shall reape the same Beleeue them not who tell you that all is well within Wales that they are a sort of clamorous and vndiscreet men who affirme the contrary Beleue them not who tell you that it belongeth not vnto your duties to be carefull of the estate of the Church and that the Lorde requireth no more at your hands but the mayntenance of outwarde peace As though men committed to your gouernement were but droues of bruite beastes onely to be foddered Ie. 17.13.14 and kept from external invasions and inroods Giue eare rather vnto the words of the Prophet who with a loude voyce crieth vnto you Why will you die you your families people by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence And why will you be damned I may alude without injurie vnto the word as the Lord hath spoken against all those gouernours that wil not see their people prouided a Ezra 7.17.23 psa 2.10 101. 2. chr 29 10. 30.9 34.27 ex 20.10 gen 18.19 2. chr 15.12.13 17.7 for of the meanes of saluation Therefore heare not the words of the prophets who tell you that you shall neyther see sword nor famine though you be still as careles of your people as hitherto you haue bene Looke the punnishments both of flattering prophetes and of those that are deceiued by their flatterie Ierem. 14.15 Heare them not I say but obeye the Lord in the execution of that dutie which he exacteth at your hands by calling your people to the knowledge of his sonne that you may liue For why should this lande be made desolate for this your carelesnes Ierem. 27.17 They prophesie vanitie and lies vnto you which saye peace peace while you dispise the Lorde and walke in this secure course or else Ieremiah is deceiued If they be prophets and if the word of the Lord be in their mouths let them intreat her Maiestie you of this parliament that the misery of helples Wales may at this time of your meeting be considered off and redressed Thus I haue set downe some part of the wants â—n the seruice of God in Wales and some part of â—hat miserie wherein my countrie is bewrapped â—nd which you are bound vnto the Lord but by â—â—e most humbly entreated to redresse And this â—s the cause wherein if you deale not you betray â—he honor of God betraye his trueth betraye the â—eligion which you professe and betraye her Maâ—estie and the whole kingdome vnto the reuenâ—ing hand of God For without controuersie the continuance of our ignorance and the defectes of Gods seruice will one day and that shortly I feare me bring the Lord in fearefull and consuming judgementes to take punnishment of you your wiues children families and the wholland because in your states consultation his honor and the blood of mens souls were not regarded But this is neyther all the miserie of the inhabitants of Wales neythet is this all that the Lorde requireth to be amended by this Parliament vnder paine of his heauie wrath In the seconde place then we are to consider the corruptions tollerated by the positiue lawes of this land and countenanced by the authority of this high court of Parliament in the seruice of God within Wales Whereby no small dishonor redoundeth vnto the Maiestie of God and wherein no small part of the spirituall miserie of that people doth consist For the remouing of which corruptions it behoueth the Parliament with speede to be very carefull euen before such time as the Lord calleth the land to an account for the wicked constitutions therein maintayned Here therefore I affirme vnlesse without delay you labour to cleanse the Churche vnder your gouernement in Wales of all L. Bb. dumbe ministers nonresidents archdeacons commissaries and all other romish officers offices there tollerated and so tollerated as by the consent authoritie of the Parliament they are mainteyned that you are both in this life and the life to come likely to be subiecte vnto the intollerable masse of Gods wrath the execution whereof is not vnlikely to fall vpon you and your houses vnlesse you preuent the fiercenes of the Lordes indignaâ—â—â—â— If Moses by a positiue lawe should haue allowed the offring of strange fire by Nadab and Abihu tollerated the ministery of blemished a Leu. 20.18 23. deformed Leuites ennacted that one not being of the line of Aaron might presse before the Altar b Num. 16.10.18.7 to offer the bread of his God if Dauid had made it lawfull for Vzzah to lay his hand vpon the Arke if Iosiah or any other the godly rulers had either giuen leaue to the cursed shepheardes in their dayes to place others in their stead to take c Ezek. 44.9 the ouersight of the Sanctuary Or permitted a consecrated priest to be a ciuill gouernour briefely had established any thing in the Churche gouerment prescribed by Moses contrary to the commandement had they not bene in danger of the Lords wrath They had without controuersie And shall you of the high court of Parliament be dispenced with being guilty except you labor to remoue the dumbe ministery nonresidence with the vsurped and Antichristian seats of L. Bb. c. of tollerating establishing greater sinnes among your people in Wales in steed of the gouernment prescribed by Iesus Christ assure your selues no. I do therefore in this point also for the discharge of my dutie and conscience towardes the Lord his Church my countrie and the whol estate of this kingdom taking my life in my hand â—estifying vnto you before the Maiestie of God â—nd before his church that our dumbe ministers â—hat the callings of our L. Bb. archdea commiss with al other remnants of the sacriledge brought â—nto the Churche by that Romishe strumpet and now remaining in Wales are intollerable before the Lorde and that it is not likely 〈◊〉 â—uer you tollerating these thinges any longer shall escape Gods fierie wrath The trueth hereof I do briefly make knowne by the reasons following and offer to prooue them more at large euen vpon the peril of my life against our 4. L. Bb. all their chaplains retainers fauorers and wel willers whether in eyther of the two vniuersities of this lande or in any place els whatsoeuer These things I offer to prooue against M. D. Bridges who lately in a large volume hath vndertaken their defence In which booke of his he hath offered her Maiestie the Parliament most vndutifull injurie by going about for the maintenance of his owne belly the belies of the rest of his coat to allien at the hears of the loyallest subiects in the lande from their most carefull prince and gouernours As though her Maiestie and this honourable court ment to turne the edge of the sword against theÌ„ who indeed deserue not to be threatned with the scabbord Compare pag. 448. of D Bridges his booke with Bellarmine cap. 10. li. 5. cont 3. and you shall finde
seditious and discontented men with the ciuil gouernment dangerous subiectes enimies vnto her Maiesties crown And surely the cause being made knowne vnto you as nowe it is how soeuer the Lord may beare with your ouersight heretofore in the ignoraunce of the waight thereof yet if you doe not nowe abrogate such a church gouernment well may you hope for the fauour and intertainement of Moses that is the curse of the lawe but the fauoure and louing countenaunce of Iesus Christ I doe not see how you shal euer enjoy To prosecute this point a litle farther In most humble manner I would know of you that are of this high court whether of these 2. pointes following you would be said to maintain by the continuance of the aforesaid callings corruptions within Wales For of either of the 2. you must needes be guiltie First doe you think you may presume to defend by your authoritie and lawes such offices and officers in the ecclesiastical state whereby the churche is to be gouerned that is such a Church gouernment as in your consciences you cannot but acknowledg to be vnlawful before the Lord and hurtful vnto his Church Secondly doe you thinke that any Church gouernment can be lawfull before your God and profitable vnto his church which the Lord Iesus Christ himself hath not prescribed in his word The which point whosoeuer goeth about to defend he as before you haue hard maketh Iesus Christ who as he is the onely head of his churche so he hath the alone jurisdiction to ordaine the gouerment therof not to haue in the gouerment of his owne house as great a prerogatiue as Moses had I earnestlie intreat you thē that as you would not be accounted ether to defēd countenāce those things which in your owne