law especially enacted concerning An. 1 Eliz. cap. 12. the booke of Common praier onely punisheth such as doe not obserue it and use the rights and ceremonies therein prescribed it punisheth not such as refuse to subscribe thereunto so that the law requireth onely obedience in practise not subscription in iudgement to the booke 4. This may appeare in the equity of other lawes and statutes of this land as for the observation of lent and fasting daies and other such matters whereunto it requireth not subscription but onely execution and a faithfull subiect will be content to yeeld his observance and obedience unto many lawes whereto hee would be loth to giue his assent VVherefore seeing subscription to the booke is first against piety in that many things are there prescribed not warranted by the word 2. without any necessity seeing there is a consent in the substantiall points of faith 3. with great partiality in punishing more for ceremonies then other greater transgressions 4. against the utility of the Church in depriving the same of so many profitable men 5. preposterous enforcing by authority not perswading by argument 6. against charity in not sparing aged Ministers their wiues and children 7. contrary to the practise of the Church 8. equalizeth humane writings to Scriptures 9. disturbeth the peace of the Church 10. is against the law of the land A most happy service your Maiesty should doe unto Christ benefit to his Church contentment to your best disposed subiects to remoue this hard yoake and heavy burthen of subscription and doe herein as good Constantine did who when bils of complaint were brought unto him by the Bishops cast them into the fire and made a peace among them And as Pompey intercepting a packet of letters sent to Sertorius tending to sedition burned them And as Basilius the Emperour caused all the syngrapha and subscriptions which Photius had of the Ministers to be committed to the fire concil gener 8. Act. 8. Obiections 1. Obj. BVT it will bee objected that the most part of the parishes of this land haue subscribed already as the Bishops haue to shew in their bookes of subscription onely a few persons excepted Answ To this we haue answered before at large in the defence of the generall censure Art 3. And of the preface art 6. upon what grounds and reasons some were resolued in respect of the tyme to tolerate by subscribing that which simply they thought not fit to bee prescribed to the Church 2. Obiect This forcing of subscription hath made an vniformity in the Land and wrought great peace in the Church Answ 1. VVee haue shewed before that nothing hath bred greater variance and disturbance in the Church then this torture of subscription 2. It was such a peace as Hierome speaketh of which the Hierom. ad Theophil Patriarke of Hierusalem brought his Clergy to quod si pacem habere non potest cum fratre nisi cum subdito ostendit se non tam pacē capere quam sub occasione pacis vindictam If he cānot haue peace with his brother vnlesse he be his subject he desireth not so much peace as revenge vnder that colour And againe nihil grande est pacem voce praetendere opere destruere It is no great mater to pretend peace in word and ouerthrow it in deed so the urgers of subscription pretended peace but they intended it not but rather extinguished it of whō we say with Hieroms words Moneas illos pacē nō extorquere sed velle Tell them they should not extort peace but exhort vnto it 3. Object Wee know no subscription vrged not disagreeable to law Ans That the subscription vrged is not agreeable to law is shewed before arg 10 4. Object At Geneva they strictly tie all c. to the observatiō of their Church government c. Answ If the Church of Geneua vrge a But to nothing in controversie as our ceremonies and Discipline conformitie to that which they are able to warant by the word and haue a positiue lawe for the same that can bee no rule or president for such subscription and conformity which is not so warranted And if either they or any other Chur. shal impose subscription to that which is not grounded vpon the word wee neyther defend nor commend it Object 5. Not vrging a conformity in Church discipline is to set open the highe way to all disorder and confusion c. Answ Though it may be remembred that in the tyme of popery when they stood more vpon conformity in ceremonies then protestants doe there were 4 or 5 kinds of diverse seruices in the laud some following the vse of Sarum som of Bangor some of Lincolne others of Hereford orhers of Yorke yet we mislike not a conformity euen in externall matters But first let no thing bee vrged but that which may be warranted by the word then let our brethren call for an vniuersall conformity And wee could wish the same rule to bee kept which Gregory the 1. some time prescribed for England non pro locis res sed pro rebus loca amanda sunt ex singulis ergo quibuscunqe Ecclesijs c. Things must not be loued for the place but the place for the things therefore out of every Church chose such things as are godly religious right and these bound as it were in a bundle lay vp in English harts wee could wish likewise that for ceremonies wee followed the best reformed Churches The Defence of the third part Reasons and arguments against Plurality of Benefices 1. Arg. OVr Saviour Christ Describing a good shepheard in his owne persone sayth I am the good shephard and know myne owne and am knowen of mine Ioan. 10. 14. A good shepheard then must be conversant among his flocke as the preacher sayth Agnosce vultum pecoris tui Be deligent to know the state of they flock and take heed to the heards prov 27. 23. But so cannot they doe that haue many flockes Damasus herevpon well sayth si domini desideramus esse descipuli ipsius imitemur Damas epist 4. decret vestigia c. If wee desyre to bee the Lords disciples let vs walke in his steppes that it may bee sayd of vs I am a good she epheard and know myne owne and call them by name c. 2. Arg. A faithfull Pastor must not bee given to filthy lucre Titus 1. 7. but to haue two or mo benefices proceedeth of covetousnesse Nicen. 2. can 5. Clericus ab hoc deinceps tempore in duabus Ecclesijs non collocetur hoc enim est negotiationis turpis lucri proprium A Clergie man must not be placed in two churches for this savoureth of filthy lucre 3. Arg. S. Paul saith Let every man wherin he is called therein abide with God 1. Cor. 7. 24. But they which are called to one Church and after accept another remaine not in their first calling This reason is used by the same Councell against
Against the Crosse in Baptisme 1. THE Sacraments are to be preserved in that simplicity and purenesse wherein Iesus Christ hath left them to the Church So S. Paul saith I haue received of the Lord that which 1. Cor. 11. 23. I delivered unto you S. Paul so great an Apostle innovated nothing but delivered that onely which he had receiued And this is the Lords own charge ye shall put no thing thereto nor take ought ther from therefore Cyprian saith well neque aliud fiat a nobis Deut. 12. 32 Cyp. lib. 2. Epist. 3. quam quod pro nobis dominus prior fecit We may not do any other thing in the ministration of the sacraments then the Lord himselfe hath done before us But Iesus Christ commanded onely to baptize with water in the name of the Father of the Son of the H. Ghost not to signe with the signe of the crosse Mat. 28. 19. The commission is Go and baptise wash with water And this the disciples observed here is water what doth let but that I Act. 8. 36. 38. may be baptised and they went both into the water he baptised him Philip did no more Peter Martyr is cleare for this The Peter Martyr loc com 4. c. 9. word and the water saith he make the sacrament the other things which were added after came from the B B. who where too much addicted D. Fulke in Rhem. Test. Luk. 44. 50 to ceremonies D. Fulk likewise speaking of the signe of the crosse saith it can not be a convenient memoriall of Christ because Christ commanded it not Therefore the crosse in baptisme departing from the simplicitie and plainnesse of our Lord Iesus institutioÌ„ is to be reiected 2. If the crosse be superstitious and popish in the one sacrament then it cannot be convenient nor Christian in the other according to the rule de similibus similiter iudicandum In the like case the like iudgement is to be passed which our Saviour Christ useth But in the sacrament of the supper the crosse was taken by the church of Eng. to be superstitious and popish and therefore Math. 12. 