send mee thither Marry quoth the King and to him will I send you So hee was sent with the Earle of Wiltshier Embassadour to the Pope who thrust out his glorious foote to bee kissed of them which they refusing the Earles spanniell running somewhat too familiarly did catch and bite him by the great toe Then the cause of their Embassage being declared the Earle deliuered Cranmers booke to the Pope and with all tolde him that hee had brought with him learned men out of England which were ready to defend by Scriptures Fathers and Councels whatsoeuer was contained in that booke against all that should contradict it The Pope promised sundry times a day of disputation but dallied out the matter as his Legates had done before in England so giuing them honourable entertainment hee made Cranmer his penitentiarie and dismissed them Then the rest returning Cranmer was sent by the kings appointment Embassadour into Germany to the Emperour where hee drewe many vnto his side and among the rest Cornelius Agrippa Moreouer the King did not onely consult with the most learned Diuines and Lawyers in the whole kingdome but also caused the question to bee publiquely disputed in the Vniuersities of Oxford and Cambridge both which did vtterly condemne the marriage Neither did hee thus rest but sent Bishop Bonner to the Vniuersities of France and Italie which affirmed vnder their seales that the marriage was vnlawfull and that no man might dispense with it Where it is to be obserued that some of these Vniuersities professe that they tooke an oath euery man to deliuer and to study vpon the foresaide questions as should bee to the pleasure of God and according to conscience After these determinations were reade in open Parliament there were shewed aboue an hundred bookes drawne by Doctours of strange regions which all agreed the kings marriage to bee vnlawfull Now to proceed the King considering the Popes dealing forbad all suites to the Court of Rome by proclamation in September 1530. which Sanders calleth the first beginning of the manifest schisme About the same time Cardinall Wolsey was cast in a premunire and all the Bishops of England for maintaining the power Legatine of the Cardinall But the Bishops beeing called into the Kings Bench before the day of their appearance concluded an humble submission offered the King I 18000. pounds to pardon the premunire and withall gaue him the title of Supreme head of the Church of England Yea Archbishop Warham told him that it was his right to haue it before the Pope and that Gods word would beare it Which proceedings in England did so kindle and enflame the Popes choller that neither the bookes of learned men nor the determinations of Vniuersities nor the offering of disputation nor his owne former Bull and Decree could now hinder him from giuing a contrary publick definitiue sentence dated in his consistorie at Rome the twentie third of March Anno 1532. ABout this time dyed Archbishop Warham while Cranmer was Embassadour in Germany and vpon the vacancie of the Archbishopricke the King sent for him home with purpose to aduance him to that great dignitie but he pretended matters of great importance requiring his abode in Germany by which meanes he deferred his comming for halfe a yeeare And being come home and perceiuing that the place was reserued for him hee imployed his greatest friends to shift it off When the King did personally impart his intent vnto him hee disabled himselfe by all possible meanes vsing all perswasions to alter the Kings determination When he saw the Kings constant resolution he humbly crauing pardon of his grace franckly opened his conscience vnto him declaring that if hee accepted that office then hee must receiue it at the Popes hand which he neither would not could doe for that his highnesse was the onely supreme gouernour of this Church of England as well in causes ecclesiasticall as temporall that the donation of Bishoprickes belonged to the King and not to any forraine authoritie whatsoeuer All which proceedings doe not argue any ambitious or aspiring cogitations but rather an humble and lowly minde preferring the sinceritie of a good conscience before all glorious pompe and worldly dignities The King seeing the tendernesse of his conscience consulted with the learned in the law how hee might bestow the Bishopricke vpon him and yet not enforce him to any thing against his conscience In conclusion hee tooke the oath to the Pope but not after the manner of his predecessours as Sanders slanderously affirmeth For then hee should haue taken it simply and absolutely which hee did not but with a protestation expressing the condition and qualification Neither did hee make his protestation priuately in a corner and then take the oath in publicke as Sanders would make the world beleeue for if this could bee proued then had you reason to condemne him of fraud and periurie but it was not so He did not vse his protestation in any secret and concealed manner like to equiuocating Papists which take oaths in absolute words and yet delude them with mentall reseruations but he made it plainely and publickly first in the Chapter house secondly kneeling before the high Altar in the hearing both of the Bishops and people at his consecration Thirdly in the very same place and in the very same forme and tenour of wordes when by commission from the Pope they deliuered him the Pall. And the summe of the protestation was this that hee intended not to binde himselfe to anything which was contrary to the lawe of God or contrary to the king or common wealth of England or the Lawes and prerogatiues of the same nor to restraine his owne libertie to speake consult or consent in all and euery thing concerning the reformation of Christian religion the gouernment of the Church of England and the prerogatiue of the Crowne or the commodity of the Common wealth and euery where to execute and reforme such things which he should thinke fitte to be reformed in the Church of England and according to this interpretation and this sence and no otherwise he professed and protested that he would take the oath Now if you censure Cranmer because he qualified his oath with such a protestation what censure shal be giuen of your Popish Bishops before Cranmer which took two absolute othes to the King and to the Pope containing manifest contradiction as K. Henry himselfe declared causing thē both to be read in open Parliament And Cranmer hath made the point plaine both in his answere to B. Brookes and in his letters to Queene Marie Or if you censure Cranmer for swearing to the Pope with Qualification what censure will you giue of Heath Bonner Thurlby and the rest that in King Henries daies tooke absolutely the oath of Supremacie which euidently excludeth the Popes authoritie BVt to returne to K. Henry who seeing
Binius out of Baronius Thus much for the prophane title As for the thing it selfe The Scripture witnesseth that Salomon was King ouer all Israel if ouer all Israel then ouer the tribe of Leui and consequently euen ouer Abiathar the high Priest if he be their king why are not they his subiects If they be his subiects and he their Soueraigne how can they bee exempted from his Iurisdiction A point so cleare that sundry of your learned writers haue confessed it IOhannes Parisiensis saith that in the old Testament the Priests which annointed kings without all doubt were subiect vnto kings Your owne Iesuite Salmeron affirmeth that potestas spiritualis legis naturae vel Moisisminor erat Regia potestate in veteri testamento ideo etiam summi Sacerdotes regibus subdebantur that is the spirituall power of the Law of nature and of the law of Moses was lesser then the princely power in the old Testament therefore euen the high Priests were subiect vnto kings Yea Bellarmine himselfe saith Non mirum esset si in veteri Testamento summa potestas fuisset temporalis that is It were no maruell if in the olde Testament the chiefe power were the temporall Dominicus a Soto in veteri Testamento dubio procul Sacerdotes a principibus secularibus iudicati that is In the olde Testament without doubt the Priests were iudged by the secular princes Fryer Paule This doctrine that Ecclesiasticall persons vnlesse they be free by priuiledge and fauour should be subiect to secular Magistrates is demonstrated and confirmed by examples of the old Testament whereby it appeareth that all the kings did command iudge and punish Priests and that this was done not onely of bad kings or indifferent but of the most holy and religious Dauid Salomon Ezechias and Iosias Carerius in veteri Testamento Rex super Sacerdotes potestatem habebat eosque pro crimine occidere multo magis officijs dignitatibus spiritualibus eos priuare poterat that is In the old Testament the king had power ouer the Priests and might for their offences kill them much more depriue them of their offices and spirituall dignities Hitherto Carerius out of Tostatus PHIL. IF the kings of Israel had such authoritie doth it follow that Christian Princes must haue the like ORTHOD. What else You must consider that the new Testament doth yeeld vs no examples of Christian kings therefore when the question is concerning the power of kings in the Church of God wee must goe to the fountaine that is the old Testament where there was both a Church and kings in the Church religiously performing the office of kings and what Princely authoritie they exercised for which they are approoued by the spirit of God the same without all question belongeth in like maner to Christian Princes therefore what authoritie Salomon had ouer Abiathar the same haue Christian Princes by the law of God ouer their owne Clergie CHAP. III. Of the Oath of the Princes Supremacy for denying whereof the old Bishops were depriued PHIL. IS not the deposing of a Bishop a spirituall censure how then can it be performed by the secular powers ORTH. The secular powers doe noâ— depose a Bishop by degradation nor by vtterly debarring him from his Episcopall function but onely by excluding him from the exercise of Episcopallactes vpon their subiects and within their dominions And this godly Princes haue performed from time to time in the best and primatiue ages against the Arrians Nestotians and other heretickes as might be declared by many examples PHIL. Shall a Prince take that from them which he cannot giue them ORTH. Hee cannot giue them an intrinsecall power to minister the word and Sacraments which proceedeth from the key of order but he may giue them an extrinsecall power that is a libertie to execute their function within his dominions This he may doe by vertue of the scepter which God hath giuen him though he meddle not with the keyes which God hath giuen to the Church and as he may giue this libertie so he may take it away vpon iust cause as Salomon did when he deposed Abiathar PHIL. If we should admit that Queene Elizabeth had so much authority as king Salomon yet this would not iustifie her proceedings For it belongeth not to Parliaments or secular Princes to make lawes concerning the depositions of Bishops or to inflict any such punishments ORTHOD. Did not the Emperour Martian make a law that such Bishops as went about to infringe any of those things which were enacted by that holy and generall Councell of Chalcedon should be deposed Did not Iustinian make a constitution that if any Patriarch Metropolitane Bishop or Clerke should violate his decrees made for the preseruation of holy order and estate he should be excluded from the Priestly function Did not Theodosius the yonger likewise make a law that the Nestorian Bishops should be expelled and deposed PHIL. The lawes of these Emperours concerning the deposing of Bishops were not put in execution by laymen as Queene Elizabeths were but by Bishops ORTH. Gratian the Emperour made a lawe against the Arrians commanding them like wilde beastes to be driuen from the Churches and the places to be restored to good pastours the execution whereof he committed to Saporas the most famous captaine of that time If this were allowable in the Emperour Gratian then much more in Queene Elizabeth for he did it when there was plentie of good Bishops within his owne dominon Queene Elizabeth did it onely in case of necessitie Neither did she send a captaine to driue them away by violence as Gratian did but appointed honourable commissioners to tender the oath vnto them vpon the obstinate refusall whereof their places were voyd by vertue of the Statute PHIL. GRatian had for him the determination of Synods which had already coÌ„demned the Arrians therefore in this case it was lawfull for him both to make a Law and to commit the execution of it to Lay-men ORTHOD. So had Q. Elizabeth For a Synod of Bishops professing your owne Religion among whom was Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester gaue to K. Henry the title of Supreame head of the Church of England as may appeare by the Acts of the Synod it selfe About two yeeres after the same was renewed in another Synod and about two yeeres after that the two Vniuersities deliuered their iudgement That the Pope had no more to doe in England by the Law of God then any other Bishop The determination of Cambridge is already extant in print The like of Oxeford remaineth in Record wherein after long deliberation and much disputation with all diligence Zeale and conscience they make this profession Tandem in hanc sententiam vnanimiter omnes conuenimus ac concordâ—s fuimus viz. Romanum Episcopum maiorem aliquam iurisdictionem non habere sibi à Dâ—o collatam in sacra Scriptura in
and substantiall parts of Priesthood For your Church giueth no authoritie to offer the soueraigne sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ and though you haue a kind of absolution yet to small purpose For you neither vse auricular confession nor sufficient inioyning of pennance nor satisfaction for sinne but haue turned the true iudiciall absolution into a declaratory LAst of all your Deacons are no Deacons not onely because your Bishops haue no authoritie to ordaine but also because they are defectiue in the maine point of their function for though the Bishops say Take thou authoritie to execute the office of a Deacon yet he meaneth nothing lesse for the chiefe office of a Deacon is to assist the Priest in saying of Masse which you scorne and contemne By this it appeareth that you haue not one Bishop one Priest one Deacon in all the Church of England that hath a lawfull ordinarie vocation therefore your pretended Ministers are meerely lay men All these things with euery branch thereof shall bee iustified to your faces from point to point if you or any of your Rabbines dare incounter vs in a scholasticall combat either priuately or rather publickly in the face of an Vniuersitie or rather solemnly in Court in the Princes presence This is the thing that we desire ORTHOD. THe world is well enough acquainted with your boasting bookes and vaine glorious vaunts Wee haue heard the bragges of Bristow and of Parsons the great Polypragmon but especially wee cannot forget Campian the glorious Iesuite who comming into England to display the Popes Banner like a worthie Champion cast out his gantlet and braued both our Vniuersities But the successe of this proude popish challenger may call to your minde the saying of the King of Israel to Benhadad King of Syria Let not him that girdeth on his harnesse boast as hee that putteth it off You exclaime against our ministery as though wee had neither Bishops Presbyters nor Deacons whereupon it followeth that the whole controuersie about our ministerie consisteth of three particular controuersies the first concerning Bishops the second concerning Presbyters and the third concerning Deaccâ—s Againe in our Bishops you disanul both their consecration and iurisdiction Wherefore the first particular controuersie is diuided into two branches the former of Episcopal consecration the latter of iurisdiction concerning which for mine owne part I doe not professe my selfe a champion to accept your challenge our Church God be thanked is farre better furnished and our two famous Vniuersities are like to the Tower of Dauid built for defence a thousand shieldes hang therein and all the Targets of the strong men Yet I must needes confesse that my soule is grieued to heare the hoast of Israel the armie of the liuing God reuiled Wherfore in regard of my dutie to God and the Church I will not keepe silence Yet one thing I admonish you if you meane to dispute with reproach and disdaine the garland is yours I will yeeld you the bucklers before we beginne but if you desire in singlenes of heart to find and follow the trueth if to this ende you will compare reason with reason and argument with argument in meekenes and mildnes of spirit if you hold the trueth of God in that precious account that you will suffer it to ouer-ballance all popular applause and worldly respectes then I am content to bee partaker with you in the search thereof The Lord giue vs wisedome and grace to knowe his will and to doe that which is acceptable in his sight If it please you to embrace these conditions then propose and prosecute your arguments in order PHIL. I will begin and proue that your Bishops are no Bishops CHAP. III. Wherein they descend to the first branch concerning Episcopall consecration wherevpon arise two questions the former whether three Bishops hee required of absolute necessity to the consecration of a new Bishop the state whereof is explaned out of Popish writers ORTHODOX WHerein are they defectiue Are they bare titularie Bishops without any Sees or are they Bishops without the Bishoply office and function The first you cannot affirme because wee consecrate none but such as are assigned to the administration of a certaine place according to the Canon of the Councell of Chalcedon But whether you haue offended in this or no witnesse your owne famous Panormitane Nota quod multi sunt Episcopi sine administratione Episcopatuum vt sunt illi qui vulgariter Nullatenenses appellantur i. Note that there are many Bishops without the administration of Bishoprickes as are they which are commonly called Bishops of Vtopia These pretend great titles and please themselues in that sweet humor which is nothing else but a vaine dreame and meere mockery They are like vnto the mad man which when any shippes arriued at Athens cried out al is mine and tooke an Inuentory of their goods yet was he neuer one penny the richer Of this frantike crue were Olaus Magnus and blind Robert Archbishops in conceite the one stiled Vpsalensis the other Armachanus both sent to the Councell of Trent to fill vp the number So Robert King the last Abbot of Osney was entituled Episcopus Roanensis whose episcopall See was supposed to bee in the Prouince of the Archbishoprike of Athens but hee was glad to bee translated from thence to Oxford Thomas Merkes Bishop of Carlile was remooued by the Pope from his owne bishopricke which yeelded him conuenient maintenance to the imaginarie bishopricke of Samos in Greece whereof he knew hee should neuer receiue one penny of profit but as one hath well obserued Hee was so happie as neither to take benefit of the guift of his enemie nor to bee hurt by the masked malice of his counterfeit friend Anthonie Beck Bishop of Durham was aduanced by the Pope to be Patriarch of Ierusalem but if hee had reaped no better maintenance from the Bishoprick of Durham then from Ierusalem for all his glorious title he might haue starued For the Pope as B. Iewel hath told you beeing forsaken of the foure principall Patriarches of the world appointeth out foure of his ordinary Chaplaines or other Prelates whom it pleaseth him and giueth them the names of foure Patriarches the first for Constantinople the second for Alexandria the third for Antioch the fourth for Ierusalem and thus hauing these foure at command in this pleasant fancie hee ruleth and gouerneth the whole world In such a solemne brauery the great Cham of Tartary at this day after he hath dined himselfe soundeth out a trumpet and giueth all the Emperours and Kings of the world leaue to goe to dinner in which imagination and iollitie he continueth his claime to the possession of the world So the Pope maketh painted Patriarches filling their ambitious heads with emptie titles like to great bladders blowne full of wind Such Vtopian Bishops may iustly be called no
OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE BISHOPS IN THE CHVRCH OF ENGLAND With their Succession Jurisdiction and other things incident to their calling AS ALSO OF THE ORDINATION of Priests and Deacons FIVE BOOKES Wherein they are cleared from the slanders and odious imputations of BELLARMINE SANDERS BRISTOW HARDING ALLEN STAPLETON PARSONS KELLISON EVDEMON BECANVS And other Romanists And iustified to containe nothing contrary to the Scriptures Councels Fathers or approued examples of Primitiue Antiquitie ¶ By FRANCIS MASON Batchelour of Diuinitie and sometimes Fellow of Merton Colledge in Oxeford Hebr. 5. 4. No man taketh this honour vnto himselfe but he that is called of God as was Aaron ¶ IMPRINTED AT LONDON by ROBERT BARKER Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie Anno 1613. TO THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD GEORGE LORD ARCHbishop of Canterburie his Grace Primate of all England and Metropolitane And one of his Maiesties most Honourable Priuie Counsell AS in the Romane triumphes the worthy Conquerour gloriously ascending vnto the Capitoll did shew his magnificence by giuing ample gifts vnto the people euen so most reuerend father our victorious Sauiour and noble Redeemer hauing conquered Hell Death Diuell and damnation Triumphantly ascending to the Capitoll of Heauen did shew his vnspeakeable bountie in giuing admirable and incommparable gifts vnto men That is some to be Apostles some Prophets some Euangelists some Pastours and Teachers For what hath the Church of God of so precious account as the holy ministery of the Word and Sacraments whereby CHRIST IESVS with all his blessings is reuealed and applied to the soule and conscience It may well be resembled to the Riuers of Paradise which did water and fructifie the Garden of God to the Golden pipes whereby the two Oliue branches replenished the seuen Lampes in the golden Candlesticke to the Crowne which the woman in the Reuelation cloathed with the Sunne and hauing the Moone vnder her feete had vpon her head being richly beset not with stones but with Starres Which holy function flowing from CHRIST as from the fountaine to his blessed Apostles was by thē deriued to posterity But as the water which neere the spring is cleare and chrystalline in further passages may be polluted so in processe of time by the subtiltie of Satan the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments being the ordinance of God was mingled with sacrifising and other humane inuentions Yet such was the goodnesse of God that euen in the darknes of Poperie as Baptisme so the Ministeriall function notwithstanding the abominations cleauing thereunto was wonderfully preserued for the Church of Rome by Gods speciall prouidence in her Ordination of Priests reteined such Euangelicall words as in their true and natiue sense include a ghostly Ministeriall power to forgiue sinnes by the Ministery of Reconciliation consisting in the due administration of the Word and Sacraments So remission of sinnes is ascribed to the Minister as to Gods instrument in effecting it and Ambassadour in pronouncing it Wherefore in that they haue authority to forgiue sinnes they haue also authority to vse the meanes thereof that is the Word and Sacraments Thus the Church of Rome gaue power to her Priests to teach the truth although it did not reueale the truth vnto them Now when it pleased him which causeth the Light to shine out of darkenesse in the riches of his Mercie to remember his distressed Church those blessed instruments which hee first vsed in the Reformation were such as had receiued their Calling corruptly in the Church of Rome But when their eyes were opened they disclaimed the sacrifising abomination and other impurities which by the iniquitie of the time were incorporated into their calling Thus the pollution of Poperie by the Grace of God was drained and drawn away the Ministeriall function restored to the original beautie And here let vs admire and magnifie the Mercy of God who did not forget this remote Iland situate in a corner of the world but did most graciously shine vpon it with his Golden beames from the Sphere of Heauen For whereas in other Countreys the Bishops which should be starres and Angels of the Church did resist the Reformation and persecuted such as sought it It pleased God that in England among other Bishops Archbishop Cranmer the chiefest Prelate of the Kingdome was Gods chiefest instrument to restore the Gospel which afterward he sealed with his blood The euent whereof was That whereas other Reformed Churches were constrained by necessity to admit extraordinary fathers That is to receiue Ordination from Presbyters which are but inferior Ministers rather then to suffer the Fabrick of the Lord IESVS to be dissolued the Church of England had alwayes Bishops to conferre sacred Orders according to the ordinary and most warrantable custome of the Church of CHRIST And although in Queene Maries time fiue blessed Bishops were burned to ashes yet God reserued to himselfe a number which being then forced to take the wings of the Doue and fly beyond the Seas or to hide themselues in the clefts of the rocke when the tempest was ouerblowne the cloudes cleared and the Sunne of Righteousnes began to display himselfe in the happy raigne of Queene Elizabeth returned againe clapped their wings for ioy praised God preached the Gospel and with holy imposition of hands ordained Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the Church of England These are the Ordinations which reprochfull Papists doe most traduce and slander as though they were no Ordinations at all but onely Nullities thence perswading their Proselytes That our present Ministers are no Ministers but meerely Lay-men and thereupon inferring that wee haue no Church no saluation In which point some Popish Recusants haue beene so confident that they haue professed That if we could iustifie our Calling they would come to our Churches and bee of our Religion The consideration whereof most Reuerend father gaue me occasion to made into this Controuersie being desirous next the assurance of mine owne saluation as I am a Christian to bee fully and clearely assured of my Calling as I am a Minister In prosecuting whereof I did euidently find That their chiefest Obiections are nothing but slanders confutable by Authenticall monuments of publique Record Whereupon I wished from the bottome of my heart That some learned man would haue vouchsafed for the glory of God and the good of the Church to scatter these Popish mistes and to set the Trueth in the cleare light A worke in my opinion very important First in respect of vs of the Ministerie and secondly in regard of the people committed to our charge For how chearefully and with what ioy of heart may we preach and they heare vs when the lawfulnesse of our Calling is made manifest to all men Thirdly If any haue formerly made scruple to enter our Orders out of ignorance how these odious and scandalous imputations blazed in Popish Bookes might bee truely answered and the point soundly cleared by Record it is verely to bee
hoped That all such shall receiue singular comfort when they see our Calling iustified not onely in it selfe as the true Ministerie of the Gospel but also in regard of the deriuation to vs by such Bishops and in such maner as is most correspondent to the sacred Scripture and the practise of Primitiue Antiquitie And if any vpon this surmise bee fallen away to our aduersaries who knoweth what effect God may worke in them when they shall plainely perceiue how they haue bene deluded with Popish stratagemes Or who can tell whether this may bee a gracious meanes to stay others from yeelding to the inticements of subtill serpents Finally the defence of innocencie in a matter of so high a nature must needes reioyce the hearts of the godly when Popish polititians shall bee forced to hide their faces for shame and confusion These motiues induced mee to wish that some great Master in our Israel would haue vndertaken this eminent Argument which now the Diuine prouidence so disposing is befallen vnto me One of the children of the Prophets Which my labours concerning the Ordination of the Pastours of England to whom should I rather present then to your Grace whom God by the meanes of a most prudent and Religious Soueraigne hath to the singular comfort of all that sincerely loue the Gospel aduanced to bee the chiefe Pastour and chiefe Ordainer in the Church of England Especially seeing I proceeded in this Argument with your graces fatherly direction and incouragement Now the Lord so direct and sanctifie your endeuours That as the Rod of Aaron did bud and blossome and bring foorth ripe Almonds so the Church and Ministerie of England by the meanes of your Grace as of Gods blessed instrument may prosper flourish and bring foorth fruits of Righteousnesse to the glory of God and the comfort of all true Christian hearts Your Graces in all humble duetie at command FRANCIS MASON THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOKES FOLLOWING THE first booke containeth the entrance and diuision of the whole worke into three controuersies with their seuerall Questions as also the handling of the first Question whether three Canonicall Bishops be absolutely necessary to the Consecration of a Bishop The second is of the Consecrations of the Bishops of England from the first planting of Christianitie till the last yeere of Queene Marie The third is of the Bishops consecrated in the Reigne of Queene Elizabeth and of our Gracious soueraigne King Iames. The fourth intreateth of Episcopall Iurisdiction The fift is of the second and third controuersie concerning Priests and Deacons ¶ The particular Contents of the first Booke CHAP. 1. THe entrance wherein is described the proceeding of the Popish Priests in winning of Proselytes by praising Rome the Romane Religion the Popes loue the English Seminaries As also by dispraising the Vniuersities Church Religion and Ministery of England Pag. 1. CHAP. 2. Wherein is declared in generall how the Papists traduce our Ministers as meerely Lay-men And in particular what they mislike in our Bishops Presbyters and Deacons Whereupon the generall controuersie concerning the Ministery is diuided into three particular controuersies The first of Bishops The second of Presbyters The third of Deacons Pag. 8. CHAP. 3. Wherein they descend to the first branch concerning Episcopall Consecration whereupon arise two Questions The former whether three Bishops be required of absolute necessitie to the Consecration of a new Bishop the state whereof is explained out of Popish writers Pag. 14. CHAP. 4. Wherein the Popish Arguments drawne from the Canons of the Apostles and the decretall Epistles are proposed vrged and answered Pag. 21. CHAP. 5. Wherein their Argument drawne from the Councels is propounded vrged and answered Pag. 26. CHAP. 6. Wherein their Arguments pretended to be drawne from the Scripture are answered Pag. 30. CHAP. 7. That the presence of three Bishops is not required of absolute necessitie Pag. 34. ¶ The Contents of the second Booke CHAP. 1. WHerein they descend to the second Question whether the Consecrations of the Bishops of England be Canonicall Pag. 39. CHAP. 2. Of the first conuersion of this Land in the time of the Apostles Pag. 44. CHAP. 3. Of the second conuersion as some call it or rather of a new supply of Preachers and a further propagation of the Gospel in the time of K. Lucius and Pope Eleutherius Pag. 51. CHAP. 4. Of Austine the first Bishop of Canterbury sent hither by Pope Gregorie Pag. 56. CHAP. 5. Of the Bishops from Austin to Cranmer Pag. 61. CHAP. 6. Of the Consecration of the most reuerend father Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterburie Pag. 64. CHAP. 7. Of the abolishing of Papall Iurisdictions by K. H. 8. which the Papists iniuriously brand with imputation of Schisme Pag. 67. CHAP. 8. Whether to renounce the Pope be schisme heresie Pa. 74. CHAP. 9. Whether schisme heresie annihilate a Cōsecration Pa. 78. CHAP. 10. Of the Bishops Consecrated in the time of King Henry the eight after the abolishing of the Popes Iurisdiction Pag. 88. CHAP. 11. Of the Bishops Consecrated in the time of King Edward the sixt Pag. 91. CHAP. 12. Of the B. Cōsecrated in the dayes of Q. Mary Pag. 97. ¶ The Contents of the third Booke CHAP. 1. OF the Bishops deposed in the beginning of the Raigne of Queene Elizabeth with an answere to certaine odious imputations concerning some antecedents and consequents of their depositions Pag. 99. CHAP. 2. The deposition of the Bishops iustified by the example of Salomon deposing Abiathar Pag. 106. CHAP. 3. Of the oath of the Princes Supremacy for denying whereof the old Bishops were depriued Pag. 113. CHAP. 4. Of the Consecration of the most reuerend Father Archbishop Parker Pag. 121. CHAP. 5. Of the rest of the Bishops Consecrated in the second and third yeere of Queene Elizabeth Pag. 132. CHAP. 6. A briefe view of all the Bishops of some of the principall Sees during the whole raigne of Queene Elizabeth Pag. 135. CHAP. 7. Of the Bishops in the Prouince of Canterbury Consecrated since our gracious Soueraigne K. Iames did come to the Crowne with a little touch concerning the Prouince of Yorke Pag. 138. CHAP. 8. The Episcopall line of the most reuerend Father in God George Lord Archbishop of Canterbury particularly declaring how he is Canonically descended from such Bishops as were Consecrated in the dayes of King Henry the eight which our aduersaries acknowledge to be Canonicall Pag. 140. ¶ The Contents of the fourth Booke CHAP. 1. WHence the Bishops of England receiue their Iurisdiction Pag. 143. CHAP. 2. Whether S. Peter were the onely fountaine vnder Christ of all spirituall Iurisdiction Pag. 147. CHAP. 3. Whether the Pope succeede Saint Peter in all his right by Law Diuine Pag. 155. CHAP. 4. Of the election of Bishops in the Primitiue Church before there were any Christian Princes Pag. 158. CHAP. 5. An answere to certaine obiections against the election of Bishops by Christian Kings and Emperours out of the
Councels and other authorities Pag. 161. CHAP. 6. Of the election of the Bishops of Rome vnder Christian Emperours before the diuision of the Empire Pag. 163. CHAP. 7. Of the Election of Popes from the Emperour Charles to Otho Pag. 175. CHAP. 8. Of the election of Popes from the time of the Emperour Otho to Henry the fourth Pag. 173. CHAP. 9. Of the election of the Bishops of Constantinople Pag. 178. CHAP. 10. Of the election of the Bishops of Spaine Pag. 179. CHAP. 11. Of the election of the Bishops of France Pag. 180. CHAP. 12. Of the election of the Bishops of England Pag. 182. CHAP. 13. How lamentable the state of England was when Bishopricks and benefices were giuen by the Popes prouisions Pag. 188. CHAP. 14. Whether it belongeth to the Pope to confirme all the Metropolitanes of the world and namely the Metropolitanes of England Pag. 199. ¶ The contents of the fifth Booke CHAP. 1. WHerein the second controuersie is proposed diuided into two questions the former about sacrifising the latter about absolution the state of the former is set downe and the Methode of proceeding Pag. 207. CHAP. 2. Of their argument drawne from Melchisedec Pag. 208. CHAP. 3. Of their argument drawn frō the Paschal Lambe Pag. 216. CHAP. 4. Of their argument drawne from certaine places of the Prophets Pag. 218. CHAP. 5. Of their argumēt drawne frō the words of institutiō Pa. 222. CHAP. 6. Of their arguments drawne frō the actiōs of Christ. Pa. 234. CHAP. 7. Of their argument drawne from the practise of the Church in the Apostles time Pag. 239. CHAP. 8. Of their arguments drawne from the authority of the Fathers Pag. 241. CHAP. 9. Of the second question which concerneth the power of absolution Pag. 244. CHAP. 10. An answere to the arguments of Bellar. by which he goeth about to proue absolution to be iudicial not declaratory Pag. 249. CHAP. 11. Of the third controuersie concerning Deacons Pag. 259. CHAP. 12. Wherein is declared that though wee deriue our calling from such Bishops as were Popish Priests yet our calling is lawfull and theirs as it is vsed vnlawfull Pag. 260. THE FIRST BOOKE CONTEINING THE ENTRANCE AND DIVISION of the whole worke into three Controuersies with their seuerall Questions As also the handling of the first Question whether three Canonicall Bishops be absolutely necessary to the Consecration of a Bishop Framed in forme of a conference betweene PHILODOX a Seminary Priest And ORTHODOX a Minister of the Church of England CHAP. I. The entrance wherein is described the Proceeding of Popish Priests in winning of Proselytes by praising Rome the Romane Religion the Popes loue the English Seminaries As also by dispraising the Vniuersities Church Religion and Ministerie of England PHILODOX WHat My old friend Orthodox I salute you in the kindest maner and congratulate your comming into France the rather because I hope you are passing this way to Rome as sundry of your fellowes and friends haue done before you ORTHODOX To Rome Philodox Alas Quid Romaefaciam mentiri nescio What shall I doe at Rome I cannot lye I cannot aequiuocate PHILO It seemeth si◠that you are pleasantly disposed but in good earnest there are many inducements which in all reason should draw you to Rome For he that hath seene Rome hath seene all things and he that hath not seene Rome hath seene nothing It is the Queene and Lady of Cities the Store-house of Nature the admiration of Art the Epitome of the world wherein all Excellencies shine in their Orient colours and exquisite beautie In old time men did wonder at the Temple of Diana the Tombe of Mausolus the Colossus of the Sunne the Image of Iupiter Olympicus the Palace of Cyrus the walls of Babylon and the Pyramides of Egypt because these things in their seuerall ages were rare and singular and iustly had in precious account But who would now so esteeme them when he may see in one City so many spectacles which are able not onely to rauish the beholders with admiration but also to strike them with astonishment The Emperour Constantius when hee beheld the Rostra the Capitoll the Bathes the Amphitheatrum the Pantheon the Theater of Pompey his eyes were dazeled with miracle vpon miracle but when he came to the Market place of Traiane he stood cleane amazed at those huge and admirable Fabricks neither imitable by the hand nor vtterable by the tongue of man And though time which weareth all things hath now defaced them yet if new Rome be compared with old Rome wee may say with a learned man Non maior sed melioriam Roma non cultior sed sanctior That is Rome at this present is not bigger but better not more sumptuous but more sacred And we may adde that still it ouershineth all other Cities so farre as the golden Moone doeth the twinkling starres ORTHO Suppose that the buildings of Rome were as glorious at this day as they were in the dayes of Constantius yet what of all this Hormisd◠the Persian being then asked what he thought of Rome made answere That this onely pleased him that he had learned that men doe die euen at Rome also as in other places And surely though the walles of our Cities were of gold and the windowes of Saphire yet while we liue in this vale of vanitie we dwell but in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust God giue vs grace to seeke a City which hath a foundation whose maker and builder is God God graunt that when our earthly Tabernacle shal be dissolued we may haue an house not made with hands but eternall in the heauens PHIL. You say well sir and the right way to attaine thereunto is to be reconciled to the holy Church of Rome Without it there is no hope of saluation within it is a very Paradise of God and a sanctuary for all distressed soules wherefore if you take this course you shal be a thrice happy man and enioy the precious blessing of a quiet conscience ORTHO In deede a quiet conscience is a iewell of iewels the price of it is farre aboue the Pearle neither can it be valued with the wedge of fine gold But this is a flower which groweth not in the gardens of Rome no not in Beluidêre the Popes Paradise For there is no Religion in the world which can pacific the troubled conscience but that onely which teacheth the penitent spirit the remission of his sinnes and an infallible certaintie of his saluation by the merits of Iesus Christ apprehended by a true and liuely faith and sealed to the sanctified soule by the Spirit of grace But the present religion of the Church of Rome teacheth onely a morall coniecturall and fallible That is an vncertaine certaintie which must needs plunge the poore soule into a thousand perplexities Wherefore the present Romish religion is not a doctrine of comfort but of doubt and distrust so farre from quieting the troubled
