he would not labour in the publike wealth What the Popes oughte to haue before theyr eyes but bicause he vnderstode that it was no lawful vocatioÌ„ which the Popes also ought to regard He had before his eyes the law in Deut. now alledged The Pope ought also to loke vpon the words of Christ Kinges of the nations sayth the Lord bear rule ouer theyr subiectes but ye shal not do so and being demaunded who should be greatest he aunsweared that he which was lowest and which more serued others This is to gouern the church not to commaund but to serue Peter himselfe also taught ministers not to beare dominion ouer their flocke Who are in the church to â—â—uerenced aboue other And Paule hath written that Christ is set the hed of the church not men although in it they are aboue other to be much made of to be honored whych more then other profet the faythfull and are more largely endewed with good gracious giftes and as Christe required of Peter doo more depely loue him and which ar more aboundantly endewed with those qualities which Paule to Timothe and Titus requireth in bishops If we highlier honor such men in the church aboue other not as lords not as vniuersal bishops not as heads of the church but as excellent ministers thereof the authority and obedience of the word of god should therby be nothing diminished An error verye hurtful in the church But they do not so They haue fixed the exellency and dignity of the ministers of the church vnto chayres places and cities howsoeuer he be in greater price honor which sytteth in those chayres or places and what manner of man so eueâ— he be in lyfe and manners And so is there no regarde had to the graces and giftes of God but onely to the place and seate This vndoubtedly was the fountayne ofpring and beginning of al euils and superstitions Our elders thought it good that in cities which were more famous where marchandises were traded and were assemblies of men where Proconsuls or Presidentes gouerned there also the bishops should be of greater authority and iurisdiction Whereby custome obteined that those Churches and chayres were had in greater honor But as it commeth to passe ambicion crepte in and in those places byshoppes were ordeyned not alwaye suche as were more worthye but such as were better fauored of Princes And oftentimes the better learned and more holy were geuen ouer to small and abiecte bishoprikes When Augustine was Bishop of Hippouerhegium one called Aurelius gouerned the most honorable church of Carthago And who knoweth not that Augustine in doctrine maners and authoritye farre excelled Aurelius The same thinge happened vnto Gregorius Nazianzenus who was byshop in an abiect place namelye in Sassimis when as many other not to be compared with him obtayned the chief chayres After this way maner the bishop of Rome began to be preferred aboue other namelye bycause of the moste ample dignitye of the citye The cause why the bishop of Rome was preferred before other whyche cause neuerthelesse he vnderstanding that it was no firme groundsele of the honor which he had obteyned he hath fained other causes of his excellency And first he pretendeth that he had this priueledge by the councel of Nice which yet he could not proue before the fathers of Africa bicause in that Sinode the charge onelye of suburbe churches was committed vnto hym Not a charge to beare dominion but to geue counsel to admonish and if there wer any things of more waight to referre the same to the counsell As to the bishop of Alexandria the suburbe churches of Egipt and to the byshop of Antioch of the suburbe churches of the east parties And it was not geuen the bishop of Rome to be the vniuersall pastor Neyther is it possible that a weake and mortall man should feede the flocke of Christe in all countries Farthermore the bishop of Rome boasted that he was set to be the head of the church The bishop of Rome canot be hed of the whol church whych cannot be meete for any man For from the heade ar deriued mouinge and sense by the sinewes into al members as Paule very well teacheth to the Ephesians and Colossians But no man can performe that as of himselfe by closures ioynts to quickeÌ„ the meÌ„bers of the church with the sprite of god It loÌ„geth onely to christe Magistrates princes may be called heads of the people to destribute vnto his meÌ„bers spiritual mocions illustracion of the minde and eternall life Indede kings and magistrates may be called heads of the people bicause they gouerne ciuily and from them we may looke for good lawes and ciuyle mouinges but in the church men entreat not of ciuile life but of spiritual and eternall life which we cannot loke for but at gods hand neyther can any mortall men quicken the members of the church Kinges magistrates when they are godlye in my iudgemente oughte to haue the chiefe place in the church and to them it pertaineth if religion be il administred to correcte the defaultes For therfore they beare the sword