consciences are sinful or to account such a Church gouernment to be lawful as cannot stand with the roiall souerainty that Iesus Christ hath in his church so to see the spedy abolishing of al dumbe ministers Lorde Bishops Archdeacons commissaries chauncellors c. Out of the church vnder your gouernment in Wales You are now intreated to abrogate no other Church gouerment then that which either in your own consciences you must acknowledg to be vnlawful and odious in the sight of God and therfore without delay to be remoued or such a regiment the vnlawefulnes whereof if with our Bishops you should go about to maintaine then should you rob Iesus Christ of the prerogatiue priueledge wherwith the spirit of God hath adorned him Heb. 3.6 Because it hath ben shewed that it was not lawful for any state or power to ordaine any other forme of gouernment in the church vnder the lawe then that prescribed by Moses If then you think our church gouernment by Lord Bb. Archdeacons dumb ministers c in your consciences to be vnlawful that is if you think it vnlawful for a minister to ioine the office of a ciuil Magistrate with his ministerie and to beare rule and dominion ouer his bretheren either as a spiritual or temporal Lord if you think it vnlawfull for a Lord Bishop to beare soueraigne authoritie of al the ministers within his diocesse and if you think it vnlaweful that their ministerie with the execution thereof should depend vpon his plesure or disliking if also in your conscience you think it vnlawful for him to take the charge of al the soules within 4. or 5. shires and to take the charge of those mens soules whose faces for the most part he wel knoweth he shal neuer behold if in like mannet you think it vnlawfull for an Archdeacon whose name and office was neuer read of in the word and in his best institution is but to atend vpon the ministers and looke vnto the poore to haue a great number of ministers at his becke and controlment or if you think it vnlawful in your soules and consciences for our dumb ministers the patrons of al ignorance and blindenes to take vpon them the office of the imbassadors of Iesus Christ to declare his will vnto the people the best part wherof they them selues neuer know thē there is no question to be made but that either you wil vtterly raze the memorie of this wicked and vngodly generation out of the Churche of Wales or openly manifest vnto men and angels that you will to the contumelious dishonor of your God and the vndoing of his church countenance and maintaine L. Bishops Archdeacons dumbe ministers with the rest of that vngodly race whose corruptions in youre owne consciences you cannot but detest On the other side if you think it lawful for you to ordain what forme of church gouernment you like best of and so holde it lawful to maintaine this established among vs then see what wil follow the diminishinge of the prerogatiue that Iesus Christ hath in the gouernment of his church And that I feare me wil be this The Lord will enter into iudgement with you of this parliament for al the soules that hereafter shal be damned in Wales Because you make it lawfull by your authority for such guides to be ouer your people as cannot possiblie lead and direct them in the waies of godlines and saluation He wil enter into judgment with you for al the sinnes that shal be there commited for want of gouerment which his son Christ hath ordained as a meanes to keepe men from transgressing against their God He will enter into judgment with you for the monstrous profanation whereby those proude pope like and blinde guides haue polluted his house in the dayes of your gouernment which you shoulde haue withstood He wil enter in to judgmnt with you for the punishments that are likely to fall vpon them because you haue countenanced and freely priueleadged them by lawe to prouoke his wrath in that greuous sort against their own souls He wil alsoe it is to be feared enter into judgement with the whol land for this your sinne and make his sword drunk with the bloud of our slain men yea he wil giue the whole kingdom high and lowe into the handes of the enemie that is cruel and skilful to destroy that all the nations vnder heauen professing religion may feare and take heed howe they doe not only denye to be gouerned by the lawes of his sonne Iesus Christ but which is more grieuous in stead thereof establishe such institutions as are directly against his maiesties reuealed will If those thinges be not likely to fall vppon vs except the aboue mencioned vnlawfull callings of Lord Bb. dumbe ministers c. be now at once euen in this Parliament rooted out of the churche in Wales let not my head go to the graue in peace Where are they now who vsually affirm the intent or motiō of remouing L. Bb. dum ministers ye the whol church gouerment established in wales to be a matter odious in the sight of her Maiestie dangerous to the state Cannot hir Maiesty abide to heare
A viewe of some part of such publike wants disorders as are in the seruice of God within her Maiesties countrie of VVales togither vvith an humble PETITION vnto this high Court of Parliament for their speedy redresse ¶ WHEREIN IS SHEVVED not only the necessitie of reforming the state of religion among that people but also the onely way in regarde of substaunce to bring that reformation to passe ¶ To all those that faythfully loue the lord Iesus and vnfainedly desire the flowrishing estate of Sion together vvith the vtter razing of vvhatsoeuer obscureth the perfect beutie therof namely to such of my brethren and countrimen as the Lord hath enlightened with a true knowledge the ioy of an vpright and comfortable profession with the encrease of all other the Lords good graces be multiplyed in Iesus Christe our LORD I Am not ignoraunt beloued in the Lord hovv many and great causes there are vvherof the very least might seeme to haue bene sufficiently able to discourage me from this enterprise vvhich vnder the holy hand of my God I haue novv vndertaken J am guiltie vnto my selfe of great corruption and vveakenes The glory of God is not so regarded amongest men as it ought to be The Parliament hath hytherto reiected this cause The enemies thereof are many and strong But as the discouragements are not a fevve so J confesse my self to be dravvn back vvith none more then vvith the consideration of my selfe For looking into mine ovvn hart I do from the bottom therof protest so sinful base contemptible and euery vvay so vveak a vvretch as J am to be the vnfittest instrument vnder heauen to deale in so vvaighty a cause Jt commeth into my minde that the Lord in iust iudgments tovvards my sinnes should deny any blessing vnto my endeuors J knovv that my vveaknes in handling the cause might disgrace the same And inasmuch as states for the most part looke vvith fleshly eyes It commeth into my minde that the suit by reason of my base estate should be reiected and cast off But all those likelihoods notvvithstanding yet I see that the Lord vvill haue the cause once againe brought vnto the Parliament in my hands to try vvhether men vvill not acknovvledge the Gopell and the gouernment of his son to vvit the scepter vvhereby alone Christ Iesus ruleth among men to be vvorth the entertaynment in their assemblies thogh it be not accompanied vvith that vvorldly maiesty vvhervvith vvhen it pleaseth him he is able to countenance it And hereby it is in deed that men do truly shâ—vv themselues to tremble before the son of God and to stoop vnto his royall Scepter vvhen they are not ashamed of his vvord hovv base soeuer they be that become suiters in the behalfe therof For mine ovvne part hovvsoeuer I haue iust occasion to lament mine ovvne great corruptions yet J may boldly say in the presence of God al those vnto vvhose consideration these labors of mine are offred publish thus much that this cause as near as I could is altogither separated from those foul staines vvhervvith J acknovvledge my selfe to be defiled And J hope that it so offereth it selfe vnto the publike vievv and consideration of the Parliament as they haue no iust cause by reason of my great vveaknes and base estate to reiect the same Neyther is any man to maruell that J being charged of late by M. Doct. Some in publike vvriting to be not onely a defender of many blasphemous errors but also an vnderminer of the ciuill State durst presume to become a sutor vnto the high Court of Parliament before J had first cleared my selfe of those crimes For my purpose being to haue published an ansvvere to M.D. Some before this cause should be made knovvn I vvas dravvne vvhether I vvould or no to take the opportunity of setting out this vvhich I thought to be most vvaighty least that if I had deferred it vntill th' other had come forth I might haue bin preuented of the means to publish it in any due time Besides the 185. page line 2. 