conscience that it is a continual tormenting to the soule and conscience PHIL. Howsoeuer you conceiue of our Religion you must giue mee leaue to tell you that it was deriued from God the Father reuealed by Iesus Christ inspired by the Spirit planted by the Apostles watered with the blood of Martyrs and confirmed by miracles being reuerend for antiquitie honourable for vniuersalitie certaine for succession amiable for order and admirable for vnitie ORTHOD. You brag of the Casket but the Iewels are gone For the faith of Rome was sometimes renowned through the world and commended by the voice of the Apostle himselfe But since those dayes Rome hath suffered many and great alterations For as in respect of her Ciuill estate she hath bene powred from vessell to vessell lost her language left her seuen mountaines to plant her selfe in campo Martio changed her face and her fashion and is so intombed in her owne ruines that Iustus Lipsuâ—s one of her louers cannot so much as trace the ancient tract of her walles euen so in respect of her state Ecclesiasticall one might now seeke old Rome in new Rome and not finde it She hath matched traditions with the written Word therein iniurious to the Wisdome of God she hath mingled mans merits with the Merits of Christ therein iniurious to the Grace of God She hath communicated diuine worship to stockes and stones therein iniurious to the glory of God Thus the garden is ouer-growne with weedes and the daughter of Ston is become the whore of Babylon Yet foâ— all this she vanteth herselfe as though she were a Virgine because she was sometimes a Virgin She painteth herselfe with counterfeit colours of Antiquitie Vniuersalitie Succession Vnitie and the like which are nothing else but a little Vernish that will vanish away PHIL. I hope you speake all this onely for disputation sake But howsoeuer for your better resolution I wish you would take betweene your hands the glasse of Experience You haue already had a triall of your English Vniuersities may it please you now to take a taste of our English Seminaries where I dare warrant you you shall receiue ample satisfaction of all your doubts And because I loue you I will vndertake that you shal be bountifully intertained in the English Colledge at Rome and euery vvay respected according to your vvorth But ô how our holy Father wil imbrace you with the armes of compassion and receiue you as the Doue into the Arke Such is his imcomparable loue to our English Nation ORTHOD. How well the Popes haue loued our Nation may appeare by Pope Innocent the fourth who called England his garden of delights And who would not loue such a garden Hee called it also a Well neuer drawne dry And doth not such a Well deserue to be wel loued Now the fruit of his tender affection towards it was witnessed by these his owne words Vbi multa abundant multa extorqueri possunt Where many things abound many things may be extorted The Poets feigne that the riuer Arethusa being swallowed vp in the ground runneth through the Sea and riseth againe in Sicilie but without all feigning from England as from a Well did spring golden Riuers which being suddenly swallowed vp did runne through the Sea and rise againe at Rome in the Popes Exchequer And vvho so readeth the Chronicles of our Kingdome vvritten by Matthew Paris and Thomas Walsingham shall find that the Popes loued our Siluer and our Gold This vvas their loue to the English Nation PHIL. You make mountaines of molehilles for the Popes receipts out of England vvere but as a Gnat to an Elephant and such as his Holines little regarded but onely as tokens of loue to holy Mother Church ORTHOD. Bishop Bonner may teach you That the Popes yeerely pâ—ay out of England did almost equall the reuenues of the Crowne And verily if this had not bene preuented though England had bene an Ocean it would haue bene drawne drie Such Elephants you swallow and yet you count them gnats PHIL. You mistake the matter Hee loueth not your siluer but your soules for since he reaped one penie out of England he hath imployed many thousand crownes in founding and maintaining two English Colledges So pure is his loue to the English Nation ORTHOD. Your English Seminaries were founded if the turning of an Hospitall into a Colledge may be called founding by Gregory the thirteenth But to what end sent he those souldiers mentioned by Genebrard and Campana into Ireland Was it not to assist the Rebels against their soueraigne Lady Queene Elizabeth So pure was his loue to the English Nation PHIL. The loue of his Holinesse is most plainly demonstrated in those noble foundations where wee haue more disputations lessons conferences examinations repetitions instructions catechisings resolutions of cases both of conscience and controuersie methods and maners to proceed to the conuersion of the deceiued and such like exercises in our two Colledges then are in your two Vniuersities containing about thirtie goodly Colledges As for the Masters and Professours of our Colledges specially the Romane Readers we may be bold to say they be in all kind the most choise and cunning men of Christendome Now for that part of education which appertaineth to Christian life and maners our chiefe indeuour is to breed in our Schollers deuotion which is done by diuers spirituall exercises and dayly examinations of their consciences often receiuing the blessed Sacrament much praying continuall hearing and meditation of holy things So by these meanes a number of the best wittes of England are here trained vp most happy in regard of their rare education ORTHOD. What reason you haue to compare your two Colledges with our two Vniuersities let wise men iudge You vaunt of your varietie of exercises God giue vs grace to glory in the simplicitie of his Trueth with the testimonie of a good conscience As for the exercises of our Vniuersities you might know if malice did not blinde you that they are famous throughout the Christian world and that these Campes of Christ haue from time to time trained vp Souldiers able to encounter the proudest Philistines Neither doubt we but they shall alwayes haue a Dauid to cut off the head of Golias with his owne sword Which wee rather hope because of that Treasurie of Learning and Languages lately erected I meane that renowned Library the honour of Oxford the Iewell of England the admiration of strangers and the Phaenix of the world O noble Bodley many Benefactours haue done worthily euen in this kind but thou surmountest them all Blessed is the stocke which brought foorth such a branch and blessed is the branch which yeelds so pleasant fruit Deuonshire was the mother Merton Colledge the nurse to this most gracious plant happie mother happie nurse happy plant Prosper O Lord O prosper thou his handy worke Let it be as an Armorie for defence of thy Church and as
hitherto God be thanked he hath missed the Chesnut PHIL. NOw I plainely perceiue That you are deepely ingaged in the schisme and heresie of England O England England thou wast sometimes a most famous and flourishing Church thy faith and Religion shining like a Diamond of true lustre thy zeale and deuotion burning like the flaming fire the sparkling Starres in the firmament were not so glorious but now alas since Caluinisme came in thou hast lost thy lustre thy glory is eclipsed there remaineth no sparkle of thy ancient loue no faith no Religion no Church ORTHOD. You tread in the steps of your foâ—efathers and helpe to fill vp the measure of their iniquitie For it hath bene alwayes their custome to lay odious imputations vpon our Religion that by this stratageme they might win Proselytes vnto their owne Rich. Bristow affirmed that our Religion is proued by experience to be indeed no Religion Cardinall Allen speaking of our Sacraments Seruice and Sermons calleth them things which assuredly procure damnation William Reinolds hath blazed to the world that our Religion is worse then the Turkish The bookes of Sanders and Parsons haue bene as full of slanders as a serpent is of poison To passe ouer Harding Stapleton and others the latter brood is as venemous as the former One example for all may be that lewd Libeller which exclaimeth That the Protestants haue no faith no hope no charitie no repentance no Iustification no Church no Altar no sacrifice no Priest no Religion no Christ. What shall we say to these intemperate spirits If they speake of malice then I say with Michael the Archangel The Lord rebuke them but if they speake of ignorance as I hope they do then I say with the holy Martyr S. Stephen Lord lay not this sinne to their charge Or with our blessed Sauiour Father forgiue them they wote not what they do For that faith and Religion which is agreeable to the Scripture is true holy ancient Catholicke and Apostolicke But the faith and Religion publickly professed at this day in England is in euery Article and branch thereof agreeable to the Scripture therefore it is in euery Article and branch thereof true holy ancient Catholicke and Apostolicke Moreouer where the Gospel is truely preached and the holy Sacraments rightly administred there is a true Christian visible Church but both these dueties are religiously performed in England what reason haue you then to say that we haue no Church PHIL. BEcause you haue no Ministerie for there cannot be a Church without Pastors and bishops as S. Cyprian teacheth who defineth the Church to be a people vnited to a Bishop And S Hierome when he saith That it is no Church which hath not Priests This doeth appeare euidently by S. Paul who declareth that Christ gaue Pastors and teachers for the consummation of the Saints the worke of the Ministerie and the edification of the body of Christ vntill we meet all in the vnitie of faith into a perfect man and the measure of the age of the fulnesse of Christ. In which place as our learned Cardinall hath obserued the Apostle teacheth That there shall be Pastours in the Church till the day of Iudgement for then we shall meet the Lord in the vnitie of faith Behold saith father Hessius till the number of the Elect bee accomplished in the end of the world the Church shall alwayes haue Pastors and teachers Neither doeth Luther deny this but rather put it among the Notes of the Church And Caluin affirmeth That the Church can neuer want Pastors and teachers From this plaine approued principle thus I dispute Where there is no true Ministerie there is no true Church but among the Protestants in England there is no true Ministerie therefore among them there is no true Church CHAP. II. Wherein is declared in generall how the Papists traduce our Ministers as meerely Lay-men And in particular what they mislike in our Bishops Presbyters and Deacons Whereupon the generall controuersie concerning the Ministerie is diuided into three particular controuersies The first of Bishops the second of Presbyters The third of Deacons ORTHODOX WHat mislike you in our Ministerie PHIL. Not one thing or two but the whole frame of it absolutely and altogether for to deale plainly your Ministers are no Ministers but meerely Lay men Neither is this my priuate opinion but the generall iudgement of our learned diuines which affirme the same As for example Ri. Bristow Consider what Church that is whose Ministers are but very Lay men vnsent vncalled vnconsecrated and therefore executing their pretended Office without benefit or spirituall comfort of any man yea to the certaine and great damnation of themselues and others vnfit and vnworthy by this onely that they bee called to that fond function of any seruice in the Church of God holding therefore amongst vs when they repent and come againe no other place but the place of Lay-men in no case admitted no nor looking to minister in any Office vnlesse they take our Orders which before they had not M Harding In this your new Church Bishops Priests Deacons Subdeacons or any inferior Order you haue none D. Sanders The new Clergie in England is composed partly of our Apostataes partly of meerely Lay-men M. Houlet That either all or the most part of the Ministers of England be meerely Lay men and no Priests and consequently haue no authoritie in these things it is euident Cardinall Allen with our learned diuines at Rhemes All your new Euangelists which haue intruded themselues into Church and Pulpit be euery one from the highest to the lowest false prophets running and vsurping being neuer lawfully called D. Stapleton They being sent of no man nor hauing Ordination haue inuaded the Ecclesiastical Chaires D. Kellison Forasmuch as the inferior Ministers are made by those Bishops and are children of those fathers they also are no true Priests hauing neither Order nor Iurisdiction William Reinolds There is no feeder of sheepe or oxen in all Turkie which doeth not vndertake the gouernment of his flocke or droue vpon better reason and greater right order and authoritie then these your magnificent Apostles and Euangelists can shew for this their Propheticall and Apostolicall and most diuine and most high Office of gouerning soules reforming Churches teaching heauenly Trueth and declaring the minde and will of God to men And finally the Catholicke Priests in their supplication to King Iames Neither is any of your Protestant Ministers comming to our Catholicke fraternity reputed other then meerely Lay-men without Orders Thus you see how we all agree in this point Neither is this the opinion of vs English Exiles onely but other Catholicke doctors are of the same minde The Hereticks of our age saith Bellarmine haue neither Ordination nor succession and therefore they vsurpe vnto themselues the name and Office of a Bishop more
immodestly then euer did any other heretickes And other reuerend diuines vse almost the same words Gregory de Valentia saith Certainely it is apparent that in the Catholicke Romane Church there are lawfull Ecclesiasticall Ministers as being rightly ordained of true Bishops but in the Synagogues of Sectaries it is euident that there are not lawfull Ministers for they are not ordained of lawfull Bishops and therefore it is manifest that they haue no Church seeing that a Church cannot want lawfull Ministers Likewise father Turrian saith That the Donatists and Luciferians had after a sort some fashion of a Church because they had Bishops though schismaticall and other Ministers whom Bishops ordained But the Protestants haue no forme or fashion of a Church at all because they haue no Ministers at all of the Church or word but meere Lay men Mattheus Lanoius hath proued that onely the Romane Church hath lawfull vocation And D. Tyreus hath written of the false calling of the new Ministers but these are sufficient And that this is the iudgement of holy Church may appeare by the practise for as you haue heard out of Rich. Bristow Your Ministers returning to vs are not admitted to minister vnlesse they take our Orders which sheweth that in the iudgement of the Church they are not lawfull Ministers but meerely Lay-men ORTHOD. Our Ministerie is agreeable to the blessed booke of God and therefore holy and I doubt not but when the chiefe Shepheard shall appeare those that haue instructed many vnto righteousnesse shall shine as the starres for euer and euer But how proue you that our Ministers are no lawfull Ministers PHIL. CAn there be a lawfull Minister without a lawfull calling ORTHOD. It is impossible For no man taketh this honour vnto himselfe but hee that is called of God as was Aaron It is written of Iohn the Baptist There was a man sent from God The Apostles did not preach before they had this warrant Behold I send you And S. Paul saith How can they preach except they be sent And the Lord in the Prophet Ieremie reproueth such as ranne before they were sent Therefore though a man were wiser then Solomon and Daniel he must expect till the Lord send him he that teacheth without a calling how can he hope that Christ will be with him This is an order saith Beza appointed in the Church by the Sonne of God and obserued inuiolably by all true Prophets and Apostles That no man may teach in the Church vnlesse he be called PHIL. If there cannot be a lawfull Minister without a lawfull calling then I must demaund how the Ministers of England can iustifie their calling Might not a man say to euery one of you as Harding said to Iewell How say you sir you beare your selfe as though you were Bishop of Salisburie but how can you proue your vocation by what authoritie vsurpe you the Administration of Doctrine and Sacraments what can you alledge for the right and proofe of your Ministerie who hath called you who hath laied hands on you by what example hath he done it how and by whom are you consecrated who hath sent you who hath committed vnto you the Office you take vpon you be you a Priest or be you not if you be not how dare you vsurpe the name and Office of a Bishop if you be tell vs who gaue you Orders ORTHOD. You please your selues and beat the aire with a sound of idle and emptiâ— words but leaue your vaine flourishes and let vs heare what you can say against our calling PHIL. Then I demand whether you haue an inward or an outward calling ORTHOD. We haue both PHIL. An outward calling must either bee immediatly by the voyce of Christ as was the calling of the Apostles or mediatly by the Church ORTHOD. We are called of God by the Church For it is he which giueth Pastors and teachers for the consummation of the Saints PHIL. All that are called of God by the Church deriue their authoritie by lawfull succession from Christ and his Apostles If you doe so then let it appeare shew vs your discent let vs see your pedegree If you cannot then what are you whence come you If you tell vs that God hath raised you in extraordinary maner you must pardon vs if we be slow in beleeuing such things there are many deceiuers gone out into the world and Sathan can transforme himselfe into an Angel of light In a word euery lawful calling is either ordinary or extraordinary if yours be ordinary let vs see your authoritie if extraordinary let vs see your miracles If one take vpon him extraordinary authoritie as an Ambassadour from a King he must produce his commission vnder the Kings seale If you will challenge the like from God then we require a miracle that is the Seale of the King of heauen But to vse the words of Doct. Stapleton In the hatching of the Protestants brood no ordinary vocation nor sending extraordinary appeareth so the ground and foundation being nought all which they haue builded vpon it falleth downe ORTHOD. The Ministers of England receiue imposition of hands in lawfull maner from lawfull Bishops indued with lawfull authoritie and therefore their calling is Ordinary PHIL. Your Bishops themselues whence haue they this authoritie ORTHOD. They receiued it from God by the hands of such Bishops as went before them PHIL. But your first reformers whence do they deriue their succession ORTHOD. Archbishop Cranmer and other heroicall spirits whom the Lord vsed as his instruments to reforme Religion in England had the very selfe-same Ordination and succession whereof you so glory and therefore if these argue that your calling is Ordinary you must confesse that theirs likewise was Ordinarie PHIL. We must not onely examine Cranmer and such others consecrated in King Henries time but them also which were in King Edwards and in the beginning of Queene Elizabeths as Parker Grindall Sands Horne and the like which were Priests after the Romane rite but leaped out of the Church before they were Bishops ORTHOD. As the first Bishops consecrated in King Edwards time deriued their Spirituall power by succession from those that were in King Henries so the first that were aduanced vnder the Raigne of Queene Elizabeth receiued theirs from such as were formerly created partly in K. Henries dayes partly in King Edwards And the Bishops at this day vnder our gracious soueraigne King IAMES haue the like succession from their predecessours as may be iustified by Records in particular and is confessed in generall by â—udsemius who came into England in the yeere of our Lord 1608. to obserue the state of our Church and the Orders of our Vniuersities Concerning the state saith he of the Caluinian sect in England it so standeth that it may either indure long or be changed suddenly and in a trâ—ce in regard of the Catholicke order there in a
perpetuall line of their Bishops and the lawfull succession of Pastors receiued from the Church for the honor whereof we vse to call the English Caluinists by a milder terme not hereticks but schismaticks Behold he confesseth we haue the Catholick order a perpetuall line of Bishops a lawfull succession of Pastors that deriued from the Church But withal I would haue you to know that though we receiued it froÌ„ the Church of Rome yet with a double difference For first Crâ—nmer and the rest receiued their Orders from Popish Bishops in a Popish manner that is defiled with many Popish pollutions but when it pleased God to open their eyes they pared away the pollutions and retayning onely that which was good deliuered it vnto posteritie So we succeed you in your Orders not simply but so far as they are agreeable to the Scripture for the man of â—in did â—it in the Temple of God and Antichrist had vsurped the chaire of Christ so that now in the Church of Rome good things and bad things were mingled together therefore in that which you receiued from Christ wee willinglie succeed you in that which you haue from Antichrist we renounce and disclaime you Secondly Cranmer and the rest receiued from you a shell of succession without the kernell of Doctrine For though your Church did giue men power to preach the truth yet being bewitched with Antichrist in many things it did not reueale the truth but when God by the Scriptures reuealed it vnto them they both preached it themselues and commended it to posterity Neither was this to leape out of the Church but out of the corruptions in the Church euen as the wheate kernel when it is clensed leapeth not out of the barne but out of the chaffe Moreouer though our Doctrine may seeme to you extraordinarie because it differeth from the Doctrine of the present Church of Rome yet as our calling and function so our Doctrine is the same which the spirit of God hath deliuered in holy Scripture to be ordinary in the Church till the end of the world and therefore you haue no reason to require any Miracles at our hands PHIL. These points shal be further skanned I warrant you In the meane time As Tigellius in Horace had nothing certaine and setled in all the course of his life but was alwaies distracted into contrary affections In respect of his pace some times he ran most swiftly as though hee had fled from his enemie some times hee mooued so slowly as though hee had carried the sacrifices of Iuno In respect of his traine he had many times two hundred attending him againe sometimes he had onely two And in his speech now he imitated Kings and Tetrarches and spake nothing but all bigge words an other time hee would stoope to very meane matters So that nothing was more vnlike and vnequall in the course of life then this poore wretch was to himselfe euen so your Dâ—ctors some times they creepe vpon the ground by and by they catch at the clouds and starres Now they refuse all miracles and â—nock at such at require them on a suddaine they challenge to themselues all the miracles since the beginning of the world ORTHOD. And herein they doe nothing but what may stand with reason For if you speake of our doctrine we professe and are readie to prooue that wee teach the same doctrine for substance which Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles both taught and confirmed by Miracles And in this sence all the Miracles of Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles are ours because they are so many seales and confirmations of that Doctrine which we teach But if the question bee concerning our persons then wee confesse that wee can worke no miracles wee take no such matter vpon vs neither is it necessarie because both our calling and doctrine are Ordinary PHIL. I will proue that you haue no lawfull ordinarie calling in the Church of England And first you challenge to your selues no other ministers but either Bishops or Priests or Deacons for other inferiour orders you haue none But neither your Bishops nor your Priestes nor your Deacons haue any lawfull ordinary calling For first to the ordinarie calling of a Bishop ordination or consecration is requisite by precedent Bishops hauing episcopal power of order and iurisdiction but your Bishops are descended from such progenitours as had neither of these no Episcopall power of Order because either they had no consecration at all or at least such as is not able to abide the touchstone no Episcopall iurisdiction because they are neither elected nor confirmed by our holy Father the successour of Peter to whom onely Christ gaue the Keyes and in them the fulnesse of all Ecclesiasticall power Therefore your Bishops are no Bishops and consequently all ordinations deriued from them are mere nullities SEcondly your ordination of Priestes is most intollerable for according to holy Church this sacred action consisteth of two parts answerable to the two principal functions of Priesthood the former is garnished with these seemely ceremonies First of all the Bishop with all the Priestes present layeth his hands vpon the head of the person to be ordained then he inuesteth him in a sacred stoale so fitted and fashioned that it maketh a Crosse vpon his brest after this he anointeth his hands with holy oile and lastly he deliuereth him the Chalice with wine and the Paten with the hoast saying Accipe potestatem offerre sacrificium Deo Missasque celebraretam pro viuis quam pro defunctis in nomine domini that is take thou power to offer sacrifice to God and to celebrate Masses as well for the quicke as for the dead in the name of the Lord. This is the first part of the ordination which graceth him with the principall function of Priesthood whereby he is made interpres mediator dei hominum That is an Interpreter and mediator of God and man Yea higher then a King happier then an Angell creator of his Creator This is that which maketh the holy Priesthood to be honoured because no King nor Emperor no Angel nor Archangel is able to do as we doe that is with pronouncing of a few words to make the body of Christ flesh blood and bone as it was borne of the Virgin Mary Moreouer after Masse the Bishop imposeth hands saying Accipe spirituâ—â— sanctum quorum peccata remiseris remituntur cis quorum retinueris retenta sunt that is Receiue the holy Ghost whose sinnes thou forgiuest they are forgiuen them and whose thou retainest they are retained This is the second part wherein hee receiueth the second function of Priesthood that is the power of absolution Such are the rites of holy Church wherein you are notoriously defectiue To passe ouer with silence your contempt of the sacred ceremonies of Crossing and anointing which are but accidentall you want the very essentiall
Bishops but they are found in the Church of Rome and not in the Church of England PHIL. YOur Bishops are no Bishops because they are not ordained according to the Canons ORT. The ancient Canons are more reuerently regarded in the Church of England then in the Church of Rome For how well you haue obserued them in former ages let your owne Baronius testifie How foule saith hee was then the face of the holy Romane Church when most potent and withall most filthie harlots did beare all the sway at Rome at whose lust Sees were changed Bishops appointed and which is horrible to be heard and not to bee vttered whose louers the false Popes were thrust into the seate of Peter which were not to bee written in the Catalogue of the Romane Bishops but onely for the noting of the times for who may say they were lawfull Popes which were thus without right thrust in by such strumpets No where wee finde any mention of Clergie choosing or giuing consent afterward All Canons were put to silence the pontificall decrees were choked ancient traditions proscribed and the old customes sacredrite and former vse in choosing the high Bishop vtterly extinguished And for later times your owne learned friends also complaine as followeth Budeus The holie Canons and rules of Church discipline made in better times to guide the life of Clergie men are now become leaden rules such as Aristotle saith the rules of Lesbyan buildings were For as leaden and soft rules doe not direct the building with an equall tenour but are bowed to the building at the lust of the builders so are the Popes Canons made flexible as leade and waxe that now this great while the Decrees of our ancestours and the Popes Canons serue not to guide mens manners but that I may so say to make a banke and get mony Franciscus de Victoria Doct of the chaire at Salmantica in Spaine Wee see dailie so large or rather so dissolute dispensations proceede from the Court of Rome that the world cannot indure them Neither is it onely to the offence of the little ones but of the great ones also No man seeketh a dispensation but hee obtaineth it Yea at Rome there are which giue attendance to see if any bee willing to craue dispensation of all things established by law all that craue it haue it If you Philodox would see the particulars reade but Claudius Espencaeus a diuine of Paris vpon the Epistle to Titus and vnlesse your fore-head bee as hard as brasse it will make you blush I will conclude this point with the saying of Ruardus Tapperus Chancelour of Louaine In the Court of Rome all things are set at sale with dispensations contayning many things wherewith Christ himselfe is not able to dispence Behold this is your keeping of Canons in the Church of Rome But because you accuse the Church of England for breaking the Canons in making of Bishops I answere first that the consecration of our Bishops is most canonicall Secondly that if wee failed in this or that Canon yet euery transgression of an Ecclesiasticall Canon doth not make a nullitie in a consecration As for example It was prouided by the great Councell of Sardica that none should bee made Bishop vnlesse hee had passed the inferiour orders and staied a long time in them Notwithstanding Nectarius was chosen Patriarch of Constantinople being not only a lay-man but as yet vnbaptized and was presently made Bishop in the second generall Councell held at Constantinople Likewise Saint Ambrose Tarasius Nicephorus Eusebius of Caesarea Thalasius yea and some Popes also as for example Petrus Moronaeus were of lay men aduanced to the Episcopall office yet I know you dare not pronounce a nullitie in their Consecration Wherfore seeing it is a plaine case that euery breach of a Canon doth not annihilate a consecration you must tell vs what Canon you meane and wherein we breake it PHIL. I meane that Canon which requireth that a Bishop should bee consecrated by three Bishops which Canon the Councel of Trent calleth an Apostolicke tradition ORTHO HEre arise two questions the former whether three Bishops be required of necessitie to an Episcopall consecration the later whether the Bishops of England be consecrated by three Now that the state of the former may be the clearer giue me leaue to aske you a few things And first what say you to Amphilochius who was created Bishop not by men but by Angels vnlesse Nicephorus delude vs with fables PHIL. It seemeth to bee no fable but a true Story For Amphilochius was allowed for a lawfull Bishop but this was done as Cardinall Bellarmine saith by diuine dispensation extraordinary ORTH. What say you then to the blessed Apostles were they Bishops or no And if Bishops whether in that they were Apostles or by distinct consecration and if by distinct consecration by whom were they consecrated PHIL. Cardinall Turrecremata teacheth that Chirst himselfe made Peter a Bishoppe immediatelie and Peter ordained the rest first Iohn next Iames then others And Cardinall Bellarmine maketh it the two and twentith prerogatiue of Peter Quòd solus Petrus a Christo ordinatus Episcopus fuerit caeteri autem a Petro Episcopalem consecrationem acceperint i. That onely Peter was ordained Bishop by Christ and the rest receiued their Episcopall consecration from Peter ORTHOD. These conceites and fancies when they shal be weighed in the ballance wil be found too light In the meane time what say you to the consecration of Iohn and Iames were they sound and Canonical PHIL. They were sound no doubt but why should you aske if they were canonicall seeing the Canon was not then made You must vnderstand that there is one consideration to bee had of the Church when it is in the cradle and another when it is growne to ripe and florishing yeeres In the infancie of the Church when Christ ascending into glorie had consecrated Peter and made him the spring and fountaine of all Episcopall Order it was necessarie that the first should bee consecrated by Peter alone the next by two at the most and these consecrations were sound and sufficient but when Iames the brother of our Lord was ordained Bishoppe of Ierusalem by Peter Iohn and the other Iames they gaue a Forme or Patterne to their successours as Anacletus declareth that a Bishop should by no meanes bee consecrated by fewer then by three all the rest giuing their consent ORTHO Suppose a Church should suffer such desolation which the Lord forbid that a Canonicall number of Catholicke Bishops were not to be found what should then be done in this case of necessitie PHIL. Wee may learne that partly of the Councell of Sardica which permitteth a supply from the next prouince partly of Pope Gregory the seuenth who when the Churches of Africke were brought to so lowe an ebbe that they had
of Abbots with a dispensation or else he is no Bishop and this argument he calleth insoluble ORTHO HOw this doth crosse and condradict it selfe in due place shall appeare in the meane time I would willingly know what is the receiued opinion of your Seminaries There is a certaine manuscript booke called Controuersiae huius temporis in Epitomen reductae made by Parsons the Iesuite out of the Dictates of Bellarmine and Maldonate and appointed to be written out by euery Student in your Colledge I pray you what saith that booke to this point PHIL. It agreeth with the former the words are these Primus Canon Apostolorum hoc idem declarat scilicet Episcopum non posse ordinari nisi a tribus Episcopis hinc sequitur ineuitabiliter Haereticos non habere vllos pastores seu Episcopos cum primi illorum Episcopi Caluinus Lutherus Zuinglius nunquam fuerunt ordinati ab alijs Episcopis That is The first Canon of the Apostles declareth this same thing to wit that a Bishop cannot be ordeined but of three Bishops hence it followeth vnauoydably that the Hereticks haue not any pastours or Bishops seeing that their first Bishops Caluin Luther Zuinglius had neuer beene ordained of other Bishops ORTHO HItherto we haue seene how you hold the state of the first question but doe your Iesuites and Seminaries vrge this against the Church of England PHIL. Yes for it is a maine point ORTHO Then your maine point is a vaine point but let vs heare them PHIL. Bellarmine speaking of the marriage of English Bishops saith Nullam excusationem habent nisi forte velint liberè confiteri quod verissimum est se veros Episcopos non esse neque aliquid de Episcopatu habere nisi quae sibi iniuste vsurpant nomen opes That is They haue no excuse vnlesse peraduenture they will freely confesse which is most true that they are no true Bishops neither haue any thing of the Episcopall function but what they vniustly vsurpe vnto themselues to wit the name and the riches If nothing else then not the Character not the Iurisdiction not the Order not the Office they haue nothing nothing at all except the name and the riches ORTHOD. The riches alas Is it not strange that a Cardinall swimming in streames of gold to the chinne should enuy the riches of the Bishops of England But be they rich or poore surely if the Pope might haue had his will before this time he would haue made them poore ynough In the daies of King Henry the eight when a view was taken it appeared that he had receiued out of England onely for Inuestitures of Bishops 4000. pounds by the yeere one yeere with another and that for 40. yeeres together But how dare Bellarmine thus accuse our Bishops as though they had nothing belonging to the Episcopall function What no learning none at all It is not long agoe since he put off his Cardinals robes disguising himselfe vnder the ill fauoured habit and vizard of Tortus when one of our Bishops whether learned or no let the world iudge did so vnmaske and display him that all Popish hearts haue cause to bleed to see the weakenesse of their chiefe Champion so plainely discouered And as our Bishops haue learning so let the Cardinall know that they are famous and eminent Preachers very labourious in the Vineyard of Christ and in this respect farre vnlike to his brethren the Cardinals For Iulius the second said that he could not with a good conscience make Frier Giles a Cardinall because then he should leaue his preaching and afterward Leo the tenth made him a Cardinall that he might hold his peace For commonly in the Church of Rome the great Bishops preach seldome the Cardinals seldomer and the Popes neuer But what is the ground of his accusation PHIL. Because they are not Canonically ordeined The same point is likewise vrged against them by Doctor Stapleton Whether went they into France Spaine or Germanie seeing that at home there was no number of such as might and would serue their turne No no as their Religion is contrary their ende is diuers their beginning hath bene vtterly different from the true Christian faith planted among vs so are their proceedings different and repugnant they haue not come in by the doore they haue stolne in like theeues without all Spirituall authoritie or gouernement This difference betweene the Protestants and our true Bishops the first Apostles importeth so much that it may not lightly be passed ouer for their authoritie being proued nought all their doings can be no better I say therefore by the verdict of holy Scripture and practise of the Primitiue Church these men are no Bishops Your pretended Bishops haue no such Ordination no such laying on of the hands of Bishops no authoritie to ordaine Priests and Ministers and therefore neither are you true Ministers neither they any Bishops at all ORTHOD. What reason haue you to say that our Bishops are not consecrated by three the Canon hath alwaies bene obserued in our Church neither can all the Papists in the world giue any one instance to the contrary since the time of Reformation PHIL. Doct. Sanders declareth That there was a time when you had neither three nor two Bishops and yet at the same time your new Superintendents inuaded the Ecclesiasticall Chaires and were glad to seeke their Confirmation from the Prince and Parliament after they had enioyed the Episcopall Office certaine yeeres without any Episcopall Consecration And therefore all the water in the Thames cannot cleare the Clergie of England from being vsurpers ORTHOD. But if this be false then all the water in the Tybur though it were turned into Holy-water cannot purge the Papists from being slanderers And how false it is shall hereafter be declared out of authenticall Records by which it shall appeare That the Queenes Letters patents of Commission concerning the Confirmation and Consecration of the very first Bishop made in her time were directed to 7. Bishops and also that the Consecration was accomplished by 4 Bishops whose names and titles shall be specified In the meane time this onely I say In lying and slandering many Papists haue had an admirable dexteritie but Sanders surmounted them all For as his booke of Schisme is truely called by a learned Bishop Sterquilinium mendactorum A dunghill of lies so it might be iustly termed Sterquilinium calumniarum A very dunghill of slanders Insomuch that for his noble facultie that way he deserueth no more to be called M. Doct. Sanders but M. Doct. Slanders PHIL. It is no slander but a trueth which shal be auouched to your faces for I wil proue al that I haue said in order My masters marke what I say If you can iustifie your Calling we will all come to your Church and be of your Religion ORTHOD. Remember your promise and proceed with your Argument PHIL. I will proceed and