to maintayne Gods honor But they cannot be heades of the churche Paule to the Romaines and to the Corinthians where he maketh rehearsal of the members of the churche putteth some to be eyes some noses eares hands and feete but he adorneth none with the dignity of the heade who yet to the Ephesians sayth this of Christe that god had geuen hym to be the head of the body of the church We must not make the church two headed Let the papistes shew writen in any other places of the holy scriptures that Christ gaue an other hed vnto the church they shall haue the victory But I know assuredly they caÌ„not For if that could haue bene done the church should be a two hedded monster But it is a sporte to heare what Iohn sometimes B. of Rochester in defendyng the Pope auÌ„swered to this To graunt two heads of the Church sayth he is not absurd for the Apostle writeth the man is the head of the womaÌ„ neuertheles euery wife hath byside her husband which is the head an other head also Wherfore he concluded that we may thus affirme of the church namely that it hath both Christ and the Pope to be head But this man faileth by a false Sillogismus of equiuocatioÌ„ For speaking now of a head as it is attributed vnto the Church he falleth to a natural head In matrimony the husband is the head of the wife not the natural hed How the husband is the hed of the wyfe but as touching aeconomical life But the natural head of the woman is the beginning of her natural life And vndoubtedly if we looke vpon the natural head in the church we shal finde that it is not one head but looke howe manye men there be in it so many heades shal there be for there is none
Gates and walles of cities shoulde not be violated 227 Gedeon refused to be king 2 Gelousy may be in good men 204. b Generall worde proued the particuler or species doth not alwaies fol. 272. b Genesis booke what it entreateth of 1 Gentle aunswer asswageth anger 141. b Gentlenes praeposterus 101. b Gedeon of the tribe of Manasses 114 Gedeon was beautiful 145. b Gedeon why he had his sonne kill the kinges of the Madianites 146 Gedeon refuseth to be king 147 Gedeons fall 150 Gedeon sinneth â— wayes 151. b Gedeon whether he wer saued 155 Giftes of God are not bounde to the estates or conditions of men 251 Giftes of God some remaine and some are taken away after sinne 226. b Giftes of free grace common to the godly and vngodly 134 Gifts in way of reward 188 Gifts may be reuoked 188. b Gifts when they may only be reuoked 199. b Giuing vnhonestlye is vnlawfull 231. b Gilgal where it lieth 59. b Gilgal a religious place 82. b Gilead 173 Gilty persoÌ„s it is not ignominious to slay them 146 Gyauntes names inscripture and their originall 15. b Glasse of the deuine essence 68. b Gladnes described 142 Glory may be desired the matter ende therof 97 Glories desire is mother of enuyt 143 God what he is 121. b God author of histories 3. b God taketh tities and surnames of his benefites bestowed 59. b God appointeth maiestrates 25â— God ruleth in other Maiestrates when 149. b God is the distributer of kingdoms 187. b God calling anye man to office geueth him habilitie to execute the same 71. b God was king of the Israelites 1. b. 2. God reioyceth not in bloud 194. b God is bound to no maÌ„ to geue his grace vnto him but is free 167 God is not bound to his lawes 4. b God may do against his lawes wheÌ„ he list 93 God chaungeth not 175 God changeth not his mind 33. b God when he repenteth is not chaÌ„ged 72 God whether he bee the cause of sinne 78 God deliuered the Israelites to their enemies 70. b. God punisheth sins by sins 24. 8. b. Gods operatioÌ„ in bringing sinne to light 166. b God beholdeth not Idols mens doinges but worketh together with them 78. b God instilleth no new malice 79. b God may we not feele in al thinges 129 God is to bee imitated of Christen men 249. b God can doo many thinges that he wil not 97. b God saith he will do that he wil do and contrary 174. b God how he intermedleth and vseth our corruptioÌ„ by his gouernment 167 God punisheth his owne and beareth with straungers 80. b God whether he be without a bodye 121 God how he may be sen of men 118 God neuer fayleth them that obey him following their vocatioÌ„ 83 b God wyl be worshipped as he hath commaunded 1. 