no place in that particular action yet in so much that the reason ceaseth not in generall nor in most vsuall actions * Cle. ad nostr de heret c. si Christus Ext. de iureiurando therefore the lawe cannot be said to cease but must haue some for auoiding of inconuenience to declare such particular cases to be out of the generall reason and meaning of the lawe which in other points shall remaine in his profitable force still For such lawes as haue a continuall reason and whose end is common and vniuerfall doo not cease though in some speciall case their intended end dooth not hold And therefore though fasts are commanded for the bridling of our vntamed flesh yet * Cle. ad nostr d. Thom. quod l. 19. ar 15. such also in whome this reason holdeth not shall be tied by the generalitie of this lawe till a magistrate therevnto authorized shall declare him to be out of the reason and reach of this law But it is * Io. a Mediâ—a de conâ—ract q. 14. not so in those lawes whose reason is but directed to some particular end onelie as is the law of brotherlie correction which alonelie tending to his reformation dooth wholie cease without any further dispensation where no amendement can be hoped for and the partie is become vncorrigible So that to his question I answer that no earthlie authoritie whatsoeuer may or can by Dispensation or otherwise make that which is theft no theft or dispense with any other lawe of God or primarie law of nature in such sort as that they should loose which he hath bound bicause the law of God conteineth those * Thom. 1. 2. q 100. arâ— 8. things which are determined by GOD himselfe not onelie in a generall forme of iustice but also in particular actions and therefore can be by none dispensed with by relaxation of the bond thereof but onclie by himselfe And yet those * c. maiores Ext. de baptismo c. per venerabilem Ext. qui fiâ—â— sunt legit that be in authoritie may declare and interpret the law of God and of nature As that law of God of nature which saith Thou shalt not stealc is and lawfullie may be by godlie positiue lawes declared not * Si quis prop. necessitatem Ext. de furtis to reach or extend vnto him which being compelled by extreame hunger dooth take awaie another mans goods onelie to eat and to preserue his life thereby These things I haue made bold vpon presumed patience thus to enlarge for the better euidence of the Abstractors great malice but slender skill and to giue light both to that which hath béene afore spoken and to that also which vpon sundrie occasions is yet to be deliuered as being loth often to be forced to speake of one matter not opened aforehand But now he telleth vs Of a law of Antichrist which Christians must impugne by mainteining the lawe of UnduticÌ„uâ— and vnreuerend speaches Christ against it If he speake thus as it must needs be taken of that lawe which in some cases alloweth a man to reteine mo benefices which in this treatise he séeketh to prooue an Vnlawfull law and here as it seemeth calleth the law of Antichrist trulie for hir Maiesties sake and the whole parlement which reuiued it being first made in the daies of that renowmed Prince king Henrie after he had abandoned the vsurped Komish power afterward practised in the reigne of the vertuous king Edward it might haue pleased him to haue given it a more mild and a better terme But these tempestuous and furious melancholike spirits whome Gualter calleth the Donatists of our time doo esteeme no benefits receiued at hir Maiesties hands worth gramercie seeing they thus make hir Highnesse lawes the Lawes of antichrist onelie bicause they cannot be suffered to establish a souereigne and popelike church-gouernment in euerie parish which may tyrannize ouer the Prince hir selfe without controllement The places which he here quoteth apart as though they serued to the confirmation of the seuerall parts of his talke doo indéed tend all one waie to shew the lawlesse and vnbounded authoritie which is challenged by the pope Which spéeches though it be true that by some canonists they are attributed vnto him yet none of these thrée glosses doo speake expreslie either of his Absolute power on earth or of making somthing of nothing or of finne to be no finne Therfore this is a sinne as the old prouerbe saith thus to lie of the diuell or of his eldest sonne the pope Yea the last of the three rather restreineth that authoritie which the other doo attribute vnto him and setteth downe that In vowes he is said not to dispense but to declare and interpret bicause it is thus commanded by scripture Vow and performe your vowes to God The second place is wrong quoted for it ought to haue beene Glossa in verbo fiat c. lector dist 34. That which is here vnto annexed That a priuilege or priuate law must haue all the properties of a generall law and that a dispensation is but a fiction in law is least by him as void of proofe as it is of it selfe void of truth for it is not possible that euerie priuilege or Dispensation of grace onelie should tend to the benefit of the whole common-wealth * Thom. 1. 