A TREATISE OF THE CEREMONIES OF THE CHVRCH VVherein the points in question Concerning Baptisme kneeling at the Sacrament Confirmation Festiuities c. Are plainly handled and manifested to be lawfull as they are now vsed in the Church of ENGLAND Whereunto is added a Sermon preached by a Reuerend Bishop 1. Cor. 11.16 But if any man seeme to be contentious c. LONDON Printed for Ralphe Rounthwaite and are to be solde at his shop at the signe of the Golden Lyon in Paules Church-yard 1625. TO THE REVEREND AND GODLY BRETHREN The PASTORS and MINISTERS of the Church of SCOTLAND AS in our Church blessed be God touching the truth of Doctrine there is no controuersie so there is no doubt deare brethren but in the controuerted points of Policie wee would soone agree if wee did consider what is the power of the Church in these matters the extent of her power and the obedience that is due thereto therefore concerning these I haue thought meet to 〈◊〉 this short Preface vnto you Albeit all things necessarie to the worship of God The power of the Church and mans saluation bee eyther expressely or by necessarie consequence contayned in the written Word yet the particular circumstances of persons by whom place where time when and of the forme and order how the worship and worke of the Ministrie should be performed are neither expressely nor by necessarie consequence set downe in the Word but for determination of these some generall rules are giuen according to the which the Church hath power to define whatsoeuer is most expedient to be obserued and done for the honour of God The power of the Christian Church in electing Pastors and edification This is a prerogatiue wherein the Christian Church differs from the Iewish Synagogue as is manifest in euery one of the particulars aboue expressed First as touching the persons in the Iewish Church they who were imployed in the Ministrie were particularly designed to bee Leuies Tribe Numb cap. 3. 1. Tim. 3. In the Christians Church neither Family Nation nor People is separated for the worke of the Gospell but the qualities graces and gifts of men meete for the sacred seruice are onely set downe and it is in the power of the Church to trie the persons particularly in whom these graces and gifts are and accordingly to elect them And albeit the function wherevnto they are called be diuine yet the bounds within which and the persons towards whom the same must be exercised is limited by the Church which hath diuided national Churches in Prouinces Dioceses and Dioceses in Parishes so as both the election of Ministers and the limitation of their jurisdiction is from the power of the Church This the Apostle calls the measure of the Canon 2. Cor. 10. which God did measure out to him beyond the which he did not reach in his Apostleship and such a rule and measure should euery Pastor in the Church haue beyond the which hee ought not to passe entering vpon other mens labour As the Apostles had their measure distributed to them by God so now euerie Pastor hath his bounds designed by the Church Secondly vnder the Law Their power in consecrating places Act. 15.21 albeit the Iewish Church had libertie to build Synagogues for their ordinarie meetings on the Sabbath to prayer and reading of the Law yet the place where the chiefe and solemne worship of God was performed was first the Tabernacle and the Temple both built by Gods owne speciall direction Deut. 12.4 and hauing the principall parts of his worshippe so appropriated to them that in another place the same might not be performed But as vnder the Gospel men shall neither worship God in this mountaine saies our Sauiour nor in Ierusalem but the true worshippers shall worship him in truth and spirit the Christian Church hath power according to that Apostolicall Rule 1. Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order to make choice of a place conuenient within the bounds of each Parish for the meeting of the faithfull to performe all the points and parts of Gods worship and this place being built and dedicated to the worship of God may not bee condemned neglected nor profaned but frequented and kept for religious vses Not that wee esteeme that there is any more holinesse in it then in another place or that Gods presence and so his worship is annexed more to that place then to another but to the end religious Seruice may be performed decently and in order this is done Thirdly The power of the Church in appointing times to Gods worship Leuit. 23. vnder the Law the chiefe parts of Gods worship were astricted to certaine set times festiuities lawfully could not be performed on other daies but vnder the Gospel omnis dies Domini est omnis hora omne teÌ„pus habile est diuinocultui as Tertul. in his book de Baptismo witnesseth and Esay prophecied in his 66.23 From one Sabbath to another and from one New-moon to another shal all flesh appeare before me saith the Lord. Thus the Apostles ceassed not to teach daily in the Temple Act. 5. Act. 19. from house to house the Doctrine of Christ S. Paul taught in the Schoole of one Tyrannus for the space of 2. yeres daily and as one of the Greeke Editions hath it from the fifth houre to the tenth On the Iewish Sabbath Act. 13.14 Epitom de â—â—â—e Catholica which is our Saturday he taught often in the Iewish Synagogues And Epiphanius records that Christians kept their conuentions on Wednesday Friday and Sonday by Apostolical tradition and example Epist ad Ianuar. 118. S. Augustine affirmes That in his time men receiued the Sacrament euerie day Our owne Church besides the Lords day hath appointed other houres and times for diuine Seruice in great Townes as houres for Morning and Euening Prayer euery day for Preaching and interpretation of Scripture such other times as they hold to bee conuenient Thus is it manifest that the Church hath power to appoint other set times besides the Lords day for his seruice as wel by the liberty which God hath giueÌ„ to his Church to come and worship before him euery day as by the practise of the Apostolicall and Primitiue Churches Yea further the Church hath power to appoint religious exercises and certaine speciall parts of diuine Seruice to be performed in the times which shee thinkes most expedient for edification So hath our Church bin accustomed to appoint particular Scriptures to be interpreted vpon the daies so called of Exercise and by the first Booke of Discipline euery Pastor is ordained to teach in his Congregation on the Sondaies at afternoones certaine heads of the Catechisme Likewise to minister the Sacrament of the Communion vpon the first Sondaies of March Iune Septemb. December It was the custom of the Church of Geneua Caluin 361. Epist in the daies of I. Caluin
our glorification hereafter as is manifest by the words of the holy Ghost Exod. 31.13 It shall be a signe betweene me and you that I the Lord doe sanctifie you and that of the fourth to the Hebrewes A rest is left to the people of God wherein we should studie to enter For this wee must hold that whatsoeuer vse vnder the Law was proper to the Iewes Sabbath wherein now vnder the Gospell both Iew and Gentile haue interest remaynes yet proper to the Lords Day that succeeded thereto And in that respect this Day differs from all other Dayes being obserued not for policie and order only but for diuine institution and the religious vse whereunto it is appropriate that is to bee a memoriall First of the Creation as hath beene said because after our sixe dayes worke we rest on it being the seuenth as God did from the workes of the Creation Secondly of the Redemption because on it the Lord arose and perfected that worke and thirdly to be a signe of our sanctification namely that God who hath chosen and sanctified vs to be his people and whom we worship is God the Creator who in sixe dayes created the World and rested the seuenth and God the Redeemer who rose on this Day and hauing abolished sinne and death did bring in righteousnesse and life and God the holy Ghost by whose power hee did rise and by whose power we hope also to be raised againe Vnto this holy and religious vse this Day is appropriated whereunto no other Day besides can bee applyed That to conclude the Church hath power to appoint times for the publike worship of God and to appoint such a kind of worship as shee thinketh most expedient to bee vsed on these times for edification although shee hath no power to make the obseruation of any time a point of Gods worship or to appropriate thereto any part of his worship Finally to end this point of the power of the Church when the people are conuened in the ordinarie place and at the times appointed the Scripture hath not set downe whereat the Pastour should beginne how hee should proceed and wherewith hee should close vp this Seruice as whether hee should beginne with singing of Psalmes or praying or reading or preaching and when hee prayes with what petition he shall beginne what he shall subioyne next and so forth what order he shall obserue in baptizing and celebration of the Supper in Marriage in censuring of notorious offenders by Excommunication in Absolution and to bee short in all such other points of Doctrine Discipline and Diuine Seruice there is nothing particularly prescribed Although the substance of all be in the Word yet the order disposition forme and manner are left to be determined by the Church Many of which points are of farre greater moment then any of the Articles concluded at Perth Thus much for the power of the Church We come now to the extent of this power It is certaine that this power cannot reach to any thing essentiall or materiall in the worship of God but to the decencie The Church hath power to determine generall circumstances necessary for Gods worship and order only which is to bee obserued for edification in the circumstances aboue specified Let all things bee done decently and in order saith the Apostle The things themselues that are to be done are partly specified in that same Chapter where this rule is giuen and in the word else-where they are fully and particularly expressed and not left to be prescribed according to the will and iudgement of the Church but by this Precept a power is giuen only to the Church to prescribe the decent manner forme and order how they should be done And so to determine the circumstances which are in the generall necessary to bee vsed in diuine worship but not particularly defined in the Word So by warrant of this Precept the Church hath no power to forme new Articles of Faith new Precepts of Obedience new Petitions of Prayer new Sacraments or new Rites and Ceremonies such as Salt Oyle Spittle Chrisme Ashes holy Water Lights and innumerable such other things which cannot be reduced to any circumstances that in the generall are of necessary vse wherein the Church of Rome abusing her libertie hath laid vpon the Christian Church a burthen of Rites no lesse intollerable then the Legall Ceremonies yea and haue imposed them to bee obserued not onely as things belonging to policie and order but as parts of diuine worship which we of the reformed Church reiect esteeming all that to bee will worship which men impose to be obserued as necessarie points of the seruice of God which himselfe hath ordayned in his Word Further The Lawes that the Church makes in their matters are alterable because the Ceremonies and circumstances left to the determination of the Church cannot alwayes be one and the same by reason of the diuersity of Ages Times People and Nations touching them no constant Law can bee set downe as is acknowledged in the one and twentieth Article of the Confession of our Faith confirmed by Parliament but altered they may be and altered they should be when necessitie requires In which case Charitie sayes Caluine can best iudge what is most expedient Hanc si moderatricem patiemur salua erunt omnia The power of the Church being thus limited The obedience due to the Ordinances of the Church it is without controuersie that the Canons made by her touching the circumstances that in the generall are necessary for the worship of God ought to bee obeyed so long as they stand vnchanged or abrogated not because they contayne in them any substantiall or materiall part of Religion or that they haue in them any diuine Authoritie as the Commandements of God which in conscience bind to obedience but because in them an order is established tending to vnitie and peace whereby confusion scandall and Schisme is eschewed and because the power of the Church whereby these Lawes are made is the Ordinance of God and confirmed by the authoritie of his Word commanding vs to obey them that are set ouer vs in the Lord the Canons of the Church must be obeyed for reuerence of the Ordinance and Commandement of God which is the onely direct and immediate obiect of our conscience and the religious band that tyes vs to the obedience of euery humane ordinance for conscience sake But because many excuse their disobedience with a pretext of conscience I will shortly set downe the rules of conscience that by the Word of God we are obliged to follow in our actions The first is whatsoeuer is commanded The rules of Conscience or forbidden in the Word expresly or by necessary consequence ought to be obeyed The next is whatsoeuer is commanded or forbidden by the Lawes and Ordinances of our Superiours Ciuill or Ecclesiastique the same if it be not contrarie to Gods Word should be obeyed by reason of his expresse
conueniently enough placed according as the house could beare wherein the said meeting was kept wee must thinke this complaint proceeds of too much pride and sawcinesse The man cannot abide to heare of degrees in the Church and places according to degrees but he must haue patience Presbyters must now content to sit and stand behind the Bishops according to the degrees of the old Christian Councels for the time of confusion is expired and Church men must learne now to liue orderly That there was not a lite for election of the Clerke hee must remember that the dimission made by the former was in fauour of Master Iames onely and that the Assembly had not so much adoe to choose a Clerke as to aduise if they would accept him in whose fauour the dimission was made Concerning which point the voyces of the most that could bee obserued to bee present being asked enough was done for making good his reception in the place specially considering the Commissioners to the Assembly were not then knowne nor a roll made whereby to call them that had voyce particularly But this is his curiositie who gladly would find a fault euen where none was committed The said Master Iames Sandelands being admitted command was giuen to all that had enteresse in the said Assembly to giue in their commissions to him before the next sitting and nomination was made of certayne for the Conference according to the order kept in other Assemblies in which besides the Bishops Noble men Barons and Commissioners of Burrowes the most wise and learned of the Ministrie were named indifferently without any respect had of their opinions and priuate inclinations At this time it was moued by one That the libertie of the Church might bee kept in the choosing of a Moderator which the Archbishop of Saint Andrewes repressed saying to the proponer That he did not expect him to be a troubler of the Church and the businesse thereof and that the Assembly was met within the bounds of his charge wherein so long as he serued he trusted none would vsurpe at which he kept silence and streight wayes arose another who asked whether all the Noble men and Barons present should haue voyce or not and if the whole Ministers that were met there should haue voyces also The Archbishop of Saint Andrews answered that the order obserued in former Assemblies should here be kept and no Ministers haue voyce that lacked a commission But as for Noble men and Barons who were come thither vpon his Maiesties missiues he trusted none there would denie them voyce specially since in the Assembly that proceeded at Saint Andrewes it was one of the reasons they made for differring the conclusion of matters That none of the Noble men or Barons were then present to assist the proceedings of the Church It was desired also that the Articles to bee entreated might bee extended in such forme as his Maiestie desired them to passe and that some might be set apart to collect the reasons that should be proponed for or against the Articles that the whole Asiembly might haue the cleerer information To this it was answered that the conference was to consider of these things and what might serue best to prepare matters for the whole Assembly It appeared that their drift was to perturbe the Assembly with such motions in the beginning therefore the Archbishop requiring them to keepe silence commanded his Maiesties letter which was presented by Doctor Young Deane of Winchester and directed to the Assembly to be publikely read the Tenor of which Letter wee haue thoughr meete here also to insert His Maiesties Letter to the ASSEMBLY IAMES Rex RIght reuerend Fathers in GOD Right trustie Cousins and Coumsellos and others Our trustie and welbeloued subiects We greet you well Wee were once fully resolued neuer in Our time to haue called any moe Assemblies there for ordering things concerning the policie of the Church by reason of the disgrace offered vnto Vs in that late meeting at S. Andrewes wherein Our iust and godly desires were not onely neglected but some of the Articles concluded in that scornfull and ridiculous forme as We wish they had beene refused rather with the rest Although at this time Wee suffered Our selfe to be intreated by you Our Bishops for a new Conuocation and haue called you together who are now conuened for the selfe-same businesse which then was vrged hoping assuredly that you will haue some better regard of Our desires and not permit the vnruly and ignorant Multitude after their wonted custome to ouersway the better and more iudicious sort An euill which we haue gone about with much paines to haue amended in these Assemblies and for which purpose according to Gods Ordinance and the constant practise of all well gouerned Churches in all ages Wee haue placed you that are Bishops and ouerseers of the rest in the chiefest roomes You pleade much Wee perceiue to haue matters done by consent of the Ministers and tell Vs often that what concernes the Church in generall should be concluded by the aduise of the whole neither doe Wee altogether dislike your purpose for the greater consent there is amongst your selues the greater is Our contentment But We will not haue you to thinke that matters proponed by Vs of that nature whereof these Articles are may not without such a generall consent be enioyned by Our authoritie This were a misknowing of your places and withall a disclayming of that innate power which We haue by Our calling from God by the which We haue place to dispose of things externall in the Church as We shall thinke them to be conuenient and profitable for aduauncing true Religion amongst Our Subiects Therefore let it be your care by all manner of wise and discreete perswasions to induce them to an obedient yeelding vnto these things as in dutie both to God and Vs they are bound And doe not thinke that We will be satisfied with refuses or delayes or mitigations and We know not what other shifts haue beene proponed for Wee will content Our selues with nothing but with a simple and direct acceptation of these Articles in the forme by Vs sent vnto you now a long time past considering both the lawfulnesse and vndeniable conueniencie of them for the better furthering of pietie and religion amongst you And it should haue rather becommed you to haue begged the establishment of such things of Vs then that We should thus neede to be put to vrge the practise of them vpon you These matters indeede concerneth you of the Ecclesiasticall charge chiefly Neyther would Wee haue ealled Noble-men Barons and others of Our good Subiects to the determining of them but that We vnderstand the offence of Our people hath beene so much obiected wherein you must beare with Vs to say That no Kingdome doth breed or hath at this time more louing dutifull and obedient Subiects then We haue in that Our natiue Kingdome of Scotland and so if any disposition
euer accustomed to come to any Assembly heretofore and to many Assemblies none of these Countreyes come at all yet their absence did not annull the Assemblies But in this Assembly there were at the least the Bishops of the Dioeeses who might suffice to answere for the whole one only excepted who was absent not for lacke of aduertizement but because of disease Thirdly if we looke to ancient generall Councels in the Primitiue Church we shall find that the absence of Bishops or their Commissioners who remayned in Countreyes farre distant from the place where the Councell was holden did nothing derogate from the lawfulnesse thereof as for example in that first famous Councell of Nice there were present three hundred and eighteen Bishops yet out of all the Occidentall Countreyes there are only named in the Catalogue sixteene Bishops and two Presbyters Commissionaries for the Bishop of Rome to wit out of Spaine one out of Egypt eleuen out of Calabria one out of Dalmatia one out of Carthage one and out of France one so in the first generall Councell at Constantinople there were numbred an hundred and siftie Bishops whereof only two or three are found to be out of all the Occidentall Nations In the first Councell of Ephesus there are numbred two hundred Bishops and only three out of the Occident In the Councell of Chalcedone were three hundred Bishops whereof of the Occidentall Countreyes only foure or fiue In the second generall Councell of Constantinople an hundred sixtie fiue Bishops and of these only ten or eleuen out of the Occident Now albeit in the Occidentall Empire there were many large Kingdomes and Prouinces wherein Christian Religion was professed yet these Councels notwithstanding the absence of such ceassed not to be acknowledged as generall or if this might be esteemed a iust cause to annull a Church Assembly what a doore should be opened to the Arrians Macedonians Nestorians Eutychians to reiect the Decrees of these famous Countreyes by the which their Heresies were condemned Lastly the obedience giuen by the Pastors of these Dioceses which you alledge to haue beene neglected testifieth their consent to the Acts and that they haue ratified them for their owne parts PP The generall Assembly the highest Iudicatorie Ecclesiasticall within this Realme hath euer after exhortation made by the last Moderator lited and lawfully elected a new Moderator according to diuers Acts continuate Custome and Practice of this Church The which Presbyters haue beene so regarded that the conuention holden at Perth by his Malesties missiue the last of Feb. 1596. although frequented by his Maiesties presence with a great number of the Nobilitie Barones and Burgesses with the Commissioners from euery Presbytery was for the defect aforesaid no further acknowledged to bee a lawfull Assembly then the generall Assembly holden at Dundy the yeare following 1597. declared the same to be a lawfull extraordinary Assembly Neuerthelesse no Moderatour was lawfully elected in this Assembly but the place vsurped by him who had practised against the matter there proponed and not as yet determined and consequently who ought to haue beene secluded from any authoritie in respect of the preiudice committed by him ANS In this as in all the rest almost of their exceptions against the Assembly there is a false rule laid whereby to try the lawfulnesse thereof To wit the Acts and Custome of the Church of Scotland vnder Presbyteriall Gouernment which must not rule vs now seeing the true forme of Church-gouernment now restored is much different from the estate of these times It is true that when the Church was gouerned by a paritie of Ministers they choosed a Moderator by suffrage though without any warrant or example eyther out of Scripture or Antiquitie but being compelled thereto of necessitie in regard of that forme of Gouernment wherein no man had any ordinary prerogatiue aboue or before others but now the forme of Gouernment being altered and each man knowing his owne roome and station we are not tyed to obserue that custome but ought rather to follow the Constitutions and practice of the Primitiue Church which was ruled by the same forme of Episcopall Gouernment that now is established in this Land And it is manifest that euer while the Pope of Rome did tyrannically arrogate vnto himselfe and his Legats Presidencie in all Councels this course was obserued that eyther the Christian Prince himselfe when he was present was President as Constantine the Great Sozom. l. 1. c. 9. Nic. l. 8. c. 14. 3. Tom. Con. 1. p. 6. in the first Councell of Nice and Constantine called Pogonatus in the third Councell of Constantinople or else by the Prince his permission and appointment the Bishop Metropolitan or Patriarch of greatest authoritie in these bounds where the Councell was holden who was alwayes acknowledged President except he himselfe were indited or condemned of Heresie then by the Emperours appointment and not by Election of the Councell a President was appointed as in the first Councell of Ephesus Cyrillus Bishop of Alexandria was appointed President by Theodosius the Emperour because both the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antiochia who were of chiefe authoritie in these bounds were fauourers of the Nestorian Heresie which was there condemned And if we looke through the whole Ecclesiasticke History wee shall find this euer to haue beene the order yea in that Apostolike Councell Act. 15. according to the iudgement of the most learned both old and new Writers the Apostle Iames was there President as Bishop of Ierusalem Euseb li. 2. cap. 1. Theophil in Act. 15. Lyranus ibidem Dionysius Carthusianus ibid. Whittakerus de Concil Quaest 4. And so is it probable out of the Text because hee pronounced the sentence in the conclusion of the action which is the speciall dutie of a Moderatour and according to the words of his sentence are the Synodicall Letters written to other Churches This exception therefore of not lyting or electing a Moderator being grounded vpon a Custome or Constitution now abolished in the place whereof hath succeded the commendable order alwayes obserued by the Primitiue Church in her purest times is not to bee respected and the example yee bring to qualifie this exception out of that Assembly at Perth Anno 1596. is not only insufficient to proue but likewise in many points false First because in the Acts of the Assembly there is no mention made of any exception taken against the Election of the Moderator Secondly that Assembly was acknowledged to be a lawfull Assembly by an expresse Act in the same Assembly Thirdly it was called extraordinary not for any exception taken against the Election of the Moderatour but because of the time and place to wit that the time and place appointed by the sormer Assembly was preuented vpon an extraordinary occasion by his Maiesties missiue Fourthly by the Assembly that followed at Dundy Anno 1597. it is acknowledged to be a lawfull Assembly without the addition of extraordinarie as appeares by the
loue Thirdly Giue no place to the Deuill Fourthly Let no root of bitternesse spring vp to trouble you Fiftly Fulfill my ioy that yee bee like minded hauing the same loue being of one accord and one iudgement that nothing bee done through contention or vaine glory but that in meeknesse of minde euery man esteeme other better then himselfe Sixtly Doe all things without murmuring and reasoning The eighth Article PP They bring a sensible blot either vpon the happie memory of our godly and wise Predecessors in so farre as wee depart from that reformation so wisely brought in appointed established by them or else vpon our selues by resuming againe of dangerous superfluities without reason reiected by them for weighty and necessary causes Magnum est hoc Dei munus c. Beza Epist. to Master Knox. This is a great benefite of God that yee brought into Scotland true religion and good order the bond that retayneth doctrine at one time So I beseech and obtest that yee retayne these two together so that yee remember that if the one bee left the other cannot endure long and againe he saith Quam rectè illud quod disciplinam c. How well was that done that yee conioyned doctrine and discipline together I beseech you and obtest that yee goe forward lest it happen to you which is befallen to many that could not make a progresse hauing stumbled in the very entry Yea somtime were not willing which is most lamentable ANS Distingue tempora conciliabis Scripturas What our Predecessors did being agreeable to their times was well done and is approued of vs and by their example in these alterable ceremonies and circumstances wee should likewise conforme our selues to our times by reiecting or receiuing or of new ordayning what wee find to bee meetest for edification according to the power giuen by God to the representatiue Church both to make Constitutions for the good behauiour of all her members in their vocation as also to abrogate and abolish all Statutes and Ordinances concerning Ecclesiasticall matters that agree not with the time c. as is affirmed in the Booke of the Policy of our Church cap. 7. registred amongst the Acts of the generall Assembly Anno 1581. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or good order of the Church of Scotland which Beza praiseth as the band whereby doctrine is preserued and which hee exhorteth to retayne carefully is the vse of this Ecclesiasticall power in censuring of manners called in the 74. Epist. Discipline and in the 79. Good order which being lost hee saith The doctrine cannot bee long preserued This hee proueth First by the nature of the thing it selfe Quis enim leges satis recte seruari nisi constitutis earum custodibus vindicibus posse sperarit Who can hope that Lawes can bee well enough kept except keepers and auengers of them bee appointed Here hee compareth the doctrine to the Lawes good order and discipline to the auengers and keepers of the Lawes Secondly hee proueth the same by experience Et ipsa saltem stuitorum Magistra experientia earum gentium exemplo docet quibus certum est hodie ob hoc ipsum potissimum erratum quod corrigi populi non sustinent Euangelium ad iudicium potius quam ad misericordiam promulgari that is Experience it selfe the Schoole-master of Fooles by the example of these Nations teacheth this wherein it is certayne this day that chiefly for this errour namely That the people will not suffer themselues to bee corrected that the Euangell is preached amongst them rather for iudgement then for mercy Here it is manifest that by the good order and discipline the points in controuersie belong not But yee no sooner heare good order or discipline commended but presently yee imagine that your table gesture of sitting at the Sacrament the abolition of Holy-dayes and celebration of the Sacrament in priuate places in cases of necessitie c. are meant as if without these Ceremonies and obseruations the doctrine could not bee preserued for how was it preserued in Geneua where they sit not at table but stand or passe at the receiuing of the Sacrament where the fiue Holy-dayes are not discharged but Christmasse and Pasche solemnely kept and the Sacrament ministred on them * Ep. 184. Ep. 51. Ep. 361. Ep. 363. Institut lib. 4. cap. 29. Sect. 4. 13. Caluine holdeth in cases of necessity That Baptisme may be ministred in coetu alique in some meeting without a Temple That the Communion should bee giuen to the sicke and wisheth that the examination of children with the ancient forme of blessing were restored in the reformed Churches whereby it is manifest that the discharge and abolition of these things is not in the iudgement of Caluine and Beza the band wherby doctrine is retayned but the discipline which consisteth in censuring of manners which you both here and in discussing of the Oath following take for the order and policy that consisteth in alterable Ceremonies And by the ambiguitie of the word doe purposely deceiue your Reader The ninth Article PP They set loose the filthy mindes and mouthes of fleshly liuers to triumph against the most sound Professors and to rejoyce in their rotten opinions and restored opportunities of sensuall obseruations of guising gluttony carelesse c. ANS The sacred exercises of sound doctrine appointed to be vsed on the fiue Anniuersarie dayes restoreth not but most powerfully abolisheth the opportunities of sensuall obseruations rooteth out rotten opinions and stoppeth the mouthes of fleshly Libertines not to triumph against sincere Professors The tenth Article PP They are declared by this Church to bee contrary doctrine as may bee seene in the first second and third Chapters of the first booke of Discipline in these words Wee iudge that all doctrine repugnant to the Euangell should bee vtterly suppressed as damnable to mans saluation c. By contrary doctrine wee vnderstand whatsoeuer men by Lawes Councells or Constitutions haue imposed vpon the consciences of men without the expresse Commandement of Gods Word as keeping of holy dayes commanded by men the feast of Christmasse and other feasts c. ANS The iudgement and declaration of our Church touching this point is very sound For whatsoeuer is imposed by men or by Ecclesiasticall Constitution vpon the conscience to bee obserued as parts of diuine worship that is not exprefly or by necessary consequence contayned in the Word is contrary to the wholsome Doctrine as the Papists did the obseruation of Christmasse and other festiuall dayes which the reformed Churches and the Assembly at Perth impose not on the conscience but ordaynes onely to bee kept for order and policie and therefore the imposing of sitting at the Communion to bee obserued as instituted by God and the discharging of the commemoration of Christs inestimable benefits on the fiue anniuersarie dayes the discharging of the administration of the Sacraments in priuate places in cases of extremitie and the discharging of
the examination of yong children by the Bishop in his Visitation are things simply vnlawfull without expresse or necessary warrant of Gods Word are contrary to doctrine according to the declaration and iudgement of our Church set downe in the first booke of Discipline as is aboue expressed and by Saint Paul Coloss 2. is condemned for a doctrine of will-worship in these wordes Touch not taste not handle not Vers 21. Thus the imposing either of negatiue or affirmatiue positions touching points of Religion without warrant of the Word on the conscience of men is will-worship which you doe wilfully maintayne and vrge throughout the whole Pamphlet The eleuenth Article PP The Commissioners of Presbyteries haue conuened sufficiently vnderstand that neither the Presbyteries from whom they haue their Cōmissions nor the particular Churches of this Realme either require are willing or consent to admit these nouations Confitentur Theologi nihil esse per Synodos Ecclesijs inuitis obtrudendum The Diuines confesse that nothing should bee obtruded vpon Churches against their will ANS The Commissioners of Presbyteries were not astricted to the present opinions of the Presbyteries particular Churches of the Realme but receiued a free and voluntary Commission to vote as they should bee mooued and perswaded by the motiues and reasons proponed at the Assembly otherwise they had met with preiudice And therefore what they concluded according to their Commission was not obtruded vpon the Churches against their will but according to their wills contayned in the Commission The twelfth Atticle PP The Commissioners of Presbyteries here assembled vnderstanding the alienation of them from whom they receiued commission from these Articles can by no warrant oblige their vnwilling Presbyteries and Congregations to their votes Ecclesiam dissentientem inuitam obligare quis potest Who can binde a Church dis-assenting and vnwilling ANS If the Commissioners had come to the Assembly without a free and vnbounded Commission to reason vote and conclude in their names they could not by their votes and conclusions haue bound the Churches and Presbyteries from whom they come if they had after dis-assented But the generall and vnlimited Commission giuen to the Commissioners to reason vote and conclude with this expresse clause Firme and stable holding and for to hold whatsoeuer their Coommissioners should conclude in their names obliged the Presbyteries and Congregations by whom the Commission was giuen And here I marke a contradiction betwixt this Article and that which ye affirme in discussing of the Oath pa. 30. Namely that the Oath of the Church representatiue giuen An. 1596. did oblige them all who were liuing to the maintenance of the puritie of Religion in Doctrine and Discipline Heere yee acknowledge that the Church representatiue hath power to oblige all liuing within the iurisdiction therefore yee cannot allow of this Article according to your grounds The thirteenth Article PP There stand in force diuers Acts of Parliament in fauours of our present order Iacob 6 Parl. 1 cap. 8. Iames 6. Parl. 8. cap. 68. cap. 69. Item in the first Act of Parliament Anno 1592. ANS None of the Acts of Parliament here cited is contrary to the alteration The fourteenth Article PP The Ministers of this Church by order of the same printed and inserted before the Psalme Booke at their admissions respectiue promise in the presence of God and of his Congregation assembled to abhorre and vterly refuse all Doctrine alledged necessary to saluation that is not expresly contayned in the olde and new Testament c. Item to submit themselues to all admonitions secretly or publikely giuen ANS Against this promise nothing was concluded by the Assembly at Perth but how this promise is performed by these who disobey the Ordinances thereof let them aduise with their owne conscience The fifteenth Article PP The Subscribers of the Confession of Faith by their oath therein contained promise and sweare to continue in the obedience of the doctrine discipline of this Church to defend the same according to their vocation and power all the dayes of their liues c. And to abhor and detest all contrary religions but chiefly all kind of Papistry in generall euen as they are now damned by the Church of Scotland but in special the Popes fiue bastard Sacraments whereof Confirmation is one with all Rites and Ceremonies and false doctrines added to the Sacraments without the Word of God his absolute necessity of Baptisme c. which Confession is come to the eyes of the World in print and solemnly renued in the Couenant celebrated in the generall and prouincial Assemblies Presbyteries and Church Sessions in the yeere of God 1596. and how shal any man be heard to speak against that whereunto he hath formerly sworne and subscribed For the better vnderstanding of this last Article I will set downe a short discussion of the Oath ANS There is nothing that the Subscribers of the Confession of faith did by their oath oblige themselues to obserue and defend that is contrary to any of the Articles concluded at Perth and no man should bee heard to speake contrary to that whereunto hee hath formerly sworne subscribed And therefore they who haue sworne subscribed in the 21. Article of the Confession of faith confirmed in Parliament Anno 1567. That no policie and order in Ceremonies can bee appointed for all ages times and places but that they may ought to be changed when necessity requireth should not now bee heard affirming the contrary in this Pamphlet that they may not bee changed wherein ye contradict your oath and perswade others to doe the same Of the which oath the discussion set downe by you is a glosse that destroyeth the Text as shall by Gods grace bee made manifest by the examination thereof which followeth The Examination of the Oath discussed BEfore the Penner of this Pamphlet begins to discusse the oath he sets downe the articles controuerted then fiue seuerall obligations whereby as he alledgeth our Church is obliged to exclude and abhorre the particular actes concluded at Perth Thirdly he considers the Oath which is the chiefe of the flue obligations Keeping his order wee shall seuerally examine his sayings concerning them And first touching the articles controuerted he sayes thus Pp. The Religion Doctrine and Discipline receiued beleeued and defended by the Church of Scotland namely the publike ministration of Baptisme and the Lords Supper sitting at the Table in the act of receiuing the bread and the wine of that Sacrament The obseruation of the Lords day and the examination of Children for the first time at the ninth yeare of their age for the second at the twelfth for the third at the fourteenth excluding and abhorring priuate Baptisme priuate Communion kneeling in the act of receiuing the Supper Holy dayes or Feasts of Christmas Passion Resurrection Ascension and sending downe of the Holy Ghost were brought in at the resormation of Religion and enioyed ener since in
manner and forme as followeth Answ The Libeller hath forgotten to exclude Confirmation but since it is vnderstood wee answere to the rest First That the solemne ministration of the Sacraments appointed by the Church especially the act of the assembly holden at Edinburgh Anno 1581. which forbiddeth the ministration thereof in priuate houses excludes not the ministration thereof in priuate places when as necessitie vrges cases of necessitie being euer esteemed as excepted from all ordinarie rules of policie in which the same is not expressed Secondly The obseruation of the Lords day was so appointed as it did not exclude any of the Holy dayes now concluded to be obserued except Christmas only and this our Church excluded not simply but only so farre as it was imposed vpon the consciences of men to bee obserued as a part of diuine worship without warrant of the Word as it is expresly declared in the first booke of Discipline penned by Master Iohn Knox anno 1560. both in the explication of the first head touching doctrine and the second touching the Sacraments Thirdly Sitting at the Table in the act of receiuing the Sacrament was neuer esteemed by our Church either as a necessary point of doctrine or discipline which might not be altered but onely in the iudgement of our Reformers held to be most conuenient Neither was kneeling euer excluded except by way of consequence where sitting is ordained to bee vsed in stead thereof as it is in the first booke of Discipline But neither in that booke nor in the second which was approued by the generall Assembly holden anno 1581. nor by any Ciuill Law or Ecclesiasticall Canon was kneeling condemned or excluded as vnlawfull in the act of receiuing the holy Sacrament This shall suffice for the Articles in generall Now we come to the fiue Obligations whereby our Church as yee alledge is bound The summe of that which yee say is shortly and truely this PP The Obligatious whereby wee are bound to exclude the Conclusions of the Assembly at Perth and to obey defend and maintaine the contrary are first The vniforme iudgement of the Church condemning the one and allowing the other Secondly Ecclesiasticall Canons publike confessions and solemne protestations of lawful assemblies Thirdly actes of Parliament ratifying the Constitutions of the Cnurch Fourthly The prescription of 59. yeares and fiftly the Oath and subscriptions of the whole Estates of the Realme By all these bands the Church in generall and euery member thereof in particular are obliged to sit at the Communion and to reiect kneeling with the obseruation of the fiue Holy dayes and other things concluded in the Assembly at Perth ANS Yee are n̄ot able to produce any warrant for the vniforme iudgement of the Church nor Canon of Assembly nor act of Parliament nor confession of faith nor publike protestation which either condemnes the points concluded at Perth as vnlawfull to bee vsed in the worship of God or establisheth the contrary as things necessary that cannot be altered in no time succeeding And as for your 59. yeares practise it cannot change the uature of things indifferent and make these formes and circumstances which are of themselues alterable become necessary and vnchangeable yea by the contrary the prescription of a long time giues iust cause often of alteration because either the things practised which at the beginning were profitable become hurtfull or that which was conuenient in the time preceding becommeth inconuenient or because the same things are abused to superslition and prophanenesse or because an opinion is bred by long custome of necessitie This I make manifest by the one and twentieth article of the Coufession of our faith confirmed in the first Parliament holden by his Maiesty anno 1567. Decemb. 15. which ye affirme your selfe to haue sworne and subscribed The words of the article are these about the end thereof The other end of generall Councels was for good policie to bee constituted and obserued in the Church whereas in the house of God it becommeth all things to be done decently and in order not that wee thinke that any policie and order in ceremonies can be appointed for all ages times and places for as Ceremonies such as men haue deuised are but temporall so may and ought they to bee changed when they rather foster superstition then that they edisie the Church vsing the same Likewise in the seuenth chapter of the second booke of Discipline registred amongst the acts of the generall Assembly anno 1581. we haue two conclusions to the same purpose set downe in these words The finall end of all Assemblies is first to keepe the Religion and Doctrine in puritie without error and corruption Next to keepe comlinesse and good order in the Church For this orders cause they may make cortaine rules and constitutions pertaining to the good behaniour of all the members of the Church in their vocation Secondly they haue power also to abrogate and abolish all statutes and ordinances concerning Ecclesiasticall matters that are found noysome or vnprofitable or agree not with the time or are abused by the people Hereby it is euident that seeing the matters controuerted are but matters of circumstance forme and ceremony as afterwards shall be proued that neither the Church in generall nor any member thereof in particular did or might lawfully binde themselues by oath subseription or any other obligation not to change or alter their practise and customes touching these things for all they that subscribe the Consession of faith and the second booke of Discipline did sweare that they thought these things should and might be altered when necessitie required This answere being made to the first foure Obligations we come to the Oath about which yee spend many words and before yee begin moue the question following PP Quaritur if one or moe Preachers or Professours in the Church of Scotland standing to the Churches former iudgement and able to defend the same by good reason at least seeing no warrant in the contrary may dispense with the said Oath and follow the pluralitie of Preachers and Professors dispensing with the same in the Assembly Or what power may compell the alteration of iudgement and loose the said Oath in any case aforesaid ANS The former iudgement of our Church whereunto wee did binde our selues by our oathes was that no policie nor order in ceremonies could be appointed for all ages times and places and that the same might and ought to bee changed vpon great causes and weightie reasons as is euident by the former answere To this iudgement of the Church the Assembly at Perth adhered and according thereto altered some customes touching circumstantiall ceremonies formerly vsed in the Church vpon good and great reasons neither did that Assembly loose the said Oath or dispense with it in any sort but hath confirmed it by their owne practise Wherefore I answere That euery Preacher and Professor in our Church should stand to the former iudgement thereof whereunto
he bound himselfe by his Oath when he did sweare to the Confession of faith and that no power can compel the alteration of iudgement or loose the said Oath in any case And that he who sware That he did thinke that no policie and order in ceremonies can be appointed for all ages times and places but that the same may and ought to be changed when necessitie requires Did neuer nor could sweare without breach of this Oath that the ceremonie of sitting at the receiuing of the Sacrament esteemed by our Church at the reformation most conuenient but not necessarie could bee appointed for all ages times and places and that it might not nor ought to bee altered in any case by the contrary all who swore to the Confession of faith did sweare That the policie and order of sitting at the Sacrament was such as could not be appointed for all ages times and places and that it might and should be changed when it did not so much edifie the people in pietie as foster prophanenesse and superstition And this sitting fosters in all theso that practise it with a superstitious conceit and opinion that the same was instituted by our Sauiour as a point of diuine worship and by his exemplary practise commended to the Church for an essential or integrant part of the Sacrament which yee maintaine in this Pamphlet Now leauing this to bee considered by such as are not partially affected but loue the truth and hate contention I proceed to the Oath which yee consider first in the persons takers of the same Secondly in the matter whereto they sweare Thirdly in the forme and manner whereby they are bound And fourthly by the force and effect of that forme for making sure mens particular deeds Touching the persons yee say this PP The Persons takers of the Oath are Christians come to perfect yeares and free persons who did not only know in generall the doctrine and discipline whereto they bound themselues by their oath but in particular the points controuerted as followeth First That in the yeare of God 1581. it was concluded that the Sacraments should be solemnely ministred and not in priuate houses Secondly That in the yeare 1560 it was declared by the Church that Christ sate with his Disciples at Table when hee instituted the Supper and that sitting at Table was the most conuenient gesture to this holy action Thirdly That Confirmation was to be abhorred as one of the Popes fiue bastard Sacraments Fourthly That the keeping of Holy dayes such as the Feast of Christmas imposed vpon the consciences of men without warrant of Gods word was condemned by preaching and corrected by publique censures of the Church ANS I will not answere you as iustly I might that the first booke of Discipline whereby the most of these constitutions are warranted was neuer knowne to our common Professors nor acknowledged by our Church to haue the authoritie of Ecclesiasticall Canons but I say The Assembly at Perth hath decreed nothing to the contrary thereof For first Touching the administration of the Sacraments we fully agree to the ordinance made anno 1581 to wit That the Sacraments should bee solemnely ministred and not in priuate houses The occasion of making this ordinance was a misorder that fell out in the persons of two Ministers namely Master Alexander Mure Minister at Falkland and Master Alexander Forrester Minister at Trenent as is cleare by the narratiue of the act which is relatiue only to the celebration of Mariage and the ministration of the Sacraments extra casum necessitatis where without any vrgent necessitie order may be kept But our question is whether in extraordinary cases the Sacraments may be ministred extraordinarily in priuate houses as they were in the Primitiue Church by the Apostles and in the beginning of the reformation by the Preachers of the Gospell In these and the like cases there is no act of any Assembly that determines what should bee done Therefore put the case our Church had sworne and subscribed that ordinance yet hath shee done nothing contrary to her oath either by making or obeying the acts concluded at Perth which doe only respect the cases of necessitie So whether to sit at a Table in receiuing the Communion was most conuenient according as our Church esteemed at the time of reformation is not the question but whether to sit at a Table be necessary as instituted and left by our Sauiours example to be obserued and that without breach of the institution the same may not be altered This question was neuer defined by any Canon of our Church Therefore put the case that our Church had sworne and subscribed That to sit at the Communion was most conuenient according to the iudgement of our first Reformers yet we haue done nothing contrarie to that oath by interchanging sitting with kneeling because kneeling at this time is found to be the more conuenient gesture for that which at one time is more conuenient may bee lesse conuenient at another As to our Sauiours sitting if so be he sate nam adhuc sub iudice lis est it was not exemplary or appointed to be followed of vs as shall be afterwards proued and his practise did only declare that sitting might be lawfully vsed not that of necessitie it must be vsed and cannot bee altered when the Church findes the change expedient Thirdly whether Confirmation as it was abused in Popery for a Sacrament should be re-induced is not the question for that is condemned in the very narratiue of the act made at Perth But whether the Bishop in his Visitation ought to trie the education of yong children in the grounds of Religion as in the first booke of Discipline the Superintendent was ordained to doe whereof yee may reade in the fift head touching the office of Superintendents Therefore put the case our Church had sworne and subscribed all the heads and Constitutions of the foresaid booke yet by the act made at Perth shee hath not violated her oath by appointing Bishops in their Visitations to take this triall For they are now the Superintendents of the Church Fourthly Wee contend not whether the obseruation of Holy dayes as that of Christmas should be imposed vpon the conscience which in the explication of the first head of the foresaid booke of Discipline is condemned as also in the first words of the act made at Perth touching the fiue dayes but the question is whether the Church may appoint the commemoration of Christs inestimable benefits vpon the said dayes as all the reformed Churches doe and our Diuines hold to bee lawfull Of this our Church neuer defined any thing Therfore the making obseruing of the act touching this point is not against her former oath And to conclude The Subscribers and Swearers vnto our Doctrine and Discipline know no Canon nor constitution of the Church made in former times that is contrary to the Articles concluded at Perth Thus much touching the perfons who
that the fiue Articles controuerted belong nothing to the Discipline wherein the Swearers binde themselues by their oath to continue to their liues end But if therby be meant the whole policie of the Church in which sense it is sometimes taken though rarely then first it containes all the precepts of policie prescribed in the Word in which precepts there is no determination concerning these articles as before we said Next it comprehendeth all the ordinances of the Church touching formes ceremonies and order to be obserued in Diuine Seruice and in the exercise of Ecclesiasticall Censures according as the circumstances of time place and persons In this part of Discipline it is true that all the controuerted points are contained But as I shewed before it is manifest by the limitations of the matter of the Oath that this part of the policie is excluded for it is neither expressely nor by necessary consequence contained in the Word uor is it receiued beleeued and desended by many notable Churches and Realmes nor is there any thing concerning it set downe in the Confession of Faith confirmed by actes of Parliament onely this generall wee haue that no constant order and policie can be set downe in ceremonies and that constitutions made by men may and ought to be altered when need requires Furthermore in the booke of Policie that was published after the Oath anno 1581 and subscribed by sundrie Ministers there is no mention made of these fiue Articles now in question In the first booke of Discipline penned anno 1560 there are some conclusions set downe touching sitting at the Sacrament the abolition of Holy dayes dedicated to Saints in Popery and the Feast of Christmas imposed vpon the consciences of men as also the administration of Baptisme vpon ordinary dayes of preaching for remouing the Papisticall opinion of absolute necessitie and if by the discipline mentioned in the Oath yee vnderstand the conclusions of Policie set downe in that booke and hold that the Swearers did by their Oath oblige themselues to obey all the conclusions thereof to their liues end then I demand what is the cause that yee and your followers do not only refuse to obey but improue and impugne the most principall point of policie set downe in that booke namely the office of Bishops whose prouision jurisdiction power and election are particularly described in the first head of that booke vnder the name of Superintendents But because the booke is rare and not at euery mans hand I will draw out of it onely some few things touching the jurisdiction and power of the Superintendents that the posterity may see what was the judgement of their Predecessors the Reformers of Religion touching the Office-bearers and gouernment of the Church And to beginne with the bounds of their jurisdiction the same is set down with this Title The names of the places of residence and seueral Diocesses of the Superintendents INprimis the Superintendent of Orknay his Diocesse shall be the Iles of Orknay Caithnes and Strathneuer his residence in the Towne of Kirkwall The Superintendent of Rosse his Diocesse shall comprehend Rosse Sutherland Murray and the North Iles called the Skie and Lewes with their adjacents his Residence the Chanonrie of Rosse The Superintendent of Argyle his Diocesse shall be Argyle Kintyre Lorne the South Iles Arrane and Boote with their adjacents and Lowhaber His Residence in Argyle The Superintendent of Abirdene his Diocesse betweene Die and Spae containing the Shirrefdomes of Abirdene and Banff His Residence in old Abirdene The Superintendent of Brechin his Diocesse the whole Shirrefdomes of Mernis and Angouse with the Brae of Marre to Die His Residence in Brechin The Superintendent of Fife his Diocesse the Shirrefdomes of Fife and Fotthringham to Striuiling and the whole Shirrefdome of Perth his Residence in Saint Andrewes The Superintendent of Edinburgh his Diocesse the Shirrefdome of Lowthian and Striuiling on the South-side of Forth wherto is added by the consent of the whole Church Merse Lawderdale and Weddale his Residence in The Superintendent of Iedburgh his Diocesse Tauiotdale Liddisdale Tueddale with the Forrest of Ettrick his Residence in The Superintendent of Glasgow his Diocesse Cliddisdale Renfrow Monteith Lennox and Cunninghame His Residence in Glasgow The Superintendent of Dumfreis his Diocesse Galloway Carrick Niddisdale Annandale with the rest of the Westdales his Residence in Dumfreis These were the bounds of their Iurisdiction their Office is described as followeth The function and power of the Superintendents THey must not be suffered to liue as idle Bishops hitherto haue done neither must they remaine where gladly they would but they must be Preachers themselues Charge and command shall be giuen them to plant and erect Churches to sett order and appoint Ministers as is prescribed in their Countries After they haue remained in their chiefe Towne three or foure monethes at the most they shall enter in Visitation in the which they shall not onely Preach but examine the life diligence and behauiour of the Ministers as also they shall trie the estate of their Churches and the manners of the People They must further consider how the poore are prouided and the youth instructed they must admonish where admonition needs and redresse such things as by good counsell they are able to appease Finally they must note such crimes as be hainous that by the censures of the Church the same may bee corrected After all this the order of election of Superintendents is set downe which we haue more largely before the booke of our Psalmes in meeter This being one of the chiefe points of policie concluded in that booke how is it that yee haue dispensed with your oath hereabout And by what power is your oath loosed concerning this head Shall men bee tyed by the Oath to the ceremonies prescribed in that booke and not to the substance of the policie to alterable circumstances and formes of actions and not to the power of gouernement whereby they should be disposed and ordered What can be answered to this by him that vrges the Oath for the controuerted points consisting in ceremonies gestures and circumstances lot the indifferent Reader iudge But because it is true that one mans fault excuses not another leauing you to your consciences we answere for our selues according to the one and twentieth article of the Confession of our Faith That we thinke no policie nor order in ceremonies can be established to endure for all ages times and places and that whatsoeuer things are appointed by men they are all temporall and may and ought to be changed when necessitie requireth Hereupon we say That no man did by the Oath oblige himselfe to obey and defend that part of Discipline which concerneth these alterable things all the dayes of his life but onely that discipline which is vnchangeable and commanded in the Word Yea we further affirme that euery man who sware to the discipline of the Church in generall by vertue of that oath
