God as they pronounced or prescribed Thus the reverend and Learned Bishop Bilson in his perpetual Government cap. 4. Besides in every City there were private and peculiar Rulers 21. in number as Iosephus saith and also to every Magistracy in those Cities there was allotted two of the Tribe of Levi for assistance as Iosephus witnesseth and if those could not determine the busâ—nesse then they did appeal to the great Council And so Grotius sheweth most accurately upon Mat. 5. 21. Now God appointed these offices and dignities and power of Judicature to the Priests and Levites besides their attendance upon Gods service and the Course of every Priest and Levite was but one Week in half a year to attend at the Temple as Iosephus and Scaliger and Selianus doth shew with other accurate Chronologers so that beside their attendance upon Gods Service they had time and leisure enough to be helpful in the Government of the Kingdome Yea sometimes the principal Judges were chosen out of the Tribe of Levi as at the beginning of their Common-wealth Moses himself of that Tribe the greatest prophet prince that ever was among them So after in succeeding times Ely the high Priest was made Judge in his time So also Samuel a Levite was cheif Judge in Israel as 1 Sam. 7. 15. who judged Israel all the dayes of his life And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethell and Gilgal and Mispeh and judged Israel in all those places much alike as our judges do go their Circuits every year throughout the Land p. 17. And his return was to Ramah for there was his House and there he judged Israel and there he built an Altar to the Lord. And his three Sons after him Samuel made them being Levites Iudges over Israel though they did not walk in their Fathers ways but turned aside after lucre and took bribes and perverted judgement After the Captivity of Babylon for some 500 years till the coming of Christ the Priesthood had the greatest stroke in the Government As Ezra the Priest and brother to Iesus the high priest that returned from the Captivity whose memory is honourable among the righteous as learned Montague sheweth against Selden pag. 377. He had Commission from the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes to govern and order the Controversie Ezra 7. 12 25. and gave him authority to set Magistrates and judges which might judge the people and power to execute the laws of God and the King pag. 26. and to inflict punishments unto death or banishment or to confiscation of goods or imprisonment So that Ezra had great authority and full power given him and his worthy Acts are there recorded So afterwards under the Maehabees who were priests the Common-wealth was governed and it pleased God to make that Family victorious as any other almost that ever governed that Common-wealth as Sir Walter Raleigh sheweth lib. 2. cap. 15. If thus it were anciently among the chosen people of God why then should any in these dayes be so much displeased that a Bishop or a Clergy man should have any part in the Government of the Common-wealth or assistance of Government for the better Ordering and Directing of judgment or to be Counsellor to a Prince as Zechariah the Levite was a wise Counsellor 1 Chron. 26. 14. Benajah a Priest son of Iehojadah was one of David's twelve Captaines being the third Captain of the host for a moneth and in his Course consisting of 2400 was his son Amizabad Benajah also was of David's principal Worthies having the name among the three Mighties He was also Captain of the guard to David and after the death of Ioab he was made Lord General of the Host by King Solomon in Ioabs room 1 Kings 22. 35. So and much rather may a Clergy men now be an Officer in great place or a Justice of Peace in the Country who handles Matters of Equity and good Conscience for preserving of publick peace order and quietness among neighbours wherein happen many businesses that depend much upon the Conscience of a Justice and the Equitable rules of Scripture whereof Clergy men are the most competent interpreters As also many Causes happen touching the Estates and persons of the Clergy who have little reason to be subject onely to secular Judges without some of their own tribe on the bench to see fair carriage and indifferent dealing But for matters of Religion concerning God and his Worship and difficult points of Divinity the Clergy then were and so ought now to be the principal men to be imployed as may clearly appear by the doings of K. David about removing of the Ark to the place that he had provided for it upon which text King Iames hath written a very pious and excellent Meditation Pag. 81. upon the 1 Chron. 15. some of those words are fit to be here recited When the Ark of God whereunto they sought not in the dayes of Saul had continued long at Kiriah-jearim David out of his Zeal and Piety was moved to prepare a Tent for it in the City of David and when he began to remove it he called a great assembly of principal Men but did not make that use of the Priests and Levites as he ought to have done and therefore the Action prospered not but there happened a terrible judgment upon Uzzah which hindered the progresse of the good work and David was afraid of God that day saying How shall I bring the Ark of God home to me so the Ark rested in the House of Obed-Edom But afterwards upon better advice David perceived his Errour and confesseth it Cap. 15. 12 13. Speaking to the Chief of the Priests and Levites Sanctify your selves both ye and your brethren that you may bring up the Ark of the Lord God For because you did it not at the first the Lord God made a breach upon us for we sought him not after the due order This was a great and a godly work that was then intended and therefore King David called a great Assembly about it 1. Of the Elders of Israel 2. Of the Captaines of thousands and hundreds whose Names and Praises are recorded 3. The Priests and Levites Who did it not at the first But now upon better advice King David assembled at first the Children of Aaron and the Levites v. 4. So that men of all Estates were now present in this godly work This is to be marked well of Princes and of all those of any high Calling or Degree that have to do in Gods Cause David doth nothing in matters pertaining to God without the presence and especiall Concurrence of Gods Ministers appointed to be spiritual rulers in Gods Church And at the first meant to convay the same Ark to Ierusalem finding their absence and want of their Counsel hurtful therefore he saith to them Ye are the Chief Fathers of the Levites because ye did it not at the first Thus saith King Iames of blessed memory but