3 Aug. tract 108. in Ioan Missal Rom. extruded though some of the Fathers and the Popish Church had brought it in before Therefore by the same rule the crosse in baptisme should haue been removed also 3. That which hath been idolatrously abused in popery and hath no necessarie use in Gods Church ought to bee removed As Ezechiah pulled down the brasen 2. Reg. 〈◊〉 serpent because the people made and Idol of it This hath been the iudgement of The Church Tertullian shewes at large Tertul. de coron Milit. then when things indifferent haue been abused by Pagans Idolaters Christians may not use them unlesse they haue Gods warrant for them And Augustine shewes Aug. epist. 86. ad casul Iewel defen of Apol. p. 441. distinct 63. quia sancta that the Church of Christ left to fast upon the Lords day because the maniches had taken up that day to fast on worthy Iewel shewes many examples of the like Nay the very Popes law resolveth thus that if some of our praedecessours haue done those things which were well in their times and yet afterward they be turned into errour and superstition they must without any delay be reformed But the crosse hath been Idolatrously Whit. cont Bell. descrip c. 6. Raâ—n confut 586. Bellar. lib. de sacr author apud Aug. sect 59. abused in poperie as our best writers shew yea the verie crosse in baptisme to bee a defence and muniment against the Devill de Cons distinct 4. postea c. Therefore there being no necessarie use of it in the Church of God it ought to be removed 4. It is not lawfull for any either man or Angell to add any thing to the substance Gal. 3. 15. of the sacrament For as well they might ad to the tenure of the Covenant as add to the seale whereby it is confirmed But the adding of the crosse in baptisme is an addition to the substance Therfore it is not lawful for any to do it The assumption or second proposition is proved thus To add a sacramental signe to the sacrament is to add to the substance of it But the crosse in baptisme is made a sacramentall signe signa saith S. Augustine cum adhibentur ad res sacras significandas sacramenta vocantur Signes when they Aug. epist 5. are used to signify Sacred things are called Sacraments But the crosse in baptisme is taken up to signifie a holy thing namelie our constant profession in Christ that we shall not be ashamed to confesse Christ The sacrameÌ„t of baptisme robbed of his signification and the same attributed to humane invention viz. the Crosse Aug. Epist. 119. c. 18. crucified and to fight under his banner c. And so by consequence it is an addition or substance of a sacrament which is utterly unlawful Augustine shewes the care of the Church in his time this way epi. ad Ianuar. where speaking of washing of feet which was used of some when they came to be baptized Multi hoc in consuetudine recipere noluerunt ne ad ipsum baptismi sacr crederetur pertinere nonnulli de consuetudine auferre non dubitarunt Many would not receiue into use and many tooke it away where it was used lest it should seeme to belong to the very Sacrament of Baptisme So religiously carefull were they lest they might seeme to make any addition to the sacrament 1. Obiect The Crosse in Baptisme is a most Answ to the petition p. 11. ancient ceremony Ans To say it is ancient it is too much but say it is most ancient is most untrue Mea antiquitas est Iesus Christus my antiquty Ign. epis 6. is Iesus Christ saith Ignatius the blessed Martyr Now who knows not that to use no crosse in baptisme is more ancient then to use the crosse And therfore if the Lords rule may hold ask enquire for the Ier 6. 16. old way for that is the good way or that of Tertul. quodcunque primum id utique verum That which was frst that is the truest it Tertull. de prescript must needs bee better to baptize with no crosse as Christ and his Disciples did rather then with the crosse as some haue done in later time But a little to search the antiquitie of it we must first agree what crosse it is which wee so oppugne and our brethren stand for To crosse the water in baptisme or to crosse the child in baptisme To crosse the water is superstitious though the Fathers liked it and therefore the Church of England hath removed it To crosse the childe in baptisme hath not one authority in all antiquity that wee can read of In Iustin Martyrs time there was no Iust. apol 2. Tertul. de coron Milit. D. Rain confer p. 581. such thing In Tertullians
Idolo si in Idoleio recumbere Tertul. de corou milit alienum est à fide quid ni Idolei habitu videre c. Nothing is to be given to the Idol so neither to be taken from the Idol if to sit down in the Idol-temple be strange from the faith why not to bee seen in the Idols habit 2 That simplicity and plainnesse which Christ and the Apostles and the Fathers in the best time of the Church used is fittest and meetest for the ministers of Christ according to that From the beginning it was not so where our Saviour Mat. 19. 8. Christ teacheth us to reduce and bring things backe to their first originall But our Saviour Christ and the Apostles and the Fathers in the best and purest times of the Church had neither cap nor surplice to minister in Therfore that ancient use is fittest to be retained still That Christ and his Apostles Luc. 4. 16. had no ministring garments it appeareth Luk. 4. where our Saviour Christ entred into the Synagogue and stood up to read the minister brought him not a surplice but a book And when Paul and Barnabas entred into the Synagogue and Act. 13. 36. the Ruler sent to them to preach they stood up without any more ado P. Martyr Pet. Mart. clas 4. c. 1. is cleere for this Papists saith hee despise us because wee haue no priestly garments when Christ his Apostles had none neither So likewise Epi. ad Hooper Defence of Apol. p. 401 Walfr de exord in ca. Eccles c. 24 B. Iewel brings authorities to proue it Walafridus and others to shew that the Massing garments came in by little and little So at first men celebrated in common apparrell as certaine of the East Churches are said to doe at this day M. Fox Mart. p. 5. Fox likewise saith That in the Apostles time little regard was had of dayes or meates or apparrell c. And therefore seeing Christ used no distinction of apparell herein wee desire but to bee like our master 3. That which doth not add grace and comelinesse to the ministery of the Gospell but maketh it ridiculous is to be removed But so do the Cap and Surplice it makes the minister of the Gospell ridiculous for first it brings him in like a Popish priest Elias was known to be a 2. King 1. 8. Prophet because he went like a Prophet i. in a Prophets garment so if men would haue the people take us for Ministers of the Gospell why bee wee still apparrelled like Popish priests Secondly this kinde of white apparrell is now grown into disgrace in our Churches because none but harlots that doe penance come so attired into the congregation and therefore seeing the surplice doth not add any grace unto the Minister of the Gospell but maketh him ridiculous it is therefore cleare that it is to be removed 4 That kinde of garment which procureth scruple of conscience to divers that weare it offence to many good Christians that behold it comfort to the Papists that loue it losse to the Church of the labours of many worthy men ought not to be used But such is the surplice as daily experience teacheth Therfore it is not to be used 1. Obj. To leaue every man to his owne Answ to the Petit. p. 11. sect 3. liberty implies confusion Answ No confusion at all for if our brethren will hold them to their owne grounds if the surplice be not urged by Princely authority they may not use it for when the learned man whom they tearme T. C. had demanded why the Bishop Thomas Cartwright Synod Loud anno 1571. cap. de Decanis Doct. Whit. p. 283. in the Synod Anno 1571. had taken away the gray Amice as a garment