The nonconformists plea for peace, or, An account of their judgment in certain things…

3. That certain experience putteth us past doubt, that ignorance, sensuality, worldliness, profaneness are far more common, and a holy heavenly mind and life, and all serious Christianity and obedience, far, very far more rare, in those Kingdoms and Parishes which have no plain, convincing, serious, lively and exemplary Preachers, than in those that have, although they be baptized, and have the Creed, Lords prayer and Decalogue in their Liturgy. And yet here are all things of absolute objective necessity to salvation. What a case the Muscovites are in, that have only Liturgies and Homilies read, we mentioned before: And how sad the case is among the Greeks, Armenians, Abassins, and most Papists, for want of better Preachers. Bishop Usher could say of the Irish, that more perished by not knowing what we are on both sides agreed in, than by their Popish Errors; And what a case the Scottish Highlanders, too many of the Welsh, and most Parishes in England were in, as to serious piety, which had heretofore but Readers, or Preachers that did less than read a Homily, experience constraineth us to know: as also what difference there is yet to be seen as to serious faith and godliness, between the fruits of a clear, serious, holy, diligent Preacher, and of raw youths that say over a pedantic lifeless speech, and out of the pulpit little differ in speech or life, from Carnal Worldlings or formal Hypocrites. Though we know that all that profess to be seriously Religious, are not so, yet none are so that do not profess it as they have opportunity.

3. That certain experience putteth us past doubt, that ignorance, sensuality, worldliness, profaneness are far more common, and a holy heavenly mind and life, and all serious Christianity and obedience, far, very far more rare, in those Kingdoms and Parishes which have no plain, convincing, serious, lively and exemplary Preachers, than in those that have, although they be baptized, and have the Creed, Lords prayer and Decalogue in their Liturgie. And yet here are all things of absolute objective necessity to salvation. What a case the Moscovites are in, that have only Liturgies and Homilies read, we mentioned before: And how sad the case is among the Greeks, Armenians, Abassins, and most Papists, for want of better Preachers. Bishop Usher could say of the Irish, that more perished by not knowing what we are on both sides agreed in, than by their Popish Errours; And what a case the Scottish Highlanders, too many of the Welsh, and most Parishes in England were in, as to serious piety, which had heretofore but Readers, or Preachers that did less than read a Homilie, experience constraineth us to know: as also what difference there is yet to be seen as to serious faith and godliness, between the fruits of a clear, serious, holy, diligent Preacher, and of raw youths that say over a pedantik lifeless speech, and out of the pulpit little differ in speech or life, from Carnal Worldlings or formal Hypocrites. Though we know that all that profess to be seriously Religious, are not so, yet none are so that do not profess it as they have opportunity.