labours to the grace of God which imposition of hands the ancient writers terme Ordination vsing the word largely and improperly But if we should imagine that he was properly ordained what can be collected thereupon PHIL. THat this should be a paterne to all posteritie as appeareth by the authorities before alleadged and consequently that a Bishop should not be ordained by fewer then three ORTHOD. There may be a faire patterne and yet posteritie may sometimes want meanes to imitate that patterne When the number may be had we greatly commend it when it cannot then both this and all other Ecclesiasticall Constitutions must yeeld to necessitie PHIL. The contrary is manifest by the words of Anâ—cletus A Petro Iacobo Iohanne Apostolis est ordinatus successoribus dantibus formam eorum vt non minus quam à tribus Episcopis reliquisque omnibus assensum praebentibus vllatenus ordinetur Episcopus Wherefore a Bishop must not be ordained Vllatenus by any meanes or in any respect by fewer then three and consequently not in case of necessitie Is not this to make the number of three a substantiall point of Episcopall Ordination ORTHOD. The same word in effect is vsed about the Consecration of an Archbishop Archiepiscopus ab omnibus suae Prouinciae Episcopis ordinetur hoc autem nullatenus liceat immutare That is Let an Archbishop be ordained of all the Bishops of his Prouince and let it by no meanes be lawfull to change this Where this word Nullatenus doeth not proue that the consent of all is substantiall as is confessed by Cardinall Turrecremata PHIL. You must marke what followeth Sin aliter praesumptum fuerit viribus carere non dubium est quia irrita erit secus acta ordinatio i. If the action shal be otherwise done through presumption there is no doubt but it wanteth validitie because the Ordination otherwise performed shal be voyd ORTHOD. It shal be void but how Quoad officij executionem saith the Glosse i. According to the execution of the Office Whereupon Hugo saith Episcopus tamen erit licet ab omnibus non consecretur sed repelletur ab Officio Episcopali nisi dispensetur cum illo i. Yet he shal be a Bishop although he be not Consecrated of all but he shal be repelled for his presumption from the Episcopal Office vnlesse he be dispensed withall Wherefore in the iudgment of Hugo the Ordination is not void in respect of the power but the Church may make it void in respect of the execution and yet vpon his repentance he may be admitted to the execution not by a new ordination but by dispensation which proueth that the transgression was not substantial but accidental PHIL. Damasus saith It is apparant to all men that they are no Bishops which are ordained of fewer then three because it is forbidden by the holy Fathers that they which are ordained of one or two Bishops should not so much as be named Bishops If they haue not the name how shall they haue the office Wherefore whatsoeuer they shall doe amongst Bishops Necesse est vt irritum fiat i. It must needes bee voide Quia quod non habent dare non possunt i. because they cannot giue that which they haue not ORTHO Your owne Cardinall shall answere you Wheresoeuer saith hee it can bee found that an ordination is voide and of no validitie because it is performed by fewer then by three it is to be vnderstood Non quantum ad veritatem Sacramenti sed quantum ad executionem officij i. Not in respect of the trueth of the Sacrament but in respect of the execution of the office And truely there is no reason that he should inioy an honorable office in the Church which presumptuously breaketh the Lawes of the Church Therefore the Church may iustly repell them from execution but cannot take away their power which they haue in themselues and haue power to imprint in others Yet while they haue it without the Churches approbation they cannot giue it with the Churches approbation and while they stand in opposition the Church esteemeth the orders they giue as no orders yet are they true orders in the nature of the thing but the Church restraineth the execution of them as though they were none for order and discipline sake Yet as you heard before euen in case of presumption the Church may dispense vpon due consideration and consequently receiue into her bosome such as were ordained in Schisme and let them inioy both their orders and honours But when the defect springeth neither from schisme nor heresie from presumption nor singularitie but onely from vrgent necessitie there being no voluntary violation necessitie it selfe is a sufficient dispensation And this must be the meaning of Damasus or else â—f you vrge from his words an absolute nullity you wil make him condradict both the positions and practise of your owne Church as hereafter shal be declared CHAP. V. Wherein their Argument drawne from the Councels is propounded vrged and answered PHIL. THE contrary may be proued by the Councels and I hope as in all other Controuersies betweene vs and you so in this you shall be presently confounded by them I will beginne with that first famous generall Councell of Nice ORTHO Indeed a vaine Iesuite cryeth Concilia generalia mea sunt primum vltimum media that is All generall Councells are mine the first the last and the middle For tryall whereof let vs take a little viewe of this Nicen Councell wherein you so glory and first concerning that very Canon which you produce against vs as though we did transgresse it we may iustly say that the Church of England hath as well obserued it as euer did any Church vpon the face of the earth But the Church of Rome doth indeed transgresse it In which sometimes one Bishop alone doth consecrate a Bishop two Abbots supplying the place of the other two Bishops as Bellarmine confesseth Secondly according to the Nicen Canons the power to confirme Bishops belongeth to the Metropolitan of the prouince without whose approbation whosoeuer is ordeined a Bishop the Nicen Fathers account for no Bishop but the Church of Rome alloweth him whom the Pope alloweth though he be not allowed by his Metropolitan and disalloweth him whom the Pope disalloweth though he be lawfully allowed by his Metropolitan Thirdly the Nicen Canons forbidde that any Bishop should absolue them which are excommunicate by another Bishop But the Pope will open and shut bind and loose at his pleasure Fourthly the Nicen Canons appoint that old customes should bee kept and namely that the Bishop of Alexandria should haue the preheminence in Egypt Lybya and Pentapolis because such also is the custome of the Bishop of Rome and likewise that in Antioch and other Prouinces the Churches should inioy their dignities and prerogatiues Which words in all reason import that euery Metropolitan should haue preheminence
be present but they not willing to take knowledge of any of these things admitted the Communion of Euagrius and exasperated the eares of the Emperour against Flauianus PHIL. I will answere with Baronius Those things which Theodoret saith concerning the Ordination of Euagrius performed during the life of Paulinus are altogether repugnant to those things which are spoken by Socrates and Sozomen affirming that the auditors of Paulinus did not attempt to substitute Euagrius into his place till after the death of Paulinus ORTHO It is a shameful course of Baronius to reiect in Histories whatsoeuer doth not fit his fancie In this present point he pretendeth repugnancie where there is none at all For Theodoret speaketh of ordination Socrates and Sozomen of installation PHIL. How proue you the other Branch that Euagrius was allowed for a lawfull Bishop ORTHO Baronius saith Pro Euagrio Syricius Theodosium interpellauit Syricius the Pope did solicite Theodosius the Emperour in the behalfe of Euagrius And Binius Pontifex c. The Pope and with him almost all the Bishops of the West being against Flauianus as before they stood for Paulinus so now they tooke part with Euagrius and animated the Emperour against Flauianus Moreouer Innocent the first granted the Communion of the Roman Church to Alexander Bishop of Alexandria vpon this condition amongst others that he should receiue those that were ordained of Euagrius the successour of Paulinus with their orders and honours as is likewise confessed by Binius Here is a plaine example of a Bishop ordained by one Bishop alone and yet allowed both by the Bishops of the West and by two Popes Hitherto the examples of three Patriarches NOw let vs consider our neighbours of France concerning whom Iohannes Maior a Doctour of Paris saith Rusticus Eleutherius qui cum beato Dionysio ad Gallias venerunt non erant Episcopi sed Galliae Episcopos solus Dionysius ordinauit Rusticus and Eleutherus which came into France with S. Denys were no Bishops but Denys alone ordained the Bishops of France FInally I will adde some testimonies of your owne writers Iohannes Maior Dico esse constitutionem humanaâ— quod Episcopus ordinetur a tribus â— I say that it is a humane constitution that a Bishop should be ordained of three Petrus de palude In Ecclesia vnus Episcopus sufficit ad alium Consecrandum nec est nisi propter solennitatem ab Ecclesia inuentum vt tres concurrant i. In the Church one Bishop is sufficient to Consecrate another and it is nothing else but for the solemnitie of the matter that the Church hath deuised that three Bishops should meete together Cardinall Turrecremata is plentifull in this point and proueth it by foureteene Arguments PHIL. Yet other Doctours as you haue heard are of another opinion THE SECOND BOOKE WHEREIN THE CONSEcrations of the Bishops of England from the first planting of Christianitie till the last yeere of Queene Mary are examined CHAP. I. Wherein they descend to the second Question whether the Consecrations of the Bishops of England be Canonicall ORTH. SVppose I should admit that three Bishops were euerlastingly and vnchangeably required to the Consecration of a new Bishop and that of such absolute necessitie that the defect should make a nullitie what would this aduantage you or disaduantage vs PHIL. Very much For then it would follow that your Bishops are no Bishops ORTHO Why so There is not a Bishop in England at this day liuing which was not Consecrated by three Our booke of Consecrating may informe you That in the Church of England two Bishops doe alwayes present the person to be Consecrated and the Archbishop or some other Bishop appointed by his Commission pronounceth the Blessing as principall Consecratour Is not this Canonicall PHIL. No because your Consecrating Bishops are not themselues Canonicall For to a Canonicall Bishop it is required That he haue three such Bishops for his Consecrators as were euery one of them Consecrated by three And againe each of them by three And so by continuall succession till we come to the Apostles For as Doct. Stapleton saith Christi Ecclesia illa sola est quae suos Pastores Episcopos perpetua successione potest ostendere i. That onely is Christs Church which can shew her Pastors and Bishops in a perpetuall succession And againe Vbicunque talis perpetuâ— successio non in eisdem locis sed in eadem legitima successiua vocatione missione Ordinatione ostendi potest ibi sit vera Christi Ecclesia Catholica id est Ecclesiae Catholicae pars membrum i. Wheresoeuer such a perpetuall succession of Pastors can be shewed not in the same places but in the same lawfull and successiue vocation mission and Ordination there is a true Catholicke Church That is A part and member of the Catholicke Church Now If you can shew any succession of Bishops in England or elsewhere you can shew it no otherwise then could the Donatists of whom Optatus thus writeth Missus est Victor c. Victor was sent of the Donatists to Rome There was a sonne without a father a seruant without a ruler a scholler without a master a successour without a predecessour Igitur quia Claudianus c. i. Therefore because Claudian seemeth to succeed to Lucian Lucian to Macrobius Macrobius to Encolpius Encolpius to Boniface Boniface to Victor If now we should aske Victor in whose place hee sate and to whom hee succeeded Hee could not shew any other Chaire or See but the See and Chaire of pestilence Thus I say That as Victor among the Donatists so Luther among the Protestants of Wittenberge so Zuinglius among the Sacramentaries of Zurich so Caluin among those of Geneua so Bernard Rotman among the Anabaptists so M. Iewell Grindall and Horne and such other false Bishops among vs haue risen and started vp suddenly without fathers without predecessours without masters in any right and lineall succession Or if they haue any let them search their Records turne their Registers produce their Euidences vnfold their Monuments of Antiquitie and witnesse to the world their Canonicall succession which they neither doe nor can doe But we can shew you Bishops of Rome euen from S. Peter to our holy father Paulus Quintus who now liueth Antonius Democharis hath described the Bishops of France or rather of all the Prouinces of the Christian world Doct. Stapleton wrote with his owne hand a Catologue found in a Monasterie containing the Bishops of all the Westerne Church Histories Registers publique Tables the very Temples and most ancient Monuments of Ecclesiastical Colledges are euident Arguments of our succession Yea we haue a Catalogue in Polydor Virgil of all the Bishops of our Nation for almost a thousand yeeres Then was the Church of England like a Golden chaine whose Sacred linckes had such a mutuall connexion and dependencie that from the blessed Apostles we
Land in the time of the Apostles PHIL. OVr Countrie of great Brittaine hath beene three times conuerted to Christianitie by three Bishops of Rome First by Saint Peter Secondly by Eleutherius Thirdlie by Pope Gregory Saint Peter came hither in person Eleutherius and Gregorie by their Legates ORTHOD. The first conuersion may bee considered in generall or in particular In generall it is most cleare that our countrey receiued very anciently the Christian faith Theodoret saith Neither the Aethiopians which border vpon the Egyptian Thebes nor many other nations of the Ismaelites not the Lazi not the Sammi not the Auasgi not many other barbarians hauing yeelded themselues to the dominion of the Romans doe vse in their trafficke any of the Roman Lawes but these our fishermen and Publicans and this our tent maker haue brought the Euangelicall law vpon all nations neither haue they induced the Romans onely and those which liue vnder the Roman Empire but the Scythians Sauromatae also the Indians Persians Seres Hyrcans Britans Cymmery Germans and to speake in one word all kinde of men and all nations to receiue the lawes of Christ crucified not vsing any armour not an infinite number of chosen souldiours not the violence of Persian crueltie but the perswasion of wordes setting before them the commoditie of the Lawes which they preached Thus farre Theodoret. And before him Saint Hierome France and the Brittaines and Affricke and Persia and the East and India and all Barbarous nations adore one Christ and obserue one rule of trueth And before him Saint Chrysostome Whithersoeuer thou shalt goe to the Indians to the Moores to the Brittaines to the Spaniards yea to the furthest end of the world thou shalt finde in the beginning was the word and the word was with God c. And before Chrysostome Athanasius To which Fathers of the Nicen Councell all Churches euery where haue giuen their consent in Spaine Britaine France c. And before Athanasius Tertullian the places of the Britanes whereunto the Romans could not haue accesse are subiect vnto Christ. And before Tertullian Origen When did the land of Britaine consent to the Religion of one God before the comming of Christ when did the land of the Moores when did the whole world at once but now the whole earth prayeth to the Lord of Israel with ioy because of the Churches which are in the vtmost cost of the world To these agreeth that which Polydor Virgil bringeth out of Gyldas the most ancient Writer of our nation That Britaine receiued the faith ab initio orti Euangelij from the first springing of the Gospell So at the very dawning of the day to them that were in darkenesse and in the shadowe of death the euerlasting light appeared and the Sunne of righteousnesse did shine vpon them The barren wildernesse of Britaine became a fruitfull garden and was graciously watered with the dew of heauen Thus it was in part fulfilled which was foretold by the Psalmist I will giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the vttermost parts of the earth for thy possession HItherto in generall Now in particular who were the first golden pipes and Conduits to conueigh the water of life vnto them is not so certaine PHIL. Some thinke it to be Saint Peter some Saint Paul some Simon Zelotes some Aristobulus some Ioseph of Arimathea But the best opinion is that it was Saint Peter which father Parsons hath prooued by sundry authorities First by Simeon Metaphrastes ORTHODOX This authoritie deserueth small credit as you may learne of Baronius in these speeches If any credit bee to bee giuen to Metaphrastes And againe In many other things by him set downe it is certaine that he erreth PHIL. This matter seemeth to bee somewhat confirmed by that which Innocentius the first Bishop of Rome hath left written aboue a thousand and two hundred yeeres agoe saying That the first Churches of Italy France Spaine Africa Sicilia and the Ilands that lye betwixt them were founded by Saint Peter or his schollers or successors ORTHOD. Parsons proposeth this very faintly not daring to say it is but it seemeth to bee neither seemeth to bee confirmed but seemeth to bee somewhat confirmed and yet this somewhat is neuer a whit for Innocent saith not that these Churches were all founded by Saint Peter but by Saint Peter or his schollers and successors Neither doth it appeare that hee speaketh of Britaine either expresly or by consequence for though it bee an Iland yet it lyeth neither betweene Italy and France nor Italy and Spaine nor Italy and Africk nor betweene France and Spaine nor France and Africk nor betweene Spaine Africk neither is it neere to Sicily What then is the meaning of Innocent hauing named on the one side of the Mediterranean sea Italy France and Spaine and on the other side Africk hee addeth Sicily and the Ilands that lye betweene them as though hee should haue saide Sicily and the other Ilands in the Mediterranean sea howsoeuer the scituation will not suffer vs to vnderstand it of Britaine PHIL. Gulielmus Eysengrenius in his first Centurie or hundred yeeres doth write also that the first Christian Churches of England were founded by Saint Peter vnder Nero. ORTH. Eysengrenius a man liuing in our owne age for he wrote Anno. â—566 cannot bee of great authoritie especially in a matter of antiquitie and yet hee is of lesse because hee leaneth on such rotten reedes as Metaphrastes saying Metaphrastes affirmeth that many Churches were built by Peter the standard bearer of the Apostles through Britaine PHIL. To this founding of Churches in England by Saint Peter it may bee thought that Gildas had relation when expostulating with the Britaine Priestes of his time for their wickednesse for which the wrath of God brought in the English Saxons vpon them hee obiecteth among other things Quod sedem Petri apostoli inuerecundis pedibus vsurpassent That they had vsurped the seate of Saint Peter with vnshame fast feete meaning thereby either the whole Church of Britanie first founded by him or some particular place of deuotion or Church which hee had erected ORTH. Neither is Parsons peremptory in this point For he saith not it is to be thought but it may be thought wherefore in his owne iudgement it is not a consequence of necessitie but a collection of probabilitie and to any indifferent man it will not appeare so much as probable if hee ponder the place of Gildas Sedem Petri Apostoli inuerecundis pedibus vsurpantes sed merito capiditatis in Iudae traditoris pestilentem Cathedram decidentes they occupy the seate of Peter with vnshame fast feete but by the desert of their couetousnesse they fall into the pestilent chaire of the traitour Iudas If the chaire of Iudas doe not argue that Iudas was in England why should the seate of Peter argue that Peter was in England And the
same Gildas a little after speaking against such Bishops as ordained Symoniacall persons saith Nicholaum in locum Stephani martyris statuunt they install Nicholas into the place of the Martyr Saint Steuen Doth this proue that the Martyr Saint Steuen was locally in England or that either the whole Church of Britaine or any particular place of deuotion was founded by him No more doth the other concerning Saint Peter PHIL. What then will you make to be the meaning of Gildas ORTHOD. Hee lamenteth to see those Churches which had beene gouerned by zealous men like to Saint Peter and Saint Steuen now to be defiled with vncleane persons like vnto Iudas and Nicholas the Deacon PHIL. Why should he rather name Peter then any other Apostle if Peter were not in England ORTHOD. The speech of Christ concerning the feeding of his flocke was directed in a speciall manner to Peter whence it commeth to passe that all to whom the care of feeding Christs flocke is committed are called Saint Peters successors Saint Chrysostome saith Why did Christ shed his blood truly that he might purchase those sheepe the charge where of the committed to Peter and Peters successours And this he saith to Saint Basil to incourage him in the Episcopall office Whereby it is euident that Chrysostome calleth all that feed Christes flocke Saint Peters successours In like manner they may bee saide to occupie Saint Peters seate not locally but in respect of their doctrine and holy conuersation And all such as by Simony inuade this holy function all that defile it with heresie or leaudenesse of life may bee saide to vsurpe the seate of Peter with vncleane feete Thus much for the place of Gildas PHIL. Alredus Rienuallus an English Abbot left written aboue 500. yeeres agone a certaine reuelation or apparition of Saint Peter to an holy man in the time of King Edward the confessour shewing him how hee had preached himselfe in England and consequently the particular care hee had of that Church and nation ORTHOD. This your fashion when you cannot proue a thing by sufficient testimonies you runne to dreames and reuelations not worth the answering And yet this doting dreame extendeth not so farre as Parsons dreameth For Alredus in that place relateth how in the time of King Edward the Confessour Saint Peter appeared vpon the night in a vision to a certaine recluse who had liued in a caue vnder the ground many yeeres and bad him tell the King that he had dispensed with his vowe concerning his going a pilgrimage and instead thereof had commaunded him by the Pope to builde a Monasterie which hee thus described Est mihi locus c. I haue quoth Saint Peter a place in the West part of London chosen by my selfe and deare vnto mee which sometimes I did dedicate with my owne handes renowne with my presence and illustrate with diuine miracles the name whereof is Thorneia This is all in effect which he saith and yet here is no mention of his preaching in England Therefore Parsons hath committed a notable falsification PHIL. Is it not said that he did dedicate it with his owne hands renown it with his presence and illustrate it with diuine miracles ORTHOD. That doth not proue the point in question For Alredus presently after declareth how in the dayes of Ethelbert King of Kent Sebertus King of the East Saxons built without the walls of London Westward a Monastery to S. Peter and withall addeth how the night before the dedication Saint Peter appeared in the habit of a Pilgrim to a certaine Fisherman vpon the Thames and being transported by him to Westminster went presently to the Church where there was suddenly a glorious light a multitude of Angels heauenly melodie with an vnspeakable fragrancy of sweet odours Now the solemnitie of the dedication being finished he returned to the Fisherman who at his command cast his net into the riuer and tooke a great draught of fishes which Saint Peter bad him take for his passage reseruing onely one of extraordinarie greatnesse to himselfe which hee sent for a token to Mellitus Bishop of London Here is his miracle his presence and his dedication of the Church with his owne hands but here is no preaching or if there were then he preached more then 500. yeeres after he was dead But why doe I dwell so long vpon so fond a fable Or what is this to the first Conuersion of England Wherefore I conclude that though S. Peter were a famous Fisher searched innumerable streames through the wide world and catched many thousand soules yet father Parsons hath not made it appeare by any sound authoritie that euer hee spred hisnet in the English Ocean PHIL. IF he did not conuert the nation in his owne person yet it was conuerted by such as he sent ORTHOD. If this blessed worke were performed by S. Paul or Simon of Canany then we may boldly say that the first conuerters were not sent by S. Peter For they were Apostles and had commission to teach all nations not from S. Peter but from Christ. Concerning S. Pauls comming Parsons produceth the authorities of Theodoret Sophronius and Venantius Fortunatus to which he addeth Arnaldus Mirmianus affirming that he passed into Britaine in the fourth yeere of Nero being the yere of our Lord 59. And verely that he was here is a point not without probability He was the Apostle of the Gentiles in labours abundant in perils often and that by Sea he was a Starre swiftly gliding from East to West a Herauld proclaiming the acceptable day of the Lord and a shrill trumpet sounding out the Name of Iesus Now though father Parsons say that for his being in Britaine there are not so many particular testimonies yet those which he hath brought are farre more pregnant then the former for the comming of S. Peter To passe ouer the rest what can be more plaine and direct then that of Venantius Transit Oceanum vel quà facit insula portum Quasque Britannus habet terras atque vltima Thule Saint Paul did passe the Seas where I le makes ships in harbour stand Arriuing on the Brittish Coast and cape of Thule land COncerning Simon Zelotes Nicephorus saith that hauing receiued the holy Ghost comming downe from heauen he passed through Egypt Cyrene Africke Mauritania and all Libya preaching the Gospel yea he did cary it to the Westerne Ocean and the Ilands of Britaine Dorotheus whom Parsons calleth a very ancient writer saith that he was crucified slaine and buried in Britaine In the Greeke Menologe it is said that going into Britaine when he had inlightned many with the word of the Gospel he was there crucified and buried Which authorities what weight soeuer they cary surely they ouer ballance all that Parsons hath produced for the comming of S. Peter Now from the Apostles let vs come to the Apostolicke men Aristobulus and Ioseph of Arimathea PHIL. OF
Aristobulus S. Peters scholler doe testifie in like maner the foresaid authours Mirmianus Dorotheus Baronius out of the Greeke Martyrologe that he was sent by S. Peter into Britaine and there made a Bishoppe ORTHO What you or your fellowes say is not greatly materiall but how falsely you report of Dorotheus may appeare by these his words Aristobulus euen he which is mentioned by the Apostle to the Romanes was made Bishop of Britaine this is all which he saith if he say so much for there are diuers readings But howsoeuer there is not one word of S. Peter yet Parsons brings him to auouch that Aristobulus was sent by S. Peter And whereas Parsons calleth him S. Peters scholler he is not so described by Dorotheus but rather as S. Pauls Therfore if he were Bishop of Britaine it is farre more likely that he was sent by S. Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles then by S. Peter Let vs now proceed to Ioseph of Arimathea PHIL. OF Ioseph of Arimathea his comming into France and his sending thence into Great Britaine either by S. Philip as some say who preached then in Gaule or as others hold by S. Peter himselfe as he passed that way to and from Britaine and how he obtained a place to exercise an Eremiticall life for him and his ten companions in the Iland called Aâ—allonia where Glanstenbury after was builded albeit I find no very certaine or ancient writer to affirme it yet because our latter Historiographers for two hundred yeeres past or more doe hold it to haue come downe by tradition and namely Iohannes Capgrauius a learned man of the order of S. Dominicke and others after him I doe not meane to dispute the matter here but rather to admire and praise the heauenly prouidence of God c. ORTHOD. The words of Iohn Capgraue are thus Ioseph cum silio c. i. Ioseph with his sonne Ioseph and other ten companions traâ—eiling through Britaine vnder the raigne of King Aruiragus preached the faith of Christ boldly in the yeere of our Lords incarnation 63. And againe They came into France to Philip the Apostle and of him were sent into Britaine And againe The King granted vnto them a certaine Iland inuironed with woods bushes and fennes called of the inhabitants Jnis Ditrin i. the Iland of glasse Which relation seemeth very probable There is extant an Epistle if it be not counterfeit alledged by Lelandus and other Antiquaries and ascribed to S. Patrick wherein it is thus written Ostenderunt mihi c. i. The brethren which I found at Glastenbury shewed vnto me the writings of Fugatius and Damianus in which it was contained That 12. disciples of Philip and Iacob had built the old Church and that three Pagan Kings gaue to the said 12 so many possessions of lands King Henry the second in the Charter of Glastenbury affirmeth That the Church thereof was founded by the Disciples of our Lord. William of Malmesbury in his booke of Glastenbury Abbey saith That the olde Church was built by Ioseph Yea The ancient Monuments of the said Abbey doe testifie the same And also that Ioseph was sent thither by S. Philip out of France This is that Ioseph which made Sepulchre in his Garden That in the middest of his pleasures he might thinke of mortalitie He buried the blessed body of Christ and afterward became a Preacher of the Resurrection In Glastenbury he powred out his precious Ointment and all Britaine was filled with the sweetnesse of the odour Now whether he were the first Preacher in Britaine I cannot define but if hee were then the first Conuerter came from Arimathea and not from Rome being sent by S. Philip and not by S. Peter PHIL. That the Gospel came first to Glastenbury from Rome may thus be proued King Inas aboue 900. yeeres past when he layd the foundation of Glastenbury Abbey in memory of S. Ioseph and his fellowes that had liued a solitary life there caused these Verses to be written in the Church Anglia plaude lubens mittittibi Roma salutem Fulgor Apostolicus Glasconiam irradiat Be glad England for that Rome sendeth health to thee and Apostolicall brightnesse doeth lighten Glastenburie Which could not well be spoken if the comming of these Saints and first inhabiters there had not had some relation to Rome and to the Apostles that sent them ORTHOD. If Inas layed the foundation of Glastenbury Abbey in memorie of S. Ioseph who liued there then we haue a noble Monument of Iosephs being in England But that euer he was at Rome or sent hither by any Bishop of Rome is more then we can find or you can proue William of Malmesbury declareth That when the ancient Church built by Ioseph was vtterly decayed there was another built by Deui Bishop of S. Dauids Which also in time growing ruinous was repaired by 12. men comming out of the North but K. Inas pulled it downe and reared a stately one to Christ Peter and Paul In this certaine Verses are written The first 12. whereof are a continuall commendation of Peter and Paul by way of comparison then follow those two which you haue cited in which he willeth England to reioyce And why because Rome sendeth her health But how the next verse declareth Because the Apostolicke brightnesse doeth lighten Glastenbury Where if the Poet speake of the brightnes of doctrine as you seeme to take it then it is not necessary to referre it to the first inhabitants it may haue relation to the doctrine not long before preached by Austin For I know you will call his doctrine Apostolicke Yet it seemeth that the Poet meaneth not the brightnesse of doctrine but of patronage and protection imagining according to the corrupt opinion of those times that the Saints by whose names the Churches were called were Patrons and Protectors of the said Churches For in the words following Peter and Paul are called two Bulwarks and towers of faith And K. Inas who dedicated the Church vnto them is said to haue giuen these Bulwarks as euerlasting gifts to his people By which what can be meant but that those Apostles were now by his Dedication become their Bulwarks and towers of protection So the Apostolicke brightnesse that is their glorious Patronage and protection is said to shine most radiantly ouer Glastenbury And health is said to be sent from Rome because they ascribe their safety to those Apostles which were the founders of the Church of Rome which doeth in no case argue that Christianitie was first brought hither from Rome NOw what will you say if the Britaine 's were Christians before the Romanes For who was the first founder of the Church of Rome you proclaime euery where that S. Peter But when came S. Peter thither Baronius saith in the yeere 44 being the second of the Emperour Claudius Now let vs consider when our Iland first receiued the sweete influence of the
Gospel And here for our direction we will follow the conduct of a starre I meane of Gildas who for antiquitie is the most ancient Historian of our Nation For his wisdome was surnamed Sapiens and for his deuotion and eloquence may well be termed The zealous and Golden mouthed Gildas This Gildas declareth how these frozen Ilands farre remote from the visible Sunne receiued the glittering beames of Christ Iesus the inuisible Sunne in the time of Tiberius Caesar. Which point is the more remarkable because he professeth in the same place That hee pronounceth it vpon sure grounds and certaine knowledge Now Tiberius died in the yeere of Christ 39. according to Baronius Whereupon it followeth That Britaine receiued the Gospel fiue yeeres at least before either Paul or Peter came to Rome By which it is manifest that the first conuerters of our Nation did not come from Rome PHIL. If they did not come from Rome yet preached they the Romane faith of which S. Paul had written to the Romanes themselues before the going of S. Ioseph into Britaine Fides vestra annuntiatur in vniuerso mundo i Your faith is preached and diuulged throughout the whole world Signifying that the Christian faith planted in Rome by S. Peter was deriued already for a platforme into all other parts of the world round about ORTHOD. Whosoeuer they were or whence soeuer blessed be the Name of God who vouchsafed euen in the morning of the Gospel gratiously to remember vs and to display vnto vs the riches of his mercie in Christ Iesus Now whereas you say they preached the Romane faith Bee it so The Romane yet not yours but the very same which is professed this day in the Church of England Let the present doctrine of Rome bee made conformable to that which Saint Paul deliuered to the Romanes and wee will embrace with you the Roman faith Hitherto of the first conuersion Now let vs come to the second CHAP. III. Of the second Conuersion as some call it or rather of a new supply of Preachers and a further propagation of the Gospell in the time of King Lucius and Pope Eleutherius PHIL. NOw do follow two other more famous and publike conuersions of the said Island vnder two renowned Popes of Rome and by their speciall industry which are acknowledged and registred by the whole Christian world and do so much presse the spleene and moue the gall of our Rome-biters as they leaue no corner of their wits vnsisted to discredit or reiect the same The former of them was vnder Pope Eleutherius and King Lucius ORTHO This is not to be called a conuersion of the Island but rather a new supply of Preachers and further propagation of the Gospell For Iohn Capgraue who is commended by Parsons for a learned man relateth that Eluanus who was brought vp at Glastenbury had dispersed through the wide fields of Britaine those first seeds of the Gospell sowen by Ioseph It is also recorded in your Martyrologe which vsed to bee read in your Churches that Lucius neuer carried himselfe as an enemy to Christian religion but shewed himselfe fauourable in respect of their miracles and integrity of life and that he had imbraced the Christian religion sooner if hee had not seene Christians reproched by the Pagans as infamous persons and despitefully handled by the Romans that were in authority But afterward vnderstanding by the Emperours Ambassadours that some Senatours were become Christians and amongst other Pertinax and Trebellius yea and that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour hauing gotten a victory by the praiers of the Christians had vsed them kindly hee sent an Ambassage to Eleutherius Bishop of Rome by Eluanus and Meduinus Brittans intreating Eleutherius by them that hee would open a passage by himselfe and his Ministers for the fostering and cherishing of Christian religion in Brittaine Iohn Capgraue reporteth that Eleutherius made Eluanus Bishop of Brittaine and Meduinus a Doctour to preach the faith of Christ through the whole Island Which sheweth that when they were sent Ambassadours to Eleutherius they were no nouices but profound Diuines and practised teachers in the schoole of Christ as they are tearmed by one of your owne Historians Thus it appeareth that there were learned Preachers who had sowen the seed of the Gospell through the whole Island and Christians famous for miracles euen at the time of Eleutherius his sending PHIL. PEraduenture some priuate Christians but neither the King nor any induced by the Kings authority For it is manifest by Saint Bede that the King wrote to Eleutherius desiring that by his commandement he might bee made a Christian whereby it is plaine that as yet hee was not made a Christian. ORTH. In that he wrote this Epistle to this purpose you may see the motion proceeded from his owne brest and not from Eleutherius he was already made a Christian by the baptisme of the spirit and therefore was desirous to be made a Christian by the baptisme of water Hee had already entred himselfe into the schoole of Christ and sought meanes that his whole kingdome might follow after Which argueth that his soule was sanctified and seasoned with grace Serenauerant enim eius mentem sanctorum miracula the miracles of the Saints had cleared his minde PHIL. VVHat moued the King to send to Rome when there were Bishops in France and other places nearer then Rome ORTHO First the Church of Rome beeing in the Imperiall City planted by two so great Apostles Peter and Paul and flourishing with store of excellent men was most famous and likely to furnish them Secondly the Romans before this time had spred their golden Eagle ouer a great part of the Island The Emperor Hadrian as Aelius Spartianus reporteth had made a wall fourescore miles long Antoninus Pius as Iulius Capitolinus declareth had made another to diuide the Romans from the Brittans and all that liued within this wall were tributary to the Romans of which number King Lucius is said to bee whose father was brought vp at Rome intertained friendship with the Romans and pâ—ide them tribute In which respects as also for the great intercourse betweene Rome and Brittaine King Lucius had oportunitie to send and might conceiue great hope to preuaile Thirdly it is not vnlâ—â—elie that the Ambassadours which informed him how some of the Senators were become Christians might bee themselues Christians and perswaders of him both to become a Christian and to send to Rome for Preachers PHIL. You haue omitted the principall reason for seeing there was not at that time any face or fashion of a Church in Brittaine to whom should hee seeke for planting of religion and erecting of Bishoprickes but onelie to the Bishop of Rome the fountaine and fulnesse of all Ecclesiasticall authoritie A particular Bishop hath iurisdiction onelie ouer his owne Dâ—oces an Arch-bishop onelie ouer his owne Prouince a Patriarch is likewise
