Page:The reason of church-governement urg'd against prelaty - Milton (1641).djvu/32

3224 [sic] reasons to thinke it is not that which ye labour to prevent so much as the rending of your pontificall sleeves: that schisme would be the sorest schisme to you, that would be Brownisme and Anabaptisme indeed. If we go downe, say you, as if Adrians wall were broke, a flood of sects will rush in. What sects? What are their opinions? give us the Inventory; it will appeare both by your former prosecutions and your present instances, that they are only such to speake of as are offended with your lawlesse government, your ceremonies, your Liturgy, an extract of the Masse book translated. But that they should be contemners of publick prayer, and Churches us'd without superstition, I trust God will manifest it ere long to be as false a slander, as your former slanders against the Scots. Noise it till ye be hoarse; that a rabble of Sects will come in, it will be answer'd ye, no rabble sir Priest, but a unanimous multitude of good Protestants will then joyne to the Church, which now because of you stand separated. This will be the dreadfull consequence of your removall. As for those terrible names of Sectaries and Schismaticks which ye have got together, we know your manner of fight, when the quiver of your arguments which is ever thin, and weakly stor'd, after the first brunt is quite empty, your course is to betake ye to your other quiver of slander, wherein lyes your best archery. And whom ye could not move by sophisticall arguing, them you thinke to confute by scandalous misnaming. Thereby inciting the blinder sort of people to mislike and deride sound doctrine and good christianity under two or three vile and hatefull terms. But if we could easily indure and dissolve your doubtiest reasons in argument, we shall more easily beare the worst of your unreasonablenesse in calumny and false report. Especially being fortold by Christ, that if he our Master were by your predecessors call'd Samaritan and Belzebub, we must not think it strange if his best Disciples in the reformation, as at first by those of your tribe they were call'd Lollards and Hussites, so now by you be term'd Puritans, and Brownists. But my hope is that the people of England will not suffer themselves to be juggl'd thus out of their faith and religion by a mist of names cast before their eyes, but will search wisely by the Scriptures, and look quite through this fraudulent aspersion of a disgracefull name into the things themselves: knowing that the Primitive Christians in their times were accounted such as are now call'd Familists and Adamites, or worse. And many on the Prelatickside like the Church of Sardis have a name to