spotted with superstition and left the surplice which had been more filthily abused in Popery the Reuerend Archbishop replies that the Bishop took it away because it was not established by any law of this land And sith herein in our mind the Bishop did well in it that they will not suffer any rite or ornament to be used in this Church but such onely as are by publike authority established and therefore as we say if they will sticke to their owne grounds if the king do not urge the surplice by law they must not use it 2. Obj. Doe not their own words import Answ to the petit p. 11. that they may bee well used so they bee not urged Answ 1. That they may be used is one thing that they may be well used is another Many things may bee tolerated which cannot be iustified 2. The consequent is not good for if they be not urged by authority then they may not bee used as before is shewed 3. Obj. What is there in the Cap or Surplice Answ ibid. that should offend any man of iudgement Bucer P. Martyr Augustine Calvin Answ Then be like our brethren take all that be offended at the surplice to bee men of no iudgement Rev. Iewel a man as of more learning so of more modestie Defence Apol p. 399. loue confesseth that there were godly learned men that refused the apparell and that they had their grounds and reasons from authoritie to do so and our present Arch. BB. professeth there were some that never received the apparell whom saith ibid. p. 400. Doct. Whit. pag. 289. he I for my part haue alwayes reverenced and do reverence not onely for their singular vertue and learning but for their modestie also Peter Martyr their own author Pet. Mart. ep 3. amico cuidam resolveth that though the surplice may bee tolerated till things become to some stay yet it were much better that it were removed I saith he writing to a friend in England thinke as you doe that these things being indifferent of themselues make not a man either good or bad but as you also thinke so I thinke it more convenient that that garment and many things of that kind cum fieri commode poterit auferuntur i. that when conveniently it may bee done they be removed in the same epistle here quoted I like well saith he if you desire that Christian religion should aspire again to chaste simple purenesse for what should all godly men more wish for and to speak of my selfe I hardly suffer my selfe to be drawn frō that simple pure use which we all long used at Strasburgh where differēce of apparell in regard of the ministrie was taken away that manner as being the plainer and especially savouring of the Apostolike Churches I haue alwayes approved above all others and I pray God that it may be long continued there and wheresoever the Church of Christ is restored it may at length be received and therfore if the matter may passe upon this worthy mans verdict we shall soone agree Hemingius shewes that the ministers Clas 3. c. 16 of the Gospell in these parts utterly refused the
that bee able with their faithfull and godly laboures to take up the time better 11. Against the abuse of Church songs and Musick VVHETHER our brethren yeeld to this or no we know not they haue so pleased themselves in a conceit of our moderation and the kings great devotion as they terme it in hearing the Organs that they forget to tell us their resolution therefore wee will iustifie the equitie of our request 1. In the Church of God nothing ought to bee done but that which serues to edification this is Pauls rule 1. Cor. 14. 26. But the Church Musick and songs as they bee now used in Cathedrall Churches and some Colledges with Organes and descant foreward and backward serue not to edification Therefore it ought not to be permitted in the Church of God The assumption or second proposition is proved thus If the Latine seruice in poperie served to no edification because the greatest part understood not that which was spoken then also this theatricall musick wherein the greatest part understand no thing serveth so Aug. terms it in psal 32. com c. 1. Class 3. c. 13 s 29. to as little Peter Martyr one of their own authors approveth this nec iure potest saith he retineri fracta illa Confragosa musica qua ita detinentur astantes ut verba etiamsi velint percipere minimè queant That broken and chaunting Musicke by which the standers by cannot though they would understand the meaning of the words ought not to be retained And so euen popish Aquinas Aquin. 22. qu. 91. art 2 huiusmodi musica instrumenta magis animum movent ad delectationem quam per ea formetur interius bona dispositio These musicall Iustruments doe rather affect the mind with delight then further any good dissposition in him And therefore as he saith the Church used not them Consil Aquisgran Cōci Aquis con 137. Decreed well Psalmi in Ecclesia non cursim excelsis inordinatis aut intemperatis vocibus sed plane dilucide cum compunctione cordis recitentur ut cantantium mens illorum dulcedine pascatur audientium aures pronunciatione demulceantur Let not the Psalmes in the Church be hurried over or sung with loud and strained throats but plainely and distinctly with feeling of the heart so as both the minde of the singer may bee fed with the melodie and the eares of the hearers refreshed with the words 2. That which draweth downe the mynde from meditation and heavenlie contemplation to sensuall and carnall delyte is not fit to be vsed in the house of God where all our affections are rather to be mounted and to be lifted vp But soe doth the same light and theatricall kind of musicke Therefore it is not to be vsed in the Church of God This reason hath both protestant and popish writers to approue it Peter Martyr saith Loc. cit If wee should see at this day Christian people runne to the Church as it were to a theater to delyte themselues with musike and songs as they daylie do at Paules church when the Organs and the anthems be sung abstinendum potius esset a re non necessaria we should rather abstayne from a thing not needfull then by occasion thereof hazard the soules of the commers So likewise Thomas Aquinas resolveth in his Aquin. vt supra summe 3. To bring in any part of the Leuiticall service into the Church of Christ is vtterly Heb. 7. 12. vnlawfull as the Apostle shews But this kynd of musike by Organs and Instruments was a part of Leuiticall service Therefore it is vtterly vnlawfull in 2 Chr. 29. 25. Bez. in colloq mompelg part 2. p. 36. Aquin. 22. q. 91. art 2. arg 4. the Church of Christ Beza not onelie vrgeth this but that deepe divine as they take him Aquinas saith the Church doth not receiue Musicall instruments to praise God with ne videatur iudaizare Lest shee seeme to Iudaize And he giues good reason why the Iews under the Law had such musick and Christians haue none 1. because in the old Ibid. ad 4. law the people were more carnall And the second because these instruments did figure some things to come namely the spirituall ioy which we haue in Christ 4. That which Christ and the Apostles and all the godly Fathers of the Church for six hundred years together thought to be the fittest and meetest musick for the Church that must we think to be fittest unlesse wee thinke to bee wiser then they But Christ and the Apostles and all the godly fathers of the Church for 600. yeares and more haue taken plaine voyce musick and not this kind of musick by Organes and descant to bee the fittest and meetest for Gods service as appeareth by their practise and precepts Math. 26. 30. Col 3. 16. Plinie saith of the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plin. apud Euseb lib. 3. cap. 30. Aug. lib. 10. canf c. 33. Christians that they did ante lucanos hymnos Christo Deo canere Sing Psalmes to Christ the Lord in the morning before day And Augustine reporteth of Athanasius tam modico flexu vocis faciebat sonare lectorem Psalmi ut pronuntianti vicinior esset quam canenti Hee made the reader of the Psalmes varie his voyce so little that he seemed rather to speake then to sing And Hierome dislikes that such as sing in the Ierom. epist ad Epiphan dist 82. Church should stretch their mouth and throat as though they were at a play And therefore this plaine voyce musick is fittest to be used in the service of God 1. Object Iust martyr qu 107. and Answ to the pet p. 12. Augustine lib. 10. c. 11. allowe musike Answ But what kynd of musick doe they allow Organs and curious pricke sung Augustine speaks but of singing of Aug. lib. 9. confess c. 6. 7. Epist. 119. c. 18. psalmes as may appeare in many places that liquida voce with a cleare plaine voice cōuenientissma modulatione a most fit and seemely tune for els where he professeth that where as some had brought In. Psal 32. com 1. in the vse of the harpe and citharane into the Church he by his authoritie remoued it Let no man maruaile sayth he that wee haue cast out the harpe and behold it is commanded to sound saying prayse the Lord vpon the harpe nemo convertat cor ad organa quod ei iubetur in se habet Let no man spend his efection vpon the musicall Instruments being to make melody in himselfe For Iustin Martyr though that bee none of his work because he there citeth Author apud Iustin. q. 107. Origen who liued after yet whosoeuer is the author he is directly against our brethren as dirictlie for us in this cause Instruments saith he be not vsed in the Church of God sed simplex cantio in eis manet there is nothing but plain singing nam