of Arles But seeing you fetch his succession from the French I must request you to call to remembrance that which was said before concerning the ordination of the first French Bishops to wit that they all were ordained by Dionysius alone and consequently that they were not canonicall And therefore if you turne the edge of your argument against Austin as you doe against the present Bishops of England you must conclude a nullity in his consecration and in all your Popish Bishops deriued from him Thus you haue made ship wrack in the very hauē Now from Austin let vs proceed to those whom Austin did consecrate CHAP. V. Of the Bishops from Austin to Cranmer PHIL. THere can bee no doubt but as Austin himselfe so all that were consecrated by him were consecrated by three ORTH. Yes if you consider the question of Austin and the answere of Gregory The question proposed was this If the Bishops are so farre apart one from the other that they cannot conueniently assemble together whether one may bee ordained a Bishop without the presence of other Bishops Gregory answereth In the Church of England in which thou onely art as yet a Bishop thou canst ordaine none but without other Bishops For when come there any Bishops out of France which might assist thee in ordeyning Bishops We will therefore that thou ordaine Bishops but so that they may not bee farre one from an other that there be no such necessity but that they may hereafter come together to the creation of other The Curats also whose presence may do good should easily come together when then by the helpe of God the Bishops shall bee so made that they shall not be farre asunder one from the other there shall bee no Bishops created without three or foure Bishops assembled together c. PHIL. This place hath diuers readings both in Gregorie and Bede what edition doe you follow ORTHOD. Euen that which you will confesse of all other to bee most excellent For what edition of Bede was that which Stapleton translated PHIL. Doctor Stapleton being a man of such learning wisedome and zeale and purposing to benefite his country in singular manner by turning the story of Saint Bede into English without question did vse all possible diligence to get varietie of copies both printed and manuscript and comparing all together made choice of the best ORTHOD. Then haue I followed the best edition of Bede for I haue not departed one letter from the translation of Stapleton yet you see your owne approued edition which Stapleton made choise of conuinceth that Pope Gregory willed Austin at first to make bishops alone though hee would haue none created afterward without three or foure PHIL. Doe you thinke that there came no Bishops out of France to assist ORTHOD. No such thing can bee collected out of Bede neither is it probable for in the very next Chapter Gregory writeth to the Bishop of Arles to giue kinde entertainement to Austin if hee should come vnto him But of any Bishops to bee sent into England there is not a word And in the Chapter following Gregory writeth to Austin sendeth him a Pall and willeth him to ordaine twelue Bishops But of French Bishops to assist him he saith nothing at all And in the second booke and third Chapter it is declared how that in the yeere of the incarnation of our Lord 604. Austin Archbishop of Britane consecrated two Bishops Mellitus Bishop of London and Iustus Bishop of Rochester but of any French Bishops assisting him there is no mention And for the Brittish Bishops that they should helpe him it is not once to be imagined because they stood at vtter defiance with him Therefore if wee consult with Stapletons Bede and embrace that copy for best which hee followed it will appeare that Austin proceeded to Episcopall consecration and yeelding to necessitie made the first Bishop that is Mellitus alone and the next that is Iustus by the assistance of Mellitus onely and when there was a canonicall number then they obserued the number of three at the least PHIL. Surely in diuerse copies it is otherwise then you haue alleadged as for example in the Parisian edition of Gregory Anno 1586. It is thus Et quidem etiam in Anglorum ecclesia in qua adhuc solus tu Episcopus inueniris ordinare Episcopum non aliter nisi cum Episcopis potes i. Truly euen in the Church of the English wherein thou onely art found as yet to bee a Bishop thou canst not ordaine Bishops otherwise then with other Bishops And because Austin was the onely Bishop then in England therefore in the next sentence he telleth him whence hee shall haue Bishops Nam quando de Gallijs Episcopi veniunt illi in ordinatione Episcopi testes tibi assistant i. For when the Bishops come out of France let them assist thee in the ordination of a Bishop ORTH. For the clearing of this point we must consider both these sentences with their dependencie and connexion In the former there are two readings cum Episcopis and sine Episcopis The latter was followed by Doctour Stapleton and is the true reading For vnderstanding that in Oxford some were appointed for the collation of the printed copies of Gregorie with the manuscripts I enquired how this place was read in the manuscripts and answere was made that these Interrogata were not in the written copies but inserted as it seemeth into the workes of Gregory out of Bede Then I enquired after the manuscripts of Bede and saw diuerse all consenting in this reading sine Episcopis with which concordeth a most worthy copie of venerable antiquitie at Eton Colledge which the learned and iudicious Sir Henry Sauil did shew vnto me With the manuscripts agreeth your own last edition of the workes of Bede printed at Collen in the yeere 1612. As also the Epistles of Gregory both in the Romane edition as they are in the Councels set out by Surius and Binius yea these Interrogata are produced by Iohn Capgraue who readeth precisely in the same manner Wherefore it is as cleare as the noone day that the true reading is sine Episcopis as Stapleton translateth and thus much of the first sentence In the second wee must consider both the reading and the pointing concerning the varietie of reading to passe ouer de gallis and de gallijs veniunt and venient which are of small moment and doe not alter the sense The Parisian and Romane editions read illi which is erronious for the true treading is qui to bee iustified by Capgraue the manuscripts before alleadged and Doctour Stapleton Now the wordes being thus cleared must needes bee read with an interrogation otherwise there will bee no sence and the latter sentence rendreth a reason of the former in this manner Thou must needs make Bishops alone for who should assist thee the Britaines they stand in opposition and are not once to be thought vpon
the English there are none both which branches hee presupposeth as granted the French but when doeth any of them come ouer into England as though hee should say their comming is vncertaine so he concludeth that Austin must make Bishops alone without other Bishops Now from Austin we will proceede to his successours PHIL. They may all be presumed to bee Canonicall ORTH. Yet they came from such as were not canonicall Now from the Saxons wee will proceede to the Normans And here what say you to Lanfranck whom William the Conqueror made Archbishop in stead of Stigandus PHIL. There is no reason to doubt of him or any other till wee come to Cranmer CHAP. VI. Of the Consecration of the most Reuerend Father Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterburie ORTH. THen it remaineth that we consider the Consecration of that most reuerend Father and blessed Martyr Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury concerning whom I expect your iudgement PHIL. My iudgement is that he was a principall cause of all those lamentable alterations which happened in the daies of king Henry the eight and Edward the sixt ORTH. Doe you call them lamentable therein you resemble Enuy in the Poet which lamented because she saw nothing worthy of lamentation For those alterations which ye call lamentable were a gracious beginning of a thousand blessings both to the Church and Common wealth of England But speake directly to the point in question whether Cranmer were a Canonicall Bishoppe Why doe you not answere You are like to one which holdeth a Wolfe by the eares who neither knoweth how to hold him nor how to let him goe faine would you infringe the Consecration of Cranmer but alasâ—e you cannot PHIL. Father Becan directing his speach to the Bishops of England saith thus Legitimè consecrati non estis a quo enim an à rege at is consecrandi potestatem non habet An ab Episcopo Cantuariensi vel aliquo simile ne id quidem Nam Thomas Cranmerus qui sub Henrico 8. Cantuariensem Episcopatum obtinuit non fuit consecratus ab vllo Episcopo sed a solo rege intrusus designatus igitur quotquot ab eo postea consecrati sunt non legitimè sed eâ— presumptione consecrati sunt 1. You are not lawfully consecrated for by whom were you whether by the King but he hath not power to consecrate Or by the Bishop of Canterbury or some like Neither that truly For Thomas Cranmer who vnder K. Henry the 8. obtained the Bishopricke of Canterburie was not consecrated by any Bishop but intruded and designed by the King alone therefore as many as were afterward consecrated by him were not consecrated lawfully but by presumption ORTH. Or rather Becan playeth the part of a presumptuous Iesuite against the Lords annointed in saying that King Henry intruded Cranmer as also in glauncing at his most famous and religious successours as though they themselues had consecrated Bishops For what needed he to moue any such question if it were not to raise a mist and cast a cunning surmise to induce men to thinke that it was so But indeede it was not so for our soueraignes in the aduancing of Bishops do nothing but that which they may lawfully by their Princely right agreeable to the patterne of most religious Kings and Emperours and iustifiable both by the lawes of God and the land as in due place shall appeare And as hee wrongeth the Prince so doth hee traduce Archbishop Cranmer as though he were consecrated either by the King or by none at all and consequently the whole Clergie of England at this day deriuing their consecration from that renowned Martyr But if this accusation were true doe you not marke how it would make a cracke in your golden chaine of succession wherein you so reioyce and glory For if Cranmer were no Bishop then some approoued in Queene Maries time would prooue no Bishops as for example Anthony Kitchen Bishop of Landaff and Thomas Thurlby Bishop of Ely both which deriued their Consecration from Cranmer as may be iustified by records the latter whereof was highly commended by the Pope and made one of his Commissioners in the time of Queene Marie and imploied in the proceedings against that most Reuerend Archbishop If this cannot content the Iesuite I will referre him to Parsons his fellow Iesuite a man who neither loued Archbishop Cranmer nor any other of our Religion and yet clearely confesseth that he was a true Bishop BVt what mislike you in Cranmer was hee not in the order of Priesthood let the Pope be Iudge who in his Bull to Cranmer calleth him Magistrum in Theologia in Presbyteratus ordine constitutum i. Master or Doctor in Diuinitie setled in the order of Priesthood Or was he made Archbishop without the Popes authoritie The Pope himselfe affirmeth the contrary both to the King in these words ¶ Clemens Episcopus Henrico Anglorum Regi illustri De persona dilecti filij Thomae electi Cantuariensis c. De fratrum eorundem consilio Apostolica authoritate prouidimus ipsumque illi Ecclesiae Cantuariensi in Archiepiscopum praefecimus c. Bonon 1532. 9. Kal. Mart. Pontif. nostri 10. ¶ Clement Bishop to Henry the glorious King of the English We haue made Prouision by our Apostolicke authoritie by the Counsell of our said brethren of the person of our welbeloued sonne Thomas elect of Canterbury and we haue set him ouer the said Church of Canterbury to be their Archbishop And to Cranmer himselfe in these words ¶ Clemens Episcopus dilecto filio Thomae electo Cantuariensi Praefatae Ecclesiae Cantuariensi de eorundem fratrum consilio Apostolica authoritate prouidimus teque illi in Archiepiscopum praefecimus pastorem curam administrationem ipsius Ecclesiae tibi in spiritualibus temporalibus plenariè committendo ¶ Bon. Anno 1532. 9. Kal. Mart. That is Clement Bishop to our welbeloued sonne Thomas elect of Canterbury We haue prouided by our Apostolicke authoritie by the Counsell of the same brethren for the foresaid Church of Canterbury and haue set thee ouer it to be their Archbishop and pastour and fully committing vnto thee the charge and administration of the same Church in things spirituall and temporall Or did the Pope and his Cardinals accept the person of Cranmer vndeseruedly Let your holy Father speake for himselfe ¶ Clemens Episcopus Hâ—n Angl. Regi illustri De persona dilecti filij Thomae electi Cantuariensis nobis fratribus nostris ob suorum exigentiam meritorum acceptâ— c. That is ¶ Clement Bishop to Henry the most glorious King of England We haue made prouision of the person of our welbeloued sonne Thomas elect of Canterbury accepted of vs and our brethren according as his deserts required OR was he Consecrated without the Popes licence Behold the Bull for his Consecration ¶ Clemens Episc. dilecto filio Tho. Electo Cant. Tibi vt a quocunque
his former mariage condemned by such a world of witnesses so grounding their iudgements vpon the blessed word of God as was sufficient to settle any mans conscience proceeded the 14. of Nouember in the 24. yeere of his reigne to marrie the Lady Anne Bullen who the seuenth of September following brought forth the Ladie ELIZABETH the Ioy of England the Starre of Europe and the Phoenix of the world a Glasse of Gods prouidence and the Mirrour of his mercie When the Royall infant was yet in her mothers wombe Pope Clement the seuenth the base borne sonne of Iulianus Medices the Florentine fauouring the Lady Katharine Dowager sought by all meanes to dissolue the lawfull mariage of Queene Anne and to make her issue vncapable of the crowne For which purpose being inraged like a Dragon hee disgorged his poyson and spit fiery flames against the king the Queene the Realme the blessed babe before she was borne But death closed vp his eyes with darkenesse while the yong Lady beganne to behold the light of heauen arysing like a luckie starre in the middest of a storme shining to the Church of God with tokens of ioy and deliuerance but to the Pope and his adherents like a blazing or fatall Comet portending the ouerthrow of Antichrist Which in part came to passe about a yeere after that the yong Lady was borne For whereas the Bishop of Rome like the daw in Aesop had decked and adorned himselfe with the faire feathers of other birds and ietted vp and downe with pride and disdaine tyrannizing ouer all the foules that flie in the midle of heauen King Henry the eight the Eagle of England plucked his owne feather out of the Popes wing and resumed to himselfe the rich plume of the Princes supremacy that is the lawful authoritie which God had giuen him Then Paul the third flashed out his excomunications like lightnings and interdicted the kingdome hoping thereby to reduce it to his obedience or at least to disable the yong Lady for the succession of the crowne Yet after a while the angrie old man withered away but the yong Lady did grow vp like the lilly and flourished like the Rose plant of Prouince Now though for extirpating the Popes iurisdiction this renowned King had the honour before and aboue all Christian Princes yet the glorie of abolishing Popish religion was by diuine prouidence reserued to his blessed children Edward and Elizabeth They pulled vp superstition by the very roots whereas their father for God reuealed his truth by degrees did onely hew at a few branches Hitherto of the Popes expulsion NOw for as much as Archbishop Cranmer was a principall meanes thereof the Papists did hate him worse then a scorpion heaping vpon him whatsoeuer wit sharpened with malice could possibly deuise Hee resorted sometimes to the Dolphin in Cambridge where hee placed his wife the mistresse of the house being her cousin therupon they blazed abroad that he was an Hostler and vnlearned He kept his wife secret for feare of the law they reported that she was caried vp and downe in a Chest and that at Graues end the wrong end of the Chest was set vpward And surely King Henry did foresee that one day if they might preuaile they would haue his blood and burne him at a stake Therefore whereas hee gaue the three Cranes the ancient armes of his house the King caused him to change them into three Pelicanes presaging that he should feed the flock of Christ with his deerest blood and dye a Martyr which came to passe in the dayes of Queene Mary when they disgorged all their poisoned malice vpon him They disrobed him of his Episcopall ornaments and put him into a lay mans gowne they cited him to appeare at Rome within eightie dayes and put him to death before twentie of them were expired They caused Alphonso the Spanish Fryer to draw him to a recantation by sweet promises of life yet they had a setled purpose to put him to death They had no intention by Alphonso to do him good but sought a colour by his recantation to iustifie themselues so they clapped their hands and reioyced at his fall But as hee sinned and denyed his Master with Peter so God gaue him grace to repent with Peter And as he lamented all his sinnes so especially he bewailed his subscribing to Popery with his vnworthy right hand Wherefore when he came to the fire for a godly reuenge hee thrust it like another Scaeuola into the flame and did not so much as draw backe his arme till it was wholly consumed thus lifting vp his eyes to heauen in the middest of the furious flames hee said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit and so gaue vp the Ghost When his bodie and the wood were consumed to ashes behold his heart was found whole and perfect as hauing escaped the force of the fire concerning which these verses were written by a learned man Ecce inuicta fides cor inuiolabile seruat Nec medijs flammis corda perire sinit Cranmer amid the fiery flames thy heart vnscorcht was found For why behold vndaunted faith preseru'd it safe and sound CHAP. VIII Whether to renounce the Pope be Schisme and Heresie PHIL. WEll though you and your crew commend Cranmer yet I will proue in spite of all Hereticks that when he reuolted from the Pope both he and all his consorts became notorious Schismaticks ORTHOD. Then you will proue in spite of all Hereticks that Stephen Gardener was a Schismaticke Edmund Bonner a schismatick Cutbert Tunstall a schismaticke Nicholas Heath a schismaticke Iohn Stokesly a schismaticke and in a word that all the Bishops of your Catholicke Church which were in England after the banishing of the Pope till the end of the raigne of King Henry by the space of 12. yeeres were notorious schismatickes For they all reuolted from the Pope Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester onely excepted who was then lately made Cardinall but lost his head before his Hat came ouer What will you proue that there were so many schismaticks at once in your Catholicke Church PHIL. They were not then of the Catholicke Church for that worthy Bishop of Winchester Stephen Gardener affirmed That when K Henry did first take vpon him to be head of the Church it was then no Church at all And Doct. Sanders saith That Bishops were made in Schismate Henriciano extra vel potiùs contra Ecclesiam 1. in the schisme of Henry the 8. without the Church or rather against it ORTHOD. Pope Nicholas defineth the Catholicke Church to be a congregation of Catholicks PHIL. When they renounced the Pope they were no Catholicks ORTHOD. They were Masse-priests and professed that faith which you call Catholicke Why then should you deny them the name of Catholicks PHIL. Because they did not professe it vnder the Bishop of Rome from whose communion whosoeuer renteth himselfe is a schismaticke
Priests why should you deny them to be Bishops PHIL. The Popes Commissioners Vnpriested them in Queene Maries time but would not Vnbishop them thereby acknowledging their Priestly function receiued in King Henries time but denying their Episcopall receiued in King Edwards as may appeare by the words of Doctor Brooke Bishop of Glocester the Popes subdelegate to Ridley at his degradation Wee must against our willâ—s proceed according to our Commission to disgrading taking from you the dignitie of Priesthood for we take you for no Bishop as Iohn Fox your owne historian recordeth ORTH. Was not hee and all the rest of them Consecrated by a sufficient number PHIL. Yes vndoubtedly for that law was alwaies obserued in King Edwards time as Doctor Sanders confesseth Câ—remontam autem solennem vnctionem more Ecclesiastico adhuc in consecratione illa adhiberi voluit quam postea profiâ—â—â—ns in pâ—â—â—â— Edouardus Sextus sustulit proea Caluinicas aliquot deprecationes substituit serâ—ata tamen semper priori de numero presenâ—â—um Episcoporum qui â—anuâ— ordinando impoâ—erent lege that is It was his will speaking of King Henry the eight that the ceremony and solemne vnction should as yet be vsed in Episcopall consecration after the manner of the Church which King Edward profiting from better to worse did afterward take away and insteed thereof substitute certaine Caluinicall deprecations yet the former law concerning the number of Bishops which should impose hands vpon the ordained was alwaies obserued ORTHOD If you or any other dare deny it it may bee iustified by authenticall records Out of which behold a true abstract of the consecration of those renowned Martyrs Nich Ridley Cons 5. Septemb. 1547. 1. Ed 6. by Henry Lincoln Iohn Bedford Thom. Sidon Rob. Ferrar Cons 9. Septemb. 1549. 2. Ed 6. by Thom. Canterb Henry Lincoln Nich Roff. Iohn Hooper Cons. 8. Mart. 1550. by Thom. Canterb Nich London Iohn Roff. To which let vs adde those worthy confessours Iohn Poynet Iohn Scory and Miles Couerdale Iohn Poynet Cons. 29. Iune 1550. by Thom. Canterb. Nich London Arthur Bangor Iohn Scory and Miles Couerdale Cons. 30. Aug. 1551. by Thom Canterb. Nich London Iohn Bedford NOw seeing the Consecrated were capable and the Consecrators a sufficient number why should not the Consecration bee effectuall For if Cranmer or any other lawfull Bishop by his Commission with sufficient assistants could make canonicall Bishops in the daies of K. Henry as you haue confessed what reason can you giue why the same Cranmer or the like Bishop with the like assistants should not make the like in the daies of K. Ed PHIL. Because the case was altered for in King Henries time Ordinations were made with ceremony and solemne vnction after the Ecclesiasticall manner which king Edward tooke cleane away and in place thereof appointed certaine Caluinicall deprecations as was before declared ORTHO Those which Sanders calleth Caluinicall deprecations are godly and religious prayers answerable to the Apostolicke practise For whereas the Scripture witnesseth that Matthias the Deacons and others receiued imposition of hands with prayers Salmeron the Iesuite expoundeth the places thus intelligendum est de precibus quibus à deo petebant vt efficeret illos bonos Episcopos Presbyteros Diaconos potestatemque illis ad ca munera prestaret that is It is to be vnderstood of prayers whereby they desired of God that he would make them good Bishops Priests and Deacons and would giue them abilitie to performe those offices Such prayers are vsed in the Church of England As for example in the ordering of Priests ALmighty God giuer of all things which by thy holy spirit hast appointed diuers orders of Ministers in thy Church mercifully behold these thy seruants now called to the office of Priesthood and replenish them so with the trueth of thy doctrine and innocency of life that both by word and good example they may faithfully serue thee in this office to the glory of thy Name and profit of thy congregation through the merits of our Sauiour Iesus Christ c. And in the Consecration of Bishops ALmighty God c. Grant we beseech thee to this thy seruant such grace that hee may euermore bee ready to spread abroad the Gospell and glad tidings of reconcilement to God and to vse the authoritie giuen vnto him not to destroy but to saue not to hurt but to helpe so that hee as a wise and a faithfull seruant giuing to thy family meate in due season may at the last bee receiued into ioy c. These and the like are the praiers which Sanders traduceth Wherefore we may with comfort applie to our selues the saying of Saint Peter If wee bee railed vpon for the name of Christ blessed are wee for the spirit of glory and of God resteth vpon vs which on your part is euill spoken of but on our part is glorified Thus that which you impute to them as a blemish is perfect beautie But what else doe you mislike in their ordinations PHIL. They did not obserue the Ecclesiasticall manner ORTHOD. In the third and fourth yeere of Edward the sixth there was an act made to abolish certaine superstitious bookes and among the rest the Ordinals About the same time was made another acte for the ordering of Ecclesiastiall Ministers the effect whereof was that such forme of consecrating Bishops Priestes and Deacons as by six Prelates and sixe other learned in Gods Law should bee agreed vpon and set out vnder the great Seale of England within a time limited should lawfully bee vsed and none other In the fift and sixt of his raigne was made another acte for the explaining and perfecting of the booke of common prayer and administration of the Sacraments which booke so explained was annexed to the acte or statute with a forme or manner of making and consecrating Archbishops Bishops Priestes and Deacons Which as at this day so then was not esteemed another distinct booke from the booke of common prayer but they were both ioyntly reputed as one booke and so established by acte of Parliament In the first of Queene Mary by the repealing of this acte the booke was disanulled but it was established againe in the first of Q. Elizabeth and confirmed in the eight of her reigne so that all the Ministers of England are ordered according to that booke concerning which I would knowe wherein it transgresseth the Ecclesiasticall manner Sanders saith that King Edward tooke away the Ceremony What Ceremony If hee vnderstand the Ceremony of imposition of hands he slandereth King Edward If hee meane their blessing ofrings and Crosiers the grauitie of that sacred action may well spare them as for the solemne vnction your selues confesse it to bee accidentall Other of your Ceremonies being partly superfluous partly superstitious the wisedome of our Church hath discreetly and religiously pared away establishing
which hath not the right order of Priesthood but the Priesthood conferred in King Edwards time was no Priesthood because they wanted the authority to offer the blessed sacrifice of the Masse therefore those Priests were not capable of the Episcopall order ORTHO I answere first that seeing that King Edward rained but sixe yeeres and fiue moneths it is likely that most of them which were aduanced in his time to bee Bishops were before his time in the order of Priesthood Secondly if any be produced which were not yet it shal be iustified God willing when we come to the point that the order of Priesthood conferred in the dayes of King Edward Queene Elizabeth and King Iames is the true ministery of the Gospel and that your sacrificing Priesthood is sacrilegious and abominable In the meane time you must giue vs leaue to holde that the ministery of the Church of England is holy in the sight of God and iustifiable in the sight of man CHAP. XII Of the Bishops Consecrated in the dayes of Queene Marie THe lineall descent hath led vs to the Bishops in Queen Maries time concerning which shal I craue your iudgement PHIL. You know it already they were all Canonical ORTHOD. For the more distinct proceeding let vs diuide them into two ranckes the old Bishops and the new the old I cal such as being cōsecrated before her time were continued in her time the new which were Consecrated in her time PHIL. All which were allowed for Bishops in Queene Maries time whether old or new were Canonicall ORTHO The old Bishops were all made in the dayes of K. Henry the eighth and almost all in those very times which you brand with imputation of schisme and heresie when none could bee Consecrated vnlesse hee did sweare to the king against the Pope Wherefore seeing you iudged both Consecrators and Consecrated schismaticall and hereticall and yet esteeme them Canonicall your obiections of schisme and heresie must eternally bee silenced in the question of Canonicall Bishops For if these crimes can frustrate a Consecration then their Consecration was frustrate and they were no Bishops or if they were Bishops and Canonicall then all the Bishops in King Henries time were likewise Canonicall Moreouer some of them whom you so commend were Bishops in King Edwards time as for example Thomas Thurlby whom King Henrie promoted to be Bishop of Westminster was aduanced by King Edward to the Bishopricke of Norwich and afterward preferred by Queene Mary to the Bishopricke of Ely and moreouer to be one of her priuie Councell Yea some of them had the place of a Bishop in the dayes of Queene Elizabeth Namely Anthony Kitchin who in King Henries time was made Bishop of Landaff kept his dignities and place in the dayes of K. Edward continued the same all the reigne of Queene Mary and so till the day of his death which was in the fift yeere of Queene Elizabeth Wherefore in iustifying the old Bishops you iustifie al generally which were Consecrated in King Henries daies and some which continued in King Edwards and Queene Elizabeths But now from the old let vs come to the new PHIL. QVeene Mary aduanced Holiman bishop of Bristow Coates bishop of Chester Watson bishop of Lincolne Morris bishop of Rochester Morgan bishop of S. Dauis Brooke bishop of Glocester Glin bishop of Bangor Christophorson bishop of Chichester Dauid Poole bishop of Peterborow Cardinall Poole bishop of Canterbury and others ORTHOD. And these reuerend Prelats Bush bishop of Bristow Tailor bishop of Lincolne Scory bishop of Chichester Barlow bishop of Bathe and Wells Couerdale bishop of Exeter and Harly bishop of Hereford with sundry others were at that time forced to leaue their bishopricks For what cause partly for not yeelding to the Pope and Popish Religion partly because they were married which Greg. Martin calleth a polluting of holy Orders though S. Paul saith it is honourable among all men and the bed vndefiled But let vs see the Consecration of your new bishops PHIL. I will begin with that renowned Prelate Cardinall Poole whose Consecration followeth Anno 1555. Reginald Poole cons. Archb. Cant. 22. Mart. by Nichol Arch. Ebor. Thom. Eltens Edmund Lond. Rich. Wigorn. Ioh. Lincoln Mauric Roff. Thom. Asaph Anno 1557. Thom Watson Dauid Pole Cons. B. 15. Aug. by Nich. Ebor. Thom. Eli. Wil. Bangor Anno 1557. Ioh. Christophorson cons. B. 21. No. by Edmund Lond. Tho. Elien Mauric Roff. ORTHOD. All these deriue their Consecration from bishops which were made in the time of the pretended Schisme and some of them from Cranmer himselfe therefore you must either acknowledge all them and namely Cranmer for Canonicall or neither Cardinall Poole nor any of the rest made in Queene Maries time can be Canonicall THE THIRD BOOKE OF THE BISHOPS CONSEcrated in the Raigne of Q. Elizabeth and of our gracious Soueraigne King IAMES CHAP. I. Of the Bishops deposed in the beginning of the raigne of Queene Elizabeth with an answere to certaine odious imputations concerning some Antecedents and Consequents of their Depositions PHIL. THe reuolution of times hath brought vs to the raigne of Queene Elizabeth euen to that blacke and dolefull day wherein all the Bishops of England all I say one onely excepted were deposed from their degrees and dignities For a great penaltie was inflicted vpon such as should after the Feast of S. Iohn Baptis◠1559. say or heare Masse or procure any other Ecclesiasticall Office whatsoeuer after the old rite or administer any Sacrament after the Romane maner to wit That hee which offended against that Law for the first time should pay 200 Nobles or be in bonds sixe Moneths for the second 400. Nobles or a yeere in bonds for the third he should be in perpetuall prison and forfeite all his goods By which meanes it came to passe That at the day prescribed the holy and diuine Offices ceased to be performed publikely through the whole Kingdome And because the Bishops would not consent to those impieties nor affirme vpon their Oathes that they beleeued in their consciences That the Queene onely was the Supreame gouernesse of the Church of England vnder Christ they were all saue one shortly after deposed from their Degree and dignitte and committed to certaine prisons and custodies whereupon they are all at this day dead with the long tediousnesse of their miseries The names of which most glorious Confessours I will set downe that the thing may be had in euerlasting remembrance First of all Nicholas Archbishop of Yorke and a little before that time Lord Chancellour of England then Edmund Bonner Bishop of London and Tunstall of Durham Iohn of Winton Thomas of Lincolne Thurlby of Ely Turberuill of Exeter Borne of Bath Pole of Peterborow Baine of Lichfield Cuthbert of Chester Oglethorp of Carlile and Thomas Goldwell of S. Asaph c. ORTH. Here are two things to be discussed The deposing of the old Bishops and aduancing of the new Concerning the first