1. b God sendeth som dreames but not all 138 God forgiueth synnes but doth not by and by restore the thynges taked away 65. b Gods helpe is not to bee dispayred of though it be deferred 92. b Gods grace is in degrees 167. b Gods of the sea worshipped 234. b Godly vngodly haue many times like succes 236 Godly to make peace with the vngodly whether it be lawful 99 Godlye men flye vnto god in ouerthrowes 271. b Godly to ioyne power with the vngodly whether it be lawful 99. b Golden age of the Israelites 2. b Good age what 155 Good intent 152 Good workes what they requyre 153 Good workes are so acceptable to God he rewardeth them 72 Good workes morall 72 Good workes must not be without faith no more then a body wythout a soule 242 Good workes in hope of reward lawfull or vnlawfull 23. b Goods wast with droÌ„keÌ„nes 164. b Gospell and law is the sum of the Scripture 1 Gospell promises 175. b Gouernment of god whether it be excluded by humane maiestrates 149. b Grace god would haue it knowen 182 Grace of God whether we can resist 167. b Grace of god why it worketh not alike alwayes in vs. 167. b Grapes gathering with wantonnes 168 Gregory deceiued 90 Gregories error 56 Gregory thought it absurd that the Pope should be aboue the Emperour 147. b Griefe described and deuided into his braunches 142 Grosnes oft in Princes 82 Groues to worship Gods in 77 Groues about Idols 123 Ground of all impiety and folye is security 246. b Guile or deceit handled 84 Guile good and bad 84. b Guile to breake an othe 282. b H HAbituall intent 153 Heresy defined 58. b Heresy of the Marcians 58. b Heretikes if they may be suffred among christians 58. b Heretikes how they must be ordered 61. b Heretikes ought men to kepe faith with 86 Hand bredth measure 16. b Hand maiden cannot by the Romain lawes be a concubine 154. b Hangmen Hebrewes had none 146 Harlots how daungerous 228. b Harlot differed from a concubine 154 Harlots are not to be suffered in a city 230. b Harlots are not rapt though they they be had away with violence 283. b Harlots son a iudg in Israel 176. b Harpers 102 Harte or minde and body or outward vesture to worshippe God with 49 Hate of enemies not permitted to vnperfect 31 Head of the church who 241 Head of the whole church caÌ„not the bishop of Rome be nor none els there 148. b Heades couered in token that they haue authority aboue them 93 Heads of captaines ouercumde cut of and presented to the victors 141 Heare growing or clipping 201. b Hebrues sinned three wayes 77 Hebrues vsed the superstition of the Egiptians 122. b Hebrew wordes is none in the Latine churche but such as came by the Grekes 41. b Hebron called Kiriath Arba. 14 b Hebron a city of refuge 18 Helizeus delighted in musike 102. b Helpe at Infidels handes may not be desired 99. b Helpe of God may we not dispayre of 92. b Helpes humain are not to be despised 97 Helping of the Lord. 110 Helth lesse estemed then profit 174 Hems of the Hebrewes 47. b Hercules praise 29 Herod eaten of lice 13 Hesron called also Iephuna 18. b Heauines described 142 Hypocrates of factors 274 History defined 3 History praised 3. b Histories fruite 235. 288. b Holidaies dauncing 287. b Holidaies bestowing 288 Holy ghost is iii. waies in meÌ„ 190. b Honour due to parentes 214. 212. b Honour defined 157. b. How it is the reward of vertues 158 Honestye is the sure foundation of amity 166. b Honest and iuste thinges are to bee done although they be not expresly commaunded in the worde of God 250 Hooring what it signifieth 151 Hops bytter become swete beyng stiept in water 161. b Hope described 142 Hope is a meane betwene securitye and desperation and springeth thereof 246. b Hooredome handled 229 Hooredome punished 4 Hornets of dead Ashes 218 Hospitality 4 Hospitality praised 251 Hospitalitiâ—s lawes broken 100. b more of them 101 Hoste cruell Busiris 252. b Houres of the day among the Elders 277. b House of euerye
Iosua whom when he had vanquished returned with the victory he built in the same place an aultar to the Lord. Whefore it was a custom frō that time that they which should take warre in hand should assemble thither wherevnto this also is to be added that Iiphtah as we shal afterward vnderstand dwelled there He would also haue them to sweare that the promises might be the more certayne as by that appeareth whych foloweth God heare betwene me and you For to sweare is nothinge els then to call God for a witnesse of those thinges which eyther we affirme or deny But the requeste of Iiphtah is not ambicious For that vice then hath place when the office of a magistrate is sought by bribery Iiphtah is not guilty or ambicion deceite corruption and euil artes But when a man seeth himselfe to be called vnto it and that he may profite the pub wealth and vnderstandeth that he can obtayne the office of a magistrate vpon an honest condicion it can not be sayde that he doth it ambiciouslye Iiphtah is now chosen to endaunger himselfe for his country to fight agaynste the enemies of god A comparison betwene Abimelech and Iiphtah he vseth no bribery nor deceat Wherfore he is far from ambition But Abimelech did far otherwise behaue himselfe he slew his bretherne did violence vnto the Sechemites and tooke away the holy mony But Iiphtah although he were reprochfully handled of his owne friendes yet he slayeth them not neyther didde he sollicyte the Gileadites to create him ruler onely he promiseth that he will go to the battayle so that they woulde performe that which of theyr own accord they offred A question whether these mens doyinges were lawfull But here may iustly be demaunded how it was lawfull for them to geue the principality