2. q. 97. art 3. 10. And in c. de multa Ext. de preb though a Dispensation of iustice may in some sort so tend or if it be But a fiction of law that it shuld haue those adiunds and qualities which are required in a publike law And * Rebuff in 61 de dispens ad pâ—â—ra benefi Rebuff whence indeed he borrowed it dooth not saie that the dispensation is a Fiction of law but that He which vpon cause is dispensed with shall be reputed in law as able lawfull and fit by fiction of law by reason of his dispensation And it is sufficient sometimes to establish a priuilege or dispensation if an inconuenience be but thereby * c. non potest in fide praeb in 6. auoided which otherwise would happen and so if it profit but a verie little it shall be susteined The law which he bringeth out of the * L. liberos Cod. de collationibus Code to prooue that It is all one in effect to enioy a benefit by priuilege or by common right prooueth nothing directlie but that such children whom the prince hath set frée from their fathers power shall not be admitted to enioy their parts in their fathers substance without this collation or putting as it were so much amongst them all of their owne goods in hotch pot as they are seuerallie to receiue of their fathers eueâ— as well as those children must doo which were not so emancipate but by their father himselfe The reason of which decision is lest the princes fauour and grace in fréeing some from their fathers
other men abroad and amongst themselues at home how yet notwithstanding they doo all in generall importune vs to beléeue them that there is a precise forme order rule and law of this externall gouernment in the church commanded by Christ which no church may swarue from or euer transforme and alter Yet Tertullian as he is alledged by others saith thus Trulie the rule of faith is wholie one and is wholie vnmoueable and not to be reformed namelie to beleeue in God c this law of faith remaining now the other matters of discipline and course of life doo admit alteration and correction the grace of God alwaies working and going forward vnto the end And first as touching varietie of iudgements about the meanes to establish this gouernement and their presbyteries we sée that our * Pag. 93. Abstractor saith The ministers without due authoritie from the magistrate whereby I hope he vnderstandeth the chiefe magistrate of euerie common-wealth not inferior officers whom in this case certeine firebrands of treson by a De iure magistrat de iure regni vindict con tyrannos their bookes would arme against their souereigns ought not to wrest any thing into the gouernement of the church But b T. C. pag. 141. another saith that among other things this gouernment by presbyteries Is such as for the keeping of them if we haue them forth obteining of them if we haue them not he will not saie Our honors or our commodities and welth but our liues ought not to be deare vnto vs. Another c Admon 2. pag. 61. saith they are forced to speake for it and to vse it And d Br. a fourth no lesse peremptorie than traitorous whom I hope they will not allow of saith If the prince will not establish this gouernment that hir subiects need not to tarrie for hir but ought t'innouate the gouernment themselues Diuers of the French reformers are also too violentlie affected that waie One of them hath deliuered e Fran. Iun. pag. 28. that If the prince doo hinder the building of the church f Pag. 3. or doo affect the seat of God that is in their sense and meaning deale in ecclesiasticall causes and hinder the presbyterie the g Pag. 28. people may by force of armes resist him To which end also h Admon 2. pag. 29. that seemeth to be spoken where it is said that many a thousand in England desire that platforme and that great troubles will come of it if they be still with-stood in their deuises And if none of those disâ—ciall practises can be put in vre which some of that disposition and affection to those presbyteries haue deuised by arming inferior officers and magistrates against their souereignes then they would * Of obediâ—nce pa. 59. haue The ministerie t' excommunicate the king Wherby they would falslie gather by the Feudall law or of tenures as we call it * De iure magistr pag. 66. that the vassall is deliuered from his allegiance and oth of fealtie or homage which he hath taken to his souereigne lord if he be once excommunicate In which respect also * Of obedience pag. 52. 