Binius hath Vobis but it should be Nobis which may appeare first because the Emperor himself in the words shortly after following in Binius said Nos proratione datae nobis in Ecclesiasticis rebus potestatis non tacebimus that is We in regard of the power giuen vnto vs in Ecclesiasticall matters will not hold our peace Where it is cleare that the Emperor did think himselfe to haue power giuen him from God not only in matters ciuil but also in Ecclesiasticall Therefore when the Emperor said That the diuine prouidence had committed vnto him the gouernment of the vniuersall ship hee must needs be vnderstood as well of causes Ecclesiasticall as ciuill Which may yet appeare further by the Emperors words as they are in Surtus immediatly following in the same sentence Omne studium arripuimus ante publicas curas Ecclesiasticas dissoluere i. When the diuine prouidence had committed vnto vs the gouernment of the vniuersall ship we vsed all diligence to dispatch Ecclesiasticall cares before the publike affaires of the Commonwealth So if Surius wil be iudged by his owne Edition and giue the Emperour leaue to expound himselfe then Ecclesiasticall affaires must be comprehended in the gouernment of the Vniuersall ship Wherfore though Surius would raze out the word Ecclesiasticall and Binius foist in Vobis instead of Nobis yet whether we compare either of them with himselfe or each of them with other it is euident that the Emperor Basil did challenge the gouernement of the vniuersal ship both Ecclesiastical and Ciuil and that in a generall Councell no man resisting him What doth this differ from Supreme gouernour as it is vsed in the Church of England AS Basill did challenge this gouernment no man resisting so sundry Synods haue giuen the like to Princes not refusing it There was a Councell holden at Mentz in Germany the yeere 814. In the time of the Emperour Charles the great and Pope Leo the third the Synodall acts whereof Binius professeth that he compared with a manuscript sent him out of the Emperours library at Vienna Now the Bishops assembled in this Synode begin thus In the Name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost To the most glorious and most Christian Emperour Carolus Augustus gouernour of the true religion and defender of the holy Church of God c. And a little after We giue thanks to God the Father Almighty because hee hath granted vnto his holy Church a gouernor so godly c. And againe About all these points we greatly need your aide and sound doctrine which may both admonish vs continnally and instruct vs curteously so farre that such things which we haue briefly touched beneath in a few Chapters may receiue strength from your authority if so bee that your piety shall so iudge it worthy whatsoeuer is found in them worthy to be amended let your magnificent and imperiall dignity command to amend In the yeere 847. there was holden another Synode at Mentz in the time of Leo the fourth and Lotharius the Emperor where the Bishops begin in the like manner Domino Serenissimo Christianissimo regi Ludouico verae religionis strenuissimo rectori i. To our most gracious Lord and Christian king Lodowick the most puissant gouernor of true religion The like was ascribed to King Reccesuinthius in a Councell holden at Emerita in Portugale about the yeere 705. in these words Whose vigilance doth gouerne both secular things with greatest piety and Ecclesiasticall by his wisdome plentifully giuen him of God So they acknowledged him gouernor both in causes secular and Ecclesiastical This Councel of Emerita receiued much strength and authority from Pope Innocent the third in his Epistle to Peter Archb. of Compostella as witnesseth Garsias Thus you see that most famous Bishops assembled in Synods haue giuen vnto Princes such titles as are equiualent to the stâ—le annexed to the imperiall crowne of this kingdome To which we might adioyne the iudgement of other fathers Tertullian Colimus imperatorem vt hominem à Deo secundum solo Deo minorem i. We reuerence the Emperour as a man next vnto God and inferiour onlie to God Optatus Super imperatorem non est nisi solus Deus qui fecit imperatorem Aboue the Emperour is none but onely God who made the Emperour So Saint Chrysostome saith that the Emperor hath no peere vpon earth and calleth him the head and crowne of all men vpon earth If he be next vnto God and inferiour only to God If none be aboue him but God onlie If he haue no peere vpon earth as being the head and crowne of all men vpon earth then must hee needs bee the supreme gouernour vpon earth according to the iudgement of the fathers This is agreeable to the Scripture which testifieth that most godly kings commanded both Priests and high Priests euen in cases of religion as was before declared Neither is this authority taken away in the New Testament but continueth the very same As may appeare by Saint Paul who lifteth vp his voice like a trumpet proclayming Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers which words euery soule comprehend all persons both Ecclesiasticall and Temporal yea though they were Euangelists Prophets or Apostles as Saint Chrysostome doth truly expound them If euery soule be subiect to the higher powers then the Prince is superiour to all and consequently supreme within his owne dominions But why doe I stay so long vpon this point which hath beene of late so learnedly and plentifully handled that to say any more were but to cast water into the sea or to light a candle at noone day PHIL. HOw vnreasonable it is may appeare by the absurdities which follow thereupon for if the Prince be supreme gouernour in causes spiritual then he may command what religion he list and we must obey him ORTHOD. Not so for he is supreme gouernour in causes temporal yet he may not command a man to beare false witnesse or to condemne the innocent as Iesabell did or if he should we must rather obey God then man so in cases of religion Nabuchodonosor had no warrant to erect his image nor Ieroboam to set vp his golden calues For the king as king is supreme vnder God not against God to commaund for truth not against truth And if hee shall command vngodly things we may not performe obedience but submit our selues to his punishments with patience PHIL. Doe not you by this title ascribe as much to the King as wee doe to the Pope ORTHO Wee are farre from it For when some malicious persons did wrest the words of the oath of supremacy to a sinister sense notifying how by words of the same oath it may be collected that the Kings or Queenes of this realme possessours of the crowne may challenge authority and power of ministery of diuine seruice in the Church Queene Elizabeth in the first yeere of
election according to the ancient manner and the laudable custome of the foresaid Church aunciently vsed and inuiolably obserued After which election orderly performed and signified according to the law it pleased her highnesse to send her letters pattents of Commission for his confirmation and consecration to seuen Bishops six whereof were lately returned from exile whose names with so much of the commission as concerneth this present purpose I will here set downe for your better satisfaction Elizabeth Dei gratia c. Reuerendis in Christo patribus Anth. Landauensi Will. Barlow quondam Bath Episcopo nunc Cicestrensi electo Ioh. Scory quondam Cicestrensi Episcopo nunc Herefordensi electo Miloni Couerdale quondam Exoniensi Episcopo Ioh. Suffraganeo Bedford Ioh. Suffraganeo Theâ—ford Ioh. Bale Ossorensi Episcopo Quatenus vos aut ad minus 4. vestrum eundem Math. Parkerum in Archiepiscopum pastorem Ecclesiae Cathedralis Metropoliticae Christi Cantuar praedictae sicut praefertur electum electionemque praedictam confirmare eundem Magistrum Math. Parker in Arch Pastorem Ecclesiae praedictae consecrare caeteraque omnia singula peragere quae vestro in hac parte incumbunt pastorali efficio iuxta formam statutorum in ca parte editorum prouisorum velitis cum effectu c. Daâ— 6 Decem. Anno 2. Elizab that is That you or at the least foure of you would effectually confirme the said Matth Parker elected to bee Archbishop and Pastour of the Cathedrall and Metropoliticall Church of Christ at Canterbury aforesaid as is before mentioned and that you would effectually confirme the saide election and consecrate the saide Matthew Parker Archbishop and Pastour of the said Church and performe all and euery thing which belongs to your Pastorall office in this respect according to the forme of the statutes set out and prouided in this behalfe Behold how both the commission and statute concurre with the Canons PHIL. BVt was the consecration accordingly performed ORTH. You neede not doubt of it For first the Bishops to whom the letters patents were directed had reason to set their handes cheerefully to so good a worke so much tending to the aduancing of the true Religion which they all imbraced and for which all of them except one had beene in exile Secondly how durst they doe otherwise seeing it was enacted by a statute made in the 25. yeare of King Henry 8. and still in force that if any Archbishop or Bishop within the Kings dominions after any such election nomination or presentation signified vnto them by the Kings letters patents should refuse and not confirme inuest and consecrate with all due circumstance within twentie dayes after that the Kings letters patents of such signification or presentation should come to their hands then hee or they so offending should runne in the dangers paines and penalties of the statute of prouision and premunire made in the twentie fiue yeare of the raigne of king Edward the third and in the sixteenth of king Richard the second PHIL. This is some probabilitie but yet for all this seeing maister D. Sanders saith that you had neither three nor two Bishops and maister D. Kellison saith you could finde none I will not beleeue the contrary vnlesse you produce the consecration it selfe ORTHOD. Then to take away all scruple I will faithfully deliuer vnto you out of Authenticall records both the day when he was consecrated and the persons by whom Anno 1559. Matt. Park Cant. Cons. 17. Decem. by William Barlow Iohn Scorie Miles Couerdale Iohn Hodgeskins PHIL. IF all this were granted yet it were nothing vnlesse you could iustifie the consecration of his consecratours therefore you must tell me when they were made Bishops ORTHOD. Two of them in the raigne of king Henry 8. and two in the dayes of king Edward the sixt In the raigne of K. Henry B. Barlow and the Suffragan of Bedford Bishop Barlow was a man of singular note who to vse the wordes of Bale ab erudito ingenio famam accepit that is hee had great fame and renowne for a learned wit In regard whereof he was aduanced to be Prior of Bisham and from thence elected to the Bishoprick of Saint Asaph which election was confirmed 23. Febr 1535. and soone after it pleased the King to preferre him to the Bishopricke of Saint Dauids where hee continued all the dayes of King Henry duely discharging all things belonging to the order of a Bishop euen Episcopall consecration as I haue already declared out of authenticall records He was also translated by King Edward to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wels and by Queene Elizabeth promoted to Chichester And as he was generally acknowledged and obeyed as a Bishop in his owne nation so Bucanan relating how King Henry sent him Embassadour into Scotland doth giue him his iust Episcopall title Now you told vs before out of Sanders that in King Henries time none might bee acknowledged for a Bishop vnlesse hee were consecrated by three with the consent of the Metropolitane Wherefore seeing Barlow was so famously and notoriously acknowledged not onely in the dayes of Queene Elizabeth and King Edward but also in the dayes of King Henry it is a cleare case that hee was so consecrated The same is to be said of the Suffragan of Bedford PHIL. What tell you mee of Suffraganes you know how Damasus speaketh against those titulary Bishops called Chorepiscopi ORTHOD. There are two sorts of Chorepiscopi the first had no Episcopall Consecration who are reproued and that iustly for they were onely Priests and not Bishops and of these Damasus speaketh in the iudgement of Bellarmine The second had Episcopall Consecration and these though they had no citie nor diocesse of their owne but onely some countrey towne for their See yet in regard of their Consecration they were true Bishops as Bellarmine confesseth Respondeo Suffraganeos esse veros Episcopos quia ordinationem habent Iurisdictionem licet careant possessione propriae Ecclesia that is I answere that Suffraganes are true Bishops because they haue both ordination and Iurisdiction although they are not possessed of a Church of their owne And of this latter sort are the Suffraganes of England established by act of Parliament in these wordes Be it therefore enacted by authority of this present Parliament that the townes of Thetford Ipswich Colchester Douer Gilsord Southampton Taunton Shaftesbury Molton Marleborrow Bedford Leicester Glocester Shrewsbury Bristow Penreth Bridgwater Nottingham Grantham Hul Huntingdon Cambridge and the townes of Pereth and Barwicke S. Germans in Cornewall and the I le of Wight shall bee taken and accepted for Sees of Bishops Suffraganes to bee made in this Realme and in Wales And the Bishops of such Sees shall bee called Suffraganes of this Realme And for their consecration prouided alwayes that the Bishop that shall nominate the Suffragane to the kings highnesse or the
confessed that this Councell of Antioch was a wicked Arrian Councell Secondly Socrates declareth that this very Canon was vrged against S. Chrysostome who reiected it as being made by the Arrians of set purpose against Athanasius Thirdly if wee should admit this Canon yet it maketh nothing against the Consecratours of Archbishop Parker for they were not deposed by any Councell and therefore needed no Councell to restore them but as Athanasius and other Bishops being forced to flee in the time of Iulian returned againe in the dayes of Iouian Qui cum omnes alios Episcopos tum eum nempe Athanasium ante omnes qui omnibus virtute antecellebat citra dubitationem vllam pietatis causa bello vexatus fuerat ab exilio reuocat i. Who recalled from exile as all other Bishops so especially Athanasius who in vertue excelled all men and without doubt was vexed and troubled onely for his pietie and Religion So these reuerend Bishops being forced to flee in the time of Q. Mary onely for their pietie and Religion returned againe in the dayes of Q. Elizabeth who as she recalled all godly Christians and Preachers from exile so especially those that excelled in learning and vertue Hitherto of the Consecratours NOw for the Consecrated he was a man against whom you can take no exception for you must needs acknowledge that he was capable of the Episcopall Office because Bristow confesseth that he was a Priest secundum Catholicum ritum i. according to the Catholick rite Which is most true He was Chaplaine to the Lady Anne Bullein and afterward to K. Henry the 8. who greatly preferred him and he was thought by Q. Elizabeth the fittest man to be aduanced to the See of Canterburie He was very learned as may appeare by his writings famously knowen to the world and a great louer of learning and Religion For he founded a Grammer Schoole at Rochdale in Lancashire Vnto Corpus Christi Colledge in Cambridge where hee was brought vp he procured 13. Schollerships built the inward Library and two faire chambers in the same He gaue to the Library of that Colledge a great number of Bookes some printed other written very rare and much to be esteemed for their value and Antiquitie He gaue also to the Vniuersitie 50 written books of great value and 50 printed He gaue to the same Colledge land for the maintenance of two Fellowes aboue the ordinary number He tooke order for the preaching of 6. Sermons yerely in 5. seuerall Churches in Norfolke To Trinitie Hall he gaue a Schollers place and bookes likewise And otherwise bestowed much money vnto charitable vses Lastly hee is commended by a great Antiquary for being singularly studious of Antiquities by whose care and industrie many excellent Monuments both in the Latin and Saxon tongue were preserued which otherwise had perished in the darknesse of Obliuion But from the persons we will proceed to the matter and forme of the Consecration PHIL. I Haue heard credibly reported That your new Superintendents were made Bishops with no other ceremony then with the laying of the English Bible vpon their heads ORTHOD. Yes they were all made with imposition of hands which is the only ceremony of Ordination which the Scripture mentioneth And Bellarmine thinketh it to be the matter essentiall And for the other Ceremonies which are but the inuention of man you cannot inforce them vpon vs further then the wisdome of our Church doeth hold it conuenient But concerning Archb. Parker this was his singular felicitie That being the 70. Archbishop after Austin yet of all that number he was the onely man and the first of all which receiued Consecration without the Popes Bulls and superfluous Aaronicall Ornaments as gloues rings Sandals slippers Miter Pall and such like trifles making a happy beginning more rightly and more agreeable to the simplicitie and puritie of the Gospel with Prayer inuocation of the holy Ghost imposition of hands and Religious promises in Attire correspondent to the grauitie and authoritie of an Archbishop with a Sermon made by a learned and godly Diuine concerning the Office charge and faithfulnesse of a Pastour to his flocke and the loue obedience and reuerence of the flocke to the Pastour And after Sermon with receiuing the holy Communion in a great assembly of most graue men And last of all with the common and feruent prayers of them all that the Office imposed vpon him might redound to the glory of God the saluation of his flocke and the ioyfull testimonie of his owne conscience PHIL. WHat forme of wordes did they vse to giue the Episcopall power with the imposition of hands ORTHOD. The very same which was vsed in King Edwards daies and is vsed still in the Church of England yea the very same words which by the great prouidence of God are still retained in your owne Church And this may appeare by the act of his Consecration remayning in record Cicestrensis Heref Suffraganeus Bedford Milo Couerdale manibus Archiepiscopo imposit is dixerunt anglice viz. Take the holie Ghost c. Thus haue wee examined the place the persons the matter the forme of his Consecration and finde nothing but agreeable to the lawes of the Land the Canons of the Church and the practise of reuerend antiquitie wherein how circumspectly the Queene proceeded may further appeare by this that her letters patents were sent to diuerse learned professours of the law that they might freelie giue their iudgment and all of them ioynthe confessed that both the Queenes Maiesty might lawfully authorize the persons to the effect specified and the said persons also might lawfully exercise the act of confirming and Consecrating in the same to them committed whose names subscribed with their owne hands remaine in record as followeth William May. Robert Weston Edward Leedes Henry Haruie Thomas Yale Nicolas Bullingham Hitherto of Archbishop Parker now let vs heare your exceptions against the rest CHAP. V. Of the rest of the Bishops Consecrated in the second and third yeere of Queene Elizabeth PHIL. IF his or their Consecrations were sound why did the Queene in her letters patents directed for the consecrating of them vse diuerse generall words and sentences whereby she dispensed with all causes or doubts of any imperfection or disability that could or might bee obiected in any wise against the same as may appeare by an act of Parliament referring vs to the said letters patents remayning of record ORT. She might entertaine some reason in her royall brest which you and I and such shallow heads are not able to conceiue But if I might presume to giue my coniecture I suppose shee did it ad maiorem cautelam For there wanted not malicious Papists which would prie into the state of the Clergy and obserue the least imperfection that could be Whereupon to preuent their slanders and to stoppe the mouthes of malice that gracious Queene was not
onely carefull that Euery thing requisite and materiall should be made and done as precisely as euer before but also to the end that all men might be satisfied that all doubt scruple and ambiguitie might be taken away and that there should not the least spot of suspition cleaue vnto her Clergie it pleased her Maiestie if peraduenture quicke sighted malice could finde any quirk or quiditie against them by colour of any Canon or Statute graciously to dispense with it Which doth not argue any vnsoundnesse in their consecrations but the godlie care and prouidence of a religious Prince PHIL. You vse to finde fault with the Popes dispensations and will you your selues in an act of Parliament affirme that the Queene dispensed with all causes or doubts of any imperfection or dissabilitie and that in a matter of holie Orders ORTHOD. The Pope taketh vpon him to dispense against the law of God as for example That a brother may marrie his brothers wife So did not Queene Elizabeth but onelie with trespasses against her owne lawes not in essentiall points of ordination but onelie in accidentall not in substance but in circumstance Neither did she giue them leaue to make any voluntarie violatioÌ„ of the law but only dispensed with such omission as necessity it selfe should require as may appeare by the said letters patents And it pleased the Almighty so to dispose that al things were performed in most exquisite manner yet the Papists such was their hatred against the Clergie did blaze abroad the contrarie Whereupon the high Court of Parliament assembled in the eight yeere of that famous Queene hauing deepelie considered and pondered all things pronounced that their speeches were Slanderous not grounded vpon any iust matter or cause For Gods name bee blessed all things were done honestlie and in order euen from her first comming to the crowne ANd verily as Iosua protested I my house wil serue the Lord so Queen Elizabeth resolued with her owne heart I and my kingdomes will serue the Lord. Therefore as Iosias assembled the ancients of Iuda and Ierusalem to make a Couenant with their God so Queene Elizabeth assembled her high Court of Parliament for the same purpose But as when Nehemias went about reformation the Priests and Prophets which should haue bin the principall helpers were principal hinderers so it came to passe in that Parliament that whereas the Prince and Barons and the Commons were great instruments of Gods glorie the Popish Bishops sought by all meanes the glory of their holie father the Pope Notwithstanding God in his mercy gaue a blessing so that the truth preuailed And as Iehoiada required an oth in behalfe of King Ioas so the Parliament did in behalfe of Queene Elizabeth And as Abiathar was iustlie depriued for refusing Salomon and ioyning with Adonia euen so were the Popish Bishops for refusing the oth of the Queenes supremacie which contained nothing else but the Princes lawfull title And as Abiathar beeing displaced Sadok was aduanced so those vndutifull Bishoppes beeing remooued godlie Pastours were preferred THe Bishops depriued were in number fourteene in whose Sees who succeeded may appeare by this table wherein is set downe first the Prouince of Canterbury and then of Yorke   Sees Displaced Placed prouince Cant. London Bonner Grindall Winchester White Horne Ely Thurlby Coxe Lincoln Watson Bullingham Cou. Lichfeild Bane Bentham Bath and Wels. Bourne Barckly Exon. Turberuill Ally Worcester Pates Sandes Peterburrow Poole Scambler Asaph Gouldwell Dauis Yorke Yorke Heath Young Durham Tunstall Pilkinton Carlill Oglethorp Best Chester Scot. Downham ¶ The Consecration of the B. of the Prouince of Cant. Anno 1559. Edm. Grindall Cons. 21. Dec. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Will. Cicester Ioh. Hereford Ioh. Bedford Anno 1560. Robert Horne cons. 16. Feb. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Tho. Meneu Edm. London Tho. Cou. Lich. Anno 1559. Rich. Coxe cons. 21. Decem. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Will. Cicester Ioh. Hereford Ioh. Bedford Anno 1559. Nich. BullinghaÌ„ cons. 21. Ian. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Edm. London Rich. Eliens Ioh. Bedford Anno 1559. Tho. Bentham cons. 24. Mart. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Nich. Lincoln Ioh. Sarum Anno 1559. Gilb. Barckly cons. 24. Mart. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Nich. Lincoln Ioh. Sarum Anno 1560. Will. Ally cons. 14. Iuly by Math. Archbishop Cant. Edm. London Gilbard Bath and Wells Anno 1559. Edwin Sandes cons. 21. Decem. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Will. Cicester Ioh. Hereford Ioh. Bedford Anno 1560. Edm. Scambler cons. 16. Febru by Math. Archbishop Cant. Tho. Meneuens Edm. London Tho. Cou. Lichfield Anno 1559. Rich. Dauis cons. 21. Ianu. by Math. Archbishop Cant. Edm. London Rich. Eliens Ioh. Bedford Of the Cons. of the Bishops of the Prouince of Yorke Thomas Young was translated to Yorke from Saint Dauids whose Consecration was as followeth Anno 1559. Thomas Young cons. 21. Ianuary by Math. Archb. Cant. Edm. London Rich. Eliens Ioh. Bedford The like is to be iudged of the rest which I haue not set downe because as yet I haue not seene the records of Yorke CHAP. VI. A briefe view of all the Bishops of some of the principall Sees during the whole raigne of Queene Elizabeth ORTH. TO the intent that all men may knowe the godly care of the Church of England in obseruing the ancient Canons I will set downe all the Bishops of some of the principall Sees which were consecrated from the first enterance of Queene Elizabeth till the ende of her Raigne Canterbury THe Archbishops of Canterbury in the Queenes time were Math. Parker Edmund Grindal and Iohn Whitgift the consecration of the two former you haue heard already the third remaineth to be declared Anno 1â—77 Ioh. Whitgift cons. 21. April by Edm. Archb. Cant. Ioh. London Rob. Winton Rich. Cicester London THe Bishops of London in the Queenes time were Edmund Grindall Edwin Sandes Iohn Elmer Richard Fletcher and Richard Bancroft The Consecration of the two first were before expressed the rest as followeth Anno 1576. Ioh. Elmer Cons. 24. Mart. by Edm. Archb. Cant. Edw. Archb. Ebor. Ioh. Roff. Anno 1589. Rich. Fletcher Cons. 14. Dec. by Ioh. Archb Cant. Ioh. London Ioh. Roff. Ioh. Glou. Anno 1597. Rich. Bancroft Cons. 8. May by Ioh. Archb. Cant. Ioh Roff. Anton Meneu Rich Bangor Anton. Cicest ¶ Winchester THe Bishops of Winchester in the Queenes time were Robert Horne Iohn Watson Thomas Cooper William Wickham William Day and Thomas Bilson the Consecration of Bishop Horne was before handled the rest were as followeth Anno 1580. Ioh. Watson Cons. 18. Septem by Edm. Archb. Cant. Ioh. London Ioh. Roff. Anno 1570. Thomas Cooper Cons. 24. Febr. by Matth. Archb. Cant. Robert Wint. Nich. Wigorn. Anno 1584. Will. Wickham Cons. 6. Decem. by Iohn Archb Cant. Edm. Wigorn. Ioh. Exon. Mauricius Meneu Anno 1595. William Day Cons.
25. Ianu. by Ioh. Archb. Cant. Rich. Lond. Ioh. Roff. Anno 1596. Thomas Bilson Cons. 13. Ianu. by Ioh. Archb Cant. Rich. Lond. Will. Wint. Rich. Bangor ¶ Ely THe Bishops of Ely in the Queenes time Richard Coxe and Martine Heaton the Consecration of Bishop Coxe was handled before the other followeth Anno 1599. Martin Heaton Cons. 3. Febr. by Ioh. Archb. Cant. Rich Lond. Will. Cou. and Lichf Anton. Cicest ¶ Salisbury THe Bishops of Salisbury were Iohn Iewel Edmund Gueast Iohn Peirs Iohn Goldwell and Henry Cotton Anno 1559. Iohn Iewel Cons. 21. Ianu. by Matth. Archb. Cant. Edmund London Rich. Ely Ioh. Bedford Anno 1559. Edmund Gueast Cons. 24. Mart. by Matth. Archb. Cant. Nich. Lincolne Ioh. Sarum Anno 1576. Iohn Peirs Cons. 15. April by Edm. Archb. Cant. Edw. London Rob. Winton Anno 1591. Iohn Coldwell Cons. 26. Decem. by Ioh. Archb. Cant. Ioh. London Tho. Wint. Rich. Bristoll Ioh. Oxon. Anno 1598. Henry Cotton Cons. 12. Nouem by Ioh. Archb. Cant. Rich. London William Couent Ant. Cicest ¶ Norwich THe Bishops of Norwich were Thomas Parkhurst Edmund Freake Edmund Scambler William Redman and Iohn Iegon Of these Edmund Scamblers Consecration hath already beene declared the rest follow Anno 1560. Thomas Parkhurst Cons. 1. Sep. by Matth. Archb. Cant. Gilbert Bath and Wells William Exon. Anno 1571. Edmund Freake Cons. 9. Mart. by Matth. Archb. Cant. Robert Wint. Edm. Sarum Anno 1594. William Redman Cons. 12. Ianu. by Iohn Archb. Cant. Rich. London Iohn Roff. William Lincoln Anno 1602. Iohn Iegon Cons. 20. Febru by Iohn Archb. Cant. Rich. London Iohn Roff. Ant. Cicest ¶ Rochester THe Bishops of Rochester were Edmund Gueast Edm. Freake Iohn Pierce and Iohn Yong whereof the three first haue bene already handled the fourth followeth Anno 1577. Iohn Yong Cons. 16. Mart. by Edm. Archb. Cant. Iohn Lond. Ioh. Sarum CHAP. VII Of the Bishops in the Prouince of Canterburie consecrated since our gracious Soueraigne King Iames did come to the Crowne with a little touch concerning the Prouince of Yorke ANd that you may know that the same order in Consecration of Bishops is still retained vnder the raigne of our gracious Soueraigne King Iames behold these that follow Anno 1603. Ioh. Bridges Cons. B. of Oxon. 12. Febr. by Ioh. Archb. Cant. Rich. Lond. Tob. Durham Ioh. Roff. Anthon. Cicest Anno 1604. Rich. Parry Cons. B. of Asaph 30. Dec. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Rich. Lond. Tob. Durham Mart. Eltens Anno 1604. Tho. Rauis Cons. B. of Glouc. 17. Mart. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Tob. Durham Anth. Cicest Anno 1605. Will. Barlow Cons. B. of Roch. 30. Iun. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Rich. London Anth. Cicest Thom. Glouc. Anno 1605. Lanc. Andrewes Cons. B. of Cic. 3. Nou. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Rich. Lond. Ioh. Norwich Thom. Glouc. Will. Roff. Anno 1607. Henr. Parry Cons. B. of Glouc. 12. Iul. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Thom. Lond. Will. Roff. Lancel Cicest An. 1608. Ia. Mountagu coÌ„s B. of Ba. Wels. 17. Ap. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Thom. Lond. Henr. Sarum Will. Roff. Lanc. Cicest Henr. Glouc. Anno 1608. Rich. Neile Cons. B. of Roch. 9. Octob. by Rich. Arch. Cant. Thom. Lond. Lanc. Cicest Ia. Bath Wells An. 1609. Geor. Abbot Con. B. of Cou. Lich. 3. Dec. by Rich. Archb. Cant. Lanc. Ely Rich. Roff. Samuel Harsnet Cons. B. of Cicest the same day by the same persons Anno 1611. Giles Thomson Cons. B. of Glou. 9. Iul. by Georg. Archb. Cant. Ioh. Oxon. Lanc. Eli. Ia. Bath Wells Rich. Cou. Lichf Iohn Buckridge Cons. B. of Roch. the same day by the same persons Anno 1611. Ioh. King Cons. B. of Lond. 8. Septemb. by Georg. Archb. Cant. Rich. Cou. Lichf Giles Glouc. Ioh. Roff. Anno 1612. Miles Smith Cons. B. of Glou. 20. Sept. by Georg. Cant. Ioh. Lond. Rich. Cou. Lich. Ioh. Roff. The like hath bene continually obserued in the Prouince of Yorke for a taste whereof I will giue you two examples The former in the Queenes time the later in the raigne of our gracious Soueraigne Anno 1598. Hen. Robinson Cons. B. of Carl. 23. Iul. by Rich. Lond. Ioh. Roff. Anth. Cic. Anno 1606. Will. Iames Cons. B. of Durham 6. Sept. by Tob. Ebor. Rich. Lond. Will. Roff. Lanc. Cic. THis which you haue seene may seeme sufficient Yet because I desire to giue ample contentment I haâ—â—â—et downâ— the successiue Ordination and Golden chaine of the most reuerend Father George now L. Archbishop of Canterbury the ioy of the Clergie and Gods great blessing vpoÌ„ this Church ascending lincke by lincke vnto the Bishops in the time of King Henry the 8. which our aduersaries acknowledge to be Canonicall Whereunto that all the Clergie of England may know in particular how to proue their succession I intend when God shall grant me opportunitie to view the Records of the other Prouince to annex the like Episcopal line of the other most reuerend Metropolitane Tobie L. Archbishop of Yorke CHAP. VIII The Episcopall line and succession of the most Reuerend Father in God George now Lord Archb. of Canterbury particularlie declaring how he is Canonically descended from such Bishops as were Consecrated in the daies of King Henry the eight which our Aduersaries acknowledge to bee Canonicall He was Consecrated 3. December 1609. By 1. R. Bancroft Cons. 8. May 1597 by Lancel Eli. Whose Consecrations were before described and may bee deduced in the like manner Richard Rosf Whose Consecrations were before described and may bee deduced in the like manner 2. Ioh. Whitg Cons. 21. Apr. 1577. by Iohn Young See the next page Anthony Rud. See the next page Richard Vaughan See the next page Anthony Watson See the next page 3. Ed. Grindal Cons. 21. Dec. 1559. by 4 Mat. Parker Cons. 17. Dec. 1559 by Wil. Barlow in the time of Henry 8. Ioh. Hodgskins in the time of Henry 8. 5 Miles Couerdale Cons. 30. Aug. 1551. by Thomas Cranmer in the time of Henry 8. Iohn Hodgâ—kins in the time of Henry 8. 7 Nicholas Ridley Cons. 5. Sep. 1547. by Henry Lincolne in the time of Hen. 8. Iohn Bedford in the time of Hen. 8. Thomas Sidon in the time of Hen. 8. 6 Ioh Scory Cons. with Miles Couerdale vide 5. 8 Ioh. Hurly Cons. 26. May 1553. by Thomas Cranmer Christ. Sidon 9 Iohn Taylour Cons. 26. Iuly 1552. by Thomas Cranmer Iohn Scory vide 6. Nich. Ridley vide 7. William Barlow in the time of Henry the 8. Iohn Bedford in the time of Henry the 8. 10. Ioh. Elmer Cons. 24. Mar. 1577 by Edmund Grindall â—ide 3. 11 Edw. Sands Consecrated with Edmund Grindall vide 3. 12 Iohn Piers Cons. 15. Apr. 1576. by Robert Horne vide 13. 19 Ri. Câ—râ—else cons. 21. May 1570. by Mathew Parker vide 4. Robert Horne vide 13 20 Edm. Guest cons. 24. Mar. 1559 by Mathew Parker vide 4 Nicholas BullinghaÌ„ vid. 17 Iohn Iewell
videtur c. It seemeth we may say seeing an Abbot gouerneth his Monastery by ordinary Iurisdiction and an Abbatesse is equall vnto him in freedome of administration that she hath ordinarie Iurisdiction as well as the Abbot Yea the same Stephen striueth to attibute vnto her the power of excommunication which is more then the Church of England ascribeth to Princes For it attributeth vnto them onelie that prerogatiue which wee see to haue beene giuen alwayes to godly Princes in the holy Scripture by God himselfe that is that they should rule all estates and degrees committed vnto their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiasticall or temporall and restraine with the ciuil sword the stubborne euill doers When the B hath vsed his spirituall censures he can proceed no further but as Iosias compelled all that were found in Israel to serue the Lord So may euery Prince by his royall authority compell all his subiects to do their duty and those which refuse to be reformed by the Church he may restraine with the ciuil sword inflicting tēporal punishments as the qualitity of the offence requireth When Paulus Samosatenus was excommunicate and deposed in the Councell of Antioch he did notwithstanding hold his Church and chaire by violence whereupon the Councell knowing that of themselues they could proceed no further were forced to seeke the aide of Aurelian the Emperour by whose commandement he was expelled PHIL. IF the Iurisdiction of the Prince and the Prelate be so different how then is the Prelates deriued from the Prince ORTHOD. Heere wee must consider the matters handled in the consistories of Bishops and the manner The matters originally and naturally belonging to those Courts are onely such as are originally and naturally Ecclesiasticall the manner to ratifie their iudgements is not properly vnder any corporall mulct but onely by spirituall censures as suspension excommunication and such like In both which respects the Iurisdiction of Bishops hath beene much inlarged by the fauour and indulgence of Christian Princes Concerning the matter Constantine the Great gaue libertie to Clerkes to decline the iudgement of ciuill Iudges and to bee iudged by their owne Bishops By occasion whereof many Ciuill Causes were brought to the cognisance of Ecclesiasticall Courts Hee made also a law to ratifie those iudgements As though they had beene pronounced by the Emperour himselfe Now all the Iurisdiction which Bishops haue in Ciuill Causes is meerely from the Prince Concerning the manner it seemeth sometimes expedient to annex coactiue power to the Episcopall office both for the honour of Prelacie and also to make their spirituall censures the more regarded which also without controuersie must bee acknowledged to proceede from the Prince For as the Lord hath compacted the light into the body of the Sunne that thence it might be communicated to Moone and Starres So hee hath put all ciuill and coactiue Iurisdiction into the person of the Prince from whom as from a glorious Sunne or fountaine all other inferiour lampes doe borrow their light But if wee speake of that Episcopall Iurisdiction which both in respect of matter and manner is meerely spirituall the immediate fountaine of it is God himselfe as our most learned and religious King with his royall Penne hath thus witnessed to the world That Bishops ought to bee in the Church I euer maintained it as an Apostolicke institution and so the ordinance of God contrary to the Puritanes and likewise to Bellarmine who denyeth that Bishops haue their Iurisdiction immediately from God If his Maiesties iudgement bee contrary to Bellarmines who holdeth the negatiue then his Princely wisedome embraceth the affirmatiue to wit that Bishops haue their Iurisdiction meerely spirituall immediately from God Notwithstanding for so much as they exercise the same in a Christian Common wealth at the holy direction and command and vnder the gracious protection of a religious King within the kings dominions vpon the Kings subiects according to the Canons and statutes established by the Kings authoritie wee may iustly call those Courts the Kings Ecclesiasticall Courts and the Archbishops and Bishops the kings Ecclesiasticall iudges Wherefore though this spirituall power in regard of it selfe be immediately from God yet in these respects it may rightly be said to be deriued from the king So it is a Christo tanquam ab authore conferente a Rege tanquam a iubente dirigente promouente protegente PHIL. If your Bishops haue their spirituall Iurisdiction immediately from God when doe they receiue it ORTHO When they are made Bishops that is in their Consecration For the partie to be Consecrated is presented to the Archbishop in these words Most reuerend Father in God wee present vnto you this godly and well learned man to be Consecrated Bishop Where the word Bishop is taken in the vsuall Ecclesiasticall sense for a Timothy or a Titus an Angel or gouernour of the Church And the Archbishop with other Bishops present imposeth hands saying f Take the holy Ghost that is such ghostly and spirituall power as is requisite to aduance a Presbyter to the office of a Bishop so here is giuen him whatsoeuer belongeth to the Episcopall office as the prayers going before the pronouncing of these words and following after doe declare wherein humble petition is made for Gods blessing and grace that hee may dulie execute the office of a Bishoppe faithfullie serue therein and minister Episcopall discipline PHIL. If it be giuen in Episcopall Consecration how then is it giuen immediatly from God ORTHOD. I will answere you if you will answere me a few questions And first I demaund whence is the power of Order PHIL. It is immediatly from God because it requireth a Character and grace which onely God can effect For though it be said to be giuen with Imposition of hands yet the meaning is not that either the Imposer or the Imposition of hands doeth giue it but God himselfe while hands are Imposed To which purpose it is excellently said of S. Ambrose O brother who giueth the Episcopall grace God or man Thou answerest without doubt God but yet God giueth it by man Man imposeth hands God giueth the grace The Priest imposeth an humble hand and God blesseth with a mightie hand ORTHOD. And whence commeth the grace of Baptisme PHIL. This also without question is immediatly from God ORTHOD. And whence commeth faith in the hearing of the Gospel PHIL. It is likewise immediatly from God ORTHOD. And doeth not God in all these vse the ministerie of man PHIL. There is no doubt of it ORTHOD. Then you see a thing may be giuen immediatly from God though in giuing it he vse the meanes and ministery of man for in such like speeches the word Immediatly is not so taken as excluding meanes but as distinguishing the action of God from the meanes When the children of Israel were stung of the fierie serpents God in healing them vsed the