the Councel of Clarendon under Hen. 2. Wherein the Clergy were inforced to appear in the Temporal Courts one Canon thereof being Clerici accusati de quacunque re summoniti a Iusticiario Regis veniant in Curiam responsuri ibidem de hoc unde videbitur Curiae Regis quid ibi sit respondendum in Curia Eeclesiastica unde videbitur quod ibi sit respondendum It a quod Regis Iusticiarius mittet in Curiam sanctae Ecclesia ad videndum quomodo res ibi tractabitur si Clericus vel confessus vel convictus fuerit non debet eum de caetero Ecclesia tueri But touching this and the rest of the Constitutions in that Council Math. Paris doth sharply inveigh against them Hanc Recognitionem five Recordationem de Consuetudinibus libertatibus iniquis dignitatibus Deo detestabilibus Archiepiscopi Episcopi clerus cum Comitibus Baronibus proceribus juraverunt And as he addeth His itaque gestis potestas laica in res personas Ecclesiasticas omnia pro libitu Ecclesiastico jure contempto tacentibus aut vix murmur antibus Episcopis potius quam resistentibus usurpabat And this appeareth also by that which Selden relateth in his notes upon Eadner pag. 268. that long after in Edward the seconds time the Clergy had so many oppositions and hinderances in their proceedings from the Temporal Courts that they exhibited a petition in Parliament wherein they recite the grant and constitution of Will 2. allowing them their own Courts by themselves and specify their complaints particularly which he calleth Gravamina Ecclesiae Anglicanae and saith they are those mentioned in the proem of Artiâ—uli Cleri And in this age we have great cause to complain of Prohibitions but thereof I will say no more now as for the Temporal Courts the Conquerour appointed them to follow his Court royal which Custome continued for many years till under King Iohn at the instant request of the nobility it was granted Ut Communia placita non sequerentur Curiam i. e. Regis sed in loco certo tenerentur That the Court of Justice for Common Pleas should not follow the Kings Court Royal but be held in a place certain as now commonly they are in Westminster-Hall Whereas before the Kings appointed one Grand Lord Chief Justice of all England who for his authority and power was a greater officer both of State and Justice then any in these last ages and ever since that the greatness of that office was abated by King Edw. 1. most of those great Justices were Bishops as Sir Henry Spelman sheweth in his Caralogue of them Glossar pag. 401. Dignitate omnes Reges proceres potestate omnes superabat Magistratus De potestate valde inter alia claret quod quatuor summorum judicum hodiernorum muneribus solus aliquando fungeretur scilicet Capitalis Iustitiarii Banci Regis id est plâ—citorum Coronae seu criminalium Capitalis Iusticiarii Banci Communis id est placitorum Civilium Capitalis Baronis Scacarii hoc est Curiae ad sâ—crum patrimonium fiscum pertinentis c. Most of these great Justices were Bishops as appears by the Catalogue of them they being the principal men for Knowledge and Learning in those dayes and had no doubt power of voting in all Parliaments Councils and assemblies of State And so in these later times Lord Coke sheweth their abilities and rights 4. Instit. pag. 321. The King is well apprised of all his Judges which he hath within his realm as well spiritual as temporal as Arch-bishops Bishops and their officers Deanes and other Ministers who have spiritual jurisdiction It is declared by the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in full Parliament That the spiritualty now being called the English Church always hath been reputed and also found of that sort that both for knowledge integrity and sufficiency of number it hath been alwayes thought and is also at this hour sufficient and meet of it self without the intermedling of any exterior person or persons to declare and determine of such doubts and to administer all such offices and duties as to their rooms spiritual doth appertain The Adversaries have made divers objections against our Arch-bishops and Bishops Ever since saith Coke But these pretences being in truth but meer Cavils tending to the scandal of the Clergy being one of the greatest States of the realm as it is said in the Statute of 8. Eliz. cap. 1. are fully answered by the said Statute and Provision made by authority of that Parliament for the establishing of the Arch-bishops and Bishops both in praesenti in futuro in their Bishopricks By the Statute also of 39 Eliz. cap. 8. the Arch-bishops and Bishops are adjudged lawful as by the said Act appeareth And by these two Statutes these and all other objections against our Bishops one hath answered which we have thought good to remember seeing we are to treat of their jurisdiction Ut obstruatur os iniquae loquentium saith Lord Coke Yet the fury and rage of these times have stirred up more anger which in the issue will turn to the Confusion and Dishonour of