manifest but Canonicall monition going before The manner is that the apparitor cannot personally cite the party to be summoned hee useth to leaue word at his house if he come not at the day he is forthwith as contumacious excommunicate Heerein a double errour is committed for if a man never appeared in the cause before the iudge he cannot bee cited at his house unlesse he can not be personally apprehended and againe he that is not personally cited is not verè but interpretative Linwood de iudic c. item vers decernimus ibid. v. personaliter contumax in the iudgement of the sounder Canonists VVherefore it is evident by these reasons that Excommunication goeth forth often for trifles 12 peny matters not for contumacy or contempt 5. If Excommunication bee sent forth onely for contempt where the originall is but a trifle and a twelue penny matter then what needed all those cauteles by Councels ne quenquam pro parvis levibus causis c. that none should bee excommunicate for small or trifling matters Aur. 3. c. 2. Vormatiens c. 13. Avernens as it is cited caus 11. q. 3. c. 42. for by this evasion there shall be no trifling matters at all but the pretence and colour of contempt shall countenance excommunication VVherefore the request of the Petitioners is agreable to the Scriptures and Canons that none be excommunicate for trifles The 2. Enormity against Excommunication without the consent of the Pastors Reasons and arguments to proue that Excommunication ought not to proceed from one alone but by the ioynt advise of the presbyters Pastors 1. EXcommunication should bee exercised by the Church that is an assemble math 18. 11. tell the Church c. If he will not heare the Church let him bee as an heathen and publicane Origene vpon these words saith tertio coreptionem mandat ad Ecclesiam deferendam c. In the third place he will haue the correction brought to the Church In the second he will haue two or three witnesses to bee vsed So Chrisostome vnderstandeth Episcopos praesidentes Ecclesiae The Bishops or Pastors and presidents or governors of the Church in Mat. 18. But one or two make not a Church for this were a preposterous course to proceed from one to two or three then to go back agayn to one Hierome writeth well concerning Iohn Hieron pammach Patriarke of Hierusalem An tu solus Ecclesia es qui te offenderit a Christo excluditur tibi soli licet Ecclesiae iura calcare tu quicquid feceris norma doctrinae est Are you alone the Church that whosoever offendeth you is excluded from Christ is it lawfull onely for you to tread under foote the rights of the Church whatsoever you do is it a rule of doctrine Ergo one man not being the Church cannot excommunicate 2. The government of the civill and Ecclesiasticall state are unlike c. But yee sha not be so Lu. 22. 25. But they rule alone as Monarchs The Kings of the Gentiles reign over them Ergo Bishops or other officers of the Church ought not to governe alone There ought ro be no Monarchy in the spirituall regiment of the visible Chur. as Monarchs in the Church and so not excommunicate alone This place is urged by a learned VVriter against a monarchy in the visible Church Quid apertius nisi expectetis ut locum proferamus ubi dixit apertè vos monarchae Ecclesiae esse non debetis What could bee sayd more plainly D. Sutcliffe l. 1. de opt Reip. statu cap. 7. unlesse you would haue us bring forth a place where Christ should say in plaine tearmes Yee shall not be Monarches of the Church As there ought not then to be a Monarch over the universall Church so by the same reason neither should there be any Ecclesiasticall Monarch over a Province or Diocesse Arg. 3. If S. Paul who had Apostolicall power would not excommunicate the incestuous person amongst the Corinthians without the consent of the Pastors and spirituall governours much lesse ought any Bishop Archdeacon c. do so now But the first is evident that S. Paul excōmunicateth together with the Pastors of Corinth the Apostle sent not onely his mandate to the Corinthians for them to execute but that the power and right of excommunication was ioyntly with the Apostle in the Pastors of Corinth as it may appeare by these reasons Ergo. 1. The Apostle rebuketh them for that they had not put him from them already before he had written to them vers 2. 2. They which had power to reconcile had power also to excommunicate For Eiusdem est ligare soluere It belongeth to the same to binde and to loose But the Pastors of Corinth haue power to reconcile 2. Cor. 2. 10. To whom you forgiue any thing I forgiue also c. 3. It is not like that the Church of Corinth had no power to excommunicate without the Apostle for then should they haue wanted a principall poynt of discipline when the Apostle was absent in remote places from them 4. The words of the Apostle doe evidently giue unto them the iudgement of Excommunication Doe yee not iudge them that are within 1. Cor. 5. 12. Vpon the which words Augustine thus writeth Aug. hom 50. c. 12. ut citatur caus 2. q. 1. ◠1◠Quibus verbis satis ostendit non temere aut quommodo libet c. By which words hee sufficiently sheweth that not rashly or howsoever but by iudgement the evill are to be removed from the communion of the Church Arg. 4. All that haue authority to preach haue power to binde and loose as the Apostle saith Wee are the sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish 2. Cor. 2. 16. Our Saviour giveth one generall commission to his Apostles and all faithfull Pastors their successours Whosoever sinnes yee remit they are remitted Ambrose saith Remittuntur peccata per Dei De Cain Abel l. 2. cap. 4. verbum cujus Leuites interpres executor est Sinnes are remitted by the word of God whereof the Minister is the interpreter and executor Basil saith Confession of sinnes must necessarily he made to them to whom the dispensation of the mysteries of God is committed Our English confession saith Seeing In regal contractioribus q. 288. Horn ser 11. one manner of word is given to all and one onely key belongeth to all wee say there is but one onely power of all ministers as concerning opening and shutting But all pastors haue authority to preach Ergo to binde and loose and consequently to excommunicate It will be answered that there are two kinds of administratiō of the keys a spirirituall in remitting retayning of sins externall in releasing the outward censures of the Church The first belongeth to all Pastors and the preachers of the Church but not the other Answ 1. Our Saviour Christ comprehendeth the whole