meanes of the brasen serpent yet the vertue of healing proceeded not from the brasen serpent but immediatly from himselfe For â—e that turned towards it was not healed by the thing that he saw but by thee O Sautour of all Euen so though God in giuing this Spirituall power vse the ministerie of man yet the power it selfe is immediatly from God For whereas S. Paul among the gifts of God to the Church nameth gouernments And S. Peter saith If any man minister let him doe it as of the abilitie which God ministreth Your Iesuit Salmeron though striuing to deriue it from the Pope as it is actuall yet considering it in it selfe being conuicted with the euidence of trueth saith thus Ministrationes quoque Domino ascribuntur sicut gubernationes à Paulo quia quicquid est supernaturale in ministerio gubernatione Deus per se fecit id autem ad quod creatura potest concurrere sinit eam agere etsi ipse praecipuè id operetur Gratia igitur gratis data administrandi gubernandi à Deo est immediatè i. Ministrations are ascribed to the Lord by S. Paul as also gouernments because whatsoeuer is supernaturall in ministerâ—â— and gouernment God hath wrought that by himselfe but he suffereth the creature to worke that vnto which it can concurre although himselfe in that bee the 〈…〉 pall agent Therefore the freely giuen grace of administring and gouerning is 〈…〉 tly from God And againe â— Si sâ—matur pro gratia gratis data gubernandi vel administrandi iurisdictionem vt sumunt Petrus Paulus procul dubio donumest quod ab homine procedere non potest i. If Iurisdiction or gouernment be taken for the freely giuen grace of gouerning or administring Iurisdiction as Peter and Paul take it without doubt it is a gift which cannot proceed from man Wherefore when S. Paul willeth Timothie To stirre vp the grace which is giuen him it is to be expounded not onely of the grace of Order but of all Episcopall grace And S. Ambrose when hee saith God giueth the grace doeth vndoubtedly meane all Episcopall grace For who can giue any grace to the Pastours of the Church but onely the God of all grace which giueth Pastours to the Church and appointeth them to be rulers ouer his family To Salmeron we may adde Henr. Gandauensis affirming that Bishops haue their power both of Order and Iurisdiction immediatly from Christ As also Gottifredus de Fontibus and Iohannes de Poliaco all alleadged by Salmeron Whose opinions he controuleth without reason seeing before in effect he affirmed the same I will conclude this point with the Vniuersitie of Paris which ratified this position with a Decree and caused one Iohannes Sarazim a Frier to recant the contrary PHIL. If Iurisdiction be giuen in Consecration then it should be equall in all Bishops ORTHOD. The power it selfe is equall in all though the determination of the power which is from the Church be vnequall When a Bishop is translated to another See hee doeth not lose his former habituall power no more then the Sunne doeth lose his light when hee passeth to the other Hemisphere When a Bishop of a smaller Circuit is aduanced to a greater he getteth not a greater power but a larger subiect whereupon he may exercise his power And when a Bishop is deposed hee is not absolutely depriued of his power but the matter is taken away vpon which his power should worke This is confessed by Vargas to be the opinion of Alphonsus and others If it happen that a Bishop for any crime bee depriued of his Bishopricke then he shall bee depriued of his subiects vpon whom hee ought to exercise his power of Iurisdiction but hee shall not be depriued of the power of Iurisdiction it selfe receiued in his Consecration CHAP. II. Whether S. Peter were the onely fountaine vnder Christ of all Spirituall Iurisdiction PHIL. THe giuing of Iurisdiction must onely proceed from him that is the fountaine of all Spirituall Iurisdiction vnder Christ which is the Bishop of Rome or some Metropolitane or Bishop vnder him that hath authoritie and commission from him For the Church of God is like vnto a Citie which hath one onely fountaine from whence there issue diuers great floods which are branched out againe into sundry goodly streames whence the water is conueyed by pipes and conduits to serue the whole Citie This fountaine is the Bishop of Rome the great floods are the Patriarches Archbishops and Metropolitanes the streames are the rest of the Bishops the pipes and conduits are all those which deriue their Iurisdiction from the Bishops Now the Church of England was sometimes flourishing like the Paradice of God but since it was cut off from the liuely spring alas for woe it is like to a barren and forsaken wildernesse ORTHOD. The Church of England God be thanked is in such a case that all her friends haue cause to reioyce and all her enemies to gnash their teeth And as for the fountaine you speake of it is not a well of liuing water made by the King of heauen but a puddle or pit of poyson digged by the Prince of darkenesse The Bishop of Rome wee graunt hath of ancient time beene reuerently regarded and had though not a generall iurisdiction yet a large extent yea hee had precedencie of dignity and place before all other Bishops but this was onely by law humane because he was the Bishop of the Imperiall Citie but now hee is like a furious floud which ouerfloweth the bankes he will be no more confined with bounds and limits hee chalengeth a generallity of iurisdiction ouer the Christian world and that by law diuine PHIL. I Will proue That he is the fountaine of al spirituall iurisdiction by law diuine for Saint Peter was so and the Pope succeeded him in this right ORTHOD. There is more required to inferre this conclusion then al the Seminaries Iesuites in the world are able to performe but first how proue you that Peter was inuested in this right by law diuine PHIL. The Scripture is full of testimonies declaring both his lawfull authority and his due execution thereof his authority might appeare by many arguments but I will make choice of two which proue the point in question most directly the promise of the keyes the coÌ„mission of feeding the sheep To begin with the first Christ said to Peter I wil giue thee the keyes of the kingdom of heauen Christ gaue him not one keye only but 2. the key of knowledge the key of power by the key of knowledge he was able to open all Scriptures controuersies of religion The key of power is of order or of iurisdiction by the key of order he was able to ordaine Bishops and Pastours of the Church and againe to lock them out of the ministery by deposing degrading as occasion required by the key of iurisdiction hee might open and shut
in the election of Conon wherefore if the people gaue Suffrages by subscription in those times wee neede not doubt that they gaue Suffrages in the time of S. Cyprian neither was it by the Popes permission For S. Cyprian maketh no mention of the Pope but declareth that almost in all Prouinces after the death of a Bishop the Bishops next adioyning did meet about an election in the citie of the Bishop deceased and so the election was performed in their presence by the Suffrages of the whole fraternitie that is both of the Clergie and like wise also of the people Wherefore that which you say concerning the Pope is but a voluntary speech without any ground And surely seeing God hath set downe no certaine rule nor precept in holy Scripture but left it as a thing indifferent it was most fit that in those primatiue times the people should haue a Suffrage for by this meanes it came to passe that they did not only more quietly receiue diligently heare and heartily loue but also more willingly and bountifully maintaine their Bishop wherefore their Suffrage was grounded vpon right and reason PHIL. The Church of God hath had dolefull experience of the tumults which arise from popular elections Euagrius declareth what vprores were at Alexandria about Proterius when the people beate the souldiers into the Church and destroyed a number of them with fier yea they slew Proterius in the Temple vpon Easter day drew his body along the citie hewed it in most miserable manner burned that which was left and scattered his ashes in the wind And Amianus reporteth that at the election of Damasus the people slew in the Church in one day 137. persons so that the holy places did flow with streames of Christian blood These are the fruites of popular elections CHAP. V. An answere to certaine obiections against the election of Bishops by Christian kings and Emperours out of the Councells and other authorities ORTH. IF popular elections bee so dangerous vnto whom should their ancient right rather be translated then vnto the Prince who by the law of God is their Soueraigne to rule them and the Father both of Church and Common wealth to prouide for their good PHIL. The Councell of Paris saith that if any man by ouermuch rashnesse presume to inuade the height of this honour by the Princes commandement let him in no wise be receiued by the Bishops ORTHO The meaning of the Councell appeareth by the words going before let not a Bishop be intruded by the Princes commandement nor by any other meanes against the consent of the Metropolitane and the Bishops of the Prouince so this Councell maketh nothing against our kings of England who vse most orderly lawfull and Canonicall proceeding neuer intruding any against the consent of the Metropolitane and comprouincialls PHIL. In the yere 566. there was a Councell holden at Santonia in France where d Emerius was deposed from his Bishopricke because hee was intruded by King Clotharius ORTHO He was put in contrary to the Canons For he had the decree of the King that he should be consecrated without the aduise of the Metropolitane so this is no paralel for our Princes PHIL. By the second Nicen Councel All elections of Bishops Priests and Deacons made by the Magistrates are voide And the ground of their assertion is that Canon of the Apostles If any obtaine a Church by secular powers let him be deposed and all that communicate with him ORTHO That Canon is to be expounded of secular powers excluding the Clergie or inuading the Church by force and violence and so the Councell tooke it neither did they vrge it any otherwise as may appeare plainely by the very title of their Canon Electiones Episcoporum quae vi Principum procedunt infirmari debent i. the elections of Bishops which proceed by the violence of Princes ought to be infringed PHIL. But you cannot so delude the 22. Canon of the eighth generall Councell being the fourth at Constantinople which is most pregnant to this purpose For there it was decreed That no Lay. Prince or Potentate should interpose themselues in the Election or promotion of a Patriarch Metropolitane or any Bishop especially seeing it is not conuenient that they should haue any power in such things but rather bee silent till the Election bee finished by the Ecclesiasticall Colledge ORTHOD. The 22. Canon is a counterfeit not found in the Greeke copies And the true Canons of the same Councell grounding vpon the Canons of the Apostles and ancient Councels doe iustifie my former answere in these wordes If any Bishop shall receiue the Consecration of Episcopall dignitie by the fraud and tyrannie of Princes let him be deposed Wherefore the intention of the ancient Councels was not to exclude Princes but onely to remooue fraude and compulsion that all things might be done according to the Canons That Hildebrandicall doctrine was not yet knowne to the world PHIL. Athanasius asketh where there is any such Canon that a Bishop should be sent out of a Palace ORTHOD. Athanasius speaketh of the proceedings of Constantius who so farre contemned all Canons that hee would haue had his owne will to bee for a Canon And whereas in those dayes Bishops vsed to be chosen by the consent of the people and Clergie openly created in the Church and ordained if it were possible by all the Bishops of the Prouince at least by three with the consent of the Metropolitane Constantius in stead of the Church would haue it done in his Palace In place of the people there were present three of his Eunuches and for the Bishops of the Prouince three which Athanasius calleth not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Bishops but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is spies Thus was one Felix created a Bishop This sending of Bishops out of a Palace was against all Canons this Athanasius misliked neither can any man of wisdome speake well of it But such proceedings as are vsed in the Church of England shall be iustified as agreeable both to the Councels and stories of antiquitie PHIL. Valentinian when the Bishops would haue had him to elect a Bishop of Millan said It is a greater matter then is conuenient for vs but you being indued with diuine grace and shining with the brightnesse thereof shall make the election ORTHOD. The Bishops did shew their duety to their Prince and the Prince shewed his elemencie to his Subiects But what is this to your purpose There is no doubt but a Prince may if it please him relinquish his right for a time and he or his successours may resume it againe when it seemeth good to their Princely wisedomes For that this was anciently acknowledged to be the right of Christian Princes will appeare if we consider the election of Bishops in the Imperiall Cities of Rome and Constantinople as also in the Kingdomes of France and Spaine CHAP. VI.
to the Emperours by 3. Popes with 3. Roman Councels practised commonly and anciently by all kings through the whole Christian world yeelded to his predecessours in the time of the Saxons vsed by his own father and brother and neuer denied in England before Anselmus began to broach the Hildebrandicall Doctrine PHIL. This cause was handled at Rome where the kings Proctour boldly affirmed that his master the king would not loose inuestitures for the losse of his kingdome to whom Pope Paschall answered if as thou saiest thy king will not indure to lose the donations of Churches for the losse of his kingdome knowe thou precisely I speake it before God that I would not suffer him to obtaine them without punishment for the redemption of my head Thus the cause was determined against the King ORTH. No maruell for the Pope was Iudge in his owne cause such a cause as was not a litle both for his pride and profit such a Pope as within 8. yeeres after periured himselfe in the like matter But notwithstanding the Popes determination the king disdaining to bee so deluded sent to Anselmus forbidding him to enter the land vnlesse he would obserue the customes of William the Conquerour and William Rufus so he was absent three yeeres PHIL. Yet at his returne he got a glorious victory for Edinerus writeth thus rex antecessorum suorum vsu relicto nec personas quae in regimen Ecclesiae sumebantur per se elegit nec eas per dationem virgae pastoralis Ecclesijs quibus praeficiebantur inuestiuit the king leauing the vse of his predecessours did neither himselfe elect such persons as were assumed to the gouernment of the Church nor inuested them to the Churches ouer which they were set by the deliuering of the pastorall staffe ORTHOD. Here is a cleare confession that inuestitures belonged to the king by the vse of his predecessours yet such was the violence and fury both of the Pope and the Archbishop that he thought good to redeeme his quiet by releasing of his ancient right PHIL. If he had any right he did yeeld it vp for Malmsbury saith Venit Rex sublimi trophaeo splendidus triumphali gloria Angliam inuectus inuestiturasque Ecclesiarum Anselmo in perpetuum in manum remisit The king came out of France glistering with a stately trophee entred England with triumphall glory and released the inuestitures of Churches to Anselmus into his hands for euer ORTHOD. True to Anselmus here was a finall and perpetuall end betweene them two neither did the king intermeddle any more in the matter while Anselmus liued but after his death Anno 1113. hee gaue the Archbishopricke to Rodolph Bishop of London and inuested him with a Ring and a Staffe and Anno 1123. he gaue the said Archbishopricke to William Corboll he gaue also the Bishopricke of Lincolne to Alexander the Bishopricke of Bath to Godfrid the Bishopricke of Worcester to Simon the Bishopricke of Cicester to Sifrid After the raigne of Henry the first though the Popes were still busie especially when the state was troubled or the king out of the Realme yet the succeeding Princes would not suffer themselues to bee robbed of this right and royaltie but from time to time put it in practise and maintained their prerogatiue King Edward the third told Pope Clement the fift That his progenitors and other noble and faithfull men had founded and indowed Churches and placed Ministers in them euer since the first planting of religion in the Realme of England and that the kings did of ancient time freely conferre Cathedrall Churches iure suo Regio by their Princely right so oft as they were vacant he doth not say by the Popes permission but by their princely right so the collation of Bishopricks is the ancient right of the kings of England Moreouer he told him that whereas now Deanes and Chapters elect this proceeded from the graunt of the kings at the request and instance of the Pope he doth not say from the graunt of the Pope but from the grant of the kings at the request of the Pope with which concordeth that famous act of Parliament made in the 25. of Edw. the third Our Soueraigne Lord the king and his heires shall haue and inioy for the time the collations to the Archbishoprickes and other dignities electiue which be of his aduowry such as his progenitors had before free election was granted Sith that the first elections were granted by the Kings progenitors vpon a certaine forme and condition as namely to demaund license of the King to chuse and after choice made to haue his royall assent And in the dayes of Richard the second statutum est saith Thomas Walsingam in eodem insuper Parliamento vt de caetero nullus transfreâ—aret ad obtinendum prouisiones in Ecclesijs vel Ecclesiam si quis contrarium faceret si posset apprehendi caperetur vt Regi rebellis incarceraretur A statute was made in the same Parliament that from henceforth none should passe the seas to obtaine prouisions in Churches or to obtaine any Church and if any should do contrary if he could be catched he should be apprehended as a rebell to the king and cast in prison The next yeere the same king set out a Proclamation that all such as were resident in the Court of Rome and had benefices in England should returne by the feast of S. Nicholas vnder paine of forfeiting all their benefices When the Pope heard all this thundering he sent a Nuncio with great complaints for answere wherof the king referred him to the Parliament following which would by no meanes consent that Rome-runners should get their benefices as in former time In the dayes of Henry the fift when the Pope by his bulles translated Richard of Lincolne to Yorke the Deane and Chapter standing vpon the lawes of the land refused to admit him as hereafter shall be declared Shall wee now say that the kings of England conferre spiritual promotions by the Popes indulgence let king Edward the first be witnesse let the Parliament in the raigne of Edward the third be witnesse let the like Parliament in the time of Richard the second be witnesse let the Deane and Chapter of Yorke be witnesse all which were of the Popish religion and yet referred this to the king and not to the Pope Hitherto that the kings of England vsed Inuestitures NOw I will prooue that they vsed them lawfully by a double right as Princes as Patrons As Princes for many reasons First if we looke into the old Testament we find that Salomon set Sadock in the roume of Abiathar by what authoritie Verely by the same by which he cast out Abiathar Which I haue already prooued to be done by the lawful and ordinary power of a Prince If this be a perpetuall patterne for all posteritie then the collation of spirituall dignities is the Princes right Secondly it was prophesied of
hoped for some comfort at the Popes hand but finding none hee was forced so much as in him lay to resigne his kingdoms to Pope Innocent such is the innocency of Popes and to farme theÌ„ again at a 1000. marks by the yere Thus the Pope had caught a pretty morsel but it was too hot for him therefore he was glad presently to disgorge it In the time of the said king came into England one Iohannes Florentinus the Popes Legate hauing but 3. men and 3. horses whereof one was lame who gathered great heapes of money hoysted vp saile and bad England adew Likewise Pandulphus when hee came to make a bargaine with the king for his master the Pope prouided and carried away with him 8000. pounds About the same time the Pope called a generall councell at Rome where the Bishops being weary with doing of nothing desired leaue to depart which they could not obtaine without a great sum of mony that they were forced to borrow of the Romane Merchants and pay to the Pope In the reign of Henry 3. The Pope sent a bul that no English man should be preferred til prouision were made for â— Romans for each of theÌ„ 100. pouÌ„ds by the yere neither did he expresse their names but described them in a confused maner The sonne of Bumphred of such such that if any of them should die he might foist another into the place At this time the Romans were posessed of so many benifices withall were so insolent that the whole body of the nobles coÌ„mons ioyning together did stile theÌ„selues in the subscriptions of their letters The whole coÌ„pany of theÌ„ which had rather die then be confouÌ„ded of the Romans In the reigne of the same King The Roman Helluo sent a Nuntio called Otto into England with letters vnto the king signifying What a great scandall and reproch was brought vpon the Church of Rome because no man could dispatch his affaires in that Court without great summes of money and the cause which constrained them vnto this was their pouertie therefore hee desired that the English men like naturall Children would releeue the pouerty of their Mother and the meanes thereof which hee with the Councell of his Brethren the Cardinalls had deuised was this that euery Cathedrall Church in England should bestow vpon him two Prebendes the one of them to bee giuen by the Bishop the other by the Chapter And likewise that euery Abbey should bestow vpon him so much as belonged to the maintenance of two Monkes one portion whereof to bee giuen by the Abbot and the other by the Couent But the English men deluded him of his purpose for the king went out of the Councell and the Bishops departed to their own home without the leaue of the Legate and the rest that remained said they could doe nothing in the absence of them whom it most concerned The like suite was commensed in France by another of the Popes Legates to whom the Proctour of the Archbishop of Lions answered That it was not possible that this grant should fill the gulfe of the Romane couetousnesse because plenty of riches did alwaies make the Romans madde And the councell of France did thus answere the Legate Let the zeale of the whole Church and of the holy Romane See mooue you because if there should bee a generall oppression of all men it might bee feared least there should houer ouer our heads a generall departure which God forbid In the yeere 1231. there was set out a prohibition that none which farmed any benefice of any Romane should from henceforth pay them any Rent Anno 1232. a sort of armed men with their faces couered set vpon the barnes of a certaine Romane and sold out the corne to the country and gaue much of it to the poore For which the Bishop of London with other tenne Bishops did strike the authours with an anathema Notwithstanding the same yeere the barnes of the Romanes almost through all England were robbed the authour whereof was one Sir Robert Twinge a Yorkeshier Knight who had beene defeated of the bestowing of his Benefiee by the Popes prouision In the yeere 1234. the Pope sent his nuntioes into England with power legatine which by preaching begging commanding threatning and excommunicating got infinite summes of money vnder colour of the holy Land neither was it known in what gulfe that money was drowned In the yeere 1237. base and vnlearned persons came daily armed with the Popes Bulles If any resisted they would procure hee should bee excommunicated so it came to passe that where noble and daintie Clergy men Gardians and Patrons of Churches did vse with their riches to honour the countrey round about them to entertaine passengers to refresh the poore these base persons voide of good manners and full of subtiltie Proctors and Farmers of the Romanes scraping whatsoeuer was precious and profitable in the land sent it into farre countries to their Lords liuing delicately of Christes patrimonie and proud with other mens goods Therefore a man might see sorrow of heart water the eye-lids of holy men complaints breake out and groanes multiplied many saying with bloody sighes It is better for vs to die then to see the miseries of our countrie and of holy men VVoe to England which once was the Prince of Prouinces the ladie of nations the glasse of the Church a patterne of Religion but now is become vnder tribute In the yeere 1239. Sir Robert Twinge the Yorkeshier Knight before mentioned a Romane being thrust by a Popes Bull of prouision into a benefice whereof he was Patron went to Rome and made a grieuous complaint vnto the Pope so that the Pope reuoked his Bull of prouision By the said Sir Robert Twinge the h Nobles and Barons of England wrot vnto the Pope complaining that they were robbed of their presentations of their Ecclesiasticall liuings which their noble progenitours had enioyned from the first planting of Christianitie and were in danger to lose their patronages affirming that though the Pope had taken order by his Apostolicall letters that after the decease of any Italian or Romane promoted by the Popes prouision it should be lawfull for them to present a fit Clerke yet they did daily see the contrary put in practise which they called a common plague Anno 1240. Otho the Popes Legate required a procuration of foure Markes and where one Church did not suffice to the paâ—ment two should ioyne together to one procuration The same yeere the Pope extorted the fift part of the goodes of all strangers beneficed in England and the same was demanded of Archbishops Bishops Abbots and the rest of the Clergie but the Bishops answered they could not vndergoe so vnsupportable a burden which concerned the whole Church without diligent deliberation of a synode But the Archbishop afterward did grant vnto it The same yeere Pope
Hales Archdeacon of Lincolne dying intestate left to secular men many thousand markes with great store of Plate and that Almarick Archdeacon of Bedford died also very rich and that Iohn Archd. of Northamton dyed worth fiue thousand markes besides thirty pieces of plate and infinite Iewels Hereupon he made a strange decree not without note of manifest couetousnesse to be proclaimed in England that if from thenceforth any Clerke should die intestate his goods should be turned to the vse of the lord the Pope the execution of which mandate he committed to the preaching Fryers and Minorites but the king hearing of it detesting the couetousnesse of the Romane Court forbade it as preiudiciall to him and his Realme The same yeere the Pope sent to the Bishops of England for a tallage of sixe thousand marke The Bishop of Norwich the Popes prowler in this behalfe wrote to the Abbot of S. Albans for 80. marke the king forbad him to pay and charged the Bishop of Norwich and other Bishops not to proceed in that exaction as they desired to keepe their Baronies holden of the King Thus the Church of England was miserably torne and ground betweene the King and the Pope as betweene two milstones moouing contrary wayes Yet the same yeere the courage of the king relented and he suffered the Church to be spoiled of the sixe thousand marke Then the Pope more bolde then euer before gaue in charge to all the prelates of England that all beneficed men if they were residents should pay the Pope the third part if non residents halfe of their goods but the king forbad the payment and the Clergie rendred many reasons why it was vnreasonable Anno 1247. There was holden a Parliament at London wherin were lamentable complaints of the Popes extortion and it was concluded that letters should be sent to the Pope in the name of the whole kingdome which was dâ—ne and they obtained only this that when the Pope was to make prouision here for his Nephewes or Cardinalls he should aske the king leaue The same yeere there came two English Friers Minorites with the Popes Bulls and got great summes of money they demaunded of the Diocesse of Lincolne 6000. marke the same yeere there was a Parliament and the Clergie granted to the Pope 11000. markes The same yeere the grieuances were much increased for the Prelates were suspended from Collation of Benefices till the greedines of the Romanes were satisfied Anno 1252. the Bishop of Lincolne caused a true account to be made of the reuenues of strangers in England and it was found to be more then 70000. markes Anno 1253. Robert Bishop of Lincolne sent to the Pope this Epistle following Let your wisdome know that I obey the Apostolicke Mandates with a filiall affection deuoutly and reuerently And being zealous of my Fathers honour I am contrary and opposite to those things which are contrary to the Mandates Apostolicke For I am bound to both by the Mandate of God Apostolicke Mandates neither are or can be other then the doctrines of the Apostles and of our Lord Iesus Christ the Master and Lord of the Apostles For the Lord Iesus Christ saith He that is not with me is against me But the diuine Holinesse of the Apostolicke See neither is or can be against him Therefore the tenour of the aforesaid Letter is not consonant to Apostolicke Holines but a thing much dissonant and disagreeing First because from this Addition Non obstante annexed to this and such like Letters which are dispersed farre and wide and not induced with any necessitie of the Law of Nature which is to be obserued there flowes a whole deluge of inconstancie boldnesse malepertnesse immodestie lying deceiuing distrusting and all vices thereupon insuing where of the number is infinite shaking and disturbing the puritie of Christian Religion and the tranquillitie of humane societie Moreouer after the sin of Lucifer which shall also be the sinne of Antichrist the child of perdition whom the Lord shall destroy with the breath of his mouth There is not nor cannot be any other kinde of sinne so aduerse and contrary to the doctrine of the Apostles and Euangelists and to our Lord Iesus Christ so hatefull so detestable and so abominable as to kill and destroy soules by defrauding them of the Office and Ministerie of the Pastorall charge Which sinnes they are knowne by most euident testimonies of holy Scripture to commit which being placed in the power of Pastorall charge doe get the wages of the Pastorall Office and Ministerie arising of the milke and wooll of the sheepe of Christ which ought to be quickened and saued and do not minister such things as are due vnto them For the very not administration of Pastorall Offices is by the testimony of Scripture the killing and destruction of the sheepe And to passe ouer the rest because it is somewhat long I will onely adde his conclusion And briefly recounting I say the Holinesse of the See Apostolicke can onely doe such things as tend to edification and not to destruction For this is the fulnesse of power to be able to doe all things to edification But these things which they call Prouisions are not for edification but for most manifest destruction Therefore the blessed See Apostolicke cannot accept of them because flesh and blood which shall not possesse the Kingdome of Heauen hath reuealed them and not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which is in Heauen When this Letter came to the audience of the Pope he being not able to containe himselfe said Who is this dotish surd absurd oldman that with such rash presumption iudgeth our acts By S. Peter and S. Paul if my goodnature did not stay me I should hurle him into such a coÌ„fusion that he should be the fable of the world an astonishment an example a wonderment Is not the King of England our vassall or to say more our slaue who is able at our becke to imprison him and to make him a slaue to shame and reproch But the Cardinals said vnto him Our good L. it were not expedient that we should decree any hard matter against the Bishop for that we may confesse the trueth those things which he saith are true we cannot condemne him he is a Catholicke yea and a most holy man more Religious then we and more holy then we more excellent and of a more excellent life so that he is supposed among all the Prelates of the world not to haue his better nor his equall The whole Clergie of France and England knoweth so much The trueth of such an Epistle which peraduenture is already knowne to many will be able to moue many against vs for he is counted a great Pilosopher perfitly learned in Greeke and Latin a zealous louer of righteousnes a reader in schooles of Diuinitie a preacher among the people a louer of chastitie a persecuter of
Symonists These things said Aegidius Hispanus the Cardinall and others whose conscience did touch them gaue councell to the Pope that he should wincke and dissemble the matter lest some tumult should be raised vpon this occasion especially because it is wel knowne that once there shal a departure come The same Robert lying vpon his death-bed sighing said thus Christ came into the world to gaine soules therefore if any man be not afraid to destroy soules is not he worthily called Antichrist The Lord in 6. dayes made the whole world but he laboured more then 30 yeeres to repaire man Is not therefore this destroyer of soules worthy to be iudged an enemy of God and an Antichrist The Pope blusheth not impudently to disanull the priuiledges of former Popes his predecessors by this barre Non obstante which is not done without their preiudice and manifest iniurie for so he pulls downe that which so great and so many Saints haue builded Behold the contempt of Saints therefore the contemner shall iustly be contemned according to that of Esay Woe to thee which despisest shalt thou not be despised who will obserue his priuiledges The Pope answering doth thus defend his errour An equall hath no authority ouer an equall therefore a Pope cannot binde me being a Pope c. And againe Although many other Apostolicke men haue afflicted the Church yet hee hath compeld it to be in bondage more grieuously then others and hath multiplied inconueniences For the Caursini being manifest Vsurers which the holy Fathers and our doctors haue driuen out of France this Pope hath raised vp and protected in England and if any speake against them he is tired out with losses and labours Witnes Roger B. of London The world knoweth that Vsury is accounted detestable in both Testaments and is forbidden of God but now the Merchants of my L. the Pope do practise Vsury openly at London they contriue diuers grieuances against Ecclesiasticall and Religious persons forcing poore men to lye and to set their Seales to lying writings As for example I receiue so many marks by yeere for an 100. pound and am forced to make a writing and sealè it in which I confesse my selfe to haue receiued an 100. pound to be payed at the yeeres end And if peraduenture thou wouldest pay the Popes Vsurer the principall againe within a moneth or fewer dayes he will not receiue it vnlesse thou wilt pay the whole hundred pound Which condition is heauier then any which is required of the Iewes for whensoeuer thou shalt bring a Iew his principall he will take it kindly with so much gaine as is answerable to the time c. And againe We haue seene one of the Popes Letters wherein this clause was inserted That such as made their Testaments or caried the Crosse or yeelded ayde to the Holy-land should receiue so much pardon for their sinnes as they gaue money And wee know our lord the Pope wrote vnto the Abbot of S. Albans that he should prouide for a certaine man called Iohn de Camezana in a competent benefice and shortly prouision was made in a Church worth fortie marks by the yeere but he not content therewithall complained vnto the Pope who wrote to the same Abbot to prouide more bountifully for him and yet the Pope reserued the donation of the former benefice vnto him selfe And to passe ouer other things the Pope graunted for secular fauour that one may obtaine a Bishoprick and not bee a Bishop but an euerlasting elect which is as much to say as that he should receiue the milk and the wooll of the sheepe and yet not driue away the wolues Mathew Paris telleth how this Bishop Robert Grosthead hated all kind of Enormities to wit all kind of Couetousnesse al Vsury Symony and Rapine all kinde of Riot Lust Gluttony and Pride which so raigned in that Court that this iudgement was iustly giuen of it Eius auaritiae totus non sufficit orbis Eius Luxuriae meretrix non sufficit omnis And being at the point of death hee indeauored to prosecute how the Court of Rome hoping That mony would flow like the riuer Iordane into their mouth gaped wide that they might get vnto themselues the goods both of those that died intestate and also those that died testate how that they might do it the more licentiously they made the King their consort in the rapines neither shall the Church saith he be deliuered from this Egyptian bondage but in the edge of the bloudy sword but verily these things are light but shortly that is within three yeeres there shall come more grieuous In the end of this propheticall speech which hee could scarcely vtter for sighs teares and groanes bursting out his tongue faultred his breath failed and the organes of speech decaying imposed silence Mathew Paris concluding the yeere 1255. saith This yeere passed away to the Church of Rome and the papall Court if one doe respect the deuotion of the people most venemous for the deuotion which Prelates and people vsed to haue towards our mother the Church of Rome and to our Father and Pastour to wit our Lord the Pope gaue vp the ghost for although that Court had many times drawne bloud of Christs faithfull people yet it neuer wounded them all and euery one so deadly as this yeere and the yeere following Anno 1256. Rustandus the Popes Nuntio the kings proctor woud haue the Bishops to set their hands to a bill and confesse that they had receiued no smal sum of money of the Italian Merchants conuerted to the good of their Churches which all men knew to be manifestly false Whereupon they affirmed and not without reason that To die in this cause were a more manifest way of Martyrdome then it was in the case of Saint Thomas the Martyr The same yeere Certaine Abbeyes in England were bound ouer for the payment of two thousand ounces of gold to the Papes Merchants Anno 1259 Sewalus Archbishop of Yorke lying vpon his death bed lifting his hands and countenance to heauen with teares said thus Lord Iesus Christ of Iudges most iust thy infallible iudgement knoweth how manifouldly the Pope whom thou hast suffered to be set ouer thy Church to gouerne it hath wearied mine Innocency for this cause as God knoweth and the world is not ignorant that I would not admit to the gouernment of Churches which thou hast committed to mee though vnworthy such as were altogether vnmeete vnknowne Notwithstanding least the Popes sentence although in it selfe vniust should be made iust by my contempt I being intangled with such bands that is papall censures doe humbly desire to bee absolued But I appeale to the Pope himselfe before the high and incorruptible Iudge and heauen and earth shal be my witnesses how vniustly hee hath assaulted mee and how oft he did scandalize and prouoke me Thus in the bitternesse of his soule hee wrote vnto the Pope prouoked by