them that began these wars and broyles against the Church and Bishops and fundamental Laws and Statutes which have so fully asserted their rights and authority Thus the Lord Coke premiseth being to treat of the Ecclesiastical Courts and all the jurisdiction belonging to the Clergy and established by the fundamental Laws of the Land against both Papists and Puritans and first he beginneth with the Court of Convocation and of the high Commission in Causes Ecclesiastical which is absolutely necessary for the suppression of all manner of Errots Heresies Schismes abuses offences Contempts and enormities But upon suppression of this Court by the late long Parliament there hath broken forth such an infinite number of heresies schismes sectaries and a rascal rabble of factions as is prodigious to relate and intolerable to be suffered For as it is in the Common Law if there were not Assises and Sessions to punish Malefactors Theeves Cuâ—purses Offenders and Rogues of all sorts the Land would be so Oppressed with the Multitudes of them no man could enjoy his house or goods freehold or life therefore in London they have every moneth a publick sessions to punish Condemn and Execute all sorts of Malefactors And Corporations in principal Cities have the like authority by Commission and Patent from the King But for the high Commission to punish Offenders against Religion and the Church Lord Coke saith pag. 331. That the Kings Majesty hath and Queen Elizabeth had before him as great and ample Supremacy and jurisdiction Ecclesiastical as ever King of England had before them and that had justly and rightly pertained to them by divers other Acts and by the ancient Laws of England if the said clause of annexation in the said Statute of 1. Eliz. had never been inserted That it was a gâ—osse Error
of pious memory what had become of that great Work of our Reformation in this flourishing Church of England But I know before whom I speak I do not mean to dine your Lordships with Coleworts the harsh Consequences of this point your Lordships do understands as well as I. The last robe that some persons in holy orders are to be stript of hath a kind of mixture of Freehold and favour of the proper right and the graces of the King which are certain old Charters that some few Bishops and many ancient and Cathedral Churches have purchased procured from the ancient Kings before since the conquest to inable them to live quiet in their own prâ—cincts and close as they call it under a Justice or two of their own body without being abandoned upon every slight occasion to the injuries and vexations of Mechanical Tradesmen of which your Lordships best know these Countrey Incorporations do most consist Now whether these few Charters have their foundation by favour or by right I should conceive under your Lordships favour it is neither favour nor right â—o take them away without some just crime objected and proved for if they be abused in any particular Mr. Attorney General can find an ordinary remedy to repair the same by a Writ of Ad quod damnum without troubling of the two Houses of Parliament and this is all I shall speak to this point And now I come to the fourth part of this bill which is the manner of Inhibition heavy every way heavy in the penalty heavier a great deal in the incapacity the weighing of penalty will you consider I beseech you the small wyers that is poor Causes that are to induce the same and then the heavy lead that hangs upon these wyers It is thus if a natural subject of England inâ—ereâ—â—ed in the Magna Charta and petition of Right as well as any other yet being a person in holy orders shall happen unfortunately to vote in Parliament to obey his Prince by way of Councel or by way of a Commissionerâ— be required thereunto then is he presently to loose and forfeit for his first offence all his Means and Livelyhood for one year and for the second to forfeit his Freehold in that kind for ever and ever And I do not believe that your Lordships ever saw such an heavy weight of censure hang upon such thin wyers of reasons in any Act of Parliament made heretofore This peradventure may move others most but it does not me it is not the penalty but the incapacity and as the Philosophers would call it the natural impotency imposed by this Bill on men in holy orders to serve the King or the State in this kind be they otherwise never so able never so willing not never so vertuous which makes me draw a kind of Timanthes vail over this point and leave it without any amplification at all unto your Lordships wise and inward thoughts and considerations The fifth point is the Salvo made for the two Universities to have Justices of the peace amongst them of their own heads of Houses which I confess to be done upon mature and iust consideration for otherwise the Scholers must have gone for Justice to those parties to whom they go for their Mustard and Vinegar but yet under favour the reasons and inducements cannot be stronger then may be found out for other Ecclesiastical persons as the Bishop of Durhans who was ever since the dayes of K. Iohn suffered by the Princes and Parliaments of England to exercise justice upon the parties in those parts as being in truth the Kings subjects but the Bishops Tenents and therefore not likely to have their Causes more duly weighed then when the ballance is left in the hand of their own proper Landlords The Case of the Bishop of Ely for some parts of that Isle is not much different but if a little partiality doth not herein cast some mist before mine eyes the Case of the Dean and City of Westminster wherein this Parliament is now sitting is far more considerable both in the antiquity extent of Jurisdiction and the warrants whereupon it is grounded then any one of those places before mentioned for