30. of M.D. Somes booke vvherein he hath freely graunted me the controsie betvveene vs vvhich is that vnpreaching ministers are no ministers and consequently not to be communicated vvith do euidently shevv that he did not vvell knovv himselfe vvhat he did in charging me so far beyond christian modesty for defending nothing els in these points but that vvhich his ovvne vvritings do publikely vvitnes against him to be Gods truth So that of al oother causes his bare and by his ovvne vvitnes for the most part false accusations ought least of all to disvvade me from this labour though I neuer ment to aunsvvere him But by the grace of God he shal be ansvvered and that very shortly And the Petition being in the behalfe of Gods honor and the good of his Church the small regard that the Parliament hath had heretofore vnto such suites ought not greatly to discourage me the nomber might povver and authoritie of the enemies of the cause much lesse He that ruleth the harts of men can encline them to the setting forth of his ovvne glory vvhen he thinketh good That vvhich the Lord for some cause seeming good vnto his vvisdome doth not grant at one time he being for the promoting of his honor lightly bringeth to passe at some other season And the attempts of his children for the buylding of his Church haue not alvvayes that successe vvhich they vvish vnder their hands For he vseth the endeuors of some not to finish the building but to be a preparation vnto that vvorke which he meaneth to effect by the hand of others Zerubabel and Ezra labored very hardly in the building of Ierusalem the Lord did not finish the vvorke by their means and yet that vvhich they did vvas a great furtherance vnto Nehemiah vvhose hands the Lord vsed in ioyning the vvall So the endeuors of Gods children in our dayes may haue their effect to the glory of God and the comfort of his Church amongst our posterities It vvas a common demaund the last Parliament vvhere the cause of reformation being then labored for vvas 26. or 28. years agone and vvherfore after so many years of the Gospell enioyed in this land the motion of altering the outvvard state of the Church in the offices and officers therof Came it so out of time to be considered off Least the like obiection should be vsed in the ages to come behold the mountayns of VVales do novv in the 31. yeare of the raign of Queen ELIZABETH call heauen and earth to vvitnes that they are vveary of their dumb ministers nonresidents Lord Bishops c. and that they desire to be vvatered by the devve of Christs holy Gospell and to be compassed about vvith that beautifull vvall of his holy gouernment Be it then granted that the Lord in anger tovvards our sins doth not account vs novv liuing vvorthy to be inuited by hir right excellent Maiesty
and the state as Jsrael vvas somtimes by the godly king Hezekiah to giue the hand to the Lord 2. Chro. 31.8 and to come vnto the Sanctuary vvhich he hath chosen serue the Lord our God that the fiercenes of his vvrath should turne avvay from vs yet notvvithstanding least it should be preiudiciall vnto our children that vve neuer claymed any interest vnto the trueth of the Gospell and neuer desired to be vnburdened of our blinde and tyrannicall guydes This Petition of mine shal be a vvitnes that both hath bin labored for VVhosoeuer they be then that vvould vvish men not to trouble themselues in that cause vvherein in their iudgements they can see no hope of preuayling doe not consider that thereby they bereaue our posterities of a great means to come by that vvhich the children of God novv liuing vvould so vvillingly obtaine And they do not consider that as the Lord hath appointed some to lay the foundation make vp the buylding of his Church so he hath ordayned others to prepare and as it vvere to clense the place vvhere he meaneth to buyld his Temple The aduersaries of this cause may be many and of great countenance but vve knovve that the Lord hath committed all povver in heauen and in earth not vnto man but vnto his ovvne sonne Christe Jesus the alone head and king ouer his Church Math. 28.18 The cause therefore in hand being his in vvhose hands is all povver and dominion vvhy should vve feare any thing that earth can inuent against the same And if the question vvere vvho ought to be terrified in this matter they by vvhom the Petition is promoted or they vvho oppugne the same it shall be found that the aduersaries hereof haue no other cause but to be stroken vvith a desperate and vncomfortable feare VVhereas on the other side the patrons of the suite may be euery vvay exceedingly comforted For vvhat els do the enemies hereof but after the manner of the vvicked mencioned in the booke of IOB say vnto the Almighty depart thou from vs Chap. 2â— 13 15. Because we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes any further then it may stand vvith the vpholding of the corruptions receaued and mayntained in our Church by the consent of the State Yea and in their practize they say vvho is the Almighty that vve should serue him if he be so strickt in his vvorshipp that he cannot abide a Church gouernment to be mayntained vvhich may be changeable at the pleasure of the ciuill State VVho is the Almighty that vve should serue him if none must he in our ministery but such as both for their gifts and faythfulnes do in deed shevv themselues to be his true messengers VVho is the Almighty that vve should serue him if men for the bettering of their outvvard state may not be Lords ouer their brethren and ioyn liuing vvith liuing that they may be able to maynayne a part vnbeseeming their calling And I vvould they did not say vvhat profit is there if vve did stoup so lovv vnto him as vvithout delay there should nothing be in our Church vvhich might svvarue from that seuere rule of his vvord Should Gods children then feare least these men should haue the vpper hand ouer them and the Lords cause vvhich they mayntayn Nay I tell you that although such aduersaries vvere of that povver and authority that it might be demaunded VVho they vvere that durst presume to declare their euill vvayes vnto their faces yet should they vndoutedly be made as stubble before the vvind and as the chaff vvhich the storm caryeth avvay For this cause and euery one that in the sincerity of his hart seeketh the prosperous successe therof may boldly say vvith IOB Mine enemie shal be as the wicked Iob. 27.7 20.27 21.10 and he that riseth against me as the vnrighteous the heauens shall declare his wickednesse and the earth shall rise vp against him The encrease of his house shall go away it shall flowe away in the day of his wrath his eyes shall see his destruction and he shall drinke of the wrath of the Almightie This shal be the portion of as many as to the end oppose themselues against the cause of reformation novv labored for Jt is not a matter of dalliance to vvithstand the povverfull ordinance of God in the gouerment of his Church especially vvhen in the steede thereof the marchandize of shamelesse Babylon is maintayned Jt is but folly to fight against the lambe in the defence of her pleasant things For the lamb shall ouercome because he is the king of kings and the Lord of Lords and they that are of his side chosen and called and faythfull Great Babylon the mother that mighty harlot being in her ful strength in this land vvas not able to stand against him vvhat then shall it boote the vveake daughter to striue And let them feare and take heede vvho defend the daughters fornication least they be made partakers of the punishment denounced against them vvho committed adultery vvith the mother Themselues they may hurt but their practizes against Gods trueth and his Sayntes ought not to discourage the Lords chosen from standing to the cause of their master Be they then neuer so many neuer so povverfull neuer so flovvrishing neuer of so great authority in the eyes of the vvorld vvho cannot abide that the