Ergo seeing a Bishop and Presbyter are the same by the word of God iurisdiction doth of right belong to both Arg. 7. All pastorall duties doe equally belong unto the Pastors but to seperate the pretious from the vile is a Pastorall duty Ier. 15. 19. as it belongeth to the shepheard to seeke that which is lost Ezek 34. 4. that is to reconcile the penitent so also to separate the uncleane to correct the obstinate Augustine saith De corrept grat cap. 15. Pastoralis necessitas habet c. The Pastoral necessity requireth lest the contagion should spread further to separate the diseased sheepe from the sound Ergo it belongeth to Presbyters which are Pastors and haue their flockes Act. 20. 17. 28. to separate ane excommunicate the vile and uncleane Arg. 8. VVhatsoever belongeth to the gathering together of the Saints the work of the Ministery the edifying of the body of Christ is to be performed by the Pastors and Doctors with other Ministers of the Church for to this end hath Christ ordained these offices Ephes 4. 11. But to separate or excommunicate and recoÌ„cile are profitable to the said purposes This authority is given for edification 2. Cor. 10. 8. Ergo it belongeth to the Pastors and Teachers of the Church Arg. 9. The discipline should bee administred by such as are more likely to haue the spirit of direction and to whom with the least perill of the Church the censures might be exercised But an assembly of Presbyters are more like to haue the spirit of Direction as the Apostles and Presbyters assembled in councell saying It seemed good to the holy Ghost and Concil Affrican can 138. epist ad Coelestium to us Act. 15. 28. Thus saith the Councell of Affrican Vnlesse there be any that thinkes God inspireth one particular person with righteousnesse and forsaketh a number of Priests assembled in Synod Again there would arise lesse danger to the Church by this means for there is a rule in the Law Excommunicatus non potest excommunicare he that is excommunicate himselfe cannot excommunicate another caus 24. q. 1. c. 4. But a Bishop or any one Ecclesiasticall person may by many occasions stand under the censure of excommunication In what cases Bishops are liable to the censures of the church as if he haue two wiues caus 24. q. 3. c. 19. or if he bee a teacher of errour hee must bee delivered to Satan caus 24. q. 3. c 13. Pelagius or if he be an usurer caus 14. q. 4. c. 4. or a blasphemer or swearer Carth. 4. cap. 61. or a player at dice. Trullan c. 50. or be negligent in preaching and so continue can Apost 57. or giue orders for money Chalced. c. 2 Or be promoted for money Constant Conc. 6. gener c. 22. or make a lay man his vicar generall Hispatiens 2. c. 9. Or take upon him any civill office as vice-presidentship Iusticiariship Decr. Greg. 3. 58. 4. or sit in causes of bloud or giue sentence for the cutting off of any meber as of ears hands c. ibid. c 5. So writeth Alexander 3. in his rescript to the Bishop of Canterbury But a Bishop or any one man may stand excommunicate where an assembly or company cannot in this case by whom should the discipline be administred Ergo it is safer that the censures of the Church should bee disposed by many then by one Arg. 10. Presbyters by the word of God and practise of the Church are interessed in the spirituall rule and government of the Church but the Excommunication belongeth to the spirituall regiment Ergo For the proofe of the proposition first in the Scriptures wee find that the Apostles called together the Presbyters for the deciding of doubtfull questions and by the Apostle the Elders that labour in the word are made rulers the Elders that rule well especially they that labour in the word 1. Tim. 5. 17. they then that laboured in the word were also ruling Elders for how else should they haue a double honour being excluded from government which is counted one of the greatest honours of the Church Now the practise of the Church is most evident Hier. saith communi presbyterorum concilio Ecclesiae regebantur â—â—â—rom in â— 1. In the beginning Churches were governed by the common advise of presbyters caus 11. q. 3 c. 106. debent 12. sacerdotes Episcopum circumstare c. twelue Priests must stand by the Bisbop when he denounceth excommunication can 108. VVhen the penitent party was to bee reconciled the Bishop must bee assisted with as many caus 12. q. 2. c. 5. The Bishop could not dispose of the temporall things of the Church much lesse of spirituall inconsulto presbyterio not hauing before consulted with his presbitery neither was the assistance of the presbytery for decency and order onely but of necessity Episcopus nullius causam audiat absque praesentia clericorum aliter erit sententia irrita The Bishop shall heare no mans cause without the presence of his Clarks otherwise let the sentence bee voyd Carth. 4. c. 23. Thus it is evident that at the beginning the presbyters did assist the Bishops in the regiment and gouernment of the Church as is confessed also by our learned writers the government of the Church at the first was so apportioned that neither the presbyters should doe any thing without the Bishop Perpetual gover p. 307. nor the Bishop dispose matters of importance without his presbytery D. Fulke thus testifieth it is manifest that the authority of binding Ans to Rhem in 2 Cor. 2. sect 4. and loosing committing and retaining pertaineth generally to all the Apostles alike and to every pastor in his cure Thus was it in the beginning but by little and little in processe of time Bishops began to encroach upon presbyters and their office 1. Bishops had at the first but a priority before their presbyters they were not How Bishops by little and litile encroached upon Presbyters to suffer a presbyter to stand before them Carth. 4. 34. and within doores Collegam se presbyterorum esse cognoscat let the Bishop take himselfe to be the presbyters collegue and fellow but now Bishops are callled Prelats Ministers subditi their subiects 2. As yet the Bishops had no speciall kind of ordayning as differing in order from presbyters as Ambrose saith Episcopi presbyteri una ordinatio there is but one ordination of a presbyter and a Bishop uterque enim sacerdos for they are both but Priests or Ministers in 1. Tim. 3. afterward the Bishops brought in a speciall kind of consecration for themselues 3. Then they went further that whereas in giuing of Orders presbyters were ioyned with Bishops Carth. 4. c. 3. cited before they did assume that office to Hier. Evag. 10. themselues quid facit excepta ordinatione Episcopus c. What doth a Bishop that a Priest cannot doe ordination onely excepted 4. But not contented to stay here
manifest examples of the primitiue Perpet gov p. 406. Church wee striue not for it Answ 1. But why we pray you do you make mention of the Canons of the Church onely and not of the word of God will you haue bishops to haue more authority and Pastors lesse then the word of God alloweth them 2. But we refuse not to debate this matter by the Canons and practise of the Church which notwithstanding hath been in part shewed before argum 10. and shall bee declared further in the answer to the 11. Objection Hierom thus writeth quomodo ibi leprosum sacerdos mundum vel immundū In Mat. ◠16. facit sic hic alligat vel solvit Episcopus presbyter As there under the Law the Priest made the leprous person cleane or uncleane so here the presbyter bindeth or looseth So then as the iudgement and censuring of the leprosie belonged not onely to the chiefe Priests but indifferently to them all He shall be brought to Aaron the Priest or one of his sonnes the Priests Lev. 13. 2. So now the censuring of spirituall leprosie should indifferently belong to all spirituall Pastors Further wee find that presbyters sate together with Bishops and gaue voyces and made decrees not onely in matters which concerne the word and doctrine as we are borne in hand but such as belonged Perpet gov pag. 291. to discipline and excommunication and anathematizing as is evident Concil Eliberrm to the which subscribed 36. presbyters can 52. 62. 67. And in Arelatens 2. can 25. 