to be obserued of necessitie for conscience of the diuine Ordinance as a day sanctified and blessed by God himselfe These are commanded to be obserued onely for ecclesiasticall order and policie and doe not oblige men in conscience to obedience but for eschewing scandall and contempt Secondly the Lords Day is to be obserued as the Sabbath of IEHOVAH that is not onely for a day wherein we are appointed to rest to God but as a day whereon God himselfe did rest after the Creation So it is obserued as a remembrance and resemblance of Gods rest Thirdly the Lords Day is obserued as is the Lords Supper this in remembrance of his death that in remembrance of his resurrection Fourthly the Lords Day is obserued as a pledge of that rest wherein hee that enters shall rest from his labours as God hath done from his And fiftly we obserue the Lords Day as a perpetuall signe betweene God and vs to signifie and declare that the God who hath sanctified vs to be his people and whom wee adore as IEHOVAH the Father who created the World in sixe dayes and rested the seuenth IEHOVAH the Sonne who redeemed the World and rising that day to life abolished sinne and death and brought life and immortalitie to light and IEHOVAH the Holy Ghost who on that day descended vpon the Twelue Apostles sanctifying them and the whole World by them with the truth of Gods Word In none of these fiue poynts doe we obserue the Festiuall dayes as the Lords Day PP It is left free to teach any part of Gods Word on the Lords day but for solemnitie of the festiuall solemne Texts must bee chosen Gospels Epistles Collects Psalmes must bee framed for the particular seruice of these dayes and so the mysticall dayes of mans appointment shall not onely equall but in solemnities surpasse the morall Sabbath appointed by the Lord. ANS If by the solemnitie of the Festiuall yee vnderstand the honour done to the Day wee deny that wee are appointed to choose any Text or frame our Doctrine and Exhortations thereto but if by the solemnitie of the Festiuall yee vnderstand the cōmemoration of the benefits made on these daies it is true that euery Minister is ordayned to choose pertinent Texts and frame his Doctrine and Exhortations thereto But vpon this yee will neuer conclude that these dayes which yee falsly call mysticall doe not onely equall but surpasse the morall Sabbath in solemnitie for the whole solemnitie hath onely respect to the benefits which on these times are remembred and no respect at all to the Time The solemnitie not being obserued for the Time but the Time for the solemne remembrance of these benefits The Lords Day otherwise is not onely obserued for the diuine seruice that is performed thereon but the same seruice and publike worship which may bee omitted on all the sixe dayes must be performed on the Lords Day because God hath appointed it to be sanctified with these holy Exercises PP If they were instituted onely for order and policie that the people may assemble to religious exercises wherefore is there but one day appointed betwixt the Passion and the Resurrection Wherefore fortie dayes betweene the Resurrection and Ascension and ten betweene the Ascension and the Pentecost Why follow we the course of the Moone as the Iewes did in our moueable feasts making the Christian Church clothed with the Sunne to walke vnder the Moone as Bonauentura alludes Wherefore is there not a certayne day of the Moneth kept for Easter aswell as for the Natiuitie Does not Bellarmine giue this reason out of Augustine that the day of Natiuitie is celebrated onely for memorie the other both for memorie and for Sacraments ANS Saint Augustines opinion alleadged by Bellarmine Epist 119. is not receiued by the reformed Churches as the reason moouing them to obserue these times for they expresly deny that they keepe these times for any mysterie or Sacrament that is in them but onely for order and policie which directeth all things to bee done to edification and allowes vs to make choyce of such circumstances as are most meet to promoue the spirituall businesse whereunto they are applyed And this is a kinde of Christian prudence and dexteritie for who knowes not what moment there is in the opportunity of Times and Places to aduance actions Now because no times can be found more conuenient for a solemne commemoration of the Birth Passion c. then these which are either he same indeed by reuolution or in cōmon estimation they follow in this the iudgement of the primitiue Church esteeming it pietie to prefer vnitie with the Catholike church in things indifferent and lawfull to the singularitie of any priuate mans opinion or the practice of any particular Church The allegation of Bonauentura his allusion in such a graue point is ridiculous for if the Sunne and the Moone bee taken mystically as they are in the Reuelation in this case the Church clothed with the Sunne that is with the light of the Gospell walkes not vnder the Moone that is according to the opinions and fashions of the world but treading these vnder foote followes the rules of order and decency for edification If by the Sunne and Moone these two Planets be vnderstood which God created for signes seasons dayes and yeares So long as the Church is militant on earth shee must vse the benefit of these Creatures in the determination of times for all her actions PP If the Anniuersary commemorations were like the weekely preachings Why is the Husband-man forced to leaue his plough at the one and not at the other Why did not Master Galloway curse the people for absence from the one aswell as from the other ANS I answere Although the circumstance of Time whereon the Anniuersary commemoration is made differs not in holinesse or any mysticke signification from the weekly dayes of preaching yet it differres in frequency and raritie for the dayes of weekely preaching doe returne and to astrict the Husband-man to leaue his plough so often were against equitie and charitie but the times of these commemorations being so rare to wit three seruile dayes onely in the yeare and the exercise so profitable Reason would if the Husbandman willingly did not leaue his plough at these times that by authoritie he should be forced aswell for his owne benefit as for eschuing scandall and contempt And Master Galloway had reason to curse these who for contempt and with offence of their Brethren absented themselues from the Sermons of Christs Natiuitie Lastly the difference of the seruice on these dayes from the weekely and ordinary makes them not to differ in holinesse or mysterie from the weekely dayes more then the difference in seruice which is performed on the fift of August and fift of Nouember makes these two dayes to bee mysticke or more holy then other times PP To make solemne commemoration of Christs Natiuitie vpon any other day then vpon the putatiue day
of his Natiuitie would be thought a great absurditie ANS If yee haue not fallen into this absurditie yee must grant that yee neuer made in your time any solemne commemoration of Christs Natiuitie And I verily beleeue that in this omission yee haue many companions by whose negligence God hath beene defrauded of the honour due to him for this benefit and the people lacked instruction in a principall Article of Faith This Article is the ground of all the rest for as Chrysostome sayes If our Sauiour had not beene borne he had neither suffered nor risen againe from the dead and thereupon he calls the day of this commemoration Metropolim omnium Festorum Euen for this it was expedient that a certayne time of the yeare should haue beene appointed for this commemoration which otherwise would haue been neglected and as yee say thought absurd But to returne to your Argument The commemoration of Christs Natiuitiy is no more astricted to the 25. of December then to any other time for although the 25. of December by ordinance of the Church bee dedicated to that religious seruice yet the seruice is not astricted to the time as the seruice of the Iewish festiuities which lawfully might not be performed on any other dayes then the festiuall The commemoration appointed by our Church to bee made on these fiue dayes may lawfully be performed at other conuenient times although on these dayes the same must not bee omitted For the seruice ar I haue said is not appointed for the Time but the Time is appointed for the worship So it is not absurd to remember Christs Natiuitie so oft as occasion is offered with all conuenient solemnitie as it may serue to his honour and the edification of the Church Thus wee haue seene that according to the Doctrine of the reformed Churches Anniuersarie dayes are and may bee obserued though not for any mysterie or holinesse that is in them more then in other dayes but for order and policy onely Against this all the Reasons which Bellarmine or yee haue brought or can inuent shall neuer preuaile more then the barking of a dogge against the Moone PP Next it may be obiected that the people of God might haue indicted dayes of fasting at their owne determination and an interdiction of all kind of worke Ans They had a generall warrant from God Ioel. 2.15 to proclayme a generall fast according to the occurrence of their calamities and other affaires of the Church The light and Law of Nature leades a man to this obseruation of an occasionall fast The like may be said by analogie of thanksgiuing that wee ought to praise God in the meane time when wee receiue the benefit But to make of the occasionall dayes of fasting or feasting anniuersarie and set festiuall and fasting dayes is without warrant It remaynes therefore that it is the Lords soueraignty to make or ordayne a thing to bee holy God first sanctifies by commandement and institution man sanctifies thereafter by obseruation applying to an holy vse the time sanctified by God ANS The conclusion agreeth not with the premisses for if it be Gods soueraigntie to make or ordayne a thing to bee holy how may the Church make a thing holy by appointing an occasionall feast or fast as yee grant shee may doe The instinct of nature and that command out of Ioel is a generall warrant onely The particular calamitie or benefit wherefore a fast or feast should be proclaymed is not expressed neither is the time particularly determined whereupon the solemne festiuitie or fast should be kept but the one is left to the estimation and the other to the determination of the Church So by that warrant libertie is giuen to the Church to consider and define the causes for the which a fast should bee proclaymed and to determine the time when the same should be obserued and to separate that time from common businesse and consecrate the same to the spirituall exercise of preaching hearing praying fasting c. as our Church hath vsed to doe very often Now if the Church hath power vpon occasionall motiues to appoint occasionall fasts or festiuities may not shee for constant and eternall blessings which doe infinitely excell all occasionall benefits appoint ordinary times of commemoration and thanksgiuing Ye say that this hath no warrant but yee speake without warrant for there is as great warrant to appoint such dayes as is for any other point of Ecclesiasticall policie touching the determination of times places formes and order to be obserued in the worship of God according to these generall grounds Let all things bee done to the glorie of God 1. Cor. 10. to edification 1. Cor. 14. with order and decencie 1. Cor. 14.16 The whole policie of our Church touching the vse of these circumstantiall things is ordered by these rules and according to these did our Church in the first booke of Discipline which yee cite often ordayne for the purpose now in hand That in euery notable Towne a day beside the Sonday should bee appointed weekely for Sermon that during the time of Sermon the day should be kept free from all exercise of labour as well by the Master as by the seruant That euery day there be either Sermon or prayers with reading of the Scriptures That Baptisme be orderly ministred either on the Sonday or after Sermon and the dayes of prayer That at foure seuerall times of the yeere the Sacrament of the Lords Supper be ministred viz. on the first Sonday of March on the first Sonday of Iune first Sonday of September and the first Sonday of December That in euery towne where Schollers are and learned men repaire a certaine day euery weeke be appointed for the exercise of Ministers in prophecie And the said booke affirmes The dedication of times and houres for such generall and particular exercises of the Word and Sacraments and Prayer to appertayne to the policie of the Church If the Church hath power after this manner to appoint times for Doctrine and diuine Seruice and Doctrine and diuine Seruice for times as the doctrine of the Catechisme on Sonday at afternoone reade the 9. Chapter of the said booke it cannot be denyed but the Church hath also power to appoint a certaine time day and houre for commemoration of Christs Natiuitie Passion c. For what more power had our Church at that time to appoint the Sacrament to be ministred the first Sondaies of March Iune c. then she hath now to appoint a Sermon to be made of Christs resurrection vpon Easter day and a Sermon of the sending downe of the holy Ghost vpon Whitsunday and does not the light of Nature teach vs that rare and great benefits should be remembred with more then ordinary thankefulnesse Hereby it is cleere that it is not the Lords soueraignty onely to make or ordayne a thing to be holy but it is a prerogatiue that God also hath giuen to the Christian Church But to the end
was not Anniuersary as first yee leaue it vncertaine yee thinke the same was an addition of the Pharisies who inlarged the glory of this Feast as they did their Phylacteries but this is a friuolous coniecture and the interpretation of Iunius words out of the Talmude is no better to wit that the Wisemen who decreed that the eighth dayes of that Feast should bee yeerely dayes of ioy were the Pharisies because they are called Sapientes Israelis for it behoued these that appointed the Festiuities not onely to bee Wisemen but men of Authoritie also And therefore it is more probable that the Wisemen in the Talmude were the Masters of the great Synagogue that had power to appoint such Festiuities But how would our Sauiour who censured the Pharisies for inlarging their Phylacteries and corrected the abuses of the Law brought in by them haue omitted such a grosse Errour and Superstition as the Institution and keeping of these holy dayes vnrebuked if it had beene a Pharisaicall Addition and not a lawfull Constitution Then yee teach your Reader a great cunning to play fast and loose in answering all the instances brought from the Iewish Church and that is whether hee grant or denie them to bee lawfull yet to eschew the dint of the Argument for if hee grant them to bee lawfull then he may flye to this refuge that the Iewes had extraordinarie directions which wee want as Prophets who were only Prophets by the Spirit vnto the dayes of Malachie Vrim and Thummim vnder the first Temple and in place thereof vnder the second a slender voyce sounding from Heauen called Bathcoll But if hee denie the same to haue beene lawfull then to alleadge that they were Pharisaicall Additions and that wee should not imitate the Pharisies and fond Iewes I assure my selfe that no honest-hearted man will either follow the Pharisies in their Superstition nor you in vsing such sophisticall euasions of which none will serue against the instances alledged for if yee say that the obseruation of the dayes of Purim or Dedication were Pharisaicall Additions the exact diligence of our Sauiour in rebuking and correcting all such abuses and superstitious Nouations as were brought into the worship of God by the Pharisies will controll you And if ye say that they had extraordinarie directions yee speake without warrant of Scripture which is presumption in you to doe So it remaines for any thing ye haue said that holy dayes were and might bee lawfully kept vnder the Law without any particular warrant from God But put the case that the same might not haue beene done vnder the Law it followes not that the Christian Church hath not libertie to appoint dayes and times for religious exercises without particular direction For vnder the Law God not only set downe the substance of his worship but all the circumstances also as the persons in particular by whom the place where and the times when he should be worshipped so fully as little or nothing was left to the abitrement of the Iewish Church and as yee say these times were so ceremonious that the greatest part of the externall worship consisted in Ceremonies vnder the Gospell it is not so for in the Gospell the substance of these Ceremonies and of the worship of God is perfectly set downe but the circumstantiall Ceremonies of time place persons and formes which are no part of the worship but pertinences only are left to bee determined by the Church according to the generall Rules of Order and Decencie It is true because the Iewes had one place only appointed by God for his worship to wit the Temple and Tabernacle whereunto the people could not resort at all times therefore to their owne election was permitted the appointing of other commodious places for their Synagogues And now vnder the Gospell there is one onely Day of diuine Institution to wit the Lords Day whereunto to tye the worship of God is a Iudaicall Pedagogie against the Christian libertie and practice For the time is now come that from one new Moone to another and from one Sabbath to another all flesh shall come and worship before God Isa 66.23 According to the which Pro phesie the Apostolike and Primitiue Church did not only conuene on the Lords Day to worship God but on such other times as they thought commodious to obserue Saint Paul taught often on the Iewish Sabbath and at Ephesus daily for the space of two yeares in the Schoole of one Tyrannus Saint Augustine testifies that in some Churches they conuened daily not onely to preaching praying and Lectures but to the celebration of the Sacrament also Epiphanius in his Epitomie or Abridgement of Christian Faith affirmeth Apostolos instituisse synaxes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The Apostles to haue instituted their holy meetings for diuine Seruice on Wednesday Friday and the Lords Day Socrates witnesses that on these dayes through the whole World for the greatest part the holy mysteries were celebrated Hereby it is manifest albeit the Church was tyed to worship God solemnly and publikely on the Lords Day that yet they were not tyed to that Day only but that all dayes were sanctified by Christ that the Church might choose and determine of them for the Seruice of God as she pleased So to conclude the Church vnder the Gospell hath power without any particular warrant of God keeping the general Rules of Pietie Charitie and Decencie to dedicate times and places and set downe formes and orders for the worship of God The Ceremonies in the Iewes Church were not only Circumstantiall but Mysticall for the greatest part and a part of diuine worship it selfe such as the Church vnder the Law and vnder the Gospell hath no power to institute but the Geremonies vnder the Gospell are meerely Circumstantiall for the greater part not Mysticall and a part of the worship it selfe but onely accessorie thereto these the Christian Church hath power to appoint And such are the fiue dayes of old obserued by the Primitiue Church and now restored againe in our Church and such were the dayes of Purim and the Feast of Dedication which were not obserued as a part of religion instituted by God but only for commemoration of Gods benefits bestowed vpon his people in these times PP The obseruation of Anniuersary dayes pertayned to the Ceremoniall Law The fourth Reason but so it is that the Ceremoniall Law is abolished Yet confirme the Antecedent by the reasons following First The Anniuersary Dayes were distinguished from the Morall Sabbath many were the preheminences of the ordinary Sabbath aboue the Anniuersary dayes Secondly The Apostle cals them weake beggerly rudiments Gal. 4.9.10 The elements of the world Col. 2.20 Shaddowes of things to come Col. 2.16 17. The Apostle sayes not the obseruation of Iudaicall dayes but simpliciter the obseruation of dayes serued to the people of God for a typicall vse and rudiment of Religion If the obseruation of some anniuersarie dayes was prescribed
better to wit that there is no testimonie in writing for the confirmation of that custome for by this reason it would follow that the obseruation of Sonday in stead of the Iewish Sabbath hath preuayled by a priuate custome only For in the Apostolique writings we haue no testimonie for the confirmation of that custome In Scripture we reade that our Sauiour rose on that day that on that day he appeared to his Disciples that on that day the Apostle appointed collections to be made for the poore that on that day at Troas the Disciples were assembled to breake bread and that S. Paul preached All these actions make aswell for the obseruation of Pasche Sonday and as the Bishop of Winchester saith somewhat more seeing it is after a sort the same day by reuolution whereon our Sauiour did rise yet all these practises exercises and meetings on the Lords day had not demonstrate the sanctification of it if it had not beene perpetually and vniuersally obserued afterwards by the Church This constant and vniuersall obseruation of the Church hath declared these practises to be exemplarie and that our Sauiour did consecrate that day by his resurrection and apparitions to be in stead of the Sabbath Vpon this ground S. August Epist ad Ianuar. 118. sayes Illa quae non scripta sed tradita custodimus quae quidem toto Terrarum orbe obseruātur dantur intelligi vel ab ipsis Apostolis vel plenarijs Concilijs quorum est in Ecclesia saluberrima auctoritas commendata atque statuta retinere Sicuti quod Domini Passio Resurrectio Ascensio in coelum aduentus de coelo Spiritus Sancti anniuersaria solennitate celebrantur that is Those things which come to vs by Tradition and not by Writing and yet are obserued in the whole world must bee esteemed to haue beene commended vnto vs and instituted either by the Apostles themselues or by generall Councells whose authoritie hath euer beene wholsome to the Church as by example the Passion Resurrection Ascension and the descent of the holy Ghost from heauen which wee solemnely keepe euery yeare This rule of Saint Augustine if it bee not demonstratiue yet it is more probable then Socrates his opinion for it is more like a custome receiued by the vniuersall Church should proceed from the authoritie of the Apostles or some generall Councell rather then from a priuate obseruation as Socrates thinks Yet to confirme his opinion yee say that Iustine Martyr mentions no Holy day but the Lords Day What then Hee had not the occasion yet Tertullian who flourished but fortie yeares after him in the second booke directed to his wife hath these wordes Quis denique solennibus Paschae abnoctantem seeurus sustinet And in his booke De Praescriptionib aduers Haereticos mentions one Blastus whom hee calls an Heretike for maintayning that Pasche should bee kept on the 14. day of the Moone as the Iewish custome was Tertullian flourished in the yeare of our Lord 183. and speaking thus of Pasche not as of a new Constitution but as of a custome long before receiued in the Church does confirme the Bishop of Winchester his iudgement That in all likelihood this obseruation was Apostolique By Apostolique I meane not a doctrinall point which is to bee obserued as a substantiall part of diuine worship or a condition necessary to saluation but the imitation onely of an Apostolique practice concerning order and policie neither doe I meane such a practice as is expresly set down in Scripture and vniuersally obserued through the world such as the Lords Day is for such a practice hath the strength of a diuine Precept but I vnderstand such a practice as albeit it be not recorded in Scripture to haue beene done by the Apostles themselues or the Churches in their time yet the same being vniuersally receiued in the world and obserued since the Apostles dayes is most probably presumed to haue beene practised in their times and allowed by them And in this the Lords Day differs from Pasche and the other three dayes mentioned by Saint Augustine that the Lords Day hath not onely the vniuersall and perpetuall obseruation of the Church since the dayes of the Apostles but also the practice of our Sauiour his Apostles and the Church in their times expresly recorded in Scripture The other haue onely an vniuersall and constant practice of the Church since the Apostles time which not the lesse ought to be preferred to any priuate or late particular custome And to returne to the Act of Perth it ordaynes none of these dayes to be kept for Diuine and Apostolique but onely that on them once in the yeare a solemne commemoration be made of the benefits of our Redemption and therefore the Reasons ye bring to proue that these dayes are not Apostolique impugne no wayes the lawfulnesse of the act Where yee say that the obseruation of the Passion day hath brought into the Church set dayes of fasting condemned by our Diuines I aske you how yee doe proue that affirmation It is enough yee haue said it But to conclude this point I doe verily thinke That to fast and pray at some set times were lesse offensiue to God then to bee often feasting and surfetting pratling and lying traducing our Brethren and condemning the good order and policie of Gods Church PP If it had beene Gods will The sixe Reason that the seuerall acts of Christ should haue beene celebrated with seuerall solemnities the holy Ghost would haue made knowne to vs the dayes wheron they were done Secondly if the actions of Christ aduance the dayes wherein they were wrought as Hooker sayes or consecrate them as Bellarmine sayes they ought to be knowne otherwise it will fall out that we shall keepe the dayes holy that were neuer aduanced nor consecrated by Christs action or institution But so it is the day of Christs Natiuitie is hid from mortall men ANS It is true that if it had beene Gods will to haue aduanced and consecrated the dayes of Christs Natiuitie Passion c. by annexing to them some particular exercise of Religion such as the festiuall dayes of the Iewes had and clothing them with some mysticall signification the holy Ghost had made the dayes knowne otherwise they could not haue beene obserued But from the beginning we haue declared according to the iudgement not of Bellarmine but of our best reformed Churches and Diuines that these dayes are not kept for any relation that the worship hath to them as if by Christs actions or institution they were to be honoured with some religious exercise but for order and policy only as the most meet and oportune occasions in the iudgement of the primitiue Church and in our estimation most meet for testifying our conformitie with her and with the whole Christian world euer since The long discourse and dispute which yee subjoyne to proue the time of Christs Natitutie to be vncertayne because it is not contradictorie to the
to celebrate that holy action vpon the day of the Natiuitie which wee call Yule and vpon Easter day which we call Pasche The ground of this power is first the abolishing of the New-moones Festiual daies and Sabbaths by the coming of our Sauiour in whom the body of all these shadows is and next the libertie giuen by God to the Christian Church mentioned by Isaiah as ye heard before For as by the first we are freed from the bondage of the Law and the obseruation of the set times therein prescribed so by the second all times are sanctified to the worship of God in so farre that the Christian Church may make choyce of any time in the weeke any day in the moneth or yeere for their publique meetings to his worship And as for the Lords Day which hath succeeded to the Iewish Sabbath albeit God hath cōmanded to sanctifie it by the publike exercise of religiō yet neither is the whole pub like worship nor any part of it appropriated to that time but lawfully the same may be performed vpō any other conuenient day of the weeke of the Moneth or of the yere as the Church shall think expedient Vpon this ground Zanchius affirmed Ecclesiae Christi liberū esse quos velit praeter dominic dies sibi sāctificādos deligere And by this warrant did the primitiue Church sanctifie these fiue anniuersarie dayes of Christs Natiuitie Passion Resurrection Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Ghost Where it is obiected that it is onely proper to God to make holidayes I answer That it is onely proper to God to make times and places holy by appropriating to them a diuine worship which may not bee performed lawfully but in these places and on these times such as the Tabernacle and Temple and the Iewish Festiuities vnder the Law were for vnto them was appropriated by God a worship which might not be performed on another day and so these dayes did not only belong to the worship as meere circumstances but were proper parts or points thereof and could not bee omitted without marring of the whole action In which respect these dayes were holier then other dayes because a part of Gods worship consisted in obseruation of them Such holy dayes the Church cannot make But to make times and places holy by consecration of them to an holy vse the Church hath power for the dayes that she appoints are obserued only for order and policie and haue no relation to the worship performed on them as any Rite or religious Ceremonie belonging necessarily to the integritie thereof The Natiuitie of our Sauiour may bee remembred and publike thankes giuen to God therefore vpon any other time as well as vpon the twentie fiue of December likewise the Passion Ascension and the rest of these benefits yet wee remember them at certaine set times not because the times require such a worship or the worship such a time to the integritie and lawfulnesse thereof but to the end the worship may be performed orderly once euery yeare in euery place vpon one day that all people wheresoeuer they be at home or abroad may bee instructed and admonished to prayse and magnifie the grace of God and goodnesse of their Sauiour Herein the reformed Churches differ from the Papists who Iudaize in obseruation of those Festiuities because they professe to obserue them not for order only but esteeme them to be sacratiores sanctiores alijs diebus Bellar. de cultu sanctorum lib. 3. cap. 10. pars diuini cultus which we doe not For the Lords Day it hath succeeded to the Sabbath and is holy by diuine Institution hauing for euidence and confirmation thereof both a morall Precept and the exemplarie practice of Christ and his Apostles in Scripture In the forth command after the labour of six dayes the seuenth is appointed to bee sanctified in memoriall of Gods rest from his six dayes worke and the particular day not being expressed in the command was notified to the people either by the exemplary practice of Moses and the Church in the Wildernesse or by tradition of the Fathers going before if so it be that from the Creation that day was obserued Now after the legall shaddowes are abolished whereof the Iewish Sabbath was one if any will demand what day must bee obserued in the Christian Church wee answere that questionlesse for the quotient of the number the day cannot bee altered which by the Law is appointed Heauen and Earth shall perish but one iot of the Law shall not perish Our Sauiour came not to dissolue the Law but to fulfill it In the Law wee heare that God rested the seuenth Day that he blessed and sanctified it and there is a libertie giuen to labour six dayes but the seuenth is commanded to be kept holy so howbeit the Iewish Sabbath which was the shaddow be materially abolished as touching the particular Day yet the Day commanded in the Law formally must remayne and euer be the seuenth after six dayes worke But if yee will aske seeing the seuenth Day in particular is not expressed in the Law and that day which the Iewes obserued is abolished by Christ as the shaddow by the body how the particular and materiall Day may bee knowne that the Christian Church should obserue Vnto this we answere that the particular Day was demonstrated by our Sauiours Resurrection and his Apparitions made thereon by the Apostolicall practice and the perpetuall obseruation of the Church euer since that time of the Day which in Scripture is called the Lords Day as that which the Iewes obserued was called the Lords Sabbath because as the one was appointed by the Lord for a memoriall of his rest after the Creation so the other was inflituted by the Lord for a memoriall of his Resurrection after the Redemption For this wee must hold as a sure ground whatsoeuer the Catholike Church hath obserued in all Ages and is found in Scripture expresly to haue beene practised by Christ and the Apostles such as the sanctification of the Lords Day the same most certainly was instituted by the Lord to bee obserued and his practice in that is exemplar and hath the strength of a particular precept Hereby it is manifest that the sanctification of the Lords Day is of diuine Institution as well by reason of the diuine Precept commanding the seuenth Day in generall to bee obserued as of the diuine practice of Christ and the Apostles their specifying the Day which hath the force of a particular diuine Precept In respect whereof the obseruation of this Day is a point of diuine Worship and is holy not by Ecclesiasticall Constitution but by diuine Institution Moreouer this Day is holy by appropriation of it to a certaine religious vse whereunto no other Day can be applyed namely to bee a memoriall of the Lords rest after the Creation and of his Resurrection after the Redemption As also to be a signe of our sanctification here and of
the consolation of the Church against her feares without and troubles within PP As long as the gouernment of the Church of Scotland stood in integritie as it was established by Lawes Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall according to Gods Word so long was the worship of God preserued in puritie ANS The gouernment of our Church established by Lawes Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall according to Gods Word standeth now praysed be God in as great integritie and the worship of God in as great puritie as euer it did Sed ructare licet cacostomacho but a windy breast must haue leaue to belch Non nostri faciunt tua quod tibi tempora sordent Sed faciunt mores Caeciliane tui PP Since the former gouernment was altered and the insolent domination of Prelates hath entered in by vnlawfull meanes amongst vs Popish Rites and superstitious Ceremonies haue followed and are like to preuaile vniuersally ANS The former gouernment is not altered that is either corrupted or abolished as you insinuate but is perfited by accession of the ancient order which hath beene euer in the House of God since the Apostolicall times and was embraced at the reformation in Anno 1560. and continued in our Church in the persons of Superintendents and Bishops till the yeare of God 1581. after that time it was borne downe till the yeare of God 1598. then it beganne to bee restored and hath entred in amongst vs by the conclusions of generall Assemblies and Acts of Parliament which none but lawlesse Libertines will esteeme vnlawfull meanes nor the function thereby established an insolent domination but the licentious who delight in confusion and detest order The Rites and Ceremonies which haue followed shall be better cleered by the grace of God from Superstition and Popery then this Pamphlet of yours from Schisme and Heresie PP They haue verified in their persons their common tenent No Ceremony no Bishop ANS The tenent is true for where there is no Ceremonie there can be no externall worship of God more then a bodie can bee without dimensions and consequently where there is no Ceremony there can be no Church no Bishop no Pastor PP The liberty granted to our Church to indict and hold generall Assemblies from yeere to yeere and oftener prore nata was the chiefe bulwarke of our Discipline this bulwarke was broken downe to the end a more patent way might be made for their exaltation ANS So long as this liberty preserued the ancient Discipline and Gouernment of the Primitiue and Reformed Church in the persons of Super-intendents and Bishops it was a good bulwarke but when it was licentiously abused to ouerthrow that which it had formerly maintayned and to stop the way whereby it might be lawfully restored againe the licentious abuse was to be restrayned and order taken that it should not impede but further the worke for the which it was appointed PP When vote in Parliament the Needle to draw in the thred of Episcopall authoritie was concluded to the great griefe of the sincerer sort many protestations were made that no alteration in Discipline or Diuine Seruice was intended ANS That the Church which hath euer represented the third Estate of the Kingdome was restored in the persons of Bishops according to the fundamentall Lawes to haue vote in Parliament could bee a griefe to none sincerely affected either to the Weale of the Countrey or Church and as protestations were made that no alteration tending to corruption either in Discipline or diuine Seruice was intended so none hath followed but such as tendeth to the confirmation and perfection of both PP Many cautions and limitations were made to bound the power of the Minister voter in Parliament ANS The limitations and cautions which were agreeable to reason and might stand with the power of the person voter in Parliament according to Law haue beene inuiolably obserued PP They were ordayned to bee countable to the generall Assemblies for the manner of their entrie and behauiour in this new Office but like Bankrupts not being able to render account they laboured that no account should bee made at all that is that there should be no ordinary generall Assembly to take account ANS No man can bee lawfully ordayned to bee countable to these of his entry and behauiour in his Office who professe themselues enemies to the Office it selfe Such were the generall Assemblies which ye call ordinary consisting for the greatest part of the sincerer sort to whose great griefe you say the power to vote in Parliament was concluded reason therefore would that to such a Iudicatory no account should haue beene rendered at all Not because they were bankrupts as you calumniously alledge but for the professed enmity and iniquity of the Iudge whereof his Maiesty hauing proofe before when the ancient Gouernment of Bishops was abolished did now prudently prouide that no generall Assembly should be conuocate without his Highnesse speciall licence lest thereby the restitution of that Gouernment intended by his Maiestie and happily begun before his Maiesties preferment to the Crowne of England might in his absence bee crossed and ouerthrowne by the which prouidence of his Maiesties wisdome that plot was preuented and your purpose disappointed Hinc illae lachrimae and this is that causeth you to rage and raile PP Some few extraordinary Assemblies haue beene conuocated of late yeares at their pleasures and for their purposes and according to their deuice constituted as they thought good wherein they procured or rather extorted with terror and authority a sort of preheminencie aboue their Brethren ANS If ye call these extraordinary Assemblies which by his Maiesties License and Authoritie were conuocated the Councell of Nice and the most famous Councels of the Church must bee counted extraordinary And in these Assemblies no preheminence was granted to Bishops but such as Bishops had euer in the Primitiue Church and such as the Super-intendents and Bishops had before in our owne reformed Church which beeing lawfull in it selfe needeth neither by authoritie to be procured nor by terror extorted from godly prudent and peaceable Brethren PP They were Lords in Parliament Councell Session Exchequer Lords of Regalities Lords of temporall Lands Presenters to Benefices Modifiers of Ministers stipends grand Commissioners in the high Commission was it wonder then if so great Commanders commanded the Assemblies constituted as is said and carued to themselues a spirituall Lorship when c. ANS The power authoritie and credit which was expedient for the time to be in the persons of some Bishops was neither imployed nor needed to be imployed to command these Assemblies which were constituted of the most graue and godly brethren of the Church who against Law and conscience would not haue beene commanded either by Prince or Prelate Neither in these Assemblies did they carue to themselues any spirituall Lordship for they acknowledge no man to haue spirituall Lordship ouer the Church but the man the Lord Iesus him they preach the Lord and
themselues the Seruants of the Church for him PP When their worthy brethren were banished imprisoned confined or detayned at Court that they might the more easily effectuate their purposes ANS Their worthy brethren I may truely say were banished imprisoned confined and detayned at Court sore against their wils who wish that good brethren then had beene and now were lesse addicted to singularitie of opinion and more inclined to the peace vnity of the Church And that they would put difference betwixt indifferent things in Discipline and doctrinall points and consider that in the one we must stand for veritie and in the other for expediencie which changeth with times places and occasions That the forme of gouernment meete for a Parochiall or Diocesian Church such as Geneua or Berne is not fit in all respects for the vniuersall or for a Nationall Church That at the beginning of the reformation sundrie circumstantiall Ceremonies were changed or abolished for Superstition which now tending to edification and preseruation of Gods worship from prophanenesse and to make conformitie and vnitie both with the Primitiue and reformed Churches may be lawfully and profitably receiued That antiquity in such things and vniuersall consent not repugnant to veritie is farre to be preferred to new and recent conceits and customes of priuate persons and Churches These things the Bishops would wish from their hearts had beene and were better pondered by brethren and that for such matters wilfull contradiction bitter contention and disobedience had not brought them vnder the censure of the Lawes and power of authoritie PP They haue broken the caueats made with their owne consent violated their promises and haue sought preheminence both in Church and Common-wealth with the ruine of others and renting of their mothers belly ANS Neither haue yee nor can yee alledge any promise made by them violated or caueat broken that hath nor beene abrogated by posterior Acts of lawfull Assemblies as beeing contrary to the lawfull power of their calling Neither haue they sought preheminence in Church nor Common-wealth but that which according to Lawes Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall belongs to their Function The restitution whereof if they had not craued they had beene Traytors both to the Church and Common-wealth against the which some brethren standing out too contentiously haue inuolued themselues in vnnecessary troubles and haue pressed with you to rent the belly of their Mother the peace and vnitie of the Church with Schisme PP We haue notwithstanding beene so silent hitherto that the World hath iudged our silence rather slumbring and slouthfulnesse then true patience ANS If you be the man who is pretended to bee the penner of this Pamphlet your silence hath not beene so great as is heere alledged for both by writing and word ye haue bin euer vttering your miscontentment with great acerbitie against the persons and function of your brethren and his Maiesties good and godly intentions wherein yee haue studied more to please the World then to procure the weale of the Church with the honour of God and obedience of your Prince PP They are not satisfied with the wrongs alreadie committed but doe still prouoke vs with new irritant occasions ANS Many men of your humour are crabbed without cause who being in the gall of bitternesse count right wrong and good to be euill and seeke occasions where none are offered to spue out their choler PP And specially by obtruding vpon vs superstitious Wil-worships and polluted inuentions of men ANS What was concluded in a lawfull Assembly was not obtruded and by Gods grace in the answere to your Pamphlet it shall bee manifest that the Assembly hath condemned all polluted inuentions of men and all superstitious Wil-worships and that your selfe is a very superstitious Dog matist of Wil-worship PP It behooueth vs therefore to set pen to paper and say somewhat for the surer stay and better information of Professors tenderly affected to the sinceritie of Religion least they bee deluded with the glorious name of a pretended and new Assembly or seduced with Temporizers swallowing vp all abominations or corruptions whatsoeuer ANS Let the Christian and gentle Reader consider what information good and sincere Professours may expect from such a poysonable pen that beginneth to fill vp the paper with such venemous words calling the lawfull meeting of the Church a pretended new Assembly his brethren of the Ministery Seducers Temporizers Swallowers vp of all abominations or corruptions whatsoeuer for whom wee answere Multi sint licet impotentis irae Pellem rodere qui velint caninam Nos hac à scabie tenemus vngnes PP The meanes of printing and publishing are to vs verie difficile ANS The Quarter-masters and Collectours of the voluntary Contributions through Fyiffe Lowthiane Edinburgh and other parts of the Land for setting forth of this worke say that you haue no cause to complaine And if in times comming your paines bee as well recompenced this trade of penning printing and publishing shall bee more gainfull then your stipend was for your Ministery PP We wish therefore euery good Christian to take in good part our meane trauels ANS Although your trauels had no other fault but that they were meane yet your cessation from better businesse cannot be excused but they being withall seditious and pernicious no good Christian will take them in good part PP And not impute to vs the want of good will but of meanes if they be not serued hereafter continually after this manner Wee shall bee readie God willing for our owne part as need shall require and opportunitie will serue to defend the cause wee maintayne against any of our Opposites their Answeres or Replyes whatsoeuer worthy of answere ANS I hope no man who readeth this Pamphlet will impute to you the want of good will to doe euill that is of a wicked will to furnish fewell to the fire of dissention in the Church And if by your Thrasonicall boasts and brags you can perswade these whom for want of sufficient knowledge and faith yee delude and seduce with subtile Sophismes and superstitious feares to furnish meanes that is money for penning and printing as they haue done profusely for setting forth this Rapsodie there is no doubt but Answeres shall come forth vpon Answeres Defences vpon Defences Replyes vpon Replyes vntill yee haue wearied the World with your vanities PP We haue seene of late some Pamphlets which haue rather exposed their Authors to laughter and contempt then deserued any serious confutation ANS It is the nature of enuifull arrogance by contemning and laughing at others to hunt her owne prayse Sed facilis cuiuis rigidi censura cachinui PP In the Epistle before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Maiestie protesteth vpon his honour that hee misliketh not generally all Preachers or others who like better of the single forme of policie in our Church then of the many Ceremonies in the Church of England and are perswaded that their Bishops smell of a Papall
Supremacie that the Surplice the Corner-cap and such like are the outward badges of Popish errors and that he doth equally loue and honour the Learned and graue men of these opinions ANS If yee had imitated this most Christian example of your gracious Soueraigne you would not for errour of wilfull opinion haue turned your loue into batred and your reuerence into contempt of your brethren PP His Maiestie vseth this prouision that where the Law is otherwise they preasse by patience and wel-grounded reasons either to perswade all the rest to like of their iudgement or where they see better grounds on the other part not to be ashamed peaceably to incline thereunto laying aside all preoccupyed opinions ANS If yee approue this prouision as yee seeme after to doe seeing a Law standeth in our Church neither reduced nor abrogated against your opinion why is your patience turned into passion your welâ—grounded reasons into vnreasonable raylings And considering at the Assembly in Perth the grounds whereupon the Law was made were esteemed by the votes and iudgements of more then double your number better then any answere or reason brought on the contrary why are yee ashamed peaceably to incline thereunto laying aside all preoecupyed opinions PP Wee are able to prooue that no Ecclesiasticall Law hath beene made in any free and formall Assembly for the alteration by-past or presently intended either in Gouernment or Ceremonies ANS What you are able to proue we know not but vntill the time the probation be made and the Church which made the Lawes being better informed alter or abrogate them it it is the duty of euery good and peaceable Christian to giue obedience thereunto except they bee manifestly damned in the Word as impious for there can be no peace nor vnitie in a Church where there is not a Conformitie obserued according to Lawes for if one shall follow the Law another his owne opinion contrary to the Law and the third some conceit different from both what can follow but contention and confusion in the Church PP The ratification of ciuill Lawes alreadie made or to bee made cannot rectifie the Eccesiasticall so long as we are able by good reason to impugne their authoritie and to euince the vicious constitution the informall and vnlawfull proceedings of those Assemblies where the said Ecclesiastical Lawes are said to haue beene made ANS That which is right needeth not to be rectified such the Estates of Parliament haue found the Canons of the Church which they heue ratified but yet forsooth so long as you are able to impugne their authoritie euince them to be vicious informall vnlawfull So long neither can the authoritie of the Parliament nor Church make them to haue force but all must be suspended vpon your skill and learning to proue and improue as you list Whereof this smelleth whether of plaine sincerity or of Papall Supremacie let the Reader consider PP Put the case that no exception might bee made against the Law his Maiesties prouision permitteth vs to perswade others with well grounded reasons ANS If no exception might bee made against the Law what well grounded reason can be vsed to perswade the contrary His Maiesties prouision is as farre contrary to the permission here alledged by you as light to darknes for although his Maiestie wish these who are contrary minded to preasse by patience and well grounded reasons to perswade all the rest to like of their iudgement yet hee permitteth them not to perswade others to resist to the authoritie to breake the Law of the Countrey to stirre vp Rebellion and Schisme which you by this Pamphlet doe only intend but by the contrary willeth them in these words which you purposely omit To content themselues soberly and quietly with their owne opinions not resisting to the authoritie nor breaking the Law of Countrey neither aboue all stirring any Rebellion or Schisme c. but to possesse their soules in peace If such licence were granted as you alledge was giuen by his Maiesties prouision there should neuer bee any setled order in Church or Common-wealth a doore being opened to seditious spirits to disturbe all with such perswasions and disswasious as are vsed in this Pamphlet PP The verity of our Relations and validity of our Reasons we referre to the tryall of euery Iudicious Reader making conscience of his Oath Promise Subscription and Purity of his Profession ANS If the Iudicious Reader holding the puritie of his Christian Profession lay aside all other preiudice and be not meued with these Pannicke terrours of Oathes and Promises which he neuer made and of Subscriptions which hee neuer gaue he shal try and find the greatest part of your Relations to be vttered out of passion whereby the sincerity of the truth is corrupted and in your Reasons such validity as sophisticall captions and cauillations can afford A TRVE NARRATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS of the generall Assembly holden at Perth and begun the 25. day of August 1618. Opposed to the Libeller his Discourse thereof in the Pamphlet lately Published TO the end the true causes of this meeting may be vnderstood wee must draw the occasion thereof somewhat further off then the Proclamation mentioned by the Libeller So it is That his Maiestie at his late beeing in this Kingdome did propone to the Bishops and principall Ministers who were called to meete at S. Andrews for that effect the tenth of Iuly 1617. the fiue Articles now concluded desiring they might be receyued in this Church and an alteration made of the other customes that obtained before in these points This proposition was made by his Malestie himselfe in the Chappell of the Castle where then his Maiestie remained Vpon the hearing whereof humble petition was made by the Bishops and Ministers there assembled that they should bee permitted to conferre amongst themselues vpon the said proposition before they gaue any answer Which being graunted they went and met together in the Session house of the Paroch Church where after mature deliberation it was concluded they should put vp one common Supplication to his Maiestie for libertie of a generall Assembly to aduise and take conclusion in these poynts It being signified vnto them at the same time by the Archbishop of S. Andrewes that his Maiesty would take this for a shift and not content with the Supplication vnlesse assurance were giuen that the same Articles should be yeelded vnto in the Assembly Answer was made by the whole number That howsoeuer they could not preiudge themselues of their free voyces in an Assembly by graunting the said Articles before-hand considering they were matters in themselues lawfull and of a nature indifferent as they could not thinke but the whole Church would bee readie to giue his Maiestie satisfaction therein so for themselues they would doe what lay in them for passing the same And this they all desired the said Archbishop in their names to answer But hee denying to promise any thing in the behalfe