Gospell should haue such a free passage in this kingdome as the heat thereof shoulde melt vvhatsoeuer is amisse in our state yet the Lorde not being of their side in this poynt they shall not be able to preuaile For this is that cause against vvhich neuer man as yet striued and prospered J knovve there vvill be many in this Parliament vvho questionlesse fauor the cause of God from their heart vvould be forvvard in pleading for the soueraigntie of Christ Iesus if they savv not their endeuors crossed and vvithstood by many of high place and authoritye All those vvhosoeuer they be J do from the bottome of mine heart earnestly beseech that they vvould consider that in dealing for the putting dovvne of the dumbe ministery for the abolishing of Nonresidency and the rooting out of Lord Archb. and Lord Bishops and vvhatsoeuer els the right hand of the Lord hath not planted and in seeing that the vvorde preached may freely sound thorowout this kingdome they do therby nothing els but desire that the God of heauen and earth may be acknoledged and accounted vvorthy alone to rule in his Church vvithin this land The consideration vvhereof ought so to mooue and stir them vp as no creature vnder heauen should be able to dismay them in this their Petition and request They seeke that he may rule his Church by his vvord and lavves alone at vvhose reproffe the a 2 Iob. 21.12 pillers of heauen do tremble and quake They seeke that he may be acknovvledged for the onely Sauiour and redeemer of men and for the onely
the one to haue writen the verie same thing for the Aâ—ch that the other hath for the pope Into which booke he hath crammed as plaine poperie for the defence of our Bb. as euer Harding Saunders Turrian Bellarmine or any other the firebrands and ensigne bearers of Romish treason against her Maiesties crowne haue brought for the Popes supremacie And for as much as he in that booke hath both vndertaken the defence of those corruptions for the tollerating wherof the anger of God hangeth ouer the whole land and also shewed himselfe to be Ammonitish Tobiah against the buylding of Ierusalem in Wales by defending the very breaches ruins of the Babylonish ouerthrow which by the just judgements of God vnder poperie we sustained to be the perfectest building that Sion can be brought vnto and so by this slander withstandeth the saluation which I doubt not her Maiestie and the parliament wishe vnto my country I haue so framed the reasons following as they ouerthrow the very foundation and whole frame of that wicked book of al others writteÌ„ for the defence of our established Church gouernment Now that our dumbe ministers nonresidents L. bishops archdea c. are nothing els but an encrease of sinnefull men Num. 22.14 risen vp in steed of their fathers the idolatrous Monkes and Fryars stil to augment the fierce wrath of God against this land and our gouernors that this booke of D. Bridges and whatsoeuer els hath bin written for their defence are nothing els but edicts trayterous against God and slanderous to your sacred gouernment to defend the sale and exchange of Church goods the very destruction of souls to speak al in a word that both these corruptions their defences are coÌ„demned by the Lords own reuealed wil as things directly against the same and the lawes of her Maiestie expressed in his written word and therefore not to be tollerated by your authoritie vnlesse you thinke that you may tollerate sinne by your lawes nor yet once to be spoken for or countenaunced vnlesse you would plead for Baal I prooue by these reasons That forme of Church gouernement whiche maketh our Sauiour Christ inferior vnto Moses Iudg. 6.38 is an impious vngodly and vnlawfull gouerment flat contrarye to the worde Heb 3 6. Nom. 12.7 and therefore in no case to be tollerated by any lawes or authoritie and the booke or bookes defending the same are vngodly and impious bookes But our Churche gouernment in Wales by L. bishops archd dumb ministers and other ecclesiastical officers as for nonresidents let this one reason for all serue against them they as much as in them lieth bereaue the people ouer whome they thrust themselues of the onely ordinarie means of saluation which is the word preached is such gouerment as maketh the Lord of life Iesus Christ inferiour to Moses and this booke of D. Bridges with all other bookes of the like arguments doe the same Therfore this gouernment is a gouernment not to be tollerated by law in any state vnlesse men woulde feele Gods heauie judgementes for the same and therefore also it is a gouernment most pernicious and dangerous euen in pollicie vnto the ciuil gouernment where it is established and this booke or books defending the same are vngody wicked and pernicious bookes trayterous against the Maiestie of Iesus Christe crying for vnsufferable vengeance vpoÌ„ such as tolerate theÌ„ The proposition is not to be doubted off For is that Church gouernment or bookes to be tollerated which make Christ Iesus the sonne of the aeternall God yea God himselfe inferiour vnto Moses The assumption is thus prooued That gouernement and that booke or bookes whiche holdeth Iesus Christ God and man to haue prescribed no externall forme of the gouernment oâ— his Churche but such as at the pleasure of the magistrate when time and place requireth may be altered without sinne preferreth Moses before Iesus Christe This is manifest out of the expresse wordes of the text Heb. 3.2.6 Because the Lord Iesus being the sonne is in that place compared with Moses a faithfull seruant in deed and preferred before Moses in regard of the external gouernment which Moses had so faythfully prescribed vnder the law as it was not to be chaunged at the pleasure of any magistrate vntill a Dan. 9.27 the Messiah should cause the oblations to cease For what king was there euer in Iudah who without the breach of Gods law 1 Chron. 23.24 could alter the external regiment of the Iewish Church in the Leuitical priesthood and officers Dauid I grant ordained some things not mentioned in the bookes of Moses but that whiche he did proceeded from the spirit of God and he had the worde for his warrant The same is to be saide of whatsoeuer was done by any other of the godly kings in Iudah Nowe that the former comparison Heb. 3.2.6 betweene the sonne and the seruant Christe and Moses is concerning the externall regiment of the church and not the spiritual gouernment of the inner man as D. Bridges affirmeth pag. 51. lin 30. it is plaine Because Moses had nothing to do with the gouerning of the inner man and therefore it were no prerogatiue for the Lorde to be preferred in faithfulnes before Moses in that dispensation wherein Moses neuer dealt Hence theÌ„ I assume that our forme of Church gouernment in Wales and this wicked booke holdeth Iesus Christ to haue ordained such an externall forme of gouernment in his Churche at his departure from earth to heauen as at the pleasure of the magistrate might be altered without the breach of Gods institution which thing D. Bridges affirmeth pag. 55. And all our prelates grant that this high court of parliament may lawfully alter the forme of Church gouernement now established Therefore this gouernment and this booke preferreth Moses before Iesus Christ And I cannot see how far this differeth from blasphemie Now if Christ should be saide to ordaine no externall regiment at all then Moses is far before him and the thirst of superioritie in our prelates and their accomplisses is turned into extreame drunkennes of impietie by this assertion I beseech the Lord in mercy to open your eies that are of this assemblie that you may see how he and his people haue been dealt with by retaining such laws in force as justle ouerthrow the 〈◊〉 prerogatiue of his sonn And the Lord make you to see whether those men that defend the interest of the sonn of God in this point against the tiranicall vsurpation of Bb. and haue brought for his title vnanswerable euideÌ„ce out of the sacred records of Gods owne writings offending eyther in matter or circumstance in no one thing but that they haue not dealt more earnestlie with your Hh. and more roundly with the aduersaries in the right of their master haue deserued to be imprisoned thruste out of their liuinges reuiled railed vpon by vngodly and wicked prelats vnto the state as