53. some of them doo affirme that though popes taking vpon them to depose princes for sundrie enormities did vsurpe vnto themselues an vnlawfull authoritie yet the reason that mooued them so to doo was honest and iust and méet to be executed by the bodie or state of euerie common-weale and yet forsooth these be especiall fréends and fauourers of the Quéenes prerogatiue But touching that place there alledged out of the second booke Feudorum tit 28. § 1 it can no waie be vnderstood of an absolute and souereigne prince that holdeth not his kingdome ouer of anie mortall man but of God alone no not in those countries and territories where otherwise the Feudall law in meane lords hath place First because the Vassall or tenant as we call him being deliuered of his fealtie seruices and tenancie and the said seruices being not to be extinguished in the Vassall but for the lords default to be forfeited to another it cannot be vnderstood of a souereigne lord who hath no superiour but God to take the forfeiture that is growne against him Secondarilie the circumstances of the law doo declare this to be vnderstood of a meane lord and not of the king himselfe The vassall saith that law is not bound to helpe or to doo seruice to his lord being excommunicate or banished by the king but is in the meane time loosed from his oth offealtie till he be restored by the church or the king Againe all this Feudall lawe being a customarie and vnwritten law and by the tolerance of kings and other souereigne lords ouer warlike nations suffered to growe in vse for the reward and incouragement of those that had valiantlie demeaned themselues in their warres it cannot be credible that the king would permit such a custome to preuaile euen against himselfe whereby he should reteine his owne subiects no longer in their allegiance than it should please another man Moreouer this law had his beginning and speciall increase amongst the Longobards and other such Martiall people before they were conuerted to Christianitie from their Gentilisme which maketh me to thinke that this point of excommunication was added afterward by the compilers of the Feudall law according to the vse of their times for the paritie and equalitie of reason that séemed to be in Banishing with Excommunication But most stronglie is this sense which I haue giuen confirmed by the testimonie of verie good historiographers * Ottho Erisingen lib. 6. cap. 35. chro I doo read and read ouer againe saith one the acts of Romane kings and emperors and I can no where find that any of them was euer excommunicated by the Bishop of Rome till this William king of England was excommunicated by Alexander the second about the yeare of our Lord 1066. And Iohannes Tritenius * Chron. Hirsaug ca. 14. writing of the emperour Henrie the fourth saith thus For which pertinacie he was excommunicated by Gregorie the seuenth and by a synodall decree of Bishops was deposed from the empire although he cared not for it And he is the first of all emperors that was deposed by the pope And another in his chronicles of the yeare 1088. calleth it in a maner an heresie then scarse sproong vp that Presbyteri priests or elders if you will should take vpon them to release the subiects of a king from their oth and allegiance Odo * Sigebertus monachus Gemblacen saith he being first a Cluniake moonke and after Bishop of Hostia was made pope against the emperour and Guibertus Heerevpon offenses in the church and turmoiles of dissention in the common-weale did increase whiles one disagreed from another that is the kingdome from the priesthood Trulie if I may speake with good leaue of those who be good men this plaine noueltie I had
effects necessarilie proceeding from pluralities as from an efficient or formall cause but as faults which may be presumed to possesse those men which will be their owne caruers and iudges for the inuading of manie benefices without authoritie Yea and if dispensation for pluralitie were such as being strictlie so called dooth release the rigor and extremitie of the law positiue vpon fauor onlie and not for iust causes or equitie yet might the * Arg. l. sed eâ—sâ— lege §. contulit ff de petit haered l. 1. §. magis verb. prodeg ff si quid in fraud pat l. quia autem §. 