vnto Iiphtah or for him to take it vpon him being Mamzer For the law commaunded that no Mamzer should not enter into the congregation of god which was eyther to take vpon him any sacred ministery or els the office of a magistrate Vndoubtedly none of the Hebrewe Greke and lattin interpreters that I know of once marked this doubte But I thinke herein may two reasons be alledged Firste although the lawe seemeth to be violated yet god who was the author of the law would at thime time by this priueledge haue infringed And we may vnderstand that they wer admonished by an oracle to chuse him prince which should fyrst set vpon the enemies whatsoeuer he were This if they receaued by the inspiration of god then were they free from the lawe for they myghte thinke with themselues that God made the lawe for men and not for hymselfe This is a singular priueledge of god wherein he commaunded that whosoeuer fought first should be made the head Iiphtah fought Wherfore by the couenant and iudgemente of God it was necessarye that he shoulde be chosen the heade But what if without any oracle they had determined this thing onely by iudgement among themselues Sinned they or no in making a bastard their captain No verely For this is to be obserued in all preceptes What is to be done when two preceptes for one time are cōtrary one to an other aswell ceremoniall as iudiciall and morall when two preceptes of god do seme to be contrary one to an other so that the one is a let vnto the other that they cannot both be obserued at one time yea rather it is necessarye that the one of thē be for that time omitted then that which shal be iudged to be more weyghtye and better is to be retayned And yet in the meane time is not that other which is counted of les value violated because there in is nothing done against the will of god The law commaundeth euery man to defende the helth of his neyghbour if a man be magistrate A similitude to defend his city by municions The same law commaūdeth not to labor on the Sabaoth day The enemye beisegeth the city and that on the Sabaoth daye bycause he knoweth that that law is layd vpon the citizens Here seemeth contrariety of preceptes for on the one parte health is to be defended and on the other part the Sabaoth is to be obserued The Machabites iudged it best to fighte bycause the health of the publike wealth seemed greater and of antiquitye An other similitude then the ceremony of the Sabaoth Also the law is to feede the hungry and an other law commaūdeth that the shew bread should be eaten of none but of the priests onely Dauid being hungry cometh vnto the priest he hath nothing but the shew bread wherfore two contrary preceptes come together But the wise priest followeth and obserueth that which is the greater namely to feede the hungrye and bringeth forth the shew bread and helpeth Dauid Also ther is an other law The iii. similitude that we muste minister weapons vnto the Magistrate For he muste be holpen of his subiectes And it is contrarily ordeyned that thinges consecrated vnto god shall not be transferred to other vses Dauid the kings sonne in law and his captayne which made warres for him as the chiefe of his warrefare was then vnarmed the priest had no wepon at hand but onely the sword of Goliath Here ar two precepts which seme contrary the priest followeth the one geueth vnto the magistrate the sword bycause he iudged it better to arme the magistrate then to obserue the ceremony There is also a law that the church shoulde not be without ministers so that it shoulde be destitute of them The fourth similitude And there is an other lawe in Paule that Neophytus that is a man newelye entred into Christian relygion should not be made a byshop The church of Myllan was without a byshop neyther could it finde a mete bishop which was both pure from the sect of the Arrians and there withall had also greate authoritye and doctrine of god There is none but Ambrose but he is Neophitus Catechumenus Ambrose a Neophite and newly instructed in religiō is made a byshop Here doo twoo lawes mete together which in shew seme contrary but it was mete that the lesse law should geue place vnto the greater For Christ so taught when by the sentence of the prophete he sayd I will haue mercy and not Sacrifice And yet he doth not say that he will not haue sacrifice but if two preceptes meete together whereof the one is of mercy and the other of sacrifice he testifieth that he had rather haue mercy then sacrifice So it seemeth was now don as touching Iiphtah that whē two lawes vrged the one to defend the city from straungers and the other that a bastard should not be made a Magistrate that law was to be obserued which serued best for the safety of the city 12 Then Iiphtah sent messengers vnto the kinge of the children of Ammon sayinge what haste thou to doe with me that