this by the sole authoritie of man and no otherwise This must needs be your aunswere For if you woulde claime your jurisdiction by any other title your bishoppricks would soone be forfeited Now I pray you tell me hath not the pope as good warraunt for his hierarchie as this is For hath not the Emperor the king of Spain the Frenche king with other states now professing poperie as good allowance from the worde in regard of the office as for the abuse in the person or religion that is not the question to make whom they will the superior B. within their owne dominions as her Maiestie and the parliament hath to make one of you to be aboue al the ministers in your dioces or as good warraunt as they might haue to make eyther of you to be Primate and Metropolitane ouer the rest which authoritie you will not denie vnto them as vnlawfull I am sure Eyther therefore the superiour power of the pope in his vniuersal bishoppricke is a lawfull superioritie or els your lordships hauing no better warrant from the word then the popedom hath are vnlawfull and intollerable And it being vnlawfull for the parliament to tollerate and countenance I doe not say the popishe religion but his superiority ouer the ministers within this land it is also as vnlawful for theÌ„ to tollerat your spirituall jurisdiction ouer your fellow brethren Here then I appeale vnto your consciences whether you doe not see that the pope hath altogether as good allowaunce from the worde of his Antichristian jurisdiction as you haue of your lordly callings And againe I appeale vnto you whether you who dare not but holde the popedome of the B. of Rome to be an vnlawfull jurisdiction do not you thinke that the pope though hee professed the trueth of religion as you doe which in the dayes of the first bishopps of Rome they also did were not bounde in conscience to giue ouer this vniuersall soueraigntie Or if he coulde not abide to heare that his place and office whiche by the positiue law and the good lyking of the present gouernement were authorized shoulde nowe be accounted vnlawfull in the sight of God do you not thinke that hir Maiesty and this high court of parliament notwithstanding the lawes established and the fauour they beare vnto his juriidiction were bounde before the Lorde to abrogate his superioritie as vnlawfull and intollerable in Gods Church If you thus judge of the pope as I hope you do Oh then why wil not you execute this sentence against your selues whiche you haue pronouÌ„ced against him you beeing no lesse guiltie of tyrannizing ouer your brethren by vertue of your vnlawful calling The jurisdiction of the pope is vnlawful say you notwithstanding all the states in Europe alow him to be vniversall bishop and it is vnlawful notwithstanding poperie were true religion and hee a most holy man who sate in the Romishe chaire And you holde it also vnlawfull for the parliament notwithstanding al the former exceptions to tollerate the popish supremacie euen ouer the ministers in this land Why the worde of God by the same reason pronounceth your callings to be vnlawful and denieth it to be possible for them to be lawfull and tollerable no though her Maiestie and al the states and parliaments in the world ratified them to be lawful To returne againe vnto the whole bodie of this honourable assemblye I intreate you in the name of God to consider how prejudiciall it wil be for our posterities to refuse the popes jurisdiction if euer motion should be made in parliament for the reducing of that man of sinne as God forbidd there shoulde seeing you haue not thought it vnlawful to retain their Ll. superiority who haue no better warrant for their calling then the pope might haue for his beeing confirmed by the free consent of the state I go forward Thirdly if Church gouernment be an humane constitution then it may be lawfull for a church gouernour vz. a bishopp archdeacon or some other of that order to preache administer the sacramentes ouersee excommunicate c. and to be a king For the holy Ghoste maketh it lawful 1. Pet. 2.13 for any supplying the place of an humane constitution lawfully to be a king And I woulde our bishopps durst denie it Where then learne they that diuinitie that it is more against the word for a bishop to be Basiâ—eus a king Hyperichon a superiour Hegemon a captaine or gouernour being titles a 1. Pet. 2.13 sanctified by the holy Ghoste for ciuill officers then Curios a Lord Hyperpheron a prelate Euergetes a lords grace The former and latter vz. Curios Euergetes being denied by our Sauiour b Luk. 22.25 Christe vnto bishopps or ministers the 2. vz. Hyperpheron neuer red in the word for ought that I can remember If they saye that the abuse of Lordlines and graceles grace is forbidden by Christe they haue bene answered they are aunswered and let them replye when they can that our Sauiour Christ neuer alowed abuse or tyrannie in ciuill gouernors when as he doth not forbid them to rule as Lordes or to be called grace and therefore speaketh in this place Luk. 22.25 of the lawful and sanctified vse of ciuil gouernement and titles which sanctified vse being lawful in the ciuil magistrates he denieth to be lawful in his ministers He denieth I saye the vse both of the name and title of the magistracie and also of the office vnto his ministers Because it were palpable absurd to thinke that the Lord in deed forbiddeth his ministers to beare the name and title of the magistrats whereas he granteth them the office and dignitie wherevnto that name or title may be lawfully joyned in the ciuil magistrate Here I knowe that the example of Ely the high priestes ciuill gouernment will be brought in for the confirmation of the ciuil authoritie of our bishops wherevnto I wil make no other answer at this time but that I hope that our bishops do not thinke that we vnder her Maiesties raign and peaceable gouernment are brought to that exigencie which the prophet threatneth should come vpon the people of Iudah Isa 3.6 namely that we shoulde take holde of some bishop and saye thou shalt be our gouernour because we meane that our fall and ouerthrow shal be vnder thine hand For when Ely joyned the ciuil gouerment of the Iewes with his priesthood then the philistims gaue the Iewes a shameful ouerthrow and tooke away the Arke of God So that vnlesse we holde it lawful for vs to seeke such meanes as wherby we shal be sure to fal before our enemies and to be bereaued of the Arke of God I see not why the example of Ely who to make the best of it sheweth some extraordinarye thing proper vnto Ely and not to bee drawen into example by others should make it lawful for ministers to beare ciuil offices For in deed it sheweth nothing els for our instruction but that
a readie way to bring a final destruction vpon the land is for the parliament to giue our ministers leaue to joyn the magistracie the ministery together And here it woulde be knowne whether they whoe in their bookes haue whotly and egerly pursued this example of Ely to defend the ciuill jurisdiction of ministers haue not therein some secret meaning if opportunitie woulde serue to aspire vnto the crowne For they may be suspected to hope if euer an inâ—erregium should fall as I trust in God it shall neuer be in their dayes that the estate would think â—t most convenient to commit the soueraigntie vnto som conscionable Churchman vntill it may be otherwise disposed off And therefore it may be justly suspected that in disputing from the example of Ely they had one eye vnto this wherof I speak For they may procue far better by the example of Ely who was the chiefe magistrate in his dayes that a minister may joyne a whol kingdome vnto his ministerie rather then any other â—nferiour office To conclude this point Seeing First to make that which belongeth to the outwarde worship of God to haue no more ground out of the worde then that which appertaineth vnto the ciuil magistracie Secondly to allowe of the popes superioritie as lawful And thirdly to holde that a minister may be both a king and a minister are wicked and absurd assertions and as we see directly against the word Therefore it is wicked in like maner to make the ecclesiastical gouerment to be an humane constitution and not vnlikely by little and little to paue the way for the vndermining of the ciuil gouernement as the reasons which our Bb. do bring for the maintenaunce of their superioritie and experience vnder poperie do giue vs just cause to suspect For why may not a forged donation of Constantine or Lodouicus pius in time joyne the crowne of England to the sea of Davids or Bangor especially whiche from Ioseph of Aramathea can be prooued to haue a little better continuance of personall succession then Rome can from Peter as well as it joyned the kingdome of Sicilia the Dukedome of Naples the Ilandes Corsica Sardinia c vnto the popes Miter The thirde reason is thus framed and I will be briefe That forme of Church gouernement and that booke or bookes which teacheth that there is something to be obserued besides that which was included in the commission giuen by our sauiour Christ vnto his Apostles Math. 28.19 wherin they were enjoyned to teache men to obserue whatsoeuer he commanded is a gouernement execrable and accursed by the spirite of God in plaine wordes Gal. 1.9 and so are the bookes And being such far beit that eyther the gouerment or the books shoulde be maintained by the authoritie of this high court of parliament Such a curse being pronounced against the maintaining of execrable things as we finde Deuter. 