those Gratian speaks home to this point in another (k) Gratian. Can. Didicimus 31. Caus 24. Quaest 1. Canon The Lemma or Title to the Canon is this Sacri Officii potestate PENITVS CARENT HAERETICI c. And the words of the Canon if that be possible are more express Dicimus OMNES OMNINO HAERETICOS NIL habere potestatis Juris And Card. Turre-Cremata explains the Canon thus (l) Card. de Turrecremata ad Can. Didicimus 31. Caus 24. Quaest 1. § 1. Potestas vel est Sacramentalis seu Ordinis vel Jurisdictionis The first being indeleble and permanent may be in Hereticks Quoad esse sed non quoad usum and yet if they do use it what they do will be valid But for the Potestas Jurisdictionis that is utterly lost by Hereticks Their Heresie deprives them of all their Ecclesiastical Authority and Jurisdiction si quid fecerint NIL ACTVM ERIT Whatever they do is null This their Canonists and Casuists constantly say and that so far that if the Pope be an Heretick as sure enough he is Jure suo excidit he ceases to be Pope The same Cardinal does not only say this but seriously indeavour to (m) Idem Ibidem § 2. prove it And as great a Cardinal and Canonist as he tells us (n) Card. Tuschus Conclus practicarum Tom. 4. Tit. H. Concl. 102. § 18. Sicut Clericus PRIVATVR IPSO JVRE beneficio dignitate SI SIT HAERETICVS Ita PAPA privatur Papatu Reges regno Imperator Imperio quia in istis fidei causis nulla ese distinctio This is their doctrine at Rome erroneous and impious yet if they think Heresy of such pernicious nature that it deprives even their Pope of all his Papal Jurisdiction it is a less wonder if they think it deprives heretical Bishops such as they think all Protestant Bishops to be of all their Episcopal Jurisdiction 3. All Protestants especially the Bishops being Hereticks in the Popish account they are ipso facto and by their law excommunicate as is evident by their (o) Vid. Cap. ad abolendum 9. extra de Haereticis cap. excommunicamus 13. Ibid. caput Noverit 49. extra De sent excommunicat c. Canons and their Bulla (p) In Bullario Cherubini Romae 1638. Tom. 4. Bullae Vrbani 8. 62. p. 76. Caenae wherein the Pope once every year on Maundy Thursday excommunicates and Anathematizes all Hereticks Lutherans (q) Omnes Lutheranos Zuinglianos Calvinistas c. Ibid. § 1. and Calvinists particularly and by name expresly Now such excommunication takes effect immediately without expecting the Judges Sentence Iste talis says (r) Stephan de Avila de Censuris Ecclesiast part 1. Dub. 7. p. 9 c. a great Canonist statim incurret censuram nullâ expectatâ Iudicis Sententiâ est communis Doctorum est Textus in Cap. Pastoralis § Verum De Appellat ubi dicitur quod excommunicatio secum trahit executionem And a greater than he expresly says the same thing (Å¿) Card. Toâ—et Instruct Sacerd. lib. 1. cap. 11. § 12. p. 49. Vid. Cajâ—tani Summulam verbo excommunicatio Covarrutium part 1. Relect. 1. Alma Mater § 7. De Excommunica ejus effectu operum Tom. 1. p. 346. c. Vincent Fil lincium Moâ—al um Quaest Tractat. 22. cap. 7. De Paenis Haeretiâ—oâ—um c. excommunicatio secum trahit executionem INHABILITAT quoad omnes ejus partes illum qui in eam incidit absque alia declaratoriâ c. But there needs no more for 't is certain that all contumacious Hereticks as to them all our Bishops are being actually excommunicate as all such Hereticks solemnly are once a year are ipso facto deprived of all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and therefore they of Rome do not only say but by their received Law and Canons must say that our Bishops have no Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical and so all their Judgments and Judicial Sentences null and invalid Lastly It is to me a wonder that any knowing person should think that the King and Bishops of England should have no power to Question the Sentence pass'd in the Arch-bishop of Turins Consistory when they do and ought to do so question and justly condemn the Sentence of the Pope in many things concerning Matrimony pass'd in their General Council of Trent And have not the King and Bishops power to do a native and born subject of England right because a Popish Bishop by an injust Sentence has done him wrong Dare any Bishop in England say that the Sentence of the Arch-bishop of Turin unexamin'd or the just reason of it not appearing is a just ground to quite Mr. Cottington's or any Man's Conscience so that he may safely and without Sin co-habit with Gallina her former Husband being yet alive sure I am none should or justly can and therefore I hope none will say so I am Your affectionate Friend and Servant T. L. August 14. 1677. The Bishop being writ to to send an account out of the Casuistical directorys for Confessors about the sins proper for Kings to be interrogated about in Confession return'd this answer Sir Edit Lugduni An. 1646. ANTONIVS Escobar Theologiae moralis Tractat. 1. Examine 12. cap. 1. pag. 147. put this Question Quinam ad praeceptum divinum Confessionis obligantur And then his Answer is this Fideles omnes adulti qui accepto baptismo lethaliter deliquerunt And then Tractatu 2. Examin 3. cap. 3. p. 261. He puts this Question De Papa Num Pontificis Summi delicta memorabimus which he answers thus Profecto suprema ecclesiae potestas haud est fragilitatis humanae incusanda quare nulla Papae exprimam crimina sanctissimus enim Ecclesiae vertex Sanctissimis operibus operam dabit Si autem aliquid humanitati indulserit sapientissimus ille muneris tantionera non ignorabit Idem Ibidem p. 261. De Regibus De Regum vitiis haec habet Regum igitur ac Superiorum Principum accusationem praetendo And then he brings in a King confessing amongst other these sins ita propria bona dissipavi ut aliena aggressus fuerim usurpare subditos nimium molestis tributis aggravando debita non solvendo ingentem vim auri argenti subditorum injuriâ accumulavi Leges poenales non in delictorum repressionem sed in subditorum expilationem indixi Morti deputavi aut gravi supplicio vivum inauditum non intercedente gravissimâ causâ leges Ecclesiasticae immunitati repugnantes praescripsi Advertenter Iudices indoctos creavi vel cognitâ postmodum eorum insufficientiâ non illico amovi Johan Azorius a Jesuit too Institutionum Moralium part 2. lib. 11. cap. 7. p. 1105 1108. Edit Lugduni 1616. Has a long Catalogue of the Sins of Kings not of such sins as are common to Kings and private men but such as are peculiar to Kings for so he says and amongst others he reckons those
and Learn the Greek Tongue 3. But that which most incouraged and necessitated the study of Languages and especially the Hebrew and Greek was Luther and the Reformation by him begun Anno 1517. Luther which was rare in those times in a Monk understood Hebrew and Greek and having many disputes with Cardinal Cajetan who was then Legat in Germany the Cardinal urging Scripture against him according to their Vulgar Latin Translation Luther told him that Translation was false and dissonant from the Original This puzl'd the Cardinal though a great Schoolman who thereupon set himself to study both Greek and Hebrew which with great diligence he did that he might be better able to Answer and Confute Luther and his followers many of which were excellent Grecians such were Melanchton and many others And hence it was that the Pope and his Party seeing the necessity of Languages especially Hebrew and Greek for the Defence of their Religion or Superstition rather against the Protestants Pope Paul the fifth Renews the Decree of Clement the fifth and the Council of Vienna before mention'd and though that Decree had been neglected and the Greek Tongue damn'd in their Canon Law yet he earnestly injoins the profession of it and of the Hebrew Chaldee and Arabick in all their (a) Vide Constitutionem 67. Pauli 5. in â—â—llario Romano Editionis Rome 1638. pag. 185 186. Vniversities Monasteries and Schools to this end that they might be better able to Confute the Hereticks I am Sir Your affectionate friend and Servant Tho. Lincolne A Letter concerning the Kings being empower'd to make a Lay-man his Vicar-General Sir THAT my Lord D. of Ormonds Commission which you say you have seen has no particular mention of the Kings Ecclesiastical Power deputed I wonder not The Commission which makes him Vice-roy Deputy or Lieutenant to the King does ipso facto make him his Vicar-General to execute both powers Ecclesiastical and Civil and by that Commission he does so Does not the Lieutenant there de jure ordinario and as Lieu-tenants call Synods collate Bishopricks and other Ecclesiastical Dignities and Preferments does he not hear and determine Ecclesiastical Causes by himself or some commissioned by him does he not punish Ecclesiastical persons when they are criminal Do not your Articles of Religion established in a National (a) Articles of Religion in the National Synod or Convocation at Dublâ—n 1615. § 57 58. c. Synod of Ireland give our Kings the same Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Causes there as he has here And do not our Kings here execute their Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction partly in Person in giving Arch-Bishopricks Bishopricks calling Synods c. partly by Commission so the Chancellors of England by their Commission have power to give some Ecclesiastical Dignities and Livings to visit Winsor I mean the Collegiate Church there and all his royal Chappels and Churches of his Foundation if he have not otherwise appointed other visitors c. In short I do believe that in England never any but Cromwel had such a large Commission and full power to Visit all persons in all Ecclesiastical Causes yet I believe it most evident that he may when he shall think it convenient give such a Commission I am Sir Your affectionate Friend and Servant T. L. A Letter concerning the allowance and respect that the Sentences of Protestant Bishops may expect from Popish ones writ by way of answer to a friend of Mr. Collington's who acquainted the Bishop that the Court of Arches here was of opinion that the Sentence of the Arch-bishop of Turin could not here be question'd by reason of the practice of Popish and Protestant Bishops allowing each others Sentences Sir FOR the contempt they of Rome have of our Bishops and all their Sentences and Judicial Acts especially in foro exteriori contentioso it is notoriously known that they have no value at all of our Bishops and pronounce all their sentences and judicial Acts null and every way invalid For 1. They generally deny our Bishops and Ministers to be true Bishops or Priests but admit them to be Lay-men only A Sorbon (a) Anth Champney P. and D. of the Sorbonne Douay 1616. Dr. In a Treatise about the Vocation of Bishops and Ministers indeavours to prove against Du Plessin Dr. Field and Mr. Mason that Protestant