there is a clear Statute made 27. Eliz. for the drawing all Westminster St. Clemenst and St. Martins le grand London into a Corporation to be reigled by a Dean a Steward 12 Burgesses and 12 Assistants And if some salve or plaister shall not be applied unto Westminster in this point all that government and Corporation is at an end But this I perceive since is taken into Consideration by the Honorable House of Commons themselves I come now to the last point and the second Salvo of this Bill which is for Dukes Marquisses Earls Viscounts Barons or Peers of this Kingdome which is a clause that looks with a kind of contrary glance upon persons in holy orders It seems to favour some but so that thereby and in that very Act it casts an aspersion of baseness and ignobility upon all the rest of that holy profession for if no persons in holy orders ought to intermeddle in secular affairs how come these Nobles to be excepted out of that universal negative is it because they are nobly born then surely it must be granted that the rest must be excluded as being made of a rough and base piece of clay For the second part of this reason in beginning of the Bill can never bear out this Salvo that the office of the ministery is of so great importance that it will take up the whole man and all his best endevours Surely the office of the ministry is of no greater importance in a poor man then in a noble man nor doth it take away the whole man in the one and but a piece of him in the other I cannot give you many Instances herein out of Scripture because you know that in those dayes not many mighty not many noble were called c. 1 Cor. 1. 26. but when any noble were called I do not find but they did put more of the whole man and their best endevours upon the ministery then men in holy orders are at the least in holy Scripture noted to have done I put your Lordships in mind of those noblemen of Beraea compared with those of Thessalonica in the 17. of the Acts of the Apostles So that this Salvo for the nobility must needs be under your Lordships favour a secret wound unto the rest of the ministery unlesse your Lordships by your great wisdome will be willing to change it into a Panacea commonplaister both to the one and the other and under your Lordships favour I conceive may be done upon a very forcing argument The office of the ministry is of equal importance takes up the whole man and all his best endevours in the noble born as well as in the mean born minister but it is lawful all this notwithstanding for the noble
the Chancery and Courts of Equity in charge of a Divine Minister So ran that Channel till Sir Francis Bacons Father had it from a Bishop and now a Bishop had it again from Bacon And had King Iames lived to have effected his desires the Clergy had fixed firm footing in Courts of Judicature out of the road of Common Law and this was the true cause of Williams Invitation thither To prevent many Complaints and Mischiefs there can be no better way then to follow the Example of Gods own chosen people of Israel where the chief fathers of the priests and Levites were Judges in all Courts both high and low sitting together with some chief men of the other Tribes of the Laity as they are now called And though our Law be otherwise of late years and the jurisdiction of Courts divided yet it was not so anciently and the King may put some of the Clergy in some places and Courts at least of Equity as King Iames did design if he had lived longer and that without any prejudice to the Law or Courts of Justice CHAP. IV. Concerning the Honour and Dignity of the Bishops in the time of the Saxons and so continued to these times FOr the Dignity Order and Estimation of the Clergy they were from the beginning reckoned and accounted equal with the best as appears by the Laws of divers Kings as first of the first Christian King Ethelbert who in his Laws doth provide in the first place for their rights and priviledges and what Satisfaction shall be made for any wrong done to the Church or Bishops or Clergy Quicunque res Dei vel Ecclesiae abstulerit duodecima componat solutione Episcopi res undecima solutione Sacerdotis res nona solutione Diaconi res sexta solutione Clerici res trina solutione Pax Ecclesiae Violata duplici emendetur solutione Volens scilicet tuitionem eis quos quorum doctrinam susceperat praestare saith Bede These being the first Laws of our first Christian King of the Saxons they ought to be reverenced for their Antiquity piety and Christian Justice in rendering to every man his own due though some men talk not only of taking away superfluities but of cutting up both root and branches O Tempora O Mores And afterwards about the time of King VVithred there were laws made Quomodo damna injuriae sacris ordinibus illata sunt compensanda And often elsewhere in the Councils many Laws do ordain what satisfaction shall be given to the Church and Bishops for several offences committed for then the Bishops had a great part in all fines and shared in forfeitures and penalties with the King Furthermore for point of Honour and Dignity it appears by the Laws of King Athelstan that every Archbishop was equal to a Duke of a Province Every Bishop to an Earl and so esteemed in their valuations Vide K. Athelstani Regis apud Lambardum p. 71. Concil Britannica pag. 405. cap. 13. de Weregeldis 1. capitum aestimationibus The Title of Baron was not then known or used among the Saxons but they called the Nobility Thanes Vid. K. Inae pag. 187. Sect. 9. and the Bishops were equal or rather superiour to the Thanus Major and the priest to the Thanus minor The Bishop and Earl are valued at eight thousand Theynses Messe-Theynes and Worald-Theynes id est Presbyteri secularis Thani jusjur andum in Anglorum lege reputatur aeque sacrum cùm Sacerdos Thani