1. ff quae in fraudeÌ„ cred iuncta l. 1. ff de constit princip prince or those to whom the law hath committed such full authoritie as in diuerse cases besides with a good conscience dispense in it euen as well as they may giue away their owne goods seeing this law is vndoubtedlie meerelie positiue Like as the prince may without offense to God pardon after the fault committed the life of a traitor or fellon vpon méere grace and bountie bicause the penaltie discendeth from law positiue though he can not dispense without sinne to God that in time to come a man may commit treason or fellonie bicause they are forbidden by the law of God And such pardon he may lawfullie grant euen without anie cause to one and denie to another as fréelie as he may create knights endenize * ff C. de natal restit in Auth. quibus modiâ— natur efficianturâ— legitimi legitimate and restore to blood whom he thinketh good and refuse to impart the like grace and fauor to other And this if it be for a matter past is by some termed an Indulgence or pardon if for a benefit to come a Dispensation for a present plesure or gratification is called a Priuilege There may be also good reason of granting these when as for some considerations it is profitable to grant such exemptions besides the generall ordinarie course and reason of the law For it may so fall out that the sauing of some condenmed mans life or granting of some immunitie may no lesse benefit the common-weale than to keepe a rigorous hand vpon the obseruation of the strict points of the generall law may doo harme For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be seasoned and swéetened with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the exact rigor of law must sometimes be moderated with with least it degenerat into inturie and tyrannie For it is sure that as no generall rule or definition can be giuen in law which in application to particular matters shall not faile and be limited with his exceptions so can there no generall rule of right or law be framed which in application to all times places persons whoÌ„ it may concerne shall not necessarilie require some priuileges exemptions dispensations and immunities either in regard of their excellencie well deseruing or in respect of their imbecillitie weakenes or some such like circumstance or other In which respect we are also taught by Aristotle and other wise philosophers Politicians that in all lawes administration of iustice we are partlie to obserue proportion Arythmeticall consisting in recompensing an equall thing with his equall which is a rule in trades negotiation traffike betwixt man man partlie the proportion Geometricall which is conuersant in distribution of honors or rewards in inflicting of punishments and therfore yeeldeth foorth an inequalitie in both according as the persons deserts are different and vnequall Whereby also we sée a common soldiors reward to be lesse than the Lieutenants or Generals a Noblemans death not to be so rigorouslic executed as the common sort iustlie are put vnto And this strict and proper acception of a dispensation which is by releasing and exempting of a man vpon fauor clemencie or mercie onelie from the seueritie of the law the bond thereof still remaining is called A dispensation of grace and may vpon méere bountie of him that is so authorised be granted to some and denied to other some as it shall please him euen without further cause so long as the law is but méere positiue But it hath no place at all in the first a Dist. 5. in princip §. naturalia iust de iure nâ—tur principles of the law of nature nor in the commandements of the Decalog necessarilie and immediatlie b Rom. 1. deriued from the rules of the light of nature Which thing bicause the pope most insolentlie tooke vpon him to doo he is therefore iustlie by all which doo aright feare God abhorred as Antichrist which in the Luciferian pride of his hart hath hereby climed into the throne of God and dooth arrogate to himselfe to loose the consciences of those whom God hath tied by his law and to bind that as by a diuine law which God himselfe hath set at libertie which c Bernard li. 3. de considerat ad Eugenium Bernard calleth a dissipation rather than a dispensatioÌ„ Which dispensations of his though some schoolemen and of our late more manerlie papists doo otherwise qualifie in words and partlie denie such matters which he hath dispensed with to be of the law of nature when as neuerthelesse no colour can be laied but that they are of the prohibitiue morall law of God yet his parasites the canonists who both knew his mind and his practise herein sufficientlie well and were neuer that I could read found fault with for their ouer broad speeches about this matter doo fullie declare what blasphemous authoritie he challenged They saie that the law d Abb. ca. fin Ext. de consuetud of nature vpon cause may be taken awaie e Abb. c. non est Ext. de voto that the pope vpon cause may dispense with the law of God f Lud. Goza cons 51. Ignorance of the Abstractor that the dispensing with the law of God is proper to the Bishop of Rome Yet the Abstractor sheweth here his great skill when he pretendeth that the canonists popes chapleins doo attribute vnto him authoritie to dispense in such matters by reason of Merum imperium a souereigne