may geue somewhat vnto natural childrē yea they succede though they be not put in the will when there ar no other children But yet they succede not in the whole but onely in two twelue partes as appeareth in the Code de Naturalibus liberis The ecclesiasticall cannons in the law Licet patri But the bastard was so farre of from succeding the father that he could not desire of him so much as should serue to finde him as it is in Code de incestis nuptiis in the law ex cōplexu But the Ecclesiasticall Cannons deale somewhat more gentlye for they permitte that a bastard should haue somewhat geuen him to find hym withall as it is Extra of him which maried her whom before he had polluted with aduoutry in the chapter Cum haberet And herein both the lawes of god and man do agree Neyther as I haue before sayd were these lawes written of hatred or cruelty agaynst bastardes but that at the least by this meanes the filthy lustes of men should be kepte vnder Howebeit this I will not ouerpasse that by the lawes of the Romaines the bastarde myght succede his mother as it is had in the Digests ad Senatus consultum Tertul. L. 1. he may also complayne of his mother if she leaue him out of her wil as it is had in the digests de inofficioso Testamēto L. 29. which is to be vnderstand except the mother be noble And why bastardes are not counted in the steede of children and ar depriued of their fathers inheritance Augustine Augustine besides these reasons which I haue before brought bringeth also an other out of the holy scriptures For it is writtē in Leuit. the .20 chap. He that commeth to the wyfe of his vncle shall dye wythout children But sayth he many ar born also of incest whose parents are not childles He aunswereth that the Lord so speaketh in the lawe bycause such ar not counted for children Wherfore theyr fathers are iustly sayd to be without children althoughe they haue children bicause it is al one as if they had none And bicause such children are contēned of the father Bastardes proue oftentimes worse then other children Chrisostome Plutarche neyther are they rightly brought vp nor chastised oftentimes they proue worse then the other Chrisostome vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes the .12 chapter in his 29. Homely exhorteth the people to think that god doth like a father when he chastiseth vs for the father neglecteth vnlawfullye begotten children and bastardes Wherefore god when he chasteneth doth part of a true and lawfull father Plutarch in his Problemes the .103 Probleme saythe that the Romaynes had foure surnames so that some were called Cnei and other some Caii and those names they noted by two letters onely or by three Wherefore he demaundeth whye Spurius that is a bastard was written by these two letters Sp. bicause sayth he the fyrst letter S signifyeth Sine that is without P Pater that is a father bycause he was borne of an vnknowen father Althoughe that maye also be applied vnto Posthumos that is such as ar borne after theyr father is dead but to them it was not cōtumelius to be called Spurii For. Sp. Melius Sp. Cassius and other of that name were very notable citisens We haue harde the law of God and the ciuill law now let vs see the Cannons In the decrees distinction .56 chapter Presbiterorum What the Cannons decree of bastardes Chrisostome bastardes are not suffred to be admitted vnto holy orders vnles they wer first brought vp in monasteries as though by this meanes they might be amended But the Canons which afterward follow are somewhat more gentle Chrisostome vpon Mathewe in hys .4 Homely as it is in the same place recited chapter Nunquam teacheth that so to be borne ought not to be hurtful vnto the children For if a man haue bene a thiefe a whoremonger or a murtherer and then repent him his former life shal not be hurtefull vnto him much lesse oughte the sinne of the father to be hurtefull vnto the child yea rather if the child behaue himselfe wel he shal be so much the more notable and worthye of more prayse in that he hath not followed the steppes of his father Ierome Ierome in his Epistle contra Ioannem Hierosolomitanum ad Pammachium as in the same decrees appeareth in the chapter Nascitur Bastardes sayth he are not to be contemned for they haue the hande of god to make them Gregory neyther did god disdayne to make them and to geue them a soule c. Gregory also in the same place in the chapter Satis peruersum sayth that it is a thinge vnworthy that the child should be so punished for the pleasure of the father that he shoulde not be promoted vnto the holye ministerye Ierome in the same place chapter Dominus If Christ in his genealogy vouchsafed to reckē bastards why shall not we then admitte them to the ministerye c After these Cannons whiche are somewhat fauorable vnto bastardes What the father hindereth bastardes is brought out a stronge argument on the contrarye parte Whoremongers saye they do seme to poure in a certayne power into the seede whiche power passeth also into the children wherof follow euill inclinations and therof are they