the example of Robert of Lincolne humbly intreating him that hee would mittigate the vsuall tyrranies by following the humilitie of his holy Predecessors and vsed these words Dixit dominus Petro Pasce oues meas non tonde non excoria non euiscera vel deuorando consume that is The Lord said to Peter feed my sheepe hee said not vnfleese them nor flea them nor vnbowel them nor consume them by deuouring But the Pope scorned these admonitions that were so holy In the yeere 1260. the Barrons sent foure Knights to the Pope To complaine of Aimer elect of Winchester and his Brethren of their murthers rapines iniuries and oppressions and with all commanded such as farmed their Churches of the Romans to pay them no rent so the Land was quiet by the space of three yeeres Anno. 1316. Lewis Beaumont a French man at the instance of the kings of England and France obtained of the Pope the Bishoprike of Durham he was so vnlearned that hee could not read the Bulles and instruments of his Consecration but comming to the word Metropoliticae after hee had stood long puffing and blowing and could not hit vpon it he said soit pour dit i. Let it stand for spoken and an other time comming to this dangerous word aenigmate hee said to the by standers in French Pâ—r Saint Lowys il n'est pas courtoys qui ceste parolleyci escrit that is By Saint Lewis hee was not a courteous man that wrote this word here but though he had small Latin yet hee brought the Pope the more gold for he entred bond to pay him more then he was able to discharge in fourteene yeeres Anno. 1343. Pope Clement the 6. hauing made 12. Cardinals Made Prouisions in England for two of them of so many benefices next vacant as should amount to two thousand markes yeerely whereupon the king wrote thus to the Pope VVe doubt not but it is come to publike knowledge after what maner from the beginning of the Church when it had the first birth in our Kingdome of England the ancieÌ„t stock of famous memory of our progenitours Kings of England and of the nobles and faithfull people of the said kingdome for the exercise of diuine worship built Churches and endowed them with ample possessions and fenced them with priuileges placing in theÌ„ fit ministers which happily set forward Catholike faith in languages people subiect vnto them by whose care diligence the vineyard of the Lord of hosts was then very fertil in beauty and fruit But which is to bee lamented the plants of that vineyard are degenerated into wildshrubs and the beares of the wood roote it out wild beasts deuoure it while by impositions and prouisions of the See Apostolike which grow more grieuous theÌ„ they were accustomed the hands of vnworthy persons especially of strangers seize vpon the Lords inheritance contrary to the godly will ordination of the donors the dignities thereof fat benefices are conferred vpoÌ„ persons born out of the Land many times suspected vnto vs which are not resident vpoÌ„ the same benefices know not the faces of the sheep coÌ„mitted vnto theÌ„ nor vnderstood their language but neglecting the cure of souls like hierlings seek only temporal gaine by this means the worship of Christ is diminished the cure of souls neglected hospitality is withdrawn the rights of Churches are lost the houses of Clerkes are ruinated the deuotion of the people is lessened Clerkes of the kingdome men of great learning and honest conuersation which might well performe the charge and gouernment and were fit men for our affaires and publicke Councels forsake their studie because hope of fit preferment was taken away hitherto the kings letter But the Pope tooke this in great dudgion and called the kings dealing rebellion Anno 1345. The king directly contrary to the tenour of his former letters and the desires of his nobles wrote to the Pope that his Secretary Thomas Hatfield might bee made Bishop of Durham against whom when some of the Cardinals tooke exceptions for his insufficiencie the Pope answered si rex hac vice supplicasset pro asino obtinuisset that is If the King at this time had made request for his asse he should haue obtained it Anno 1364. being the thirtie eight of Edward the third there was held a Parliament wherin was made the statutes of prouisoes and premunire by which the power of the Court of Rome in England being bridled did neuer preuaile afterward with such licentiousnesse and impunitie Anno 1367. Vpon a view taken it was found that some had aboue twentie Churches and dignities by the authoritie of the Pope and that they were further priuiledged to hold so many more as they could get without measure or number Anno 1399. The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Arundel intreated the King in the name of the Clergie that he would take away by his regall authoritie the papall prouisions whereby it was come to passe that learned men studying in Vniuersities seeing the rewards giuen to vnworthy and ambitious fellowes seeking them at Rome did forsake their studies So ignorance expelled learning About the yeere 1419. Pope Martin the fifth bestowed in England 13. Bishoprickes by translations and prouisions in the space of two yeeres while Henry the fifth was in the warre Anno 1420. The same Pope translated Richard of Lincolne to Yorke but the Deane and Chapter standing vpon the lawes enacted against papall prouisions resisted till the Pope was constrained by newe Bulles to bring the said Richard backe againe to Lincolne by which example of the Yorkeshire men the papall authoritie in prouiding Bishoprickes against which neither the Lawes of the kingdome nor the Kings Proclamations nor the threatnings of the Nobles and Commons preuailed was broken and weakened Anno 1424. Henry Chichly Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinall was made the Popes Legate but the Kings Attorney appealed from him and the Pope to the next generall Councell then the Archbishop made a protestation that he would not exercise it without the Kings licence Anno 1497. Pope Alexander sent Iohn de Egles into England with large commission but it seemeth that there was nothing to bee gotten and therefore he sent his Notary Robert Castilensis with new mandates who required of euery Curate an English noble About the yere 1499. The Pope translated Thomas Merkes from the Bishoprick of Carlill to the imaginarie Bishopricke of Samos in Greece Anno 1500. Pope Alexander kept a yeere of Iubile promising remission of sinnes to all that went to Rome or redeemed their iourney with money and at the same time to make them more liberall hee gaue out that there should bee a great expedition against the Turkes and that the Pope would goe thither in person as the Generall of the field The Popes Proctor in England for this purpose was Gasper a Spaniard who
Vniuersall Patriarch was giuen and that by a Councell to Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople In what sence trow you You produced but two sences of it out of Bellarmine In the first which prophanely excludeth all other Bishops they did not giue it for then they should deny themselues to be Bishops contrary to their own subscriptions If in the latter then it was common to him with the Bishops of Rome and so cannot proue your Monarchicall iurisdiction PHIL. How proue you that this title was giuen him by a Councell ORTHOD. Binius saith How oft Iohn Bishop of Constantinople is named in the acts of the Councell of Constantinople vnder Hormisda so oft the title of Vniuersall Patriarch is found added vnto him PHIL. Binius in the same place ascribeth this to the imposture of the latter Grecians which he proueth because though two Popes Pelagius and Gregory condemned this title in the Bishop of Constantinople yet no man obiected against them the authoritie of this Councell which had beene very materiall because the greater part of it was approued by the Church of Rome Wherefore it is certaine that this was not originally in the Councell but foisted in afterward ORTHO But Pope Adrian the first in his Epistle to Tharasius recorded in the second Nicen Councell intitleth him a generall Patriarch PHIL. This seemeth also to be added by some Grecian which I rather thinke because the same Epistle translated by Anastasius hath no such title prefixed ORTHOD. As though Anastasius were not as likely to put it out as the Grecians to put it in But Iustinian in the Authentickes giueth Mennas the very selfe same title of Oecumenicall Patriarch PHIL. It must be affirmed that this also crept in vnlesse we say that he is called Vniuersall in respect of the Orientall Bishops and Priests ORTHOD. So Holoander taketh it when hee translateth it Vniuersi eius tractus Patriarchae i. to the Patriarch of all that circuit But are you now aduised Was he called Vniuersal and yet had not the iurisdictiō of the whole world but was onely an Orientall Patriarch then you must confesse that this title might be giuen to the B. of Rome and yet not imply that hee had iurisdiction ouer the whole world but ouer the whole West and so was the Occidentall Patriarch Wherefore the decree of Pope Pelagius requiring all Metropolitanes to send to Rome to professe their faith and receiue the Pall extendeth not to them of the East but onely to them of the West PHIL. Then you grant that hee was Patriarch of the West and that is sufficient to inferre my conclusion for the Westerne Patriarch must needes haue iurisdiction ouer the Metropolitanes of the West in which compasse is Brittany I need not here speake of the ancient diuision of the Prouinces nor of Saint Peter nor of Eleutherius It is famously knowne that Saint Austin was sent hither by the Bishop of Rome receiued a pall from him and apparently submitted himselfe to his iurisdiction so did his successours for almost a thousand yeeres together Wherfore seeing the Bishop of Rome was in lawfull possession you must tell vs vpon what reason you put him from it ORTHOD. By what title doth the Pope challenge his iurisdiction in England By the law of God you cannot iustifie it By reason of the first conuersion of the Island by Saint Peter You cannot make it manifest that euer he was here Will you fetch it from Eleutherius He onely sent at the kings request and challenged no such authority Wil you deriue it from Austin It was then made appeare by many reasons that the Brittans ought him no subiection And it is euident that he and his associates had first their assemblies in Saint Martins Church in Canterbury by the Kings permission afterward when the king himselfe was conuerted they receiued to vse the words of Bede more ample licence both to Preach through all his dominions and also to build and repaire Churches So you see all was receiued from the king It is true that Gregory sent a supply of Preachers and gaue his aduise for the erection of Bishopricks and sent palls hither yet there can bee no question but all this was done by the kings licence Afterward in succeeding ages when the Popes did play the wild boares in the Church in executing Church censures and giuing Church liuings the kings of England made lawes against them euen in the time of Popery For as it was defended by Cyprian and afterward also by the African councell vnder Celestinus that causes should bee ended where they begunne and not bee carried to tribunalls beyond the sea So it was decreed in England in the raigne of Henry the second as witnesseth Mathew Paris De appellationibus si emerserint ab Archidiacono debet procedi ad Episcopum ab Episcopo ad Archiepiscopum si Archiepiscopus defuerit in iustitia exhibenda ad dominum regē perueniendū est postremò vt praecepto ipsius in curia Archiepiscopi controuersia terminetur ita quod non debeat vltra procedi absque assenssu domini regis i. Cōcerning appeals if any shall spring they ought to proceed from the Archdeacon to the Bishop from the Bishop to the Archbishop if the Archb. shal be defectiue in doing iustice they must come at last to our Lord the king that by his cōmandement the controuersie may bee determined in the Archbishops Court so that there ought not to be any further proceedings without the assent of the Lord the king Thus it is cleare that the Pope could not take to himselfe the handling of causes without the kings license It might also be declared how little his cēsures were here respected vnlesse they receiued strength by the kings permission And whereas hee tooke vpon him to dispose of Church liuings hee was censured for it in the time of Edw. the 3 euen in the high Court of Parliament as an vsurper These points might bee much inlarged but this little touch is sufficient to shew that whatsoeuer iurisdiction hee had in England was by the courtesie of the King whatsoeuer hee tooke vpon him otherwise was by vsurpation Now his challenge by custome is repelled by custome For these sixe hundred yeeres last past hee affecting to bee that which he was not disdained to bee that which he was and aspyring to a Popedome neglected his Patriarchdome so that which he had gotten by vse he hath lost by disusing and by his owne fact hath extinguished his former title Secondly whereas Pope Pelagius required onely a profession of the faith according to the Scriptures and the holy ancient generall councels Pius the fourth hath framed vs a new forme of faith without which no man can bee saued consisting of traditions transubstantiations merits Images reliques and such rotten Romish ragges-which he hath clapt to the Nicen creed as it were a beggers patch to a golden garment And
yet saide is nothing because to the very being of a Bishop the order of Priesthood is essentially required which is not to be found in the Church of England For there are two principall functions of Priesthood the first is the power of Sacrificing the second of Absolution but you haue neither as I will prooue in order to beginne with the first it is giuen in holy Church by these wordes Accipe potestatem offerre sacrificium deo missasque celebrare tam pro viuis quam pro defunctis in nomine domini that is Receiue power to offer Sacrifice to God and to celebrate Masse as well for the quicke as for the dead in the name of the Lord. But you vse neither these wordes nor any aequiualent in your ordination of Priestes as may appeare by the Booke therefore you want the principall function of Priesthood ORTHOD. If you meane no more by Priest then the holy Ghost doeth by Presbyter that is a Minister of the new Testament then we professe and are ready to prooue that we are Priestes as we are called in the booke of common prayers and the forme of ordering because we receiue in our ordination authoritie to Preach the word of God and to minister his holy Sacraments Secondly by Priestes you meane Sacrificing Priestes and would expound your selues of spirituall Sacrifices then as this name belongeth to all Christians so it may bee applied by an excellencie to the Ministers of the Gospell Thirdly although in this name you haue a relation to bodily Sacrifices yet euen so we may bee called Priestes by way of allusion For as Deacons are not of the tribe of Leui yet the ancient fathers doe coÌ„monly call them Leuites alluding to their office because they come in place of Leuites so the ministers of the new Testament may be called Sacrificers because they suceed the sons of Aaron and come in place of Leuites so the Ministers of the new Testament may be called sacrificers because they succeed the sonnes of Aaron and come in place of sacrificers Fourthly for as much as we haue authoritie to minister the Sacraments and consequently the Eucharist which is a representation of the sacrifice of Christ therefore we may be said to offer Christ in a mystery and to sacrifice him by way of commemoration Is not this sufficient if it be not what other sacrificing is required PHIL. THere is required sacrificing properly so called which is an externall oblation made onely to God by a lawfull Minister wherby some sensible and permanent thing is Consecrated and changed with Mysticall rite for the acknowledgement of humane infirmitie and for the profession of the Diuine Maiestie ORTHOD. What is the sensible and permanent thing you offer PHIL. It is the very body and blood of Christ. ORTHOD. The Church of England teacheth thus according to the Scripture The offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption propitiation and satisfaction for all the sinnes of the whole world both originall and actuall and there is no other satisfaction for sinne but that alone and consequently it condemneth your masses for the quicke and the dead as blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits PHIL. But the Councell of Trent teacheth that in the masse there is offered to God a true and proper Sacrifice propitiatory for the sinnes of the quicke and the dead and curseth all those that thinke otherwise ORTHOD. HOw doe you prooue that the Sacrificing Priesthood which offereth as you say the very body and blood of Christ is the true Ministery of the Gospel PHIL. That Ministery which was typed in the old Testament foretold by the Prophets instituted by Christ and practised by the Apostles is the true Ministery of the Gospel But our sacrificing Priesthood which offereth the very body and blood of Christ is such therefore it is the true Ministery of the Gospel The proposition of it self is plaine euident the parts of the assumption shall be prooued in order ORTHOD. Then first let vs heare where your Priesthood was typed CHAP. II. Of their argument drawne from Melchisedec PHIL. THe Sacrifice of Melchisedec was a type of that which Christ offered at his last Supper with his owne hands shal offer by the hands of the Priests vntil the end of the world For the vnderstanding wherof we must consider that Melchisedec was a type of Christ in a more excellent maner then Aaron insomuch that Christ is called a Priest after the order of Melchisedec and not after the order of Aaron For betweene these two Priesthoods there are two differences the first consisteth in the externall forme of the Sacrifice For the Sacrifices of Aaron were bloodie and represented the death of Christ vnder the forme of liuing things that were sâ—aine The sacrifice of Melchisedec was vnbloody and did figure the body and blood of Christ vnder the forme of Bread and Wine From which property of the order of Melchisedec we may draw this argument If Melchisedec did offer an vnbloody sacrifice vnder the forme of Bread and Wine then seeing Christ is a Priest after the order of Melchisedec he also must offer an vnbloody Sacrifice vnder the formes and shapes of Bread and Wine but the Sacrifice of the Crosse was bloody therefore he offered another Sacrifice besides the Sacrifice of the Crosse and what can this be but the Sacrifice of the Supper But he commaded his Apostles and in them vs to doe as hee did saying doe this in remembrance of me therfore Christ commanded that we should sacrifice him in an vnbloody manner in the formes of Bread and Wine consequently the Ministers of the Gospel are Sacrificers by Christs owne institution ORTH. We graunt first that Melchisedec was a type of Christ because the Scripture saith he was likened to the sonne of God Secondly that Christ was a Priest not after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchisedec because God hath not only said it but sworne it The Lord hath sworne and will not repent thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedec but wee deny that Melchisedec did offer any Bread and Wine for a Sacrifice to God wee deny that Christ euer offered any such or euer gaue any such commission to his Apostles Therefore this is so farre from prouing your pretended Priesthood that it will quite ouerthrowe it PHIL. THat Melchisedec Sacrificed Bread and Wine is plaine in Genesis ORTHOD. In Genesis Why there is no such thing the wordes are these And Melchisedec king of Salem brought foorth Bread and Wine and he was a Priest of the most high God Where your owne vulgar translation readeth proferens not offerens hee brought forth Bread and Wine and not hee offered it PHIL. True he brought it forth but the end why he brought it foorth was to Sacrifice vnto God ORTHOD. That is more then you can gather out of the text Iosephus sayth
matter of the Sacrament in all respects as wee doe and he being a part of the Nicen councell and one that helped to make the Canons and subscribed vnto them must needs be holden for a sufficient and faithfull interpreter of his owne and their meaning So in him wee haue 318. Bishops the most reuerent sages and Senate of the Christian world after the Apostles daies al denying your sacrifice maintayning a remembrance in stead of a sacrifice Wherefore when they describe a Priest by offering of sacrifice they doe not meane a sacrifice in substance but in signification and representation Neither can it bee proued that euer any of the ancient Fathers thought otherwise nor that any one of them was a Masse Priest as may further appeare by our learned diuines which haue handled this point to whom I referre you Wherefore seeing your sacrifising neither can be proued by the scriptures nor by the Fathers rightly vnderstood but is contrary to both we detest it to the bottome of hell as a most blasphemous abhomination derogating from the soueraigne and all sufficient sacrifice offered once for all by that one Priest which with one oblation entred the holy place and hath purchased an eternall redemption for vs. Hitherto of the first function of Popish Priesthood Now let vs come to the second CHAP. IX Of the second question which concerneth the power of absolution PHIL. THe second function of Priest-hood is the power of absolution which God hath giuen neither to King nor Emperour to Angell nor Archangell but onely to the Priest and in this also you are defectiue in the Church of England ORT. What absolution doe you meane and in what manner is it giuen PHIL. There is an absolution in the Consistory and an absolution in the Court of Conscience the former is from excommunication and other spirituall censures the latter which we meane is from sinne and is giuen in Priestly ordination euen by the words of Christ himselfe For the Bishop imposeth hands saying whose sinnes you forgiue they are forgiuen and whose sinnes you retaine they are retained c. ORTHOD. The very same words are vsed in the Church of England as may appeare by the booke The Bishop with the Priests present shall lay there hands seuerally vpon the head of euery one that receiueth Orders The receiuers humbly kneeling vpon their knees and the Bishop saying Receiue the holy ghost whose sinnes thou dost forgiue they are forgiuen and whose sinnes thou dost retaine they are retained and therefore if the power of absolution bee giuen by these words then it is giuen and receiued in the Church of England PHIL. Not so for though you haue the words yet you haue not the true sence of the words and therefore neither doe your Bishops giue it nor you receiue it ORTHOD. Then let vs without all partiallity examine the true sence meaning of them For as much therefore as our Sauiour did represent a reall donation both by breathing and saying receiue without all controuersie somewhat was really giuen actually received but what was that vndoubtedly the holy Ghost for he said receiue the holy Ghost But what is meant by the holy Ghost It cannot be denied that they receiued the presence of the spirit for their direction support and assistance and the Lord hath promised the same spirit to all faithfull ministers when he said Behold I am with you that is with you and your successors vntill the end of the world To this purpose it is well spoken of Leo Qui mihioneris est author ipse fiet administrationis adiutor that is He that is author of my burthen will be the helper in my administration and againe Dabit virtutem qui contulit dignitatem i. Hee that gaue me the dignity will giue me strength to performe it But seeing it is euident that in the booke of God the holy Ghost doth many times signifie the gifts of the holy Ghost to point out the fountaine and welspring of those heauenly graces the interpretation of Saint Ierome may seeme most consonant to reason who by the holy Ghost vnderstandeth in this place a grace of the holy Ghost in these words acceperunt spiritus sancti gratiam that is they receiued a grace of the holy Ghost It remaineth therefore that we consider what grace that was It was not the grace of adoption or regeneration because they had receiued that already as appeared by the fruits thereof We beleeue know that thou art the Christ the son of the liuing God nor the grace of miracles because they receiued not that till afterward Behold I wil send the promise of my Father vpon you but tarry in the city of Ierusalem vntil you be induced with power from aboue which promise was fulfilled in the fiery tongues it seemeth therefore to be some ordinary grace which should continue with them their successors in the Church for euer as is confessed on both sides what can this be but that which Christ himself doth mētion in the words following as it were of set purpose to take away al ambiguous construction whose sins you remit they are remitted c. And this is expressed likewise by S. Ierome who calleth it gratiam qua peccata remitterent i. a grace whereby they might forgiue sins This is also the iudgement of S. Chrysostome saying a man should not erre if hee should say that they then receiued a certaine power and spirituall grace not that they should raise againe the dead or worke miracles but that they might forgiue sinnes To these we may ioyne Saint Ambrose who saith Hee that hath receiued the holy Ghost hath receiued power both to loose sinne and to bind it and a little after Munus spiritus sancti est officium Sacerdotis that is the guift of the holy Ghost is the Priests office Wherefore by holy Ghost is meant a ghostly ministeriall grace or power to forgiue sinnes PHIL. Thus far we agree as may appeare by our learned writers Cardinal Bellarmine Palacius and others but all the question is in what manner the Minister forgiueth sinnes ORTHOD. Saint Paul saith All things are of God which hath reconciled vs vnto himselfe by Iesus Christ and hath giuen vnto vs the Ministery of reconciliation For God was in Christ and reconciled the world vnto himselfe not imputing their sinnes vnto them and hath committed vnto vs the word of reconciliation Whereby it appeareth that God reconcileth the world properlie by not imputing their sinnes the Apostles and other Ministers of the Gospell ministerially as Embassadours of Christ to whom is committed the word and ministery of reconciliation For what other thing is our forgiuenesse of sinnes then a reconciling of men to God but we reconcile men to God by preaching and declaring the word of the Gospell therefore by preaching and declaring the word of the Gospell we forgiue sinnes PHIL. There is
not onely required to remission of sinnes the Preaching of the Gospell but also baptisme and penance As it is written Doe penance and be euery one of you baptized in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes ORTHOD. When wee say that the Minister forgiueth sinnes by preaching wee doe not exclude the Sacraments but include them As when wee referre a pardon to the Kings letters patents wee doe not exclude the seale but meane the letters patents with the seale annexed For as the Apostle saith to vs is committed the ministerie of reconciliation Which is not a ministerie of the word onely but without all controuersie of the Sacraments also Therefore Christ in giuing vs authoritie to forgiue sinnes hath withall giuen vs authoritie to vse the meanes thereof that is the ministery of the word and Sacraments and because wee apply these meanes whereby God forgiueth sinnes therefore we are said to forgiue sinnes This is well expressed by Ferus one of your own Fryers saying Quamuis Dei propriuÌ„ opus sit remittere peccata dicuntur tamen etiam Apostoli remittere non simpliciter sed quia adhibent media per quae Deus remittit peccata haec autem media sunt verbum Dei Sacramenta i. although it be the proper worke of God to forgiue sinnes yet notwithstanding the Apostles are saide to forgiue sinnes not simply but because they vse the meanes by the which God doth forgiue sinnes and these meanes are the word of God and the Sacraments Moreouer it is a cleare case that to this remission there is required faith and repentance after which followeth ministeriall absolution by preaching and applying publickly and priuately the sweete promises of grace to the penitent beleeuer and sealing them by the Sacraments to the soule and conscience This absolution in the court of conscience is agreeable to the Scripture and is not onely practised in the Church of England by Sermons and Sacraments but also solemnly proclaimed in our liturgy and applied both publickly in open penance and priuately in the visitation of the sicke as also to particular penitents whose wounded consciences require the same PHIL. The Councell of Trent pronounceth a curse vpon such as wrest the words of Christ to the authoritie of preaching the Gospell ORTHOD. To apply them to preaching in such sence as hath beene declared is no wresting but the true meaning of the Scripture as you heard out of Saint Paul and therefore in cursing vs they curse Saint Paul wherefore I will say with the Prophet they doe curse but thou o Lord doest blesse But for your better satisfaction in this point you shal heare the iudgement of sundry principall men in your owne Church expounding this absolution in court of conscience as wee doe The maister of the sentences hauing long sifted this point to and fro at last groweth to this resolution In hac tanta varietate quid â—â—nendum hoc sanâ— c. In this great varietie what should we hold truely 〈◊〉 may say and thinke this That God onely forgiueth and retaineth sinnes and yet he hath giuen the power of binding and loosing vnto the Church but he bindeth and looâ—â—th one way the Church another For he forgiueth sin by himselfe alone who both cleanseth the soule from inward blot and looseth it from thâ— debt of eternall death but he hath not granted this vnto the Priest to whom notwithstanding he hath giuen potestatem soluendi ligandi i. Ostendendi homines ligatos vel solutos i. the power of binding and loosing that is of declaring men to be bound or loosed Wherupon the Lord did first by himselfe restore health vnto the leper and then he sent him to the Priestes quorum iudicio ostenderetur mundatus i. by whose iudgement he might be declared to be cleansed so likewise when he had restored Lazarus to life againe he offered him to his Disciples that they might vnbind him And this he prooueth by a place of Ierome which he onely pointeth at but we will set it downe more largely In Leuitico c In the booke of Leuiticus we read of the lepers where they are commanded to shew themselues to the Priests and if they shall haue the leprosie that then they shall bee made vncleane by the Priestes not that the Priestes should make them lepers and vncleane but that they should haue the knowledge of the leprous and not leprous and that they may discerne who is cleane or vncleane Therefore as there the Priests doe make the lepers cleane or vncleane so here the Bishop or Priest doth bind and loose c. Hitherto Saint Ierome Now the master hauing said that in remitting or retaining sins the Euangelicall Priests haue that authoritie and office which in olde times the legall Priests had vnder the law in curing of lepers addeth these words Hi ergo peccata dimittunt vel retinent dum dimissa a Deo vel retenta indicant ostendunt i. therfore these doe forgiue sinnes or retaine them whiles they shew and declare that they are forgiuen or retained of God Hunc modum ligandi soluendi Hieron supra notauit i. this way of binding and loosing Ierom hath obserued aboue Thus farre the master who is followed verbatim by Petrus Parisius as is to be seene in Sixtus Senensis And Occam saith I answere according to the master that Priests bind and loose because they declare men to be bound or loosed Alexander Hales Nunquam sacerdos absolueret quenquam de quo non presumeret quod esset absolutus à deo i the Priest would neuer absolue any man of whom he did not presume that he were already absolued of God If the Priest absolue none but whom God hath first absolued theÌ„ what can his absolution be else but a certificate that the party is already absolued of God And againe Item Augustinus Hugo de sancto victore c. Moreouer Austin and Hugo de sancto victore say that in the raising of Lazarus was signified the raising againe of a sinner But Lazarus was raised of the Lord before he was deliuered to the Disciples to bee loosed ergo absolutio sacerdotis nihil valet antequam homo sit iustificatus per gratiam suscitatus a morte culpae 1. Therefore the absolution of the Priest is of no value before a man be iustified by grace raised from the death of sinne And this he proueth by strong reasons as followeth 1. It is a matter of equall power to baptize inwardly and to absolue from deadly sinne but it was not requisite that God should communicate to any man the power of baptizing inwardly least our hope should be reposed in man therfore by the same reason it was not fit that God should communicate to any man the power of absoluing from actuall sinne And againe Nulla fit remissio culpae nisi per gratiam sed gratiam dare est potentiae infinitae i. There
is no remission of sinne properly except onely by grace but to giue grace proceedeth from an infinite power whereof man is not capable and therefore no man can forgiue sins properly And if you be not yet perswaded how generally this is receiued I will let you see it by the words of Suarez the Iesuite Fuit grauium doctorum opinio per â—anc potestatem non posse remitti peccatorum culpas sed solum declarari remissas remitti paenas in hoc vltimo est quaedam diuer sitas Nam quidam dixerunt hanc potestatem solùm esse ad â—â—â—â—ttendam paenam temporalem alij vero ad aeternam i. It was the opinion of graue Doctours that by this power the sinners offences are not remitted but onely declared to be remitted and that the punishments are remitted and in this last point there is some diuersitie for some said that this power is onely for the remission of temporall punishment others for eternall And he saith that the former opinion is maintained by the master Altisiodorensis Alex. de Hales Bonauenture Gabriel Maior Thomas de Argent Occam Abulensis and others MOreouer Bonauenture writing of the miracles which were done by the intercession of Saint Francis after his death telleth of a certaine woman which when she was ready to be put into the graue was by vertue of his prayers restored from death to life to that end shee might reueale in confession a certaine sinne which she neuer had confessed before Which Bellarmine relateth as an argument to prooue that auricular confession is approued by God himselfe If you beleeue this lying Legend that the woman was shriuen after her death then you may like wise beleeue that the Priest absolued her For by what reason could he denie her absolution if God raised her by miracle to make confession Now I would demaund whether this woman dyed in the state of damnation or saluation if in state of damnation then the priest could neither iustifie her nor declare her to be iustified because they which die in their sinnes shall perish in their sinnes but if she dyed in the state of saluation and yet was raised by miracle to confesse some sinne for the clearing of others or for some other reason we know not then the Priest did not properly forgiue her sinnes but onely pronounce that they were forgiuen I will close vp this point with a memorable saying of Ferus vpon these wordes Whose sinnes you forgiue c. Non quod homo propriè remittit peccatum sed quod ostendat ac certificet a deo remissum neque enim aliud est absolutio quam ab homine accipis quam si dicat En fi lt certifico te tibi remissa esse peccata annuncio tibi te habere propitium deum quaecunque Christus in Baptismo Euangelio nobis promisit tibi nunc per me annunciat promittit i. Not that man doth properly forgiue sinne but that he sheweth and certifieth that it is forgiuen of God for the absolution which thou receiuest from man is nothing else then if hee should say Behold my son I certifie thee that thy sins are forgiuen I declare vnto thee that thou hast God fauourable and what thing soeuer Christ hath promised vs in baptisme and in the Gospel he now declareth and promiseth to thee by me WHerefore seing we haue in our ordination these words receiue the holy Ghost and take them in the true sence according to the Scripture the consciences of our aduersaries bearing vs witnesse we conclude that the Church of England hath such an absolution as Christ hath left vnto his spouse consisting in the publike and priuate vse of the word and Sacraments CHAP. X. An answere to the arguments of Bellarmine by which he goeth about to prooue absolution to be iudiciall and not declaratory PHIL. THat Christ gaue vnto his Church a true iudiciall power to absolue with authority and consequently that Priests are not onely as heraulds to proclaime and declare but also as iudges in the Court of conscience truely and really to forgiue sinnes Cardinall Bellarmine hath proued by seuen arguments fiue wherof are collected out of the Scripture the sixt is drawne from the authoritie of the Fathers and the seuenth from reason all which I will prosecute in order The first is collected from the Metaphor of the keyes of which it is said I will giue thee the keyes of the Kingdome of heauen For a key vseth not to be made or giuen to signifie that the doore is open or shut but to open and shut it indeed Now that which was promised by the keyes was performed in that place of Iohn and therefore here he gaue them power not onely to declare vnto men that their sinnes are forgiuen but also to forgiue them indeed ORTHOD. As Adam for his sinne was shut out of Paradise so all his posterity proceeding from him by carnall generation considered in their naturall corruption are shut and locked out of heauen into which no vncleane thing can enter For as the Prophet saith Your iniquities haue made a separation betweene you and your God Neither is there any hope of saluation vnlesse the kingdome of heauen bee vnlocked againe But what is the key to open this locke There is a threefold key the first of authoritie the second of excellency and the third of Ministery The key of authoritie belongeth onely to God For seeing euery sinne is a transgression of Diuine law he only hath soueraigne authoritie to remit it against whom it is committed and when he doth remit it then he setteth open the gates of heauen The key of excellency belongeth onely to Christ God and man who by his most soueraigne sacrifice hath made satis faction to God the Father purchased an eternall redemption for vs and meritoriously opened the kingdome of heauen to all beleeuers The key of Ministery was giuen to the Apostles aud their successours to whom was committed the Ministery of reconciliation Which is well expressed by S. Ambrose saying Homines in remissionem peccatorum ministerium suum exhibent non ius alicuius potestatis exercent neque enim in suo sed in patris filij spiritus sanctinomine peccata dimittunt isti rogant diuinitas donat humanum enim obsequium sed munificentia supernae est potestatis i. Men doe performe a seruice or Ministery for the forgiuenesse of sinnes but they doe not exercise the authoritie of any power for they doe not forgiue sins in their owne name but in the name of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost They make request the dietie bestoweth the gift An office or seruice is performed by man but the bountiful gift is from supernal power This supernall power is the key of authoritie this humane office is the key of Ministery For as a key is made and giuen to open the doore indeed So God gaue the key