made at your Assemblies contayning bitter Inuectiues against his Maiestie the whole State and sometimes against the Ministers themselues And then was it your ordinarie custome to set vp in Pulpit not the wisest or most learned Preachers by whom the rest might haue beene instructed but if there was any bold and impudent fellow that would not forbeare to vtter whatsoeuer was suggested to him in priuate he was the man And all that he spoke was fathered vpon the holy Spirit These were your formes in former times worthie of reproofe And diuerse of the Assemblies yee count to haue beene free and vncorrupt if they were well tried would for this cause be seene most worthy to be reiected PP In all free and lawfull Assemblies the estate of the question to bee voted ought to bee so formed that it carry with it no danger Neuerthelesse in this Assembly the matter to be voted was proponed with sensible danger agree or bee reputed disobedient to his Maiestie that is either make a Constitution to bind all Ministers and Professors of this reformed Church to returne to these fiue Articles which they haue vomited or else yee shall be reputed disobedient ANS What the forme of the question was hath beene shewed in the Narration preceding and thereby is your malice discouered which yee haue need to vomit or it may be shortly this poyson consume your selfe Behold in what reuerence this man hath the religious Rites and Customes of other reformed Churches Thou art a very Satan the Lord rebuke thee PP As the Acts which are to passe in voting should be distinguished in number cleare in order particularly expressed from point to point because they should contayne directions of certayne actions to be performed c. so the matters offered to voting should be distinctly clearly and particularly proponed Neuerthelesse in this Assembly all was shut vp in a confused caption A multis interrogatis and voted at once voting in one Session Iustly therefore may these Conclusions be called Leges Saturae ANS In Saint Andrewes aswell as Perth the Acts were distinguished clearly and orderly set downe to the vnderstanding of all they were also seuerally reasoned and discussed The number order and meaning of euery Act made known Why they were voted in Cumulo hath beene shewed in the Narration and they of your minde had therein the aduantage for whosoeuer refused any one of them their voyce was counted negatiue and none taken to be affirmatiue but these who consented to them all PP In all free Assemblies such order is obserued in calling the names of the Voters that no publike preiudice be committed Neuerthelesse in this Assembly neither the accustomed order of Prouinces nor Presbyteries was obserued but such were called on first as were knowne to be affirmatiue Voters to discourage and disperse the negatiues ANS The calling of the Roll depends vpon the writing of the Clerke or the pleasure of him that presides in the Assembly and there is no Constitution in our Church for this vpon the breach whereof yee may inferre your nullitie PP Leo sayes Epist 25. That some that came to the Councell of Ephesus were reiected and others were brought in who at the pleasure of Dioscorus were brought to yeeld captiue hands to their impious subscriptions for they knew it would be preiudiciall to their estate vnlesse they did such things as were injoyned them it is crimen falsi in gathering of votes either to passe by them who haue place and power to vote or to admit such as are not lawfully authorized Neuerthelesse in this Assembly not onely were some past by who were knowne resolued to vote negatiue but diuers others also disposed to vote affirmatiue were admitted or rather brought in without commission ANS In the Narration preceding this is answered PP In all free and lawfull Assemblies not onely Ministers but all others of whatsoeuer ranke ought to be authorized with commission or else they haue not the power of voting Neuerthelesse in this Assembly persons of all rankes not authorized with commission were admitted to vote as may be seene by the induction following ANS The Libeller giues vs a rule here which his Inductions will not make good and thinks that because it was the custome while the Presbyteriall gouernment stood in force that all Commissioners at least of the Ministrie should bee chosen by the seuerall Presbyteries it should now bee so But he must remember that sort of gouernment is changed and now they must haue place in Assemblies that are authorized by their callings to sit there aswell as by their Commissions When the Church was gouerned by Superintendents these Commissions were not knowne onely the Superintendents themselues because of their place and preheminence and such of the Ministers as they esteemed worthy to haue voyce in Assemblies came thither Now the Bishops on whom lyes the burthen of the Church affaires haue place by vertue of their callings to sit and giue voyce in Assemblies and Ministers by cōmission from their Countries and Diocesses because all cannot bee present nor may the Parishes in the Country bee left destitute of their Preachers at once This was the forme of the old Synods and Councells in the primitiue Church and that first Synode of the Apostles was not otherwise held If in that or in any Councell or Synode of the purest times yee shall find Commissioners appointed to be brought yee might seeme to say somewhat But your late orders we regard not and tell you now againe that your Presbyteriall and confused gouernement is ceassed PP It hath pleased his Maiestie in former times to send but some few Commissioners in his Highnesse absence to concurre with the Assembly and to propone his Highnesse desire thereunto c. Neuerthelesse in this Assembly not only his Maiesties Commissioners but also their Assessors gaue euery one vote whereas his Maiesties selfe being present neuer claymed further then the power of one vote ANS Whatsoeuer his Maiestie in former times hath done remitting of his owne right for causes knowne to himselfe should be no preiudice to his Royall priuiledges especially amongst these that haue abused and set themselues obstinately to crosse his Royall and iust designes The practice of these famous Monarchs and Kings who were in their times nursing Fathers of the Church shewes that Princes are not tyed to any number of Commissioners but as it seemes good to them or as the businesse in hand requires so they doe Thus in the Councell of Chalcedon where Constantinus Pogonatus whom yee alleadged before for example of equitable proceeding was present and President there sate with him other thirteene Iudges and Senators whose names are there expressed And it is noted in euery Session almost they sate there ex iussione Imperatoris and had definitiue votes Thereupon yee meet often with these words Gloriosissimi edicunt gloriosissimi Iudices dixerunt In that famous Councell also of Chalcedon called the fourth generall there were present for Valentinian
standeth obliged not only to obey and defend the constitutions of the Church that were in force at the time of making his oath but also to obey and defend whatsoeuer the Church thereafter hath ordained or shall ordaine to be obserued for edification comlinesse and decencie whether thereby the former constitutions bee established or altered and abrogated euen as they who sweare to obey the gouernment of a Kingdome or Citie are by their oath not onely obliged to obey the present Actes and Lawes but all which shall afterwards bee made for the Common-wealth howbeit the former be thereby discharged as when Lawes are made for exportation and importation of goods for weights and measures for fishing cutting of woods for peace for warre and whatsoeuer constitutions they bee that are made such as haue giuen their oath of obedience are thereby tyed to reject the former and obey the later I conclnde this with the doctrine of that learned Diuine Master CALVINE Instit lib. 4. cap. 10. sect 30. God would not saith hee in externall ceremonies and discipline prescribe particularly what we ought to follow because he foresaw that to depend on the condition of times neither did he iudge one forme agreeable to all ages Heare then saith he we must flie to the generall rules which God hath giuen that according to them may be defined whatsoeuer the necessitie of the Church requires to be appointed for order and deceneie Finally seeing God hath set downe nothing of those matters expressely because they are not necessary to saluation and are diuersely to bee applyed to the manners of euery age and for edification of the Church it is lawfull as the vtilitie of the Church shall require as wel to change and abrogate these that haue been in vse as to appoint new ceremonies I confesse indeed that we should not runne rashly and vpon light motions vnto nouation but what may hurt and what may edifie Charity can best iudge which if wee admit to bee moderatrix all shall be in safetie and goe well Thus farre Caluine whereby he doth manifest that the Church hath power to change and innouate as necessity requireth all the particular ordinances shee maketh of things alterable and they who in generall haue sworne to obey the Discipline of the Church are all bound by their oath to kneele at the Communion to obserue the fiue Holy dayes and to obey all the rest of the Articles concluded at Perth That which yee afterwards subjoyne touching the forme and force of the Oath we approue onely we wish you to consider seeing it is a part of Ecclesiasticall Discipline as well to change and abrogate ceremoeies in vse as to appoint new That yee by all these forcible formes of the Oath which cannot be loosed are obliged to follow the Church in the alterations shee makes and to defend and obey the Actes and Constitutions that concerne the same and that all who disobey in their owne persons or by their exemplary practise and perswasions induce others to disobey and rebell to the disgrace of their Mother the Church and the breaking of the bond of peace whereby the vnitie of the Spirit is conserued doe assuredly lye tyed vnder the foarefull cords and chaines of periury except they seriously repent The Libeller hauing ended his foure Considerations propounds some defences vsed by them who submit themselues to the Actes of Perth whom contumeliously he calleth Temporizers and to other Defences maketh his owne Replies First saith he they make themselues freed of the Oath because the nouation was made by the King and the Church their Superiours vnto this he giueth a double answere first that this nouation could not bee lawfully made by the King because hee himselfe did sweare the Confession of Faith Next that the Church could not make any such nouation because all of the Church did sweare the Oath either personally or really Personally all who subscribed the Confession of Faith which he reckons to haue been the generall assemblies of the Church Synods Presbyteries Schollers passing their degrees and Burgesses when they obtained their Liberties Really Children sweare in the persons of their Parents and all the particular members of the Church in the Church representatiue This his Assertion being duly examined will bee found false for the greatest part touching the persons whom he alledgeth to haue sworn and as to their reall obligation it is friuolous for no man can bee really bound by an assertory oath but onely the person that sweares But passing by this I answer That when the King and Church sweare the Confession of Faith by that Oath they did neither abiure any of the Articles concluded at Perth neither did oblige themselues to maintaine and obey the contrary for it is manifest by the limitations set downe in the beginning of the Oath that all these particulars were excluded And they who sweare to continue in the Discipline of the Church of Scotland generally and to defend the same all the dayes of their life were so farre from tying themselues to continue in the obedience of euery particular ordinance touching indifferent and alterable things that by the contrarie the one and twentieth Article of the Confession of Faith aboue rehearsed they stood obliged to obey euery alteration that should be concluded by the Church The Church representatiue did sweare in that Article to alter all such constitutions when it should be needfull and the particular members of the Church sweare to obey her will and ordinance in the points altered and changed For to obey the Discipline in generall is to obey euery thing that the Church by the power giuen her of God appointeth to bee done or not done for order and policie So for any nouation that is made neither hath the King nor the Church representatiue violated their Oath nor haue the inferiour members beene loosed and freed from their oathes but in giuing obedience to the points of Discipline concluded by their Superiours they made their oathes and promises good which otherwise by their disobedience they should haue transgressed As to the Oath which as you say the Bishop of Ely now Bishop of Winehester affirmeth his Maiestie twice to haue giuen for maintaining that sorme and manner of Gods worship established by the Lawes of both Kingdomes you might easily haue perceiued that he did not by the forme which he mentioneth vnderstand these indifferent points of policie wherein some little disconformity there is and cannot but be in regard of the different estate of our Church and theirs but by that forme her vnderstood that same fashion and manner of worshipping God as is prescribed to vs in his Word is proponed in the seuerall Confessions of our Faith which is one and the same both with them and vs. So you depraue that reuerend Fathers speech and craftily insinuate his Maiestie to be guiltie of periury in that by his Highnesse most lawfull and earnest desire the alteration of these indifferent things hath beene wrought but
Supper and retained c. was not instituted The Proposition is so euident that against it yee are able to bring no instance besides that which is in controuersie namely the Table gesture of sitting Yee afterward bring in the Table it selfe whereunto wee shall answere in the owne place alwayes this is certaine that nothing was instituted but that which is expressely set downe in the words of the Institution and such things as necessarily followeth thereupon PP pag. 37. lin 5. The second reason wee are bound to imitate Christ and the commendable example of his Apostles in all things wherein it is not euident they had speciall reasons moouing them thereto which doe not concerne vs. ANS This is a rule of your owne making which I hope no wise Christian will receiue as a principle of Faith or Diuinity except it be confirmed with better reasons then any alledged by you The first argument whereby yee labour to proue it is in these words PP It is grosse hypocrisie for vs to pretend more reuerence and deuotion in the act of Receiuing then the Apostles did when Christ was present ANS This particular will not proue the generall rule yet I answere That if we kneele of purpose to pretend more reuerence then the Apostles had it is grosse hypocrisie But if we kneele out of the simplicity of our hearts to testifie our reuerence to Christ whom we know not only to bee bodily present in heauen but to bee spiritually present with vs at the Sacrament it is an action of true piety and not of grosse hypocrisie for I demand of you what gesture vsed the Apostles at the thinkesgiuing If yee say they sate is it not a grosse hypocrisie for you to stand or kneele and to command the people to humble themselues at the thankesgiuing wherewith the Sacrament begins seeing in so doing yee pretend or shew more reuerence and deuotion then the Apostles did who sate but if yee say they stood or kneeled as wee doe how know yee that they sate at the Receiuing and retained not still the gesture wherewith they gaue thankes PP Wherefore doth the Apostle propound the custome of the first Churches 1. Cor. 11.16 2. Tim. 3.14 1. Cor. 14.33 if they did not oblige vs to imitation ANS More impertinent testimonies yee could not haue brought then the last two and if they be rightly cited let the Reader iudge to the first wherein mention is made of the custome of the Churches I answere If the custome of the Church and the actions and practises of Christ be morall and of the nature of things commanded generally in the Decalogue they oblige vs indeed to imitation but naturall actions such as eating drinking waking sleeping resting talking and such like done by them with the circumstances thereof namely the manner time and place of their eating drinking c. doe not tye vs to the imitation of them although there bee no cause mouing them thereto which concernes vs not Therefore in all things we are not obliged to their imitation Neither doe the ceremonies and circumstances obserued by them in the exercise of Religion astrict vs except they be enioyned by some constant precept in the Gospell as by example Iohn baptised at a riuer and they who were baptised went downe into the water and came vp out of it againe in some places the Church vsed a threefold immersion in the Apostles time they vsed to salute one another with a holy kisse they kept their banquets of loue at their meetings and other moe customes they had which not being enioyned to vs by a constant command doe no wise oblige vs as no more doth the circumstance of place time habite persons position and site of body as standing sitting or walking And in a word in the actions of Christ his Apostles or the customes of the Church there is nothing exemplary and left to be imitated of vs but that which either being morall is generally commanded in the Decalogue or being ceremoniall and circumstantiall is particularly commanded by some constant precept in the Gospell But I will aske you that would haue euery action of Christs to be imitated by vs which hath not a speciall exception of some cause mouing him that concernes vs not what is the cause that at the celebration of the Sacrament yee blesse not the Bread first seuerally by it selfe and the Cup seuerally by it selfe after the distribution of the Bread seeing Christ did so as it is expresly mentioned yet hauing no cause to moue him which concernes vs not This I am perswaded if your ground bee sure is a more euident breach of the Institution then is our not sitting at the Sacrament for in the words of the Institution there is no mention of sitting but the giuing of thankes twice is expresly set downe and there could bee no cause to moue Christ vnto this which doth not concerne vs. For sitting if it be so that Christ sate there is a manifest cause moouing him vnto that which doth not concerne vs to wït the Paschall Supper by occasion whereof he was sitting before Therefore to conclude if it bee no breach of the Institution once to giue thanks and blesse the bread and cup at once which Christ Iesus in the Institution is said to haue done at two seuerall times it is without all reason to make that necessary which is not expressed in the Institution and call that a breach of the Institution which neuer was instituted Thus hauing shewed the ground whereupon you build your exemplarie actions to bee a heape of sand scraped together by your selfe without warrant of Scripture Antiquity or any moderne Writer the arguments yee bring afterwards from the sitting of Christ with some of the Disciples after his Resurrection when he was at Emmaus and the sitting of the Apostolike Church after our Sauiours Ascension are to no purpose seeing your rule failes and cannot proue the sitting of Christ and his Apostles at the Sacrament if so they sate to be exemplary more then any of the other circumstances of time place order and persons But that the Reader may see how vncertaine your testimonies and reasons are we will consider them particularly PP Christ after his Resurrection when hee was in Emmaus with some of the Disciples as he sate at meat with them tooke bread blessed it brake it and gaue it vnto them as it is said Luk. 24.30 This place is interpreted by Augustine Paulinus c. But so it is they were sitting when Christ gaue them the bread whatsoeuer be the interpretation of the Text yee see they acknowledge sitting at the Table ANS I see not that they did acknowledge the Disciples to haue sate at Table when they receiued for as I said before there interuened betweene the taking of the bread by Christ and the receiuing of the same by the Disciples the act of thaukesgiuing breaking and giuing the bread in which time the gesture of sitting might haue beene altered Thus
all festiuall dayes The censures of the Church haue beene put in execution in all due forme against the obseruers ANS Yet the commemoration of the inestimable benefits of our redemption vpon these fiue dayes was not reckoned amongst the corruptions to be amended Neither did Pulpits sound nor were censures put in execution against preaching prayers and other holy exercises in these dayes for at that time the Preachers gaue all obedience to the acts of the Church made concerning these things But doe yee not see by the regraite made at this Assembly and by the acts complaints and ordinances by your selfe rehearsed that the abstayning from preaching and reading at these times hath not remoued from people their superstitious opinions of the times nor yet abolished the enormities and abuses committed in them Certainly nothing is so powerfull to abolish prophanenesse and roote on t superstition of mens hearts as the exercise of diuine worship in preaching praying and thanksgiuing chiefly then when the superstitious conceits of merit and necessitie are most pregnant in the heads of people as doubtlesse they are when the set times of these solemnities returne for then it is meetest to lance the oposteme when it is ripe Vpon these and such other reasons it pleased his Maiestie to require and our Church to condescend that commemoration of the benefits purchased to vs by the Natiuitie Death Resurrection and Ascension of our Sauiour should be made solemnely on these dayes according to the practise of all other reformed Churches And there is no question the errours of the multitude shall hereby bee farre more easily remoued then by any prohibition that can be made to the contrary and therewithall the people better instructed in the principall grounds of Religion then they could by occasionall Doctrine as also the honour of God more highly aduanced for wee know that ordinary seruices are performed with lesse regard and more coldly then these which come more rarely to bee celebrated Of all these the hope is the greater that now wee owe it to our King vnder God the Churches are planted with able and sufficient Pastors meete to discharge these duties So by the Assembly at Perth there is nothing concluded either contrarious to any former constitution of the Church or to any sound Doctrine deliuered from Pulpits in former times Which that it may appeare I will set downe the Act it selfe as it was concluded The Act about Festiuities AS Wee abhorre the superstitious obseruation of festiuall dayes by the Papists and detest all licentious and profane abuse thereof by the common sort of Professors so Wee thinke that the inestimable benefits receiued from God by our Lord Iesus Christ his Birth Passion Resurrection Ascension and sending downe of the holy Ghost was commendably and godly remembred at certayne particular dayes and times by the whole Church of the world and may be also now Therefore the Assembly ordaynes that euery Minister shall vpon these dayes haue the Commemoration of the foresaid inestimable benefits and make choyce of seuerall and pertinent Texts of Scripture and frame their Doctrine and Exhortations thereto and rebuke all superstitious obseruation and licentious profanation thereof In the narratiue of this Act the Assembly professes to abhorre all that was condemned by any Ecclesiasticall Constitution touching the obseruation of these dayes It is therefore consonant to former Acts. In the Conclusion the Pastors are appointed to rebuke all superstitious obseruation and licencious profanation thereof This agrees with all the sound Doctrine deliuered from Pulpits concerning this point That which is interlaced in the Canon Saint Augustine affirmes to bee Apostolique Epist 118. ad Ianuarium Illa autem quae non scripta sed tradita custodimus quae quiden toto terrarum orbe obsernantur dantur intelligi vel ab ipsis Apâ—stolâ—s vel à plenarijs Concilijs quorum est in Ecclesia saluberrima autoritas commendata atque statuta retinere sicuti quod Domini Passio Resurrectio Ascensio in coelum adâ—eâ—tus de coelo Spiritus Sancti anniuersaria solennuate celebrantur si quid aliud tale occurreret quod seruatur ab vniuersa quacunque se diffundit Ecclesia that is Whatsoeuer things are not written but by Tradition obserued through the whole world must be thought to haue beene prescribed by the Apostles themselues or then to haue beene ordayned by generall Councells whose authoritie hath euer beene great in the Church as namely The anniuersary celebration of the Passion Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord with the descending of the holy Ghost or any such like thing that is obserued by the whole Church diffused through the world And in the same Epistle hee affirmes that it is most insolent madnesse to doubt if that should bee obserued which the Church vniuersally keepes Similiter etiam si quid horum tota per orbem frequentat Ecclesia nam hoc quin ita faciendum sit disputare insolentissimae insaniae est This conclusion of the Church his Maiesties pleasure was to ratifie by Act of Councell and command cessation from labour vpon these fiue dayes to the end the holy Exercises appointed to be done thereon might be the better attended PP Piscator describes a festiuall day on this manner Festum propriè loquendo est publica solennis ceremonia mandata à Deo vt certo anni tempore cum singulari laetitia obeatur ad gratias agendum Deo pro certo aliquo beneficio in populum suum collato A feast in proper speech is a publique and solemne ceremonie commanded by God to bee celebrated a certayne time of the yeare with singular gladnesse to giue thankes to God for some certayne benefit bestowed on his people Hooker intreating this Argument entitules the subiect Festiuall dayes He makes festiuall solemnities to be nothing else but the due mixture as it were of these three elements Prayses set forth with chearfull alacritie of minde Delight expressed by charitable largenesse more then common bountie and sequestration from ordinary labours By these descriptions wee may see that the Sabbath day is not properly a festiuall day The ordinary Sabbath is weekely The festiuall is Anniuersary Wee may fast vpon the ordinary Sabbath but wee cannot fast and mourne vpon a festiuall day c. Vpon the ordinary Sabbath all the parts of Gods worship may bee performed Vpon festiuall dayes proper Texts Epistles Gospels Homilies and Sermons are framed for the mysterie of that day So that the ordinary Sabbath is morall and for the worship of God in generall the festiuall is mysticall Essentialia festi the essentiall parts of a festiuall day are cessation from worke hearing of the Word participation of the Sacraments commemoration of diuine mysleries may be performed vpon the ordinary Sabbath but to make vp a festiuall day Bellarmine requires a determination of day signification and representation of the mysteries wrought on such dayes ANS The description made by Piscator is proper onely to the festiuall
to bee made by our Church vpon the fiue dayes for in them there is neither superstition nor false worship nor is there any burthen layd vpon the Church but a profitable policie established hee onely compares the Brazen Serpent abused to Idolatry to the abuses superstitions false worships wil-worships and the intollerable but thens laid on the Church in Popery by the multiplication of Festiuall Dayes which were indeed to bee abolished because the same did not only equall but surpasse the Legall Ceremonies of the Iewes PP Wee pretend that wee place no part of Gods Worship in the obseruation of dayes But how can wee obserue a day to the honour of Christ and not worship him by that obseruation ANS We worshippe not Christ by obseruation of the day but by the obseruation of an euangelicke and lawfull worshippe done to him vpon the day With this ambiguitie from the beginning ye presse to abuse the Reader for the obseruation of a day is taken as wee said before two waies eyther for a sacramentall and mysticall obseruation that is when the day is obserued as a type of some spirituall or eternall benefit to come This obseruation of a day is a part of the worship and we condemne it as yee doe or it is taken for the obseruation of a fit occasion and time to the exercise of religious and diuine Seruice as we obserue the dayes of fasting houres of prayers preaching and exercise This manner of obseruation is onely accessorie to the worship and is no part thereof and so we obserue the fiue dayes The Papists in dedicating dayes to Saints appointed dayes to be kept mystically and not circumstantially onely When we dedicate a day to Christ we dedicate it not as a mysticall signe and make it a part of his worship but as a meete circumstance for the worship to be performed to him And whosoeuer he bee that holds Christ may not be worshipped on these dayes and on all dayes and times priuately and publiquely is a dogmatist and teacher of will worship for if the Apostle call this a Doctrine of will worship Touch not taste not such and such things as are in themselues indifferent certainely by the same reason he who out of the temeritie of his singular proud and wilfull opinion sayes Teach not on such a purpose Heare not such a purpose Worship not after such a manner Giue not thanks for such a benefit vpon such a day not because the doctrine and worship is vnlawfull in it selfe but by reason of the time which is an indifferent circumstance Non est verus Apostoli interpres sed verè dogmatistes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 PP That which lawfully hath beene abolished by ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Lawes The eighth Reason and by consent and vniforme practise in the contrarie without interruption and beyond the prescription of time allowed to things moueable put the case that Holy-daies were things moueable and indifferent and hath beene borne downe by Sermons of all the most reuerend Preachers since the reformation corrected with censures and abiured by publique oathes of Preachers and Professours cannot lawfully be receiued and put in practise againe ANS Your assumption must be this But to make commemoration of the inestimable benefits of our redemption vpon the fiue anniuersarie daies hath beene abolished lawfully by ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Lawes c. This assumption is false in all the parts of it for first as we haue shewed the obseruation ordayned by the Act at Perth was neuer abolished by Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall Lawes nor yet by consent and vniforme practise of the contrarie Onely the superstitious obseruation of these dayes with opinion of necessitie as a part of diuine worship and the profane abuse thereof with excessiue banqueting playing and carroling was condemned Secondly to your prescription of time in things moueable I answer that circumstantiall ceremonies belonging to Religion are alwaies alterable and neither can bee abolished nor established by prescription for if prescription had force in such things then the space of 1200. yeares during which time these fine dayes were obserued vniuersally throughout the whole Christian world should haue greater force to establish the obseruation of them then the abrogation of seuen and fiftie yeares in durance onely Continuance of time does not establish without change such things but giues occasion to alter them rather when the alteration makes for the honour of God the edification of his Church and auoyding corruption Thirdly the Sermons of reuerend Preachers condemned onely the superstitious and profane obseruation of these dayes and not the obseruation made by the Primitiue and by the reformed Churches in our time which is the obseruation onely commaunded by the Act of Perthe Fourthly If any were censured it was not for any fault in the action it selfe but for transgression of the Ecclesiasticall order and the scandall which might haue followed thereupon as the censures which wee now vse against these that refuse to performe the diuine seruice appoynted to be done on these times are not inflicted for any fault that is in omission in regard of the time but onely in regard of the order and policie of the Church which being contemned giues offence to the simple and breaks peace and vnitie Fiftly we neuer abiured with oathes publique or priuate the obseruation now required the dedication of dayes imposed vpon the conscience with opinion that they are sanctiores sacratiores alijs diebus pars diuini cultus we detest and abiure for nothing can be imposed vpon the conscience but by the precept of God onely The Canons of the Church in matters indifferent doe not oblige the conscience ratione rei praeceptae quasi pars sit aliqua aiuini cultus sed ordinis politias causa tantum So the Canons of the Church made for obseruation of these fiue dayes bindes not the conscience to the obseruation thereof as a part of diuine worship and as the commaundement of God bindes vs to the obseruation of the Lords Day for it is the will of God that on the Lords Day we be religiously exercised and therefore our obedience in that point is a part of his worship but to be exercised in Gods publique worship on another day is not Gods expresse will yet it is his will that we should heare the Church and obey her ordinances in all things that tend to edification and serue for good order whereof God is the Author To conclude seeing the obseruation of these fiue daies as the same is prescribed in the act at Perthe is neither contrarie to any Law Ciuill or Ecclesiastique nor condemned by the practice doctrine and censures of our Church nor abiured by oathes And therefore may lawfully be restored receiued and put in practise againe by our Church PP Hooker and Sarauia vrged for maintenance of their ceremonies Law custome prescription and craues that the impietie and vnlawfulnesse of their ceremonies be proued or else let the Non-conformists conforme May we
quod hisce in rebus minutilis videretur optimum ad pietatem commodissimum sequeretur that is Ye shall find in the Ancients specially in Eusebius and Saint Augustine certaine memorials instituted to some holy persons but farre different from the Papall forme and manner not vnlike the rite which we obserue in our Church of Tigurine in the celebration of the Natiuitie Circumcision Passion Ascension Resurrection of the Lord and the sending downe of the Holy Ghost of the Mother of God the Virgin of Iohn the Baptist Magdalene Stephen and the Apostles of the Lord. In the mean-time we condemne none of these that keepe no festiuall day but the Sabbath For when we looke ouer the Monuments of the Fathers wee find this hath euer beene in the liberty of the Church to doe that which seemed best and most commodious for the aduancing of Pietie in these matter of little moment PARAEVS cap. 14. ad Rom. hyp 4. FEria Dominicalis Natiuitatis Resurrectionis Ascensionis Domini Pentecostes rectè obseruantur à Christianis that is The Lords Day the Feast of the Natiuitie Resurrection Ascension of the Lord and Whitsonday are lawfully keeped by Christians Ibidem Vtile institutum primitiuae Ecclesiae ritè obseruatur tale hoc est vtile enim est praecipuas Dei patefactiones beneficia in Ecclesiam collata stato tempore publicè rep etere profiteri aduersus haereticos infideles populo inculcare vt sint notissima in perpetua memoria magis enim mouent haerent in memoria iuuentutis populi quae solenniter anniuersariè simul ab omnibus vno consensufiunt quà m quae aliâs ab alijs fiunt dicuntur that is A profitable Statute of the Primitiue Church is rightly obserued such is this of Holy dayes for it is profitable to remember and professe publikely on a set appointed time the chiefe manifestatiōs of God and his benefits bestowed vpon the Church against Heretickes and Infidels beating them in the eares of the people that they may be familiar vnto them and keeped in a perpetuall remembrance For these things moue more and stick faster in the memorie of youth and common people which are solemnely and yeerely done by all together and with one consent then these things which are done at other times by diuers persons seuerally TILENVS Praecep 4. Th. 17. PRaeter hunc Sabbatismum septimo quoque die recurrentem alio◠dies non ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed ad peculiarem Dei beneficiorum commemorationem de communi consensu in Ecclesia Christiana instituere non arbitramur simpliter esse illicitum that is Besides this Sabbath which returneth euery seuenth day wee iudge it not simply vnlawfull by common consent of the Church to institute other dayes not for wil-worship but for a speciall remembrance of the benefites of God PERKINS on the fourth Chapter to the Galatians ECclesiasticall obseruation of time is when set dayes are obserued for orders sake that men might come together to worship God These dayes are eyther dayes of thankesgiuing or dayes of humiliation take the example of the Iewes Ester 9.26 Who obserued yeerely the Feast of Purim for a memory of their deliuerance In like manner they obserued the Feast of Dedication and it seemes that Christ was present at Ierusalem as an obseruer of this Feast Iohn 10.22 And thus for orders sake to obserue certayne dayes of Solemnity is not forbidden WILLET in his six-fold Commentarie vpon the fourteenth to the ROMANS THe Apostle reproues them for the superstitious obseruing of dayes such as then the Iewes practised and now the Papists but to obserue such Holy dayes as God hath appointed such as the Sabbath and others for order and policie not for Religions sake is not within the Apostles reprehension Item The Apostle speakes of the Iewes Festiuals wherein they did clogge their consciences and one iudged another not of the Lords Day which is of Christs appointing and of other Festiuals for Order and Policie and not for a part of the Seruice of God to bind the Conscience An answere to the dispute intituled OF CONFIRMATION and of Bishopping Wherein the Pamphlet penner pretends to impugne the third Article concluded in the Assembly at Perth touching the triall of young childrens education the tenor whereof followes FOr as much as one of the most speciall meanes for staying the encrease of Popery and setling of true Religion in the hearts of the people is that a speciall care be taken in triall of young children their education and how they are catechized which in time of the primitiue Church was most carefully attended as being most profitable to cause young children in their tender yeares drinke in the knowledge of God and his Religion but is now altogether neglected in respect of the great abuse and errors which crept into the Popish Church by making thereof a Sacrament of Confirmation Therefore that all superstitions built thereupon may be rescinded and that the matter it selfe being most necessary for the education of the youth may be reduced to the primitiue integritie it is thought good that the Minister in euery Parish shall catechize all young children of eight yeares of age and see that they haue the knowledge and bee able to make rehearsall of the Lords prayer Beliefe and ten Commandements with answers to the questions of the small Catechisme vsed in our Church And that euery Bishop in his Visitation shall censure the Minister who shall be found remisse therein And the said Bishops shall cause the said children to be presented before them and blesse them with prayer for the excrease of their knowledge and continuance of Gods heauenly graces with euery one of them In the narratiue of this Act the Sacrament of Confirmation is counted amongst the abuses errors and superstitions which crept into the Papistical Church in stead of the profitable catechizing that the primitiue Church vsed for the triall of young childrens education therefore the first part of the dispute wherein the Pamphleter intends to prooue that Confirmation is not a Sacrament contayning nothing that is contrary to the Act shall be passed by In the second part of the dispute intituled Bishopping he contends that the Sacrament of Confirmation and imposition of hands is not proper to Bishops but common to all Presbyters This contention is idle for the Sacrament of Confirmation and imposition of hands being refuted in the former dispute by himselfe and condemned by the Act why should hee striue to haue that common which neither he nor we esteeme to be lawfull But to the end all occasion of debate about this matter might be preuented the Assembly at Perth ordayned that the Bishop after examination should blesse the young children with prayer and purposely omitted the ceremonie of imposition of hands as a thing indifferent to bee vsed or not vsed as the Bishop should thinke most meet Albeit in the primitiue Church this blessing was alwayes giuen
be baptised For these sate amongst the Catechumenists while they were sufficiently instructed in the mysteries of Religion and were able to giue a confession of their Faith before the Bishop and the People But such as were baptised in their infancy because they had not giuen a confession of their Faith vnto the Church about the end of their childhood they were presented by their Parents of new and examined by the Bishop according to a certayne common forme of Catechisme which they had in these times And to the end this action that was in it selfe graue and holy might haue the greater reuerence and dignitie the ceremonie of imposition of hands was also vsed Thus the child after approbation of his Faith was dimitted with a blessing c. Such an imposition of hands which is vsed for a simple blessing I commend doe and wish the sincere vse thereof were restored Et Sect. 13. Vtinam verò morem retineremus quem apud Veteres fuisse admonui priusquam abortiua haec Sacramenti larua nasceretur non enimesset Confirmatio talis qualem isti fingunt quae sine Baptismi iniuria nec nominari potest sed catechesis qua pueri aut adolescentiae proximi fidei suae rationem coram Ecclesia exponerent Esset autem optima catechizandi ratio si formula in hunc vsum conscripta esset summam continens familiariter explicans omnium fere religionis nostra capitum in qua vniuersa fidelium Ecclesia consentire sine controuersia debet Puer decennis Ecclesia se offerret ad edendam fidei confessionem regaretur de singulis capitibus ad singula responderet si quid ignoraret aut minus intelligeret doceretur ita vnicam veram synceram Fidem qua vnanimiter Deum vnum colit fidelium populus teste spectante Ecclesia profiteratur Hac disciplina si hodiè valeret profectò parentum quorundam ignauia acueretur qui liberorum institutionem quasi rem ad so nihil pertinentem securè negligunt quam tunc sine publice dedecore omistere non possent maior esset in populo Christiano fidei cousonsus nec tanta multoruminscitia ruditas non adeò temerè quidam nouis peregrinis dogmatibus abripereutur omnibus denique esset quaedam velut methodus doctrinae Christianae that is Would to God we did obserue the custome which I shew the Ancients vsed For then Confirmation should not be such as the Papists fancie which cannot be once named without the injurie of Baptisme but it should be a catechizing of children whereby they should giue account of their Faith before the Church And the best manner of catechizing were this That a forme should be penned for that vse contayning the summe of all the heads of our Religion and expounding them familiarly vnto which Faith and Religion the vniuersall Church of the faithfull should agree that the child being ten yeares old should present himselfe to the Church to giue a confession of his Faith bee demanded vpon euery Article and made to answere seuerally to euery one and if hee were ignorant of any point or did not well vnderstand the same he should be instructed Thus he should in presence of the Church and vnder the testimonie thereof make profession of that onely true and sincere Faith wherewith the Congregation of the faithfull worships God If this discipline were in vigour at this time the slouth of some Parents should bee corrected that securely neglect the instruction of their children as a thing not appertayning vnto to them which then without a publike shame they could not leaue vndone a greater consent should bee amongst Christian people in Religion and the ignorance of many should be nothing so great some would not bee so hastily carried away with new and strange opinions and in a word all should haue a methode of Christian Doctrine This was the minde of the most learned and worthy Diuine that hath liued in this last age wherewith let the Reader iudge if the Ordinance of Perth bee not agreeing An answer to the last head intituled Of the Administration of the Sacraments in priuate places TO the end the last Controuersie touching the administration of Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord in priuate houses may bee the better discussed wee shall premit some few grounds for cleering the question First The publike actions of Christian Religion are not tyed to any certayne time or place by diuine Institution but may bee lawfully performed at any time and in any place when necessity requires Secondly That the publike actions may be lawfully performed a publike Minister a lawfull Assembly and the forme prescribed in the Word must necessarily be kept Thirdly Howbeit some hold that Baptisme ministred by a priuate person is valide and effectuall yet no man can hold truely that it is lawfully ministred by such a person Fourthly Although the Communion Elements bee duly consecrated by a publike Minister in a most solemne and lawfull Assembly yet if he apply them only to his owne priuate vse or to so me other particular person making no distribution according to the Institution the action is not lawfully performed Fiftly The lawfull Assemblies wherein the publike actions may be performed are eyther ordinary or not ordinarie The ordinary are not defined in the word particularly but are left to bee determined by the Church which according to the generall Rules of Christian Policie hath deuided the Christian people in sundry Congregations called Parishes whose meeting in the ordinary times and places appointed are the ordinary Assemblies wherein the puolike actions of Religion should be performed ordinarily Sixtly The Assemblies that are lawfull but not ordinary are the meetings of two or three at least in the Name of Iesus Christ wherein he hath promised his presence to heare their Prayers and approue their lawfull actions of piety In such Assemblies the Word hath beene preached and Baptisme ministred as in the 16. of the Acts the Master of the Prison and his Family were baptized by Paul The Husband the Wife and a Seruant make a Family where there be no more The Family of Priscilla and Aquila are called a Church This Pamphleter affirmes with Saint Augustine Paulinus Esychius Theophylactus and others That our Sauiour at Emaus did celebrate the Sacrament to the two Disciples with whom he communed in the way There the whole Assembly were but three whether the Sacrament was ministred or not at that time this is certaine as many as hold that the same was celebrated must also hold that three make the bodie of a Church wherein the Eucharist may be lawfully ministred and if the Eucharist much more Baptisme which was ministred by Philip to the Eunuch where there was no Christian Assembly conuened Yet doubtlesse he was baptised in presence of his Seruants who were witnesses to the action For Baptisme would be ministred in presence of some witnesses and the Eucharist cannot be lawfully ministred without some communicants
Although a Temple bee not necessary at Caluine sayes in the 185. Epistle yet the Insant should be baptized in coetu aliquo Si enim infans clam baptizetur nullis adhibitis testibus illud neque respondet ordini à Dominoposito neque Apostolorum exemplo Likewise that there may bee a Communion conueniat coetus aliquis ex cognatis familiaribus vicinis saies Caluine These grounds being warranted by Scripture and by the Ancients first wee shall set downe the Acts of the Assembly which yee labour to resute next your Refutation and Answere thereto The Acts concluded at Perth touching priuate Baptisme and Communion THe Minister shall often admonish the people that they deferre not the baptizing of Infants any longer then the nexts Lords Day after the Childe bee borne vnlesse vpon a great and reasonable cause declared to the Minister and by him approued As also they shall warne them that without great cause they procure not their Children to be baptized at home in their houses but when great need shall compell them to baptise in priuate houses in which case the Minister shall not refuse to doe it vpon the knowledge of the great need and being timely required thereto then Baptisme shall be administred after the same forme as it should haue beene in the Congregation And the Minister shall the next Lords Day after any such priuate Baptisme declare in the Church that the Infant was so baptized and therefore ought to bee receiued as one of the true Flocke of Christs Fold Item If any good Christian visited with long sicknesse and knowne to the Pastor by reason of his present infirmity vnable to resort to the Church for receiuing of the holy Communion or being sick stall declare to the Pastor vpon his cōscience that he thinks his sicknes to be deadly and shall earnestly desire to receiue the same in his house The Minister shall not deny to him so great a comfort lawfull warning being giuen to him vpon the night before and that there be three or foure of good Religion and conuersation free of lawfull impediments present with the sicke person to communicate with him who must also prouide a conuenient place in his house all things necessary for the reuerend administration thereof according to the order prescribed in the Church PP In the ninth head of the first Booke of Discipline it was thought expedient that Baptisme should be ministred vpon the ordinary dayes of preaching not that it is vnlawfull to baptise whensoeuer the Word is preached but to remoue a grosse errour wherewith many are deceiued thinking that Children bee damned if they dye without Baptisme c. In the order of Baptisme set downe before the Psalmes in metre it is said that the Sacraments are not ordayned of God to bee vsed in priuate corners as Charmes or Sorceries c. And in the Assembly holden 1581. it was ordayned that the Sacraments should not bee ministred in priuate houses c. This laudable order hitherto obserued was altered c. ANS Cases of necessitie are not subiect to ordinarie rules Therfore the Acts made at Perth concerning necessary and extraordinarie cases alters not the laudable order hitherto obserued As it is an errour to esteeme Baptisme absolutely necessary that is a middest without which there is no saluation so it is as great an errour not to thinke it necessary as an ordinary meane whereby the Grace of God is communicate and without the which if it may be had and be either contemned or neglected there is no certainty that God will conferre his grace Therefore to astrict the ministration of Baptisme to a humane order touching time and place which by the Word of God may be lawfully vsed at other times and in other places is great temeritie importing to the Childe no small danger of the losse of grace and bringing vpon the Parent and Pastor the guilt of his bloud for contemning at lest neglecting the ordinary meane of saluation PP A Sacrament is a publike action to bee performed publikely by publike Ministers Neyther can any necessitie or sufficient cause be alleadged wherefore any sacred and publike action should passe in priuate because Gods Ordinance is to vs a supreme Law and necessitie which we ought to obey rather then foster popular ignorance and infirmitie These are Tilenus words ANS These words are not vttered by Tilenus against the administration of Baptisme at extraordinary times and in extraordinary places but only against the administration of Baptisme by women and priuate persons which is the second Controuersie in Baptisme which hee handles beginning at the twelfth position with these words Altera Controuersia de Ministro Baptismi and ending at the eighteenth These Where there is not so much as a syllable of the time and place when and where Baptisme may be ministred all his positions concerning only the persons by whom So in this yee are like your selfe peruerting and abusing the speeches of learned men against their owne minde And it is to bee obserued heere that yee peruersly interpret his words for where he sayes Nullaque necessitas velidonea causa afferri potest cur actio sacra publica transeat in priuatam yee to make the Reader beleeue that Tilenus speakes of a priuate place whiles he is speaking of a priuate action translate it passe in priuate as if a publike action could not be lawfully performed when it is done by a publike person and in presence of such a number as by the Ordinance of God are sufficient PP The Sacraments are testimonies of our pietie thankfulnesse profession and protestations of our faith therefore they ought to be conspicuous and publike ANS It is most expedient that they bee both conspicuous and publike but in cases of necessity it suffices that they bee publike PP We haue no externall fellowship with the whole Church militant in the publike exercise of Religion but a mediate Communion with a particular Congregation This Communion ought not to be violated ANS This Communion is not violated when in cases of necessitie men cannot resort to the Parish Church If we communicate in these exercises of Religion with two or three conuened in the Name of Christ where a greater Assembly cannot be had our Communion with the Church is not violated for they are a particular Church and a part of the vniuersall aswell as the Parishioners although they be lesse PP The Sacraments should be ministred with consent and in presence of the Church seeing they are workes of publike nature and of publike fruit belonging to all ANS Such workes of publike nature and publike fruit ought ordinarily to be ministred solemnely but in cases of necessitie it suffices that they bee lawfully ministred in caetu aliquo fidelium as Caluine speakes Epist 185. PP The Sacraments ministred in priuate houses make the Sacraments to be contemned and neglected Heretickes take occasion to corrupt the pure administration of them by these priuie practises The imperiall
constitution in Iustinian forbiddeth that holy things be ministred in priuate houses ANS The lawfull administration prescribed in the Act preserues them from contempt neglect and corruption And by the contrarie the omission of the Sacraments in the cases of necessitie make men to contemne and neglect them as vnnecessarie For Heretickes there is nothing so good at which they will not take occasion of euill yet the practise of good things must not therefore be omitted To Iustinians constitutions ye were wont to answere that the Lawes of the Code are not rules of Theologie O but this is a constitution of the Nouels that is true yet it fauours your nouelties no more then the Code This constitution forbiddes onely the ordinarie exercises of publique worship in priuate Oratories whereby the Temples were deserted as is manifest by the Preface but it is so farre from forbidding the celebration of the Sacraments in priuate houses in cases of necessitie that it reserueth priuiledge to the Patriarch of Constantinople and to the Bishops in the Prouince to giue licence that ordinarie seruice may be exercised in priuate Oratories according to the 31. Canon of the Trulliau Councell PP The Sacraments are not tyed to the materiall Churches made of dead stones but the Church made of liuely stones If therefore the congregation be in a wood a house or a caue the Sacraments may be ministred in a house a wood or a caue but then the Sacraments are not ministred in priuate but in publique because they are ministred in the sight of the whole Congregation ANS Yet here the whole Congregation is not an ordinarie Parishionall Church but an extraordinarie Conuention wherein we affirme with you that the Sacraments may and should be ministred In this we agree but in that which followes of the number which may make a Congregation we disagree PP Christ promise to be in the middest of two or three conuened in his name cannot be extended to the administration of the Sacraments for then where two onely are conuened the Communion might be ministred and so the priuat Masse defended Christ reasons onely from the lesse to the more If he wil heare the prayers and ratifie the censures of two or three farre more of the whole Church ANS If the lesse be true namely that Christ will ratifie the Censures of two or three conuened in his name then two or three conuened in his name must make a lawfull Church that hath power to censure and excommunicate such as are subiect to their iurisdiction otherwise Christ would not haue promised to ratifie their censure As to the Masse it is not a priuate Masse where distribution is made but where the Priest receiues alone otherwise ye must graunt that it was a priuate Masse that Christ celebrated at Emmaus where two onely did participate and receiue from our Sauiour In a word if in Christs promise the number bee not defined which at the least may make a Church wherein the publique actions of Religion ought to be performed since it is no where else defined in Scripture it must be left to the determination of the Church which hath power to define what the least number is that may make a lawfull extraordinarie conuention aswell as to diuide a Nationall Church in Diocesses and Diocesses in Parish Churches So the Assembly at Perth hauing defined that three or foure besides the Minister and the sicke person are a sufficient number to make a lawfull extraordinarie conuention wherein the Sacraments may be ministred in cases of necessitie we ought to stand at their iudgement and obey the ordinance against the which in the Word of God there is nothing PP Baptisme is a ceremonie initiatorie of our entrance into the bosome of some visible Congregation or as Caluine sayes It is a sacred and solemne introduction into the Church of God and is a testimonie of our heauenly Burgesship in which they are written vp whom hee adopteth to himselfe It ought therefore to be publique ANS Caluine in the Epistle which ye quote the 185. sayes not that therefore it ought to be in a Parishionall Church but that it behoues the Infant baptizari in coetu aliquo and expresly non quidem vt templum requiratur Sed vt vbiuis numerus aliquis fidelium conueniat qui Ecclesia corpus officiat Now if Baptisme may be ministred in any place where a number of the faithfull doe conueene then doubtlesse in a priuate house PP Baptisme is a signe of Christian Profession before the world it ought therefore to be publique ANS As it is impossible that it can be publike after such a manner as all the World may be witnesses thereto so it is not absolutely necessarie that it bee before the whole Parish when the Childe is in such extremitie that he cannot bee brought vnto the Church PP The Congregation should make fruit of the Ministration of Baptisme in remembring their owne Baptisme c. ANS Ordinarily it ought to be publique in presence of the Parishiones the extraordinarie ministration serues for their comfort who are present But if it were not ministred at all in time of necessitie as ye would haue it then all should bee depriued of that comfort and the childe of the benefit of the ordinarie meane of Saluation PP Not onely the Parents but the Church presents the Childe before God and concurs with the Minister in prayer for the saluation of the Infant ANS Such as are present conioyne their prayers with the Pastor And the presence of some number makes the action publique although lesse solemne PP Priuate Baptisme hath sprung of the opinion of the necessitie of Baptisme and doth still foster the same damnable opinion In the ancient Church two solemne times were appoynted for Baptisme c. ANS The opinion of absolute necessitie ratione medij that is of a middest without which the Infant cannot be saued is not to be allowed yet the opinion of necessitie ratione praecepti that is of an ordinarie meane commaunded by God to bee vsed when and where it may be had is sound And in that opinion the people ought to be confirmed and admonished as it is in the act Not to deferre the Baptisme of their Infants nor neglect it But to perswade the people that it is not necessarie as an ordinarie meane is as great an errour as any yee alledge hath sprung of the opinion of absolute necessitie These errours ought to be remoued not by refusing Baptisme when it is required which is a disobedience no lesse dangerous then the errours are but by the wholsome doctrine of the Word which is the onely powerfull meane to abolish all errours in Religion PP In priuate Baptisme the doctrine of Baptisme is omitted for haste to saue the soule of the Infant as is thought and so the Sacrament is not ministred according to the dignity of it and this hath bred a negligent ministration of Baptisme in publike The Trullian Synod decreed that