28. and can * 30. they decree concerning the suspension of Bishops to this Synod subscribed 12. presbyters from hence it is cleare that presbyters assembled in a synod haue power to excommunicate The imperiall Law saith We charge all Bishops and Priests that they separate no Novil constitut 125. c. 11. man from the sacred communion before they shew the cause c. And he that presumeth to excommunicate let him bee put from the communion Thus it was indifferent for Bishops or presbyters to excommunicate Obj. 6. Not in very Church but in every citty there were presbyters assisting and ayding Perpet gov p. 183. the Bishop and these were Clergy men to helpe him in all sacred actions and advise him in all iudiciall and Ecclesiasticall proceedings p. 184. Answ 1. Neither do we urge to haue a presbyterie of Clergy men in everie parish Church but that in every division the presbyters and Pastors should assemble together for the execution of Discipline 2. It being confessed that presbyters in cities haue assisted the Bishop in Ecclesiacall proceedings why then may not the presbyters of country Churches be admitted who are so much the more fit because they are acquainted with the particular diseases in their severall cures 3. The Presbyteries were not onely in great and populous citties neither had the bishops them such large circuits but that one presbytery might suffice for the Cittie and confines thereof for then the bishop had his proper parish Episcopus propriam parochiam non derelinquat Can. Apost 13. his The Bishop had his proper flock proper Church The bishop qui non acquierit ire ad Ecclesiam sibi cōmissam Which did not resolue to goe to the Church committed to his charge should be put from the communion Antioch concil c. 17. hee had his peculiar flock Episcopus grege sibi commissum c. The bishop must instruct the flocke committed unto him with the preaching of the word Turonens sub Carol. Then bishops lived not onely in famous great Citties but in base and obsure townes Episcopus de loco ignobili ad nobilem per ambitionē non transeat A bishop ambitiously must not go from a base and ignoble towne to a noble Carth. 4. can 15. Then bishops had not such a large Diocesse In Augustines time there were in one province under Carthage of the Catholicke Donatist aboue Bishops 9000. Of the Catholicks part there were present 286. and absent 120. by reason of sicknesse and old age Epispall Churches voyd 60. in all 466. Of the Donatists there were present 279. absent 120. Churches voyd 60. in all 459. These so many bishops in one province cannot be thought to haue had Diocesses much larger then some parishes And few bishoprickes haue so many parish Churches under them and none in England unlesse it be Norwich is found to haue more It is no marvell then if one presbyterie with the bishop sufficed for such Diocesses Object 7. Presbyters sate with the bishops at the first as assessors and consenters before Perpet gov p. 317. Synods undertooke such causes Ans 1. The frequenting of Synods was no let to the authority of the presbytery 1. It was a Synod that decreed that Sententia Episcopi c. The sentence of the Bishop should be voyd if it were not confirmed by the sentence of the Clergie Carth. 4. c. 23. 2. From the Nicene Councell to the time of this Synod were assembled in the space of an hundred years and somewhat more twenty provinciall Synods as the Elibortine Arelatens 1. and 2. Gangrens Agrippin Antioch Sardic with others 3. And before this it was decreed that there should be a Synod of bishops twice every yeare Antio c. 20. Constantin 1. c. 2. But after the time of this Synod of Carthage when the authority of the presbytery began to bee impaired it was decreed that bishops should assemble but once in the yeare Toletan 3. c. 18. So that even when Synods were most frequent the presbytery was in greatest authority it began to fail when Synods were not so often celebrated Obj. 8. For our parts though we take the keyes to be common to all that haue pastorall charge of soules in their degree yet to avoyd Perpet gov p. 320. the infinite showers of excommunication c. if every presbyter at his pleasure might excommunicate we praise the wisedome of Gods Church in suffering no inferiour to excommunicate without the Bishops consent c. Answ 1. If by the institution of Christ the administration of the keyes be common to all pastors what presumption is this for men to take upon thē to be wiser then God to change his institution The Esay 40. 13 prophet saith who hath instructed the spirit of God or taught him 2. It is not the wisdom of the Church but the ambition of Bishops that hath excluded the pastors as Diotrephes that loued to haue preeminence would not receive the brethren 3. Neither are Ioh. epist. 3. excōmunications the fewer because one by the Bishops authoritie excommunicateth but the more for there is like to be more grace and discretion in a companie of reverent and learned pastors then in one vnlearned Chancellor or Officiall and the Courts now intend their own gain therefore multiplie excommunications wheras then the profite of mens soules should be expected As though there hath not been long since complaint made of
the multiplicite of excommunications tot hodie fiunt officiales quod vix est aliquis c. There are so many excommunications now a dayes by officials that scarce any man that feareth God can liue in the world with a safe conscience VVhervpon it was directed vt caveant ab earū multiplicatione c. That they should beware of multiplying excômunications lest they be brought to contempt These are the showers of Chancelors and officials excommunications that flee faster then lightening in tempest Object 9. In our vnderstanding the Minister of the parish doth giue his consent to the petition p. 23. Ans VVhat consent call yee this when the Chancellor or Officiall sendeth his mandate and the Minister must denounce the sentence of excommunication or be suspended himselfe doe yee count this consent sufficient what is the pastor here els but the officials slaue to denounce his censures VVhat is this els but against the Apostle to be the seruantes of men But 1 Cor. 7. 21 De 7. ordin Eccles as Hierome saith non in dominatione vt servos habeas sed in ministerio liberos preachers should not be vsed as servants with indignitie but as free men in their ministrie Object 10. They intend the inabling of everie particular pastor alone to excommunicate Answ to the petition ibid. Ans Neither is it our desire that every particular Pastor should be inabled to excomunicat vntruth We giue no such power to particular pastors himself alone against the Apost rule not as Lords ouer Gods heritage As the the other is slavish so this were popelike as Hierome will saith contenti sint honore suo sciant se patres esse non dominos Let them be content with theyr owne honor and know they are fathers and not Lords Obejct 11. If the pastor ought to be ioyned in commission there would followe a world of troubles Answ ibid. Answ Neither were it fitt that everie pastor should be ioyned in commission with the Chauncelor and attend vpon his courts for that were infinite and tedious for the pastors to withdrawe them from their flocks Cyprian will saith Neque in altari meretur nominari in sacerdotum prece 1. Pet. 5. 3. Lib. 1. ep 9. qui ab altari sacerdotes avocare volunt Hce deserues not to be mentioned in the Minicters praiers that would draw him from executing his Ministery But it shall euen now appeare what our desire is Our desire is that discipline may be administred according to the rules of Gods word or as things now stand seeing there are three persons in this busines to bee respected the Bishop in his diocese the officers and Ministers of the Bishop and the severall pastors VVee would haue euery mans right reserved that all matters of instance and ciuill pleas should be still referred to the Civill Iudges but matters of office as they are called excommunication and spirituall misdemeanors to be censured by the companie of presbyters in euerie Deanrie and division assisted if it please the kings Maiestie with some graue persons of the Lay sort to be assembled monethly together or otherwise as there shall bee cause and from them if there bee any iust agrevance appeale to be made to the bishop Synods of the Bishops and Presbyters necessary with his synod of presbyters For this course to appeale and referre doubtfull matters to synods is both agreable to scriptuers and practise of the ancient Church As in Antioch when the Church was troubled about cercumcision they sent to the Apostles and Elders about that question Act. 15. 