rectitudine dignus est The Priest was then accounted equal to a Knight or Lord of the Town and was commonly styled by the name of Sir as a Knight was though now it be derided and out of use Out of these Laws and some others doth the learned Antiquary who is so well versed in the Antiquities and Monuments of our Laws and Kingdome fully set down the ancient dignity and order of the Clergy Magno sane in honore fuit Universus clerus cum apud Populum Proceres tum apud ipsos Reges Angliae Saxonicos nec precaria hoc quidem concessione sed ipsis confirmatum legibus Sacerdos ad altare Celebrans minori Thano i. e. Villae Domino atque militi aequiparabatur in censu capitis pariter aestimatus pariterque alias honorandus quia Thani rectitudine dignus est Inquit Lex Abbas sine Câ—nobiarcha inter Thanos majores quos Barones Regis appellarunt posteri primicerius fuit Episcopus similiter inter Comites ipsos majores qui integro fruebantur comitatu juribusque Comitivis Archiepiscopus Duci satratrapae amplissimae Provinciae pluribus gaudenti comitatibus praeficiebatur Vt caeteri omnes Ecclesiastici comparibus suis omnibus secularibus Amplectebantur Reges universum clerum laeta fronte ex eo semper sibi legebant primos a consisiis primos ad officia Reipublicae obeunda Quippe sub his seculis apud ipsos solum erat literarum clavis scientiae dum militiae prorsus indulgerent laici factumque est interea ut os sacerdotis oraculum esset plebis Episcopi oraculum Regis Reipuâ— Primi igiâ—ur sedebant in omnibus Regni comitiis tribunalibus Episcopi in Regali quidem palatio cum Regni magnatibus in comitatu una cum comite Iusticiaerio comitatus in Turno Vicecomitis cum Viceâ—omite in Hundredo cum Domino Hundredi sic ut in promovenda justitia usquequaque gladius gladium adjuvaret nihil inconsulto sacerdote qui velut saburra in navi fuit ageretur Mutavit priscam hanc consuetudinem Gulielmus primus c. After the Conquest William the first divided the Ecclesiastical Courts from the secular not with a purpose to diminish the Ecclesiastical authority Imo jurejâ—rando confirmavit leges sanctae matris Ecclesiae quoniam per cam Rex Regnum solidum habent subsistendi firmamentum Yet the Bishops and Clergy do not now expect or desire to enjoy their ancient splendor amplitude and dignities seeing the greatnesse of their Revenue which should uphold the dignity is long since taken away So that well might Bishop Latimer in his Sermon before King Edward say We of the Clergy have had too much but that is taken away and now we have too little For there was no lesse in the whole taken away from them then many hundred thousands sterling too incredible to be here briefly expressed I will only mention one for example the Arch-bishoprick of York from which was taken 72. mannors and Lordships at one instant by one of the last statutes of Hen. 8. and the like happened to Canterbury London Lincoln and all the rest which me thinks should be enough to satisfie that men should not go about to strip them of these poor pittances that are left unto them being but small fragments in comparison of their ancient patrimony which the liberality and piety of the primitive times haâ— conferred on them when Charity
So Dr. Burgesse termeth the Learned Dr. Davenant Bishop of Salisbury only a speculative Divine He being an eminent and principal Divine Head of Queens Colledge in Cambridge and publick Professor and chosen by King Iames to be sent to the Synod of Dort and by his Learned works publickly famous and renowned Such malapert language against such Honourable and eminent Bishops from an inferiour Doctor is not to be endured without sharp censures Now though some Canons may seem to forbid the Bishops and Clergy to intermeddle with secular affairs yet that is not absolutely forbidden but in a qualified sense as in the famous Council of Clâ—veshoe under Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury Anno 747. Can. 1. Negotiis secularibus plusquà m Dei servitiis quod absit subditus existit To attend secular affairs more then spiritual and to be wholly imployed and conversant in Temporal matters without due regard to the better part But it will not hinder sacred studies nor the diligent preaching of the Gospel that some principal men at convenient times have a charge and over-sight of Temporal affairs and the carriage of publick businesse And concerning this see more in Bishop Davenants Determinations at Cambridge Quest. 11. Civilis jurisdictio jure conceditur personis Ecclesiasticis Thus much might serve for Reply to the Examiner Dr. Burgesse especially upon the fifth reason which I hold to be the only thing material in the whole Discourse for the rest will appear to be needlesse if this be clear'd But if he would look back to former times he shall find that our Kingdome and Government followed the ancient manner of Gods own people of Israel whose Ceremonies and Rituals though they be now abolished yet the general rules of Justice Equity Government and Order do still remain And as God made the priesthood then honourable in the Kingdome of Israel and committed a great part of the Government unto them so doubtlesse now under the Gospel the priesthood ought to be Honourable and to have a principal part in the ruling and governing of the Kingdome To be a Priest in Israel was to be a cheif man Levit 21. 4. and therefore in all their Courts of Justice the priests and Levites were cheif men in authority for deciding all causes both in the great Court of Sanedrim at Ierusalem which was a Continuation of the 70. Elders appointed by God himself Numb 11. and was answerable in authority to our Parliaments it being the highest Court of Judicature in that Kingdome and so in the second Court of Judgement as our Saviour calleth it Mat. 5. 