iudged to be worse then other bycause when they ar children they are not corrected Wherfore if they be promoted vnto the holy ministery the churche shall receaue dammage Yet at the last it is added in the chap. Cenomanensis if there be any that are notable they maye be admitted vnto holye orders but yet not that it shoulde be a generall rule of all but onelye a priueledge And these thinges are written in the decrees But in the decretalles de filiis presbiterorum it is had that bastardes if they be made Monkes may come vnto orders but in suche sorte that they be not promoted vnto dignities and be not made eyther Abbottes or Priors But if they liue without the monastery the bishop may ordeyne them and geue them small benefites but that is by his authority and as they commonly cal it by dispensacion But ecclesiasticall dignities must not be geuen them but by the Pope for that power he kepeth to himselfe alone The iudgment for promotinge of bastardes must be left vnto the church But suche releasinges of Popes and bishops tend onely to gayne The iudgemente of these thinges shoulde haue beene left vnto the churche which ought herein to haue a respect to two thinges to her owne necessitye and to the excellent vertues of him whome it will promote If the Church shall haue greate neede and he excell in vertues the manner of his byrth shall nothing let him For Paule to Timothy and to Titus when he diligently writeth of the election of bishops and priestes forbiddeth nothing of thys kynd of men But thou wilt say in the olde lawe bastardes were excluded from the ministerye
to father or mother The gyft c. they might haue prescribed vnto hym custome but it was not lawful bicause it was manifestly against the woord of God In the country of Taurus there was a custome to kyll straungers and gests The Persians had a custome neuer to deliberate of waighty matters but in feastes and when they were dronke Among the Sauromates there was a custome that when they were drinking they solde their daughters These prescribe not when as they are manifestly vicious and euyll But that custome prescribeth which is neither against the woord of God nor the law of nature nor the common law For the right of custome commeth of the approbation and secrete assent of the people Otherwise why are we bound vnto lawes but bicause they were made What differēce is betwene a lawe and a custome Aristotle the people consenting and agreing vnto them For this is the difference betwene a custome and a lawe bicause in the one is a secrete assent but in the other an open assent Wherfore such customes cannot be reuoked wythout daunger Aristotle in Politicis admonisheth that men which haue learned to doo sinister thinges ought not to be compelled to do thinges dextere Wherefore in thinges indifferent and of no great value custome is to be retayned It is an old Prouerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Law and Country For euery region hath certaine customes of their owne which cannot easelye be chaunged But as it is sayde when they are againste the woorde of God or againste nature or the common lawe they do not prescribe For then are they not customes but beastly cruelties It is very wel read in the Digestes De legibus Senatusconsultis in the law de quibus Augustine Custome without reason hath no force And in the decrees distinction the .viii. chapter Veritate Augustine sayth The truth being founde out let custome geue place let no mā presume to preferre custome before truth and reason And in the next Canon Christ sayd I am the way the truth and the life he said not Ciprian Aquarii were they whiche in the Eucharist vsed water in steede of wyne I am the custome Ciprian against the * Aquarii Let al custome thoughe it be neuer so auncient geue place vnto the truth otherwise Peter when he was reprehended of Paul to the Galathians myght haue claymed custome but he assēted rather that custome should geue place vnto the truth Ciprian in the same Epistle agaynst the Aquarii Custome sayth he without truth is the auncientnes of error and the more it obteyneth the more grieuous it is Let the Papistes therfore cease to bragge of their customes which are altogether ful both of error and also of vngodlines Moreouer to establish a custome it is not sufficient that some men do a thyng or that a thing be often done vnles it be so done that it be receaued into a vse What establysheth custome an institucion to be obserued For many thinges are done either rashely or of necessity which yet we wil not haue drawen into a custome In the digestes de Itinere actu priuato in the law .1 and last Graunt that I go thorough the fielde once and agayne and the thyrd tyme bycause peraduenture the hyghe way is so foule that a man can not passe thoroughe it Whither bycause I sometymes go and returne thorough thy field do I therefore get vnto my selfe in it the right of dominion seruitude No for I entended not with that mynde to go thoroughe thy