is set downe if wee make not the Law the rule of our obedience and conscience but our owne priuate opinions and conceits then must we with the Anabaptists disproue and condemne all sorts of Gouernment and liue like lawlesse Libertines euery man following his owne conceite whereunto it is certaine the peruersenesse of our nature carryes vs that is alwayes prone to rebellion and therefore easily drawne thereto with any shew of reason pretext of conscience and religion which the Penner of this pestilent Pamphlet considering intends with Lyes Calumnies Falshoods craftie Cauillations Threatnings and Terrours of Oathes Promises and Subscriptions to deceiue the simple stirre vp the Seditious confirme the Rebellious to beare down the Truth his Maiesties Authority the Power of the Church and all that loue Order follow after peace To obuiate this his seditious and malicious purpose it was not onely expedient but necessary that this answere should bee made which by the grace of God shall giue such satisfaction to all good and vpright hearted men as they shall preferre the iudgement determination and lawfull Constitutions of the Church to the singularitie of their owne and other priuate mens opinions order to confusion peace to contention and vnitie to schisme aswell for the feare of God who hath giuen power to his Church to set downe Lawes for order and decencie and hath commanded vs to submit our selues thereto as for obedience to the sacred will of our most gracious Souereigne at whose instant and earnest desire these Articles being found lawfull were concluded and are now commanded to bee practised When Dauid would haue gone out against Absalon hee was stayed by the people who esteemed his life more worth then a thousand of theirs So should euery good Christian esteeme of the loue and fauour of the Prince towards the Church Salomon sayes that the wrath of a King is the Messenger of Death and like to the roring of a Lion which a Wiseman will pacifie and not prouoke and that his fauour is as the cloud of the latter raine and as the dew vpon the grasse The truth of this is manifest in the Stories of the Church what comfort the fauour of Constantine the Great did giue to the Christian Church may be seene by the barbarous and cruell persecutions of the Emperours that went before The euils troubles and calamities that the Church of England endured in the dayes of Queene Marie declared what benefit they enioyed by King Edward her Predecessor and Queene Elizabeth her Successor The beastly crueltie and massacres vsed in France vnder the Gouernment of the Predecessors of Henrie the Great hath made manifest to the World what wracke and misery the discontentment and offence of Princes and how great blessing and felicity their loue and fauour produces to the Church of God within their Dominions What need wee to goe further then the Scriptures for examples to this purpose therein wee see that as the Church decayed vnder wicked and idolatrous Gouernours so did it euer reuiue and flourish vnder religious and godly Kings We stand much vpon the offence of people and esteeme greatly of their fauour wherein I will not say we doe euill but should wee put their fauour and offence in ballance with the fauour and offence of him whom God hath annointed and appointed to be the nursing Father of this Church In whose loue we haue found by experience and daily findes greater benefite and good for the aduancement of true Religion then can bee expected from many thousands of our best Professors let be at their hands who in Religion like nothing well but contention whereby they make their aduantage one way or other as they are inclined delighting to fish as the Prouerbe is in troubled waters It is often obiected that the chiefe cause of our yeelding at Perth to the fiue Articles was the respect we had to the fauour of the Prince and the feare of his wrath against my selfe in particular it is falsly obiected by the penner of this Pamphlet that I confessed we had neither Reason Scripture nor Antiquitie for them yet to diuert the Kings wrath from the Church yeelding was best The truth is at that time I spake only of kneeling at the receiuing of the Communion and said no more then I haue set downe in print in that Treatise which I published for kneeling in the last words of the first Section of the first Chapter and in the first Section of the second Chapter at the beginning this was That neither Scripture Antiquitie nor Reason doe enforce any necessitie either for lying sitting standing or kneeling at the Sacrament and that all these gestures being indifferent I held it most expedient to yeeld and not to striue with our gracious Souereigne for a matter of that nature repeating this Verse Cedere maiori virtutis fama secunda est Illa grauis palma est quam minor hostis habet This I said at that time and so yet I thinke that to eschue the Prince his offence and to keep confirme and increase his loue and fauour towards the Gospell and the Church was a respect and cause great enough wherefore we should haue yeelded vnto his Maiesties desire in matters indifferent against the lawfulnesse whereof nothing hath beene or can bee obiected which is not and may not be easily answered Against the expediencie the feare of scandall was and is all that could be pretended which if wee were peaceably disposed might haue beene and yet may be very easily remoued and therefore such a seare ought neither to haue impedite our yeelding at that time nor our obedience now We are exhorted by the holy Ghost to feare God and obey the King Where obedience to the Prince may stand with Gods feare it ought to bee preferred by euery good Christian to all other respects and especially by the Pastors of the Church who should as lights goe before others both in doctrine and example chiefly when peace and vnitie may bee procured and preserued in Gods house by our obedience For vnitie wee should bee ready to lay downe our liues as well as for veritie which Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria writing to Nouatus affirmed saying Oportuerit etiam pati omnia ne scinderetur Ecclesia Dei Euseb Hist Eccles lib. 6. cap. 34. erat non inferior gloria sustinere martyrium pro eo ne scindatur Ecclesia quà m est illa ne idolis immoletur Immo secundum meam sententiam maius hoc put◠esse martyrium ibi enim vnusquisque pro sua tantùm anima in hoc verò pro omni Ecclesia martyrium sustinet That is to say It behoued thee to haue suffered all things that the Church of God should not haue been rent it had bin no lesse glorie to haue sustained martyrdome for this that the Churches vnitie might haue beene preserued then for refusing to sacrifice vnto Idols Yea in my minde this is a greater martyrdome for in that euerie man suffereth
of the Ministers in regard of the seditious protestation they had against their promise at least a number of them peoned to be giuen in the next Parliament Maister Patricke Galloway was by them desired to make the said answere and concurre with the Bishops in the foresaid supplication for a generall Assembly Thus all returning to the saide Chappell petition was made in humble forme to his Maiestie by the Archbishop in the name of the whole That they might be permitted to meete in an Assembly where the said Articles should receiue the answer which was fit His Maiestie replying that hee could not suffer these Articles which hee counted both lawfull and profitable for the Church to bee cast in the deliberation of an Assembly where by reason of the multitude matters went often doubtfully except he had assurance the same should be yeelded vnto answer was made That howeuer they could not that were present take on them to answere for the whole Church yet because they did not conceiue any of these Articles to contayne in them matters vnlawfull they hoped all good Ministers would shew themselues carefull to giue his Maiestie satisfaction and should for their owne parts endeuour that the same should be done This was promised by the Archbishop of Saint Andrewes in name of all the Bishops and by Master Patrick-Galloway in name of the Ministers as was afore-agreed Hereupon his Maiestie was pleased to condescend vpon the meeting of an Assembly at Saint Andrewes in the moneth of Nonember following where the said Articles being reasoned vpon at length it was found by vniuersall consent That they contayned in them nothing vnlawfull but in respect the suddaine receiuing of them might giue offence to the weaker Professors and encouragement to the enemies of Religion it was thought meete to differ the taking of any conclusion specially about the keeping of the Festiuall dayes and kneeling at the Communion vnto another Assembly And all the Ministers commanded like as they who were present for themselues promised to informe their people and Congregations aswell of the lawfulnesse of the things desired as of the necessitie they had to receiue the same because of his Maiesties resolution so to haue it and by this meanes all offence being remoued in the next Assembly matters might take an end with vniforme consent in the meane time lest his Maiestie should offend with this delay his Maiesties Commissioners and the Bishops were earnestly entreated by the said Assembly to signifie the true reasons of the present cōtinuation beseech the same to bee well interpreted seeing no denyall of the Articles was intended but a care on their parts to remoue all scruple and offence from amongst the people This aduertizement being made his Maiestie tooke the same so hardly as forth-with he gaue commandement to the Bishops to obserue the dayes of Christmasse Passion Resurrection c. And to cause all the Ministers of their Dioceses to obserue the like as also to alter the gesture of sitting at the holy Communion into that of kneeling which the Article required And to sequestrate the stipends of so many as should be found disobedient It grieued all the honest and true-hearted Ministers to see his Maiesty so offended and many repented the delay made in the last Assembly and because there was one meane only left to giue satisfaction to wit That a new Assembly might be gathered to put end to the same the Archbishop of Saint Andrewes was entreated to intercede with his Maiesty for a mitigation of the rigour intended against the Ministers and liberty for a new Assembly to finish that which remayned to be perfected To this effect he dispatched his Seruant vnto Court with haste writing in such humble sort as became and for the purpose aboue-said but receiued this Answere That touching another Assembly his Maiesty would neuer condescend vnto the same except better assurance were giuen of their reasonable conforming therefore commanded him and the rest of the Bishops in their seuerall Synods to vrge the receiuing of the said Articles and as they should find them inclining to aduertise and for the sequestration of stipends his Maiesty would be pleased to remit that rigor for the present so as the Bishops by themselues in their Sees with so many others as they could perswade should put in practice the said Articles according to the Letter formerly directed vuto them This Answere being communicated vnto the Ministers of Edinburgh and a great many others that were attending at Edinburgh for the setling of their Churches according to the Commission giuen in Parliament they all aduised the Bishops to giue obedience in their own persons and at their Synods to labour the Ministers of their bounds in the best sort they could to condescend vnto the Articles proponed The Bishops resoluing to giue obedience for his Maiesties better satisfaction and freeing the Ministers of his conceiued wrath agreed after their Synods were ended to meet at Edinburgh in May next and as they should find by report of the Ministers inclination to yeeld to the said Articles to follow their Supplication about a new Assembly According to which agreement they hauing met at Edinburgh and vnderstood that in the Synods kept in the April before the Ministers were disposed to glue obedience and satisfaction to his Maiestie they by their Letters humbly entreated his Maiesties Licence for the holding of an new Assembly and obtayned the same which they signified by their Letters to the Moderators of their seuerall exercises in the Countrey willing them to elect and choose the most wise learned and peaceable Ministers in their bounds to be Commissionaries at the said Assembly But contrary to this aduice and direction certaine factious and vnruly Ministers that haue loued alwayes to keepe stirres in the Church and placed their glory in the opposing of his Maiesties lawfull desires vsed all the diligence they could where they had credit to purchase Commission to themselues and others that fauoured their opinions for disturbing the said Assembly and came thither at the day appointed in great numbers certaine hopes to haue carryed matters otherwise then was intēded howbeit to little effect as the successe of the said meeting manifested Vpon these occasions the meeting was brought on not abruptly by a Proclamation being made 20 daies before as the Libeller would haue it to appear The said Proclamation being made only to take away all excuse from such as might pretend ignorance of the day Which being come according to the custome of a long time obserued the first meeting was begun with prayer fasting whereof the Libeller grants that intimation was made in the Church of Perth the Sonday preceding but cōplaines that the fast was little regarded it may be by himself others of that Sect whose dispositiōs were only to make strife but he cannot deny that in the first exercise of the morning made by the Bishop of Abirdene exhortation was giuen to all that
in close and secret meetings their Christnings in Riuers the ministring of the Lords Supper after meate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Church-Feasts the abhorring of leuened Bread abstayning from Bloud and that which is strangled the arbitrary maintenance of Ministers and other more particulars which to bring againe in vse were to alter and change in a sort the state of Christianitie it selfe So it being to vs vncertaine what the formes of the Apostles were in euery thing and the dissimilitude of their times and ours being so great they giue no sure direction that send vs to seeke the resolution of our differences in matters of this nature from them Reade Beza his eight Epistle written to that Reuerend Bishop Edmond Grindall then Bishop of London and you shall finde this to bee his iudgement His words are Scio duplicemesse de Ecclesiarum instauratione opinionem sunt qui Apostolicae ill◠simplicitati nihil adijciendum putant ac proinde quicquid Apostoli fecerunt faciendum quicquid autem succedens Apostolis Ecclesia ritibus primis adiecit semel abolendum existiment There are some sayes he who thinke that we should adde nothing vnto that first Apostolike simplicity but doe in euery thing according as they did And that whatsoeuer the succeeding Ages added in matters of Rites should be all abolished Because his answere and discourse is somewhat long I will remit you to the place and giue you the heads of it only first therefore he sayes that the doctrine of the Apostles is in it selfe so exact and perfect as we ought not to derogate nor adde any thing vnto it but next for the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church wee must not thinke so because the Apostles at the first could not set downe euery thing that was expedient for the Church and thereupon they proceeded by little and little and in such Rites as they instituted they had a speciall respect to the time places and persons wherof many were afterwards by the Church worthily abolished Hauing said this hee concludes Itaque quicquid ab Apostolis factitatum est quod ad ritus attinet nec statim nec sine aliqua exceptione sequendum existimo And Caluine whom I often name for the authority which he deseruedly carries with all Reformed Churches in the tenth Chapter of his fourth Booke of Institutions which place I formerly quoted hath to the same purpose these words In his quae cultum Numinis spectant solus Magister est audiendus quia autem in externa disciplina ceremonijs non voluit sigillatim praescribere quid sequi debeamus quòd istud pendêre à temporum conditione praeuideret neque iudicaret vnam omnibus saeculis formam conuenire confugere hic oportet ad generales quas dedit regulas vt ad eas exigantur quaecunque ad ordinem decorum praecipi recessitas Ecclesiae postulabit And after a few lines Prout Ecclesiae vtilitas requirit tam vsitatas mutare abrogare quà m nouas instituere ceremonias Ecclesiae licitum His iudgement is that the power of adding altering innouating and appointing Ceremonies remaynes with the Church to doe therein as shee in her wisedome shall thinke meete And certainly there is no other way to keepe away differences for matters of Rites and Ceremonies but this That euery man keepe the custome of the Church wherein he liues and obserue that which is determined by the Gouernours thereof For in things indifferent wee must alwayes esteeme that to bee best and most seemely which seemes so in the eye of publike authoritie Neither is it for priuate men to controll publike iudgement as they cannot make publike Constitutions so they may not controll nor disobey them being once made Indeed authoritie ought to looke carefully vnto this that it prescribe nothing but rightly appoint no Rites nor Orders in the Church but such as may set forward Godlinesse and Pietie yet put the case that some be otherwise established they must be obeyed by such as are members of that Church as long as they haue the force of a Constitution and are not corrected by the authoritie that made them Except this be there can bee no order and all must be filled with strife and contention But thou wilt say My conscience suffers mee not to obey for I am perswaded that such things are not right nor well appointed I answere thee in matters of this nature and qualitie the sentence of thy Superiours ought to direct thee and that is a sufficient ground to thy conscience for obeying But may not Superiours erre May not Councels decree that which is wrong This no man denyes and if they decree any thing against Scripture it is not to be obeyed for there that Sentence holds good Molius obedire Deo quam hominibus But if that which is decreed be not repugnant to the Word and that thou hast no more but thy owne collections and motions of thy conscience as thou callest it how strong soeuer thy perswasions bee it is presumption in thee to disobey the Ordinance of the Church And of this wee may bee sure whosoeuer denyes obedience to Church Ordinances in rebus medijs the same will not sticke to reiect Gods owne Word when it crosses his fancie Et videant isti sayes Caluine qui plus sapere volunt quam oportet qua ratione morositatem suam Domino approbent Nobis enim satisfacere istud Pauli debet nos contendendi morem non habere neque Ecclesias Dei With such a sentence I close all that I purposed to say of Ceremonies in generall Now hauing shewed you that Rites are necessary in a Church the qualities they should haue and obedience that must bee giuen vnto the Constitutions of the Church once being made I come to the particulars desired of vs to bee receiued these must bee seuerally considered because they are not all of the like respect some of them strike vpon the duties of our calling enioyning the practice thereof in places and at times where vsuall solemnitie cannot bee kept as to administrate Baptisme in priuate houses in the case of necessitie and the Communion to these that are sicke and in dying Others of them prescribe the obseruation of certayne things not in vse with vs as the confirming of Children and the keeping of some Festiuities throughout the yeere And there is a fift Article that requires our accustomed manner of sitting at the Communion to be changed in a more religious and reuerend gesture of kneeling ye shall not expect to heare all that may be said or is at this time expedient concerning these neither the time nor the strength of any one man I think will suffice to say all without interruption I know I speake to men of vnderstanding and my intent is to say no more of them then may serue to iustifie the aduise which I minde with Gods helpe to giue vnto you I begin with the Communion to the Sicke because this Article passed in the late Assembly
with some limitations which his Maiesty disliked The mind that is offended hardly interprets any thing well so fared it in this matter The delay of our answere to the rest of the Articles mooued his Maiestie to call our grant of this Article scornfull and ridiculous I was bold in a priuate Letter to shew there was a mistaking and iustifie that which was done neither should I speake any more of it but that it hath beene complayned that some of our Ministerie beeing earnestly entreated by certaine sicke persons for the comfort of that Sacrament since that time haue deuyed the same To iustifie therefore that which then was inacted I say shortly that by our calling wee are directly bound to minister vnto men in the last houre all the helpes and comforts wee possibly can the naturall terrours of death and fearefull doubts of conscience which at that time commonly perplexe men require this at our hands therefore Visitation of the sicke is earnestly commended to Ministers in their admission that they bee readie to attend the sicke person and as his estate craues minister comfort vnto him by preaching the promises of grace and mercie to all penitent sinners Why this Sacrament that is the seale of Gods promises and a speciall meane of binding vp our Communion with Christ should bee denyed to such as desire the same in that time there can be no reason Howbeit saluation depends not vpon the Sacrament and that they vse it superstitiously that giues it for a viaticum to the dying the end of a man cannot but be the more comfortable and his death accompanyed with the greater contentment and tranquilitie of minde when his desire is satisfied in this point For this is to bee considered that it is not to all that die nor to all that are sicke but to such onely whose recouery is desperate and vrgently desire the comfort of this Sacrament that the same is appointed to bee ministred Of which purpose Caluin deliuers his opinion in his 52. Epistle in these words De Coenae administratione conseo libenter admittendum esse hunc morem vt apud aegrotos celebretur communio quum ita res opportunitas feret Nec magnopere repugnandum esse quin maleficis detur qui plectendi sunt si quidem postulent ad receptionem satis comparatos esse appareat hac tamen lege vt sit vnà communio hoc est vt panis in coetu aliquo fidelium frangatur And in his 361. Epistle answering some one that had moued him in this matter he beginnes on this manner Cur coenam aegrotis negandam esse non arbitror multae graues causae me impellunt as you may see in the place Bucer Bullinger and Zepperus are of the same iudgement and the last of these three putting the case that none is by this sicke man disposed to communicate sayes Quod ne sic quidem priuandus est communione aegrotus You may see his reasons in the twelft Chapter of his first Booke De Politia Ecclesiastica Our owne Church hath practised the same in former times as was qualified in diuers particulars at the last Assembly So where the reformed Churches haue approued it and wee our selues by our owne practice now to stand against it when by a speciall Canon it is appointed to bee done cannot but bee thought obstinate disobedience I come to the Article of Baptisme This craues that in the case of necessitie when a child without hazard may not bee brought out of doores it bee lawfull to the Minister to baptise in a priuate house It was not long since a custome amongst vs that no Minister would baptise except vpon the ordinarie day of teaching this same being complayned of in the Assembly that was kept at Holy Rood-house in the yeare 1602. an Ordinance was made that whensoeuer a Parent should require baptisme to his child the Minister should not deny it without delaying to the ordinarie day of preaching The question was then of the Time now it is of the Place Whereabout this you all know that in the institution of Baptisme the Lord Iesus hath not tyed vs to any place but his command binds all men to bee baptized And wee that are Ministers by our calling are obliged to baptise howsoeuer wee doe not thinke Baptisme absolutely necessary vnto saluation and the child that wants it vpon a necessitie ineuitable nothing preiudiced that way yet if the occasion present there is no doubt but the Minister hath a necessitie lying vpon him to baptize although time place and other circumstances required for the due and solemne administration be not concurring But this yee will say fosters the Popish opinion of the necessitie of Baptisme Let Bucer answer it To with-hold Baptisme for want of the due solemnities sayes hee opens a doore to the Deuill to bring in the contempt of Christs Ordinance and our whole redemption by him We haue a Commandement to baptize and this to vs is a necessary duety which we may not leaue vndone As for inconueniences we must meet them as wisely as we may by doctrine and diligent catechizing but in no sort neglect the Commandement that is giuen Yee shall haue Caluin his iudgement also in this matter being asked Vbinam baptismus recte administrari possit He answers Fas non est administrare baptismum nisi in coetu fidelium non quidem vt templum requiratur sed vt vbiuis numerus aliquis fidelium conueniat qui Ecclesiae corpus efficiat Yee haue this in his 185. Epistle And thus much for Baptisme The third Article is of Confirmation to be giuen to children when they are come to the yeares of discretion and that is one of the most ancient customes of the Christian Church from the dayes of the Apostles it hath continued and with them it began Neither is there any thing more profitable for it helps children to bee seasoned with the principles of true Religion layes a good foundation for the better direction of their whole life preserues the seede of the Church sound makes children more diligent to learne and Pastors and Parents more carefull to instruct them The neglect of this dutie hath done much harme in the Church and the restitution of that good custome which Caluin in the fourth Booke of his Institutions earnestly wishes could not but bring with it an exceeding great benefit It was in substance agreed vnto in the Assembly at Abirdene but two things his Maiestie found deficient in the Act One that there was no mention of laying on of hands vpon the child confirmed Another was that the performance of it was not restricted to the Bishops care And for this last it is cleare by all Antiquitie that the power of Confirming appertayned euer to Bishops Not that Confirmation is a Sacrament of greater dignitie then Baptisme as the Papists teach these were the thoughts of ignorance but as S. Hierome speakes The Church thought fit that seeing Baptisme is giuen by
Presbyters lest children should be ignorant of the spirituall superioritie of Bishops ouer them they should attend the receiuing of Confirmation by their hands so this was done for the honour of Prelacy as he speakes Now if any man will enuy this honour to Bishops it is a silly and poore enuy for it encreases their charge and burthen and if the conscience of their dutie make them not carefull of it in this profane and irreligious age the honor or credit it can bring them will neuer worke it Touching imposition of hands let Saint Augustine tell vs what it meanes Hee in his fift Booke De Baptismo contra Donatistas cap. 23. sayes Quid est manuum impositio nisi oratio super hominem that is to say What is imposition of hands but a prayer vpon the man that hands are laid vpon In all personall benedictions from the very beginning of the world it hath beene vsed Parents doe yet confer their blessing in this manner to their children and when spirituall blessings are giuen there can bee no offence to doe it with the like ceremonie But I heare that some cannot abide to heare the word of Confirmation the thing it selfe gladly they admit but they would haue examination or some the like word put for it Not onely the abuse but the very name of the thing abused so tender are the hearts of some men must be put away For this shortly I say that the Scriptures neuer taught vs to place Religion in wordes Saint Luke made no scruple speaking of a street in Athens to call it the street of Mars And the ship that Paul sayled in he names by Castor and Pollux though both these were the Idols of Pagans If names were to be stood vpon we should put our selues to great businesse it behoueth to change the names of our Moneths and Dayes which some haue pressed vnto but wise men know this to be folly Besides the word of Confirmation was vsed in the Church long before Popery was hatched as is manifest by Saint Cyprian Saint Augustine Tertullian Eusebius and others And thus much of Confirmation The Festiuities which are the next are impugned by this Argument amongst others That hereby wee conforme our selues to Papists in the keeping of holy dayes But had this Argument beene of any force would the reformed Churches haue agreed so vniformely in the obseruation of them All of them so farre as I know keepe holy the dayes of Christs Natiuitie Passion Resurrection and Ascension with the Descent of the holy Ghost The Churches of Bohemie Vngarie Polonia Denmarke Saxonie and high Germany The Heluetian Churches the Belgique and those of the low Countreyes The French English and Geneua it selfe in the beginning of reformation obserued them all The day of Natiuitie they yearely celebrate if I be rightly informed the rest are abrogated and by what occasion reade the 115. and 128. Epistles of Caluin where after he had shewed the occasion of their abolishment hee addes Ego neque suasor neque impulsor fui atque hoc testatum volo si mihi delata optio fuisset quod nunc constitutum est non fuisse pro sententia dicturum For the opinions of the rest of our Diuines in this particular Bucer Martyr Bullinger Zanchius Aretius Polanus Paraeus and Tilenus with all that I haue seene speake manifestly for it Tilenus his words in his Systema which came forth the last yeare are these Alios dies praeter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad peculiarium quorundam Dei beneficiorum Christi gestorum solennem anniuersariam in Ecclesia commemorationem celebrari nulla religio vetat modò prudons cautio accedat Ne videlicet vel vllius rei ereatae cultui consecrentur vel insitae diebus illis sanctitatis opinio foneatur vel denique ignauo otio foedifque voluptatibus hac occasione fenestra aperiatur I find in a Synod kept at Middleburgh Anno 1584 a Canon there made that all holy dayes should be abolished except the Lords day and the day of Christs Natiuitie and Ascension But if the Magistrates shall require moe to bee kept then the Ministers shall labour by preaching to turne the peoples idlenesse into godly exercises and businesse These be the wordes of that Canon which I haue cited aswell to shew you what that Church ascribes to Magistrates as because our case in this particular is verie like His Majestie as you know hath charged all his Subiects by Proclamation to abstaine from seruile labour in these times and it should become vs wel as that Act speaks to turn them from idlenes to godly exercises For to dispute of the lawfulnes of the prohibitiō neque huius fori nor will any Subiect that is in his right wits presume to doe it I doe not vrge the testimonies of the Fathers in this poynt because of them you who were at the last Assembly heard enough And they who eleuate the consent of antiquitie in this matter saying That the mysterie of iniquitie was then begun to worke will reuerence as I trust the iudgement of these reformed Writers who haue laboured to discouer that Mysterie and will thinke it no commendation to them to be dissenting from all the Churches that haue beene and are in the world Of the last Article which requires kneeling as the most reuerend gesture in partaking the holy Sacrament of the Communion I haue neede to say much seeing great stirres are made for this and as I esteeme without any cause The Apostle when he professes to deliuer vnto vs that which hee receyued of the Lord speakes not either of sitting or kneeling or standing by which it is cuident That situs vel positus corporis in coena as Zepperus speakes is not of the essence of the Sacrament but to be numbered amongst these circumstances which the Church may alter and change at their pleasure Where it is said that wee ought to conforme our selues to Christs action yee know it is answered That if so were it behoued vs to lye along about the Table to communicate with men and not with women And in the Euening after supper receiue this Sacrament which things were ridiculous to affirme Peter Martyr an excellent witnesse of Gods truth In classe secunda Locorum communium Cap. 4. speakes otherwise Nihil interest saith he si coenae Dominicae sacramentum stantes aut sedentes aut genibus flexis percipiamus modò institutum Domini conseruetur occasio superstitionibus praecidatur And in his Defence of the doctrine of the Eucharist aduersus Gardinerum answering the same argument which Bellarmine brings for reall presence Although in receyuing the Sacrament saith he we adore the Lord by kneeling we doe not thereby testifie the reall and corporall presence of Christ in the Sacrament for adoration the mind not being applied to the elements but to the things signified may lawfully bee vsed Peter Mouline in defence of his Maiesties Apologie against the Frier Copheteau where the Frier alledges
some testimonies out of S. Ambrose S. Augustine and S. Chrysostome to proue the adoration of the consecrated Hoste answers That the Fathers say nothing but that which wee willingly graunt Is there any amongst vs saith he who euer denyed that we ought to adore the flesh of Iesus Christ Who euer doubted that wee ought to adore him in the Eucharist But he that adores Iesus Christ in the Eucharist does not for all that adore that which the Priest holds in his hand but he adores Iesus Christ who is in Heauen These worthie men scorne as yee see Bellarmines argument howbeit wee can take out of an enemies mouth and make somewhat of nothing to beare out our owne conceits Th. Beza did not approue this gesture of kneeling yet did he neuer esteeme it Idolatrie as some of our Spirits doe In his 12. Epistle he writes thus Geniculatio dum symbola accipiuntur speciem quidem habet piae Christianae venerationis ac proinde olim potuit cum fructu vsurpari Tamen quoniam ex hoc fonte orta est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illa detestabilis adhuc in animis multorum haerens merito sublata esse videtur Interea tamen cum ista non sint per se idololatrica idem de illis quod de praecedentibus sentimus And what was that Propterea non esse deserendū ministerium possunt enim inquit debent multa tolerari in Ecclesia quae recte non praecipiuntur This was the iudgement of that worthie and reuerend man But there came out a Pamphlet in the yeare 1608 written by some peruerse Spirit in the English Church of this argument which findes too good entertainement in some of you my Brethren Worse and more desperate Blasphemies did neuer any Arriane cast out for this directly he saies That in the receyuing the holy Communion we ought not vse any right that may signifie our inferioritie vnto Christ neyther should we abase our selues there but acknowledge and thinke vs his equalls I pray God keepe vs from this Diuinitie Doubtlesse such conceits as these brought the Church of Pole in that generall Synode which was kept anno 1578. simply to condemne sitting as a ceremonie vnhonest and vnlawfull for so holy an exercise In the act concerning ceremonies to bee vsed in the administration of the Supper they haue these words Libertati christianae donamus vt stantes vel genua flectentes pij Sacramentum corporis sanguinis Christi sumant Sessionis verò ad mensam Domini quia illi authores huius ritus extiterunt qui à nobis ad Arrianismum perfide transfugi facti sunt hanc propriam ipsis vt Christum sacra eius irreuerenter tractantibus tauquam minus honestam religinsam simplicioribusque admodum scandalosam ceremoniam reijcimus VVe may not thinke it was any light cause which made that Church thus peremptorie in their decree Their troubles were great and as I heare yet are by the Arrians And beleeue mee Brethren such as can away with the speeches of that Pamphlet are not far frō that side Wee haue learned otherwayes to honour the Sonne as wee honour the Father and he that honours not the Sonne so in euery place especially in the participation of the holy Supper should be to vs as a Iew or Pagan I shall insist no louger in this purpose It is an excellent passage that of Saint Augustine vpon the 98. Psalme Nemo carnem illam manducat nisi prius adorauerit That is No man can eate that flesh vnlesse first he haue adored For my selfe I thinke sitting in the beginning was not euilly instituted and since by our Church continued for wee may adore while we are sitting aswell as kneeling yet the gesture which becommeth adoration best is that of bowing of the knee and the irreligion of these times craues that we should put men more vnto it then we doe Thus I haue shewed you the iudgement of the best Reforformed Churches touching these Articles Thereby you haue seene that there is nothing impious or vnlawfull in them they who shew a dislike of some of them in the last Assembly could not say other And surely if it cannot bee shewed that they are repugnant to the written Word I see not with what conscience wee can refuse them being vrged as they are by our Souereigne Lord and King A King who is not a stranger to Diuinitie but hath such acquaintance with it as Rome neuer found in the confessions of all men a more potent Aduersary a King neither superstitious nor inclinable that way but one that seekes to haue God righlty and truly worshipped by all his Subiects His Person were he not our Souereigne giues them sufficient authoritie being recommended by him for hee knowes the nature of things and the consequences of them what is fit for a Church to haue and what not better then we doe all But I heare some answere That were it knowne these things proceeded of himselfe they would make the lesse question of them but they are thought to come by the suggestion of some of the English Church or them of our selues at home For the first I will but remember you of his Maiesties owne Declaration in the Chappell of Saint Andrewes where with a great attestation more then needed from a Prince to his Subiects Hee declared that neither the desire he had for conforming his Churches nor the soliciation of any person did set him on this worke but his zeale for God and a certaine knowledge that hee could not answere it in that great Day if hee should neglect this dutie His Maiesties Letter to the last Assembly beares so much also Now any of vs would take it euill not to be beleeued after our solemne attestations and I trust in all your confessions his Maiestie deserues some greater respect As to that which is supposed of vs at home my selfe chiefly if I shall beleeue the rumours that are going I will borrow that notable man his speech in a case not vnlike Mihi hactenus propemodum fatale fuit Caluine putidis his calumnijs quotidie onerari ego autem vt sanctè testari possum me inscio ac ne optante quidem haec proposita ita ab initio in animum induxi inuidiam potius tacendo lenare quà m excusationes quaerere minus solicitas This was my resolution and I should not change it but that I will not haue a misconceit of my doings to leade you into an offence I therefore in the presence of the Almightie God and of this honourable Assembly solemnely protest that without my knowledge against my desire and when I least expected these Articles were sent vnto mee not to be proponed to the Church but to bee inserted amongst the Canons thereof which then were in gathering touching which point I humbly excused my selfe that I could not insert amongst the Canons that which was not first aduised with the Church and desired they might bee referred to another
consideration Neither did I heare after that time of them any thing while that Protestation was formed to bee presented to the States of Parliament at what time his Maiestie taking the aduantage of their mis-behauiour who penned the Protestation and proudly stood to the same resolued to haue these Articles admitted in our Church wherin all my care was to saue the Church her authoritie and labour that they might be referred to an Assembly which was obtayned vpon promise that his Maiesty should receiue satisfaction and the promise was not made by mee alone but ratified by your selues as you remember at Saint Andrewes In the Assembly that followed howsoeuer my aduice took no place I ioyned after the dissoluing therof with my Lords the Bishops to excuse the delay that was made at the time but our Letter being euill accepted and another returning full of anger and indignation which diuerse of your selues haue seene I trauelled at the Ministers their earnest solicitation by all the wayes I could to diuert the troubles which before this time most certainly yee would haue felt And all that hath proceeded since ye know So as I spake before I would if it had beene in my power most willingly haue declined the receiuing of these Articles Not that I did esteeme them either vnlawfull or inconuenient for I am so farre perswaded of the contrary as I can bee of any thing but I foresaw the contradiction which would bee made and the businesse we should fall into Therefore let no man deceiue himselfe these things proceede from his Maiestie and are his owne motions not any others I heare others say they could agree with the Articles but that they take them to be introductions of the rest of the English Ceremonies wherewith they cannot away To this I answer That the ready way to haue the rest imposed is to offend his Maiestie by our resisting and the way to be freed of them is to approue our selues in the obedience of these Thereby both yee and wee shall finde a more gracious hearing in any thing that concerneth the Church Call to mind the courses of former times and tell me if our oppositions did euer gayne vs any thing If experience will not make vs wise what can But this others say is hard to bee done because our preaching and practice haue both beene to the contrarie and a yeelding now cannot but stayne our credits I will not reply that it is no credit to be constant in euill nor any discredit to change for the better for this would sound harshly in the eares of many onely I shall wish those who stand so much for their credit to lay before themselues Saint Pauls example who became all to all that hee might saue some Hee had preached against Circumcision against the keeping of the lewish Sabbaths their new Moones and other Rites he had called them yokes burthens importent and beggarly rudiments and reproued Saint Peter for making the Gentiles conforme to the Iewes in these things yet after all this he circumcised Timothy and practised himselfe diuers of their Ceremonies The reason was that he saw no other way to redeeme the libertie of his Ministerie further the Gospell and increase the Churches In this hee placed his credit and so hee did speed in that hee stood not much what men reported of him If the zeale of God leade vs and the loue of his Church wee will not looke so much to our selues and to our owne reputation as to the furthering of the worke of the Gospell It will be replyed I know that not for themselues but for the offence of the people they feare to admit these things For hauing preached against holy dayes and the rest and hauing defended the Constitutions of the Church which now must be altered there cannot but great offence ensue I can make no other answer to this then say That I trust none of our Preachers haue stood against the keeping of dayes simply but against the superstitious keeping of them as Papists doe and against the lasciuiousnesse of people prophaning those dayes by vnlawfull exercises Nor haue wee taught at any time sitting to be of the essence of the Sacrament and a Rite that may not be changed for in that case it is necessary for the Truths sake to informe them otherwise and make it seene that wee loue Truth more then our owne reputation If our iudgements haue beene misse-led and that we haue misse-led others it is good that we being resolued of the Truth helpe to resolue others also But I doe not suppose any such ignorance in my brethren I know people thinke many times wee contradict our selues when there is nothing lesse for they distinguish not well of things and haue many mistakings Alwayes this is sure the framing of peoples conceits lyes much in our hands The Dayes required to bee obserued haue beene kept this last yeare in the chiefe Burghes by his Maiesties command what offence thereof did we find amongst the people The Communion hath beene giuen and receiued in that reuerend forme Who was scandalized Some few perhaps that would seeme singular for holinesse by the rest and others because they saw their Ministers forbeare but generally such as communicated who were not a few number professed that in their time they neuer found more comfort and better motions which their teares and deuout behauiour testified to all the beholders But this they say takes not away the offence for Papists will boast that wee are drawing backe towards them and the godly cannot but be grieued that haue a dislike of their Ceremonies For Papists first wee are not to regard them It is their manner to make aduantage of euery thing say or doe what wee will they will still speake euill of the Truth Are the Churches of England Germany and Bohemie in better termes with Papists then wee Yee know not how things goe in the world if yee thinke so Papists are not the fooles we take them to be pleased with shadowes they haue other more substantiall notes by which they discerne their friends then by ceremonies As for the godly amongst vs wee are sorry they should bee grieued but it is their owne fault for if the things be in themselues lawfull what is it that should offend them They say these alterations can worke no good I answer The alteration is necessary if it bee necessary for our Church to inioy his Maiesties fauour and if it be necessary it must also be profitable Nam causa necessitatis vtilitatis aequiparantur in iure But if they thinke that we should regard their offence and offence of other good Christians let them know that the offence of our gracious Soueraigne is more to vs then theirs and a thoufand moe Yet were it not better that his Maiestie should by his authoritie inioyne them rather then the Church giue any consent and when the time shall grow better we may then returne to our old custome for these are
the motions of some What they call better times I know not but our fathers saw neuer so good times nor is it to be hoped that our posteritie shall see the like Continuance detracts from the worth of things at least in our conceits wee haue enioyed peace and libertie so long that we little know how precious they are But had we beene in the coates of our fathers or could wee remember the straits our first Reformers stood in and were brought vnto in the same Citie when that good Earle Alexander came to their reliefe wee would thinke it no small blessing to haue our Profession countenanced by Authoritie As to that which they desire that his Maiestie should inioyn these things by Authoritie I leaue it to you to iudge how dangerous the same may proue to the Church If cōformity be enioyned be sure it wil not be in these matters only but in others that yee hate more But I feare it be the purpose of many to rubbe this way vpon his Maiesty the imputation of tyrannie for what Christian King did euer determine in Ecclesiasticall matters any thing without aduice of his Clergie And to impose Lawes vpon the Church without their consent were as much as to say the King imposes things vnlawfull for if they be lawfull Why will wee be dissenting Brethren his Maiestie is styled Defender of the Faith and hath it by desert aswell as by inheritance It were a peruerse course for vs to make it seeme otherwayes When Iesuites and Papists of all sorts are by their infamous writings belying his Maiestie and traducing his Highnesse fame onely because he opposes them for the defence of the common Faith if wee should furnish them matter of new obloquie by our rebellion we could neuer be excused of vile ingratitude Rests but one obiection that I haue heard which I will not omit They say the English Church hath beene seeking of old times to haue vs wonder their gouernment and vpon this some haue called our yeelding vnto a conformitie in these points with them a betraying of the libertie of our Church and Kingdome This reason is so euill grounded that though we should conforme with them in euery outward Rite obserued not onely by them but by the whole Church of Christ long before it was so infected with Poperie it would not inferre the dependance of our Church vpon theirs but that there is that harmony and conformitie amongst vs which ought to bee amongst all the reformed Churches both in Doctrine and Discipline And for our part in maintayning our right yee may remember not long since when that Noble man was absolued in England who was excommunicate by vs wee ceassed not to complaine vntill a new command was giuen that hee should receiue from vs a new absolution If matters should come thus to be contested for which is not to bee expected wee should not bee found neglectful either of our Church or Country But what is this we are iealous of We lius vnder a King that loues the kingdomes honour more then we all there offers not one occasion wherein his Maiestie failes to expresse his naturall affection towards his country Euen now that Mischant sometimes one of your number and vnworthy to be named did vomit forth his spite and vnnatural malice against the whole Nation And how did his Maiestie resent it As I haue beene aduertised he did solemnely declare That albeit much had beene said against his Maiesties owne person and nothing omitted in that kinde which the Deuill could inuent yet all that did not so much grieue him as that Mischants taxing of his Country and Nation He is not worthy the name I will not say of a Christian but of a Scottish man that will not if need be lay downe his life to meet his Maiesties affection I know yee are ready enough to make your protestations this way but beleeue me he shall neuer hazard willingly his life for his Prince who stands against his pleasure in so iust demands I will say no more for I haue wearied both you and my selfe out of a desire to giue satisfaction to you all How freely and plainly I haue spoken ye are my witnesses with what an affection towards the Churches good God hee knowes Brethren wee haue made too much businesse about these matters The Kingdome of God consists not in them but in righteousnesse and peace and ioy of the holy Ghost Away with fruitlesse and contentious disputings Remember the worke wee are sent for is to build the Church of God and not to destroy it to call men to Faith and Repentance to stirre them vp to the works of true pietie and loue and not to make them thinke they haue Religion enough when they haue talked against Bishops and Ceremonies If wee shall goe about this carefully and all of vs striue in our places by fruitfull preaching honest liuing and a wise gouerning to approue our selues vnto the consciences of our people wee shall shortly finde matters in a better estate then wee haue seene and be all of vs an acceptable people to the Lord our God which that it may bee God for his Christs sake grant to vs all Amen THe Sermon ended the Archbishop of Saint Andrewes came to the Table at which his Maiesties Commissioners Noble men and other members of the Assembly were sitting and calling for the ordinarie Clerke of the Assembly was answered That Master Thomas Nicholson who formerly serued the Church in that place had dimitted his office in fauour of Master Iames Sandelands Aduocate This he notified to the Assembly as that which hee had vnderstood before and shewed that the said Master Iames was a man sufficiently qualified for the place of good report and one that by his aduocation and pleading might further the particular businesse of Ministers before the Session He desired the Assembly to consider what was fittest to bee done and aduise whether they would receiue the said Master Iames in the others place or not The voyces of his Maiesties Commissioners the Noble men Bishops and diuers of the Ministers being asked they all without exception agreed to his receiuing And the said Master Iames being recalled for while the voyces were asked he was remoued had an oath ministred vnto him for his diligent and faithfull discharge of that seruice The Libeller obserues here first That seates being appointed for Noble men Barons Burgesses and Bishops with the Doctors the Ministers were left to stand behinde them as if their part had onely beene to behold Then sayes that the choosing of Master Iames Sandelands to be Clerke was done without formall voting or lite But to that first although it might bee replyed in a word that the care of placing seates was onely in the Magistrates hands of the Burghe where the said Assembly was kept and that the neglect thereof if any was cannot be thought purposely done yet because no diligence was omitted on the part of the Magistrates and the seates
of the last generall Assembly at Saint-Andrewes to heare such words of indignation and iust displeasure so often to proceed out of the mouth of so good and so gracious a Prince like MOSES the meekest man vpon the face of the Earth Sed verendum etiam atque etiam quò exeat patientia tam saepe laesa Words spoken against those that are called to be Ministers Embassadors of Peace and patternes of Pietie and Obedience vttered in the eares of them who labour indeed as it becommeth so loyall and louing subiects by their humble and dutifull obedience vnto his sacred Maiestie to out-strip those that went before them and albeit they haue the last yet not to haue the least portion in our DAVIDS loue But as then with all good and well-affected men I much grieued so now I heartily reioyce and praise God that notwithstanding of all that is passed I haue liued to see this day agenerall Synod once more of the Church of Scotland called by the authority and expresse command and pleasure of our Souereigne Lord the KING which is the only true and best meanes indeed vsed in all Ages for extirpating of all Sects Errors Heresies for the planting of truth and good order in the Church of Christ And I pray God that all things at this meeting may by the direction of Gods good Spirit by your wisdomes be so carryed that you abridge not your selues and posterity of so great a blessing and procure that not only these things which are now required but that other things more difficult bee enioyned and enforced vpon you vpon strict penaltie by Supreme Authority And therefore I desire as I am sent to that purpose with the Apostle Titus 3. to put you in remembrance that you bee subiect to Principalities and powers and that you bee obedient and ready to euery good worke to put you in remembrance that by the great blessing of Almightie God you haue to doe with so wise so potent so religious so learned a Prince the matchlesse Mirror of all Kings the nursing Father of his Church that he whose Wisedome and Authoritie is in the composing of all differences both Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill so much required respected and admired not only by his owne people of his other Kingdomes but by all good Christians of forrein Nations throughout the Christian world may not seeme to be neglected by you his natiue Subiects at home and you especially of the Ministeric who ought to be examples and patternes of obedience vnto others you whom he hath so infinitely obliged by his so great bountie and constant loue To put you in remembrance that as with no small disreputation vnto his Maiestie and diminution as it were of his Princely authoritie in the iudgement and sight of the World whose eyes are bent vpon these proceedings he hath granted you so long time by your Christian and godly endeuours with your seuerall flockes whom you are to leade not to be led by them to remoue as you promised both to his Maiesty being here amongst you and againe confirmed at your last generall Synod all those scandals which might be taken by the more ignorant and vnaduised sort of your people to whom all innouations though to the better may seeme at the first somewhat strange so that now you would bee carefull as much as in you lyeth to take away that more dangerous and open offence and scandall which by your delay and refusall of obedience you shall cast vpon the sacred person of our Soueraigne Lord the King the most constant and zealous Protectour and Defender of that Faith and Truth which wee all professe and for the which he hath suffered such open gaine-saying of the Aduersaries thereof the limbes of Antichrist as if hee who hath laboured so much to exalt the glorie of this Nation farre aboue all his Predecessours in the eyes of the World now going about most of all to humble vs vnto our God and in performance of the act of greatest deuotion according to his owne example to bring vs vnto our Knees did in so doing any way vrge his Subiects to any thing which might sauour of Superstition or Idolatrie To remoue the scandall from those who are in authority amongst you and are set ouer you in the Lord who by their dutifull obedience vnto God and their Soueraigne haue alreadie both by their Doctrine and practise commended those things which now are required of you to be both lawfull and expedient To take away that scandall and aspersion which by the seeming reasons of your former refusall or delay you haue cast vpon others so glorious reformed Churches as if the holy Ghost and Spirit of reformation had beene giuen onely and solely rested vpon you To remoue that notorious and publique scandall which by the fierie and turbulent spirits of some few priuate men lyeth heauie vpon the feruent and zealous Professours of the glorious Gospel of Christ as if they also were disobedient vnto Magistracie and in this did seeme to ioyne hands with the maine vpholders and pillars of Poperie It hath wounded the Spirits of good men to heare it often spoken Nec dicatur vtinam ampliùs Gathi in plateis Aschelonis Nay to see it in Print that Herod and Pilate were now reconciled againe if not Contra Christum Dominum yet contra Christum Domini Lastly to preuent that lamentable miserie and calamitie which God in his iustice might bring vpon this Church in that you regarded not the blessed time of your visitation and despised the long suffering and great goodnesse of God and of so bountifull and gracious a Soueraigne And so to conclude for to stand now vpon the particulars were but actum agere and you need no gleanings after so plentifull an haruest or the light of a Candle being inlightned by the cleare beames of the Sunne with that of Naamans seruants 2. King 5. vnto their Lord and Maister Father if the Prophet had commanded thee a greater matter shouldest thou not haue done it c. So right reuerend Fathers and Brethren in Christ if our most gracious Soueraigne Lord who hath done so much for you had commanded you greater things so long as they might stand with the will of God and in no waies be repugnant vnto the same for in that case indeed the Apostles rule holds inuiolably true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That we must rather obey God then men should you not haue beene readie your selues and by your Doctrine and practise haue induced others to obedience much more then when he requireth of you but these few necessarie things necessary and expedient for the glorie of God for the aduancing of pietie amongst you for the honour and due satisfaction vnto our Soueraigne Lord the KING for the happy establishing of order peace vnion and loue amongst your selues and in these vnited Kingdomes Therefore let me beseech you in the bowels of Christ to giue all their due Quae Caesaris Caesari