22. where there were 23 Judges whereof 7. were of the Laity as we now call them Elders of the Cities and every good City consisted of _____ Families unto which 7. of the Elders there were added 14 Priests and Levites as Iosephus sheweth lib. 4. cap. 8. where though he seem to say that the number of the Judges was seven yet if his next words following be well observed he sheweth the addition of two priests and Levites to each of the other Magistrates of the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intellig it singulos magistratum gerentes quibus singulis bini erant additi adsessores periti juris quos Iosephus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocat Septem ergo municipes loci erant judices praeterea adsessores quatuordecim qui ex Levitis maxime sumebantur his supernumer arii accessisse videntur unus alter So Grotius in Mat. 5. 21. and so also the English Translation doth render the place In every City or Township let there be seven Governours such as are approved in vertue and famous for their Justice and let each of these Magistrates have two Ministers of the Tribe of Levi. In this Court of Judgement all manner of causes were heard of Life and Death whatsoever matters of Controversie within their gates Ecclesiastical or Temporal Yet excepting some weighty businesses concerning a whole Tribe or the high priest or a false Prophet which belonged only to the great Council at Ierusalem Whether also they might appeal in any doubtful cause which was too difficult for the inferiour Courts Iudices in portis cujusque Civitatis jus super causis majoribus reddebant in homicidas lege agere solebant de quibus agitur Deutr. 16 18. 21 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 autem paena erat gladius quia de homicidis inibi cognoscebatur ut Moses nos docet Christus Grotius in Mat. 5. 21. When King David was old and neet his Death he appointed Salomon to be King after him and caused a Parliament of all Israel to be assembled wherein he gathered together all the Princes of Israel with the Priests and Levites 1 Chr 24 1. 2. In this great Parliament the priests and Levites were not omitted not in any Court of Justice in that Kingdome For as it is p. 4. There were six thousand of them appointed Officers and Judges throughout the land of Israel which is the thing that now many of our Common people do much dislike not well induring a few Justices of Peace to be of the Clergy whereas we have the example of David guided and directed by the Spirit of God as the Text saith 1 Chron. 28 12 13 19. So disposing and ordering the Levites that he appointed some for the outward businesse over Israel for Officers and Judges a thousand and seven hundred were Officers of Israel on this side Iordan in all businesses of the Lord and in the service of the King This Text is very plain to prove that the same man may be employed in Ecclesiastical matters of the Church as also in the Kings Service So pag. 32. David appointed two thousand and seven hundred cheif Fathers to be Rulers over the Reubenites Gadites and the half Tribe of Manasses who were beyond Iordan for every matter pertaining to God and affairs of the King and c. 26. 14. Zecharias a Levite is commended for a wise Counsellour But that now any of the Clergy should be Councellours Judges or Officers unto Princes is accounted by some an unlawful thing or at least not very commendable Whereas we see by this very law and direction of King David that the Levites might attend businesse belonging to the worship and service of God and instruction of the people as also of the publick service and affairs of King and State So the Divines in their late Annotations on the Bible do acknowledge that the Levites did study the Judicial and politick Laws and had power to see the law of God and injunctions of the King to be observed and to order divine and humane affairs 1 Chron. 26. 29 30. 2 Chron. 19. 8 11. So the Learned Grotius Sicut lex erat uan praeptrix divini omnis humanique juris ita apud Hebraeos penes eosdem erat juris utriusque interpretatio Upon Mal. 2. 4. and so other Commentaries do affirm as Lavater in cap. 23. Per
Stipend of 400. l. yearly And since he hath invaded the House of the Bishop of Wells and much of the Lands But had he been made Dean of Pauls or Bishop of Bath and Wells by King Charles he would never have opposed the Bishops The like is known concerning Mr. Henry Burton The original of his discontent is well known He lost his place at Court which for a little time he enjoyed under Prince Charles and so losing his hopes of further preferment he was inraged with envy and revenge against the Bishops and all Church Government and at length degraded and punished according to his demerits Thus Ambition and Covetousnesse was the true motive of all the Presbyterian fury and rage against the Bishops and Ecclesiastical laws and Courts But to return to our former purpose and discourse why it is fit and reasonable that some principal men of the Clergy should be in power and some places of Judicature to preserve the inferiour Clergy from oppression and contempt whereunto they are now obâ—oxious Whereas if the Clergy might now enjoy those ancient priviledges which are mentioned in Scripture as Gen. 47. of King Pharaoh who in the time of Famine and great extremity spared the Priests Lands and allowed them their portion so that they sold not their Lands Then men might better talk of applying their studies and medling with no common or worldly businesse Artaxerxes the Persian King Ezra 7. 