7.15 But our forme of church gouernement in Wales and this booke with many others published by authoritie teach the same For where is it included much lesse prescribed in the word that our Sauiour Christ abolished an outward gouernment of the Church in the Leuitical pollicy being in no sort an humane ordinance but altogether prescribed by the lord himselfe to the end that vnder the Gospel there should be no gouernement of the Church but an humane ordinance that might lawfully be changed at the pleasure of man Or where is it reuealed that the Apostles gaue the ciuill magistrate when any should be in the Churche the commission to abolishe the Presbytery by them established because there was no christian magistrate in the Churche as our aduersaries themselues confesse but as the worde sayth a 1. Cor. 13.5 11. ephe 4.4 rom 12.6 1. pet 4.10 math 21 25. established by the Lorde and therefore not to be abrogated by the magistrate vntill his pleasure in that poynte be farther knowne therefore this gouernment this book or books are execrable accursed Lastly that forme of Church gouernement that booke or books which affirme the kingdom of Christe in the outwarde gouernement to be a kingdome that cann be shaken that is altered or remooued as the ceremoniall gouernement was affirme that which is contrarye to the expresse written word of God Heb. 12.28 and therfore are not to be tollerated But our Church gouernment in Wales by L. Bb. archdea dumb ministers commiss c in their making of ministers excommunication c is such and suche is this vnlearned heape and sophisticall booke with the rest written on this argument And therefore both the booke or bookes affirme things contrarie to the worde and so are not to be tollerated vnlesse we would haue the Lorde to bring speedie shame and confusion vppon vs for mayntaining sinne by lawe The proposition is apparant Because that by the word kingdome that cannot be shaken in the afoersaid place Heb. 12.28 must needes be ment perticularly whatsoeuer significatioÌ„ els thei haue as more generall the outward gouernment established vnder the Gospel since the abolishing of the ceremoniall lawe which being compared in regard of continuance and remouing or doing awaie with Moses his gouernment is saide to be a kingdome that cannot be shaken that is such as the Lorde neuer meaneth to alter again vnto the worlds end as to haue any other gouernment placed in stead thereof by himselfe much lesse by man wheras that vnder Moses is affirmed by the prophet Haggaie Haggai 2.7 and heare by the apostle to be a kingdom or gouernment that could be shaken that is altered And this is the proper meaning of the place Heb. 12.28 For by the kingdome that cannot be shaken must needes be meant either the assurance of saluation which we haue vnder the Gospel or our inioying and professing of externall life or else the outwarde gouernement not only in the preaching of the word and administration of the sacraments but in the Church officers the manner of their choise their subâ—ects wherin they are to be occupied But as concerning assurance of saluation in this life the profession of eternal life in heauen which the faâ—hers enioyed vnder the lawe it was no more to be shaken then ours the meanes thervnto by the word preached they want no more then we doe And so in these respectes they had a kingdome â—hat could no more be shaken then ours It remaineth therefore that theirs was to be shaken â—n regarde of their outward gouernment which was abolished by the comming of Christ And â—herefore ours immooueable in this respect vnâ—il his second comming which were senslesse to be affirmed if Christ in his kingdome wherevnto we are subiect had instituted no externall regiment of his Churche Can that be vnmooueable which is not at all More senseles it were to think â—his kingdom to be immutual in regard of the sacraments and not of the persons and officers who are to deale with those misteries To come againe vnto you of
the cause of God heard with out partiallitie then indeed were it their partes to set downe for the direction of the parliament such thinges as were behoofull for the glorie of God and the good of his church the parliament by their direction according to the word ought to enjoine all the ministers and people whatsoeuer should be thus enacted by the ciuil state And if the conuocatition house were such an assembly then were it not laweful for the parliament to establish any thing in the matters apertaininge vnto the pure worship of God among their people but that wherein they shoulde be directed by the aduise of the churche gouernours For as in a christian common wealth where the ciuill state sincerely fauoureth the true worship of the Lord it is not tollerable no not for the right and lawful muchlesse say the vsurping tiranical gouernors of the church establish any thing in the church but by the authoritie of the christian magistrat so wher there are godly wise and sincere ministers it is vnlawfull for the ciuill gouernour to order any thing in the church within his domminions but by their direction according to the word So that I doe not denie but that the conuocation house being an assembly of true and lawful church officers you ought to vse their advise and direction how the wants of the church might be supplied But you shoulde not permit them to enact what they would by their owne authoritie especially their decrees being as now they are to the ratifying of corruptions and to the continuance of vngodly callings within these dominions And if you mean to giue ouer your right in dealing with the case of God vnto the conuocation house to what end shall the states of the land meete together in parliament be euer againe sued vnto But alasse that any thing in church causes shal be referred vnto that assemblie which would not stand as it doth if there weare that good order in the church which the Lord requireth and and as long as it doeth stand must needs be the cause of all disorders therein and must needs be a meanes of continuing that staruing ignoranuce which raigneth in this land Why my Lords to referre the cause of religion vnto the Conuocation house is nothing els but to charge the wolues vnder paine of the displeasure of careful shepherds to see that the lambes may be fedd besides the injurious derogation that thereby is offered vnto the liberties of this house And that it may appear how justly I apeal from that sinagogue vnto this high court of parliament and what small hope there is to be conceiued of reforming the abuses of our Church if the redresse be committed vnto that meeting you of the honorable court of parliament are to vnderstand that the conuocation house condemneth this cause of christ now in hand before it be hard and that their onely endeuours who are there mett is howe to preuent him from bearing rule in the Church by his owne lawes For it is well knowne that all of them haue banded and linked them selues together to maintaine the corruptions of our Church whereof I haue before spoken as the vngodly and popish hierarchie of bishops the ignorant ministery c. Which thing shal be manifested by the consideration of the persones who are admitted vnto the consultation meeâ—ing And they are of 2. sorts First these whoe by â—easoÌ„ of the superiority they vsurp over their breâ—hreÌ„ must needs be the