QUESTION. Whether, or how far the Discipline of our Churches upon Offences in them, is to depend upon the Conviction of those Offences in the Courts of Civil Judicature?

I. To bring the discipline of the church into a dependance on the direction of the civil magistrate, is to put it under undue and unsafe disadvantages. The mutual dependance of those on each other, as 'tis not founded in the oracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, so it has been the occasion. of no little confusion in the world.

II. Some things may be censured in the court for transgressions of the laws, which may scarce deserve the censures of the church.

III. Some things may be censured in the church for offences, against which the court has no censures by any law provided.

IV. Persons may be so defective in their defence of themselves by legal formalities, as to fall under the censures of the court; and yet the church may see cause, and do well to acquit them.

V. Persons may be acquited in the court of crimes laid to their charge, for want of conviction, and yet the evidence may be so convictive, that a church may condemn them thereupon.

VI. When a church passes a censure on any delinquent, it is convenient and advisable that the circumstances of it be so managed as to expose as little as may be the censured person unto the sentence of the court.

VII. A church may do well sometimes to express it's faithfulness unto the Lord Jesus Christ, by censuring some evils which a court may faultily neglect to animadvert upon.

VIII. Sometimes a case may be so dark, that a church may hope to be eased of labour, and freed from error, by a court first sifting of it, and then Christian prudence would make use of that help, to come at the knowledge of the truth.

IX. When a session of a court is very near, a church may prudently forbear, for a little while, a process, which the necessity of a soul fallen into sin, and the vindication of the name of the Lord, makes not proper to be forborn for a greater while.

X. When things are not very apparent or very important, it is prudently done of a church to defer the early decision of a matter which will produce between it and the court a controversie of dangerous consequence.

XI. As 'tis the duty of a church to see that the witness of a crime, to be judged by it, be obliged to speak, as in the special presence of the great God, so if it be feared that the witnesses will not be faithful, unless they be upon oath, it is prudence to defer 'till the civil magistrate have examined them.

XII. Or, if witnesses refuse to come at all unto the church, which the civil magistrate may and will compel to give in their testimonies, a church can in prudence do no other than defer 'till those witnesses can be brought to testifie what is expected from them.

THE JUDGMENT OF THE MINISTERS, MET AT BOSTON, MAY 11, 16

UPON A CASE ADDRESSED UNTO THEM CONCERNING LOTTERIES.

I. GREAT is the difference between a lottery set up by persons acting a private capacity and a lottery set up by the government, who ha power to lay a tax upon the people, but choose to leave unto the m easie determination of a lottery the persons who shall pay the summ whi the necessities of the publick require. A parliamentary lottery takes on from the voluntary, what the government might have demanded, with more general imposition, and only when the people are plunged into su distress, that a more general imposition would be grievous to them; a it employs for the welfare of the publick all that is thus raised by the l tery. Whereas a more private lottery, is managed by those that have antecedent claim unto any thing of their neighbours, and it is design merely for private advantage.

II. It is a principle embraced among all well-informed Christians, that calling is lawful but what is useful unto humane society, in some of interests. Except there be in a calling some tendency to make an additio unto the enjoyments and interests of humane society, no Christians ma set it up. The oracles of Heaven tell us, Christians must "learn to po sess honest trades for necessary uses." To set up a lottery is to set up calling. But tho' this or that particular man may be a gainer, yet it woul puzzle any man to tell what necessary or convenient uses of humane society where the lottery is opened, are at all served. The minds, the bodies, tl riches, the defence, or the regular delights of humane society, have by thi lottery no addition made unto them.

III. Not only the undertakers of a lottery have a certain gain unt themselves from humane society, but so likewise have they who in th lottery draw the tickets of benefit; and every one that ventures, doth with a desire to fall upon those tickets in drawing. 'Tis very certain tha for this benefit, none of those can pretend that they do any one thing ben ficial to humane society. They only hire the undertakers to transfer th estates of others unto them, without any service done by them, to th interest of any others under heaven. But we do not judge this pleasin unto God, that mens rights be ordinarily transferred from one to another merely in a way of reference to divine Providence, without considerin any service therein intended unto the community, or any help to mankin in its true interests. Nor is ventring in a lottery on shore, of the sam nature with venturing in a merchandise at sea.