24. commanded that for all the Priests and Levites and Ministers of the House of God it should not be lawful to impose Toll Tribute or Custome upon them Whereas now the Clergy being made subject to the most sort of payments charges and impositions in a greater proportion commonly then other men it is but requisite that some principal men of the Clergy should have voyce and suffrage in making the Laws that are enacted for their Government and Taxations Besides the course of Laws and Government is now much altered from what it was in former times when Holy Fathers spake of wholly applying themselves to prayers and sacred studies and diligent preaching of the Gospel as if they were to do nothing else not so much as to provide bread and necessaries for their Families for then they lived most part single in Colledges and Monasteries and Societies under the Bishops where all necessary provisions were made by Stewards and Officers appointed for the purpose so that their cares in all those respects were lessened and abated much that they might apply their studies only and forsake all worldly businesse which now they cannot foregoe being secular and parochial Ministers married men and thereby charged with Children and Families and also made obnoxious to all Laws Suits and Impositions without any exemptions or priviledges So that it is but a Monastical and in part a Popish fancy to talk so much of applying their studies and only preaching in the Gospel for by many a writ and warrant from several Courts of justice and Constables they shall be hindred and commanded to attend secular and litigious proceedings and answer to all Bills of Complaint Declarations and vexations that shall hinder their preaching and studies more then a voluntary imployment at fit seasons in some publick office Further it is but a Popish opinion that Regimen Ecclesiasticum est distinctum a politico Which Bellarmine maintains taking it for granted on both sides only to advance the Papacy above Kings and Princes and to exempt the Clergy from secular authority Calvin affirmeth as much 4. Instit cap. 11. Sect. 1. Ecclesia Dei sua quadam spirituali politia indiget quae tamen a civili prorsus distincta est c. But under Correction I take it to be a great Errour though now it is the Common Idol of every mans fancy because that in our Kingdome since the Conquest but not formerly as hath been already declared cap. 2. the Courts of justice are divided the Temporal from the Ecclesiastical and so in most other Kingdomes Which yet I do not think to be the ancient manner not to be the best course though things being setled as now they are at this present it is not safe to change much for in a Kingdome the Courts of justice which have been long setled cannot easily be altered without danger and ill consequences But yet without any alteration of Laws or Courts the Courts may be furnished with judges of all sorts some Ecclesiastical persons as well as any others for it is against humane nature and Society to debat the Clergy and shut them out of all publick places of Trust and judicature The Issue and event whereof can be no lesse then the disgrace and reproach of the Clergy and to make them as the filth of the World and offscouring of all things Whereas it is well known that many Doctors of Divinity are as fit to be justices of peace as any Knights or Esquires The Doctors being learned in many kinds but very few of the Gentlemen eminent for Learning or if they be they are such as will be glad to have the Society and Company of Learned Doctors who are oftentimes skilful in Civil and Common Law and other parts of good Learning which do enable them for publick imployments There is a Discourse about Puritans lately published by a Lawyer one Mr. Parker wherein the excepts against Calvin and I think not amisse in that he doth according to the Popish grounds maintain that Spiritual jurisdiction differs from Temporal because it proposeth not the same ends but several which by several means may be better compassed But saith Parker The Spiritual Magistrate as I conceive can purpose no other end then which the secular ought to aim at for either the Prince ought to have no care at all of the honour of God or of the good of men and that which is the prime end of both true Religion or else his ends must be the same which the Prelate aims at viz. to vindicate Religion by removing or correcting scandalous Offendors Secondly to preserve the innocent from contagion by the separation of open Offenders Thirdly To prevent further obduration or to procure the amendment of such as have transgressed by wholsome Chastisement Thus he and I think not much amisse the scope and end of both is the same and as he saith in his Discourse Clergy men being as well Citizens of the Common-wealth as Sons of the Church and their cases importing as well perturbance of the State as Annoyance to the Church there can be but one head which ought to have command over both and in both It is manifest also that many cases are partly Temporal and partly Spiritual that scarce any is so Temporal but that it relates in some order to Spiritual things Or any so Spiritual but that it hath some relation to Temporal things so that the true Subject of Ecclesiastical and civil Iustice cannot rightly be divided I demand then why should the Courts be divided which was done