field but bycause I was of necessity compelled thereunto In the decrees distinction the .1 chap. Consuetudo Custome is said to be a certain right instituted by manners whiche is taken for a law when a lawe fayleth What custome is When in the first tymes of the Churche when tyrannes persecuted Christian religion godly men thorough feare were cōpelled to assemble together in houses and caues by night and in the darke thys assembly was by a certaine right maner then instituted counted lawful But if we would now that the Church is constituted worshyp God after the same maner we should both be derided laughed at also it wer not to bee suffred For they vsed not that manner to the end they would haue it drawen into a custome or that it should be an institutiō which other men should followe Ambrose beyng Catechumenus that is newly conuerted to the Christian faith and not baptised was chosen Bishop of Millan and Nectarius of Constantinople and peraduenture other Yet is it not lawfull for vs now to followe the same custome and to elect a Bishop which neither hath seene sacred seruices nor hath ben washed with the water of Baptisme But they did so They dyd so in deede but compelled by necessity bycause they had no other which were both learned endewed with authority whō they might oppose against the Arriās So is that easely confuted An answere to an example of Eusebius whiche they are wont to bryng out of the Hystory of Eusebius for the communicatyng vnder one kinde that Serapion sent a child and commaunded the bread to be dipped in the wyne I could in deede expounde that place otherwise but at this tyme it shal be sufficiēt to say that that was not therfore so done then thereby to bring in a custome which should be imitated of others Wherfore custome is not made by examples but by the assent approbation and institution of the people Otherwise ther are in many places dronkēnes and night robbynges But these things bicause they are not allowed of the people as institutions to be obserued haue not the power of a custome And that the thing may the better be vnderstand An other definitiō of custome Hostiensis I wil bring a definition of custome which I foūd in Hostiensis in the title de Consuetudine It is an vse saith he agreing with reason allowed by the cōmon institution of them that vse it whose begynnyng is tyme out of mynde or whiche is by a iust tyme prescribed and confirmed so that it is by no contrary acte interrupted but allowed with contradictory iudgement This is as he thinketh a full definition But in that he saith That that vse ought to be agreeing with reason it is not sufficient but first it is to be sayd that it ought to agree with the worde of God for that is to be counted for the chiefest reason Afterward it must be allowed by the institution of the people for as much as it is not sufficient that it be done ether rashly or of necessity or for some other cause but it ought also to be allowed by the assent and institution of the people and of whose beginnyng there is no mention or that it is prescribed by a iust tyme and appoynted by the lawes neither is interrupted by any contrary action For if the iudge or prince shal geue iudgement agaynst it the custome is broken as it
wil not obey him The Pope preferreth himselfe before al kings and princes Bonifacius addeth moreouer that he himselfe is aboue al kinges and princes For principallity is to be esteemed according to the dignity of the things which by it are exercised We saith he exercise spiritual thinges and they temporall wherfore their swoorde is inferiour to ours and they themselues also vnto vs. He addeth also an other reason they pay vnto vs tenthes but tenthes ar paid by the inferior vnto the superior Wherfore seing kings princes pai tenthes they do testify that their lands reuenues pertaine vnto the church that they ar subiect vnto it Moreouer he which blesseth is greater then he which is blessed But Bishops consecrate and anoynt kinges The Glose addeth That of kinges onely the right shoulder is anointed but the heades of Bishops are anointed And vpon Kinges is poured oyle but vpon Bishops Chrisma Wherefore wee must needes confesse that Kinges are inferiour to Bishops Farther kinges receaue the crowne and scepter of Bishops For who saith hee anoynted Saul and who anointed Dauid but onely Samuel who anoynted Iehu but a Prophet sent by Helizeus The matter also which is intreated of by bishops is greater thē that about which kinges are occupied For Christ said vnto Peter whatsoeuer thou shalt binde in earth shal be bound in heauen This power is greater then al humane power And God saith vnto Ieremy I wil set thee ouer nacions and kingdomes to roote out and destroy to scatter and to plant Therefore we are greater then al the power of kinges and are exempted from their right Wherefore prophane and lay powers of Emperours and Kinges must be iudged by the Ecclesiastical men The Pope wil not bee iudged or gouerned