By THO. WOOLSTON, B.D. sometime Fellow of _Sidney-College_ in _Cambridge_. _LONDON_: Printed for the AUTHOR, and Sold by him next Door to the _Star_, in _Aldermanbury_, and by the Booksellers of _London_ and _Westminster_. MDCCXXIX. [_Price One Shilling._] [Illustration] TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD, JOHN, Lord Bishop of _Oxford_. MY LORD, When _the following_ Discourse _was finish'd and ready for the_ Press, _I consider'd to what_ Bishop _the_ Dedication _of it would be most acceptable_ (_for I am resolv'd that none but_ Bishops _as yet shall have the Honour of my_ Dedications) _and I had not long ponder'd upon the Matter, before I hit upon your_ Lordship, _who must needs be pleas'd with this_ Discourse, _because of the Advantage, that you, as well as my self, in the End, will reap by it_. BY _Virtue of your_ Professorship _at_ Oxford, _you_, my Lord, _are a_ Moderator _at theological Disputations, as I am here: And whether the Execution of your Office be as troublesome as mine is, I know not: But if the Design of this_ Discourse _takes Place, we shall find that modern Controversies about Religion are all vain; and thereupon be_ both _of us soon eas'd of the Trouble of our_ Moderations _at them_. IT _may be_, my Lord, _you are not so weary of your_ Moderatorship, _as I am: Besides, that you are better paid for your Pains, your Disputants are more amicable, and, in the midst of their Disputes, more tractable: Tho' they may warmly contend, at the present, for and against the Point in Debate; yet like_ Lawyers _who are no less zealous for their_ Clients _in the Day, they commonly agree to drink a Bottle together at Night, and go to Bed, good Friends. And this is very well done of them._ BUT _my Disputants_, my Lord, _call'd_ Infidels _and_ Apostates, _at whose Controversy I have the Trouble, by the Appointment of the Fathers, to preside, are more stubborn, turbulent and refractory. What ill Treatment they would give each other, if it was in their Power, I know not: But my_ Apostates, _since they can't be aveng'd on their Adversaries, are full of Resentment against their_ Moderator, _because I am not altogether partial to their Side; and how I shall escape their Indignation, God alone knows_. WHATEVER _the_ Clergy, my Lord, _whom I dignify with the Title of_ Apostates, _may think, I look upon my self as a notable_ Moderator _of the Controversy; I have shewn them all the Favour I can in it, and would have brought them off with Honour, but for a_ little Flaw, _here discover'd, in the Foundation of their Church, which, for the Determination of our Disputes, must be confess'd and granted_.