Bishops particularly those of England are not true Bishops nor have any lawful Calling Another and he a Popish Bishop speaking of our English Bishops and Pastors says (b) R. Smith Bp. of Chalcedon in praefat ad Collationem Doctrinae Catholicorum ac Pr testant Paris 1622. Eos quos nunc pro Pastoribus habent NIHIL EORVM OBTINERE quae ad ESSENTIAM hujus muneris requiruntur Another thus (c) Rich. Bâ—istow Motivo 21. Qualis est illa Ecclesia cujus Ministri NIHIL ALIVD sunt quam MERE LAICI NON MISSI NON VOCATI NON CONSECRATI Our Countrey-man Card. Alan and the Rhemish Annotators say (d) Annotatores Rhemenses in Rom. 10.15 All our Clergy-men from the highest to the lowest are false Prophets running and usurping being NEVER LAWFULLY CALLED And Dr. Kellison speaking of our Bishops and Ministers (e) Kellison in Repl. contra D. Sutlisse p. 31. NEC ORDINES nec JVRISDICTIONEM habent And Bellarmine (f) Bellarmin De Ecclesiâ militant l. 4. c. 8. Nostri temporis Haeretici nec ordinationem nec successionem habent ideo longè inverecundiùs quam ulli unquam Haeretici nomen munus Episcopi usurpant And some Popish Priests in their Petition to King James expresly tell the King (g) Supplicat ad Jacobum Regem 1604. NVLLI ministrorum vestrorum ad Catholicam fraternitatem accedentes habentur alii quam MERE LAICI Lastly Not to trouble you or my self with more Quotations Turrian tells us that Donatists and Luciferian Hereticks have some kind of Bishops and Priests (h) Turrian de Jure Ordinand lib. 1. cap. 7. Protestantes vero NULLAM PENITVS formam Ecclesiae habent quia NULLOS PENITUS Ecclesiae Verbi MINISTROS habent sed MEROS LAICOS This is their opinion of our Bishops and Clergy that they have no just Call or Ordination and consequently no Jurisdiction and then it necessarily follows if this were true that all their Sentences and Judicial Acts are invalid and absolute nullities 2. They say that all Protestants especially the Bishops and Clergy are Hereticks and Schismaticks extra Ecclesiam and neither have nor can have any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction so that whatever cause be brought before them in their Consistories it is coram non Judice and so whatever they do is a nullity That Hereticks and Schismaticks and such they declare all Protestants to be forfeit all their Ecclesiastical Authority and Jurisdiction their own (i) Gratian. Can. 4. Audivimus Can. vit Caelestinus 35. Can. Apertè 36. Can. Miramur 37. Caus 24. Quaest 1. vid. Card. de Turre-Cremata ad dictos Canones Canons expresly say And besides
of the Bishops proving every Lie to be a sin Page 625 The Bishops determination that the efficacy of the Sacrament depends not upon the intention of the Priest Page 629 The Bishop's Attestation of Bishop Sanderson his Predecessor his dying a true Son of the Church of England in opposition to the Calumny of a Presbyterian Divine reporting publickly that he died an approver of that Sect. The contrary whereof is likewise made to appear out of the Bishop's last Will and Testament Page 634 An Abstract of a Letter of the Bishops to the Clergy of his Diocess Page 641 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR Directions to a young Divine for his Study of Divinity and choice of Books c. De Studio Theologiae 1. THeology or Divinity is a Science or Prudence containing our knowledge of God and our Duty and the Worship due to him And there are Two and but Two Principles to know both 1. Lumen Naturae and the Principles of Natural Reason common to all Mankind and on these Thologia Naturalis is solely built 2. Lumen Scripturae and Divine Revelation on this Theologia revelata seu (a) I know that Theologia Revelata in its full Latitude may be 1. Patriarchalis i. e. the positive Revelation of God's Will and Worship made to the Patriarchs before Moses for to them the Messias was promised and Salvation by him they had the Covenant of Grace and Sacrificia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were Sacraments and Seals of it 2. Mosaica which contained many further positive Revelations of God's Will and Worship c. 3. Evangelica of which only at present Evangelica is built containing such further knowledge of God and our Duty as we have beyond all that Natural Reason can tell us by Divine Revelation in Scripture The first Theologia Naturalis we may truly call Morality and the Religion common to all men as men and rational creatures The second Theologia Revelata we call Christianity and is the Religion peculiar to Christians Now to be a Christian presupposes him to be a Man and Christianity does not exclude but presuppose Morality and is an addition to and perfection of it yet those two Morality and Christianity are as distinct as Natural Reason and Revelation which are their respective Measures and Principles 2. Theologia Naturalis being totally grounded on the Law of Nature or the Moral Law it will be convenient to know 1. The Nature Extent and Obligation of that Law as also of Laws in general and for this we may consult such as these 1. Grot. de Jur. Belli c. Lib. 1 cap. 1. s 9. 2. Pet. à Sancto Joseph Idaea Theol. Moral Lib. 1. de Legibus 3. Aquinas 1ª 2 ae Quaestio 90 c. 4. Suarez de Legibus 5. Azorius Institut Moralium Part 3. lib. 1. cap. 1. c. And when there is necessity to see more all the Commentators on Aquinas and all Casuists where they speak of the Ten Commandments or Moral Law amongst others Filliucius Quaest Mor. Tract 21. 2. The Number and Nature of the Moral Duties and Vices commanded or forbid by that Law And here besides those many Divines and Christians who have expresly writ upon the Ten Commandments and all things commanded or forbid in them there are exceeding many Authors of excellent Use and Authority to understand the Nature of Moral Habits and Actions good and bad As 1. Aristot. Eth. ad Nichom Fil. 2. Andronicus Rhodius his Paraphr ex editione Heinsii Lug. Bat. 1617. in 80. 3. The Graec. Schol. in Arist. Eth. 4. Hierocles in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythag. so called because they contain Pythagoras his Doctrine for Philolaus Crotoniates was the Author of those Verses 5. Johan Stobaei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aurel. Allobrogum 1609. highly commended by (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas in Joh. Stob. vid. Pletii Biblioth Cod. 176. pag. 366. Suidas A number of this kind there be even amongst Pagan Writers who have excellently described the nature and kinds of Moral Virtues and Vices 3. For Theologia Revelata of which the Scriptures are the sole Rule we are to consider and endeavour to know 1. The Text it self 2. The true meaning of it 4. For the Text it will be convenient to have for the Old Testament 1. Biblia Interlinearia Heb. Lat. Antwerp 1584. 2. Biblia Graec. Septuaginta Interpret Paris 1628. 3. Biblia Lat. Junii Tremel in Folio or Quarto 4. Biblia Lat. Sixti 5 ti Romae 1590. Bib. Lat. Clementis 8 vi Romae 1592. if conveniently they could be had both Popes pretend to Infallibility and yet their Bibles contradict one another expresly and in terminis an hundred times But it must be remembred that the Bibles of Clement the Eighth are many times Printed and with a Lying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 miscalled Biblia Sixti quinti Thus in an Edition at Antwerp in Octavo 1628. The Title is Bibl. sacr Vulgat Editionis Sixti Pont. Max. Jussu recognita and yet 't is the Bible of Clem. the 8th So in another Edition at Antwerp 1603. in Fol. and so again Coloniae Agrippinae 1666. in eight little Volumes in Octavo 5. For the Text of the New Testament there are many Editions but two most useful 1. Novum Testamentum Graec. per Rob. Steph. Paris 1550. Folio The best Character Paper and Exactness besides it gives an account of all the antient Sections and Divisions of the Testament And that 1. In Sectiones Majores seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sic Matthaeus habet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 68. Marcus 48. Lucas 83. Johannes 78. vide Suidam verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. In Minores seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quorum Numerus multo major Matthaeus enim habet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 355. Marcus 236. Lucas 342. Johan 232. 3. Minimas quas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellant at Latini versus so that every Line in the Msc was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or versus and thus pag. 95. in (a) In dicta Stephani Editione Paris 15â—0 calce Evangelii secundum Marcum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. 1590 c. 2. N. Testamentum Graecè à Steph. Curcellaeo editum Amstelodamae 1658. Octavo It has the Variae Lectiones and the parallel places more exactly than any other I have yet seen and yet the forementioned Edition of Rob. Steph. has the variae Lectiones of 15. Msc 6. When occasion is to consult the Bible in more Languages and more Editions we have 1. Biblia Complutensia compl 1515. in three Fol. 2. Biblia Regia Regis Hispaniae per Ariam Montanum Antwerp 1569. 3. Biblia per Mich. Le Jaii 7 Linguis Vol. 10. Par. 1645. 4. Biblia Polyglotta London 1657. By collation of these we may see the difference and variety of reading c. 7. For better understanding of these Languages and the Bible by them it will be convenient to have 1. Some Concordances to find out words how oft