supreme power in him which indeed is nothing but Ius gladij the power ouer the life of men which the ordinances of France doo call Haute iustice There is another kind of Dispensation called of Iustice which is when vpon some especiall circumstances the reason and rigor of the generall law is by him which hath authoritie declared in some case to cease and the strictnesse of the words of the law therein not to bind or to haue place and that for auoiding of iniurie and inconuenience And this is also an allaie of extremitie of law by an equitie which afore I spake of and which the magistrate in iustice cannot denie and is in that respect called A dispensation of iustice as it were an interpretation or declaration of the true meaning of the law
equanimitie the people of Israell importuned and obteined in sort at Sauls hands the pardon of Ionathas his sonne who had offended the law positiue and might as iustlie haue béene executed as he was lawfullie pardoned And yet was that law grounded of the law of God which vnder the name of parents doo command vs generallie to obeie all our superiours and their lawes not repugning to his euerlasting will The two last places that are quoted one out of the glosse and the other out of the text speake no one word of the restraining of the Popes power in dispensing with the law of nature or of God for the which they are brought Againe it might be answered as afore that the lawe forbidding pluralities dooth not thereby take away dispensations for them for if there were no prohibition there néeded no dispensation also that those vices which are forbidden by the law of nature and of God are no necessarie effects of enioieng a pluralitie that such dispensation taketh more portion of Iustice than of Grace and therefore is not much different from a declaration that the generall law against pluralities in such a mans case dooth or may verie well cease And lastlie that if these were of the lawe of God and of nature yet they might be declared and interpreted how farre they reach and doo bind though indeed the bonds of the lawes of God and nature remaining they may not be by anie but God himselfe released And therefore this reason that such authoritie cannot be yeelded to the Archbishop is manie waies easilie ouerblowne by the grounds of that which hath beene afore deliuered 12. Section Pag. 125 126 127. HE which in all this treatise goeth about to prooue Dispensations for manie benefices vnlawfull as though either there were no lawe to warrant them by canon or statute dooth here tell vs of certeine Defects in the qualitie of the person to be dispensed with which are iust causes in law to frustrate and make void euerie dispensation If he had said euerie such dispensation it had beene more probable whereby will follow if those defects and such like be the onelie causes which make void by law a dispensation then where no such defect nor any other by lawe set downe can be found that the dispensation shall be lawfull and so he hath like the euill seruant condemned himselfe by his owne mouth For Exceptio firmat regulam in casibus non exceptis as hath been alledged in the former treatise And if all this which he speaketh here concerning the qualities of the person to be dispensed with and the causes inducing dispensation were granted can he thereby gather dispensations for mo benefices to be vnlawfull Truelic he must first presume without proofe and against all reason that all or the most of these are neglected in granting dispensations before the other will follow But euen here he standeth vpon an vnsure ground and deliuereth that which is not true For he saith that A man qualified and in all respects capable of a dispensation may not enioy the same without iust cause warranted by lawe Whereas his owne author Rebuff Rebuff de disp ad plura nu 43. dooth teach him that amongst diuerse causes to induce a dispensation the excellencie or prerogatiue and qualities of the person as knowledge and nobilitie of birth are of the first and cheefe causes thereof not that both these must necessarilie concurre and ioine in euerie seuerall person but that either of them by canon especiallie learning may suffice In which respect * In c. de multa Ext. de prebend vlt. notab Panormitane saith Note it well that learned men are matched here with noblemen or gentlemen by birth And so the church ought to honour learned personages not onelie in word but indeed as in prouiding more liberallie to helpe and releeue them by the churches reuenues than for others not so learned And this is the reason hereof bicause learning dooth not onelie profit the owner but also the vniuersall church For the world cannot be gouerned without learned men as it is to be seene Auth. hibita C. ne filius pro patre