alwayes matters must first be brought to some point in the conference and thereafter proponed to the whole number who should be heard to reason of new if he listed Hereupon they resolued to fall into the dispute and first Master Iohn Carmichael brought an Argument from the custome and practice of the Church of Scotland which had beene long obserued and ought not to bee altered except the inconuenience of the present order were shewed and the desired gesture qualified to bee better It was answered that how euer the Argument held good against the motions of priuate men yet his Maiestie requiring the practice to be changed matters behoued to admit a new consideration and that because it was the Prince his Priuiledge that had the conseruation and custodie aswell of the Church as of the Common-wealth to call in question Customes and Statutes which he perceiued to breed any inconuenience in the state euen by himselfe it could not bee denyed that in a Church Assembly such as that was his Maiestie might lawfully craue an innouation of any Church Rite which hee esteemed not to be conuenient for the time From this Argument they went to another of Christ and the Disciples sitting at the first institution in discussing whereof they were brought to acknowledge the gesture not to bee of the essence of the Sacrament but alterable at the discretion of the Church Only they held the custome formerly receiued to be the better This was the proceeding of the first Conference wherein because matters could not be brought to any point continuation was made to the morrow after and they warned to meete againe at eight of the clocke in the morning The Libeller affirmes the Propositions made by them touching the order of dispute and the rest to haue beene reiected by the Moderator adding that he determined by himselfe and that the fewer Reasons proponed by the Ministers were cut off by cauilling and quarrelling at mens persons whereas a number are witnesses and can well remember that they were heard with patience to alledge what they could and answered in that which they proponed till themselues could say no more and that nothing was done but according to the custome kept in such cases in all Assemblies Wednesday the 26. of August THe Conference being met as was appointed after inuocation of the Name of God the Reasoners were desired to proceed where they had left the night before and not to trifle time with speeches of small consequence which was the effect of all the discourses the Libeller seemes to complaine of The reasoning continued from eight vnto eleuen of the clocke And when the whole Reasons proponed by the two forenamed were in the iudgement of all men satisfied others were required and had place giuen them to propone their Arguments also which was done in good order and with such modestie as could be wished It were needlesse here to repeate the seuerall Arguments and Answers seeing they are all in the Disputation subsequent at large set downe onely where the Libeller sayes That reasoning was cut off and the Article of kneeling put to voyces It is true that nothing remayning to bee said more in that head then was proponed the Archbishop desired these of the Conference to giue their iudgement in the matter reasoned They opponed that the custome was not to vote in Conference any matter before it were brought to the full Assembly but it was proued otherwise by these who had frequented the Assemblies both of old and in the latter times as likewise it was told them that these Conferences resembled the meeting of the Lords of Articles in Parliament where matters are accustomed to bee prepared and put in order before they bee proponed to the whole State And that the voting in Conference was by way of aduice onely and not to determine The power whereof belonged onely to the Assembly This being acknowledged by the whole number to bee so they offered that were present to giue their owne iudgement without preiudging the Assembly as accordingly they did The whole number some ten or eleuen excepted declaring that by the Reasons proponed or any thing else they conceiued they could not deny but a change might bee made of the gesture in receiuing the holy Sacrament and that it seemed to them conuenient for the Church to embrace the Article proponed by his Maiestie about kneeling in regard of his desire and resolution to haue the same forme here established The Libeller either forgetting himselfe or misse-informed for by the whole Narration he makes it would seeme hee was not present himselfe casts this in the after-noones Conference though the same was done in the morning but this any man may well thinke is but a light errour yet it may appeare by this how little the Narration he makes is to be regarded for he brings in the Moderator in that afternoone saying to such as conuened That the Article of kneeling was concluded by the Conference and immediately after sayes That the same was put to voyces where it is strange the Moderator should so forget himselfe as to say a thing was voted and incontinent propone the same to bee voted againe but this we will passe After the aduice concluded to bee giuen to the Assembly in this point it was thought meet that the Article presently reasoned with the other Articles proponed by his Maiestie should all of them be formed in the best and most agreeable words that could bee deuised for remouing all offence that might bee taken at the same and no aduantage giuen to the Aduersaries of the Truth and to this effect were named some graue and wise Brethren who were desired to haue the same in readinesse at foure of the clocke in the after-noone it being thought meet that the full Assembly should not meet before Thursday againe at which time all might be prepared Wednesday at after-noone ALbeit the meeting of the full Assembly was differred to the next day yet that after-noone the whole number thronging in whether that they were not aduertised of the delay or that they desired to bee present with the Conference came thither which the Archbishop perceiuing he tooke occasion to excuse the delay of meeting with them declaring how farre they had proceeded and that the Conference had committed the Articles to bee formed vnto certayne Brethren who were at that time to present them and therefore desired they should haue patience till the morrow and leaue the Conference for that time by themselues which they did How soone they were remoued these who were appointed to forme the Articles being inquired what they had done answered That they had formed the Article about kneeling but had no leisure to consider of the rest This being read which they had put in forme was well liked of and they required to haue the rest in readinesse at the time of the Assemblies meeting the next day The Libeller here remembers a word that escaped the Moderator while as they resisted so
importunately the voting of the Articles in Conference saying That hee would commit twentie preiudices to please the King whereas the truth is that after many answers made to giue them satisfaction and shew that no preiudice was either intended or done to the Assembly when as nothing could content them but still they talked of preiudice he willed them to be quiet for rather then his Maiestie should offend with the Church and these troubles come vpon it which were iustly to bee feared hee would commit twentie such preiudices as these were The rest of that after-noone was spent in talking as the Libeller sayes vpon Simony c. but in the deuising some ouerture for the restrayning of that abuse to bee proponed to the whole Assembly which the next day after was by vniuersall consent allowed As likewise the Commission for the planting of the Church of Edinburgh and the forming of the booke of Common Prayers and extracting of the Canons of the Church And thus ended this Conference Thursday the 27. of August THat day being an ordinary day of preaching a Sermon was made by the reuerend Father in God William late Bishop of Galloway against which the Libeller excepts three manner of wayes First saying that his Doctrine was farre contrary to that which he had taught before the Estates of Parliament Anno 1606. Secondly that hee set at nought the ancient order of our Church sometime highly commended by himselfe extolling the new light and thirdly that he presumed to teach them a new kind of Catechisme vnder whom he himselfe might be yet catechised To all which seeing he is now at rest this much may be truely replyed in his behalfe That howeuer his opinion in these matters of the externall gouerment were sometimes other his Doctrine was neuer contrarie to that which at any time he professed and preached but these men haue beene so accustomed in feeding the eares of people with matters belonging to order neglecting the substantiall points of Religion which are Faith and Repentance as they dreame of no other Doctrine but that and counts the alteration of iudgement in these points of outward discipline a sort of Apostasie and falling from the truth And where he is said to set at nought the ancient order of our Church it is a false and impudent lye for neither he nor any else that seeme most earnest for receiuing these Articles did euer contemne the orders and rites formerly established but while as they stood in force reuerently practised them and were obedient to the ordinances of the Church made thereabout but the circumstances of things now being changed and these times requiring other fashions and manners wee thinke without the despising of these they may be well admitted and as commendably vsed as euer the other were For the third of presuming to teach them by whom he might be catechized because this is spoken in despight I passe it with this answere That his Sermons and workes left behind him which will continue with the posteritie will witnesse against all their malice that hee was inferiour to none of the Opposites in preaching yea in many degrees superiour to them all But to returne to our purpose the Assembly being not in full number to take some conclusion in the businesse for which they were conuened after inuocation of the Name of God it was declared vnto them that by the labours of the Conference in their priuate meetings the Articles proponed by his Maiestie were brought and reduced into that forme as it rested for the Assembly to consider whether or not the same should be receiued in our Church and to moue them the rather to condescend his Maiesties resolution to haue the Articles receiued was declared and how no other answere could satisfie but granting of the said Articles They were likewise remembred of their promises made to his Maiesties selfe at Saint Andrewes and in the last generall Assembly and had the lawfulnesse and indifferencie of these matters at length of new exponed vnto them Neither was any of their common pretexts left vnanswered place being giuen to all that would reason against any one of the Articles to doe the same And while some of them insisted by long speeches to haue a continuation made of matters to another Assembly and a supplication sent to his Maiestie for some longer delay his Highnesse Commissioners hauing vrged a present answere they were desired to cease and not to trifle time with vnnecessary speeches seeing matters should receiue decision before they went forth of doores And so some few making shew to reason in the contrary were permitted to speake till they had no more to say and had their reasons answered to the full The Libeller sayes the libertie was granted to a few and that the reasons were checkt and borne downe with authoritie but how contrarie this is to the truth wee leaue it to bee answered by such as were present And now when they haue set downe in writing all that then was said or possibly they can inuent Let the Reader iudge if by the answeres giuen their obiections be not sufficiently confuted Doctor Lindsay his answere being posed on conscience to declare his iudgement touching kneeling at the Sacrament is maliciously mutilated His declaration was this as all the Assembly can testifie in whose presence it was giuen On my conscience I neither know Scripture reason nor antiquitie that enforceth kneeling sitting standing or passing as necessary but thinke them all indifferent and therefore that any of them may bee lawfully vsed when it is found expedient And considering nothing to be more expedient for the weale of our Church then to keepe peace with our gracious Soueraigne and not to contend for such matters I iudge yeelding to his Highnesse desire to bee the onely best When all the reasoning was ended his Maiesties Letter was againe read to the end the Assembly might see his earnestnesse about the same matters And because of a Pasquill cast in in the Pulpit of Edinburghe the Sunday before which was deliuered to the Archbishop of Saint Andrewes the penners whereof had warned the Ministers not to yeeld to the Articles giuing them promises of satisfaction for their stipends in case they should be taken from them and to fight in the defence of thē that cause He disswaded them to leane vnto such suggestions or be moued with them for that they would proue nought in the end as the experience of the seuenteene dayes worke might teach them And added which he is not ashamed of nor will denie That were there no other to take imployment against these Mutiners and seditious persons he could wish that he were honoured therewith These are the great blasts and terrours which the Libeller mentions otherwaies they can take exception at nothing iustly that then was vittered As matters were then proponed to be voted one of that number gaue in writing some particular reasons for disswading the grant of the said Articles which they
haue now writ and imprinted in this Pamphlet which beeing suspected as the Libeller speakes to be some seditious protestation the Preferrer thereof was aduertised to take heede to his doing and giue in no Libels which hee did not set his hand vnto This while he offered himselfe to doe the Archbishop of Saint-Andrewes beeing loath to bring him that way in danger tooke backe the said Writing and desired the Clerk of the Assembly to reade the same And when they were perceiued to containe no matter of moment or any new thing which had not beene before talked of they were cast by as not deseruing any consideration Thus the question was made Whether they would receiue or refuse the Articles Here the Libeller peruerts the question and sayes it was this Whether yee will consent to the Articles or disobey the King which is a question of his own deuising And could not agree neither with the matter nor with the persons It was desired by some That the Articles might be seuerally voted pretending that many would agree to some of them who would not accept of all But that no subterfuge might be left or giuen to those that gladly would hang betweene parties striue to please all it was thought meetest to vote them in Cumulo because the denying of one would be to his Maiestie as the denying of all The Archbishop of S. Andrewes taking the roll of names in his owne hand as it was meete he should doe though the Libeller thinke otherwise for the office of the Clerke is to marke the voices where they agree or disagree which he cannot easily doe as any may may judge if he himselfe reade the Roll neyther is that customable in any iudicatorie consisting of so many persons as did this Assembly And called the names as they stood in the roll where they were found 86. that answered affirmatiue granting to the said Articles and one and fortie onely that denyed with foure non liquets The Libeller sayes That some were called who wanted Commission in which he impudently lies their Commissions being extant in the rolls And that others hauing Commission of whose Negatiue wee were assured omitted to be called whereas not any of the whole was left vnasked Maister Iohn Murray Minister at Dumfermline excepted who was past by for many reasons concerning himselfe not needfull here to be expressed As for the order kept in calling of the Roll it merits no answere And where it hath been said That the Noblemen Barons and Burgesses were those that swayed the voices the most of the Ministrie beeing against it by the rolls yet extant it is cleare that the whole Laicks that came to this Assembly were 31. of whom two were negatiues as the Libeller confesses and one departed from the Assembly before the voting which whole number being laid aside they were ouerswayed by the voyces of the Ecclesiasticks to the number of eighteene at least And this is the true Narration of all the Proceedings in the said Assembly by which let any man judge of the Libellers Discourse and how little credit is to bee giuen to the same For things are yet fresh in the memorie of such as were present and cannot be forgotten Answers to the Exceptions made against the Assembly of PERTH whereby the LIBELLER would inferre the nullitie thereof PP THe generall Assembly hath vsually met since the reformation of the Religion according to the indiction of time and place made by the former Assembly And if it happened that any Assembly was to be holden pro re nata premonition was made in due time by his Maiestie and the Commissioners of the Church and the occasions set downe expresly to the effect Commissioners might be sent instructed according to the qualitie of the businesse to be intreated Neuerthelesse after diuers reports giuen out by such as stand in credit in Church affaires that his Maiestie was so incensed against the last Assembly holden at S. Andrewes that there was no hope of any other Assembly This Assembly beyond expectation was proclaimed to be holden within twentie dayes after the Proclamation made at the Market crosse of Edinburghe without any aduertisement giuen to the Presbytries about the matters to be handled ANS In this Assembly concurred all these things which yee require for the lawfull indiction of an Assembly first it was indicted by the supreme Magistrate who hath sufficient power to conuocate generall Assemblies and without whose permission no such conuocations can be made Secondly it had the consent of the former generall Assembly at S. Andrews which by a petition to his Maiestie most humblie required to grant a new Assembly wherein these matters might be more fully considered referring the time and place to his Maiesties pleasure Thirdly the premonition was made in due time first because at Easter before in the particular Diocesian Synods aduertisement was made to the Brethren to haue their Commissioners in readinesse against the time to be designed by his Maiestie Secondly the time designed after the Proclamation was sufficient to haue all the parts of the Countrie aduertised Thirdly the Bishops besides the said Proclamation gaue lawfull aduertisement by their Letters to the Ministers of their Diocesse Fourthly the occasion and matters to be handled were well enough knowne to all long before For the occasion was by that petition made by the Assembly at S. Andrewes wherein the same matters beeing handled though not fully discussed it was required That it would please his Maiestie to accept of a delay and to indict another Assembly to the end that the Brethren hauing better leisure to consider the Articles proponed they might bee the better prepared to giue his Maiestie satisfaction PP The act of Chapters of old were void and of none effect when the meanest member hauing vote was neglected contemned or not lawfully warned Such like the act of prouinciall Synods when the meanest Suffragan was not regarded with lawfull citation according to the rule Cōtemptus vnius plus obest quà m multerum contradictio Neuerthelesse for lacke of lawfull warning and conuenient space to prouide and prepare Commissioners there was absent from that Assembly foure Dioceses viz. Orknay Caithnes Argile the Isles besides diuers Presbytries whose interest was as proper and necessarie in the generall Assembly as of any suffragan in Synod or particular member in the Chapter ANS None was contemned that had enterest to bee there because due premonition was made to all as it is cleered by the answere to the former exception albeit some were absent it shewes not that they were neglected for first the absence might haue happened for diuers other occasions some being impeded by sicknesse some vnwilling to trauell in that Season of the yeare and some loath to vtter themselues in the matters questioned Secondly the absence of these makes not the Assembly null for from these farre distant High-land Countreyes as Orknay Caithnes Argile and the Iles which are heere mentioned few Commissioners were
Acts thereof Session 7.14 Maij. PP By order established Acts standing in force and continuall Custome free of all Controuersie and Quarrell all and euery one of the ordinary members of a generall Assembly hauing place and power to vote or capable of moderation are and should bee authorized with lawfull Commissions from inferiour Assemblies viz. Presbyteries Burgesses and Vniuersities according to the Act made Anno 1573. Neuerthelesse the Bishops a great number of Noblemen and Barones and some Ministers hauing no lawful Commission presumed to carry themselues as lawfull members of the said Assembly ANS Because that which heere is summarily said is at greater length set downe in the Articles following I referre the Answer to that place PP Whereas the proceeding of the Assembly ought to bee free without preoccupation either with terrours or allurements this Assembly was preoccupyed with Sermons Letters Harrangues with allurements on the one side and terrours on the other ANS This is repeated in other words in the twelfth exception For the Libeller making a great muster of Arguments to inferre his nullity commits many tautologies PP No others ought to be chosen members of the priuie conference but such as are authorized with Commission to be members of the Assembly neuerthelesse the pretended Moderator did nominate for the priuie Conference such as hee pleased before the Commissions were deliuered and consequently not duly informed who were the iust meÌ„bers of the Assembly According to the rule Totum est maius sua parte The Assembly is greater then the CoÌ„ference according to another rule Turpis pars omnis totinon congrua It is an absurd Conference that disagrees from the whole Assembly Neuerthelesse in that Assembly some few named by the pretended Moderator not chosen by the Assembly not only according to the custome of the priuie Conference concurred with the said Moderator for preparing and digesting of matters to be proponed in due order but tooke vpon them to reason vote and conclude the matters properly belonging to the whole Assembly ANS Against the priuie Conference there are foure exceptions made first that others were nominate then these who were lawfull members of an Assemblie That this is false shall bee cleered hereafter when wee speake of the lawfull members of an Assembly The second that they were nominate by the Moderatour to this I answere hee vsed no other forme in the nomination of them then hath beene heretofore vsed in all other Assemblies for the priuie Conference was neuer chosen by suffrages but the Moderatour did nominate such of all parts of the Countrey as were thought most meete and so was done heere In the yeere of God 1579. in an Assembly kept at Edinburgh and another in Anno 1580. at Dundy this forme of nomination beeing quarrelled it was reasoned voted and concluded that the Assessours of the priuy Conference should bee nominate by the Moderatour and therefore in the next Assembly after the names of the Assessours it is added All these were nominate by the Moderatour Thirdly it is obiected that they disagreed from the whole Assembly Answere The euent prooued otherwise for that which was thought good by the Conference was concluded by the whole Assembly Fourthly that the Conference tooke vpon them to reason vote and conclude matters before they came to the Assembly Answere The end wherefore the priuy Conference is institute is to prepare matters for the Assembly by cleering the points by reasoning declaring what in their iudgements and opinion was meetest to bee done without preiudice of the Assembly it selfe and so was it done in this priuie Conference PP It hath beene the commendable care of godly Emperors and their honourable Deputies in generall Councells to prouide that nothing bee done violently nor extorted by terrour but that time and libertie bee granted for reasoning vpon matters proponed and that the Booke of God be laid open for finding out the Truth Agatho writing to the Emperour Constantine aduised him to grant free poâ—… of speaking to euery one that desires to speake for hiâ—…â—…th which he beleeueth and holdeth That all men may euidently see that no man willing or desirous to speake for the Truth was forbidden hindred or reiected by any force-threatnings terrour or whatsoeuer else might auert them from so doing Conforme to this aduice the Emperour answered as followeth By God Almighty we fauour no partie but shall keepe our selfe equall to all no way making necessitie in any point Neuerthelesse in this Assembly the necessitie of yeelding was inforced vnder no lesse pangs then the wrath of Authoritie imprisonment exile depriuation of Ministers and vtter subuersion of the estate and order of this Church such as by the prouidence of God had their mouthes opened to reason were checkt quarrelled rebuked boasted interrupted and for their discouragement it was plainly prosessed That neither the reasoning nor the number of voters should carry the matter away The party defender was forced to pursue The collecting and putting in order of the Reasons of either side was refused ANS It is obiected here That necessitie of yeelding was enforced contrary to the example of Constantine who protested he would sauour no party but keepe himselfe equall to all no way making necessitie in any point To this wee answer first The cause is different for the question to be debated in that Councell of Constantinople was a substantiall point of Doctrine in it selfe not subiect to his Imperiall power controuerted betwixt the Greeke and Latine Church concerning the twofold will in Christ and because hee being a Grecian himselfe it might haue beene thought hee would fauour more the Greeke Church therefore he purges himselfe of partialitie referring the whole matter to the decision of the Councell according to the Scriptures But here the question is of no substantiall point of Doctrine but of matters indifferent not particularly determined by Scripture but â—â—pending vpon the Prince and Churches pleasure to haue them practised or not In which the Prince might by his owne authoritie impone a necessitie vpon all his Subiects to obey the same except they could shew euident proofes out of the Scripture that the same were absolutely vnlawfull And in case of disobedience hee might iustly threaten them by his authoritie Yet all these particular terrours and threatnings which yee mention with the wrath of Authoritie imprisonment exile depriuation c. were directed onely to such as without reason should bee found obstinate and refractarie who by reason ought not onely be threatned but punished For if men will not regard authoritie but doe as their conceit which some falsly call conscience leades them if neither the Prince his command nor acts of Synods can bind them to obedience may not these threatnings yea ought they not to bee vsed towards them as it hath euer beene the practice in all Councels And to meet you with your owne example which yee alledge that same Constantine who protests he would impose no necessitie in any point in
and his followers and condemned reuerend Fathers for maintenance of the true doctrine as Flautanus Archbishop of Constantinople and others The errours in the manner of proceeding were first The Orthodoxe Bishops beaten by the souldiers whom Dioscorus had brought into the Councell fustibus gladijs with swordes and staues whereby some dyed of their wounds receiued others were bound with chaines and others presently carried to prison Secondly the rest that remained were forced to subscribe a blanke paper wherein Dioscorus wrote whatsoeuer pleased him these were the causes why this Councell was called Praedatoria Synodus It is true The Pope of Rome alledged some other reasons for the nullitie thereof wherewith he was more offended because the same seemed derogatiue to his authoritie as that the Synode was not conuocate by him but by the Emperours commaund His Legats were not admitted Moderators therein And his Letters contayning his sentence and opinion were not publiquely read but supprest Yee leauing all the rest of the weightier causes chop onely at this as if therefore onely this Councell was reiected And to make this Assembly at Perth odious compares it with that hereticall and turbulent conuention betwixt the which there is no similitude at all no not in the poynt which yee chop at For the Libell ye speak of was not peremptorily reiected but a part of it being read the reading was interrupted for two causes first because it contained no new thing but that which had beene alreadie heard and sufficiently answered to Secondly because it contained some things which could not but giue iust offence The like was practised in that Councell vnder Constantine and Agatho which yee alledged before for a patterne of orderly proceeding In the eleuenth Session therof we find that certaine Libells of Macarius who opponed himselfe to the Councell being presented to bee read publiquely after they had proceeded a while in reading they reiected the rest for that they contayned so absurd doctrine as would haue offended the eares of the hearers And in the twelfth Session other Libels presented by him to the Emperour and offered by the Emperour to the Synod after a part thereof was begun to bee read the Councell finding that they contayned no new reasons but the same which had beene heard and discussed before they caused stay the reading thereof So in this Assembly to reiect a Libell foolish and impertinent could be no fault PP In all free and lawfull Assemblies publique voting should be free from all terrours according to the rule Nihil consensui tam contrarium est quà m vis atque metus quem comprobare contra bonos more 's est Neuerthelesse in this Assembly his Maiesties Letters were read the fourth time immediately before the publique voting to moue the Assembly The pretended Moderator threatned to marke their names who dissented and breathed out many terrours and threatnings and so he made good in publique that which he professed in priuate That he would commit twentie preiudices to further his Maiesties purpose ANS If all men were alike peaceably disposed towards the weale and peace of the Church there were no need of these meanes to draw them to their dueties but seeing some are wickedly set seeking nothing but disturbance others preoccupied by their owne opinions others abused and seduced by the craftier sort there is need sometimes to vse terrours that the vnruly may stand in awe to offend and the deliberations taken for the good of the Church may not be hindered As to the reading of his Maiesties Letter directed to the Assembly which the Libeller notes to haue been foure times read and immediately before the voting of matters to moue the Assembly I would aske him What is the fault The Assembly was called by his Maiestie to giue answere to the Articles proponed by himselfe His Letter contained a Declaration of his pleasure and therewith diuers reasons why the Church ought to condescend to his Highnesse desires Such as opposed them insisted still for a new continuation and the delay of a long time And it was needfull they should heare his Maiesties owne minde by his Letter who otherwise could not consent vpon the answers twice giuen by his Highnesse Commissioners in that poynt If the Letter should haue beene read at all the seuerall Sessions of the Assembly there could be no fault in it and I am sure the time had beene better spent that way then in hearing many of their idle discourses For I thinke in that short Letter there be more good and solid stuffe then is in all this long Libell of the Pamphleters yet did it cost him many houres and as we heare many nights and daies to find out these particulars at which he might carpe But I know it is not the consuming of time that troubles him hee is sorie That the Assembly did regard the Letter so much and was moued any way by it as he speakes Now we tell him plainly it was read to moue them to consent and it wrought that for which it was done If any fault be it is this Their humours and purposes were crossed by the reading of the Letter for we can see no more in it Touching the terrours and threatnings breathed out by the Moderator of the Assembly what they were hath beene shewed in the Narration of the proceedings for the marking of the names of those that should be dissenting it is most false They were warned to speake in modestie and abstaine from intemperate words such as many of that sort are giuen to when reason failes them And if they should transgresse warned of their danger But that it was threatned to delate the names of the voters howsoeuer they should giue their voyces it is most vntrue Yet is it nothing so vnusuall as he would make it appeare in Councels and Synods to threaten and terrifie such as are vnruly In the first Councell of Chalcedon Martianus the Emperour forbare not to threaten such as should shew themselues refractary against the Decrees of the Councell and amongst the instructions giuen to his Commissioner Elpidius and others this is one Si quem videritis conturbationi tumultui studentem hunc custodiae mancipate ad nostram perferte notitiam Which in effect is To marke their names and to delate them to the Emperour Many the like are to be obserued in the Bookes of the Councels And if such speeches may furnish any exception for the nullitie of Councels Assemblies we shal hardly find a lawful Coūcel or Assembly at all As to the Sermons and harrangues wherewith he said in his first exception that the Assembly was preoccupied I would gladly know what Church Assembly hath there euer beene kept withont Sermons and Harrangues In the olde Councels they were not neglected And if these be pre-occupations how shall yee iustifie any Assembly kept from the beginning of our Church to this day We haue heard by some of you at times strange Discourses and more strange Sermons
and Martian the Emperours eighteene Commissioners whereof sixe were Iudges and twelue Senators who as it is most euident through the whole Acts had the chiefe moderation of the Synode and vote definitiue therein Neither was this pluralitie of Commissioners receiued onely in generall Councells but also in Nationall as in the second Councell of Orangue Anno 529. where together with the Bishops ten Pretors and Counsellors of France sate and subscribed the Acts sent thither by the King Likewise in the eight Nationall Councell of Spaine holden in Toledo Anno 653. there sate and subscribed sixteene Dukes and Earles In the twelft Nationall Councell of Toledo Anno 681. conuocate by Eringius King of Spaine together with the Bishops did sit the King himselfe and vniuersi Seniores Palatij The Ancients or Senators of the Court fifteene in number of whom in his speech to the Councell hee sayes Quos interesse huic Concilio delegit nostra sublimitas In the thirteenth Councell of Toledo there sate and subscribed sixe and twentie Dukes and Earles In the fifteenth Councell thereof there sate and subscribed seuenteene Earles In the sixteenth there sate and subscribed sixteene Senators of whom the King sayes in his speech Quos huic Concilio nostra serenitatis praeceptio vel opportuna inesse fecit occasio I might bring a large Catalogue of examples but these are sufficient to proue that which we haue in hand to wit that the number of Commissioners sent by his Maiestie is warranted by the practice of all good Christian Princes in most ancient Synods yea it is certayne that Monarchs and Princes had euer these priuiledges vntill that the Popes tyrannie increasing did bereaue them of their right and exclude them from all Church assemblies And looke wee to the custome of our owne Church many Counsellours and Noble men haue had vote in Assemblies in name of his Maiestie In the Assembly holden at Edinburgh Anno 1563. Decemb. 25. besides the Superintendents Ministers and Commissioners of the Churches and Prouinces there were present nine Lords of the Counsaile Earles and Barons and because thereafter the Regent his Counsaile and Nobilitie did not assist the Assemblies so frequently as before an earnest Petition was made by the whole Assembly conuened in Edinburgh Anno 1573. March 6. to the Regent his Counsaile and Nobilitie to giue their presence and concurrence with the Church in their proceedings because such had beene the practice in Assemblies from the beginning of the reformation The truth whereof is manifest by the inscriptions set before the Acts of many assemblies wherein the Counsaile and Nobilitie are euer distinguished from Bishops Superintendents Ministers and Commissioners of Prouinces and Churches In the generall Assembly holden at Edinburgh Anno 1573. August 6. it was appointed Sess 1. as followes Because it is vnderstood that certayne of the Nobilitie of this Realme and secret Counsaile are to repayre to this Assembly Therefore these whole Brethren ordaynes that the whole Nobilitie and Counsailors with the Commissioners of Townes Prouinces and Churches hauing power to vote shall sit within the inner barre of the Tolbuithe and all others without In the Assembly holden at Edinburgh Anno 1567. were present ten Earles and Lords of Baronies about the number of three and fiftie besides the ordinarie Commissioners of Townes and Churches Likewise in the Assemblies holden Anno 1563. Decemb. 25. Anno 1566. Inn. 25. Anno 1567. Iul. 21. Anno 1567. Decemb. 25. 1568. 1569. 1570. c. the Earles Lords and Barons are distinguished from Commissioners of Churches Prouinces and Townes And in the Assembly at Edinburgh 1563. Decemb. 25. the Lords of secret Counsaile with the whole Brethren of the Assembly appointed Master Iohn Woodlocke Superinten dent of the West Moderator So as wee see the practice of our owne Church hath euer esteemed this free that his Maiestie at his pleasure or Regents in his minoritie should choose what number of Commissioners they liked PP At Edinburgh in Iuly 1568. it was ordayned that Barons should be chosen Commissioners in Synodall Assemblyes At Dundie in March 1597. after the full establishment of Presbyteries it was appointed in presence of his Maiestie that Barons should be chosen Commishioners with consent of Presbyteries and that one Baron onely should bee directed out of the bounds of a Pres byterie Neuerthelesse in this Assembly the Noble men and Barons had neither Commission according to the old act nor according to the new In the yeere of God 1568. it was ordayned that Burgesses should be chosen Commissioners by the Counsâ—ile and Church Session of their Burge coniunctly And in the yeere 1597. that they should be chosen with consent of the Presbyterie Item that euery Barghe haue power to direct but one Commissioner except Edinburgh to whom it was permitted to direct two Neuerthelesse in this Assembly neither of the said Articles were obserued ANS The acts alleadged for choosing Commissioners of the Barons and Burghes were neuer so precisely kept in our Church as to exclude any of them that came thither without Commission from Presbyteries But such regard was euer had to Noble men and Barons of any note that if they were present they had their places with the first were allowed to giue their aduise and voyce in euery matter proponed and had thankes giuen them that vouchsafed their concurrence this is euident by all the Registers of our Assembly and so well knowne as none can deny it It grieues the Lybeller and the rest of that Sect to see the Nobles and Barons so ready at his Maiesties call and that that which sometimes serued them to good purpose in their tumultuous meetings is turned against themselues to wound them And by all good order in Church Assemblies none of the Laicall sort onght to haue place except they be called by the Prince his letters or assured by the Bishops to giue authoritie to the acts concluded Reade in Concilio Turracenens act 13. about the yeare 517. and Concil Tolet. where the order of Councells is set downe which order is prefixed to the first Tome of the Councells yee shall finde this cleare For that which he sayes of the Commissioners of Burghes let this bee added That otherwise then by the Counsell of their owne Burghe they were neuer chosen which wee referre to the Townes themselues that know it PP At Montrosse 1600. it was statuted and ordayned that none of them who shall haue vote in Parliament in the name of the Church shall come as Commissioners to the generall Assembly nor haue any vote in the same volesse they be authorized with Commission from their owne Presbyteries to that effect This Act was neuer repealed no not at the pretended Assembly holden at Glasgow but by the same Assembly they stand countable to euery generall Assembly for their proceedings Howbeit the Presbytories were spoyled of their authority in many things at the said pretended Assembly Yet of the power of election of Commissioners they were not spoyled neyther
is there any other order of Election of Commissioners and Constitution of the members of the Assembly set downe by any Act of our Church then was established Anno 1597. Neuerthelesse in this Assembly they not only presented themselues without Commission but sate as Lords ouer-ruling it they had practised the Ceremonies against the established Laws before they were proponed to the Assembly they ought therefore to haue beene secluded and sharply censured but they vsurped the place both of Iudge and partie ANS This Act of Mōtrosse Assembly was past when these caueats were deuised to restrayne the immoderate power of Bishops in the Church and was yeelded vnto for satisfying the importunity of such as opposed to their restitution and keeping them quiet in the time but the Bishops now beeing restored by the Assemblies of the Church and by Acts of Parliament to the exercise of that lawfull power and lutisdiction which euer they had in the Church that Act nor any other of that nature cannot preiudice them And that Bishops should haue their Commissions from Presbyters men inferiour to them in degree it is so absurd as the like hath not beene heard is any Age. But the Libeller is in a dreame and thinkes no Act nor any order established to be of force that hee himselfe hath not approued Where hee sayes that there was neuer another Constitution of the members of the Assembly set downe by any Act of our Church then that at Dundy 1597. it is most false for in Edinburgh 1568. in Iulij there is another Constitution wherein the members of the Assembly are diuided in two sorts some are appointed to bee ordinary and perpetuall as Superinteudents and Commissioners for visitation of Churches others mutable are Commissioners of Churches Townes and Prouinces The first needeth no speciall Commission to euery Assembly but being once admitted to the Office were euer acknowledged thereafter as ordinary and speciall members of the Assemblies The second were changed from Assembly and behooued to produce a new Commission before they were admitted Yea in the Assembly holden Anno 1568. at Edingburgh the first of Iulij it was ordayned that no Minister should haue voyce in Assemblies generall nor leaue their Parishes to attend thereat vnlesse they be choosed by their Superintendents as men knowne able to reason and of knowledge to iudge in matters But for the Bishops themselues they haue alwayes bin reputed ordinary members of the Assembly and were euer first called in the Rolles as is to be seene through the whole Registers In Anno 1563. Iul. 28. Sess 4. it is ordayned that euery Superintendent should compeare the first day of the Assembly vnder such a paine not as idle Spectators but as hauing speciall interest and power◠the same is euident by another Act at Edingburgh 1568. Iulij 1. And by a third Act at Edingburgh in March 1573. And by the admonition sent by the Regēt his grace wherby the Bishops are specially admonished to be present at all Assemblies or to be reputed vnworthy of the office And in the Assēbly at Edinburgh A. 1575. Aug. 6. albeit there were present sixe Bishops to wit Glasgow Dunkeld Galloway Brechin Dumbline and the Isles and two Superintendents Angouse and Lowthian yet because certaine others were absent it was thought good that they should be called and the absents noted Yea after that the Iurisdiction of Bishops beganne to be quarrelled in the Assembly 1579. Iul. 7. Sess 9. this Statute was made that followes ABout the Bishops and Commissioners of Countreyes who absent themselues from generall Assemblies at the time appointed the Church hath ordayned the Act made August 12. 1575. to be executed against them and that same Act to be vnderstood not onely of Bishops hauing office of Visitation appointed to them by the Church but also of such as haue not the said office Likewise when some Bishops were prohibited to exercise the power of Visitation their presence not the lesse was thought necessary in al Assemblies and they counted ordinary members thereof neither was that Statute euer repealed by any Assembly afterwards but euen Anno 1587. after the Presbyteries were erected the Bishop of Saint Andrewes was summoned to compeare for his absence from the generall Assembly by all which it appeares that the Bishops had no need of any commission for sitting and giuing voyce in Assemblies PP At Saint Andrewes in April 1582. It was thought expedient that Presbyteries should not be astricted to sond their Moderator in Commission but whom they iudged fittest for the purpose that constant Moderators should bee constant members of the generall Assembly is a forged clause forged in an Act of a pretended Assembly holden at Linlithgow the yeare of God 1606. The which Assembly neyther tho Church then did nor will the Bishops now stand to neuerthelesse in this Assembly some Moderators of Presbyteries voted without Election and only by vertue of the forged clauses of the Act fore said if any Presbytery directed their Moderators in Commission vpon ignorance and errour hauing respect to the fore-said clauses afore-said their ignorance and errour is no lawfull consent It is in the meantime to be remembred that the present Moderators are not of the qualitie of these constant Moderators but of a new Edition set out at Glasgow viz. they are the Bishops Deputies placed by them in Presbyteries ANS This reason will not inferre a nullity Presbyteries yee say were not astricted by the Act of Assembly at Saint Andrewes 1582. to send their Moderators in Commission Ergo the Moderators ought not to haue come notwithstanding of their Commissions from the Presbyteries there is no consequence heere for it is as if I would reason The Presbytery of Saint Andrewes was not astricted to haue sent Master Iohn Carmichael to the Assembly Therefore he ought not to haue had voice therein notwithstanding of his Commission Any man sees the inconsequence But here yee adde foure things First that the Act of Linlythguow 1606 bearing that constant Moderatours should bee constant members of the generall Assembly was forged Next that the Bishops will not stand to this Assembly now more then the Church did at that time Thirdly that some Moderatours came to this Assembly without Election by vertue of the said Act and the Prebyteries that directed them did the same vpon ignorance and errour which is not a lawfull consent Fourthly that the present Moderatours are not of the quality of these constant Moderatours but of a new Edition set out at Glasgow viz. the Bishops Depuries in Presbyteries I answere to the first that there is no trust to be giuen to you in this businesse wherin I haue better reason to be beleeued speaking for worthy and reuerēd men whose same was neuer blotted then such an one as you are that did not feare to deny the authority of our Souereigne Prince in his owne presence and immediately after forsweare it to the Brethren Master Iames Nicolsone now with God did moderate
that Assembly at Linlythguow a man for his Wisdome Knowledge and Holinesse in greater reputation then that thy calumnies can touch him All the conclusions thereof were penned by himselfe at least by his aduice and to haue made a greater aduantage then that conclusion could bring with it would not haue altered a sillable in any Act nor forged or foysted in any clause as thou speakest The Scribe of that Assembly was Doctour Henry Philip yet Minister at Arbrothe whose truth and fidelity to speake nothing of his Learning Prudence and other gifts is as well knowne as is thy perfidle and presumptuous rebellions for which now thou liuest in Exile And if thy sayings or the speeches of the like of thee might call such mens honestie in question it should not goe well If I seeme more bitter in this Answere to the Reader then I am accustomed let him consider that he who neither spares dead nor liuing great nor small must bee answered sometimes as he deserues Now where yee say that the Bishops will not stand to that Assembly now more then the Church then did I doe not conceiue whom ye call the Church except ye thinke a handfull of mutinous persons such as your selfe to be the Church otherwise the Ministers generally in all the parts of the Countrey did consent and obey the Acts of that Assembly And what if the conclusions taken therein yet stands vnrepealed by other Assemblies that haue followed the Bishops doe all acknowledge and stand to For it is the Law of the Church that rules them in matters of outward policie and all other peaceable Ministers yee and the like of you stand to no Law but the will of your owne minds Thirdly where ye say that some Moderatours were sent Commissioners by the Presbyteries vpon an ignorant conceit that they were bound by the Act of Linlythguow so to doe ye qualifie no part of this by any particulars and if ye did it would be replyed that in euery cōuention that is permitted for exercise through the Land the fittest and choysest of a number is appointed to moderate And that whether the moderation lay vpon them or not their Brethren would haue elected them and no others to haue bin Commissioners to that Assembly Lastly where ye tell vs scoffingly that the present Moderators are of a new edition to wit the deputies of Bishops yee must know That your changeable Moderators were of that new edition yee speake of for in no age was it seene euer before this that indifferently euery man was taken in his course to rule and preside without consideration had of his gifts and qualities And these we haue now are such as the Christian Church euer had vsed to keepe order in their meetings conuentions PP The Assessours to his Maiesties Commissioners the Nobilitie Barons Bishops Burgesses and Moderators imposed vpon Presbyteries with some Ministers voting without warrant being substracted from the number of the affirmatiue voters the negatiues will not bee found inferiour in number to the affirmatiues authorised with Commission And suppose inferiour in number yet not in weight for the negatiue voters adhered to the iudgement of the Church heard no reasons for the nouelties proponed were not ouercome with perswasions or terrours as was the affirmatiues ANS It hath beene sufficiently proued that there was neyther Nobleman Baron Burgesse nor Bishop but had as good warrant to vote as any of the negatiues therefore should not be substracted from the number of the affirmatiue voters This yee perceiue and flie to another shift according to your custome Yee graunt your number were fewer for so they were by more then another halfe but their weight yee say was greater for with them as ye alledge there was three great ouer weights in the ballance First they had no feare Secondly they were not ouercome with perswasion And the third they adhered to the iudgemēt of the Church It is true indeed that neither the feare of inconueniencies and euills which might haue ensued to the great hurt of the Church and hinderance of the Gospel did moue them nor could reason whereby the change was manifestly proued both lawfull and expedient perswade them but to the iudgement of the Church as ye call it they adhered without regard of good or euill without respect to right or wrong And this is the Idoll which they still adore Now let vs consider this iudgement whereunto they adhered The iudgement of our Church touching ceremonies and circumstances to bee vsed in the worshippe of God is two-fold There is one that is particular the other is generall The particular iudgement determineth and defineth what ceremonies in particular the Reformers thought expedient to be receyued and reiected The generall declares what the Church and euery Christian should esteeme beleeue and hold touching the particular order and policie which is set downe for the vse of ceremonies and circumstances to be obserued in the worship of God The former iudgement is expressed in the first Booke of Discipline and some few Acts of the generall Assemblies cited afterward by your selfe This other we haue in the one and twentieth Article of the Confession of Faith about the end thereof and in the seuenth Chapter of the second Booke of Discipline both which are afterwards cited in the examination of your Discourse where yee professe your selfe to discusse the oath And it is that iudgement whereunto the Swearers did oblige themselues by their oath In this it is declared expresly That no order nor policie in ceremonies can be established for all times ages and places but that it is temporall and may and should be changed when necessitie require This is the generall and constant iudgement of the Church whereunto the negatiue Voters were bound by their oath to haue adhered which they did not That other whereunto they adhered as yee alledge is onely temporall and subiect to change according to the opportunities and occasions of times places and persons For if by occasion of any of these circumstances the obseruation which was profitable at one time become hurtfull at another and that which serued for reformation breedes and fosters corruptiō profanenesse or superstition it is the constant and generall iudgement of the Church that it should bee changed and altered which formerly was obserued And to apply this to the purpose in hand It is notoriously knowne That sitting at the Communion which at the reformation was iudged most conuenient to abolish the opinion of transubstantiatiō bread-worship makes the Sacrament now to be contemned and profaned by the common sort of Professours That the want of diuine exercise on the fiue holy-dayes hath almost buried in obliuion the inestimable benefits of our redemption the superstitious obseruation of these times not the lesse continuing still in our Church That the withholding of Baptisme from infants in times of necessitie and the holy Supper from others at the houre of their dying hath beene the griefe of many good