utterly denying the picturing of God the Father and yet they of Rome approve and practise it This Doctrine of Anti-transubstantiatioâ— is no new Doctrine crept into the World since Luther's time but the Antient Faith of the English and indeed of all Christendom long before the Conquest in the time of our Saxon Progenitors And so we find it in an Antient Homily writ originally in Latine but among many others translated into Saxon by Aelfricus Abbot of St. Albans in King Edgar's time Vid. Saxon. Homil die Sancto Paschae p. 35. That Homily was no private thing but commanded by Authority to be read in Churches on Easter-day where speaking of the Sacred Symbols in the Eucharist we are told that it is naturally corruptible Bread and Wine and is by might of God's Word truly Christ's Body and Blood yet not so bodily but ghostly And then there are divers differences put between Christ's Body in which he suffered and his Body in the Sacrament As first That was born of the Virgin Mary had flesh and blood But his ghostly or spiritual Body is gathered of many Corns without Bones Blood or Limb and without Soul therefore nothing to be understood therein bodily but all ghostly And a little after This Mystery speaking of the sacred Host is a pledge and figure Christ's Body is Truth it self This was the Antient Faith of the Church of England seven hundred years ago and 't is ours still If at or after the Lateran Council Transubstantiation and another new Doctrine was broach'd by the Tyranny of Rome and the slavish Credulity of some of our Predecessors let Roman Catholicks ingenuously tell us who are the Innovators But suppose a few persons believed so suppose any Fathers quoted for it were uncorrupt yet it doth not follow that because they believed so therefore the Christian World believed so And again suppose that the Major part of Fathers and Doctors of the Church were for such an Opinion I ask if this doth bind Posterity to be of their Faith I shall here shew you that tho' none pretend more to Antiquity than the Papists or make a greater noise with Fathers and Councils yet they slight them as much as any when they speak any thing against the sense of the present Church As for instance what I partly before hinted Cardinal Cajetan a very Learned Man in the beginning of his Commentaries on Genesis hath this passage Si quando occurrit novus sensus textui consonus quamvis à torrente Doctorum alienus â—quum se praebeat lector Censorem And a little after he adds Nullus detestetur novum Sacrae Scripturae sensum ex hoc quod dissonat à priscis Doctoribus Maldonat in cap. 6. Johannis that he might oppose Calvin confesseth which no Witness but my own Eyes could make me believe that he chose a new Interpretation on the place against all the Antients But in the next place to prove that Papists have sometimes gone against General Councils since you give me occasion further to dilate on what I before referr'd to by way of hint I shall tell you that the Canon of the great Council of (b) Concil Chalced. Can. 2. in Collect. Can. Graec. Lat. per Eliam Elingerum 29. In Cod. Can. Ecclesiae Vnivers per Christoph Justellum Chalcedon one of the four which Pope Gregory would have receiv'd tanquam quatuor Evangelia made by 630 Bishops confirm'd by the 6th General Council held at Constantinople And by that of (c) Conc. Constant in Tâ—ullo Can. 36. for so it is acknowledged tho' Binius and some o herâ— would fain deny it in the bâ—dy of the Canon Law C. râ—novaâ—â—es Dist 22. in the last and best Editions of it See Greg. 13. his Bull given at Rome July 1. 1580. Gratiano praefixum Constance too Sess 39. fol. 39. Edit Antiquae Mediolani 1511. is yet every where slighted by Popish Authors For Canon the 28th or as in some Editions the 29th Canon of Chalcedon is quite left out in that Edition of the Councils by P. Crab and in that of Dionysius Exiguus in the Vetus Codex Canonum Ecclesiae Romanae in Caranza c. And tho' Franciscus Longus (d) Summa Concillor per Francisc Longum à Coriolano p. 402. apud illum Can. 27. a Coriolano hath that Canon yet in his Annotations he flatly denies it and goes about to prove it false in divers particulars So that the Canonical determinations of 360 Fathers met in a General Council whose Constitutions their own (e) Extra De Renuntiationâ— cap. post Translationem Pope Gregory would have receiv'd as Evangelical Truths when they make against them signifie nothing but are flatly denied And if it be said that this was no Canon of the Council the contrary is manifestly true for it is in all the Original Greek Copies Printed and Manuscript (f) Videsis Cod. Canonum per Christoph Justellum Ecclesiae Vniversae Can. 206. p 25. Zonaram in Canon Concil p. 118. Theodorum Balsamon in Can. 28. Concil Chalcedon Can. Concilior Graec. Lat. Quarto An. 1560. per Andr. Gesnerum p. 48. Vid. Caranzam in Notis ad Marginem c. 36. Concil Constantinop p. 635. where he tells us that Canon is in the Greek Copies sed deest in Latinis exemplaribus and expresly confirm'd by the 36th Canon of the Sixth General Council at Constantinople Registred by Gratian Can. Renovantes Dist 22. tho' with insufferable falshood and corruption of the Canon as will manifestly appear to any who will compare Gratians reading with the Oriâ—inal (g) Vid. Vetus â—â—sc Syâ—â—â—icum in Biâ—l B â—leâ—â— iâ—â—er Mâ—c Gâ—â—â—ca è Mâ—s o Barociano I know they of Rome sliâ—ht this of â—onstantinople as much as that â—f Chaâ—cedon For first Binius tells us it smells more of ambition than truth and (h) Caranza in Aâ—not ad Can. 36. Conc â—ii 6. Gen. p. 635. Caranza â—rroneus a quibusdam existi â—â—ur hic Canon And Indeed iâ— is â—ecessâ—ry for them to deny that Canon for it positively asserts and determines such truths as utterly overthrow their Popes pretended Supremacy which they so much and so irrationally contend â—â—r For First that great General Council gives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not sâ—â— lia only as Gratian falsely reads it (a) Gratian Can. Renovantes dist 22. even in the last and best Edition of their Canon-â—aw equal Priviledges to New and Old Rome that is declared and pronounced Constantinople or the Patriarch of that Imperial City to have equal Priviledges with the Pope or Patriarch of old Rome Secondly That the Roman Bishop had not those Priviledges among other Bishops by any Divine right or succession from St. Peter as now they would pretend but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were given by ecclesiastical and positive constitution of the Fathers Thirdly And they to make this manifest tell us that Rome had those antient prerogatives not as its Bishop was St. Peter's Successor or with
Art Octavo Creed wherein we say and should believe that there is but one Eternal And if we had no Scripture yet Nature and the undoubted principles of our natural Reason tell us and efficaciously demonstrate that there can be but one Eternal For whatever is eternal of it self and without all beginning must of necessity be infinite for nothing can give finitude or bounds to it self and whatever is eternal cannot possibly have any thing before it to give it bounds and 't is more impossible that what is after it and temporal should give bounds to an Eternal Being so that if those Atoms be Eternal and Infinite as they must be if they be Eternal then they must be so many Deities or Gods for nothing but God can be Eternal and Infinite and then consider how many Gods we shall have even as many as there are of those Atomes Now he tells us p. 124. that perhaps a * In minimo corpusculo continentur multae Atomorum Myriades vid. Philosophiam Epicuri per Gassendum cap. 6. p. 39. Edit Londini Anno. 1660. Million of those Atomes do not make one corpusculum or visible body and then how many Millions must go to make up all the Corpuscula and corpora in the World will be a hard work for him or any body else to number He then who saith those Atomes are Eternal brings in a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a multiplicity of Gods and so denies the onely true God for more than one true God there cannot be 2. He says those Atomes have magnitude and motion pag. 17 18. which no Eternal and infinite thing is capable of as (b) Aristotle Metaphysicorum lib. 14. cap. 6. Natural Auscult lib. 8. cap. 15. Aristotle from natural principles has evidently proved But if he say and nothing else can be said that these Atomes are Temporary and had a beginning I ask when and by whom did they begin 1. It is said by him p. 17. that they were the FIRST MATTER of the World Ergo they must be before the World as the matter of an House must be before a House can be made of it but if Moses say true Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth c no mention of Atomes Heaven and Earth were created says Moses and all Jews and Christians say that was ex nihilo non ex Atomis aut materià ullâ praexistenti Sed apage nugas quae Christianum Philosophum non sapiunt sed Atheum aut Epicurum qui creationem ne virtute quidam divinâ (c) Vid. notam Gassendi ad calcem cap. 5. Syntagmatis Philosophiae Epicuri pag. 37. supra citat possibilem esse negabat sunt Apinae tricaeque si quid vilius istis quas referre pudet piget refellere I am troubled nor can I without some sorrow and impatience speak or think of it to see the Scepticism to say no worse which now securely reigns in our miserable Nation while some dare profess and publish irrational and wild Notions in Philosophy and Divinity too to the great prejudice of our Church and Truth and gratification of our adversaries especially those of the Roman faction whose work we foolishly do for them quod Ithacus Velit and without hope of reward or thanks ruine our selves gratis whilst others by Authority and Duty oblig'd to suppress such opinions and punish their Authors betray their trust and truth and either knowingly License which I am loath to think or negligently permit such Apocryphal and Erroneous positions to be publish'd in veritatis damnum Ecclesiae Anglicanae scandalum God Almighty be merciful to this bleeding Church and Nation and to every true Member of either of them to your self and Sir Your faithful Servant T. B Another Letter to Sir J. B. Sir I received yours and return a thousand thanks I am glad that neither you nor that excellent person to whom you did innocently and prudently communicate what sub sigillo I communicated to you do condemn my censure of the Book I mention'd I confess I am and a long time have been not a little troubled to see Protestants nay Clergy-men and Bishops approve and propagate that which they miscall New-Philosophy so that our Universities begin to be infected with it little considering the Cause or Consequences of it or how it tends evidently to the advantage of Rome and the ruine of our Religion 1. It is certain this New-Philosophy as they call it was set on foot and has been carried on by the Arts of Rome and those (a) Vid. Juramentum Professionis fidei which all her Ecclesiasticks take in Concilio Trident Sess 24. De Reformatione in calce cap. 12. whose Oath and Interest it is to maintain all her superstitions Campanella de Monarchia Hispaniae I have lent out my Book and cannot cite you the page gives this advice to the King of Spain to give large stipends to some persons of great parts and wit who may in Flanders propagate some new opinions in Philosophy tells him that the Hereticks such as you and I he means are greedy of novelty and will be apt to receive such New opinions in Philosophy whence divisions and new opinions in Divinity will arise By which divisions so set on foot and well managed the Hereticks may with much more ease be rooted out and ruin'd Since which time Papists especially the Jesuites have promoted this New-Philosophy and their new design to ruine us by it for the great Writers and Promoters of it are of the Roman Religion such as Des Cartes Gassendus Du Hamel Maurus Mersennus De Mellos c. and what divisions this new Philosophy has caused amongst Protestants in Holland and England cannot be unknown to any considering person When I was though unworthy Library-Keeper and seeing the Jesuites and Popish party cry up their New-Philosophy I did by friends send to Paris Venice Florence Rome Alcala de Henares Academia Complutensis in Spain c. to inquire whether the Jesuites in their Colledges train'd up their young men in the New-Philosophy or whether in all their Disputations they kept them to strict form and Aristotle's way of ratiocination and the return I had from all places was That none were more strict than they in keeping all their young men to the old principles and forms of Disputation For they well know that all their School-men Casuists and Controversy-Writers have so mix'd Aristotle's Philosophy with their Divinity that he who has not a comprehension of Aristotles Principles and the use of them in all Scholastick Disputes and Controversies of Religion will never be able rationally to defend or confute any controverted position in the Roman or Reformed Religion Now while they keep close to the old way of disputing on the old received Principles if they can persuade us to spend our time about novel Whimsies and not well understood Experiments and neglect the severer Studies of the old Philosophy and Scholastical