And another law saith that the vniuersall church requireth greatlie learned men for the better gouerning of it C. cum ex eo de elect in 6. And the said author in another * Panormit in c. innotuit Ext. de elect in 6. notab place plainelie decideth that the prerogatiue and qualities of the person is a sufficient reason wherevpon to ground this dispensation Where the text c. innotuit Ext de elect saith That for the prerogatiue of the person he may be postulated it is to be noted that the onelie excellencie of deserts is sufficient to induce the prince or him that hath authoritie to dispense although the necessitie of the church or euident vtilitie doo not concurre therewith Neither dooth this Canon saie that all those qualities there reckoned must necessarilie concur in euerie dispensation for then should it be requisite also that some about him which dispenseth should haue knowne the partie at schoole or in the vniuersities Neither yet dooth any thing by him brought in this place giue any pretext or resemblance to disanull a dispensation for him in whom these qualities shall not be found as the Abstractor gathereth before any such matter be scattered 13. Section Pag. 127 128 129. THe Abstractor cannot inforce vpon these woordes When reason shall require a dispensation may be granted that therefore not onelie the qualities requisite but some cause besides them must concur bicause it is shewed before that the qualities of the person to be dispensed with is of it selfe a cause sufficient there vnto The next place to this which he quoteth is impertinent to this purpose of dispensation for pluralitie and onelie speaketh of a iust cause of commutation of a vow and so dooth the other chapter which he saith is so Plaine and euident For the decision there is that Forsomuch as the cause wherevpon the vow was vndertaken did cease therefore the vow it selfe being the effect might the more easilie cease and be conuerted into other godlie exercises so far is it from proofe that There must be some speciall cause knowne for the which euerie dispensation is to be granted to the which purpose it is brought And he hauing no better prooued than you haue heard that there must be good and iust cause of a dispensation dooth euen as slenderlie shew what those causes be For the decision of that chapter which to that end he quoteth is not so that Vrgent necessitie and euident vtilitie of the church are causes of granting these dispensations which we speake of but that for those causes the pope did tollerate one to continue Archbishop of Capua which was chosen therevnto though his learning were not exquisite but onelie competent The foure examples of dispensations which he laieth downe grounded vpon causes sufficient by him borrowed out of the canon law cannot by any
thus Pag. 18 1 Whosoeuer taketh vpon him the office of a teacher amongst the people of God ought alwaies to attend to reading to exhortation and to dwel in the same Pag. 18 2 But the Minister taketh vppon him the office of teaching amongst the people of God 3 Therefore he ought to attend to reading to exhortation and to dwell in the same 1 He that taketh vpon him the office of a teacher amongest the people of God ought to bestow his labour in preaching and in doctrine 2 But a Minister hath taken vpon him the office of a teacher 3 Therefore he ought to bestow his labour in preaching and in doctrine Wherevnto agree diuers other decrees following THe reason why a Prior shoulde haue knowledge and be learned is for that the lawe chargeth him with cure of soules PRIOR AVTEM c. Let the Prior in comparison of the Ex de statut Monacho c. cum ad Moenasterium § prior rest next after the Abbot be a man of power as well in deede as in worde that by his example of life and worde of doctrine he may instruct his brethren in that which is good and draw them from euil hauing zeale of religion according vnto knowledge both to correct and chastise offendours and also to comfort and cherish the obedient Out of which constitution I conclude thus à similibus ad similia From like vnto like 1 Whosoeuer cherisheth and comforteth the obedieÌ„t to the faith and correcteth or improoueth the disobedient must be mightie in word and deede 2 But euerie Minister ought to cherish and comfort the obedient to the faith and to correct improoue the disobedient 3 Therfore euery Minister ought to be mightie in word deed Pag. 19 ANd therefore sithence both in this and in the former constitution the lawe-maker abused the worde of the Lord and applieth it to haue people taught false religion I meane Popish religion for that was the intent of the decrees And seeeing the Chaplaine of the diuell applieth the truth to establish his diuellish doctrine and vnder colour of veritie were so