who have no particular flock, would imitate our Saviour and his difciples, who went preaching through the villages, not only through the cities, Matth. ix. 35. Mark vi. 6. Luke xiii. 22. Acts viii. 25. and there preached to the poor as well as to the rich, looking for no recompenfe but in heaven: John iv. 35, 36. Look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest: And he that reapeth, receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal. This was their wages.

But they will foon reply, we ourselves have not wherewithal; who fhall bear the charges of our journey? To whom it may as foon be answered, that in likelihood they are not poorer than they who did thus; and if they have not the fame faith which thofe disciples had to trust in God and the promife of Chrift for their maintenance as they did, and yet intrude into the ministry without any livelihood of their own, they caft themfelves into a miferable hazard or temptation, and oft-times into a more miferable neceffity, either to ftarve, or to please their pay-mafters

C 3

pay-mafters rather than God: And give men juft caufe to fufpect, that they came neither called nor fent from above to preach the word, but from below, by the inftinct of their own hunger, to feed upon the church.

Yet grant it needful to allow them both the charges of their journey and the hire of their labour, it will belong next to the charity of richer congregations, where moft commonly they abound with teachers, to fend fome of their number to the villages round, as the apostles from Jerufalem fent Peter and John to the city and villages of Samaria, A&ts viii. 14. 25.; or as the church at Jerufalem fent Barnabas to Antioch, chap. xi. 22.; and other churches joining fent Luke to travel with Paul, 2 Cor. viii. 19. Though whether they had their charges borne by the church or no, it be not recorded.

If it be objected, that this itinerary preaching will not ferve to plant the gofpel in thofe places, unlefs they who are fent abide there fome competent time; I answer, that if they stay there a year or two, which was the longest time ufually staid by the apostles in one place, it may fuffice to teach them, who will attend and learn, all the points of religion neceffary to falvation; then forting. them into several congregations of a moderate number, out of the ableft and zealoufeft among them to create elders, who, exercifing and requiring from themselves what they have learned (for no learning is retained without conftant exercife and methodical repetition) may teach, and govern the reft: And fo exhorted to continue faithful and ftedfaft, they may fecurely be committed to the providence of God and the guidance of his Holy Spirit, till God may offer fome opportunity to visit them again and to confirm them: Which when they have done, they have done as much as the apoftles were wont to do in propagating the gospel, Acts xiv. 23. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with falling, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. And in the fame chapter, ver. 21, 22. When they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lyftra, and to Iconium, and Antiach, confirming the fouls of the difciples, and exhorting them

to

to continue in the faith. And chap. xv. 36. Let us go again and vifit our brethren. And ver. 41. He went through Sy ria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

To these I might add other helps, which we enjoy now, to make more eafy the attainment of Chriftian religion by the meaneft: The entire fcripture translated into English, with plenty of notes; and fome where or other, I truft, may be found fome wholefome body of divinity, as they call it, without school terms and metaphyfical notions, which have obfcured rather than explained our religion, and made it seem difficult without cause.

Thus taught once for all, and thus now and then vifited and confirmed, in the most deftitute and poorest places of the land, under the government of their own elders performing all minifterial offices among them, they may be trufied to meet and edify one another whether in church or chapel, or, to fave them the trudging of many miles thither, nearer home, though in a house or barn.

For notwithstanding the gaudy fuperftition of fome devoted ftill ignorantly to temples, we may be well affured that he who difdained not to be laid in a manger, dif dains not to be preached in a barn; and that by fuch meetings as thefe, being, indeed, moft apoftolical and primitive, they will in a fhort time advance more in Chriftian knowledge and reformation of life, than by the many years preaching of fuch an incumbent, I may fay, fuch an incubus oft-times, as will be meanly hired to abide long in thofe places.

They have this left perhaps to object further, That to fend thus and to maintain, though but for a year or two, minifters and teachers in feveral places, would prove chargeable to the churches, though in towns and cities round about. To whom again I anfwer, That it was not thought fo by them who firft thus propagated the gofpel, though but few in number to us, and much lefs able to fuftain the expence. Yet this expence would be much less, than to hire incumbents, or rather incumbrances, for life-time; and a great means (which is the fubject of this discourse) to diminish hirelings.

But

But be the expence lefs or more, if it be found bur denfome to the churches, they have in this land an easy remedy in their recourfe to the civil magiftrate; who hath in his hands the difpofal of no small revenues, left, perhaps, anciently to fuperftitious, but meant undoubtedly to good and beft ufes; and therefore, once made public, appliable by the prefent magiftrate to fuch ufes as the church or folid reafon from whomfoever fhall convince him to think beft.

And thofe ufes may be, no doubt, much rather than as glebes and augmentations are now beftowed, to grant fuch requefts as thefe of the churches; or to erect in greater number all over the land, fchools, and competent libraries to thofe fchools, where languages and arts may be taught free together, without the needlefs, unprofitable, and inconvenient removing to another place. So all the land would be foon better civilized, and they who are taught freely at the public coft, might have their edu cation given them on this condition, that therewith content, they should not gad for preferment out of their own country, but continue there thankful for what they received freely, beftowing it as freely on their country, without foaring above the meannefs wherein they were born.

But how they fhall live when they are thus bred and difmiffed, will be ftill the fluggish objection. To which is answered, That thofe public foundations may be fo inftituted, as the youth therein may be at once brought up to a competence of learning and to an honeft trade; and the hours of teaching fo ordered, as their ftudy may be no hindrance to their labour or other calling. This was the breeding of St. Paul, though born of no mean parents, a free citizen of the Roman empire: So little did his trade debafe him, that it rather enabled him to ufe that magnanimity of preaching the gofpel through Afia and Europe at his own charges: Thus thofe preachers among the poor Waldenfes, the ancient stock of our reformation, without thefe helps which I speak of, bred up themselves in trades, and efpecially in phyfic and furgery, as well as in the ftudy of fcripture (which is the only true theology), that they might be no burden to the church;