Divinity they will in all Divinity Disputations be every way too hard for us Just so as in this case If I should challenge a Man to fight a Duel with me in the Field and when we met there if I could persuade him to cast away his Sword or keep him from having any skill to use it I should certainly be too hard for him A comprehension of the Principles of the old Philosophy and School-Divinity is a Weapon so necessary for a rational defence of any Question against Rome that he who wants it disables himself to defend and so betrays the Truth and this is unhappily manifest in many of our late Scriblers c. I am Sir Your Affectionate Friend and Servant T. B. Sir FOR the Case you propose concerning a Coadjutor for an honest and learned infirm and sick Bishop I have neither time nor ability to say much or any thing considerable I received yours late the last Night I consulted my Notes and I find (a) Augustin Barbosa de Canonicis Dignitatibus c. Lugduni Ann. 1658. a learned and late Canonist has very much about Co-adjutors but it is for Co-adjutors to Arch-deacons and dignify'd men below the Order of Bishops But Cardinal (b) Tuschus Conclus Practicarum Juris litera C. verbe Coadjutor Conclus 402 403. Tuschus has many things about Co-adjutors to Bishops whom you well know and may at your leisure consult Whether our Provincial or Legatine Constitutions or Linwood or John de Aton in their Glosses upon them have any thing concerning Co-adjutors or no I have no time to seek If they have it must be under the word Coadjutor or Suffraganeus For I find that in the Canon Law he who is usually call'd Coadjutor is also call'd (c) Cap. Suffraganei 11. extra de electione electi protestate Suffraganeus and I doubt not but the Glosse and Panormitan upon the Chapter will tell you more But that which will most effectually do your business in this particular concerning a Co-adjutor is the Statute of Henry (d) Statut. 26. Hen. 8. cap. 24. the VIII which is still in force For although it was abrogated in Queen (e) 1 2. Phil. Mar. cap. 8. Maries time yet it was received in the time of Queen Elizabeth and so is now (f) 1 Eliz. cap. 2. obligatory By which Statute it appears 1. That for a Bishop to have a Co-adjutor or as the Statute calls him a Suffragan to assist him was no new thing but of ancient use in England before Henry the VIII 2. That any Bishop not only in England but any of the Kings Dominions and therefore in Ireland might if he desired it have a suffragan 3. That such Suffragan or Co-adjutor was to have no Revenue or Jurisdiction in his Diocess whose Suffragan he was save what the Bishop should by Commission under his Seal allow him and only for such time as he allow'd 4. That such Suffragan for his better maintenance might keep any two Livings with cure 5. And his residing in the Diocess of which he was the Suffragan should free him from residence on any Living he had with cure 6. But then he who desired a Suffragan was to name two to the King and he was to approve one the Pope did it before who was to be consecrated by the Metropolitan and really made a Bishop By the Premises and the foregoing Statute which is still in force and obligatory it may and I believe does manifestly appear 1. That a Co-adjutor or Suffragan Bishop is quoad Ordinem really and properly a Bishop being consecrated to that office by his Metropolitan 2. That he has Liberam Ordinis executionem he may Ordain and Confirm c. in that Diocess where he is a Suffragan 3. That being really a Bishop he may validly Ordain and Confirm and with the leave of the Bishop of the Diocess lawfully too in any other Diocess 4. That to be such a Bishop and able to execute the Episcopal Office in all the parts of it is a great honour to him for whatever our fanaticks may now say to the contrary the whole Christian World for 1500. years judged it so and a few Scotch and Fierce Presbyterians and Independents only excepted even the Protestant Churches beyond the Seas who have no Bishops are of the same judgment 5. To be such a Suffragan Bishop will be a great profit and priviledge to him For besides what the Bishop whose Co-adjutor he is will allow him he may hold two Livings with the priviledge of Non-residence 6. If he demean himself piously and diligently in his Office as a Suffragan it will be a great and most probable means to prefer him to a Bishoprick of his own which may be to many a great incouragement to undertake the Office of a Suffragan 7. And this Law and Statute is a good security to him who has a Suffragan seeing that Suffragan can have no more Revenue or Jurisdiction or for any longer time than is convey'd to him by the commission of him whose Suffragan he is 8. To have such a Suffragan is the most conscientious and safe way that Pious and Learned Prelate you mention can take in this his sickness and infirmity For if none of our Bishops this hundred years have been condemn'd for not executing the Offices of their Calling when Sickness Age and Infirmities disabled them although they had no Co-adjutor certainly your friend will be commended who carefully provides a Suffragan to do those things which through sickness and infirmities he could not do himself Your affectionate Friend and humble Servant T. L. My Honoured Friend THE two Queries you propos'd and require my Opinion and Answer are these 1. Of the Original of Sine-Cures and the Reason and End of their Constitution 2. Concerning Pensions paid out of Ecclesiastical Benefices For the first The Original of Sine-Cures is at least to me like that of Nilus Natura maluit ortus mirari quam nosse tuos That there are Sine-Cures we all know but when they begun or how they came few or may be none of us can distinctly determine However in obedience to your command I shall say something though may be not much to your satisfaction 1. Then 't is certain that a Sine Cure is Beneficium Ecclesiasticum consisting of Tithes Glebe-Land c. and so of some part of the Sacred Patrimony of the Church 2. It 's confess'd too and receiv'd for certain on this side and beyond the Sea by our own and the Canon Lawyers that Beneficium Ecclesiasticum is either 1. (a) Vide Duarenum De Beneficiis lib. 2. cap. 5 6 7 8. Card. Tuschum Conclus Practicarum Juris Tom. 1. verbo Beneficium Conclus 60 63. Cum dignitate as a Bishoprick Arch-Deaconry c. 2. Cum Cura sine dignitate ut Paraecia a Rectory or Vicary 3. Sine dignitate Cura quae Beneficia nuda simplicia dicuntur ut Praebendae
Canonicatus Thus Duarenus Card. Tuschus and the Roman Canonists So that with them a Sine-Cure is an Ecclesiastical Living without Dignity or Cure of Souls And the (b) Statut. 21 Hen 8. cap. 13 in the last Proviso save four Law of England has much to the same purpose told us in express terms That Deanrys Arch Deaconrys Chancellorships Treasurerships Chanterships Chancellors Treasurers and Chanters in Cathedral Churches are meant Prebends in any Church Parsonages where a Vicar is indowed and all perpetually (c) Appropriations was the word then the word Impropriation was unheard of till Abbeys were pull'd down and â—â—â—tories and Tithes caâ—◠〈◊〉 â—â—y-mens hands 〈…〉 appropriated Benefices are Sine-Cures So that our Law acknowledges many kinds of Sine-Cures more than there are in our vulgar and common acceptation of that word For we commonly take Sine-Cures for Parochial Tithes and Glebe-Land the Ecclesiastical Revenue of a Parish or some part of it possessed by some one person who takes no pains for it nor has any Cure of Souls However this Statute may give us any Authentick ground to state the Question as to that part of it what a Sine-Cure is Thus (d) How Appropriations came in See Selden of Tithes cap. 6. § 3 4. Appropriation the word in the Statute is the Alienation of Tithes and the Church-Revenue Glebe-Land Oblations c. from the Parochial Incumbent to some body else And this twofold 1. So that the Cure of Souls was likewise alienated and went along with the Appropriation and charged on those to whom such impropriation was made And thus it happen'd in all Appropriations where no Vicar was endowed for then those who had the Appropriation were bound to see the Cure supplied And such Appropriations could not be call'd Sine-Cures because the Cure of those Souls in the Parish whose Tithes were appropriated lay upon those who had the Appropriation 2. When there was a Vicar endow'd on whom the Cure of Souls lay and the Appropriation was properly a Sine-Cure because they who had the Appropriation possess'd the Sacred Patrimony of the Parish without any Cure of Souls annex'd A Sine-Cure then in general is and consists in the Ecclesiastical Revenue of a Parish or part of it alienated from the Parochial Incumbent and appropriated to some other where there is a Vicar endow'd to whom the Cure of Souls belongs so that those who possest the Appropriation are Sine-Cure and freed from the Cure of Souls I say the whole or part of the Revenue may be alienated and appropriated in such Sine Curâ If the whole Tithes and Glebe-Land and other Obventions be appropriated then the Vicar on whom the Cure of Souls lies must be endow'd with a set and certain stipend in (a) So Vpton-Gray in Hampshire is an Appropriation belonging to Q. Coll. in Oxon. the Colledge has all the Tithes and the Vicar 20 l. per Annum in money Money so as they who possest the Appropriation enjoy the whole Parochial Revenue If only some part of the Parochial Revenue be appropriate then the remainder is the indowment of the Vicar whether it be in the small Tithes Easter-Book c. which is the usual endowment of Vicaridges or whether the Parish be divided so as all the Tithes great and small of part