of any ought by vs to be appointed and may by vs be ouerthrowen For to whom it pertaineth to builde to the same it belongeth to destroy Therfore the spiritual Magistrate ought to iudge of the ciuill Magistrate But if the spiritual offende in any thing of whom ought he to be iudged The inferiour saith he ought to be iudged of the superiour But the Pope which is the highest of al of whom shal he be iudged Of no man saith he but onely of God bycause the spiritual is iudged of no man but he iudgeth al thinges Oh how finely and trymly ordaineth he his tirannye He calleth hym selfe onely spiritual The Gloser although he were otherwise grose inough yet hee could not be so much a blocke but that he sawe that these thinges were spoken very absurdly How saith he is the Pope spiritual if he be vnpure and wycked He expoundeth himselfe by this distinction Two maner of spiritualties of the Canonists There is one maner of spiritualtye saith he of the person and an other of the state Wherfore if there be anye spiritual person he may reproue al men by a brotherly admonicion but he ought to be reprehended of no man Bicause for that he is spirituall hee committeth nothing filthely But sometimes some person which is not spiritual in life and maners ought yet to be called spiritual bicause of his degree As are many bishops and Popes wherfore we must cal the bishop of Rome whatsoeuer he be spiritual and most holy But what thing els is this then to teache vs to lye if they wil haue a filthy varlet called most holye Bonifacius at the last concludeth that all Emperours and Kinges must be subiect vnto his power onely And he addeth a reason Vnles we wil together with the Maniches appoint twoo begynninges which thing we ought not to do for Moses sayd not in the beginninges but in the beginning God created heauen earth The Pope pronoūseth that he of necessitye of saluacion ought to be obeyed Of the two maner of powers the ciuil and ecclesiastical Wherfore saith he we define determine and pronounce that all men oughte of necessitye of saluacion to obey the Pope as the chiefest power And so he excellētly I promise you concludeth that al Ecclesiastical men are exempt from the ciuil Magistrate Before I come to confute this their most shameles boasting I thinke it expedient briefly to speake of the two maner of powers of the Ecclesiasticall power I say and ciuill In that it is sayd that the Ecclesiastical power is preferred before al ciuil functions it is somwhat that they say if it be rightlye and aptlye vnderstand All ecclesiasticall power cleaueth vnto the woorde of God so that without it is none but the woord of the Lorde is a rule common whereby all thinges ought both to be directed and be tempered Ambrose instructed Theodosius For it teacheth in what maner the outward sword and publike wealth ought to be gouerned And generally also it sheweth how althinges ought to be done of al men So Ambrose whō Theodosius the Emperor raged to cruelly and without al consideracion against the Thessalonians perswaded him that in al punishmentes of death ther should be .xxx. daies space after the sentence geuen least the Magistrate should do those things in a rage and fury wherof although he afterward repented him yet they could not be amended So many Bishops oftentimes in things most waighty shewed foorth their authority and many times either put away cruell warres or els pacified them out of the word of God preached among them Wherfore the Ecclesiastical power after this maner comprehendeth althinges bicause out of the woord of God it findeth how to geue counsell in all thinges For there is nothing in the whole world wherunto the woord of God extendeth not it selfe Wherfore they are farre deceaued which vse to cry The preaching of the woord of God hath al mē al states subiect vnto it what hath a Preacher to do with the publike wealth what hath he to doo with warres what with Poticaries what with Cookes But let them tel me when the Minister of the woorde perceiueth the law of God to be violated in these thinges why should he not reprehende them by the woord of God Why should he not admonish them Why should he not exhort them to cease from synne The Minister of the Churche worketh by the woord and not by the swoord How far cyuill power extēdeth Nndoubtedlye it is his dutye to correct synners not in dede with the swoord or punishing by the pursse not by emprisonment not by banishment but after his owne manner that is by the might and power of the woord of God Againe the political power is extended to al those thinges which pertayne to political power But after what maner Shal ciuil power require good mociōs of the minde and inward repentance It cannot cause these thinges yet it must wish these thinges and vse those meanes wherby they may be had For he ought to haue a care that Bishops Pastors and Teachers in the Churche doo teache purely reprehende fatherly and by the woord of God administer the sacramēts This