chief doers in that house â—ow ignorant vnconscionable and vnfit for the gouernment of the Church soeuer they be Of which number are our Archbb. and L. bishops c. The second sort is of these who hauing no interest to be there in respect of anye superioritie they beare in the Churche are therefore elected and chosen to be there as the clarks of the Convocation house c. But there is such freedome and liberty in the choyse of these men that great care and heede is alwayes had by our L. Bb. that none shal be chosen thither but such as for good causes are knowen to bee vtter enemies vnto all sinceritie and strong maintainers of the established corruptions if any other by some meanes be gotten thither who doth but once mention the healing of the wounds of our Church he is straightwaies taken for a Nicodemus among theÌ„ namely for a man fauoring that side which none of the great Scribes and Pharises can brook and lightly they take that order with him which the Iewes tooke with those who professed our Sauiour Christ that is they bannish him out of their Synagogue To be briefe whosoeuer are of the house there is nothing done there but what the former sort to wit L. archb Bb. would haue enacted For the rest eyther cannot or wil not withstand their proceedings The whole sway then direction of this synod being in their hands who are for the most part the greatest cause of the teares of our Church will you referre the ordering of religion the reformation of the church vnto the Conuocation house I haue alreadye shewed that you ought to be so far from permitting vnto L. Bb. the disposition of any thing behofull vnto the Church of God as the very names and places should be razed from vnder your gouernment And wofull experience these 30. full yeares hath taught vs what a lamentable reformation these men now bring to passe if they may haue their owne wils Why these men my Lords and consequently the whole Conuocation house are in judgement contrarye vnto our a Luk. 22.25 Sauiour Christ for they holde it lawfull for ministers to be Lordes ouer their brethren These men my Ll. are of judgement that the exhortation of the Apostle Peter was not directed vnto them The Elders which are among you sayth the Apostle I beseech which am also an Elder and a witnes of the sufferings of Christ also a pertaker of the glorye that shal be reuealed Feede the flocke of God which dependeth vppon you caring for it not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lukers sake but of a readie minde not as though ye were Lords ouer Gods heritage but that ye may be ensamples to the flocke and when the chiefe shepheard shall appeare you shall receiue an incorruptible crowne of glory These men I say are in judgement contrary vnto this blessed Apostle for they drinke it lawful for theÌ„ to be Lords ouer Gods heritage They are of judgment that christ Iesus was not so faythfull as Moses in the gouerment of his owne house And do you then thinke that they care how vnfaythfull rhey doe behaue themselues in the ouersight of the Church They hold the gouernment of the Church to be an humane ordinaunce and so holde the Pope to haue sufficient warrant of his hierarchie They my Ll. hold the kingdome of Christe in the outward gouernment to be a kingdome the lawes whereof may be chaunged and abrogated at the pleasure
of man They do not stick to affirme it lawful for them to teach many thinges not included in the commission giuen by our sauiour Christ vnto his Apostles These men reject as vntrue that which the spirite of God hath set downe by the Apostle Paule 1. Cor. 1.21 Rom. 10.14 which is that men are ordinarilye saued by the preaching of the word For they are perswaded that saluation may be ordinarily attayned vnto by reading so they are perswaded that the Lorde hath promised his spirit to seale that doctrin in the hearts Ephes 1.13 of men which through preaching was neuer made knowen vnto them What care then will they haue to see the people prouided for of preching wheras they are not perswaded of the ordinary necessitie thereof They my Ll. maintaine the continuance of the dumb and ignorant ministery whereby our Church hath long since gotten her bane Their judgement is that they may be tollerated for lawful ministers in a christian commonwelth and that the parliament may securely maintain them in our Churche without all feare of Gods judgementes for tollerating them O the great hand of God in punnishing our ingratitude that in this cleare light of the gospell they who take vpon them to be Archseers willingly see not that none can be lawfull embassadors of Iesus Christ but they out of whose mouthes this embassage is heard 1. Cor. 5. VVe beseech you in Christs steed that you be reconciled vnto God And yet such is the blindnes of the convocation house that they cannot see this But I blush to thinke that they dare once presume to giue any countenance vnto nonresidencie that gastly and fearfull sinne and yet behold notwithstanding they are not onely all of them guiltie thereof themselues but euen in the books which they haue published vnto the world in the defence of their corruptions they haue not bene ashamed to advouch the lawfulnes of this vnnaturall and desperat murther Yea the verye pulpits haue rung again againe with invectiues against al those that withstood this their madnes O my Ll. you the rest of the R. honourable and worshipful of this high court of parliament I can not stay my selfe but I must needes in this place crie vnto you for helpe and justice against these vnnaturall men The Conuocation house my Ll. defendeth nonresidencie to be lawfull Nonresidencie my Ll. is defended to bee lawfull in the Conuocation house And will you then trust thē with the ouersight of the people who are of judgment that they may lawfully starue murther them Can you hope for any good to come vnto the church of God from that councel where it is enacted that it may be lawfull for a bond of murthering nonresidents to destroy the same If therfore in the parliament of Englande there be any care of the glorye of God and the libertie of his Church if any pitie and compassion of the starued soules of men let others bee trusted to prouide foode for your people and not those whose very judgements are so darkened that they hold it allowable by the worde for them to take order that men may not be fedd It is now meet my Ll. that they who holde it lawfull for men to make a trade of murther should be allowed for phisicions And what els are they who defende the lawfulnes of nonresidencie but suche as professe it lawfull for men to bee maintayned rather then they shoulde want liuing euen by the murthering of their brethren Is it not great pitie then but that this Conuocation house should be stil countenanced by the state to be the only place whence reformatiō of all the things out of order in our Church should be expected For therein doubtles any thing shal be heard which may tende to the furtherance of the gospell seeing none sound few excepted are admitted into that assembly who are not guiltie of the merciles and cruell murther of soules as beeing all of them for the most part cursed and bloody nonresidents And is it not great pitie but that the parliament should staye and go no further in the reformation of religion then it should bee directed by the Conuocation house For it may be hoped out of question that the Cōuocation house will see that no calling be henceforth tollerated in the ministerie but such as the Lord in his worde warranteth to be lawfull And therefore it may bee hoped that the leaders thereof will not sticke to put downe Archbishops and L. Bb. that Christ alone by the officers which he in his word hath appointed may rule in his church They will not abide that anye blemished maymed Leuit should come neere to the Lords Sanctuarie nor any pharisaicall high priest shoulde vsurpe anye authoritie ouer his brethren in this lande If this hope might be conceiued of them then in deed woulde they bee meete to cure the diseases of our church But the truth is that there is no reason why this should be expected at their hands because they are so far as this whole land knoweth from hauing anye remorse of the vnlawfull and vngodly callings wherein they nowe remaine that their practises against God and his trueth doe proclaime vnto the worlde that they neuer meane to restore againe her owne authoritie vnto the Churche