of the Parish be Assign'd to the Vicar and all the rest great and small appropriated As in some Sine-Cures in Wales in the Diocess of St. Asaph the Tithes of some Towns and Villages great and small are appropriated and all the remainder of Tithes great or small of other Villages belong to the Vicar Now such alienation and appropriatiâ—â— of all or part of the Tithes where there is a Vâ—caridge endow'd which is properly a Sine Cure may be either 1. To a Corporation or Soeiety as to Colledges Abbies Monasteries Nunneries Hospitals c. for many such appropriations were made and approved in the (b) Gratian. Can. Quoniam 68. Caus 26. Quest 1. Gratian cites Hierome for it but Hierome has no such thing nor were Tithes heard of in his time I confess that Juo Carnotens has that same thing which Gratian says Epist 207. writ about the year 1130. Canon-Law and the best of our Rectories in England were thus appropriated 2. To particular Persons Note The Livings in England were 9284. of these 3845. and the best of them you may be sure were appropriated to Societies or single persons Weever's Funeral Monuments p. 183. Edit Lond. 1631. as to an Archdeacon so the Rectory of Iphlay to the Arch-deacon of Oxon there is a Vicaridge but meanly endow'd to which the Arch Deacon has no Institution Or to a Canon or Prebend of a Church so many Prebends in Cathedral Churches are founded in some Living appropriate which is their Corps and the Principal part of their Revenue Or to some publick Professor so the Rectory of Shipton near Oxon to our Law Professor though a Lay-man who is not capable of Presentation or Institution as even our common (c) Hobarts reports 1631. p. 149. Lawyers confess And it must be further noted that such Sine-Cures which might be and were and are given to single persons are either 1. Such as were given to a Succession of Persons in such an Office as to an Arch-Deacon Canon or Prebend or a Professor of Law in the University c. and such Sine-Cures are rather given to the Office to which they are appendent and to the person only as he is in that Office 2. Or such as were and are given particularly to a person for his life and after his Death may be given to any other person whom the Patron shall think fit whether the Patron (d) Vid. Linwoâ—d de cohabit Clericorum mulier ut Clericatus Verbo Beneficiati in Glossà Provincial lib 3. p. 64. Edit Paris 1505. be the King a Bishop or (b) That Lay-men held Tiâ—bes and the Ecclesiastical Revenues of Churches by the gâ—ft of the King and Lay-men without institution or induction which were Sine-Cures and he says that they held them non â—t be eficium sed propâ—ietatem and therefore as Lay-fees How justly I dispute not now Linwood loc dicto Lay-man For the King I have heard has some such Sine-Cures in his gift The Bishop of St. Asaph has about 25 or 26. in his gift and the Earl of Thanet gave me the Sine-Cure of Hartfield in Sussex worth clearly 200 l. per Annum Though I received only 60. l. per Annum and let the Vicar an honest able man who Preach'd twice a day and served the Cure to receive all the rest 3. And if it be demanded how particular persons and sometimes Lay-men came to have such portions of Tithes and Rectories as Sine-Cures given to them Linwood there tells us (f) Linwood Ibidem verbo Beneficiati in principio SAEPE VIDEMVS it was it seems an usual thing then quod CLERICIS ETIAM de bonis Ecclesiasticis in
his opinion has neither proof nor probability become his Proselytes 2. If you would know my opinion though it signifie little whether the Pope or Turk be the greater Antichrist 1. 'T is granted that they are both Anti-christs For even in St. Johns time there (a) 1. John 2.18 were and ever since there have been many Antichrists impious Hereticks he means and deserters (b) Ibidiem verse 19. of the truth of the Gospel but amongst those many Antichrists there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one great Antichrist who was to come as St. John there says and of all the rest the Turk and Pope have the fairest Pleas to be that Antichrist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the Pope is certainly to be prefer'd and he shall have my vote for that great place of being the great Antichrist because he has some proprieties and Characteristical marks of that Beast which the Turk neither has nor can pretend too I shall only name one or two 1. The Seat of Antichrist was to be the (c) Rev. 17.18 great City which reigned over the Kings of the Earth Which unquestionably is Rome where the Pope has and does sit And even the Jesuits confess this as also other Popish writers Now the Turks Seat neither is nor ever was at Rome 2. Another mark of the great Antichrist is That he exalts (d) 2 Thess 2.3 4. himself above all that is called God c. above all Kings and Emperors who in Scripture are called Gods This the Pope does who takes upon him and his own Canonists and Council say he may do it to depose Kings and give away Kingdoms A most prodigious instance of this Papal pride we have in Pope Alexander the VI. whom you have mention'd who gave (e) Vide Constitut 2. Alexandrio 6. in Bullario Romano Tom. 1. pag. 347. Editionis Romae 1638. to Ferdinand King of Arragon and his Heirs for ever all the West Indies that is almost half the known World at one clap as appears by his Bull Published at Rome before mentioned in the Margent But the Turk has never claim'd such an Universal Monarchy over the whole World and therefore has not so good a Plea as the Pope has to be Antichrist 3. It is a mark of Antichrist or the Whore of Babylon as St. John calls her that she (a) Rev. 17.6 was drunk with the Blood of the Saints Which agrees not to the Turk who suffers Christians to live if they do not Rebel and pay their Taxes and does not take away their lives because they are not of his Religion But the Pope where ever he has power suffers none to live who will not submit to him and imbrace his Romish and Idolatrous way of Worship The many thousands nay many hundred thousands who barely on this account have in these last 600. Years been Murder'd by the Pope and his party either by open War Inquisitions or otherways are signal evidences of this truth and amongst others the French Massacre Anno. 1572. and our late Irish Massacre are sad and signal Instances I am Sir Your affectionate Friend and Servant T. L. Bugden Sept. 9. 1682. The Bishops thoughts being desired about two things namely 1. when the Famous Prophetical passage in Hooker might have its Accomplishment and 2. about the Modus of the deposing of a King in Poland the Circumstances of which it was probable the Bishop was well inform'd in by his frequent Conversation with some Polonian Noble Men and Students at Oxford he return'd his Answer to the two Enquiries THE passage enquired about in Hooker was as followeth viz. By these or the like suggestions received with all joy and with all sedulity practised in Certain parts of the Christian World They have brought to pass that as David doth say of Man so it is in hazard to be verified concerning the whole Religion and Service of God The time thereof may peradventure fall out to be Threescore and ten Years or if strength do serve unto Fourscore What follows is like to be small joy to them whatsoever they be that behold it Thus have the best things been overthrown not so much by puissance and might of Adversaries as through defect of Council in them that should have upheld and defended the same The Answer of the Bishop was as followeth viz. SIR I Received yours and though I have hardly time to return my thanks and tell you so yet in obedience to your commands I shall crave leave to tell you 1. That the passage you name in Mr. Hooker occurs in his fifth Book and in the end of the 79. Paragraph pag. 432. of the (a) The year when it was Printed is not mention'd only that it was Printed at London Old Edition And in the (b) Anno. 1062. last Edition of Hookers Policy by Doctor Gauden Bishop of Exeter the place occurs in the same Book and Paragraph pag. 329. 330. Note that Mr. Hooker had a Wife and if any be bad one of the worst in England and yet Bishop Gauden in his (c) Pag. 12. â—incâ ultimâ Life before Hookers Policy tells us that Mr. Hooker was never Married Now for Mr. Hookers Prophetical passage the time of it is not yet come For though we talked much of it and said it was fulfill'd when the Long Parliament pull'd down the Church and sold Church-lands for of such Sacriledge Hooker speaks yet it may be fulfill'd hereafter and Hookers Prediction true For Hooker did first Print his first Book in the (d) See Hookers Life by Isaack Walton pag. 117. Year 1597. The first four of his Policy being before Printed (e) Ibid. pag 116. Anno 1594. Now if you add to that Number 80. which is the utmost time Hooker mentions then the time of the fulfilling his prediction must be in the (f) Ann. 1597. Add 80. In all 1677. Year 1677. and so it is possible you and I may live to see the Issue of it And so much for the Point of Prophecies concerning which and our Country Men our old Historian Gul. Neubrigensis so they Print his Name but it should be Neuburgensis tells us Gens Anglorum Prophetiis semper dedita For your other Query about Poland The Historian I recommended to you because he was commended to me by My Lord Goreski and several other Polish Gentlemen was Mart. Cromerus who has other Works but those they commend as giving the best account of the State of Poland are 1. His Chronicon de Origine rebus gestis Poloniae Basil 1582. 2. His Polonia seu de situ populis moribus c. Poloniae Basil 2582. Now the Story I told you is what those Polonian Noble Persons tell me for I have not Read much in Cromerus That Poland is an Elective Kingdom 2. That there are pacta conventa and Fundamental Capitulations between him and the People which contain Jura Regni Populi the power of the King and the Priviledges and
