The right method for a settled peace of conscience, and spiritual comfort in 32…

This is true, and you'll find it so, whether you will now believe it or no.

This is true, and you'l find it so, whether you will now believe it or no.

And because it is possible these lines may fall into the hands of some of the Rulers of this Commonwealth, let me here mind them of two weighty things.

1. What opportunities of Doing very great Good hath been long in their hands? and how great an account of it they have to make. It hath been long in their power to have done much to the Reconciling of our Differences, and healing our Divisions, by setting Divines a work of different Judgements to find out a temperament for Accommodation. It hath long been in their power to have done much towards the supply of all the dark Congregations in England and Wales, with competently able, sound and faithful Teachers! We have many Congregations that do contain three thousand, five ⟨p. 341⟩thousand, or ten thousand souls, that have but one or two Ministers, that cannot possibly do the tenth part of the Ministerial work of Private oversight; and so poor souls must be neglected, let Ministers be never so able or painful: We have divers Godly Private Christians of so much understanding as to be capable of helping us as Officers in our Churches: but they are all so poor that they are not able to spare one hour in a day or two from their labour, much less to give up themselves to the work: How many a Congregation is in the same Case? Nothing almost is wanting to us to have set our Congregations in the order of Christ, and done this great work of Reformation which there is so much talking of, so much as want of Maintenance for a Competent Number of Ministers or Elders to attend the work. I am sure in great Congregations this is the Case, and a sore that no other means will remedy. Was it never in the power of our Rulers to have helped us here? Was nothing sold for other uses, that was once Devoted and Dedicated to God, and might have helped us in this our miserable distress? Were our Churches able to maintain their own Officers, our Case were more tolerable: but when a Congregation that wants six, or seven, or ten, is not able to maintain one, it is hard.