whereof by their Lordships it hath bene spoyled I haue determined with my selfe not to trouble this honorable assemblie at this time with any large discourse concerning these men their dealngs otherwise I would shew by euidēt profs that they and so the whole Conuocation house are guiltie of such crimes as the fauorablest interpreter of their proceedings woulde of necessitie be drawne to giue this sentence against thē namely That they are intollerable oppugners of Gods glory and vtter enemies vnto the liberties of his Church And they should also be drawne to confesse that the parliament in maintayning the Conuocation house did maintayne and defend together with the hindering and smoothering of the trueth not only the deformed ruines but also the lamentable oppression of the Church So that it should appeare that as long as that house standeth as at this day it doth there could be no hope at all that either Gods heauenly trueth should haue free passage or the Churche her lybertie in this kingdome The briefe heades of the publike crimes whereof the leaders of the Convocation house are guiltie I will here set downe they shal be herafter evidently prooued if they vnto whose charge they are laid dare deny them First therefore their very callings and places that is the callings places of our Archbishops and L. Bb. are such as they they cannot possibly but dishonour God and bereaue the Church of her libertie by continuing in thē Secondly their practises in those places for the maintenaunce of their tyrannicall superioritie others the corruptions of the Church which they wilfully contrary vnto all trueth and aequitie doe maintaine are such as by them they haue
not onely monstrously maymed the outward face of the church in the matter of gouernement and ceremonies but also grieuously wounded the same in the matters of doctrine and sacramentes vnto the mayntenance of all which corruptions in the gouernment of the Churche in the ceremonies in the doctrin sacraments they haue joyned the crimes of seducing and deceiuing the ciuill state and people by bearing all estates in hand that al hath bene and is well in the Church and in like manner as much as in them lay they haue vexed and persecuted as many of the deare seruants of God as haue but entended to motion the redresse of any of the former corruptions Hereof if I shall not be able to prooue the eyes and leaders of this synagogue consequently the whol house to bee guiltie let mee to the terror of all slaunderers be put to all the torments that may bee invented The Conuocation house cannot here object that I deal injuriously with the whol assembly by laying vnto the charge of the whol those crimes whereof our Bb. alone are guiltie For the whole house neuer as yet disauowed the hierarchie of Bb. their practises in vrging subscription in maintayning the dumbe ministerie nonresidencie c. And vntill the corruptions of the Bb. be ouerthrown in that assembly the whol house shall be still justly subject vnto the former accusations See now my Lords whether they doe not bewray their impietie who think that men weary them selues about small matters when they call for a reformation of the church And see whether there be not many and vrgent causes to inforce the parliament to take the gouernment of the Church out of the hands of these men vnlesse the continuance of the ruinous breaches of our Church would be stil maintined it is not the matter of capp surplice tippet and other beggerlie and popish ceremonies whence al the dissention and dissagreement in our church is sprong vp But the controuersies arise because our Archbb. and Bb. are not permitted with the silence and consent of the seruants of God to smother persecute depraue corrupt the truth of that true religion which in name they professe to vndermine and captiuate the church of God in this land Those who withstand their vngodly procedings haue hitherto dutifully kept them selues within the bonds of the calings wherin the Lord hath placed them they haue in al submission and duty entreated that the cause of God might be equally hard and that her Maiestie and the parlament would amend the things proued to be amis they haue neuer as yet presumed theÌ„selues to take in hand the correction of any thing But how quietly on the other side haue the leaders of the conuocatioÌ„ house behaued them selues wheÌ„ a redres hath bin caled for at the hands of the ciuil state Surely they haue alwais hitherto preseÌ„tly betakeÌ„ theÌ„selues to imprisonments and bonds and would neuer suffer the truth to haue the hering nor any man with quietnes to stand in the defence therof And therefore also al the tumults that hereafer are like to arise in the Church of God within this land about these controuersies the leders of the conuocation house are the causes thereof for they wil not yeeld vnto the truth but labour by all meanes possible to smother the same Gods seruants cannot winke at their procedings vnlesse they would betray Gods truth and the libertie of his church The least parte of the sinnes of our Bb. hath bin in the maintenance of vnprofitable supersticious and corrupt ceremonies If they would but yeeld free passage vnto the truth and hir authority vnto the church in other matters they should not be gretly molested for these things And woe be vnto them if they had rather prouoke god and his church to battel against them for the defence of the truth then receiue the light grant peace vnto the church Concerning her Maiestie who as it is thought can neuer be induced to aulter the established gouernment I answere that if it be made known vnto her and proued out of the word that the established regiment of the church is traiterous against the Maiestie of Iesus Christ that it confirmeth the popes supremacie O therfore it is dangerous vnto her crown that it is besides the commission giuen by our Sauiour Christ vnto his apostles and therefore accursed that it sheweth them to be void of all care of reâ—igion who wittingly countenance the same and that it calleth for the judgments of God against her and her kingdom and then if shee yeeld not vnto the razing of all sinful callings out of the church I will not desire to liue if this be thought a matter worthy of death for a man to be dutyfully perswaded of his soueraigne Be it that her Maiestie hath bin moued by some of this house for the redresse of the church you should moue her againe and againe and neuer leaue vntil you be heard Great matters are neuer brought to passe without great and mighty endeuours Our sinnes haue otherwise deserued then that the Lord should at the first encline mercy vnto vs in the sight of her highnes Would any of you alter any part of the gouernment of his family being perswaded by leud flatterers that all were well vnlesse the abuse were shewed and you earnestly dealt with for a reformation And can you then maruel that our soueraigne is hardly drawne to reforme the church whose estate in her hearing is daily said out of the pulpit to be most florishing wheras the deformity therof is not made knowne vnto her I know it is no smal perswasion that should driue a monarch to abrogat the receued constitutions and establish new vnles the vnanswerable necessiry thereof were made knowne vnto her or him I am perswaded that her Maiestie knoweth not the exacting necessitie that lieth vppon her sholders of reforming the church Shee knoweth not the estate of her vntaught and damned subiects to be as it is Wherefore serue parliament men if her eies must be in al places to see euery thing and what doe you see if you do not see our miserie and lament it I grant indeed that of this point she ought to be most careful but if of oversight the waightiest matters be omitted shoulde not you put her in mind hereof And in submission entreat her and neuer leaue entreating vntill shee yeeld to turne away the wrath of God from her and her kingdome by abollishing vngodly ordinances and restoring beauty vnto Zion Well I haue forged the most notable slanders that euer were coined or els the state of my cuntrey vnder her Maiesties gouernment is very miserable yours no lesse lamentable if it so continue And if you make not the same knowne vnto her Maiestie and see it be speedely amended the Lord make Quene Elizabeth and her crown free from the bloude of her destroyed people And I pray God if it be his will that their soules be not required at your