Shilling the third must be a Groat and a fourth of that three pence namely the groat must be a penny which is the twelfth of a Shilling was in Abby Lands suppress'd And consequently the unsuppressed Abby Lands are a fourth of the whole by the former Computation that is to say three pence in the Shilling which according to Sir William Pettys Calculation is tâ—o Millions per Annum the whole Revenue of the Land being reckon'd by him to be per Annum 8 Millions The Number now of the English Levites i. e. our Levites and their Wises and Children being 60000. and the People of England being according to his Calculation six Millions they are but the one hundredth part of the whole People so then a hundredth part of the People hath a fourth And then every one with another may seem to have the twenty fifth i. e. twenty five times one with another as much as the Laity have one with another That is to say more than double what they had in Israel But then if we consider the forty eight Cities the Israelitish Levites had with other Emoluments the ballance between their Levites and ours may perhaps be equal If Popery were here in England the Levites would be but 10000. as being hinder'd from Marrying which Ministers now generally do And supposing they had none of the Abby Lands back again the 10000 would have to live upon now what now maintains 60000. and consequently one Priest would have as much as 150. now have The Kings 10ths here would then be 200000l a year Pondere Mensurâ Numero Deus omnia fecit Mensuram pondus numeres numero omnia fecit Facile est inventis addere The Bishop being not more ready to teach than to receive information in any thing and being satisfied with the measures of Calculation taken in this Paper was willing that the World abroad as well as here at home should be illuminated in this matter And thereupon sent to Sir P. P. his final thoughts drawn up in Latine the which so accurately setting forth what proportion the number of the Levites held with the number of all the People of the other Tribes are as followeth viz. 1. Numerus Populi Israelitici ab Anno aetatis 20 Juxta Mosis Computum Num. 1.20.46 erat 603550 2. Numerus Levitaruus a primo aetatis Ménse per Mosem computatus Numb 3.39 erat 22000 3. Numero primo per secundum Diviso quotus erit 27 9550 22000 4. Ex hoc igitur Calculo Evidentèr Constat numerum Populi Israelitici licet ab Anno aetatis 20. computatio instituatur continere numerum Levitarum licet a primo aetatis mense numerentur 27 9550 22000 5. Sed supposito quod numerus populi annum 20. nondum assecuti aequalis sit numero populi post dictum Annum superstitis Quaeritur quae sit proportio inter Levitas a primo aetatis mense numeratas populum ab eodom Termino numeratum Hoc ut Constet 1. Datus populi numerus 603550. est duplicandus eritique numerus 1207100 2. Dividatur dictus numerus per numerum Levitarum 22000 eritque quotus 54 22000 19100 3. Sed si dictus numerus 603550. per dimidum numeri Levitarum 11000. dividatur tum quotus erit 54 11000 9550 4. Hinc Constat quotum in utraque Divisione non esse eundem quantum ad numerum reliquum divisore minorem quia 1. In priori Divisione est 19100 2 In secundâ 9550 3. Est Ideo prior numerus posteriori duplo major bis enem continet 9550 4 Numeris enim duobus postremis additis oritur numerus Ex Tribus ultimis primus 19100 If the Reader hath the curiosity further to entertain his thoughts about this subject he may consult Sir Peter Pets Happy future State of England Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstans-Church in Fleet-Street Where he will find the Number of the Levites thus adjusted in page 93. The Index before the Book will direct any Reader to more Calculations about the Clerical Revenue than he will perhaps find from all other Authors And this Author doth particularly deserve the thanks of our English Clergy for his Animadversions on the most subtile ingenious Book that ever was writ against them in p 160. 161. c. And where to p. 167. he demonstrates the present Clerical Revenue of England to be reasonable and necessary and very far from excess in its proportion And all future assertors of the same may usefully crave aid from his Calculations in that Book about it A Letter to Mr. R. T. Concerning the Confirmation of the Order of the Jesuites the Numbers of that Order c. FOR the Jesuites their Order was first confirm'd Anno 1540. and the worst Weeds and Vermin multiply most they were grown so numerous that in the Quarrel between the Pope and the Venetians Claudius Aquivina General of the Jesuites offer'd to assist the Pope with 40000 of his own Society on this Condition That all those of his Society who were slain in that quarrel should be Canoniz'd Since they are vastly multiply'd to a prodigious number of Persons some Clergy and in Orders some Laiques of both Sexes and Colleges and a vast Revenue so that they neither want Men nor Mony to do mischief That which is most mischievous to England is the Colleges they have the Government of them for Engâ—ish Fugitives and training up the Sons of our Popish Nobility and Gentry which have been constantly sent thither and infected with impious Principles destructive to our Church and State and then sent over hither to practise them For their Colleges they have one at (a) Vid. Camdens Elizab. English pag. 216 c. Doway Founded Anno. 1568. Eliz. 10. by Card. Allen's means to which the Pope allow'd a yearly Pension Another at Rome founded by Gregory XIII Another at Rheimes Another at Validolid in Spain and if I forget not another at Salamanca They take an * Camden ibi pag. 577. vid. Bullarium Romanum Romae 638. Tom. 2. pag. 219 220. vid. ibi Bullam institutionis Collegii Anglici in Vrbe lib. 4. dictae Bullae 16. 17. de Juramento c. Oath when they are admitted into those Colleges to come into England when their Superiours send them to promote quantum in se est the Catholick Cause that is in plain English Rebellion and Heresie which they have industriously and impiously done especially since the (b) Camden â—b pag. 217. Jesuites first came into England which was Anno 1580. Eliz. 22. How they got Money to defray the Charges of their Missions and their Persons imploy'd in mischief you may be sure they will not tell us in Print but the World knows they have and give great Summs to such purposes Holt a Jesuite offer'd one (c) Camden â—b pag. 440. Edward York 40000 Duckats to kill Q. Elizabeth and before (d) Idem ibid. â—ag 430. that 50000 Duckats
times a Loyal Subject and faithful Servant to his Prince and a true Son of the Church of England c. So that the commendation I can give him although it be great will be ivtra laudem sed infra meritum The old saying is still true Cicerone opus est ut dignè laudetur Cicero I shall only name two passages which concern my Lord which shew his ingenuity and Learning Being with my Lord in Oxford some time after Dr. Hoyle was by the Rebâ—llioâ—s Parliament invited out of Ireland and by them design'd Regius Professor of Divinity it seems that we had not then amongst all our English Dissenters any one who durst undertake that Office although it was both for dignity and revenue very considerable Now Dr. Hoyle a known Rebell and Presbyterian being so exceedingly magnify'd in all our Mercuries and News-Books for a most Learned Divine I ask'd my Lord whether Dr. Hoyle was a person of such great parts as was pretended My good Lord presently told us only Dr. Morly since Bishop of Winton and my self were present That he very well knew Dr. Hoyle in Dublin and had him many times at his Table and that he was a person of some few weak parts but of very many strong infirmities This Character which my Lord gave of Dr. Hoyle is like himself very ingenious and the University did find it true Another thing concerning that very ingenious and Learned Lord and very well known to me and many others was this When Mr. Chillingworth undertook the Defence of Dr. Potter's Book against the Jesuite he was almost continually at Tew with my Lord examining the Reasons of both Parties pro and con and their invalidity or consequence where Mr. Chillingworth had the benefit of my Lords Company and his good Library The benefit he had by my Lord's Company and rational Discourse was very great as Mr. Chillingworth would modestly and truly confess But his Library which was well furnish'd with choice Books I have several times been in it and seen them such as Mr. Chillingworth neither had nor ever heard of many of them 'till my Lord shew'd him the Books and the passages in them which were significant and pertinent to the purpose So that it is certain that most of those Ancient Authorities which Mr. Chillingworth makes use of he owes first to my Lord of Falkland s Learning that he could give him so good directions and next to his civility and kindness that he would direct him But no more of this You desire to know some more Authors who in the War between Charles the I. and the Parliament writ for the King you name Dudly Diggs Dr. Ferne Dr. Hammond and you might have named many more all Ingenuous and Loyal persons and my Friends and Acquaintance but I do not think their Reasons so cogent or their Authority so great that we may safely rely upon them I shall rather commend unto you two Writers on this subject both of them of great Authority and in several respects of greater Judgment I mean 1. Arch-Bishop Vsher whose judgment in Antiquity is far greater 2. My Predecessor Bishop Sanderson the best and most rational Casuist ever England had whose judgment will be confest far greater 1. First Arch-Bishop Usher does expresly and datâ operâ make it his business to prove our King's Supremacy in all Civil and Ecclesiastical Causes against all Popes and Parliaments and to the same purpose does amongst others cite Bp. Andrews Hooker Dr. Saravia and which is very considerable there 's a long Preface to the Book of at least 20 pages in Quarto The Book was publish'd by Dr. Bernard Bishop Usher's Chaplain Anno 1661. and Printed at London and Sold by Richard Mariott in St. Dunstan's Church-yard in Fleetstreet The Title of the Book is this Clavi Trabales confirming the King's Supremacy and the Subjects Duty c. 2. This second Author I mention was Dr. Sanderson Bishop of Lincoln in his Tracts 1. De solemni Ligâ Foedere 2. De Juramento Negativo 3. De Ordinationibus Parliamenti circa disciplinam cultum And that which adds honour and weight to these Tracts is this that although Dr. Sanderson then Regius Professor of Divinity composed them yet they contain not his judgment but the judgment of the whole Vniversity of Oxford for it is call'd in the Title page Judicium Vniversitatis Oxoniensis in plena Convocatione Communibus suffragijs nemine contradicente promulgatum 1 Junii 1647. In the last and best Edition besides the 3. Tracts above mention'd you have his excellent Prelections 1. De Obligatione Juramenti promissorii 2. De obligatione conscientiae The last and best Edition I above mention'd was at London Anno 1671. By Richard Royston in St. Paul's Church-yard For answering your other Questions I must as poor men do crave some more time The Circumstances I am in and the very many publick businesses which at this time trouble me did disable me to return to you a speedier answer with my thanks for your kind Letter I beg your pardon for the rude Scrible and my great Age Anno 85. currente and the Infirmities which accompany it consider'd I hope your goodness will grant it I shall only add that God Almighty would be graciously pleas'd to bless you and your Studies is the Prayer of Your Affectionate Friend and Servant Thomas Lincoln The Substance of a Letter Written by Dr. Barlow late Lord Bishop of Lincolne to Mr. Isaac Walton upon his design of Writing the Life of his Predecessour Bishop Sanderson AFTER he has Congratulated Mr. Walton upon his design to write the Life of Bishop Sanderson and that upon two accounts viz. Because he was satisfied both of his ability to know and his Integrity to write Truth And that he was no less assured that the Life of that Prelate would afford him matter enough both for his commendation and for the Imitation of Posterity He next proceeds to gratifie his desires in assisting him towards the said intended Work with the Communication of such particular passages of that Prelates Life as were certainly known to him and gives him a short Narration of which this is the substance First he professes he had known him about twenty Years and that in Oxford he had injoyed his Conversation and Learned and Pious Instructions when he was Royal Professor of Divinity in that University and that after he was by the cross events that hapned in the Civil Wars in the time of King Charles the First forced to retire into the Country he had the benefit of conversing with him by Letters wherein with great candour and affection he answered all doubts he proposed to him and gave him more satisfaction than he ever had or expected from others But to proceed to particulars he further says that having hapned in one of his Letters to the said Dr. Sanderson to mention two or three Books Written professedly against the being of Original Sin and asserting