the Festiuities and the Article of kneeling which his Maiestie was graciously pleased to Answer by himselfe for his better satisfaction These fiue and fortie yeares or aboue he hath liued a Minister in the Church of Scotland and was his Maiesties owne Chaplaine during the most of that time And for his labours and continuall trauels taken for the benefit of the Church deserued better reward then all the pensions hee enioyes But when this age is gone his iust praise in despight of you all shall continue with the posteritie If I pleased I could reply that the chiefe of your Sect hath a pension of his Maiestie of greater worth then all his put together and enioyes it with preiudice of many poore Ministers and for no merite at all except it be merite to worke his Maiestie perpetuall vexation and keepe the Church with his conceits in continuall trouble And I could tell you in a word that it is more fitting to be his Maiesties pensioner then the pensioner of any Burgesses wife or Ladie in the Countrey such as many of you are and were not your purses filled by this meanes we should not be troubled with your vnrulinesse These things you must patiently heare for they are truths seeing yee forbeare not to lye of men more worthie beyond all comparison then is your selfe Your third calumnie is That they were Platseruers for augmentation of stipends this is an euident vntruth The Commission for stipends expired in the Moneth of Iuly before that Assembly and further hope of augmentation they could not haue where yee shall suffer this to be told you that the negatiue voters had greater benefit by that Commission then the affirmatiue And that according to your manner you gaue good attendance all that time and many hopes of good behauiour till your businesse was effected Howbeit since diuers of your haue turned your Cloakes as wee vse to say Albeit the benefit is not lost for it was not to you done or for any of you but to the Churches at which ye presently serue Ye say fourthly That they were gapers for promotion But how doe you know that Who made you a Iudge of your Brethren Is this pietie to iudge of mens hearts and affections at your pleasure None of you forsooth like to haue promotions and I warrant you would flie into deserts to hide your selues if ye knew your selues to be sought to be placed in high roomes but what meanes then your continuall resort in the chiefe Townes with the neglect and contempt of your owne cures at home Yee professe not to loue the World yet none followes it so much Ye may not endure domination yet will play the Lords ouer Kings and the consciences of euery man and think while as ye declame against ambition wealth and worldly honour that yee are not perceyued euen then and by that meane chiefly to hunt after these things Ye say fiftly That they were of suspect credite and I beleeue it well with you they were so Nay yee might say more ye suspected they were Reprobates for it is a thing familiar to your Sect to pronounce of mens saluation and condemnation as they fancie And yet that Booke which they say some of you haue made vp to note therein the names of the holy Societie is not the Booke of Life The credite of that Register is not committed vnto you Sixtly They had subscribed ye say other priuate Articles more dangerous then the present I conceiue your meaning to be of the Articles offered vnto them that enter in the Ministrie If yee haue not seene them ye shall know that these Articles bind such as enter to the obedience of the present discipline and of all and whatsomeuer acts and constitutions that shall be lawfully made hereafter by the Church in matters of outward policie and order whereunto I will not say the falshood but the inconstancie of some of your number gaue the occasion who after they had promised to liue peaceable and obedient to the Church within a few dayes hauing gotten what they sought for became more turbulent and vnquiet then any Seuenthly They had beene threatned you say priuately with deposition by their owne Diocesian Bishops And wil ye qualifie this of any one person wee shall grant all your informalities But this is so vntrue as yee neuer shall bee able to doe it Eightly They were not well informed in their iudgements for lacke yee say of full and free reasoning Here ye construe other men by your selfe and some of your side who being asked the reason of their negatiue voyce answered That they had neuer studied the question well yet that they followed the example of learned and godly men with whom they had rather erre ignorantly then follow the Bishops with some shew of reason And one of your negatiue Voters professed publiquely in the Assembly That he saw no euident reason against the lawfulnesse of the Articles yet he would refuse them because his deceassed father did mislike them These were the best informations that the most of your negatiues had as to the affirmatiue Voters when yee or any man shall aske them they will giue reason sufficient for their iudgement Ninthly they were circumuented with promises yee say made to them by their Bishops that they should not be vrged with the practice if they would only consent to make an act to please the King But you should haue named the Bishops that made such promises for your saying deserues not that credit It is true that when fome of you acknowledging the matters to be lawfull in themselues complayned only of precipitation and that time was not giuen them to resolue it was answered by some in priuate That if they would ceasse from their businesse and professe so much in publike which in conference they acknowledged of the lawfulnesse of the Articles time should bee granted vnto them before the practice were vrged But this they obserued not and did to the contrary what they could and this I hope was no circumuention of any man nor were any of the affirmatiue voters carryed by these promises for what they voted vnto without any scruple they haue since that time practised Your tenth and last calumny that they were terrified with publike threatnings hath been answered before And now when ye desire your Reader to iudge whether the voices should be pondered or numbered I trust it hath not appeared by any of your alleadged motiues that there is such cause on the other side if your negatiue voters had equalled the affirmatiue in number they might haue beene iustly reiected first for the open preiudice they had committed in preaching and publike condemning the Articles that they knew were to be reasoned as impious Papistical and Idolatrous I know yee will oppose to this the preiudice you mentioned before committed by the affirmatiue voters in the practice of the Ceremonies before they were established But what they did in this was by the aduice of the chiefe
Ministers in the Kingdome without condemning the former practice of the Church and vnder protestation that if the Church did not find the Articles fit to bee receiued their practice should not tye them in after-times seeing they acknowledged the indifferencie of all these matters Next the chiefe reasons which your negatiue voters gaue at any time were the hazard of their credits amongst their flockes and of feare to be reputed inconstant if they should yeeld at the sudden to that which they had so openly condemned and what are their reasons being well sifted but reasons of selfe-loue and a care to maintaine your popular estimation which is nothing so much to bee regarded as is his Maiesties satisfaction Therfore to end this purpose whether ye regard the weight or the number of voyces the affirmatiues were superior in both PP In onmibus causis pro facto accipitur id in quo quis alium terrefacit quo minus fiat In this Assembly the affirmatiue voters confessed that they assented not simpliciter to the Articles proponed as knowne truths but onely to auert the wrath of authoritie standing in their owne iudgement against them and not for them in respect of the estate of this Church Hence it may be cleerly seene that their votes were only affirmatiue in respect of their feare but negatiue in respect of their iudgement and dutifull affection to this Church ANS None of the affirmatiue voters approued the Articles for knowne verities for when wee speake of knowne verities we vnderstand the verities defined in Scripture such as are the points of our faith which no man ought to call in question but that any man did giue his voice otherwise then his iudgement led him yee will hardly perswade vs much lesse that any man would openly professe this for that had beene little better then the resolution of Medea in the Tragedie Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor As to the feare yee so oft mention it was a feare not contrarie to the dutifull affection we owe to the Church nor repugnant to the iudgement which they had that were moued therewith but a feare commendable flowing both from their affection and iudgement for they feared no particular hurt to their owne persons or punishment to haue beene inflicted vpon themselues but to irritate so gracious a King and a Prince so carefull of the good of the Church and to bring the Church into an vnnecessary trouble by the obstinate refusing of lawfull Articles this wee hope all good men feared and still feare And certainly whosoeuer lackes this feare are not fit to serue in a Church and more vnfit to determine of Church-matters PP Other informalities may be obserued but these are sufficient to prooue the nullity of this pretended Assembly whereby the established estate of this Church is so far preiudged or rather simple people for their facility indangered if they vpon the pretended authority of this Assembly shall aduenture to make defection from their former profession confirmed by so many and well aduised Assemblies and blessed by the experience of Gods great loue in his best benefits or to violate their solemne Oath and Subscription The pretender may as safely professe that hee will alter his profession or violate his Oath and Subscription suppose there had beene no Assembly at all But to detayne simple people in their begunne reuolt it will be cryed out and inculcate that some few persons and to make them odious they will be called Mal-contents Troublers of the Estate Seditious persons and what not for the which contumelies and reproches account must be made one day that they may not nor should not iudge vpon the nullity of the Assemblies It is true by way of Iurisdiction or Superordination as they call it no priuate man should presume so to doe for that iudgement belongs to another free and lawfull Assembly but by the iudgement of discretion euery Christian man ought to iudge how matters of Religion are imposed vpon him and by what authoritie If thou mayest not discerne as a Iudge thou mayest discerne as a Christian If yee shall admit indifferently whatsoeuer is concluded vnder the glorious name of an Assembly then may wee be brought to admit not only the English Ceremonies but also Lutherauisme and Papistrie If Ministers giue way to their Parochiners to practise the obtruded Ceremonies at their pleasures If sworne Professors intangle themselues againe with the superfluities whereof the Lord hath made them free let the one and the other take heed how they defend themselues from the iust challenge of back-sliding and the rest of the inconueniences that may ensue on their change ANS This Libeller being now to conclude the Nullity which he intended to proue paines himselfe to mooue the People Ministers Professors and all to disobedience of the Acts concluded and where the authority of the Assembly might draw men to condescend hee labours to shew them that euen the iudgement of the lawfulnesse of Assemblies in some sort doth belong to euery Christian which if it should not he laies downe certaine inconueniences that thereby might grow vpon them all to which I answere that this Assembly being conuocated in the Name of God assisted in the proceedings thereof by his blessed Spirit and all the Informalities obiected being now sufficiently cleered we are perswaded euery true Christian whether he be Minister or Professor will submit his iudgement and affections both to the conclusions taken therein And if any will still oppose thēselues thereto we doubt not to cal them troublers of the Estate seditious Persons Schismatickes louers of Diuision and direct Enemies to the Weale and peace both of the Church and Kingdome That ye would bee called such men ye might well prophesie seeing ye be priuy to your owne intentions but where ye adiect that account must be made one day of such contumelies and reproches I would but aske you whether yee doe thinke to passe free in the Day of that account and not be brought to your answere for calling the Seruants of Christ mercenarie men and thereby implying his Maiestie your Souereigne to be another Balak in giuing the wages of iniquitie to hirelings for condemning all that are obedient to the voyce of the Church in these matters as men periured and without all conscience and diuers others your malicious speeches vttered in this Pamphlet or if you thinke it no fault to make a rent in the body of Christ which is his Church which it appeares euidently ye are only about the answeres following will cleere to all men that the estate of our Church is no way preiudged by any Act concluded in the Assembly at Perth and that the obedience thereof will not inferre a defection from our former profession But that distinction of two-fold iudgement serues little to this purpose for howbeit lawfully euery man may inquire of things concluded and for his owne information seeke out the grounds and warrants thereof yet whither soeuer his
iudgement incline hee must render himselfe obedient to the Constitutions of the Church in which he liues And there is a great difference betweene decerning and discerning though eyther yee or your Printer hath mistaken it for it belongeth to the Iudge to decerne and Christians as ye say euen in their priuate callings may discerne but this their discerning will neuer free them from the subiection of Lawes imposed especially in matters of this nature for wee are now vpon order and policie onely And except ye could shew some euident place out of the Word or bring a necessarie demonstration to warrant your contrarie iudgement your disobedience will euer be faultie The authoritie of the Church must yeeld to the written Word but the iudgements of priuate men to the authoritie of the Church Otherwise we should open a doore to all confusion neyther could there be order in a Church if euery man should bee permitted to follow his owne conceit and doe as his priuie iudgment did leade him This our Church wisely foreseeing in an Assembly kept at Edinburghe anno 1583. 10. Octob. statuted and ordained That no Act concluded by a generall Assembly should bee called in question by any particular brother nay not in another generall Assembly except some iust cause might be seene for the change thereof And if it be not lawfull to call any of the constitutions of the Church in question much lesse to impugne by writ and print the same so maliciously as you haue done I omit the vnseemely match which yee make of English ceremonies and Lutheranisme with Papistrie for this is your malice against the English Church which it becomes you to reuerence and of whom if ye did loue the truth of God ye would haue spoken more honorably PP If the Parliament by acts authorize matters effected with such informalities and nullities matters of themselues so contrarious to our profession their ratification of a vicious thing cannot be a rule to a christian mans conscience But it is to be hoped that the Lord shall so dispose the hearts of Statesmen to the loue of the truth quietnesse of the Church and Country and peace of mens consciences that no vnreason able butthen shall be knit vpon the members of Christs Body by any deed of theirs vnder the name of a benefit to the Church Inuito beneficium non datur ANS Since the time that Kings and Princes became Christian it hath alwayes beene the custome that Synodicall Decrees were authorized by their Lawes not that the allowance or authoritie of Ciuill Lawes is made a rule to a Christians Conscience but that the externall man might thereby bee tyed to the obedience of these things which the Church hath found to be agreeable to the Word of God that is the only rule of conscience and it is to bee hoped that God shall so dispose the hearts of the whole Estate to the loue of his Truth and the Peace and quietnesse of his Church that refractarie and turbulent persons such as ye are shall bee restrayned of your vnbridled licentiousnesse and kept vnder the obedience of the Church and the Orders by her lawfully established which howsoeuer ye that loue to liue after your owne mindes call an vnreasonable burthen all true and peaceable Christians will esteeme a benefite to the Church and bee thankfull vnto God for the same PP Consider three things first the Nullity of this Assembly Secondly thy owne Oath and Subscription how it admits or abhorres this change suppose the Assembly had bin lawfull Thirdly if the particulars offered can be made lawfull or expedient by any Assembly whatsoeuer ANS We haue considered all these three as ye desire and finde the reasons proponed by you for the Nullitie of this Assembly to be Nullities in themselues Next that the Oath and Subscription by you mentioned admits the change concluded and does not abhorre it the same change being a part of the Oath which we all gaue as in discussing of the Oath shall be cleered Thirdly that the particulars concluded are things lawfull of their owne nature indifferent and most conuenient for this time in regard the generall Church who hath the place and power of determining the expediencie of Rites and Ceremonies hath interposed their authority to the same which in the estimation of Wisemen is sufficient to make them bee compted such An answere to the Articles presented to the Assembly AVGVST 27. and quotations added by the Pamphleter for confirmation PP FOr so much as we haue beene debarred of accesse and from hearing the proceedings of the Conference their Reasonings Consultations and Aduisements about the Articles proponed to this generall Assembly whereof all and euery one of them so nearely touches vs in our Christian resolution and offices of our Ministry in most humble manner wee present to your consideration the particulars hereafter specified in the feare of God intreating your fauourable answere to the same ANS Neither he who presented the Articles nor they who penned them can affirme truely that they were absent from the Conference and none were debarred who were desirous to be present The truth is after long and modest reasoning and graue deliberation when all had beene heard both in priuate at the Conference and in publique before the Assembly and all doubts and obiections had beene proponed answered and satisfied these or the like Articles were presented not for resolution of those by whom they were proponed who were already setled in this resolution not to be resolued but to perturbe the mindes of these who were prepared to vote and conclude and so to bring all in question againe that before had beene discussed and therefore were iustly reiected by the Moderator as malicious and crafty delatorie exceptions as shall bee manifest by the answeres following made to them not as they were presented to the Assembly but as they are proponed here with your Additions Quotations and Confirmations The first Article PP THe Articles proponed if they be concluded they doe innouate and bring vnder the slander of change the estate of this Church so aduisedly established by Ecclesiasticall Constitutions Acts of Parliament approbation of other Churches and good liking of the best reformed Christians without and within this Kingdome and so euidently blessed with happy successe and sensible experience of Gods greatest benefits by the space of fiftie eight yeares and aboue so that wee may boldly say to the praise of God That no Church hath enioyed the truth and puritie of Religion in larger libertie And vpon some such considerations it pleased his gracious Maiestie to continue the Church of England in her established estate as may bee seene in the Conference at Hampton Court and Thomas Sparke his booke written thereupon Ipsa quippe mutatio etiam quae adiuuat vtilitate nouitate perturbat quapropter quae vtilis non est perturbatione infructuosa consequenter noxia est saith Augustine Epist. 118. that is Euen a change that is helpefull for vtilitie perturbeth
Ecclesiae traditione neque vitae corrigendae vtilitate ad certum possunt terminum peruenire c. Tam litigiosas excitant contentiones vt nisi quod ipsi faciunt nihil rectum existiment I haue often thought with sorrow and sighing that the perturbations and offences of many weake ones come by the contentious stubbornnesse of some Brethren and by their superstitious feare who for such matters as neither by authoritie of the holy Scripture nor by the tradition of the vniuersall Church nor by vtilitie for amendment of life can be determined and brought to some certaine point stirre vp contentions that they esteeme nothing right but that which they doe themselues This is it that breaketh the bonds of kindnesse peace and loue amongst Brethren As to things indifferent it is true indeed that they become not only scandalous and morally euill as Perkins sayth but superstitious and Rites of wil-worship when they are vrged as necessary to be vsed for parts of Gods worship instituted by himselfe as ye vrge sitting at the Table in the Sacrament of the Supper or when it is vrged that they be reiected and excluded from the worship of God as simply vnlawfull and which may be vsed without breach of some diuine Ordinance as you will haue kneeling and the commemoration of Gods inestimable benefits vpon the fiue Anniuersary dayes the clebration of the Sacraments in cases of necessity in priuate places and the examination and blessing of yong Children by the Bishop in his Visitation the contentious maintenance of such points against the order of the Church can neither stand with Pietie nor Charitie nor with the Apostolicall Rules Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne Giue no offence neither to the lew nor to the Grecian nor to the Church of God Let all things be done honestly and in order The fourth Article PP They giue way to humane inuentions and bring the wrong key of mans wit within the house of God whereby toyes and trifling Ceremonies in number and force are multiplyed as mens wits are variable to inuent Who requireth those things at your hands ANS The determination of the circumstantiall Ceremonies belonging to the formes times places and persons by whom where when and how God should bee worshipped concluded by the Assembly at Perth giue no way to humane inuention nor bring within the house of God any key but that which God hath giuen to his Church for piety and edification and for establishing of order and decencie to be vsed in his worship which things God requireth at our hands The fift Article PP The admitting of some openeth the doore to the rest the multitude of such make vs inferiour to the Iewes in two respects First Their Ceremonies were all diuine Secondly In number fewer then rituall Christians do obserue betwixt the Pasche and Pentecost Gerson complayneth Quod multitudine leuissimarum ceremoniarum vis omnis Spiritus sancti quem in nobis vigere oportuit vera pietas sit extincta that with the multitude of friuolous Ceremonies true pietie was extinguished and the force of the Spirit which ought to bee powerfull in vs. Iewell Apollog p. 116. Sed quamuis hoc neque inueniri possit c. Aug. Epist 119. Howbeit it cannot bee found how they are contrary to the faith yet they presse downe Religion it selfe with seruile burthens so that the estate of the Iewes is more tolerable who howbeit they did now acknowledge the time of their liberty are subiect notwithstanding to the burthens of the Law not to the presumptions of man Quanto magis accedit cumulo c. Confess Orthodox cap. 27. that is The more that the heape of Rites and Ceremonies in the Church increaseth the more is derogated not onely from Christian libertie but also from Christ and his faith learned graue men may like better of the single forme of Policie in our Church then of the many Ceremonies of the Church of England Epist before Basilicon Doron ANS Some Ceremonies must bee admitted otherwise neither order nor decencie can be obserued in the worship of God and the admission of such as be lawfull and profitable is not the cause of introducing vnnecessary burthens but when the Church extendeth her libertie beyond the bounds assigned thereto of order and decency and moderateth not the vse of her power according to the Apostolicall Rules of piety and charity 1. Cor. 10.31 Whatsoeuer yee doe doe all to the glory of God 1. Cor. 14.26 Let all things be done to edification Rom. 14.19 Let vs therfore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edifie another Gal. 5.1 Stand in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free and be not intangled againe with the yoke of bondage When these rules are not looked to and thereby the power of the Church moderated and keeped within the limits of circumstantiall things belonging only to the manners times and places of diuine worship whereof some of necessitie must be determined and appointed to bee vsed in the worship of God vnnecessary burdens are laid vpon the Church as it was in Papistry Against this abuse the complaints of Gerson and Augustine are directed which ye shall neuer be able to apply truly against the Ceremonies determined and concluded at Perth which are all within the compasse of the Apostolicall Canons and concerne only circumstantiall things and there be farre more learned and graue men who like better of them then of our former order as after shall be cleered in the dispute The sixt Article PP Matters of that nature bring ineuitably with them disputations diuisions contentions as may be seen in all Churches where such coales of contention get entrie The Pascha of the Primitiue Church c. ANS It is not the nature of the matters but the nature of contentious persons that for such matters take occasion to make question and strife The seuenth Article PP They hinder edification for how much time and zeale shall bee spent vpon the in-bringing and establishing of these as much leisure and oportunity Satan getteth to sow and water the tares of Atheisme Schisme Popery and Dissention Consider the sentence following Let vs proceed by one rule that we may minde one thing c. ANS This is a prophetical Article easie to bee diuined by these who had already concluded by their opposition and contradiction to hinder the peaceable in-bringing therof to open a gate of dissention wherby Satan might enter to sow the tares of Schisme Atheisme and Popery in the Church yet obedient and peaceable Pastors haue in their Congregations brought in practice all these things without losse of time or trauell And Satan Schisme Atheisme and Popery had bin debarred and the work had pleasantly and profitably gone forward had the rest concurred with them according to the golden sentēces following First Let vs proceed by one rule that we may mind one thing Secondly Let vs follow the truth in
did sweare The next thing yee consider is the matter whereunto they did binde themselues by their oath which yee set downe as followeth PP The matter whereunto they binde themselues by oath is the Religion Doctrine and Discipline receiued beleeued and defended by the Church of Scotland in respect of this matter the Oath is partly assertorie and partly promissorie as yee say ANS By that which alreadie hath been said it is manifest that albeit our Church had sworne to all the heads and ordinances aboue specified set downe in the bookes of Discipline yet there is nothing committed contrarie to this Oath by the actes made at Perth But now since yee are come to the matter of the Oath let vs see if the points in controuersie be any part of that matter The matter as yee affirme is the Religion Doctrine and Discipline receiued beleeued and defended by the Church of Scotland This definition or description of the matter is not so full and particular as is set downe in the Oath it selfe neither haue yee in reciting the words been so faithfull as yee are feruent for the cause yee maintaine For yee haue pretermitted diuers things belonging to the limitation of the matter by which all the particulars in question are clearely excluded The words cited by you are these We beleeue with our hearts confesse with our mouthes subscribe with our hands and constantly affirme before God and the world That the Faith and Religion receiued beleeued and defended by the Church of Scotland the Kings Maiestie and three Estates of this Realme c. is onely the true Christian Faith and Religion pleasing God and bringing saluation to man Heere yee omit many things that concerneth the limitation of the matter which at that time were knowne to such as sware the same and now must be expounded vnto the Reader that is to iudge and consider our Controuersie Therefore I shall set downe heere the words of the Oathe as it was published in print by Robert Waldgraue anno 1590. We beleeue with our hearts c. That this onely is the true Christian Faith and Religion pleasing God and bringing saluation to man which is now by the mercy of God reuealed to the world by the preaching of the blessed Euangell and receiued beleeued defended by many sundry notable Churches Realmes and chiefely by the Church of Scotland c. In these words we haue two limitations pretermitted by you The first is that the matter of the Oath is the Doctrine and Discipline reuealed to the world by the Gospell This limitation excludeth all Ecclesiasticall determinations and constitutions which are not expresly or by a necessary consequence contained in the written Word The next is That the matter of the Oath is the Doctrine and Discipline which is receiued beleeued and defended by many notable Churches and Realmes and chiefely by the Church of Scotland This limitation excludeth all these things wherein the Church of Scotland hath not the consent of many notable Churches and Realmes who with her hath receiued beleeued and defended the same By these two are all the points in controuersie excluded and cut off from being any part of the matter whereunto the Swearers by their oath did oblige themselues And vnto these two if we adde the third limitation there can remaine no more any doubt touching the matter of the Oath This is that the Doctrine and Discipline whereunto they sweare is particularly expressed in the Confession of Faith established and publikely confirmed by sundry actes of Parliament This Confession is registred in the bookes of Parliament at the yeare 1567. and is inserted amongst the Confessions of the Reformed Churches in the booke called Syntagma Confessionum But so it is that in the Confession of our Faith established by Parliament there is no mention made of the Articles controuerted neither hath many notable Churches and Realmes receiued beleeued or defended the same neither are they expresly or by necessary consequence contained in the Gospell And therefore they cannot by any point of our Religion or part of the Doctrine and Discipline whereunto the Swearers did oblige themselues by their assertory and promissory Oath By the Gospell it is not certaine That our Sauiour and the Apostles did sit at the Supper and albeit he had sitten yet sitting is no more commanded to be obserued in that sacred action then the vpper chamber where he sate or the night season when the Supper was celebrated or the sex and number of the Communicants who were twelue men and no women or the qualitie of the element which was vnleauened bread or the order finally after Supper All these howbeit they be certaine yet none of them are esteemed exemplary far lesse can sitting which is vncertaine be esteemed such And for the rest of the points Neither kneeling at the Communion nor the administration of the Sacraments in priuate houses when necessitie requires nor the commemoration of Christs inestimable benefits on certaine set times of the yeare nor the triall of yong childrens education by the Bishop at his Visitation none of these I say are either expresly or by necessary consequence forbidden in the Gospell nor are heâ—y condemned by many notable Churches and Realmes nor abiured in the Confession of our Faith confirmed by actes of Parliament and so cannot be counted the matter of this Oath But to remooue all scruple that may arise touching the matter of this Oath It is true That in the promissorie Oath the Swearers thereof binde themselues to continue in the Doctrine and Discipliue of the Church of Scotland and to defend the same according to their vocation and power all the dayes of their liues vnder the paines contained in the Law and danger both of body and soule in the day of the Lords fearefull iudgement Heere touching the Doctrine praised be God there is no controuersie amongst vs all the doubt concerneth Discipline and that is remoued also if it be taken only for that which is reuealed in the Gospell or receiued beleeued and defended by many notable Churches and Realmes or that which is set downe in the Confession of Faith as is already declared But because the Discipline of the Church may be extended beyond these limits and made to comprehend all Ecclesiasticall constitutions and determinations of generall circumstances formes and ceremonies belonging to the worship of God and the decent ordering of his house let vs consider this point more particularly If by the Discipline of the Church in the words of the Oath A consideration of the Discipline whereunto the Swearers did oblige themselues that part of Ecclesiasticall policie bee meant which concernes the censuring of manners in which sense it is taken in the order set downe before our Psalme bookes and in the seuenth head of the first booke of Discipline intituled of Ecclesiasticall Discipline and in the second booke wheresoeuer it is mentioned and by all Ecclesiasticall writers most frequently Then it is certaine
yee should know that these are but things accessory to the essentiall forme of Gods worship whereunto his Maiesty did sweare at his Coronation which to this day constantly he hath maintained and will by the grace of God for many yeares after yea euen vntill that temporall Crowne bee changed with that eternall Another defence ye alledge is vsed by the Pastors and Professors that liue obedient to the Laws of the Church They haue not violated their Oath they say because the substance of Religion is kept and onely some indifferent points altered And to this yee make three replyes First saying That we sware to keepe the same forme of worship that was vsed in the Church of Scotland and specially in the vse of the Sacraments Secondly That the Oath was in a matter of Religion which is not changeable as are the Statutes of Republiques and Corporations Thirdly Put the case yee say the points innouated were matters indifferent yet seeing they were once abiured for their abuse they may not be receiued againe except either we could prooue that our oath in the beginning was vnlawfull or that our former formes are become vnlawfull not expedient for edification of the Church or lesse edificatiue then the ceremonies presently vrged I answere to the first That the forme of worship vsed in the Church of Scotland is not altered for still we hold that forme of worship which is prescribed to vs in the Word defended receiued by many notable Churches and Realmes and particularly contained in the Confession of our Faith As for the gesture and kneeling and those other circumstances of times and places where the Sacraments may be ministred in cases of extremity there is no man being in his right wits that will thinke the forme of Gods worship consisteth in such things or that they are any part thereof Your second reply we admit and affirme according thereto That the matter of Religion whereto we sware is not alterable nor can it bee changed And that the points questioned being of their owne nature indifferent are excluded from the Oath and are no part of the matter thereof To your third reply I answere That wee haue not receiued any thing againe in our Church which euer was damned and abiured for their abuse for in the negatiue part of our oath wherein Papistrie is abiured there is no mention of kneeling nor of the commemoration of Christs benefits vpon the fiue anniuersary dayes nor is any of the other three Articles euer touched It is true that Popish dedication of dayes to other Creatures and the obseruation of them with an opinion of necessitie or that they were any part of Gods worship are abiured in that Confession and that also wee haue condemned in the Acte made at Perth concerning the obseruation of these times but to make commemoration of the benefits that our Sauiour by his Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension hath brought vnto vs we neuer held it vnlawfull nor did count it a matter of abuse Therefore it is not necessary that either our oath be proued vnlawful or our former formes it sufficeth that they bee prooued lesse edificatiue or not so expedient for the time because they are abused by the people to superstition and prophanenesse as afterwards we will make cleare in their owne place Where yee say That it was confessed in the Assembly that they were not expedient for our Church and that the same were yeelded vnto for holding of some externall inconueniences a matter now denied yee say as importing tyrannie because you confesse you haue this only by report and it is the nature of all your sort to be too credulous we passe it In the meane time wee will not deny that to some they appeared very inexpedient for diuers respects of the which the chiefe were the discredit they feared to icurre with their people that did esteeme the condemning of the abuse of these ceremonies to haue been an absolute reiecting of them as ceremonies idolatrous which neuer was done by any prudent or wise Pastor another respect was because simple ones that had not learned to make distinction betweene circumstances and the substance of Religion might take occasion by the alteration of these externall things to thinke that wee began to change Religion in substance and a third respect was that by embracing these things we did seeme to symbolize with Papists and were turning backe againe to their superstition and idolatrie These were and are the chiefest respects for which they were not thought expedient to bee receiued in our Church To begin at the last whereof that is our conformitie with Papists It is needfull that our people bee taught that the disconformitie betweene them and vs is not so much in any externall vse of ceremonies as in the substance of the Seruice and object whereunto they are applied In kneeling at Prayer and receiuing of the Sacrament there is no disconformitie betweene them and vs but in the obïect whereunto our kneeling is directed for the Papists in prayer kneele to an Idoll and in the Sacrament they kneele to the signe wee kneele in our prayer to God and by the Sacrament to the thing signified So in our cessation from ordinary worke on the Lords day and on the Holy daies now appointed there is no disconformitie but the difference is in the employment of the time and in the exercise and worship for which the cessation is commanded For the simple ones It is most expedient to teach them to put distinction between the ceremonies and the substance of Religion betweene that which is necessary to be obserued as a part of Gods worship and that which is onely ordained for order and decencie for it is a kinde of superstition to esteeme indifferent ceremonies and circumstances of Diuine Seruice to bee essentiall parts thereof which may not be omitted or changed without breach of Gods institution This is to obserue things or abstaine from them with opinion of necessitie for conscience Religion towards God And seeing the Church ought to change and alter ceremonies when they are thus abused by people vnto superstition this is one pregnant reason wherefore the alteration should haue beene made As to that which they speake of the credite of Pastors the same ought not to be maintained by fostering an errour in the hearts of people namely that the Ministers taught that which they neuer taught or at least should not haue taught As by example that the obseruation of the fiue Holy dayes to the commemoration of Christs benefits is vnlawfull This I am assured was ne-neuer done by any well aduised Preacher for it had bin a condemning of the Primitiue Church and all the Reformed Churches now in the world Likewise to haue taught that kneeling in the acte of receiuing the Sacrament is vnlawfull were to haue contradicted the best and most learned Diuines we haue Beza saith of it Speciem habet piae ac Christianae venerationis ac proinde olim
potuit cum fructu vsurpari That is to say kneeling at the Sacrament hath a shew of holy and Christian worshippe and therefore of old might haue been fruitfully vsed Whereby yee see he condemneth not simply the ceremonie but witnesseth that there was a time when the same did edifie and profite Caluine before him called it Cultum legitimum that is a Lawfull adoration being vsed in the action of the Supper and directed to Christ Petrus Martyr saith Multi piè genua flectunt adorant that is Many in receiuing the Sacrament doe bow their knees religiously and adore Christs flesh Paraeus speaking of the same gesture esteemes it an indifferent ceremonie And that which so great and learned Diuines iudged to bee lawfull what are we to condemne Next I answere That the credite of the Pastours should not be maintained with the discredit of the Prince amongst his Subiects for if they who should be patternes of reuerence and obedience to others shall in their owne persons withstand the lawfull desires godly intention of a Christian Prince the same cannot but breed disobedience and a hard conceit of the Prince amongst his people which we haue already found and perceiued As for the inconueniences feared they are friuolous and should neuer fall out if Pastors were peaceable and prudent But when they are all put together that can bee alledged if they shall bee laid in a ballance there is one commoditie which the alteration imports that shall preponder them all to wit Our vnitie and conformitie with the Primitiue Church and with the greatest number and best Reformed Churches in Europe in points of policie that most assuredly tend to farre greater deuotion piety and edification then our formes vsed in former times This being his Maiesties principall designe in vrging these Articles giueth to the world an euident testimony of his Princely zeale to procure the peace and good of the Church so farre as is possible and therefore none will charge his Maiesty with the vniust imputation of tyranny but malicious and seditious spirits whom by this pestilent Pamphlet ye trauell to perswade for feare of periury to periure themselues as is manifest in the words yee subioyne PP Our assertory Oath is already past and wee become periured if we come in the contrary This is an high degree of periury when not onely we contrauene our oath by practise but make lawes in the contrary therafter inueigh against our oath as Puritanisme If sincere and constant professors shal be still pursued for their constancie in their Profession and the conscience they make of the Oath doe we not expone the whole Nation to a wofull vengeance and perpetuall ignominy ANS Our assertory Oath touching the Articles controuerted condemneth those onely in the guilt of periury who hold that policy and order in ceremonies may not be altered when necessity requireth and being altered ought not to bee obeyed And indeede it is a profound point of infernall policy not only by an exemplary practise of disobedience against the lawes of Ecclesiasticall Discipline to contrauene the Oath in your owne Person but also vnder pretext of constancy of Profession and conscience of the Oath to perswade others for feare of periury to periure themselues Whereby yee both expose your selues to the fearefull iudgement of Gods vengeance and drawe others with you to the same perdition Your sophisticke cauillations whereby yee intend seditiously to proue the vnlawfulnesse of the Articles concluded at Perth shall now bee answered and the truth cleared to the satisfaction of all men who are not contentious An answere to the arguments brought against kneeling in the act of receiuing of the holy Communion PP IT hath been the vniforme and constant order of this Church since the Reformation that the Communicants should receiue the Sacramentall elements of Bread and Wine sitting at the Table In the second head of the first booke of Discipline are set downe these words The Table of the Lord is then rightly ministred when it approacheth most neere to Christs owne action But plaine it is that at that Supper Christ Iesus sate with his Disciples and therefore we doe iudge that sitting at that Table is most conuenient to that holy action In the generall Assembly holden in Decemb. 1562 it was ordained That one vniforme order should be obserued in the ministration of the Sacraments according to the order of Geneua And in December 1564 It was ordained That Ministers in ministration of the Sacraments shall vse the order set downe in the Psalme bookes In the Assembly holden anno 1591 It was ordained that an Article should bee formed and presented to his Maiesty and the Estates crauing order to be taken with them who giue or receiue the Sacrament after the Papisticall manner In the Kings Confession of Faith subscribed and sworne by persons of all estates are contained these words We detest all the ceremonies of the Romane Antichrist added to the ministration of the Sacraments we detest all his Rites Signes and Traditions This laudable order was altered at the pretended Assembly holden last at Perth in August anno 1618. The tenor of the Act followeth as it was formed by some of the Bishops and their Followers a The Libeller cites the Acte of Perth most corruptly which the Reader shall mend by the notes in the margine Since wee are commanded by God himselfe that when wee come to worship him we fall downe and kneele before the Lordour Maker and considering withall that there is no part of Diuine worship more heauenly and spirituall then is the holy receiuing of the blessed body and blood of our Lord and Sauiour lesus Christ like as the most humble and reuerend gesture of the body in our meditation and lifting vp of our hearts best becommeth so diuine and sacred an action Therefore notwithstanding that our Church hath vsed since thereformation of Religion to celebrate the holy Communion to the people sitting by reason of the great abuse of kneeling b The Acte saith Vsed in the Idolatrous worship at the worshipping of the Sacrament by the Papists yet now seeing all memory of by-past superstition is past c These words yee haue added of your owne head to the Acte and no perill of the same againe is feared in reuerence d These words are to be read thus In reuerence of God and in due regard of so Diuine c. of so diuine a mystery and in remembrance of so mysticall an vnion as wee are made partakers of e The words in the Acte are not such but thus it is The Assembly thinkes good that that blessed Sacrament c. thereby doe ordaine that that blessed Sacrament be celebrated hereafter weekely and reuerently vpon their knees This alteration is to vs vnlawfull for that which hath bin established by so many lawes Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall by so long custome and prescription of time confirmed by our oathes and subscriptions we may not lawfully alter But
so it is that sitting at the Table in the acte of receiuing hath bin established by Lawes Customes long prescription of time and confirmed by oathes and subscriptions as is euident by the former deduction It is notwithstanding expedient to descend further in opening vp the vnlawfulnesse of kneeling First as it is a breach of the Institution Secondly as it is a breach of the second Commandement Thirdly as it is without the example and practise of the ancient Church Fourthly as it disagrees from the practise of the Reformed Churches ANS After yee haue laid downe your grounds some for sitting and some against kneeling yee subioyne the tenor of the acte concluded at Perth but most corruptly as we haue noted in the margine and then yee forme this argument That which hath been established by so many lawes Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall by so long custome and prescription of time and confirmed by oathes and subscriptions we may not lawfully alter But so it is that sitting at Table in the acte of receiuing hath beene established by lawes customes long prescription of time and confirmed by oathes and subscriptions A man that had heard the proposition only would expect some great matter in the assumption belonging to some article of Faith or precept of obedience set downe in Gods Word and all resolues in an indifferent ceremonie of sitting at the Sacrament But yet to make simple people beleeue that it were some necessary or substantiall point of Religion that might not be altered ye make a great shew of lawes customes c which being examined shall vanish as smoake before the winde And where yee beginne with a strong alleageance that it was established with so many lawes Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall I aske you first by what Ciuill lawes Yee say so many yet in your deduction whereby you affirme the assumption to be euident yee cite not one law neither can yee albeit yee are not ashamed to say so many For your Ecclesiasticall lawes yee cite first the words set downe in the second head of the first booke of Discipline the Table of the Lord is then rightly ministred c. These words are not a law for that booke of Discipline was neuer receiued nor confirmed either by the Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall estate some of the Nobility subscribed it but others who had the chiefe authority as Master Knox complaines in his History reiected the same calling it Deuout imaginations Next yee cite the ordinance of the generall Assembly 1562 appointing the order of Geneua to be obserued this Act cannot establish your sitting for in Geneua they stand or passe as they Receiue and sit not at Table The last Acte which yee cite in anno 1564 ordaineth Ministers in the ministration of the Sacraments to vse the order set downe in the Psalme book In that Act there is no mention of sitting and by the order set downe in the Psalme bookes that may be meant which before was called the order of Geneua How soeuer it be there is no particular law for sitting no Ciuil law at all and none Ecclesiasticall but this onely one which is generall Your second probation is That sitting is established by so long a custome and prescription of time Who would not when he heares so long looke at least for a three or foure hundred yeares and all this length of time yee can alledge to is since the yeare of God 1560 not halfe an age before which time kneeling was in vse many hundred yeares on the Lords day and on other dayes in the weeke euer since the first Institution as afterwards shall be proued with better reasons then any yee can bring for the necessity of sitting This long custome and prescription for kneeling yee esteeme to be of no moment albeit it was a gesture instituted by God but for sitting a gesture instituted by man yee count eight and fifty yeares a long prescription So men esteeme their owne Dwarfes to be Giants Nostrum sic nanum Atlanta vocamus The last argument wherein yee glory most is that sitting is confirmed by oathes and subscriptions This is a childish and false alledgeance for there was neuer oath nor subscription giuen in our Church that by any consequence can import a confirmation of sitting or of any other indifferent alterable ceremonie for all times following Seeing no man is astricted longer vnto the obseruatiō of it then the Ecclesiasticall Constitution stands which being altered by the Church that made it their oath and subscription bindes them to obserue that which in stead of the former is ordained to be receiued This is manifest by the Constitutions set downe in the seuenteenth chapter of the booke of Discipline receiued and confirmed in the generall Assembly holden at Glasgow the 24. of Aprill anno 1581 the tenor whereof followes The finall end of all Assemblies is first to keepe the Religion and Doctrine in purity without errour or corruption Next to keepe comlinesse and good order in the Church for this orders cause they may make certaine rules and constitutions pertaining to the good behauiour of all the members of the Church in their owne vocation They haue power also to abrogate and abolish all statutes and ordinances concerning Ecclesiasticall matters that are found noysome and vnprofitable and agree not with the time or are abused by the people And after a few words it is subioyned That it appertaines to the Presbyteries to cause the Ordinances made by the Assemblies Prouinciall and generall to be kept and put in execution Hereby it is manifest that when the Church alters indifferent thing in policie that they who are astricted by their oathes to obey the Discipline of the Church are tyed both not to practise these things which the Church hath discharged and to obserue these things which the Church in stead thereof hath established to be done Whereupon I conclude That so many as haue sworne and subscribed after the forme contained in the Oath to continue in the obedience of the Discipline of the Church are all obliged by their subscriptions now not to sit but to kneele at the Communion because the Church hath found it meete that sitting should bee interchanged with kneeling Thus I haue answered your reasons lawes customes subscriptions and oathes which yee bring for sitting I come to consider the ordinances made as ye alledge against kneeling where first yee alledge an Act made in the Assembly 1591 that an Article should bee formed and presented vnto his Maiesty and the Estates for order to be taken with them who giue or receiue the Sacraments after the Papistical manner but by Papistical maner is meante the giuing of the Sacrament by a Masse Priest and the receiuing the same after the order of the Romane Church which may be cleared by an Act of the Assembly anno 1565. Decemb. 26. Sess 2. The tenor wherof is this Persons reuolting from the profession of the Gospell by offering their children to be baptized after the Papisticall maner
or by themselues receiuing the Sacrament of the Altar after admonition shall bee excommunicate if repentance interuene not This sheweth what is meant by giuing or receiuing the Sacrament in a Papisticall manner for it was neuer our Churches meaning to censure these that receiued the Sacraments after the manner of the Reformed Churches in France England or Germany where many of our people haue receiued the Sacrament of Christs bodie kneeling Nor did our Predecessors euer condemne their customes and esteeme sitting necessary albeit for the estate of our Church they held it in the beginning to be most conuenient Next yee say That in the Kings Confession of Faith c. are these words contained We detest the ceremonies of the Romane Antichrist added to the ministration of the Sacraments and we detest all his rites signes and traditions This argument were good if yee did proue kneeling to be a rite or ceremony added to the Sacrament by the Roman Antichrist But we know this ceremony to be diuine and not Antichristian a ceremony allowed by God to bee vsed in his worship for he hath said expresly in his Word Vnto me all knees shall how and againe In the name of Iesus euery knee shall bow Neither will yee euer be able to proue the vse of this ceremony in receiuing the Sacrament to be Antichristian or to haue been instituted by the Antichrist of Rome for albeit Honorius ordained that the people should kneele at the eleuation and circumgestation of the Hoste to those who are sicke yet he made no constitution for kneeling at the receiuing of the Sacrament and there is as great difference betweene the eleuation in the Masse and the pompous circumgestation of the Hoste and the celebration of the Sacrament as is betwixt an idolatrous and superstitious inuention of man and a lawfull act of diuine worship Therefore to conclude the answere of this Section vnto the argument propounded by you I oppone this Euery indifferent alterable ceremony the innouation and abrogation whereof is thought expedient by the Church may be lawfully altered notwithstanding of any lawes customes oathes or subscriptions formerly made for obseruation therof for a time But sitting at the Sacrament is an indifferent alterable ceremony the innouation and abrogation whereof is thought expedient by the Church Ergo Sitting at the Sacrament may be lawfully altered notwithstanding of any lawes customes oathes or subscriptions formerly made for obseruation thereof for a time The Proposition is manifest by these Constitutions which we haue cited out of the seuenteenth chapter of the booke of Discipline confirmed in the Assembly 1581 and subscribed by many of the Ministry Yea the very nature of alterable ceremonies is such that to the obseruation of them no man is longer astricted then they stand in their integritie without change but if for any corruption and abuse or for some greater or better respect they be altered by the Church the obligation for obseruing of them ceases and bindes no more As to kneeling which the Assembly hath ordained in stead of sitting as yet we haue seene nothing against it neither Law Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall nor custome c. And I hope the reasons yee bring hereafter shal be found as friuolous But keeping your order I will first consider how yee qualifie it to be a breach of the institution PP p. 35. lin 25. The first breach of the institution by kneeling is the taking away of that commendable gesture of sitting vsed by Christ and his Apostles at and after the Institution That Christ and his Apostles sate at Table yee labour to proue it by the words of the Euangelist Edentibus illis whilest they did eate Matth. 26.26 Mark 14.22 Christ tooke bread and blessed c. If whilest they did eate say yee then also whilest they did sit as these two are conioyned Mark 14.18 The phrase imports that nothing interuened betwixt the eating and the celebration of the Sacrament it was therfore ministred vnto them sitting This is your reasoning pag. 36. lin 16. seq ANS Your argument is a captione à fallacia consequentis For albeit nothing interuened betweene the eating of the Paschall Supper and the celebration of the Sacrament yet it followeth not that the Sacrament was ministred vnto them sitting For as yee say their eating of the Paschall Supper and sitting were coniunct and that eating of the Paschall Supper ceasing at the beginning of the institution of this Sacrament how will it follow that the gesture of sitting continued and was not changed For although nothing interuened betweene the Paschall Supper and the Sacrament yet the gesture might haue beene changed when the action was changed And as the one action ceased when the other began so the gesture of sitting might haue ceased with the action wherewith it was conioyned and another gesture might haue begun and been vsed in the celebration of the Sacrament Moreouer betwixt their eating of the Paschall Supper and the administration of the Sacrament to the Disciples there interuened diuers actes as first the taking of the bread secondly the thankesgiuing thirdly the breaking fourthly the precept Take yee eate yee fiftly the word whereby the element was made the Sacrament After this the Sacrament was giuenby our Sauiour and receiued by the Disciples which yee call the ministration of the Sacrament vnto them Now albeit it were true that between the time they sate eating of the Paschall Supper and the time when the Sacrament began to bee celebrated nothing had interuened yet betwixt that and the ministring of the Sacrament to the Disciples all these fiue acts interuened In which time the gesture of sitting might haue beene changed for if they changed it not at the breaking of the bred by our Sauiour which was the first act yet they might haue changed it at the thankesgiuing which was the second or at the breaking which was the third or at Christs pronouncing of the words whereby the element became a Sacrament So vpon this ground that they were sitting and eating yee cannot conclude that they receiued the Sacrament sitting seeing betwixt the time of their eating of the Paschall Supper so many acts interuened wherein the gesture of sitting might haue beene changed before they receiued the Sacrament Thus it is not certaine that they sate and receiued the Sacrament or as yee say that the Sacrament was ministred vnto them sitting If it be replied that it is not written that they rose and altered their gesture I answere à non scriptum ad non factum est non valet consequentia It is not written that they altered their gesture therefore they did not alter it it followeth not in Theologie this consequence is euer good Nothing that is not written is to bee holden and beleeued for an vndoubted truth in the worship of God But after the eating of the Paschall Supper that the Apostles sate still at Table and altered not their gesture vntill they had receiued the Sacrament is a