2. Thus was it decreed in the great Nicene synode that in euery prouince bishops should assemble twice in the yeare to heare the complaints of such as were excommunicate can 5. The same decree is revived Antioch c. 20. Neither had they onely provinciall synods but the bishop for the same cause had his assembly of pastors Cyprian writing to the presbyters and deacons of Carthage saith A primordio Episcopatus mei statui nibil sine consilio vestro mea privatim sententia gerere c. Since Cypr. lib. 3. epist. 10. my first entrance into my Episcopall charge I dermined to doe nothing priuately of my self without your counsell Gregorie saith lest there be any dissention among brethren c. Lib. 7. epist 110. In unum convnire sacerdotis est c It is necessarie for the Priests to meet together quem negligentia reijcit cum omnium presbyterorum consilio refutetur whom his owne negligence maketh vnworthy let him be displaced by the councell of the presbyters Turenens 2. c. 7. For this cause it was not long since decreed by a provinciall synod singulis annis saltem synodus diocesane a singulis Reformat Ratisp art 35. Episcopis celebrant Euery yeare at the least let everie Bishop celebrate a synod in his diocese Thus if this course were taken Christs institution for the censure of excommunication shall be kept the Pastors shall bee reverenced the preaching of the word furthered people with long iournies not wearied manners shall bee duely corrected And thus much is insinuated by Cyprian Epist 3. ad Cornel. A Equum est iustum ut uniuscujusque causa illic audiatur ubi est crimen admissum singulis pastoribus sit portio gregis a scripta quam regat unusquisque gubernet rationem sui actus Domino redditurus It is right and iust that every mans cause bee heard where the fault is made and to every pastor a part of the flock should be committed to bee governed VVherefore most noble King 1. seeing The conclusion excommunication should bee decreed by an assembly according to Christs rule Matth. 18. 18. 2. Neither should there be any monark or sole commander in the spirituall regiment of the Church 3. If S. Paul did not excommunicate without the Pastors 4. If all that haue authoritie to preach haue right to the keyes 5. If they which haue a ioynt power of ordination haue also of iurisdiction 6. If by the word of God a Bishop and a Priest are all one 7. If all pastorall duties equally belong to all Pastors 8. If whatsoeuer appertaineth to the edifying of the Church is appendant to the pastors office 9 If it be safer that many excōmunicate by consent then one 10. If it hath been the practise of the Church to ioyne presbyters with Bishops in the spirituall regiment of the Church 11. If all Priests indifferently under the Law did separate and restore lepers whereunto answereth excommunication and reconciliation now 12. If presbyters sate in councels and gaue voyces and are allowed by the Law imperiall to excommunicate And further seing nothing can bee obiected of any moment 1. Neither S. Pauls delivering to Sathan of Alexander and Hymeneus 2. Neither of the Incestuous yong man at Corinth 3. seeing the key of knowledge which pastors haue is not to be severed from the keye of power 4. and as well may
the publick use of the keyes be committed to Pastors as the private 5. And seeing presbyters in citties haue dealt with the censures the Pastors of the country should not be excluded 6. Neither is the frequenting of Synods any hinderance to the Ecclesiasticall presbytery 7. 8. 9. Nor any other inconvenience need to be feared VVe trust your Maiesty will follow the example of David to distribute the offices indifferently among the sonnes of Aaron 1. Chronicl 24. 4. that a Theodoret. lib. 5. c. 37. few onely haue not the preeminence and the rest bee despised Theodosius the Emperour when hee was excommunicate a levi homuncione of a light cockbrain fellow because hee granted not the thing which he requested would not enter into the Church before hee had been of the same party absolued As we condemne the malepartnesse of the Priest no such authority beeing giuen to any one in the world to censure Kings so thus far wee wish that good Emperour to be followed that the censures of the church may be reverēced being first restored to the originall institution We aske nothing but what your Maiesty hath given hope of that discipline 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 43. B. Bilson p. 320. Perpet gov be preserved in puritie according to the word and which some of the greatest opposites to this cause haue granted We take the power of the keys to be common to al that haue pastorall charge of soules in their degree And so wee conclude this matter with that sentence of Hierom which wee desire our reverend Bishops to think uppon sicut presbyteri c. as presbyters know that by the custome of the Church they are made subiect to him that is set over them ita Episcopi se noverint magis consuetudine quam dispensationis dominicae veritate presbyteris esse maiores in commune debere Ecclesiam regere So let Bishops know that rather by custome then any divine dispensation they are greater then presbyters and ought to governe the Church in common in 1. c. ad Titum citatur distinct 95. c. 5 And Hierome againe saith Episcopi sacerdotes se esse noverint non dominos honorent Clericos quasi Clericos ut ipsis a clericis quasi Episcopis honos deferatur scitum est illud oratoris Bomitij cur ego te habeam ut principem cum me non habeas ut senatorem If Bisbops will be counted as chiefe and principall they must admit their Pastors to bee as Senators and of their Councell Hierom. ad Nepotian 4. Against extorting of unreasonable fees Obj. 1. There are severe lawes made already in that behalfe p. 24. Answ Notwithstanding the severe canons provided against the extorting of unreasonable fees who knoweth not what intollerable exactions are used in Ecclesiasticall Courts The time was when the Cod. lib. 9. tit 27. Leg. 3. Gratian. Iudge ought to take nothing for his sentence when nothing was to be exacted of the innocent party Colon. p. 13. c. 7. speciem aequitatis non habet quod ab Innocentibus absolutis quippiam expensarum nomine exegatur when nothing was to bee taken of the poorer sort a pauperibus non valentibus solvere nihil recipiatur append Basil c. 10. It is not aboue 250. yeares since when this order was taken by Iohn Stratford of Canterbury Liuwood de censen c. Saeva that ministers should pay for their letters of orders but 6 pence for their letters of institution but 12 pence It hath bin decreed that none should exact ultra statuta Caus 16. q. 1. c. 62. leo Extr. com l. 3. tit 10. c. 1. patrum beyond the rates appointed and should take lesse then the custome not more But how the world is changed who can be ignorant what large fees are payed for sentence innocents not spared the pore not pittied for probates of testaments double required to that which the statute aloweth for acquittances Executors some ten some twenty yeares after are forced to pay some forty some fifty Shillings some more Letters of institution are growen from twenty Shillings in the beginning of Queen Elizabeths reigne to foure or fiue pound Letters of orders taxed in many places after the same rate Archdeacons in their visitation haue exacted twelue pence sixteen pence yea two Shillings for the article books not much more aboue three pence And not long since when the fifth of August was commanded to be solemnised for the Kings deliverance in some dioceses the Church-wardens were urged to pay twenty pence for copies of the letters It were too long to reckon up al the exorbitant courses of these Ecclesiasticall courts and officers which since the canon made in the convocation anno 1597. haue been more intollerable then before and seing convocation canons are no more regarded wee desire that their exactions may be restrayned by parliament statutes that some of the ancient lawes may bee revived against such as either the law of Theodosius to be punished fourefould or the decree of Innocent the 3. Extorta restitu it Cod. lib. 9. tit 27. l. 6. tantundem pauperibus eroget to restore what is exacted and to giue so much to the poore or of Benedict the 12. that they pay twice so much within two moneths or Decr. Greg. lib. 3. c. 49. c. 