of Quality from London that they report in your great Town that the Bishop of Lincoln had indeed Subscribed the Address but his Clergy refus'd to Subscribe But the truth is that beside my self and 3. Arch-Deacons above 600 of my Clergy have actually subscribed it and their Subscriptions are now in my hand Sure I am that his Sacred Majesties gracious Promise to protect the Church of England as by Law established is such especially from a Roman Catholick Prince as deserves the utmost of our thanks and gratitude and most worthy to be acknowledg'd in a most humble and hearty Address and I fear that the obstinate denying to give him thanks in an Address may give his Majesty some reason to say He had little reason to protect them who would not thank him for it Sure I am that it is a Rule and a rational one too in your Canon-Law That (a) Concilium Lateranum sub Alexandro 3. Anno 1180. depactionibuslicitis illictis Can. 2. Propter ingratitudinem quod actum est revocatur For your Queries 1. Whether our Oxford Statutes now in Print be confirm'd by Act of Parliament I answer that they are not but only by the King and my Lord Arch-Bishop Laud then our Chancellour 2. To the second Query whether our Chancellour or Convocation have or do dispense with some of our Statutes I answer that the Statutes give them leave to dispense with several things and other things are by Statute to which they are sworn declared to be indispensable For there is a Statute with this Title De materia dispensabili in which the particulars are set down in which they may dispense And another Statute de materia indispensabili in which no dispensation is allow'd which is an answer to your 3d. Query I do remember that before our new Statutes the King has sent his Mandamus which has been obey'd to make some Doctors who otherwise could not have got such Degrees So about 60 years ago in King Charles the First 's time one Pierce had a Mandamus to be Doctor and the young Poets amongst other Rhimes had these Verses That Blockhead Pierce that Arch-Ignoramus He must be Dr. by the King 's Mandamus And in the last King's time several Mandamuses came and took effect 4. As for your other Query what Lateran Council it was which forbid Bastards to be Ordained and plurality of Benefices I answer it was the Lateran Council before cited For 1. For Bastards the words of the Councils are these (b) Dictum Concilium Lateranum De Depositione Clericorum Can. 19. apud Joverium de Concil pag. 117. Col. 4. Neque servi neque spurii sunt ordinandi 2. For plurality of Benefices the same Lateran Council hath these words (c) In dicto Concilio apud Joverium page 118. Col. 1. Uni plura Ecclesiastica beneficia non sunt committenda For your 4 Querie whether our College Statutes in Oxon be confirmed by Act of Parliament I know not and I believe few are yet I have heard that the Statutes of All-Soul's have been confirm'd by Act of Parliament For your last Query Whether Colleges have some Charters from the Crown to confirm their Founders Statutes This is most certain that all Colleges have and of necessity must have such Charters from the Kings for without such Charters they neither are nor can act as Corporations I am Sir Your Affectionate Friend and Servant T. Lincoln A Friend of the Bishop of Lincoln's writ a Letter to his Lordship for his judgment about wherein Mr. Chillingworth's peculiar excellency above other Writers consisted The Letter quoted a Book of Mr. Corbet mentioning him very unworthily viz. The Relation of the Siege of Glocester where in p. 12. he saith we understood that the Enemy i. e. the Army of King Charles the First had by the direction of the Jesuitical Doctor Chillingworth provided great store of Engines after the manner of the Roman Testudines cum pluteis with which they intended to have assaulted the parts of the City between the South and West Gates c. The Bishop therein was acquainted how Mr. Corbet was a Famous Presbyterian and as Mr. Baxter hath Printed it in his Works The Author of the Relation of that Siege and of a Discourse of the Religion of England asserting that reform'd Christianity setled in its due latitude is the stability and advancement of this Kingdom The Letter likewise mention'd Dr. Cheynel another Famous Presbyterian having in a most vile and abominable manner insulted over Mr Chillingworth's dead Body and his immortal Book at his Burial and the Bishop was requested to send an account of what he had heard of Mr. Chillingworth's being at that Siege and of the other outragious extravagâ—nce of Dr. Cheynel and as to which the Bishop return'd the following Answer viz. SIR I Receiv'd yours and in the very troublesome Circumstances I now am my Love and Service remembred I shall give you a short answer to your particular demands in your Letter 1. For Mr. Chillingworth none ever question'd this Loyalty to his King what Corbet in his Book you mention writes of him that he was in the Siege of Glocester in the King's Army assisting it to take the City is a great commendation of his Loyalty and Truth for I know Mr. Chillingworth was there in the Siege but whether as a Chaplain or Assistant only I know not For going thither to see Sir William Walter my good Friend who was a Commander there I did also see Mr. Chillingworth amongst the Comanders there And further I know that he dyed not by the Sword but Sickness and in the Parliament Quarters that Cheynell Buried him and when he was put into his Grave Cheynell cast his Book in with him saying dust to dust earth to earth and corruption to corruption afterwards when Cheynell drew near his death he was something Lunatick and distracted and spoke evil things several of such his wild Sayings were signified to us in Oxon but being so long since I have forgot the very words All these particulars concerning Cheynell were certainly known and believed in Oxon. 2. I send you my 5th Reason about the Idolatry of the Church of Rome which they would not License at Lambeth I have a Tract finish'd almost in vindication of the 5th Reason and in answer to the Objections of three or four Divines of our Church against it which if the good God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ graciously grant me life and health I purpose to publish and then you may expect to have two or three Copies of the whole Tract Lastly you desire to know wherein Mr Chillingworth's Excellency above other Writers did consist So that you seem to take it for granted that he has an Excellency if not above all yet above many or most Writers and I think so too But then the Case must be cautiously stated for his excellency we speak of cannot consist in any extraordinary knowledge he
prophanare Vnde Sacerdos quantumcunque polluâ—â— existat divina non potest polluere Sacramenta quae purgatoria cunctorum pollutionum exiscunt The Sons of Eli the High Priest are called Sons of Belial and such as knew not the Lord 1 Sam. 2.12 yet 't is not to be doubted but that their Administration of the Holy things was useful and profitable to God's People Yet this we must say that though the sinfulness and prophaneness of Ministers cannot directè and per se make the Sacrament invalid it may indirectly and per accidens occasion the Sacraments not doing the People so much good as might otherwise have happened And thus the Sons of Eli 1 Sam. 2.17 are said to have made some abhor the offerings of the Lord and v. 24. to make the Lord's People transgress I shall now proceed to shew that the Validity of the Sacrament depends not on the intention of the Priest The Papists say first in general that the intention of the Priest is required And that Secondly By Intention they understand Voluntatem faciendi quod facit ecclesia Bellarmine takes a great deal of pains to clear this Tenet of the Church of Rome from absurdity But Omnia cum fecit Thaida Thais olet God as the King of all sends his Ministers of the Gospel as his Embassadors Now what matter is it what the Embassador intends if he delivers his King's Message well If a Man gives a Gift and sends it by another the intention of the Giver is only considered and not that of the Messenger But to urge the matter more closely if the efficacy of the Sacrament depends on the intention of the Priest then according to the Papists will it be in his power to deprive the People of that and even of Salvation it self And then again none but the Priests themselves can tell whether Idolatry be committed or no. For Papists are bound to â—orship the Consecrated Bread Cultu latâ—â—â— and they all grant that if after Consecration the Bread should not be Transubstanâ—â—ated they are gross Idolaters Now who can tell what the Priest intends in Consecration Moreover since Order is a Sacrament with the Romanists that they cannot know the intention of the Priest it must necessarily follow that instead of their being able to know that their Pope is Infallible they are not able to know that he is a Pope at all For he cannot be a Pope unless he was made a Bishop But whether he was ever made a Bishop or whether he or any else in the Câ—urch was ever Baptized and made a Christian none but the searcher of Hearts knows And so it must necessarily follow that all Papists while such must perpetuae incertitudinis vertigine acti in aeternum dubitare But so absurd is this Tenet of