it is granted to our Priests not to purge the leprosie of the body but the spots of the soule I doe not say to examine them being purged but altogether to purge them In this place to vse the words of Cardinall Bellarmine Saint Chrysostome doth so plainely condemne the opinion of our aduersaries that nothing at all can be answered for them ORTHOD. Doth the Priest altogether purge the spots of the soule then it seemeth when the penitent is presented before the Priest his soule is spotted but by vertue of the Priestes absolution the spots are presently washed away but I pray you tel me whom doth the Priest forgiue and absolue him whom the Lord hath absolued or him whom the Lord hath not absolued if the Priest absolue him whom the Lord hath absolued then hee doth not altogether purge the spot of the soule no nor properly purge them at all but onely declare that the Lord hath purged them If you say that the Priest absolueth him whom the Lord hath not absolued then hee shall bee forgiuen whom the Lord hath not forgiuen which is most absurd Againe doeth the Priest before hee pronounce absolution see any tokens of faith and repentance If hee see none then how dare he pronounce absolution and if hee see any then the party is already purged Whereby it appeareth that the absolution of the ministerie is onely declaratorie Therefore the speech of Chrysostome cannot bee taken properly but his meaning must bee this that the Priest seeing him brought by the ministery of the Gospell to faith and repentance and consequently purged certifieth his conscience that he is altogether purged and his sinnes washed away by the blood of Iesus Christ. PHIL. GRegorie Nazianzen saith that the law of Christ hath subiected temporall gouernours to his authoritie and throne and that his power is more ample and perfect then theirs ORTHOD. The Prince as supreame gouernour may by his royall authoritie establish true religion command both Priest and people to doe their dutie and punish those which doe otherwise by temporall punishments but the ministration of the Word Sacraments and the exercising of spirituall censures belong to the Bishop and as the prelate ought to bee subiect to the sword in the hand of the Prince so a vertuous Prince submitteth himselfe to the word of God in the mouth of the prelate But doth this prooue that the Priest forgiueth sinnes properly PHIL. SAint Ambrose proueth that Christ gaue to the Priests power to forgiue sinnes and it is plaine that he speaketh of true power and not of the ministerie of preaching both because the Nouatians did not denie that the Gospell might be preached to all men but they denied that the Priest might forgiue sinnes by authoritie and also because Saint Ambrose saith that Christ hath communicated to the Priests that power which he himselfe hath ORTHOD. The Nouatians did thinke that the Church had authoritie to bind but not to loose as may appeare by S. Ambrose in the same place And S. Cyprian being requested by Antonianus to vnfould the heresie of Nouatian sheweth that hee denied that such as were fallen should be admitted any more into the Church Baronius saith that he grew to such rashnesse as to deny that the remission of sinnes which is in the Apostles Creed was to be found in the Church Therfore as they denied that Priests might forgiue sinnes by authoritie so they denied that they might forgiue sinnes by way of declaration for they denied that there was any forgiuenesse of sinnes in the Church Wherefore Saint Ambrose in confuting the Nouatians hath no more confuted our opinion then hee hath confuted yours PHIL. SAint Ierom speaking of Priests saith Claues regni caelorum habentes quodam modo ante diem iudicij iudicant i. hauing the keyes of the Kingdome of heauen they iudge after a sort before the day of iudgement S. Austin expounding these wordes I saw seates and them that sate vpon them and iudgement was giuen them saith thus Wee must not thinke that this is spoken of the last iudgement but the seates of prelates and prelates themselues by whom the Church is now gouerned are to be vnderstood neither can we better apply it to any iudgement giuen then to that of which it is said whatsoeuer you bind in earth shall be bound in heauen Whereupon the Apostle saith what is it to me to iudge of them that are without doe not you iudge of them that are within ORTHOD. According to Saint Ierom the Bishop or Priest doth bind or loose as the Leuitical Priests did make the lepers cleane and vncleane Which in his iudgement was not properly but because they had the knowledge of leprous and not leprous and should discerne who was cleane and vncleane This is that which Saint Ierom meaneth when hee saith they iudge after a sort before the day of iudgement which kind of iudgement wee acknowledge PHIL. In iudgement there are two things causae cognitio sententiae dictio the knowledge of the cause and the pronouncing of the sentence Haue you these two ORTHOD. Wee haue for first the partie maketh a profession of his faith and repentance vnto the Minister here is causae cognitio and then the Minister by the authoritie which Christ hath committed vnto him pronounceth forgiuenesse of his sinnes here is sententiae dictio This is the practise of the Church of England agreeable to the law of God and the ancient Fathers But if by causae cognitio you meane a particular enumeration of all their sinnes as a matter necessarie to saluation and by sententiae dictio vnderstand such a sentence as imposeth workes of penance satisfactorie to God when you can proue them out of the Scripture we will embrace them in the meane time wee knowe them not Hitherto of Saint Ierom. The same answere also may serue for the place of Saint Austin if he meane the same iudgement PHIL. POpe Innocent the first saith De pondere aestimando delictorum sacerdotis est iudicare c. 1. It is the office of the Priest to iudge what sinnes are to be esteemed heauiest ORTHOD. He must discerne the deepenesse of the wound before hee can apply the medicine But how doth this prooue the point in question to wit that the Priest forgiueth sinnes properly PHIL. SAint Gregorie saith principatum superni iudicij sortiuntur vt vice Dei quibusdam peccata retineant quibusdam relaxent i. the Disciples obtaine a principalitie of iudgement from aboue that they may in Gods stead retaine the sinnes of some and release the sinnes of others ORTHOD. They are iudges to discerne sinne that so they may applie the medicine according to the qualitie of the offenders yea wee doe not deny but the Church may enioyne an outward penance for the further mortifying of sinne testifying their inward remorse and for the more ample satisfaction both of
it bringeth vnto thē a singular comfort if they be past sence yet if God shal restore them whē they heare what was done it will reioyce them and if they doe not recouer yet it shall bring this benefit to all that shall heare it that Gods messenger vpon due examination hath pronounced that they dyed in faith and repentance PHIL. If absolution be only declaratory then this declaration is either absolute or conditionall If it be absolute then it is either rash or superfluous For if the Priest know not whether the party hath faith and repentance and yet pronounce absolutely that his sinnes are forgiuen then hee cannot bee excused from rashnesse and if hee know it in some sort yet because the party knoweth it better then hee his declaration shall be superfluous And if the declaration be onely conditionall then it cannot comfort the conscience and consequently it is to no end and therefore both rash and superfluous ORTHOD. The declaration is conditionall For though vpon due and speciall consideration wee may say priuately and particularly to this or that man i pronounce that thy sinnes are forgiuen thee yet this is alwayes to be vnderstood with a secret condition and the condition is this If thou beleeue and repent Neither may wee pronounce it otherwise then vpon a charitable perswasion proceeding vpon probable grounds that this condition is fulfilled PHIL. But how can it comfort the conscience seeing the condition is vncertaine ORTHOD. It is certaine to the conscience of the party himselfe PHIL. What need is there then of the Ministers absolution ORTHOD. Yes for the party knowing in his owne soule that he made a sincere confession is comforted by the messenger of the Lord of Hostes declaring ex officio the sweet promises of the Gospel according to Christs appointment PHIL. If it be onely declaratory then it may be performed by a Lay-man by a woman a childe an infidel yea by the diuell himselfe yea by a Parret if he be taught to speake as well as by a Priest ORTHOD. Who taught this Parret thus to speake let wise men iudge But to the point A man may be said to pronounce and declare remission of sinnes two wayes First by a narratiue and historicall rehearsall out of the generall duetie of charitie and so may euery Christian. Secondly by a Ministeriall power giuen by a speciall commission from God adorned and established with a speciall promise and so may euery lawfull Minister The commission is giuen vs in our Ordination Whose sinnes you forgiue they are forgiuen The promise was made in these words Behold I am with you vntill the end of the world Both are expressed in these words of Iob If there be an Angel with him that is with the man whose soule draweth neere vnto the graue or an interpreter one of a thousand to declare vnto man his righteousnes then will hee haue mercy vpon him and will say deliuer him that he goe not downe into the pit for I haue receiued a reconciliation Here are two persons to be considered First a man lying at the point of death distressed and groning vnder the burthen of his sinnes Secondly the man of God appointed to comfort those that mourne in Sion The latter is described foure wayes by his Titles Office Commission and Gods promise vnto him His Titles are an Angel or interpreter his Office to declare vnto man his righteousnes that is the righteousnes of Iesus Christ imputed to all beleeuers according to the couenant of grace his Commission Deliuer him that he goe not downe into the pit The promise Then will God haue mercie vpon him and say I haue receiued a reconciliation Such Titles such Office by such speciall Commission and promise are not giuen to any Lay man in the Booke of God Wherefore though they are bound by their generall calling to edifie and comfort one another yet this belongeth to the Minister in a speciall maner Neither is there any doubt but God will giue a speciall blessing to his owne Ordinance Thus haue we examined all Bellarmines arguments and find them to be nothing els but smoke He hath sowne the winde and reaped the whirlewinde Hitherto of Absolution as it belongeth to the Minister Now the parts of penance which you require in the penitent as Contrition Confession and Satisfaction may bee passed ouer because wee speake of the Priest and not of the penitent Yet giue me leaue to tell you that Auricular confession as it is vsed in the Church of Rome is a pollicie to diue into the secrets of men not so much to apply salues vnto their sores or to yeeld true comfort to the wounded conscience as to worke for your owne aduantage and to turne all things to your owne pleasure and profit If you say that this may be the fault of some particular men and not of the Church yet to vrge it as you doe as a thing necessary to saluation by Law diuine is the fault of your Church Surely this doctrine was not knowne to S. Austine when he said Quid mihi cum hominibus vt audiant confessiones meas quasi ipsi sanaturi sint omnes languores meos i. What haue I to doe with men that they should heare my Confessions as though they should heale all my diseases Nor to Chrysostome who saith Art thou ashamed to confesse thy sinnes rehearse them dayly in thy prayers for I doe not say that thou shouldest disclose them to thy fellow seruant who may mocke thee but to God who healeth them And as for your Popish Satisfaction it is a most blasphemous derogation from the all sufficient Satisfaction of our Sauiour Iesus Christ. For you doe not meane thereby a satisfaction to the party offended nor Canonicall satisfaction to the Congregation for the taking away of publique scandall both which we willingly embrace but you teach that after the Priest hath forgiuen the penitent his sinnes there still remaineth the very same punishment which the sinner should haue suffered in hell fire excepting onely eternitie for which you enioyne him to make satisfaction to God by workes of Popish penance Moreouer you teach workes of supererogation and that many holy men haue suffered more for God and righteousnes sake then the guilt of their temporall punishments to which they were subiect by reason of their sinnes required and that this superfluitie remaineth as a treasure in the Church to be dispensed by the Prelates in their indulgences especially by the Pope in the yeere of Iubile which shamelesse practise what is it else but a deuise to get money Thus you haue turned repentance into a Sacrament of penance and penance into Mines of siluer and gold Hitherto of our Presbyters Now let vs come to the Deacons CHAP. XI Of the third controuersie concerning Deacons PHIL. THere are no Deacons in the Church of England and therefore you cannot be lawfull Presbyters ORTHOD. Bellarmine confesseth that the
order of a Deacon is not essentiall to the order of Priesthood and therefore though wee had bene ordained per saltum yet you could not deny vs the true order of Priesthood But we are not ordained per saltum Our Church hath decreed that there may be euer some time of triall of their behauiour in the office of Deacons before they be admitted to the order of Priesthood And for the Ordination after due knowledge of the vertuous conuersation and examination of the sufficiencie of the person it is performed with religious praier by a Bishop vpon a Sunday or holy day in the face of the Church in these words Take thou authority to execute the office of a Deacon c. PHIL. The office of a Deacon is to assist the Priest in saying of Masse Do your Deacons so ORTHOD. That the Deacon should assist the Priest in the administration of holy things concerning his office is graunted on both sides but for your Popish massing and sacrifising we haue proued that it is a profaning of Christs ordinance and that it is neither lawfull for you to do it nor for the Deacons to assist you wherefore seeing wee haue already iustified both our Bishops which ordaine the office or function of our Presbyters or Priests wee conclude that as our Bishops and Presbyters so our Deacons also are lawfull in the Church of England Thus haue we examined your obiections against the ministery of the Church of England and find them to be meere cauilles Neither can you proue that our calling is in any thing contrarie to the Scripture or to the practise of reuerend antiquity but your sacrifising Priesthood appeareth not onely to bee the inuention of man but also sacrilegious and abominable in the sight of God Wherefore I beseech you repent of your sinnes renounce your Antichristian practise returne to your deare Country cease to bee Philodox and become an Orthodox CHAP. XII Wherein is declared that though wee deriue our calling from such Bishops as were Popish Priests yet our calling is lawfull and theirs vnlawfull PHIL. WEll I perceiue one thing that howsoeuer you speake against Popish Priests calling them sacrilegious and abominable yet when your owne calling is put to the trial you are glad to deriue it from such Bishops as were Popish Priests which you so disdainefully call sacrilegious and abominable ORTHOD. And I perceiue another thing that howsoeuer you exclaimed against Cranmer as a Schismaticke and burned him for an Heriticke yet when the glorious succession of your Bishops in Queene Maries time is put to the trial you are forced to deriue it from him whom you so scornefully call a Schismatike and an Hereticke But if our forefathers deriued their orders from such Bishops as were Popish Priests what inconuenience will follow PHIL. Then either confesse your calling to bee vnlawfull or accknowledge ours to be lawfull from whence you deriue it You cannot gather figges of thornes nor grapes of thistles neither is it possible for a rose to spring out of a nettle ORTHOD. But a garden of Roses may be ouergrowne with nettles For the Ministery planted by Christ was a sweete rose without any nettle and so it continued in the Church for certaine ages but when Antichrist began to reueale himselfe in the Temple of God as though hee were God the Romish Priesthood became a monstrous birth strangely compounded halfe rose halfe nettle the Church of England in the beginning of reformation did borrow from the Church of Rome the rose but left the nettle PHIL. What will you make of vs are we Ministers or lay men if we bee Ministers then so acknowledge vs. If wee be lay men then I pray you what was Cranmer who had no Cousecration but in our Church what were all the Bishops in Kings Edwards time which were Consecrated by Cranmer what was Mathew Parker Grindall Sands Horne which were all ordained Priests in our Church were they all lay men what are all the Ministers of England at this day which deriue their orders from the former are they all lay-men ORTHOD. Your Popish Priests are neither the true ministers of the Gospel nor merely lay-men For your ordination consisteth of two parts the former in these words take thou power to offer sacrifice and to celebrate masse for the quick and the dead which you account the principall function of Christian Priesthood but in truth it maketh you not the Ministers of Christ but of Antichrist the latter in these words receiue the holy ghost whose sins thou forgiuest they are forgiuen whose thou retainest they are retained in which Euangelicall words there is deliuered a ghostly ministeriall power to forgiue sinnes which according to the true meaning of Christ is performed by the ministery of reconciliation therefore whosoeuer hath receiued this power hath withall receiued the ministery of reconcilation consisting as was before declared in the due administration of the word and sacraments PHIL. If it be so then you must confesse that the Priesthood of the Church of Rome hath the ministeriall function because these words are vsed in our ordination ORTHOD. Though these words as they were spoken by Christ practised in the primitiue Church and are vsed at this day in the Church of England imply the substance of this holy function yet as you abuse them in the Church of Rome to maintaine Popish shrift the gold is couered with drosse and the sweet flower ouershadowed with noysome weeds Wherefore if we consider your Priesthood as it is a totum aggregatum consisting of sacrifising and absoluing it is vnlawfull and contrary to the Scripture If wee come to the parts thereof your massing and sacrifising is simply abominable the other part so farre as it relieth vpon the words of Christ taken in their true sense and meaning is holy and implieth a ministerial power which notwithstanding by your construction and practise is greatly depraued PHIL. I will proue our Priesthood to be lawfull by the practise of your owne Church which against you is as good as a thousand witnesses For when any of our Priests forsake the Catholike Church ioyne themselues with you you do not giue thē new orders but presently receiue thē into the bosome of your Church suffering them to execute the ministeriall function by vertue of those orders which they receiued in the Church of Rome ORTH. None can bee admitted with vs to execute the office of a minister before he subscribe to the articles of religion as may appeare by this act of Parliament That the Churches of the Queens Maiesties dominions may be serued with pastours of soūd religion be it enacted by the authority of this present Parliament that euery person vnder the degree of a Bishop which doth or shal pretend to be a Priest or Minister of Gods holy word and Sacraments by reason of any other forme of institution Consecration or ordering then the forme set foorth by Parliament in the time
of the late King of most worthy memorie King Edward the sixth or now vsed in the raigne of our most gracious soueraigne Lady before the feast of the Natiuitie of Christ next following shall in the presence of the Bishop or Gardian of the spiritualties of some one Diocesse where hee hath or shall haue Ecclesiasticall liuing declare his assent and subscribe to all the Articles of Religion which onely concerne the confession of the true Christian faith and the doctrine of the Sacraments comprised in a Booke imprinted intituled Articles c. Among which Articles this is one The offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption propitiation and satisfaction for all the sinnes of the whole world both originall and actuall and there is no other satisfaction for sinne but that alone Wherefore the Sacrifices of Masses in the which it was commonly said that the Priest did offer Christ for the quicke and the dead to haue remission of paine or guilt were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits By this you may plainely perceiue that no popish Priest can possibly be admitted in the Church of England vnlesse he vtterly disclaime and renounce the first function of your Priesthood which consisteth in Massing and Sacrifising and the latter also so farre as it is contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England But whatsoeuer is in it from God and according to the true sence of the Scripture as for example the power of forgiuing sinnes by the ministery of reconciliation that we embrace and acknowledge It is a Rose which is found in the Romish wildernes but the plants thereof were deriued from the garden of God It is a riuer which runneth in Egypt but the fountaine and spring of it is in Paradise it is a beame which is seene in Babylon but the original of it is from the sphere of heauen Wherefore when your Priestes returne to vs. Our Church paring away their pollutions suffereth them to execute their ministeriall function according to the true meaning of Christs words THe like moderation is vsed in other reformed Churches as witnesseth Prince Anhalt Hac vtimur moderatione vt ad parochialia munera euocatos si verbum posthac purè docere Sacramenta iuxta Christi institutionem administrare se velle permittant recipiamus horumque contenti vocatione muneris demandati commissione ordinationem manus impositionem non iteremus i. We vse this moderation that we receiue such as are called to the charge of particular Parishes if they promise that they will henceforth teach the word purely and administer the Sacraments according to the institution of Christ and we being content with their calling and commission of their function already committed vnto them doe not reiterate their ordination and imposition of hands This is agreeable to the iudgement of the learned Authors of the Articuli Smalcaldici si Episcopi suo officio recte fungerentur curam Ecclesiae Euangelij gererent posset illis nomine charitatis tranquillitatis non ex necessitate permitti vt nos nostros concionatores ordinarent confirmarent hac tamen conditione vt seponerentur omnes laruae prestigiae deliramenta spectra pompae Ethnicae i. If the Bishops would rightly performe their office and carie a care of the Church and Gospell it might bee permitted vnto them in regard of loue and peace though not of necessitie that they should ordaine and confirme vs and our Preachers yet vpon this condition that all visards deceits all dotages and shewes of heathenish pompe should bee set aside This and the rest of the Articles were subscribed vnto by Martin Luther Iustus Ionas Philip Melancthon vrbanus Regius Osiander Brentius and many moe To these wee may ioyne the iudgment of Caluin vbi sese ipsi offerunt ad munus illud deinceps praestandum non mole illis ab Ecclesia conceditur quod ab ipsis ante minus legitimè vsurpatum erat Duo sunt in illo statu summa vitia vnum quod non recta ratione instituti sunt â—d munus Ecclesiasticum alterum quod de illo gradâ— sese deiecerunt dum nihil eius praestiâ—erunt quod ad rem pertineret Sed illud non facit quo minus agnoscantur pro ministris ordinariis vbi sese Ecclesiae coniungere paratos ostendunt atque ita de nouo confirmentur demum ad corrigendum praecedentem defectum When such as haue bene popish Priests doe offer themselues from henceforth to performe the ministeriall function that which before was vsurped of them vnlawfully is now not amisse granted vnto them by the Church For there are two great faults in that state one that they are not rightly instituted to the Ecclesiasticall office another that they haue depriued themselues from that degeee by doing nothing belonging to the matter But this doth not hinder that they may be acknowledged for ordinarie ministers when they shew themselues ready to ioyne themselues to the Church so may be confirmed againe a new to correct their former default And againe Constat non posse haberi pro Christianis pastoribus nisi prius abrenuncient sacerdotio papali ad quod prouecti erant vt Christum sacrificareÌ„t quodest blasphemiae genus omnibus modis detestandum Praeterea etiam requiritur vt aperte profiteaÌ„turse abstinere omnino velle ab omnibus illis superstitionibus faeditatibus quae simplicitati Euangelij repugnant i. It is euident that they cannot bee esteemed for Christian pastours vnlesse first they renounce the Popish Priesthood to which they were promoted that they might sacrifice Christ which is a kind of blasphemie by all meanes to bee detested Moreouer there is required that they make an open profession that they will altogether refraine from all those superstitions and impurities which are repugnant to the simplicitie of the Gospell PHIL. BVt one of your Ministers cannot so easily be metamorphised into a Catholicke Priest first the diuell must bee coniured out of him in this manner Exorcizo te immunde spiritus c. I coniure thee thou foule spirit by God the Father almighty and by Iesus Christ his Sonne and by the holy Spirit that thou depart out of this seruant of God whom God and our Lord vouchsafeth to deliuer from errours and from thy deceits and to call backe to the Catholicke and Apostolicke holy Mother Church Thou cursed and damned spirit he commandeth thee who hauing suffered and being dead and buried for the saluation of men hath conquered thee and all thy forces and rising againe is ascended into heauen whence he will come to iudge both the quicke and the dead and the world by fire This is the forme of the Church in recoÌ„ciling all Apostataes Hereticks Schismaticks ORTHOD. Who so duely considereth your positions and practises may very well thinke that you are more likely to coniure the deuill into a man then out of him Woe to you Seminaries and Iesuites Hypocrites
you compasse sea and land to make one proselite and when hee is become one you make him two fould more the childe of Hell then yee your selues are But when he is reconciled what is then to be done PHIL. Though now hee bee a Catholicke when the Diuell is coniured out of him yet before he can be Priest hee must be cast wholy in a newe mould For as I told you we account your Ministers but meerly lay men without orders ORTHOD. The more to blame you and therein you degenerate from your forefathers as may appeare by the articles sent by Queene Mary to Bishop Bonner one whereof was this Item touching such persons as were heretofore promoted to any orders after the new sort and fashion of orders considering they were not ordered in very deede the bishop of the Diocesse finding otherwise sufficiency and abilitie in these men may supply that thing which wanted in them before and then according to his discretion admit them to minister Heere you see that they did not ordaine them a new but onely supply that which they thought to be wanting and therefore they misliked not our orders in whole but in part PHIL. Yes they wholly misliked them as you may see by the words considering they were not ordered in very deed If they were not ordered in very deed then howsoeuer they pretended orders yet they had no orders at all but were meerely lay men and so are you For that which they call the new sort and fashion of orders was according to the booke established by King Edward which is vsed in England to this very day ORTHO Doth not a Bishop ordaine when he imposeth handes and saith Receiue the holy Ghost whose sinnes you forgiue c. PHIL. I answere that Priests are ordained when it is said vnto them take thou power to offer sacrifice but they are also ordained afterward when it is said vnto them Receiue the holy Ghost For by the former wordes they are ordained to the function of sacrificing by the latter to the function of absoluing by both ioyntly to the full and perfect order of Priesthood ORTHOD. But these words Receiue the holy Ghost were vsed in king Edwards time and are to this day in the Church of England in making of Ministers And therefore those that are promoted to orders after the new sort and fashion as you call it are ordered in very deed neither did the Penners of the article meane otherwise PHIL. Are not their words plaine that they were not ordered in very deed ORTHOD. They meant that they were not ordered fully and perfectly therfore aduised the Bishops to supply that which wanted Which they could not say with reason if they had thought them to be meerely lay men therefore they iudged them to bee Priests in part and yet part of the office to bee wanting which needed supply That which they had was the power receiued by these wordes Receiue the holy Ghost That which they supposed to be wanting was the power of sacrificing Therefore their meaning was not to reiterate that which they had but to supply that which was wanting in their cōceit euen as we on the contrary side cause such as come from Popery to vs to renounce the power of sacrificing which we hold sacrilegious but doe not reiterate those Euangelicall words wherin we agree And this you must needes grant vnlesse you will allow of reordination PHIL. Reordination God forbid No sir we will neuer allow of that For order imprinteth a Character and therefore can neuer be reiterated ORTHOD. But you granted before that a Priest is ordained when the Bishop saith vnto him Receiue the holy Ghost And therefore if the power of remitting sinnes giuen in these words were reiterated either in Queene Maries time or among you at this day in ordaining your proselytes then you cannot possibly defend your Church from Reordination If you abhorre Re-ordination then you must confesse that when any Minister reuolteth from vs to you yet in making him Priest you must not repeat those words Receiue the holy Ghost which proueth inuincibly that vnlesse you will be contrary vnto your selues you cannot esteeme vs to bee meerely lay men Or if you will needs aduance your owne orders and make a nullitie in ours and order our fugitiue Ministers accordingly then you must runne there is no remedy vpon the rocke of Reordination by repeating the words wherein we agree PHIL. Though we agree in the wordes yet we differ in the sense ORTHOD. That is no barre to Reordination for if a child bee Baptised in the true forme of words an Heretick shall Baptise the same child in the same wordes though in another sense yet all good Christians will iudge it to be Rebaptisation and there is the same reason of Reordination Therefore thus I reason When you Metamorphise an English Minister into a Popish Priest either you repeat the words Receiue the holy Ghost or you doe not if you doe repeat them then I haue made it manifest that you vse Reordination If you doe not then you iustifie not onely our practise but also our orders For you hold these words necessary in ordination to the conferring of one of the principall functions of Priesthood and therfore in not repeating them you acknowledge that they had receiued that function before in the Church of England consequently that the ministers of England are not lay men So your owne practise doth either condemne your selues or iustifie vs but our practise condemneth altogether the first part of your Priesthood that is your carnall sacrificing as simply abhominable and the latter part so farre as it is polluted with your popish constructions PHIL. If the first part of our Priesthood bee simply abhominable and the latter as it is vsed by vs bee polluted then Cranmer Ridley Parker Grindall and the rest of your Coronels had no other Priesthood but that which was partly abhominable and partly polluted ORTHO When God opened their eyes they did vtterly renounce your carnall sacrificing as derogating from the all-sufficient sacrifice of Iesus Christ the other part that is the power of forgiuing sinnes which they receiued corruptly in the Church of Rome they practised purely in the Church of England renouncing the Pope and all Popish pollutions PHIL. But when the question is concerning the validity of orders wee must not so much respect the practise as the power receiued in ordination how Cranmer Parker and such like receiued both parts of their Priesthood in the Church of Rome And as the Church gaue them so they receiued them in that very sense which the Church of Rome holdeth at this day Wherefore seeing you condemned both parts as we vse them for nettles I cannot but maruell how you can be Roses ORTHOD. Let me aske you a question If one Baptize a Conuert in the Element of water according to the true forme of the Church yet so that both the Baptizer and the baptized haue
prosecute an vnanswerable Argument Euery true Bishop must of necessitie be Consecrated by 3. Bishops at the least But the Bishops of England are not so therefore the Bishops of England are no true Bishops ORTHOD. The Bishops of England are so as in due place shall appeare And if in case of necessity they were not so What then The presence of 3. is required onely to the well-being not simply to the being It is no essentiall part of Episcopall Consecration but an accidentall ornament a comely complement of singular conueniencie no substantiall point of absolute necessitie CHAP. IIII. Wherein the Popish Arguments drawen from the Canons of the Apostles and the Decretall Epistles are proposed vrged and answered PHIL. I Will prooue the contrary by sundry arguments and first by the Canons of the Apostles which were collected and set out by Clemens Saint Peters scholar ORTH. If those Canons were made by the Apostles then the Church of Rome is much to blame for the 84. Canon alloweth the 3. Booke of Maccabecs as also 2. Epistles of Clemens and his eight bookes of constitutions for Canonicall Scripture which the Church of Rome reiecteth againe it omitteth the Sonne of Sidrach Wisdome and diuers others which your Church imbraceth for Canonicall PHIL. It seemeth probable saith Bellarmine that this Canon was not set out by Clemens yea it is Apocryphus and Surreptitius as is affirmed by Binius ORTH. What say you then to the 65. Canon which forbiddeth to fast vpon the Saturday excepting one onely that is as Binius declareth the Paschall Saturday PHIL. I say with Baronius it is counterfeite ORTH. But what say you to Pope Gelasius who in a councell at Rome of 70. Bishops saith Liber Canonum Apostolorum Apocryphus the booke of the Canon of the Apostles is Apocryphall And in what sence he called it Apocryphall is expounded by Bellarmine Eos libros vocat Apocryphos qui sunt aediti ab auctoribus haereticis vel certè suspectis Gelasius calleth those bookes Apocryphall which were set out by such authors as were either hereticall or at least suspected PHIL. Gelasius did not call the booke Apocryphall as though all the Canons therein conteined were Apocryphall but as Bellarmine thinketh Propter aliquos vel corruptos vel additos ab haeretâ—cis that is in respect of some which were either corrupted or added by heretikes of which stampe were those two which you alleadged But the first 50. conteining nothing but Apostolike and Orthodoxe doctrine approued of auncient Popes Councels and Fathers Velut authentici recipiuntur are receiued as authenticall saith Binius ORTH. Pope Zephirine allowed 70. or at least 60. for there are diuerse readings how doth this agree PHIL. Well ynough for Pope Zephirine speaketh not of Canons but of Sentences and you must know that those 60 or 70. sentences are all conteined in the 50. Canons as Binius affirmeth out of Father Turrian ORTHOD. Bellarmine expoundeth these sentences to bee so many Canons in these words Zephirine the fifteenth from Peter deliuereth in his first Epistle that there were onely 70. Canons of the Apostles PHIL. Pope Leo alloweth onely fifty Apostolorum Canones numerant patres inter Apochrypha exceptis 50. Capitulis The fathers doe recken the Canons of the Apostles amongst Apocryphall writings excepting fifty Chapters by which he meaneth fifty Canons ORTHO Then to passe ouer the fifth Canon forbidding a Bishop or Priest to cast off his wife vnder pretence of religion as also the one and thirtith inhibiting all other Bishops to restore a Priest or Deacon excommunicated by his owne Bishop What can you possibly say to the ninth which excommunicateth all those which beeing present at the communion doe not communicate concerning which Binius is forced to confesse Totum hoc decretum non diuine sed humano iure constitutum iam contraria consuetudine est abrogatum that is This whole Decree beeing made not by law Diuine but humane is now abrogated by a contrary custome and alleadgeth for him Bellarmine Zuarez and Turrian which is a notable acknowledgement that such a Canon as you account Apostolicall and Authenticall may not withstanding bee abrogated But not to stand vpon these and the like exceptions let vs heare what the Canons say concerning the consecration of Bishops PHIL. THe words are these Let a Bishop bee ordained of two or three Bishops ORTHO Doth the Canon require two or three Then ordination by two is canonicall as well as by three PHIL. Not so for the Canon meaneth that there should be two or three assistants besides the Metropolitane as is declared by Cardinall Bellarmine and father Turrian ORTHOD. The Canon saith not two or three assistants but two or three Bishops Neither hath it this clause besides the Metropolitane but pronounceth simply let a Bishop bee ordained by two or three Bishops Wherfore the Canon is satisfied with the presence of two or three Bishops This is the iudgement of your owne Pamelius who saith that conseration or imposition of hands was per Episcopos qui conuenerant quos vt minimum duos esse oportebat i. By the Bishops which were assembled which should bee two at the least Where note that hee doth not say the Bishops assistant but the Bishops assembled should bee two at the least This also was the iudgement of Cardinall de Turrecremata who vrgeth this very Canon against your position and prooueth by it that three are not necessary Neither is the presence of two required of absolute necessity if you will beleeue the Apostolike constitutions of Clemens a booke which for my owne part I would not once name but onely that your chiefe champions doe so commonly alleage it Wherefore as Saint Paul cited a Poet against the Athenians so let mee cite this booke against you which so highly esteeme it I Simon of Chanany appoint by how many Bishops a Bishop ought to be ordained to wit by two or three Bishops but if any shall be ordained by one Bishop let both the ordained and the Ordainer bee deposed but if necessity shall compell to be ordained by one because many cannot bee present for persecution or some other cause let the Decree of the commission of many Bishops be produced If this authority bee of credit then you are confuted for it alloweth consecration by one in case of necessity PHIL. But that one must haue the commission of many ORTHOD. The commission is onely for concord sake and to auoide Schisme for the absent cannot impose hands nor giue the power therefore they doe not ordaine though they consent to the ordination which is performed by him onely that is present Now if in any case a Bishop may bee ordained by one and yet bee a true Bishop then the presence of moe is a matter of conueniency and not of absolute necessity And if you thinke that these