8. Extrav com lib. 3. tit 10 c. 1. can 24. els be suspended from their office or the decree of the 8. generall Councell concerning such enormities aut corrigatur aut deponatur that if they bee not amended they should be deposed 5. Of farming of iurisdiction Censure IT is of it selfe a matter indifferent neither good nor evill but as it is used p. 24. Answ And doe our brethren hold the farming of Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction to be so indifferent a thing How is it possible when some Chancellours and officials pay 20. some 30. some 50 poūd yearly for their place registers some an hundred some 200 pound some more but that they should extort in their office and by unreasonable and intollerable exactions make up their hard rents Is this thing neither good nor evill VVe wonder that men professing the Gospell should bee thus besotted and blinded seeing the papall Hierarchie hath detested such corruptions Lateranens par 1. c. 15. quidam pro certae pecuniae quantitate jurisdictionem Episcopalem exercent qui de caetero praesumpserit sic facere officio suo privetur Episcopus conferendi hoc officiū potestatē amitttat both the officer that farmeth his office shall bee deprived and the Bishop loose the gift So was it also decreed Coloniens sub Adulph med 3. c. 3. Non licet praelatis officia sua pro pecunia alicui committere that no prelates should let out their offices for mony 6. Of the restraint of marriage at certaine times Obiect IT is falsely called a popish canon it was anciently used in the Church Laodicen c. 52. and being rightly used is commendable c. Ans to
produce vvitnesses against himselfe 8. neither should witnesses be imprisoned 9. And every word should stand in the mouth of two or three witnesses 10. Neither should the same be Accusator Iudex VVe hope your Majesty seeth what iust cause the Petitioners had to moue that the othe Ex officio be more sparingly used which course seemed strange in ancient time as Ambrose reproveth one Syagrius Bishop of Verona for condemning a virgin without an accuser Vbi talis iudicandi formula Epist. 64. si leges publicas interrogamus accusatorum exigunt si Ecclesia c. Whence had you this forme of proceeding if we aske the common Lawes they require an accuser if the Church in the mouth of two or three witnesses every truth standeth 9. Of Licenses for marriage without banes asking Object LIcenses for marriage are most cautelously granted and that upon severe punishment to ensue if the constitution be violated Answ p. 25. Answ The inconveniences which ensue upon licenses for marriage as they are now granted are many 1. By this meanes iniury is done unto the parents without whose consent their childe and sometimes heire is carried away and married without further notice 2. Precontracts are by this means deluded when as marriages are hudled up without publicke warning that they vvhich haue interest might take exception 3. These licenses giue way to clandestine and secret marriages which are forbidden both by Gods law and mans 4. The Church and congregation is offended the Pastor mocked when two of their parish are ioyned in marriage they know not where nor when Secondly as for the severity of the constitution the strength thereof dependeth upon the bonds of the suerties which may be knights of the post men of no worth And notwithstanding this canon licenses haue been abused as much as before as some of us can speak of experience Thirdly the Petitioner then had reason to moue as they did And further we explaine our Petition that either licenses might be cleane cut off and banes thrice asked without any exception according to the Communion book as it hath been in some Synods also decreed or that noble personages or men of the like quality onely be priviledged as the constitution intendeth and that they to other be granted very seldom and that upon necessary and urgent occasion better cautions and more reasonable fees that as other Coloniens par 7. c. 43. August c. 21. things so marriages may bee done according to the Apostles rule Comely and in order 1. Cor. 14 40. But now by these licenses order is broken and a way made to many uncomely and unhonest proceedings The defence of the Conclusion 1. Censure THE ydle vaunt that the Answ p. 2â— Petitioners make c. they haue passed over in silence many learned tractes Answ VVee trust by this defence it doth appeare that it is no idle vaunt that the Petitioners are able to shew the particulars given in instance not to be agreable to the scriptuers The treatises written on the contrarie part the Petitioners professe not to confute the world is too full of such bookes alreadie the common adversarie reioyceth too much in our domesticall contentions yet some of them where it was needfull are answered some as superfluous are omitted of the which we may say with Ambrose Accusationem non tacendo confirmant sed despiciunt In Luc. 22. non refellendo They are best refuted by beeing despised Yee will by argument silence them Boast not too much of your strengh let not him that puteth on his armour boast as he that putteth it off vve doubt not but to whom God hath geuen affection to loue his truth hee will also graunt elocution to defend it But though you could put men to silence the truth will not be silenced Melior est causa quae non defenditur probatur taceat Serm. 49. lingua necesse est vbi ipsa equitas sibi adest as Ambrose saith The goodnesse of the cause doth the better appeare when it is approued without defence The gracious effects vnder her Maiesties late happie reigne proceeded not from the discipline but from the doctrine of the Church which if it had been cherished by a good foster sister would haue brought forth more glorious fruits His Maiestie what defects soever he found in the reformation of his former kingdom which are not such as you insinuate he knoweth wisely to distinguish between the faults of men and the nature of the thing as the law saith Delictum Reg. iuris 76 personae non debet in detrimentum Ecclesiae redundare The persons fault should not bee the Churches praeiudice 2. Cens That God hath appointed his Maiestie c. for such a purpose as they conceit what poynt of divination c. Answ VVe doubt not but that God hath appoynted his Maiestie to the kingdome for such a time euen to reforme such things as are out of square both in Church and Common-wealth that we may say of his Maiesty with the Prophet Vocaberis instaurator ruinae institutor semitarum Esay 58. 12. As for the Petitioners they haue neither Popish nor puritan humors to be purged of VVhere the sicknes is we trust our princely physitian will in time finde out As Augustine saith Qui Soliloq 1. 14 medici officio fungitur melius intelligit qui sani sunt quam ipsi qui sanantur The Physitian better knoweth who are sicke or sound then they which are healed Neither do we wish the state to be dissolved but the corruptions to be reformed The state of the Church as we deny it not to bee in part as they say acceptable to God honourable to his highnes comfortable to many thousand Ministers so we desire that in each sort it may be more and say with Augustine in an other case optandum Epist 16. est vt fiat supplicandum est vt fiat non quasi factum fuerit consulendum It were to be wished that so it were but cannot be sayd that so it is 3. Censure He that will indifferently consider c. shall haue iust cause to approue the iustice commend the mildnes c. Answ VVee wish the same which our brethren write that such mildnes had beene vsed by the governors of the Church toward the preachers which were silenced imprisoned deprived for refusing the surplice and crosse and such other matters to the vrgers of them of no great importance God shew them more mercie in that day Certainlie howsoever their severitie before men by authoritie may be excused yet their clemencie would haue bene more commended as Ambrose Epist. 58. well saith Vides quid authoritas tribuat quid studeat misericordia excusationem habes si feceris laudem si non feceris 4. Cens As for that clause of mens traditions it is odious Answ p. 27. Answ Let our brethren tell vs in good sadnesse whether they can proue the surplice crosse in baptisme