IV. In a lottery so contrived, that when all the prizes be drawn, the do not make up, and fetch out, near the whole summ that was deposited by the adventurers, there is a plain cheat upon the people. The under takers in such a lottery, only resolve to pillage the people of such a con

siderable summ; and invite a number to assist them in their action, with hopes of going shares with them in the advantage; and such is the corruption of mankind, that the mere hopes of getting the riches of other men, without the doing of any service to them for it, will engage men to run the hazzard of being losers.

Upon the whole; we cannot approve it, that any particular persons do either undertake, or countenance any such lotteries, as have been sometimes practised in other places, and the danger which there is, lest the lusts of men, once engaged in these lotteries, proceed unto a multitude of other disorders, to the ruine of their employments and their families, does further move us, to withold our approbation from them.

§ 9. Having so often produced the propositions voted by an assembly of ministers at Cambridge, for the explanation of our platform, 'tis not, here, amiss, on this occasion to give some history of that assembly.

Know then, that according to the advice of Mr. Hooker, who about a week before he fell sick of his last, let fall these words: "We must agree upon constant meetings of ministers, and settle the consociation of churches, or else we are utterly undone!" It has been the care of the ministers, in the several vicinages throughout the most part of the countrey, to establish such constant meetings, whereat they have informed one another of their various exercises, and assisted one another in the work of our Lord: besides a general appearance of all the ministers in each colony, once a year, at the town, and the time of the General Court for elections of magistrates in the colonies. These meetings have not all obliged themselves to one method of proceedings, in pursuing of mutual edification; some do still fast and pray together, and speak in their turn to a proposed subject, much after the manner of the great Grindal's lectures, then held in the congregation of that pastor, to whose house they adjourn, confer a while. together upon matters of concernment; but one of these meetings is regulated by the following orders:

It is agreed by us whose names are under-written, that we do associate ourselves for the promoting of the Gospel, and our mutual assistance and furtherance in that great work:

In order thereunto

I. "THAT We meet constantly, at the College in Cambridge, on a Monday at nine or ten of the clock in the morning, once in six weeks, or oftener, if need be.

II. "That in such meetings, one shall be chosen moderator pro tempore, for the better order and decency of our proceedings, which moderator is to be chosen, at the end of every meeting. III. "That the moderator's work be:

1. "To end the meeting, wherein he is chosen, and to begin the next with prayer.

2. "To propose matters to be debated, and receive the suffrages of the brethren.

3. "To receive, with the consent of the brethren, the subscriptions of such as shall join with us; and keep all papers belonging to the association.

4. "To give and receive notices, and appoint meetings, upon emergent occasions.

IV. "That we shall submit unto the counsils, reproofs and censures of brethren so ass ciated and assembled, in all things in the Lord. (Eph. v. 21.)

V. "That none of us shall relinquish this association, nor forsake the appointed meeting without giving sufficient reason for the same.

VI. "That our work, in the said meeting, shall be:

1. "To debate any matter referring to ourselves.

2. "To hear and consider any cases that shall be proposed unto us, from churches or priva persons.

3. "To answer any letters directed unto us, from any other associations or persons. 4. "To discourse of any question proposed at the former meeting."

§ 10. Such and so hath been our "platform of church discipline:" i our brethren of the Presbyterian perswasion be still uneasie in any artic of it, let these things be offered for a close:

First, The Presbyterian ministers of this country do find it no difficult to practise the substance of it, in and with their several congregations and when it comes to the practise, they do not find so much of difficult as at first appear'd in the notion.

Secondly, The reverend persons of the Presbyterian way, who wro the Jus Divinum Ministerii Evangelici, as long since as the year 165 declared:

"As we agree wholly in the same 'confession of faith,' so we agree in many things greatest concernment in the matters of 'church discipline.' And those things wherein we di fer, are not of such consequence as to cause a schism between us, either in worship, or love and affection.