Commanders joyned as the Count of Bucquoy the Count of Tilly the Count of Papenheim the Count of Maradas Besides other great Captains of note having an Army of 40. thousand men and fought the great Battle neer Prague and prevailed powerfully Next day the City of Prague was surrendered the Palsgrave fled away and of 30. Committee-men in Prague which directed all businesse twenty seven were apprehended and the next year after they had been tryed and condemned by the Common-law of the land for rebellion and raising armies and Committees they were put to death upon one stage the same day Not long after ten thousand protestant Ministers and Churches were suppressed and the Ministers banished out of the Kingdome and the provinces annexed of Moravia Silesia Lusatia and other Countties of the Emperor The Covenanters who had seised on the Lands and Revenues of the Bishops and Deans aud other societies by way of Sequestration first which word they used in one article of their Covenant were forced to yield up those lands and to restore them to the former owners and so also in many other parts of Germany Lands and Houses of the Clergy which were taken away an hundred years before were restored to the right owners And for the Godly Covenant they renounced it aâ—d would have been glad to have enjoyed the favours which the Emperors formerly permitted them out of his Clemency But since they raised such a bloody War he would not suffer them longer to enjoy his former favours So that the Bohemians and most parts of Germany who enjoyed peace and great happinesse in all respects lost all by striving to overthrow the Bishops and the Ecclesiastical Laws and to take their Lands This miserable event might well have forewarned us in England not to offend in the same kind as they did to overthrow Bishops and all the preferments of the Church to bring in Preâ—byterian purity and lay elders and to impose a godly Covenant wich was indeed a wicked combination and Conspiracy far worse then the Covenant of the low Countries or that of France against Hen. 3. Hen. 4. which had almost confounded all France and was at length the destruction of those two great Kings who were both miserably murdered and put to death as our King Charles was in most abominable manner and in many respects more horribly then those two Kings for they were stabbed on a suddain by two villaines and without the consent of the people and severe punishments were inflicted upon them speedily But King Charles in a deliberate manner by men that pretended Justice and upright dealing who called an high Court of Justice never heard of before no Judges of the Land consenting or approving and so openly in the face of the sun and of all the world with an high hand and professed malice and outragious fiery zeal that the Emperor Maximilian did justly say that the Kings of England were Kings of Devils And though the Presbyterians would excuse themselves that they never intended the Kings destruction yet that is a frivolous and foolish excuse for as Sir Walter Raleigh saith truely Our law doth Construe all levying of war without the Kings Commission and all force raised to be intended for the Death and Destruction of the King not attending â—he sequel and so it is judged upon good reason for every unlawful and ill action is supposed to be accompanied with an ill intent Lord Coke 3. Instit. pag. 12. speaking fully of all kinds and degrees of treason saith Preparation by some overt Act to depose the King or take the King by force and strong hand and to imprison him until he hath yeilded to certain demands this is a sufficient overt Act to prove the compassing and imagination of the death of the King for this upon the matter is to make the King a subject and to despoile him of his kingly office of royal government And so it was resolved by all the Judges of England Hill 1. Iac. Regis in the Case of the Lord Cobham Lord Gray and Watson and Clark seminary Priests and so it had been resolved by the Justices Hill 43. Eliz. in the Case of the Earls of Essex and Southampton who intended to go to the Court where the Queen was and to have taken her into their power and to have removed divers of her Councel and for that end did assemble a multitude of people this being raised to the end aforesaid was a sufficient overt Act for compassing the death of the Queen and so by woful experience in former times it hath fallen out in the Cases of King E. 2. H. 6. E. 5. that were taken and imprisoned by their subjects The Presbyterians did offend in this kind notoriously and therefore committed Treason manifesty for they imprisoned the King in divers places and at length in a remote place in the Ifle of Wight and what followed after is well known And all this done by them that were for the most part Presbyterians out of their design to compell the King to yeild to their projects to overthrow the Bishops and to take their Lands and Revenues which they account to be the flesh and bones of the whore of Babylon which they must devour and make the old whore naked bare and desolate The excellently learned Grotius who did perfectly understand and discover the practices of the Presbyterians as appears in many places of his works hath one remarkable passage in his treatise de Anti-Christo pag. 65. which shall here follow Iam vero fi illi qui dicuntur Dii intelligendi sunt Reges liber flagitiosissimus Boneherii de abdicatione Hen. 3. Galliarum Regis non argumentis tantum sed verbis desumptus est non ex Mariana aut Santarillo se ex Iunio Bruto quis is sit sat scio sed quia latere voluit lateat ex viris doctis quidem at factionis ejusdem Dictis facta congruunt haec est illa mica salis de qua infra aget Borborita quae facta est in mare salsum faetens apud Reges omnia circumsata corrumpens Circumferamus oculos per omnem historiam quod unquam saeculum tot vidit subditorum in principes bella sub Religionis titulo horum Concitores ubique reperiuntur ministri Evangelii ut quidem se vocant quod genus hominum in quae pericula etiam nuper optimos Civitatis Amstelodamensis Magistratus conjecerit nihil hic narrari opus est sapientibus dictum sat est Laudanda omnino est Regis Christianissimi prudentia virtus qui suos paris sententiae subditos tam solennia insanire vetuit Videat si cui libet de Presbyteriornm in Reges audacia librum Iacobi Britanniarum Regis cui nomen Donum Regium videbit eum ut erat magni judicii ea praedixisse quae nunc cum dolore horrore conspicimus Peter Moulin who was well versed in the Controversies of the times and suffered much in the late wars