it is not certaine that they sate at the Receiuing If yee reply it is not written that they did alter the gesture of sitting to that I answere before and it is the Papists argument against the giuing of the Cup to the Layickes it is not written say they that the Cup was giuen in this place Therefore c. Also yee know that the time of Christ his sitting heere with his Disciples at Emmaus was the night season the place a priuate Inne that the breaking and giuing of that bread was before or after another ordinary supper and that onely men were there present and not women all which points being certaine according to your first reason whereby yee intended to proue sitting to haue been instituted it will follow that all these circumstances and things were instituted to be obserued as well as sitting because our Sauiour retained all these things hauing no necessity at this time to celebrate the Sacrament Thirdly I say if the Sacrament was here ministred we haue an expresse warrant for priuate Communion which yee impugue for Iesus heere ministred vnto two onely and yee will not content to haue it ministred to three Lastly it is the iudgement of the learned Caluine That there was no celebration of the Sacrament at that time and that Christ was knowne to these Disclples by an ordinary prayer which he vsed in blessing of the Table and not by the celebration of the Sacrament which opinion he saith although it seeme plausible is no more then a coniecture which leanes to no probable reason Then yee see that it is vncertaine whether Christ gaue this Sacrament at Emmaus and if he did that there sitting at the Receiuing is also vncertaine And therby your argument is nought and serueth only to establish priuate Communion Thus haue you gained nothing by this testimony but lost much PP Last of all after his Ascension and glorification in the heauens the Apostolike Church sate at Table The manner of the partaking of the table of Diuels was by formall sitting at table in the house of the Idoll Ionathan the Chaldee Paraphrast Amos 2.8 interpreteth the garments whereon the Vsurer sate beside euery Altar to haue been beds prepared in the houses of their gods to sit on when they feasted vpon things sacrificed to Idols The people of Israel sate downe to eate and drink at the jdolatrous feast of the golden Calfe The Apostle compareth the partaking of the Lords Table and the table of Diūels 1. Cor. 10.21 Next they sate at the Loue feasts we cannot thinke that they rose from the Tables to receiue the Sacrament ANS To proue that the Apostolike Church sate at Table you bring the comparison that the Apostle makes betweene the partaking of the Lords Table and the table of Diuels and the partaking of the table of Diuels you say was by a formall sitting at table in the house of the Idoll for which yee alledge Ionathan the Chaldee Paraphrast vpon the eight verse of the second chapter of Amos but neither the Text nor his interpretation proues the formall sitting yee speake of for the text saith they laid themselues downe vpon clothes by euery Altar and not that they sate And the Paraphrast as Mercerus expounds him saith That those clothes were Parapetasmata that is couerings or mattes whereupon they laid themselues downe and not sate by euery Altar and not in the Idols house And for the place of the Apostle Yee cannot be partakers of the Table of the Lord and of the table of Diuels there is no materiall or artificiall table vnderstood either by the one Table or the other and by participation formall sitting is not meant This is manifest by these words Yee cannot be partakers for certaine it is that they might haue sitten formally at table in the house of the Idoll and eaten of their sacrifices and might also haue sitten at the Lords Table formally and receiued the external elements But the Apostle saith That these two Tables and the participation of them are so opposed as they could not be partakers of both Therfore by the table of Diuels in that place we vnderstand the sacrifices offered to Diuels and by participation we vnderstand the eating of these sacrifices with a conscience toward the Idoll where euer it was done whether in the Idols Temple as 1. Cor. 8.10 or in the priuate houses of Idolaters as 1. Cor. 10.27.28 And by the Table of the Lord we vnderstand the body and blood of our Sauiour in the Sacrament and by the partaking of the Lords Table the spirituall eating and drinking of his flesh and bloud in the Sacrament by a true and liuely faith These two Tables and partakings could not stand together And so by the Table of the Lord the Apostle meanes not a material table at which the Communicants sate but the body of Christ in the Sacrament According to this Causabone in his Exercitations against Baronius 16.36 citing these words Non potestis mensae Dominiparticipes esse c. saith Hîc mensa Domini est ipsa Eucharistia quam exemplo Pauli Patresita saepè nominant That is The Table of the Lord in this place is the Eucharist it selfe which the Fathers often call by this name of the table following Saint Pauls example Now where yee adde that the people of Israel sate downe to eate and drinke at the feast of the golden Calfe I am assured yee thinke not that the Israelites had a materiall table at which they sate in that feast so as their sitting will make nothing for the formall sitting which yee would conclude And for that which yee tell vs of the Loue feasts that people sate at them and that yee cannot thinke they rose from the table to receiue the Sacrament yee must know that your thoughts are no probation and whatsoeuer yee thinke it is the Apostles expresse minde that they who discerne not the body of the Lord from that and all other carnall feasts are guilty of his body And if yee thinke these holy mysteries were worthily receiued if after the same manner and at the same time and table they receiued without making discretion between the one feast and the other yee thinke not according to the truth Nam hîc coena à mysterijs toto genere diuersa erat as Causabone speakes in the same booke of his Exercitations 16.31 Then to conclude neither haue yee proued that the Apostles or Apostolike Church receiued the Sacrament sitting formally at a table nor if they sate that their sitting was exemplary for Whatsoeuer is exemplary in Christ his actions or in the Apostles or in the Apostolike Churches is either morall and commanded in the Decalogue generally or then it is some action or circumstantiall ceremony of Religion enioyned by precept in the Gospell But sitting at the Sacrament is neither morall and so commanded in the Decalogue or is it an action or circumst antiall ceremony of Religion enioyned by precept in the Gospell Therefore sitting
at the Sacrament is not exemplary and left vs to be imitated by Christ his Apostles or the Apostolike Churches And although yee had demonstrated which neither by Scripture or antiquity yee will euer be able to doe That Christ and his Apostles did sitte at the receiuing of the Sacrament could it oblige vs to the like as I cleared before PP It is obiected that the sitting of Christ and his Apostles was not vpright but sitting with leaning If wee imitate the example of Christ wee should sitte after the same manner Answere It was the custome receiued amongst the Iewes before and in the dayes of Christ descending from the Romanes or as others alledge from the Persians c. ANS The reply yee make to this obiection is long and needeth not to be repeated for the gesture being vncertain wherewith the Apostles receiued and sitting neyther being instituted by Christ nor exemplary to vs as I haue before shewed whether they sate vpright or with leaning none of the formes is necessary to bee vsed So all your following Discourse is idle and to no purpose specially where yee say That sitting was a custome brought into the Church by Christ whose example being seconded with the practise of the Apostles is equiualent vnto a precept and that it is safer for a mans conscience to imitate Christ and his Apostles then to depart from them and imitate the custome of Churches which may erre for yee haue neither proued sitting to be an Apostolike practise not yet to be exemplary and all your reasons brought for that purpose haue appeared to be of no force Yet two things I note in this your answere first yee say That the Iewes did receiue their forme of sitting from the Romanes and Persians and in this yee erre for it is manifest by the sixt of Amos That before they conuersed either with Romanes or Persians that forme of gesture was vsed amongst them Next when yee say that there is little difference betweene the one fashion of sitting and the other that is also false for it differeth as farre from our forme of sitting as lying doth as is cleared by these words of Amos 6.4 They Iye vpon beds of Iuory and stretch themselues vpon their couches And by that verse of IVVENAL Sat. 1. Vacuisque thoris tantùm ipse jacebit Looke what difference there is betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or betweene sedere and iacere there is as great difference betweene their forme of sitting and ours But because both belonged to one vse the Translators of the Bible for our capacity interpret both by Sitting PP That this gesture may very well bee comprehended vnder the expresse precept of Christ in the Institution hoc facite doe this that is hoc totum facite doe all this ANS Where I pray you shew me what yee call all this will yee haue all to comprehend not the actions only which are set downe in the Institution as the taking the blessing the breaking the giuing c. but the circumstances likewise as the time the place the order the persons the site and position of body and the habit Then hoc facite must import doe this in the night season doe it in an vpper chamber doe it after supper do it with an vpper garment vpon you doe it with faire cleane washen feete doe it with vnleauened bread doe it with men and not with women doe it being thirteene persons in number one Giuer and twelue Receiuers and doe it with this gesture and position of body which now yee vse Heere all being certaine the gesture only is vncertaine some question is made of the number of the Receiuers because some thinke that Iudas went out after he got the soppe before the Sacrament all the rest are expressed in the story but whether the Disciples sate or stood or kneeled at the thankesgiuing in the receiuing no man knowes We were accustomed and still are to kneele at the thankesgiuing if we did imitate the Apostles herein they haue also kneeled and then it is very vncertaine whether they sate at the Receiuing But if wee doe not imitate their gesture in the thankesgiuing it is cleare that we neuer esteemed the imitation of the Apostolike gesture at the thanksgiuing to be comprised in the precept hoc facite which yee interpret doe all this PP Wee must not thinke that nothing belongs to the Institution but that which is mentioned in Pauls narration 1. Cor. 11. for then a Table could not belong to the Institution ANS Whatsoeuer yee thinke the faithfull will beleeue that the Apostle setting downe as hee doth in that place the true forme of keeping the Lords Supper would neuer haue omitted the gesture if the same had been a part of the Institution and if he had receiued any thing touching that from the Lord he had without all question deliuered the same to the Corinthians As for your instance of a Table if yee vnderstand thereby a materiall table appointed for feasters to sitte at such a table is not necessary as shal be cleared in the answer to the second breach but if by a Table yee vnderstand a commodious part whereon the elements must bee placed then the table must be reckoned amongst the necessary circumstancēs that accompany the action for when Christ commanded to doe this the command did insinuate That they must conuene in some place to doe it that there must be a Pastor to giue and some persons to receiue that the elements which are giuen and taken must be placed in some commodious part on which they may bee consecrated with thankesgiuing and blessing where they may bee broken and where they may be giuen and receiued such a table is necessary yet what the matter the forme and quality of this table should be is no where expressed in the Scripture but as the time when and the place where and the particular persons to whom and by whom the Sacrament shall bee celebrate so the particular matter and forme of the Table is not mentioned in the Institution but omitted with the rest of the necessary circumstances and left to be determined by the Church according to the rule of edification and decencie and is onely insinuated as a thing necessarily enioyned with the actions prescribed in the command for when the Apostle saith doe this albeit he saith not doe it at night or in the morning or in a priuate or publike place by such a person and congregation and such a part or Table or with such gesture yet the command imports that it should bee done at a conuenient time in a conuenient place by meete and qualified persons with a conuenient gesture and on a conuenient Table or on somewhat in stead of a Table Now what should be conuenient in such things it could not be defined for conueniency changes according to times ages and nations The specification thereof is left to the wise iudgement of the Church according to
charitie quam si moderatricem patiemur saith CALVIN salua erunt omnia that is Charity being the moderatrix all shal goe well PP No doubt our Sauiour instructed them how to discerne the Lords body how to eate and drinke before he commanded them to eate and drinke But the Euangelists and Paul writes of the Sacrament as of a thing knowne to the Church by practise presupposing a Table and the Communicants conuened and sitting at the Table ANS Yee appeare in this place to haue forgotten that which you affirmed in the beginning of your dispute to wit That nothing interuened betweene the celebration of the Sacrament and the eating of the Paschall Supper for now you say That our Sauiour no doubt instructed them how to eate and drinke before they were commanded to eate and drinke that is in your minde he taught them to conuene themselues and set them downe at Table but I alledge he taught them to stand or kneele ar the receiuing which wee know certainly to haue bin the practise of the Churches thereafter What warrant haue you more for the one then I haue for the other The Papists will say that hee taught them the doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Sacrifice of the Masse and all the ceremonies vsed at that action which being after knowne to the Churches by practise are omitted by Saint Paul and the Euangelists when they wrote of the Sacrament because as yee say they presupposed these things to bee knowne So farre are yee miscaried with the loue of your darling Table gesture that for establishing and authorising the same yee dare alledge vnwritten verities whereupon the Church of Rome founds all her heresies But to conclude against your false Assertion I forme you this reason Whatsoeuer is of necessary vse in the Sacrament is expressed in the words of the Institution or then is annexed vnto that which is expressed as a necessary circumstance belonging thereto But sitting is neither expressed in the words of the Institution nor is annexed to that which is expressed as a necessary circumstance belonging thereto Therefore sitting is not of necessary vse in the Sacrament PP The second breach of the Institution made by kneeling in the act of receiuing is the taking away the vse of a table Christ and his Apostles sate at Table 1. Cor. 10. Luk. 22. Wherefore serueth the name of a Table if wee keepe not the proper vse and employment of it The Fathers call it the Lords Table the heauenly Table the sacred Table the mysticall Table the spirituall Table the rationall Table Whereto serue all these commendations if in the meane time it be not vsed as a Table but rather as an Altar if it be not vsed as Christ and his Apostles vsed it that is by sitting at it to receiue the dainties set vpon the Table And a little after The people of God had an Altar for the Sacrifice and a Table for a Feast Such like the Ethnickes so Christians haue an Altar for a Sacrifice to wit Christ who is Priest Altar and Sacrifice Heb. 13.10 And a Table for the Feast after this Sacrifice once made to wit the Sacrament of the Supper As the Israelites and the Ethnickes sate at the table of their feasts so doe we at our sacred Feasts to distinguish betweene an Altar and a Table a Sacrifice and a Supper made of the thing sacrificed a dresser or cupboord may serue as well for the disposing of the elements c. ANS I must take paines heere for clearing your minde to draw your arguments together which are set downe tanquam scopa dissoluta as loose or euill knit beesomes yee proue that kneeling taketh away the vse of a table because the proper vse of a table is for sitting This yee qualifie because Christ and his Apostles sate at Table And because the Iewes and the Ethnickes sate at their feasts made of things sacrificed And this is your first argument Your next is because sitting makes a distinction betweene an Altar and a Table betweene a Supper and a Sacrifice For answere to your first argument I say it is a meere caption à fallacia consequentis for albeit that Christ and his Apostles the Iewes and the Ethnicks sate at their feasts it followeth not that the proper vse of a table is sitting The proper vse of a table is to hold and sustaine the meat that is set thereon beds in these dayes were ordained for sitting fourmes chaires and bonkers in our times the taking away of sitting takes away the vse of the beds fourmes and seates whereon they sate but not the vse of the table this still remaines if the elements be placed thereon and consecrate in the celebration of the Sacrament albeit no man sitte thereat As to Christ and the Apostles the Iewes and the Ethnicks they sate at their feasts when they did eate their sacrifices because these feasts were sufficient bodily repasts at which they spent long time in eating drinking and conference For the ease of their bodies sitting lying or such like a gesture was necessary but our Sacrament which is wholly finished by receiuing a morsell of bread and a very little wine requires not a long time nor such an easefull gesture for the body It is vncertaine as I shewed before what kinde of gesture our Sauiour and the Apostles vsed and if they sate it was occasioned by the former Supper and no wise requisite for the Sacrament neither for ease of the body the action being quickly ended neither for conference for there was none vsed thereat neither for receiuing the dainties or the elements from the table by stretching out their hands As to the bread Scaliger saith that the custome was of the Master of the feast to breake the bread in so many peeces as the number of the feasters were and vnto euery one a peece was giuen as great as an Oliue or if yee reiect his authority whom yee formerly cited in the booke of Discipline 1560 which yee make the ground of your order it is said the bread was broken by our Sauiour and deliuered to him who sate next and that they brake and deliuered each to his neighbour Likewise that they diuided the cup amongst them after our Sauiour had giuen the same so they stretched not forth their hands to take the elements from the table and their sitting at table for these ends was needlesse To your second argument I answere the distinction of the Table from the Altar is not made by sitting but by the employments proper to them The Altar was ordained for the sanctifying of the oblations made to God the Table to hold and sustaine such things as are offered and giuen to vs according to Christs Institution The Priest stood at the Altar when he offered and the people when they praied so the Communicants in the Primitiue Church stood at the Table when they receiued the Sacrament on the Lords day and this conformity in gesture tooke not away the difference
that kneeling from the first birth in this act hath been dedicated to idolatrie I flatly deny it for albeit Honorius a foure hundreth yeares since or there about was the man that decreede kneeling to bee vsed in the eleuation and circumgestation of the Hoste yet it was not he that brought in that gesture at the time of participation In the eleuation or circumgestation the same I grant was abused to idolatry but neither these nor the Hoste in them were the Sacrament for when the bread or cup are not vsed according to the Institution they cease to be the Sacrament so kneeling directed to the bread at the eleuation c. was not a prophanation of it at the Sacrament but a prophanation of it in a superstitious and idolatrous worship In respect of this Caluine and some other recent Diuines haue disliked it and yet they say if kneeling in the action of the Supper did not rest in the Elements but were directed to Christ sitting in heauen the same were a lawfull sort of adoration This Peter Martyr said whose words are Neque externa adoratio esset mala multi enim piè genua flectunt adorant that is to say Externall adoration in that case were not euill for many piously bow their knees and adore Beza in his twelsth Epistle saith That the bowing of the knee at the receiuing of the Elements is a sort of holy and Christian reuerence Ac proindè olim potuit cum fructu vsurpari that is of old it might haue been vsed profitably That testimony which you cite out of the eight Epistle according to your custome yee corrupt to make it serue your purpose for Beza commending them that abolished kneeling at the receiuing of the Sacrament saith not tanquam apertas idolomanias but non minus quam apertas idolomanias and so distinguisheth it from idolatrie like as a little before in the same Epistle he saith That this gesture of kneeling being considered in it selfe is not impious and in his twelfth Epistle speaking of the same matter he hath these words Interim tamen eum ista per se non sint idololatrica idem de illis quod de proximè praecedentibus sentimus So we haue Caluine Martyr and Beza all of them contradictors to you in this that kneeling at the Sacrament is a monument of vile idolatry Where I marke further that in Beza his iudgement kneeling was not at the first birth in this act dedicated to idolatry for he saith of it quòd olim potuit cumfructu vsurpari that of olde time it might haue beene vsed profitably and the words hee subioynes make this yet more manifest Tamen quia ex hoc fonte orta est artolatria If Bread-worship did spring from kneeling according to his minde then kneeling at the Sacrament was in vse before Broad-worship and so was not dedicated as yee say to idolatrie in this act from the first birth thereof But to the end the weakenesse of your Achillean argument may appeare let vs put it in forme Whatsoeuer ceremonie in an act of diuine worship such as the Sacrament is hath been dedicated to idolatrie from the first time it was vsed in that act the same is to bee remoued from the act as a monument of vile idolatrie To this I answere that wee must consider the ceremonie it selfe whether it bee of humane or diuine institution if it bee of humane institution it may be remooued such as is the crossing of the bread and cuppe in the Sacrament But if the ceremony bee of diuine institution such as kneeling is for the same is commended by God vnto vs in his Word then wee ought to consider whether the abuse of that ceremonie hath proceeded from the nature of the action wherein it was vsed for if it bee so it ought to be abolished in that action because it can neuer bee purged from the spotte which it contracteth by the action and in such a case the action and gesture ought both to bee abolished But if the abuse proceede not from the nature of the action but from the opinion of the agent then the opinion being remoued the religious ceremonie may bee vsed without any prophanation of idolatrie for example The abuse of kneeling in eleuation c. proceeded not onely from the opinion of the agent but from the nature of the action which is idolatrous and superstitious kneeling in this action cannot be purged from the contagion of idolatry because of the relation it hath to the idolatrous action and therefore both the action and the gesture ought to bee abolished But the Sacrament of the Supper being an action instituted by GOD and kneeling being of the owne nature an holy and religious ceremony it can neuer receiue contagion of idolatrie from it but onely from the opinion of the agent then remooue the opinion both the action it selfe may bee rightly vsed and kneeling therein as being very agreeable to the nature of the action For wee cannot deny that CHRIST in this action is to be adored and of that wee giue euident testimony euen when wee sit at Table for our sitting bare-headed is a signe of adoration as well as kneeling and is no lesse idolatrous if it be done for adoration of the bread That to conclude if wee remoue not the euill opinion the superstition remaines and pollutes the action but if the opinion be taken away neither doth the action pollute the gesture nor the gesture the action both of them being religious and of diuine Institution sorting and agreeing naturally one with another PP The fourth breach of the second Commandement made by kneeling is the continuall danger and occasion of idolatry We are forbidden all occasions and prouocations of Idolatry There is a naturall pronenesse in all men to idolatry great ignorance in the common people and superstition rooted in the hearts of men Papists daily encrease the idoll of the breadie god is still in great account in the Romane Churches round about vs in priuate corners amongst vs and yet men are not ashamed to say that all memory of former superstition is past and no perill is to be feared againe The Virgins in Cyprians time granted they walked with yong men talked with them went to bed with them but when it came to the act they abstained Cyprian answeres Non est locus dandus Diabolo nemo diu tutus periculo proximus Place should not be giuen to the Diuell no man is long safe who is neere the point of danger The Belgick Churches in their Synods permitted not libertie of kneeling for the same respect of bread worship as may be seene in the harmonie of their Synods set forth of late by FESTVS HOMMIVS Libernm est stando sedendo veleundo coenam celebrare non antem geniculando ob artolatrias periculum If a lawfull vse could be deuised yet this danger cannot be eschewed Information by preaching is a sufficient remedie meate doth not nourish so fast as poyson doth corrupt
sufficient of themselues howbeit kneeling were otherwise warranted by the practise of the Church c. ANS I am assured if kneeling be warranted by practise of the ancient Church no good Christian will thinke for the friuolous reasons adduced by you that they committed any of these breaches But you labour to proue that the ancient Church did not practise it for yee say that when the Arrians denyed Christs true diuinitie the Orthodoxe Church who acknowledged his diuinitie kneeled not in the act of receiuing which had beene expedient if the same had beene lawfull vnto which I answere That there be many things expedient to be done which notwithstanding are not done nor ought to be done not because they are vnlawfull in themselues but for some other respect as some custome receiued or some order formerly established which vpon euery apparant expedience is not to be altered for example It was expedient because of the same heresie to haue kneeled at all times when publike prayers were offered to Christ or to the Father in his name yet on the Lords day which was the most solemne time of worship the ancient Church kneeled not at publike prayer not because it was vnlawfull in it selfe to haue kneeled but because there was an order receiued in the Church that on the Lords day the people should stand and not kneele Next when yee say that the ancient Church did not kneele at the receiuing of the Sacrament and will prooue it by this that it was the custome of the Church to stand in the time of publike prayer all the Lords dayes in the yeere and on euery day from Easter to Pentecost because of the ioyfull memory of Christs resurrection for say yee this Sacrament being a matter of great ioy far lesse would they kneele at the celebration of it To this I answere That if the order of the Church could haue permitted kneeling the nature of the action although it bee a matter of great ioy would haue sorted well enough with this humble gesture In the 17. of Genes 16. God promised to Abraham that hee would blesse Sarah and giue him a sonne by her and make her the mother of many Nations and Kings to come of her the Text saith in the next verse that Abraham fell vpon his face and laughed Here yee see a matter of great ioy which made Abraham to laugh ioyned with a gesture of greater humilitie then bowing of the knee is The bowing of the body and the knee is not as your Master of table gesture and ye here affirme the gesture onely of an humble Penitentiar but it is the gesture also of these that giue thanks So the Leper gaue thanks Luke 17.16 And of these who ioyfully sing prayses to God Psalm 138. vers 2. And of these who pray as our Sauiour Luk. 22.41 who kneeled and prayed though he was no Penitentiar And of these who offered their gifts to God Mich. 6.6 And of these with whom God talked either immediately as he did with Abrabam Gen. 17.3 or mediately as by Mayses to the people of Israel Exod. 12.27 And of these that were astonished at the works of God or his Word 1. King 18.39 1. Cor. 14.25 To be short if Abraham when he did onely receiue the promise of the blessed seede fell on his face Gen. 17.17 how much more ought the faithfull bow their knees when they receiue the performance of this promise euen the blessed Seede himselfe from the hand of God in this spirituall Banquet So it is not the nature of the action that will enforce the gesture of standing to haue been vsed in the Sacrament rather then at prayer but the custome and order of the Church only which if ye were able to produce as well for standing at the Sacrament as at praying on the Lords day your argument were strong but that yee shall neuer doe except ye grant according to the truth that the Sacrament is an act of reall adoration In that case Tertullians testimony which you cite would aduance your cause mightily who sayes De geniculis adorare nefas ducimus Two or three testimonies of Eusebius Chrysostome and Tertullian for standing on the Lords day at the Table or Altar when the Sacrament was receiued will not proue a constant and vniuersall practise of that gesture Neyther is the example of the Abissines and Muscouites who stand to this day able to counterpoyse the practise of the vniuersall Church for the space of foure or fiue hundred yeeres preceding their dayes wherein they kneeled at the receiuing Nor are you able to prooue that the gesture of kneeling was brought into the Church by the error of Transsubstantiation as ye confidently affirme in the last line of this Section For Honorius as wee sayd before did not decree kneeling to bee vsed at the receiuing of the Sacrament but at the eleuation and circumgestation which was a superstitious and idolatrous worshippe inuented by man And it is euident at the time when that Decree was made the people were accustomed to kneele at the receiuing and if it had not beene the custome there is no question but the same would haue beene straitly enioyned by the same Decree But it is playne that before that time as euer since this gesture is continued in the Church for as Saint Augustine vpon the 98. Psalme testifies No man doeth worthily receiue but hee that adores And in the same places hee saith Non peccatur adorando carnem Christi sed peccatur non adorando that is Wee sinne not in adoring Christs body in the Sacrament but we sinne if wee adore it not And Chrysostome in one of his Homilies hath these words Ergo adora communica that is Adore then and communicate but vnto these and the rest of the testimonies yee answere That it followeth not because they adored that therefore they kneeled because say yee their testimonies make mention of adoration not of the Sacrament but of Christ in the Sacrament and wee say the same that at the Sacrament Christ only is to be adored and not the sacramentall Elements which are the signes So in this wee agree but because that maketh nothing against kneeling yee subioyne that their testimonies are to bee vnderstood of spirituall and internall adoration and to confirme it yee quote in the Margine D. Fulke vpon the first to the Cor. 11. Sect. 18. But let the Reader peruse the place he shall finde nothing in it against the gesture of kneeling or any other religious signe of adoration onely hee saith that adoration mentioned by the Fathers is to be vnderstood of the spirituall adoration of Christ and not of the externall adoration of the Sacrament And if hee had meant otherwise Chrysostomes words in the 24. Homilie vpon the first to the Corinths Cap. 10. cited by himselfe would haue controlled his saying Hoc corpus etiam iacens in praesepi reueriti sunt Magi c. that is to say The wisemen did reuerence to this
body he meanes the body of Christ lying in the Manger and these wicked and barbarous men leauing their houses and Countrey hauing finished a long iourney and comming to the place they adored with great feare and trembling Let vs therefore sayeth hee that are Citizens of heauen imitate these Barbarians Thus farre Chrysostome Now to imitate them is not to come with inward reuerence onely but to shew it also in outward gesture for of them the Scripture saith That falling downe they adored CHRIST And it is manifest by the words following that Chrysostome meanes not of the inward adoration onely but also of the outward Non solum hoc ipsum corpus vides sicut illi c. Thou doest not onely see the same body as they did but thou knowest both his power and dispensation and thou art ignorant of no thing done by him as being exactly and accurately imitated in all mysteries Let vs therefore stirre vp our selues with feare Et longe maiorem quà m illi Barbari ostendamus reuerentiam that is Let vs shew foorth much more reuerence then these Barbarians The word Ostendamus manifestly shewes that Chrysostome exhorteth his people not to the inward adoration of Christ onely at the Sacrament but to the externall also The practise of all Churches since the dayes of Christ confirmeth the same for there was neuer any Church wherein the Sacrament was receiued without some externall signe and gesture of adoration To stand before the Lord in a solemne act of diuine worshippe is a gesture of adoration and as yee obserued before out of Drusius in the 51. Page of this Pamphlet standing is taken for prayer because it was the vsuall gesture at prayer The discouering of the head in our Church is an externall signe of adoration otherwise our people who are wont to sitte at the reading of the Word singing of Psalmes and publike prayers did vse no externall signe at all And as in these actions the discouering of the head is a signe of adoration so is it in the receiuing of the Communion and was so euen when wee did sit at the receiuing for the reuerence of the bare head was not giuen at that time to the externall Minister nor to the externall Elements but to Christ himselfe his body and bloud Now it is certaine that the externall reuerence giuen to Christ in an act of diuine worship is diuine and therefore the reuerence of adoration as your selfe affirmed pag. 48. This conslant and vniuersall practise compared with the testimonies of the Ancients cuidently shewes the vanitie of your answeres against externall adoration vsed in all ages at the receiuing of the Sacrament Leauing them therefore I come to your conclusion PP The proofes already made for standing vpon the Lords day for 1000. yeeres in the Church doe euince that geniculation had no place in the act of receiuing all that time It hath therefore followed vpon bodily presence and transsubstantiation ANS Your proofes haue euinced nothing except yee grant that to receiue the Sacrament is an act of adoration for all the testimonies ye bring runne that way And at most yee haue onely proued that on the Lords day they stood at the Sacrament whereupon if yee conclude that geniculation had no place yee must vpon the same ground that sitting had no place yea it shall euince that sitting had no place in the Church vnto the yeere 1560. at which time it was receiued in our Church for after these 1000. yeeres wherein yee proue that standing was vsed kneeling succeeded and hath continued euer since in the Church vntill the time of reformation So sitting was neuer in vse by your owne argument As to the gesture vsed by our Sauiour at the Paschall Supper which yee affirme was continued at the institution of the Sacrament it was not sitting at a Table vpon fourmes or chaires but lying and leaning vpon beds and it is vncertain as I shewed before whether that gesture was continued or not and albeit it had beene continued there was neuer Church or Diuine that thought it exemplary for if they had done they would neuer haue vsed standing or passing or kneeling in stead of it If we might bee bold to coniecture with what gesture the Apostles receiued the Sacrament as yee are bold to affirme that they sate or what gesture Christ would haue vs to obserue it were doubtlesse surest to thinke that the Apostles receiued with that same gesture which they vsed at the thanksgiuing and blessing wherewith the Institution begins and therefore that the gesture which the Church thinketh most meet to be vsed at the thankesgiuing is the gesture fittest for the people to receiue because the action it selfe is a reall thankesgiuing and should haue conioyned with it the thankesgiuing and blessing wherewith the action beginnes in the minde and affection of the receiuers and because euer since the first Institution wee finde the Church to haue vsed the same gesture at the receiuing that they vsed at the thankesgiuing and prayer For when for the space of a thousand yeeres they stood and prayed as you your selfe affirme and so doth your namelesse Master of table gesture then they stood and receiued the Sacrament and after that when on the Lords day the Church began in stead of standing to vse kneeling at prayer they began also to receiue the Sacrament kneeling which forme of receiuing hath continued to our times But to returne againe to your argument where yee say that the proofes made for standing doe euince that for the space of a thousand yeeres kneeling had no place I will let you see how futile your argument is The Church stood on the Lords day at the Sacrament for the space of a thousand yeeres Ergo say yee they kneeled not for the space of a thousand yeeres May you not by the very same reason conclude The Church laboured not nor fasted on the Lords day for the space of a thousand yeeres Ergo they neither fasted nor laboured at all for the space of a thousand yeeres If during all that time the Sacrament had been onely celebrated on the Lords day your argument were probable but seeing the Sacrament as S. Augustine writes was giuen euery day and to giue it on the first fourth and sixt dayes of the weeke was held to bee an Apostolike constitution Therefore as on the rest of the weeke dayes except the Lords day they prayed fixis in terram genibus with their knees close to the ground so with that same gesture they receiued the Sacrament for the Church did euer receiue with the same gesture which they vsed in prayer as I haue proued by induction The Apostles receiued with the same gesture which they vsed at the thankesgiuing This yee cannot denie except yee ouerthrow all the grounds that yee laid for the example and precept of Christ to bee obserued The Church on the Lords day hath euer vsed to stand at the Sacrament when they stood at prayer and if you
the lawfull obseruation of dayes and the eschewing of their Idolatrous and superstitious abuse as because it appeared that extraordinarie Exercises on these dayes would rather foster superstition then edifie people in true godlinesse Neither could there better order be taken as matters then stood but our Church did neuer presume to condeme religious Exercises vpon these dayes which now the Assembly at Perth hath appointed for that had beene to condemne both the Primitiue Church and all the Reformed Churches now in the World who practised the contrarie And all the exceptions Acts and complaints made to Authoritie against Holy-dayes were rather against dayes dedicated to Saints or against the prophane and superstitious obseruation of Christmas which we call Zule or serued to maintaine the order taken by the Church for the same as shall bee made manifest in the particulars alledged by you PP In the generall Assembly holden at Edinburgh Anno 1566. the latter Confession of Helnetia was approoued but with speciall exception against some Holy-dayes dedicated to Christ These same very dayes that now arevrged ANS By this exception the Assembly did not condemne the iudgement and practise of the Heluetian Church as vnlawfull superstitious or prophane but onely declared that by their approbation they did nothing preiudiciall to the order and policie of their owne Church PP At the Assembly holden Anno 1575. complaint was made against the Ministers and Readers beside Abirdene because they assembled the people to Prayer and Preaching vpon certaine Patroue and Feastiuall dayes ANS This complaint was made for the contempt and breach of the order of the Church and the offence which people might take thereat not for the religious Exercise vsed at the time PP Complaint likewise was ordained to be made to the Regent vpon the Towne of Drumfreis for vrging and conueying a Reader to the Church with Tabret and Whissell to reade the Prayers all the Holy-dayes of Zule or Christmas vpon refusall of their owne Reader ANS This was a iust complaint because the Fact was not onely contrarious to the order of the Church but superstitious and prophane also in it selfe PP Item An Article was formed to be presented to the Regent crauing that all dayes heretofore kept holy in time of Papistrie beside the Lords day such as Zule day Saints dayes and other like Feasts might be abolished and a ciuill penaltie appointed against the obseruers of the said dayes ANS In this Article wee must vnderstand by Dayes not the Time it selfe materially for that cannot bee abolished but the superstitious cessation from labour on these dayes with an opinion of necessitie and the profane excesses of banquetting playing c. which the Act of Perth hath also condemned PP In the Assembly holden in April Anno 1577. it was ordayned That the Visitor with the aduice of the Synodall Assembly should admonish Ministers preaching or ministring the Communion at Pasche Zule or other like superstitious times or Readers reading to desist vnder the paine of depriuation ANS This Ordinance was made to withdraw people from the superstitious opinion they had of these times as is manifest by the wordes Or other like superstitious times and this our Pastors are also ordayned still to rebuke PP Dedicating of Dayes was abjured in the Confession of Faith penned Anno 1580. an Article was formed in the Assembly 1581. crauing an Act of Parliament to bee made against the obseruation of feast-dayes dedicated to Saints and setting out of Bone-fires ANS The dedicating of dayes abiured in the confession is in these words We abiure his to wit the Popes canonization of men calling vpon Angels or Saints departed worshipping of imagery reliques and crosse dedicating of Churches Altars Dayes Vowes to creatures c. What is here dayes dedicated by the Pope are abiured but the fiue dayes concluded by the Church to be kept were not dedicated by the Pope but obserued long before his vsurped authoritie aboue the Church Neither are they obserued in the reformed Churches or ordayned to be obserued in ours according to the intention of the Papall dedication of dayes that is as Bellarmine sayes tanquam sanctiores sacratiores alijs diebus tanquam pars diuini cultus as more holy and sacred then other dayes and a part of diuine worship but onely as fit circumstances for the worship of God appointed to be done vpon them ordinis politias causa for order and policie Further by the words of the Confession and by the Article formed Anno 1581. it is manifest that the dayes abiured are the dayes dedicated to creatures but our dayes are dedicated to Christ and therefore not abiured PP In the Assembly holden in February Anno 1587. it was humbly moued to his Maiestie that Pasche and Zule were superstitiously obserued in Fife and about Drumfreis ANS So would we complaine if any of these dayes were superstitiously obserued for by the act of Perth it is ordayned that Pastors in their Sermons vpon these dayes should rebuke the superstitious obseruation and licentious profanation thereof PP In the Assembly holden 1590. his Maistie in open audience of the Assembly praised God for that he was borne to bee a King in the syncerest Church in the World syncerer then our neighbour Church of England syncerer then Geneua it selfe for they obserued Pasche and Zule ANS His Maiestie from his youth vp hath euer kept these solemne times and wished the same to be kept by all his Subiects without abuse So who will beleeue you that such a speech was vttered in that assembly for at that time neither were yee present your selfe not hauing passed at that time your degrees in the Schooles nor does it appeare by the matters intreated in that meeting that the occasion of any such speech was offered And put the case such a saying had beene vsed by his Maiestie at that time a young King and of lesse experience in matters the same should not controll the iudgment of an old wise Monarch whom a long time and great experience hath taught incomparable prudence You may remember that of the Apostle When I was a child I spake as a child and it is a true speech 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the latest cogitations are wisest PP In the Parliament holden Anno 1592. The act of King Iames the third about the Saturday and other vigils to bee kept holy from Euen-song to Euen-song was anulled Item the act made by Queene Regent granting licence to keepe Zule and Pasche ANS The licence granted by the Queene Regent did authorise the Papisticall that is the superstitious obseruation of Zule and Pasche therefore it was rightly annulled But to what purpose alleadge ye the Act of vigils PP In the Assembly holden Anno 1596. when the couenant was renued superstition and idolatrie breaking forth in keeping of festiuall dayes setting out of Bone-fires and singing of Carrols are reckoned amongst the corruptions which were to be amended The Pulpits haue sounded continually against
dayes prescribed in Gods Word Hookers is more large and may bee applyed to the Ecclesiasticall Festiuities The Iewish Sabbath according to these descriptions is not properly festiuall yet the Lords day was esteemed such by the primitiue Church and ancient Diuines who held it not lawfull for Christians to fast thereon Proper Texts Epistles Gospels c. are not to bee framed for the mysterie of the festiuall day as yee say but for the benefit and diuine action appointed to be remembred thereon If by the ordinary Sabbath yee vnderstand the Iewish Sabbath it was not onely morall but mysticall as their festiuall dayes were and if by festiuall dayes yee vnderstand the dayes obserued in the Christian Orthodoxe Church we deny them to be mystically If by essentialia festi yee vnderstand the essentiall parts of the worship performed on the festiuall day wee deny cessation from worke to be an essentiall part of the worship but only concomitant and consequent thereto because it cannot be commodiously performed without cessation from other businesse As to Bellarmines opinion himselfe professes that it is contrarie to the iudgement of our Diuines For they hold as wee doe that our Festiuall dayes are not obserued for signification and representation of our mysteries or memorable workes wrought on these dayes or as a part of diuine worship but for order and policie as meete and commodious circumstances for commemoration of the workes and benefits of God thereon Bellar. de cultu Sanctor l. 3. c. 10. PP Six dayes shalt thou labour and doe all that thou hast to doe These words are either a command to doe the workes of our calling as many both Iewish and Christian Diuines doe interpret or else a permission as others doe interpret If they contayne a command no countermand may take it away If a permission no humane authority may spoyle men of the libertie that God hath granted vnto them as long as they haue any manner of worke to doe for the sustentation of this life The Muscouites therefore say very well that it is for Lords to keepe Feasts and abstaine from labour The Citizens and Artificers amongst them vpon the Festiuall dayes after diuine Seruice to betake themselues to their labor and domestick affaires as Gaguinus reports ANS Whether the words of the command bee preceptine or permissiue I will neither curiously nor contentiously dispute but it seemes they are not preceptiue for if wee were commanded to spend the whole sixe dayes in seruile labour then times could not bee lawfully appointed for publike Prayers in Cities at morne at euening nor ordinary times for preaching on the weeke dayes or for exercise or for catechizing nor times for fasting vpon vrgent occasions without sinne and breach of the Precept Next the precept touching labour belongs not to the first Table but is comprized in the Command of the second Table as Saint Paul giues vs to vndestand in these words Let him that stole sleale no more but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing which is good that hee may haue to giue to him that needes Ephes 4.28 If therefore here any precept be contayned it is per accidens by occasion onely of the principall command touching the sanctification of the Sabbath Thirdly if the words were preceptiue and had relation to the time that is if a certaine time were prescribed during the which men should labour it would bee told quam diu how long or for what space we should labour as the Precept of the Sabbath contaynes the space during the which we should rest from our labours and not quando only when wee may labour It is more probable therefore that the words are permissiue like these in Genesis Of all the Trees in the Garden thou shalt eate which words did not aslrict Adam to eate of all the Trees onely they gaue him libertie to eat of such as he should choose so the words of this command astricts not the people of God as slaues to labour still without intermission during the whole space of sixe dayes whether they bee taken for a precept or a permission but they leaue to their arbitrement that haue the dispensation of workes and businesses priuate Oeconomicall Ciuill Ecclesiastick the choice of houres dayes and times which they shall thinke most conuenient and thus the priuate man may make choice of times to his labour and to his refreshment The Master of the Family may appoint times to his Seruants and Children for their labour and times for their relaxation the Ciuill and Ecclesiasticke Gouernours haue power to ordayne for Ciuill and Ecclesiasticke actions meet and conuenient times which power is rightly vsed when as Superiours make choice of such times as neither hurt nor hinder the necessary labours of their Inferiours Like as priuate persons and Inferiours must in the dispensation of the times whereof they haue power accommodate themselues to the order taken by Superiours for publike actions that by a mutuall harmonie the weale of the whole bodie both temporall and spirituall may be procured Otherwise if by this permission the libertie were granted to euery person which you imagine to attend his own businesse without respect of order or subiection to policie there could be nothing but confusion amongst men The generall libertie granted to men touching the vse of times meats clothing talking sleeping watching c. takes not away the power of Ciuil Ecclesiastick Gouernors to set down Constitutions Canons touching the Dispensation of these things for the weale of the Countrey Neither doe the Lawes and Ordinances touching this Dispensation spoyle men of their libertie but directs them how to vse it profitably and well The Act therefore of Councell and Proclamation made thereupon commanding cessation and abstinence from all handie-worke vpon the fiue dayes that euery one may the better attend the holy exercises appointed for these times cannot bee called a spoliation of the libertie which God hath giuen to men for labour seeing as hath beene said that libertie is not absolute but subiect vnto order Moreouer if we consider the matter it selfe this which yee say will appeare to be a manifest calumnie For if vnder the Law God did not spoyle his people of libertie when hee appointed them to rest two dayes at Pasche one at Whitsonday one at the Feast of Trumpets one at the Feast of Expiation and two at the Feast of Tabernacles how can the Kings Maiestie and the Church be esteemed to spoyle vs of our libertie that command a cessation from labour vpon three dayes only throughout the whole yeere for two of the dayes commanded to wit Easter and Whitsonday are Sondayes Last of all he cannot be said to bee spoyled properly that makes a profitable interchange without any losse but he that changes the exercises of the body which are little worth with the exercises of Pietie which is profitable to all things makes a profitable change without losse therefore hee who makes this
change according to the Proclamation is not spoyled of his liberty but maketh vantage by the right vse thereof Here it shall not bee amisse to recite Zanchius opinion in this purpose who defending their opinion that esteeme the words to contayne a command moues a doubt and answers it after this manner Verùm enimuerò videtur cum hac sententia pugnare c. That is But this fights against their opinion that hold the words to be a command that it was euer lawfull to Gods people to assemble themselues on other dayes beside the Sabbath to heare Gods Word to bee present at Prayers to offer Sacrifices and such other things belonging to outward worship which farre lesse can bee denyed to vs and therefore beside the Lords Day other dayes are instituted in the Church ad feriandum ab operibus seruilibus to rest from feruile workes if not for the whole day yet for the morning time He answeres Facilis est horum conciliatio sicut opera diuini cultus praeponenda sunt operibus seruilibus ita haec sunt omittenda quando illis vacandum est c. that is These things may be easily reconciled as the workes of Gods worship are to bee preferred to seruile workes so these must be omitted when those are to bee performed And a little after We sinne not against this precept sayes hee when wee ceasse from our seruile labour to waite on Gods worship quoties ordo Ecclesiae aut necessitas postulat so often as the order of the Church and necessitie requires This is Zanchius iudgement vpon the fourth precept of the Law in the sixe hundred sixty two page of that Worke. And if a precept cannot impede the appointing of solemne times for the worship of God farre lesse can a permission The Muscouites saying that it is for Lords to make Feasts and abstaine from labour is true yet amongst them Festiuall Dayes are obserued That the Citizens after diuine Seruice on these Dayes betake themselues to their labour wee doe not reproue because it is agreeable to their policie PP It may be obiected that Constantine the Emperour made a Law that none but the Prince may ferias condere erect an idle day The Prince then may enioyne a day of cessation Answ The Lawes of the God are not Rules of Theologie A Prince may not enioyne cessation from Oeconomicall and Domesticke workes but for weapon-shewing exercise of Armes defence of the Countrey or other publike workes and affaires But that is not to enioyne a day of simple cessation but to enioyne apoliticke worke in place of the Oeconomicall ANS Though the Lawes of the God bee not Rules of Theologie yet where they are not contrary to Scripture they are good Rules of Gouernment to Princes and of obedience to Subiects That the Prince may enioyne a day of cessation from seruile worke for the worship of God is not only not contrary but most agreeable to Scripture The Festiuall Dayes of Purim kept by the Iewes were confirmed by the Decree of Queene Esther Esth 9.32 It is written in the Booke of Ionah the third Chapter and seuenth verse That ye the Decree of the King of Niniue and his Nobles a Fast was proclamed The Feast of Dedication graced with the presence of our Sauiour was instituted by Iudas Machabaeus and the people 1. Mach. 10. And if the King may command a cessation from Oeconomicall and priuate workes for workes ciuill and publike such as the defence of the Crowne the liberty of the Countrey c. What reason haue yee why hee may not enioyne a day of cessation from all kind of bodily labour for the honour of God and exercise of Religion Is hee not custos vtriusque tabulae If the one may be done as yee grant for the weale of the politicall body much more may and should the other bee done for the weale of the Mysticall especially when the order of the Church so requires PP What if the Church representatiue enioyne a weekly holy day as another Sabbath ought the Church to bee obeyed What power hath the Church representatiue to enioyne an Anniuersary day more then a weekly or hebdomary holy day ANS I aske you againe what power hath the Church to appoint one houre or two in the day for publike Prayer in Cities at morning and euening more then six or seuen houres Or why may she appoint an houre or two in the weeke for preaching more then a day or two Is it not because the one cannot stand with Charitie the inseparable companion of Pietie as the other may The obseruation of these Anniuersary dayes agrees with Pietie and Charitie but to enioyne the obseruation of a weekly day besides the Sabbath were against Charitie and Equitie Is this a good Argument The Church may not doe that which is vnlawfull therefore shee may not enioyne that which is lawfull or this The King may neyther banish nor put to death an honest and peaceable Subiect therefore he may not execute a Traytor or banish a seditious man This kinde of reasoning is more then childish PP I say further that the poore Crafts-man cannot lawfully bee commanded to lay aside his Tooles and goe passe his time no not for an houre let be for a day And yet farther that he ought not to be compelled to leaue his worke to goe to diuine Seruice except on the day that the Lord hath sanctified ANS This is a strong argument confirmed with the great authoritie of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I say further But what say yee to that which is ordayned in the first Booke of Discipline out of which yee tooke your first argument in this dispute of daies In the ninth Chapter thereof we haue these words In euerie notable Towne we require that one day beside the Sonday be appoynted to Sermon and prayers which day◠during the time of Sermon must be kept free from all exercise of labour aswell to the Maister as to the seruant When yee discussed the oath yee cited the ordinances of this Booke as poynts of Discipline sworne vnto and subscribed If it bee not lawfull to commaund and compell a man to goe to diuine Seruice except vpon the Lords day why did yee sweare in the assertorie oath that it was lawfull But yee will say I sware not that he might be compelled but if he may be lawfully commanded to cease from his labour during the time of diuine seruice he may be as lawfully compelled to obey the cōmand Necessitie ye know excuses the breach of the Sabboth it selfe But the precepts of this Booke ye vse or vse not as they may serue to your purpose Such of them as yee allow must all be obserued vnder the paine of periurie others that are contrarie to your opinion must be reputed reiected as vnlawfull PP It is the priuiledge of Gods power to appoynt a day of rest and to sanctifie it to his honour The second Reason as our best Diuines maintaine c.