"Our debates are (as it was said of the disputes of the ancient fathers, one with anothe about lesser differences) not contentiones, but collationes. We can truly say, as our brethre do in their preface, 'that it is far from us so to attest the discipline of Christ as to detest th disciples of Christ; so to contest for the seam-less coat of Christ, as to crucifie the livin members of Christ; so to divide ourselves about church-communion, as thro' breaches t open a wide gap, for a deluge of Anti-Christian and profane malignity, to swallow bot church and civil state."

up

Thirdly, The brethren of the Presbyterian way in England, are latel come unto such an happy union with those of the Congregational, that a former names of distinction are now swallowed up in that blessed one o UNITED BRETHEREN. And now, partly because one of New-Englandnamely, Mr. Increase Mather, then resident at London-was very sing larly instrumental in effecting of that union; but more because that union hath been for many lustres, yea, many decads of years, exemplified in th churches of New-England, so far, that I believe, 'tis not possible for m to give a truer description of our "ecclesiastical constitution," than by transcribing thereof the articles of that union which shall here be repeated

• The divine right of the evangelical ministry.

HEADS OF AGREEMENT, ASSENTED TO BY THE UNITED MINISTERS, FORMERLY CALL'D "PRESBYTERIAN" AND "CONGREGATIONAL."

1. OF CHURCHES AND CHURCH-MEMBERS.

1. WE acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ to have one catholic church or kingdom, comprehending all that are united to him, whether in heaven or earth. And do conceive the whole multitude of visible believers and their infant seed (commonly call'd the "catholic visible church") to belong to Christ's spiritual kingdom in this world. But for the notion of catholick visible church" here, as it signifies it's having been collected into any formed society, under a visible humane head on earth, whether one person singly or many collectively, we, with the rest of Protestants, unanimously disclaim it.

2. We agree that particular societies of visible saints, who, under Christ their head, are statedly joined together, for ordinary communion with one another in all the ordinances of Christ, are particular churches, and are to be owned by each other as instituted churches of Christ, though differing in apprehensions and practice in some lesser things.

3. That none shall be admitted as members, in order to communion in all the special ordinances of the gospel, but such persons as are knowing and sound in the "fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion," without scandal in their lives; and, to a judgment regulated by the word of God, are persons of visible holiness and honesty; credibly possessing cardial subjection to Jesus Christ.

4. A great number of such "visible saints," (as before described) do become the capable sabjects of stated communion in all the "special ordinances of Christ" upon their mutual declared consent and agreement to "walk together therein according to gospel rule." In which declaration, different degrees of expliciteness shall no ways hinder such churches from owning each other, as instituted churches.

5. Tho' parochial bounds be not of divine right, yet, for common edification, the members of a particular church ought (as much as conveniently may be) to live near one another. 6. That each particular church hath right to use their own officers; and being furnished with such as are duly qualified and ordained according to the gospel rule, hath authority from Christ for exercising government, and of enjoying all the ordinances of worship within itself. 7. In the administration of church power, it belongs to the pastors and other elders of very particular church, if such there be, to rule and govern, and to the brotherhood to conent according to the "rule of the gospel."

& That all professors as before described are bound in duty, as they have opportunity, join themselves as fixed members of some particular church; their thus joining being part of their professed subjection to the gospel of Christ, and an instituted means of their estabcent and edification; whereby they are under the pastoral care, and in case of scandalor offensive walking, may be authoritatively admonished or censured for their recovery, and for vindication of the truth and the church professing it.

9. That a visible professor thus joined to a particular church ought to continue stedfast with the said church; and not forsake the ministry and ordinances there dispensed, without orderly seeking a recommendation unto another church, which ought to be given, when the case of the person apparently requires it.

11. OF THE MINISTRY.

1. WE agree that the ministerial office is instituted by Jesus Christ for the gathering, gaiding, edifying, and governing of his church; and continue to the end of the world.

2. They who are called to this office ought to be endued with competent learning and ministerial gifts, as also with the grace of God, sound in judgment, not novices in the faith and knowledge of the gospel; without scandal, of holy conversation, and such as devole themselves to the work and service thereof.

VOL. II.-18