the intention of the Priest as essential to the validity of the Sacrament and the ill Consequences of it so very many that we are told it out of the History of the Council of Trent a Bishop in that Council Disputing largely against it the Historian saith of him Tantae erant rationes à se adductae ut caeteros Theologos in stuporem dederant Vide fis Historiam Tridentinam lib. 2. p. 276. Leidae â—editam Anno 1622. Of a Presbyterian Divine reporting publickly That Bishop Sandersoâ— died an Approver of that Sect and of a Paper attested by Bishop Barlow to the contrary and of the contrary likewise appearing out of Bishop Sanderson's last Will and Testâ—ment OF the shameful Calumnies of Papists in reporting that some of the Fathers of our Church died Papists though they had been the greatest Zealots against Popery an Instance is given by one who was a Convert from the Church of Rome to that of England and Authour of a Book call'd The Foot out of the Snare Printed at London Anno 1624. and where in pag. 18. he mentions how Dr. King Bishop of London in a Sermon on the 5th of November had represented the Jesuits and Jesuited Papists as notorious Architects of Fraud and Cousenage and saith that the Bishop spoke those words prophetically as by a kind of fore-instinct how he should in his memory suffer by their Forgeries the which he did by their lying Book called The Bishop of London's Legacy making him die a Papist and which Book as he saith was writ by one Musket a Jesuit and â—â—lates in p. 80. how a Priest of the Church of Rome told him He was sorry that ever their Superiors should suffer such a Book for that it would do the Romanists more hurt than any Book they ever wrote And he might well say so it being most true what the Lord Bacon said That Frost and Fraud have always foul ends And as Bishop King was thus in his Memory basely attacked by a Papist so our great Bishop Sanderâ—on was by a Presbyterian Divine who shall not be named out of honour to a Noble Lord his Patron And it is not to be doubted but that Dr. Sanderson who had been ordain'd Deacon and Priest by that Bishop King as Walton tells us in the Doctor 's Life had been sufficiently inform'd of that Popish Calumny design'd to blast Bishop King's Reputation and therefore Bishop Sanderson did take care that Posterity should be sufficiently apprised of the Faith he intended to live and die in by his giving the world a notification thereof in his last Will and Testament the which was by him perfected on the 6th day of January 1662. some few Weeks before his Death for he died on the 26th day of that Month and his Will was proved in the Prerâ—gative Court at London on the 28th of March 1663. The Witnesses Names to the Will are Josiah â—uâ—len Ja. Thornton Edw Foxley Bishop Barlow who since succeeded Bishop Sanderson in the Dioces of Lincoln did while he was Provost of Queens College in Oxford sign an Attestation of the factum of Bishop Sanderson's dying as he had lived a true Son of the Church of England and of a Presbiterian Divine calumniating him for the contrary and delivered the following Paper to the late Minister of Buckden for his information in the Matter of that Factum There was one of Bishop Sanderson's Sermons preach'd on this Text But in vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men Mat. 15.9 This Posthumous Sermon was printed on this occasion Mr. Roswel B. of D. and Fellow of Christ Church College in Oxon meeting with Dr. Tho. Sanderson the Bishop's Son he shows him a Copy of this Sermon fairly writ with the Bishop's own hand Mr. Roswell read lik'd and desired it might be printed but the Dr. deny'd because the Bishop had commanded none of his Papers to be printed after his Death Mr. Reynel Fellow of C. Christi being in Lancashire found that a Presbyterian Minister had possessed many of that Country with a belief that Bishop Sanderson before his death repented of what he writ against the Presbyterians and on his death bed would
suffer no Hierarchical Ministers to come or pray with him but desir'd and had only Presbyterians about him Mr. Reynel signifying this to Mr. Roswel desires him to enquire the truth of this and signifie it to him whereupon he consults Mr. Pullen of Magdalen Hall who was my Lord's Houshold Chaplain with him in all his Sickness and at his Death and he assured him that the said Bishop as he liv'd so he died a true Son of the Church of England that no Presbyterian came near him in all his Sickness that besides his own Prayers private to himself there were in his Family no Prayers save those of the Church nor any but his own Chaplain to read them Besides Mr. Pullen gave him a part of the Bishop's last Will wherein within less than a Month before he died he gives an account of his thoughts in opposition to Papists and Puritans and this Sermon being the last which the Bishop writ with his own hand at the importunity of Mr. Roswel Dr. Sanderson permitted it to be printed to vindicate his Father's Honour and Judgment and to confute that lying Report and so that lie occasion'd the publishing this Truth Aâ—iquisque Malo fuit usus in illo Ita est Tho. Barlow Collegii Reginalis Praeses BUT partly because it may sufficiently confound the before mentioned Calumny against Bishop Sanderson and partly because his Religionary Professions in his last Will and Testaments contains somewhat like Prophetical matter in his mentioning his belief of the happy future state of our Church in a Conditional manner it is thought fit to print that part of his Will that concerneth the same as the same was lately faithfully transcribed out of his Will now remaining in the Registry of the Prerogative Court in London viz. AND here I do profess that as I have lived so I do desire and by the grace of God resolve to die in the Communion of the Catholick Church of Christ and a true Son of the Church of England which as it standeth by Law established to be both in Doctrine and Worship agreeable to the word of God is in the most Material points of both conformable to the Faith and Practice of the Godly Churches of Christ in the Primitive and purer times I do firmly believe this led so to do not so much from the force of Custom and Education to which the greatest part of Mankind owe their particular different perswasions in point of Religion as upon the clear evidence of truth and Reason after a serious and impartial examination of the grounds as well of Popery as Puritanism according to that measure of understanding and those opportunities which God hath afforded me And herein I am abundantly satisfied that the Schism which the Papists on the one hand and the superstition which the Puritans on the other hand lay to our charge are very justly chargeable upon themselves respectively Wherefore I humbly beseech Almighty God the Father of Mercies to preserve this Church by his Power and Providence in Truth Peace and Godliness evermore unto the Worlds end Which doubtless he will do if the wickedness and security of a sinful People and particularly those Sins that are so rife and seem daily to increase among us of Vnthankfulness Riot and Sacriledge do not tempt his Patience to the contrary And I also humbly further beseech him that it would please him to give unto our Gracious Soveraign the Reverend Bishops and the Parliament timely to consider the great dangers that visibly threaten this Church in point of Religion by the late great increase of Popery and in point of Revenue by Sacrilegious Enclosures and to provide such wholsome and effectual Remedies as may prevent the same before it be too late The Substance of a Letter written by the same late Pious and Learned Prelate Bishop Barlow to the Clergy of his Diâ—cess upon occasion of an Order of the Quarter Sessions for the County of Bedford held at Ampthill in the said County in the 36th Year of the Reign of the late King Charles the Second Annoque Dom. 1684. For the prosecution of the Laws against Dissenters ALL the Compliance our moderate Spirited Prelate could be brought to in reference to that sharp Order was only in this Letter to represent to his Clergy That since it is an evident Truth that all Subjects both by the indispensable Law of Nature and Scripture are obliged to obey the power establish'd over them by God and that most particularly in things more immediately relating to the great and important Concerns of God's Glory and the Salvation of their own Souls and that by the Prudent and Pious Care of our Government a Godly Form and Liturgy of God's Publick Worship had been provided and establish'd both by our Ecclesiastical and Civil Laws which accordingly require all people to resort to their respective Parish Churches and to communicate there with the Congregation in Prayers Receiving the Sacrament and hearing the word And since the said Liturgy had not only been for many years received by our Church with little or no opposition till the late unfortunate times of Rebellion and Confusion but had been likewise approved and commended by the most Learned and Pious Divines in Foreign Protestant Churches and so religiously priz'd and esteem'd by the Renowned Protestant Martyrs in Queen Mary's days that one of their greatest Complaints was that they were deprived of the Benefit of that Liturgy-Book and that since the rejection of it and the disobeying the Laws that injoyn it makes our Dissenters evidently Schismatical in their separation from our Church-Communion as shall says he if God please be in convenient time made further to appear and that for those Reasons it was not only convenient but necessary that our good Laws should be executed both for the preservation of the publick Peace and Vnity and the Benefit even of the Dissenters themselves for that afflictio dat intellectum and it was probable their Sufferings by the execution of our just Laws and the blâ—ssing of God upon them might bring them to a sense of their duty and a desire to perform it Therefore for the attaining of those good ends he requires all his said Clergy of his Diocess within the abovesaid County to publish the above mentioned Order the next Sunday after it should be tendred them and diligently to advance the design of it according to the several particular Directions in the said Order prescribed and both by Preaching and Catechising to take away all excuses for their ignorance to instruct their People in their Duty to God and their King with his Prayer for a Blessing upon their Endeavours in which he concludes this Letter signing himself Their Affectionate Friend Brother and Diocesan Thomas Lincoln FINIS Books newly published printed for John Dunton at the Raven in the Poultrey THe History of the Famous Edist of Nantes containing an account of all the Persecutions which in France have befallen those Protestants who