If the speciall sanctification of a day to an holy vse depends vpon Gods commandement and institution then neither King nor Church representatiue may make a Holy day ANS Dayes are sanctified and made holy as are places two manner of wayes some places were made holy by annexing to them a peculiar worship instituted by God which lawfully could not be performed in another place such were the Tabernacle and the Temple which were also holy by reason of the typicke and mysticall signification wherewith they were clothed by diuine institution These places did appertaine to the worship not as mere circumstances onely but as essentiall parts and properties thereof The worship which consisted in sacrificing paying of vowes obseruation of certaine festiuities was not perfect and acceptable except in that place it were performed Other places were holy for their vse onely being dedicated to the seruice of God but they had not the seruice so appropriated vnto them as that it might not be performed in another place and such were the Iewish Synagogues and the Christian Churches Euen so some dayes were made holy not onely because they were dedicated to the worship of God but because a speciall worship was instituted by God and appropriated vnto them And because the obseruation of these times with that worship was typicall and mysticke hauing in it the shaddow of things to come such were the Feasts of the Passeouer of the first greene fruits of Whitsonday of the Trumpets of Expiation and of Tabernacles all these dayes were holy not onely for the vse whereunto they were appoynted to serue as circumstances but by reason also of their mysticke signifitation and of the worship appropriated vnto them which might not at another time be lawfully performed Other times were onely holy by reason of the vse or diuine worship performed on them and not for any mysterie or solemne worship appropriated to them such as these which were appointed for solemne humiliation in the day of calamitie After the first manner our Diuines hold That it is onely proper to God to make times and places holy but after the second manner it is a prerogatiue and libertie of the Church to make places and times holy by dedication of them to the seruice of God So the feast of Purim and Dedication were made Holy-dayes by Mordecai Iudas Macchabeus and by the Church So times are appoynted by our Church for Morning and Euening Prayers in great Townes houres for preaching on Tuesday Thursday c. Houres for weekely exercises of prophecying which are holy in respect of the vse whereunto they are appoynted And such are the fiue dayes which we esteeme not to be holy for any mysticke signification which they haue either by diuine or ecclesiasticke institution or for any worship which is appropriated vnto them that may not be performed at another time but for the sacred vse whereunto they are appoynted to be employed as circumstances onely and not as mysteries This ye know to be the iudgement and doctrine of our best Diuines yet yee presse to refute it in the Section following PP The obseruers of dayes will say they count not their anniuersary dayes holier then other daies but that they keepe them onely for order and policie that the people may be assembled to religious exercises Ans The Papists will confesse that one day is not holier then another in its owne nature no not the Lords day But they affirme that one day is holier then another in respect of the end and vse and so doe we They call them Holy dayes and so doe we They vse them as memoriall signes of sacred mysteries wherof they carrie the names as Natiuitie Passion Ascention c. and so doe wee ANS Antiquum obtinet yee keepe still your old custome for before yee did extenuate the Idolatrie of the Papists in adoring Images that with some appearance yee might prooue these that kneele at the Sacrament to be guiltie of the same abomination and now ye trauell to extenuate their superstition in obseruing dayes that yee may inuolue vs in the same impietie Yet our act in the beginning sayes Wee abhorre the superstitious obseruation of the Festiuall dayes of the Papists Thus we professe our disagreement from them in this poynt which they also acknowledge Bellarmine in the tenth Chapter of his third Booke De culiu Sanctorum rehearses the Doctrine of Luther and Caluine to which wee adhere and reproues the same as erronious in these wordes Tertiò docent dies determinatos ad feriandum non debere haberi caeteris sanctiores quasi mystery aliquid vel piam significationem continerent sed solum haberi tanquam determinatos Discipline ordinis ac politia causa ita vt cum hac determinatione etiam consistat aequalit as dierum in hoc nos accusant quasi habeamus discrimen dierum Iudaico more He sayes that we teach the dayes appoynted for holy exercises not to bee holier then others or to be esteemed as if they contayned any mysterie or diuine signification but onely as determined for discipline order and policie with which determination the qualitie of dayes may consist And hee sayes that we accuse them for putting difference amongst dayes after the Iewish manner which is the doctrine indeed of our best Diuines Against this Bellarmine setteth downe this proposition Festa Christianorum non solùm ratione ordinis politia sedetiam ratione mysterij celebrantur suntque dies festi verè alijs saenctiores sacratiores pars quaedam diuini cultus that is The Festiuities of Christians are not onely kept for order and policie but also by reason of a mysterie and the Festiuall dayes are more holy and sacred then other dayes and a part of diuine worshippe This is the Papists opinion which wee with all the reformed Churches abhorre as superstitious and idolatrous But yee take part with Bellarmine against the Doctrine of Luther and Caluine labouring to prooue that the reformed Churches obserue these dayes not onely for discipline order and policie but for memoriall signes of sacred mysteries as Papists doe PP The presence of the Festiuitie putteth a man in minde of the mysterie howbeit he haue not occasion to be present in the holy Assembly ANS It follows not of this that we obserue the dayes for signes of sacred mysteries because they put vs not in minde of Christs birth passion c. as ceremonies significant or sacramentall signes instituted by God or the Church for that effect but as circumstances onely determined for celebration of the religious action whereby the commemoration of these benefits is made And there is nothing more vsuall then by considering the circumstances of times places and persons to remember the actions and businesse whereunto they are destinate PP We are commaunded to obserue them in all poynte as the Lords Day both in publique Assemblies and after the dissoluing of the same ANS This is manifestly false for the Lords Day is commaunded
time is meete for Baptisme The solemnitie may be lesse but the grace is not diminished So that which ye say that Baptisme was tied of olde to Pentecost and Easter is false But that which the Bishop sayes is true that on these daies the Sacraments were lwaies solemnely ministred PP I will now frame one argument against this conceit of Apostolicall tradition and obseruation of Pasche The Apostles were led all their life-time by the infallible direction of the Spirit If they had accorded on the obseruation of Easter they had not disagreed on the day But their most ancient Records the bastard-Epistles aboue mentioned report that Philip and Iohn kept the fourteenth day of the Moone as the Iewes did And Peter the Lords Day following the fourteenth day of the Moone ANS In these Epistles there is no mention of Peter and so by these Epistles ye cannot proue that Iohn and Peter disagreed on the day It is said that Polycarpus and Anicetus disagreed on the day yet they accorded in the obseruation of the Feast which is directly contrarie to your argument But ye say the Apostles who were gouerned by the Spirit could not disagree on the day Did not Paul and Barnabas agree in planting of the Gospell yet they disagreed in chusing of their Fellow-Labourer Paul Peter agreed on this ground that a man is not iustified by the workes of the Law but by the Faith of Iesus Christ yet in the practise of the workes of the Law they disagreed Gal. 2. They agreed in the substance yet in the matter of circumstance and vse of things in their owne nature indifferent they disagreed But for these diuersities of opinion neither did they cast the substance away nor broke they the bond of charitie amongst themselues as ye doe who can brooke no man but him who will be sworne to your opinions as if they were Oracles But to be short this argument is answered by the learned Bishop in that Sermon so fully as may giue contentment to any that delights not in contention His words are these Pag. 25. Iames Bishop of Ierusalem and others who succeeded him the sooner to win their Brethren the Iewes condescended to keepe Easter 14. Luna the 14. of the Moone as they did That which by them was done by way of condescension was after by some vrged as a matter of necessitie So we see S. Paul when he came vp to Ierusalem to the Pentecost was counsailed or not scandalizing the Iewes to carrie himselfe as one that obserued the Law and practise some legall ceremonies to that effect which he did vsing them not as a part of diuine worship but as indifferent things and meanes expedient to win him credite with the Iewes that hee might edifie them in the truth So himselfe sayes He became all things to all men that he might winne some The keeping of the 14. day by Iohn and Iames is not an argument that they disagreed from the rest in iudgement touching the set day if any then was determined more then the practise of other ceremonies proues their disagreeing from S. Paul in the poynt of Christian libertie for this they did onely by way of condescension So the Apostles in these times might haue kept Easter vpon diuerse daies by the direction of the Spirit because the solemne commemoration of our Sauiours resurrection which we call Easter is not to be kept at any set time for any mystery that one day hath more then another by diuine institution The contentions therefore about the day were iustly blamed by the reformed Churches who acknowledge no day except the Christian Sabbath to haue greater prerogatiue then anothen But the greater part of the world keeping the solemnitie of Easter vpon the Lords Day which followed the 14. of the Moone the Churches of Asia being a fewer number did not well to preferre the singularitie of their opinion and custome to vnitie and conformitie with the greater part of Christendome in such a poynt Againe Victor Bishop of Rome cannot bee excused who first did vrge conformitie pressed it by violence vpon the Churches that were without his Iurisdiction and to excommunicate them was an insolent tyrannie seeing they were not subiect to his power Yet after the Nicene Councell had setled that controuersie and determined the day these must iustly be blamed that contentiously troubled the Christian peace disobeyed the Canon of the Councell and were disconforme to the rest of the Churches not by mistaking the day as some were but through wilfulnesse and pride the parents of contention PP Lastly they reason with Augustiue a posteriori That seeing the Lords passion resurrection ascension comming down of the Holy Ghost is celebrated with anniuersary solemnity through all the World they must needs haue beene ordayned eyther by the Apostles or by generall Councels But so it is that these daies were obserued before there was any generall Councell It must follow therefore that the Apostles ordained them Ans Augustines distinction is not necessarie for many customes crept in and thereafter preuailed vniuersally which were neither ordained by the Apostles nor generall Councels Socrates in his Historie sayes I am of opinion c. ANS Socrates in the testimonie which yee alledge lib. 5. cap. 22. for probation of your answere sayes that he is of opinion that the Feast of Easter hath preuailed amongst people of a certaine priuate custome and not by Canon He confirmes his opinion by this reason that they who keepe Easter on the 14. day of the Moone bring Iohn the Apostle for their author Such as inhabite Rome and the West parts of the World alledge Peter and Paul and yet there is none of them can shew in Writing any testimonie for confirmation of their custome First here it is to bee marked that Socrates in this testimonie calls his allegation an opinion onely that is a likely and probable conceit but that is not sufficient to infringe Saint Augustines rule and the probations that he brings are of no force for first it makes nothing against Augustines rule that the Easterne Churches kept the solemnitie on one day and the Westerne on another because Saint Augustine sayes not that the commemoration of these benefits was made vpon one and the selfe-same day onely hee sayes Anniuersaria solennitaie celebrantur that is They are yearely celebrated after a solemne manner The diuersitie of the day consuteth not this assertion but confirmes rather his saying namely that the solemnitie was obserued through all the World seeing in one part it was celebrated for winning of the Iewes according to the practise of S. Iohn and in the rest of the World on Pasche Sonday whereon our Sauiour rose according to the tradition of Saint Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles So this same solemnitie being kept through the whole Church although not on the same day Saint Augustines rule remains good that the solemne commemoration of Christs resurrection is Apostolicke The next probation is no
Act made at Perth and the practice thereof in our Church I passe it as superfluous Onely to your last words of the Section I answere PP Nay let vs vtter the Truth December Christmasse is a iust imitation of the December Saturnall of the Ethnicke Romanes and so vsed as if Bacchus and not Christ were the God of Christians ANS This protestation yee might haue made and craued licence if your custome were to lye but to the purpose If Christmasse hath beene thus abused I am sure the abuse hath not come by preaching on that day and the exercise of diuine worship thereon for that wee haue lacked these 57. yeares by-past in our Church yet riot profanenesse surfet and drunkennesse hath not beene wanting What hath beene the cause hereof and by what meanes the abuse may be best remedled wise men will easily consider PP It is commonly obiected That wee may aswell keepe a day for the Natiuitie as for the Resurrection of Christ We haue answered already That Christs day or the Lords Day is the day appointed for remembrance of his Natiuitie and all his actions and benefits aswell as for the Resurrection Next the one is morall and weekely the other is mysticall and anniuersarie The Lords Day it selfe is no longer to vs mysticall but morall sayes Willet and therefore Pasche day is a mysticall Sabbath and anniuersarie whereas the Lords Day it selfe should be onely morall ANS The answere which yee haue already made is already confuted The Lords Day is generally appointed for remembrance of all his actions therefore none of his actions may or should bee remembred at any other set time This consequence is not necessary for then we may not remember his actions in the morning and euening Lectures wee may not remember them in Sermons Exercises on weekly dayes nor may wee remember them in Catechizing the people Your next answere is That the day of the Natiuitie is mysticall This is contrarie to that which yee cited out of Saint Augustine pag. 68. Ille celebratur ob memoriam solùm ideo semper die vigesimo quinto Decembris at iste celebratur ob memoriam Sacramentum But I pray you How proue yee obseruation of the day of Natiuitie to bee mysticall because it is anniuersarie yee say If this be your Argument for I finde no other here it is not good for in the reuolution of time there is no mysterie but in the signification and we haue often said before that we obserue no day for signification but the Lords Day onely The rest we obserue as times meet and commodious for the worship appointed to be done on them As to Doctor Willets assertion That the Lords Day is not mysticall to vs I oppone to it Saint Augustines iudgement who calls it as yee heard before a figure and type of life eternall which is confirmed by the Apostle in the fourth to the Hebrewes But Doctor Willet I hope takes mysticall for a darke and obscure shadow of things to come such as the festiuall dayes vnder the Law were kept in remembrance not of spirituall and eternall but of temporall benefits which were shadowes of spirituall and eternall benefits to come And in this sense the Lords Day is not mysticall for it is not kept in remembrance of temporall benefits which are shadowes of spirituall and eternall but in remembrance of Christs Resurrection by whom we are put in present possession of our spirituall rest and life and in hope of eternall In respect whereof as it is a memoriall signe of the Resurrection of our Sauiour so is is a demonstratiue signe of the benefit which wee enjoy of spirituall rest and prognosticall of our eternall and therefore is called a figure and type by Saint Augustine Thus taking a mysterie in a large sense for any significant signe in Religion it may be called mysticall The Sacraments of the new Testament are called mysteries by the Ancients not in the sense that the Sacraments of the old Testament were called mysteries for they were so called because they were darke and obscure shadowes of things to come but our Sacraments are the liuely Images of the things themselues by reason of the plaine and manifest Word of the Gospell annexed to them By this distinction Saint Augustine and Doctor Willet may be agreed PP It is still obiected The benefits of God ought to bee remembred specially Christs notable benefits Ans It is one thing to remember another thing to remember with solemne festiuities To remember is a morall dutie and perpetuall for we ought to keepe not onely an anniuersarie but also a weekely and daily remembrance But to celebrate an Anniuersarie solemnitie and to keepe a Sabbath of rest in remembrance it is a pedagogicall ceremonie of the Iewes c. ANS Wee thinke it sufficient to haue made that obiection once because it hath neuer yet beene answered but yee propone it often to assay if yee shall bee able to fall on some solide solution at last yet like an euill Archer the longer yee shoote yee stray the further from the marke Yee thinke an Anniuersarie remembrance may be kept but an Anniuersarie solemnitie should not bee celebrated yee hide your minde from simple people vnder a mysticall solemnitie of words but to speake that plainly which yee call the celebration of an Anniuersarie solemnitie your meaning must be if yee contradict the Act that preaching should not bee made prayers thanksgiuing and prayses should not be offered on certayne set times in the yeare in remembrance of Christs Natiuitie Passion c. If yee will haue no such exercise to bee vsed what Anniuersarie remembrance is it that yee would haue obserued Is it a priuy meditation in our Chambers whereunto neither God nor Man is priuie or some occasionall remembrance in our Lectures and Sermons as they fall out now and then Is this the thankfulnesse that wee are taught by the light of Nature and the Word of God to render for the inestimable benefits of our redemption which God hath vniuersally and publikely bestowed vpon all Oh but to keepe a Sabbath of rest in remembrance say yee is a pedagogicall ceremonie To keepe a mysticall rest such as the rest of the Sabbath was is pedagogicall but to keepe a rest for the more commodious and solemne performance of a great and diuine action such as the commemoration of Christs Birth Death c. is not pedagogicall but necessary for the commoditie and celebritie of the worship which cannot bee well and worthily performed without cessation from other seruile businesse That this is the vse of the rest commanded in his Maiesties Proclamation is manifest by the reasons set downe therein in these words That euery one may the better attend the holy exercises which are to bee kept in the Church on these times Yee are cunning to deceiue the simple with ambiguitie of words There is a rest that is ciuilly kept which is a cessation from our ordinary workes
for some other ciuill employment as for marriages triumphs weapon-shewings and such like this rest is lawfull but it is not Sabbaticall There is a rest kept superstitiously as when men ceasse from their labours for some foolish feares of ill successe by reason of the time this is not called a Sabbath of rest but a superstitious rest There is a rest kept idolatrously for the honour of idols as the Bacchanalia Floralia and the holy dayes proclaymed by the Israelites for honour of their golden Calfe These are damnable rests Finally there is a rest that is kept religiously and this rest is kept either for celebritie and commoditie of the religious action onely or mystically for commoditie and celebritie of the religious seruice a rest is kept in all the solemne times of fasting a rest is kept in the houres of Prayers or Preaching and other diuine Seruice And such is the rest that his Maiestie hath appointed to bee obserued The rest kept mystically was a significant rest of some thing by-past present or to come such was the rest of the Iewish Sabbath and of the Legall Festiuities and such Augustine holds and other many good Diuines our rest on the Lords Day to be from the fourth to the Hebrewes This is called a Sabbath of rest such a rest his Maiestie hath not commanded but a rest for commoditie and celebritie of the diuine Seruice only which in nothing is like to the Iewes Frontlets Phylacteries and such other Legall shadowes PP Pope Alexander the third gaue this reason wherefore the Romane Church kept not a Holy day to the Trinitie Quoniam Ecclesia Romana in vsu non habet c. Because sayes he Glorie to the Father and to the Sonne and to the holy Ghost and other such like things belonging to the praise of the Trinitie are daily vttered The Popes reason is grounded vpon this rule Whatsoeuer is intreated or remembred in the diuine seruice ordinarie ought not to haue a speciall Holy day to celebrate the memorie of the same beside the day alreadie decerned by the Lord. We assume Christs Natiuitie Death Resurrection c. are not onely the continuall meditation of a Christian in priuate but also a remembred and intreated in the ordinarie and publique seruice Euery Communion Sonday is a Passion Holy day Euery Sabbath that Christs Natiuitie is preached is a time of remembrance of his Natiuitie But to ordayne an Anniuersarie day or houre of rest for commemoration of his Natiuitie or Passion and specially vpon a weeke day is a Iewish rudiment and a preiudice to Christian libertie ANS I answere to the Proposition first and I grant that whatsoeuer is remembred in the ordinarie diuine seruice ordinarily and particularly such as Glory bee to the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost which was said in the diuine seruice ordinarily and particularly that needes not any particular commemoration vpon some speciall time sayes Pope Alexander but the inestimable benefits and actions of our Sauiour which were not ordinarily and particularly remembred in the daily seruice but onely in the rehearsall of the Creede where all the Articles of Religion are remembred Pope Alexander thought that for commemoration of these a set time was necessary So the Proposition which is your ground being taken according to the Popes minde is against you Next I answere your Assumption is false These benefits are not the continuall meditation of Christians in priuate for I am assured if yee bee a Christian yee did not meditate on these things Christianly when yee did meditate this Pamphlet against the honour of Christ his Passion Resurrection Ascension and against the power of the Church Thirdly where yee say That they are remembred in the ordinarie and publique seruice that falleth out sometimes but not purposely When it happens it is by occasion and generally that they are touched because they occurre in your Text perhaps Otherwise they may lye buried seuen yeares before they be purposely remembred And when yee say That euery Communion Sonday is a Passion Holy day I would demand whether it were lawfull on the Saterday or Friday before that Communion Sonday to make a Sermon on the Passion for preparation of the people to the Communion as I hope you haue practised sometime your selfe Now if this which your selfe and many others haue done bee lawfull is it not lawfull also to doe the like on Friday before Easter which is a Communion Sonday by the acts of our Church And this is all that they ordayned by the Act of the Assembly at Perth touching the remembrance of the Passion Further to that which yee say That euery Sabbath whereon the Natiuitie is preached is a time of remembrance of his Natiuitie I answere That it is but occasionall and so falls out by the Text which the Minister teaches but neither doe the people resort purposely to Church to heare the Natiuitie intreated at that time nor does the Minister intreat of it at large as the same ought Finally yee conclude with that often repeated calumnie that to ordayne a certayne anniuersary day or houre of rest for commemoration of these benefits is a Iewish rudiment and a preiudice to Christian libertie The first is false For the appointing of houres and times weekely monethly or yearely for preaching any part of the Gospell is no Iewish rudiment but a lawfull good and wise Christian policie practised 1500. yeares before yee were borne throughout the whole Christian world and allowed by the best Diuines both in the primitiue and reformed Church So farre is it from being a preiudice to Christian libertie that herein a principall part of our libertie consists that we are not astricted in the worship of God to Times Places or Persons and others such circumstances by the Gospell but haue libertie to choose and appoint such as wee thinke most expedient for the honour of God and edification of his people of the which libertie the purpose of your Pamphlet is to spoile vs in the Sacrament astricting vs to the gesture of sitting onely and for Gods publique worship to the Lords Day onely as if the Church had no power to appoint preaching prayers and diuine seruice to be done at any other time or the Sacrament to bee receiued in any other fashion PP As for the sift day of Nouember it is not an Holy day it is not a day of cessation from worke which is one of the chiefe elements of an Holy day c. Anniuersarie commemoration of a benefit with a cessation from worke suppose for a part of a day is Iewish ANS If an Anniuersarie commemoration of a benefit with cessation from worke suppose for a part of the day bee Iewish then the sift of Nouember yee forget the sift of August must bee Iewish for on it there is an Anniuersarie cōmemoration of an exceeding great benefit and a cessation from worke during the space of the commemoration which is a part of the day Therefore according to
your reason it must be Iewish Where yee say that cessation from workes is one of the chiefe Elements of a holy day it is true if the cessation and rest be a part of the worship but if it bee only accessorie to the worship and a circumstance thereof it is no Element of a holy day The rest of the Iewish Sabbath and Iewish Festiuities was a mysticall part of the worship but the cessation which is only appointed for cōmoditie celebrity of the worship such as that which is commanded to be kept by the Proclamation on these fiue dayes and we are in vse to keepe at our weekly preaching and Prayers and vpon the sift dayes of August and Nouember is only accessory and serues for commoditie and celebritie of the worship without which the same could not duly be performed PP Grant the keeping of holy dayes to haue beene at the beginning a matter indifferent The seuenth Reason and setting aside all the former Reasons yet ought they to be abolished because according to the rule of the Fathers commended to vs by Zanchius Non male igitur fecerunt qui omnia praeter diem Dominicum aboleuerunt Things indifferent when they are abused and polluted with Superstition ought to be abolished ANS If all things indifferent which haue beene polluted with Superstition ought to be abolished then all the Parish Churches in Scotland should be demolished for to preach or not to preach in them is a thing indifferent Ringing of Bels in time of Popery was abused superstitiously kneeling an indifferent Ceremonie which may bee vsed and not vsed at Prayer hath beene most vily abused to Idolatry in praying to Idols singing was abused to Superstition and Idolatry for Hymnes were sung to the Virgin Mary yea to her the hundred and fiftie Psalmes of Dauid were diuerted or peruerted and sung in a strange Language Shall it therefore follow that there should be no ringing of Bels no kneeling at Prayer no singing or reading of Psalmes This is absurd to say Albeit Zanchius sayes non male fecerunt c. Hee sayes not simply that they ought to bee abolished nor does hee reprooue them who retayned the dayes kept by the ancient Apostolike Church Quanquam Ecclesiae Christi liberum est sayes he quos velit praeter Dominicum dies sibi sanctificandos deligere honestius tamen laudabilius atque vtilius est eos sanctificare quos etiam vetus atque Apostolica puriorque Ecclesia sanctificare solita fuit Now if ye demand what Zanchius vnderstood by the Apostolike Church hee answeres it himselfe Nomine veteris Apostolicae Ecclesiae cam intelligo quae à tempore Apostolorum per annos fere quingentos durauit vsque ad Gelasium qui praefuit Romanae Ecclesiae Anno 495. I maruell how ye can cite Zanchius so confidently for you as if he had disallowed the obseruation of these dayes And if ye will stand to his doctrine and iudgement our controuersie shall soone be at an end For this hee sayes expresly that the Church hath power to make choice of the dayes shee likes best and sanctifie them besides the Lords Day If ye will haue vs yeelding to Zanchius when he sayes non male fecerunt doe ye also yeeld to him when hee sayes Ecclesiae liberum est quos velit dies sibi sanctificare But to the end the singularitie and noueltie of your doctrine may bee euident and our defence may bee seene to agree with the Primitiue Church her practice and the iudgement of the best Diuines amongst the reformed wee grant with Zanchius that they who abolished all dayes did not ill but well in respect of the time and estate of their Church As for example it was not euill done by our Church to discharge the obseruation of all Festiuall Dayes because in the beginning they could not be lawfully obserued for the raritie of Preachers at least vniuersally for in Congregations where Pastours were wanting to inform the people the obseruation of them should haue entertayned the superstitious conceit which the Papists formerly had of them Neither did they euill in Zanchius iudgement that retayned the dayes obserued by the Primitiue Church consequently in appointing on these 5 dayes Sermons to be preached and diuine Seruice done cannot be euil Specially if we shall consider how notwithstanding of all the Acts Ciuil and Ecclesiastick made against the superstitious obseruation and prophane abuse of Zule day our people could neuer bee induced to labour on that day and leaue their idlenesse and wheresoeuer diuine Seruice was done that day as in Townes that haue alwayes morning and euening Prayers they were euer perceiued to resort in greater numbers on that day then any other to the Church So these dayes being spent prophanely by the greatest sort and superstitiously by many these euils could not be better remooued then by Doctrine and diuine Seruice whereby the time is well spent and these conceits of the people driuen away and their opinions consuted in the time when the same are most pregnant Saint Paul tooke occasion by inscription of the Altar in Areopage To the vnknowne God to preach the true God to the Gentiles thereby he did not authorize their Superstition which he there cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but refuted it with a diuine Sermon he also kept the Iewish Sabbaths and Pentecost which both were abolished not to confirme the Iewes in the Pedagogie of the Law but to take the commoditie of the time and confluence of people in it for preaching the Gospell that he might draw them with time from the shaddowes to the substance and truth in Christ So wee who haue the like occasion by confluence of our people on that day to Church haue not done euil to appoint sermons to bee made on the day of the Natiuitie that the people may thereby be drawne from profanenesse and superstition to the true worship of God and to the religious exercises vsed in the Primitiue Church on that day whereof the Sermons preached by Saint Augustine and many others yet extant in their Monuments beare witnesse as also that in obseruing this and the remanent dayes we might keepe a conformitie with them which Zanchius holds to be honest laudable and profitable Finally that in so lawful a thing we might giue odience to his Maiestie our Souereign desiring an vniformity amongst the Churches of his Maiesties Dominions in things which are neither against pietie nor good manners and haue beene obserued vniuersally throughout the World in the most pure Ages of the Church PP The same Zanchius sayes in the place aforesaid If any Feasts were celebrate before religiously and holily but therafter were contaminate with Superstition and Idolatry that worthily they were taken away by our Reformers who imitated herein the example of Ezechias breaking to poulder the brazen Serpent when it was abused to Idolatry ANS Zanchius in these words compares not the Brazen Serpent with the diuine Worship and Sermons appointed
not plead after the same manner for our former order so long established that they proue it was impious and vnlawfull before we make a change ANS Ye may not pleade because the change is alreadie made in a lawfull Assembly which had power to abrogate all Statutes of Ecclesiasticall matters that are found noysome vnprofitable disagreeing with the time and abused by the people as is set down in the confession of Faith and seuenth Chapter of the Booke of Discipline concluded anno 1581. Such were the acts made before concerning Holy-dayes for first they were noysome in that they were not conforme to the practise of the Primitiue Church or yet of the later reformed and so in that poynt did breake vnitie Next vnprofitable because they fostered prophanenesse and superstition in the hearts of the people who by want of information of Doctrine did superstitiously or prophanely obserue these dayes Thirdly they agreed not with this time wherein it was expedient that the religious Commemoration of the benefits of Christ should be restored iure pastliminio for it is not enough to dispossesse idolatrie and superstition the violent eiecters and occupiers of the possessions of true Religion but she ought to be restored to the old right and priuiledges of times and places lawfully and wisely dedicated to her before Last of all the discharge of diuine Seruice on these daies was come into abuse amongst the people the preciser sort counting it a part of Gods worship and obedience to his will not to doe seruice vnto God on these dayes and the profane taking thereby occasion to be more licentious And therefore it was needfull in a manner to restore the obseruation of these times PP Our Oath by it selfe bindes more then Law Custome and Prescription farre more when it concurres with them The assumption is euident by that which I haue set downe in the beginning ANS The assumption is alreadie considered I answere to the oathe Lawes Customes Prescription and Oathes in order and policie touching indifferēt alterable things such as these are binde a man no longer to the obseruation then the order remaines vnchanged Your Oath bound you to the gouernement of Superintendents set downe in the first Booke of Discipline from which yee esteeme your selfe absolued because that gouernement was altered by that new Booke of Discipline confirmed in the generall Assembly anno 1581. a yeare after the Oath was set forth Now the order set downe in the same first Booke of Discipline touching the abolishing of Holy-dayes anno 1560. is altered by the late generall Assembly holden at Perthe and by the same Reason whereby yee esteeme your selfe absolued from the gouernement of Superintendents yee should thinke your selfe freed of the act touching the abolishing of Holy-dayes which yee would doe if ye were not contentious PP If Zanchius approued the abolition of Holy-Dayes in some Churches where they were because they had been polluted and grossely abused much more would he and other Diuines knowing the truth of our case thinke it vnlawfull to reinduce them amongst vs. ANS It is true that in the Churches of Bearne Mattins and Euening-Song were abolished for the abuse thereof in Poperie and not many yeares since there was great contention before these Churches could be induced to receiue Morning and Euening Prayers in stead of them So the Popes cursing was abolished out of the Church of Geneua and great contradiction made as Beza testifies in Caluines life before excommunication could be established in place therof yet I hope neither Zanchius nor your selfe will thinke that the reinducing of these was vnlawfull although formerly excluded If Zanchius vnderstood the case of our Church as I haue set it down a little before how we haue not reinduced the Popish obseruation of dayes but made choice of these times for special seruices to be performed on them with a speciall direction to Ministers to rebuke superstition and licentiousnesse both he and other Diuines would approue the constitution of our Church and condemne this your seditious Pamphlet whereby the simple are abused and the peace and quietnesse of our Church disturbed The iudgement of the Reformed Churches of Holy-daies PP OF the ancient Church I haue spoken before Some excuse the Ancients with good intention because to winne the Gentiles they conuerted their dayes into Christian Holy-daies Others excuse them with the circumstance of time that dwelling amongst Pagans they made profession before their eies of Christs birth passion c. by obseruing such dayes But the wisdome of their intention hath proued folly as the seuenth reason maketh manifest The like circumstance of time is not offered therefore we may not be excused ANS Before the penner of this Pamphlet bring the iudgement of the reformed Churches some reason he must pretend for his credite why he reiects the doctrine and practise of the reformed Church which stands wholly in his contrarie First he sayes that he hath spoken before of the Ancient Church But what hath he spoken before that they obserued Easter-day by custome and not by tradition this is all What argument hath he brought against their doctrine against their religious custome and practise of this poynt He sayes some excuse them with their intention Who be these he is ashamed of their names and so he may be for where there is no fault to make an excuse is a sort of calumnious and secret accusation But for their intention who did acquaint him with their intention In Tertullian Chrysostome Ierome Ambrose Augustine and others who all make mention of these dayes there is not so much as any coniecture to bee found for that intention In the end he concludes that the intention of the Ancients hath proued folly and this he sayes is manifest by the seuenth reason because the obseruation of these daies hath beene abused to superstition But so hath the Lords Day beene so hath the Word so haue the Sacraments beene abused and all the other parts of Gods worship Shall therefore the intention of the Holy-Ghost and his wisdome in prescribing these meanes to the Church be esteemed folly They who abuse the good intention of God and his Church to their owne damnation are fooles indeed but Wisdome is iustified of her owne children And although the winning of the Gentiles was one good end wherefore the Ancients obserued these dayes yet their principall end was the honour of God and edification of his Church These ends doe still remaine and iustifie the obseruation of these dayes by the reformed Churches which no man that loues the honour of God and the weale of his Church will condemne PP It is grosse ignorance to say that Holy-dayes were so many hundreth yeare before Papistrie for Papistrie hath been in the Church euer since the daies of the Apostles yea the mysterie of iniquitie was working in their times The errours of the Orthodoxe Church were the beginnings of Papistrie at length they grew to a great masse So howbeit the
quietnesse aboue all the Nations that are about vs. PP To conclude then to esteeme one day aboue another in respect of any mystery certainly knowne or commonly reputed to haue beene wrought vpon that day to testifie this estimation by cessation from worke To deuise a particular seruice to be done vpon it accounting that forme or part of seruice acceptable to God because it is performed on that day is to obserue a day And in this manner doe wee obserue the Anniuersarie dayes The same reason may bee applyed to an Anniuersary houre ANS The Proposition I admit the Assumption I deny for albeit any mysticall or memorable worke were certainly knowne to haue beene wrought vpon such a time yet to esteeme aboue another except it were sanctified by diuine Institution wee count it Superstition So albeit wee certainly know the memorable workes of his Maiesties deliuerance to haue beene wrought vpon the fist of August and the fist of Nouember yet we doe not esteeme these dayes aboue other dayes as if the seruice done on them were more acceptable to God in respect of the time but wee doe only esteeme them as meete circumstances for the thankesgiuing appointed to be made on them to God The same estimation we haue of the fiue dayes as wee haue ost said before That our Sauiour was borne vpon the 25. of December no man I thinke knowes certainly the common reputation we hold as vncertaine Therefore wee doe not thinke the commemoration of Christs Natiuitie vpon that day and our thankesgiuing therefore more acceptable to God by reason of the day nor doe wee thinke cessation from worke on that day a part of diuine worship at it was held in time of Papistry and is yet by many of our common Professours that lacke instruction but the worship we doe is vnto God for his honour not for the day and the cessation from work is for the commoditie and celebritie of the worship The Act of Perth ordaynes the people to be thus instructed and the superstitious conceite of the time rebuked Finally choice is made of this and the other dayes not for any mysterie esteemed to bee in them more then in other dayes but for conformity with the Primitiue Church the reuerence of whose authoritie in matters of this nature must be of great force to draw Churches of diuers iurisdictions that agree in doctrine to vnity in points of externall policie which vnity is far to be preferred to the priuate custome of any Church or the singularity of any mans opinion and fantasie And therefore ZANCHIVS said well and wisely in the places cited before That albeit the reformed Churches haue liberty to sanctifie what dayes they thinke good yet it is more laudable honest and profitable to sanctifie these which the most pure Apostolick and Primitiue Church sanctified So to conclude we obserue no day for mystery or with opinion of necessitie but only for commodity and policie And this obseruation is approued by the iudgement of the best Diuines in the reformed Church The consent of the Reformed Churches and Diuines for keeping the fiue Holy Dayes Heluetica Confessio de Ferijs Art 24. PRaetera si Ecclesiae pro Christiana libertate memeriam Dominicae Natiuitatis Circumcisionis Passionis Resurrectionis Ascensionis item in Coelum missionis sancti Spiritus in Discipulos religiosè celebrent maximoperè probamus That is to say If the Churches according to their Christian Libertie doe celebrate religiously the memory of the Lords Natiuitie Circumcision Passion Resurrection his Ascension to Heauen and the sending downe of the holy Ghost wee doe exceedingly approue it Beza speaking of this Confession in his first Epistle sayes Dico Helueticam Gallicam Confessionem cui innumerabiles paenè Ecclesiae subscripserunt nullare prorsus differre that is The Church of Heluetia and France differ in nothing and haue but one Confession whereunto innumerable Churches haue subscribed All the reformed Churches did agree in this point of the Confession touching the obseruation of the fiue dayes our Church only excepted which now hauing condescended to a Conformity with the rest by the Ordinance of the Assembly at Perth the same will bee allowed of all that preferre the peace and vnitie of the Reformed Churches to the singularitie of their owne opinions CALVIN Col. 2.16 ATque dicet quispiam nos adhuc retinere aliquam dierum obseruationem Respond Nos dies nequaquam seruare quasi in ferijs esset aliqua religio aut quasi fas non sit tunc laborare sed respectum haberi politiae ordinis non dierum that is Some will say that we yet retayne some obseruation of dayes I answere We keepe not dayes as if there were any Religion in the festiuall time or as if it were not lawfull to labour on them but a respect is had of Policie and Order not of dayes ZANCHIVS in the Confession which hee made to be published when he was seuentie yeares of age in name of himselfe and his Family De Ferijs cap. 15. Sect. 30. POst diem Dominicum non possumus non probare illorum quoque dierum sanctificationem quibus memoria recurrit celebrataque in veteri Ecclesia fuit Natiuitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi Circumcisionis Passionis Resurrectionis Ascensionis in Coelum Missionisque sancti Spiritus in Apostolos that is Next vnto the Lords Day we cannot but allow the Sanctification of these dayes wherein the memory returnes of the Natiuity of our Lord Iesus his Circumcision Passion Resurrection Ascension into Heauen and the sending downe of the Holy Ghost vpon the Apostles which memorie was celebrated in the ancient Church CHEMNITIVS de diebus Festis in examine Concilij Tridentini ATque haec sunt quae in Scriptura noui Testamenti ad festa pertinentia tradita sunt iuxta quam normam vt deuota religiosa Festorum celebratio ad augendam pietatem restituatur nemo improbat sed omnes pij optant that is These are the things which are deliuered in the Scriptures of the new Testament concerning festiuall times according to which rule no man dislikes the deuout and religious celebration of festiuall dayes but all the godly wish it because it serues to encrease godlinesse To this hee subioynes a long Narration of the dayes obserued in the Primitiue Church which he approues BVLLINGERVS ad Rom. 14. APud Veteres quidem Eusebium inprimis Augustinum inuenias memorias quasdam pijs quibusdam institutas â—…sse hominibus sed longè alia ratione ac modo nimirum parùm differente à nostroritu quo adhuc in Ecclesia nostra Tigurina Natiuitatis Circumcisionis Passonis Resurrectionis Ascensionis Domini Missionisque sancti Spiritus Deiparae Virginis Ioannis Baptistae Magdalenae Stephani Apostolorum Domini Festa celebramus neminem eorum interim damnantes qui post Dominicam aliam nesciunt Festiuitatem videmus enim veterum monumenta perlustrantes liberuÌ„ hoc Ecclesiae semper fuisse vt quisque
Baptisme Nullatenus in no case be ministred in a priuate Oratorie If it be done otherwise let the Clergie-man be deposed the Laickes excommunicate If in no case where was then the case of necessitie ANS The necessarie Doctrine ought not to be omitted and the act ordaines Baptisme in priuate houses to be ministred after the same forme that in the Congregation Doctrine at the baptising of Infants is not vsed for the instruction and comfort of the Infant but for the instruction and comfort of the Parents and witnesses Though it be abridged in times of extremitie it diminishes not the dignitie of Baptisme but the Sacrament is rather highly aduanced when it is esteemed to be sufficient by it selfe as the ordinary meane of saluation to the infant In the generall Councell of Constantinople holden in the Emperour Constantinus his Palace in a roome called Trullus two Canons are set downe of which yee cite the 59. onely forgetting according to your custome the Canon preceding touching Baptisme the words whereof are these Clericos qui in Oratorijs quae sunt intra domos ministrant vel baptizant hoc illius loci Episcopi sententia facere decernimus qui hoc non sic seruauerit deponatur The Canon ordaines these that baptize in priuate Oratories to doe it by the Bishops appoyntment And that cited by you is not contradictorie to this but concerneth the ordinarie administration of Baptisme whereas vpon extraordinarie considerations of infirmitie and inhabilitie of persons the Councell acknowledges that the same may be done vpon the Bishops speciall licence So your Nullatenus includes not cases of necessitie If the Bishop in such cases may permit Baptisme in priuate houses much more might the Assembly at Perth where so many Bishops and Pastors were present set downe an ordinance to that effect PP Priuate baptisme hath bred a new kinde of baptisme that is a baptisme by supposition for if the child baptised in priuate conualesce they baptise it ouer againe c. ANS Baptisme ministred in a priuate house by a lawfull Pastor before a sufficient number of Christian witnesses is not priuate and needes not be supplied by such a conditionall Baptisme PP Baptisme was solemne in the Primitiue Church as wee may reade of Iohn baptized in Iordan and Christs Disciples baptising and the new Conuerts in the Acts Some were not baptized in any Visible Church because they had not the occasion as the Eunuch and the Centurion No man will denie but in the infancie of a Church a priuate Baptisme may be tollerated but we speake of a Church constituted c. The Lord appoynted a precise day of Circumcision which might not be preuented It was no wonder if they had not euer opportunitie of a solemne Conuention there is no precise day set downe for Baptisme c. The Church ought to be assured of the Baptisme of such as are reputed fellow-heires with them c. ANS That the Church may be assured of the Baptisme of the Childe it is ordained in the Act of Perth That the Minister shall the next Lords-day after any such priuate Baptisme declare in the Church that the Infant was so baptized and therefore ought to be receyued as one of the true Flocke of CHRISTS folde In a constituted Church Baptisme should not be ministred ordinarily but according to the constitutions of the Church but extraordinatie cases cannot be subiect to ordinarie constitutions more in a constituted Church then in the Infancie of it And that which is lawfull to be done in the Infancie of the Church is yet lawfull to be done in a constituted Church ratione rei praeceptae dininae institutionis And it is vnlawfull onely ratione ordinis in regard of the order appointed by the Church from which cases of necessity are alwaies excepted Also that which might haue beene tolerated in the infancy of the Church for necessity must euer bee lawfull in the like case for it was not the infancie of the Church that made the toleration lawfull but the necessity Where ye thinke that the Iewes were more strictly obliged to circumcision then Christians are to Baptisme because a certain day was appointed for it and to Baptisme there is no day prefixed in the Word Wee know by the Law that he who is not obliged at a certaine day to pay his debt may be charged to pay it at all times and therefore when God layes sicknesse on a childe a charge is giuen by God instantly to the Parent to performe his dutie PP The Lords Supper ought to be publique We haue a spirituall vnion with the whole Church but because it is not possible to celebrate a sacramentall Communion with the whole Church militant the Lord hath appointed vs to celebrate a sacramentall Communion with some particular Church We that are many are one bread and one bodie because we are partakers of one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 We cannot then be one body sacramentally except we be pertakers of one bread Other Feasts may be priuate in priuate houses but the Lords Supper ought to be publique 1 Cor. 11.12 When yee conuene to cate tarrie one for another 1 Cor. 11 33. Synaxis a word signifying as much as Synagogue was one of the names giuen of olde to this Sacrament ANS As with the whole Church Militant wee haue a spirituall Communion so haue wee an Euangelicall and Sacramentall Communion for as wee are partakers of the same spirit so are we partakers of the same Word and Sacraments The Bread is one which all receiue and the water one wherewith all are baptised Sacramentally for they are clothed with the same sacred mysterie of signification exhibition and obsignation of saluation in Christ crucified When the Apostle sayes 1. Cor. 10.17 Because the bread is one we who are many are one body for we are all partakers of one bread he speaks not of our Communion with a particular Church onely but with the Catholike and by one bread he meanes not one bread materially in number for one bread in number materially none but one particular person can receiue The bread which I receiue materially is not the same that thou receiuest but the Sacrament is one and the same in number To bee short wee haue no more a Sacramentall communion with these in the Parish with whom wee communicate then wee haue with the whole militant Church who are all partakers of the same Sacraments And thus as we haue a spirituall so we haue a sacramentall Communion with them It is true that our communion in the Word and Sacraments is not visible but with some particular Church and therefore as it is lesse or more publike so is it lesse or more visible yet we doe euer celebrate a Sacramentall communion with the whole Church when the action is lawfully performed The other places which yee cite 1. Cor. 11.22 Haue yee not houses to eate and drinke in and Vers 33. When yee convene to eate tarry one for another of
which yee gather that other feasts may be in priuate houses but the Lords Supper should be in publike These places I say are relatiue to the ordinarie meetings of those times which were often in priuate houses Caluine in his 363. Epistle to Oleuian answers this obiection Neque verò Paulus dum Corinthios admonet domum suam cuique esse in qua comedat bibat coenam excludit à priuatis adibus tunc neque fidelibus patebant templa nec permissum erat noua extruere sed tantùm à communibus epulis discernit spirituale mysterium ne cum illis misceatur that is When Paul admonishes the Corinthians that euery one hath his owne house wherein hee may cate and drinke he does not exclude the Lords Supper from priuate houses for in those dayes Temples were not patent to Christians neither had they libertie to build new Churches but hee discernes onely the spirituall mysterie from their common feasts and will not haue it to bee mixed with them So the mysterie was called Synaxis because it was euer celebrated in some Conuention lesse or more ordinarie or extraordinarie PP It is a badge of our publike profession it ought therefore to be publike ANS It should not onely be publike but most solemne ordinarily And in cases of necessitie when the same is ministred by an ordinarie Pastor to two or three assembled in Christs name it ceases not to be publike PP The Communion was sent to the sicke in the time or mediately after the action in Iustine Martyr his time It became afterwards to bee reserued for the vse of dying persons c. Some put the Eucharist into the mouthes of the dead lest they should want their voyage victuall Yet in all Antiquitie we reade not that the Communion was celebrated at the sick-mans bed-side ANS The corruptions that haue flowed of mens erroneous conceit of the Sacraments should not take away the lawfull vse of them when necessitie requires As to the sending of the Sacrament to the sicke it was a custome of the ancient Church which Beza allowes and where the Communion was daily at least weekely celebrated in the ordinarie Congregation as that was the custome of those times it was not necessarie to celebrate the Communion at the sickmans bed-side PP Clinicall Communions haue not onely bred and still doe foster the opinion of absolute necessitie but also of Opus Operatum of a preposterous confidence in the last voyage victuall of coldnesse in the publike seruice of God when we are in health of distrust of our saluation if wee want it at that time Caluine sayes Difficillimum est hic cauere ne alios superstitio alios ambitio vana ostentatio ad petendum sollicitet ANS Abeit Caluine thinkes that Superstition Ambition and vaine glorie may follow the practise of giuing the Communion to the sicke yet hee concludes not as yee doe For in the same Epistle a little before the wordes which yee cite hee sayes Cur coenam aegrotis negandam esse non arbitrer multae graues causae me impellunt that is Many great and weightie reasons mooue mee to thinke that the Communion ought not to bee denyed to the sicke Hee saw inconueniences might follow thereon therefore hee addes Iudicio opus esset ac delectu ne quibus daretur nisi in magno vitae discrimine that is Prouidence and discretion would bee vsed in this that it should be giuen to none but those that are in extreame danger of their life Where yee alleadge Clinicall Communion to haue bred the opinion of absolute necessitie before yee said that it was bred by misse-constructing of the wordes in Iohn 6. by Saint Augustine yet wee finde this custome of giuing the Communion to the sicke to haue beene at least two hundred yeares before Saint Augustines time How proue yee now that the practise bred the opinion yee coniecture it was so A good and lawfull custome could no more haue bred it then the truth of Christs wordes in Saint Iohn 6. The opinion certainly was bred by some misse-construction as yee say and the way to remoue it is nether the deleting the wordes out of the Text nor the discharging of a lawfull and comfortable practise of Religion but the right interpretation of the words of our Sauiour and the clearing of the Churches custome PP They say the sicke should not bee left destitute of comfort This reason arises of the opinion of necessity as if there were no other meanes to comfort the sicke or as if the comfort of the publike Communion endured onely for the present time and not for the time to come ANS The reason arises not of the opinion of necessitie but of expediency for albeit there bee other meanes to comfort the sicke yet why should hee want this that is one of the most powerfull and ought to bee iterated as oft as it is expedient although the comfort once thereby receiued endureth for euer PP There is a faire occasion offered Iam. 5. of priuate Communion and yet there is no mention made of it in that place ANS In that place Saint Iames sets downe the meanes whereby the sicke may bee restored to health whilest the gift of healing was yet in the Church The Sacrament was not any of these meanes therefore of it no mention is made PP If the vow and desire of Baptisme may supply the want of Baptisme then may also the vow and desire of the Eucharist doe the like ANS The desire and wish of Baptisme and the Supper is not sufficient without participation when and where they may be had PP Some Diuines condescend thus far that the Communion may be sent to the sick in the time of the publike action But Tilenus sayes Whatsoeuer necessitie be pretended scarce any sufficient cause can be rendred wherfore the publike action should passe in priuate because the Ordinance of God is of supreme necessitie The comforts of the infirme ministred out of order does rather foster the publike infirmitie of the Church then heale the priuate infirmitie of the sicke ANS Beza in his Questions thinkes that the Sacrament should be sent to the sicke Caluine holds that it should bee celebrated at the sickmans bed-side so both agree in this that it should be giuen to the sicke And Caluines saying Epist 363. may serue for an Answere to that which yee alledge out of Tilenus Quamuis nulla sit legitima coena nisi communis quae tamen aegrotis dabitur quia priuata non erit adulterina non censebitur Nam certe partem vel appendicem esse constat publicae actionis that is Albeit no Supper is lawfull but that which is common yet that which is giuen to the sicke because it shal not be priuate is not to be counted vnlawful for it is eyther a part or a pendicle of the publike action To conclude to deny a necessarie comfort vnto the sick which may bee ministred without breach of any diuine order cures not the publike infirmitie of the Church but grieues the sicke and fosters in these who are in health a base opinion and contempt of the Sacrament I will subioyne to all this Caluines iudgement touching these matters CALVINE Epist 184. INprimis autem obseruandum est cùm istud Sacramentum complectatur sacram solemnem introductionem in Ecclesiam Dei sitque testimonium coelestis nostri municipatus in quem adscribuntur illi quos Dominus adoptat sibi fas non esse ministrare Baptismum nisi in coetu fidelium Non quidem vt Templum requiratur sed vt vbiuis numerus aliquis fidelium conueniat qui Ecclesiae corpus efficiat c. Oportet igitur infantem baptizari in coetu aliquo c. Etiamsi exiguus sit illorum numerus Oro Deum vt rectum illum zelum ipsis adaugeat quem iam contulit vt se suos Deo Patri consecrent Domino nostro Iesu Christo EPIST. 51. DE Coenae administratione ita censeo libenter admittendum esse sentio hunc morem vt apud aegrotos celebretur Communio quùm ita res oportunitas feret hac tamen lege vt sit vera Communio hoc est vt panis in coetu aliquo fidelium frangatur EPIST. 361. CVr Coenam aegrotis negandam esse non arbitrer multae graues causae me impellunt Video intereae quam procliuis in multos abusus sit lapsus quibus prudenter seduloque occurrendum esset Nisi enim sit Communio perperam deflectitur à sacra institutione Christi Conueniat ergo aliquis coetus oportet ex cognatis familiaribus vicinis vt fiat distributio ex mandato Christi Deinde coniuncta sit actio cum mysterij explicatione Nec quicquam fiat à communi Ecclesiae ratione diuersum EPIST. 363. ETsi pridem meam de Coena aegrotis administranda sententiam rogasti optime frater c. Scio rem in disceptatione versari quia non desunt vtrinque rationes Mihi verò non est propositum nunc eas sigillatim excutere neque tempus suppetit Ex natura quidem fine vsu mysterij probe mihi colligere videor non esse tanto bono priuandos qui vel diuturno morbo laborant vel de vita periclitantur Ad fidei confirmationem valet tesseram accipere quasi ex Christi manu qua certiores fiamus nos in eius corpore censcri carne eius sanguine pasci in spem aeternae Vitae Itaque coena perceptio nos ad obeundas spirituales pugnas instruit Iam si pius quispiam è mundo migrandum sibi videat quia fieri non potest quin oppugnetur vexetur multis tentationibus meritò se armari cupiet ad sustinendos conflictus An aripiendum est singulare adiumentum quo fretus ad luctam alacrius descendat victoriam obtineat Iam prohiberi quo minus liceat profiteri testatum facere pietatis consensum cum Ecclesia durum est ac mali exampli siue quis in lecto diuiaceat siue morti sit vicinus Atque coena sanctae inter filios Dei vnitatis est Symbolum Quamuis breuiter rem attigerim agnoscis tamen quibus rationibus adductus aegrotos non esse arbitror à Communione arcendos Neque tamen ea de causa velim turbas mouere Scis in hac Ecclesia alium esse morem Acquiesco quia vtile non esset contendere c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
this matter may be fully cleered it is to be obserued as we said before that times are made holy and places two manner of wayes so things are made holy either by some inherent qualitie of holynesse or by consecration of them to holy vses After the first manner Angels and men were made holy in the creation sinners are made holy by regeneration and sanctification of the holy Ghost and of this holynesse God onely is the author Next things are made holy by consecration of them to holy vses which vses are either mysticall or politicall The consecration of things to holy mysticall vses as of water in Baptisme to be a signe of the bloud and Spirit of Christ the elements of Bread and Wine in the Supper to be the Sacrament of his Bodie and Bloud the Sabbath to bee vnto the Iewes a memoriall of the Creation a type of signification and a badge of their profession the Temple the Altars the Sacrifices and Priests to bee shaddowes of things to come all these and such like are made and ordayned holy by God but the consecration of things to holy vses for policie as for maintayning religion or for order and decency to be obserued in the worship of God is not onely Gods prerogatiue but a priuiledge and liberty granted by him to the Church for example to build and consecrate places to be Temples houses to bee Hospitals to giue rent lands money and goods to the Ministry poore to appoint Vessels Vestures Instrumēts for the bublike worship as Tables Table-clothes Napkins Basens Cups and Lauers for the holy Sacraments these things and the like are made holy by the dedication and consecration of men After this last manner the Church hath power to consecrate the fiue Anniuersary dayes to the commemoration of our Sauiour his benefits to separate them from all other ordinary workes and so to make them sacred and holy dayes It was I grant a part of Idolatry to proclaime a holy day vnto the golden Calfe or to any Idol or Creature as ye affirme but it will not follow that it is Idolatry to proclaime a holy day for the honour and worship of the true God And as it was one of Ieroboams sins to despise the Festiuities appointed by God for his worship and instead of these to ordaine a Feast after the deuise of his owne heert so if we should despise the Lords Sabbath and instead thereof appoint some other as the Machomet hath done it were a presumptuous sinne But this wee are farre from acknowledging the Lords Day to bee holy by his institution and appointing the rest to bee kept only for his worship PP We come from priuiledge to fact as de iure none may The third Reason so de facto none did appoint holy dayes vnder the Law but God and that eyther by himselfe or by some extraordinary direction Therefore none can bee allowed vnder the Gospell without the like warrant Seeing the times vnder the Gospell are not so ceremonious as the times vnder the Law ANS I answered before that if holy dayes bee taken for times whereunto God did appropriate the exercise of some particular forme of worship or for times clothed with some relatiue and respectiue holinesse as to bee signes or types of things to come God only may make dayes holy but if by holy dayes wee vnderstand times dedicated to Gods worship and the commemoration of his benefits as mee to circumstances for Discipline Order and Policie such as our Diuines hold the holy dayes vnder the Gospell to bee I denie that either they might not or did not lawfully appoint such dayes vnder the Law or yet may not be appointed vnder the Gospell The answeres which you make to the dayes of Purim instituted by Queene Estther and Mordecai and the Feast of Dedication instituted by Iudas Macchabaeus are not solid First where ye say that the obseruation was ciuill because Hospinian sayes they might haue wrought vpon the dayes of Purim his opinion in that is not probable seeing these dayes were instituted to bee dayes of feasting and ioy and sending of portions one to another and gifts to the poore because on them God had giuen rest to his people from their enemies It is not probable when rich and poore did feast in remembrance of the rest that God had giuen them from their enemies that they did not rest and obserue the dayes according to the Institution for the Text sayes expresly Est. 9.17 That they rested and kept a day of feasting and gladnesse with the which seruile labour sorts not Neither will it follow that these dayes were not kept for holy Festiuities albeit in them they might haue wrought some kind of labour for on the sixe dayes of the Passeouer and on the sixe dayes of the Feast of Tabernacles seruile worke was not vtterly prohibited but on the first and eight only yet all these dayes are called Festiuall and holy Finally dayes instituted for Documents and Memorials of holy things as of their Fasting and Prayers by which they obtayned deliuerance such as yee affirme these to haue beene cannot bee called nor counted Ciuill And Willet compares them not euill with the fist dayes of August and Nouember but hee does not say this as counting them Ciuill but because they were not diuina sed Ecclesiasticae institutionis non mysterij sed politias and if ye thinke the fift of August and Nouember to be ciuill dayes in so farre as vpon them Commemoration is made of his Maiesties Deliuerances with Preaching Thankesgiuing and Prayer you are in a manifest errour for a day which is dedicated to diuine Seruice and the honour of God not to a ciuill vse cannot be esteemed ciuill but sacred and holy Againe where yee say that these dayes had more then humane warrant because it is thought that Mordecai was the Penman of the Booke of Esther and consequently a Prophet and that it appeares that these dayes might not haue beene altered by the Iewish Church which if they had bin of Ecclesiasticke Constitution might haue bin done thoughts and appearances are not sure probations to conclude a certaintie as yee doe of a more then humane warrant And if they had receiued from God any particular direction concerning them the Prophet of God would not haue omitted the same in the Historie A generall warrant they had such as the Church must haue for the determination of circumstances in the worship of God as that of the hundred and fifth Psalme Giue thankes to the Lord call on his Name make knowne his deeds amongst the people Sing vnto him sing Psalmes vnto him talke of all his wondrous workes that he hath done But to say that they had any particular warrant is to be wise aboue that which is written As to the Feast of Dedication yee answere first that if it were Anniuersary in Salomon and Zorobabels time Iudas Macchabaus followed the example of these who had Propheticall direction and if it