carefull to feede the soules of them that beare his markes with errour superstition and false religion Popish religion Seing I saie the superstitious law maker was so carefull for his superstitious time Our chiefe Prelates who haue not yet abandoned the pollicie of this traiterous law-maker as perillous for the gouernement of the state of the Lordes houshold ouer whom they challenge the gouernement but with tooth naile maintaine this his pollicie to be a pollicie meete for the Lords seruaunts to be guided by what can they ansâ—ere in defence of their wilfull disloyaltie to the Lord in this behalfe The lawe which the enimie vnto the Lord did make in the time of Popery for maintenaunce of popish procurations popish dispensations popish ceremonies popish non residents popish excommunications popish visitations popish paiments of oblations popish courts of faculties popish licences the very same laws and the selfe-same ordinances to serue their owne turnes they turne to the maintenaunce of their prelacies dignities and ministeries vnder the Gospell A reason of these their doings if they were demaunded I coniecture would be this namely that a law appointed by the aduersarie to abuses hauing good grounds may be applied to good vses and that it is not executed now any more as the popish law but as the law appertaining to her Highnesse crowne and regall dignitie being established by the high court of Parlement Pag. 20 Wherein touching the former they saide somewhat if the matter did consist inter pares and not the most highest as it were accusing him that he had not dealt faithfully in his fathers houshold giuing them as perfect a law for the gouernment of his houshold by discipline as by doctrine And yet by their leaues why then should not this law of the enimie last specified nay rather now their owne law hauing better grounds and better reasons for the validity thereof than the lawes mentioned before concerning their prelaties and dignities c. Why I say should not this be as auaileable with them now to exhort the people vnto the truth as it was with the idolaters to exhort vnto lies to dehort now from popery as it was then from the Gospell to instruct men now in the true knowledge of Christ as it was then to teach men the knowledge of Antichrist to correct offendours now against pietie and holie religion as it was then to correct contemners of impietie and prophane religion to comfort and cherish the obedient now to the faith as it was then to comfort and cherish the disobedient to infidelitie and Paganisme Touching the Acts of Parlament sithence they chalenge by them immunitie for the confirmation of their abuses it were requisite for them to giue the seruaunts of the Lorde leaue a little to chalenge as great a priuiledge by the same for the stabishment of the right vse of things through their default yet amisse and out of frame with vs. If the cause of the former in truth and veritie be as good as the cause of the latter in shew and semblance onely yea if it be far better for theirs in truth is starke naught the law authorize for the one indeed that that the same law in appearance onlie approueth for the other If for their fellow seruants sakes they will not be more fauorable vnto their Lord maisters cause yet were it expedient for theÌ„ to be intreated to be more fauorable to the iustice equitie of their owne laws than continually by placing vnable men in the ministery thereby as it were accusing the same of imperfection and insufficiencie Pag. 21 as though it tollerated anie such thing when as in truth it doth nothing lesse euermore speaking as followeth Pag. 22 VERVM QVI. A c. But because after Baptisme amongest Extra Cum de priuilegiis c. mtcr cuÌ„ctas § verum quia other things the propounding of the worde of God is most necessarie vnto saluation whereby the hearers hearing that which is our victorie be instructed in the faith be taught to flee things to be auoided and to followe things to be followed by which such as by sin are fallen do rise againe wee haue great care that such brethren be promoted which by sweete oile of the worde may comfort our subiectes may forbid them sinnes may nippe the wounds of their sins by reprehension and may prouoke and induce them to purge and wipe their offences with bitternes of repeÌ„tance Vnto the execution whereof the knowledge of the lawe of God is required the integritie of life and soule is to be had For it is written Thou hast refused knowledge and I will refuse thee that thou be no Priest vnto me because the lips of the Priests keepe knowledge and they search the law at his mouth For otherwise he can not as his duetie is discerne betweene sinne and sinne c. All which decrees of
without all ryme or reason They expound VVhere which is a worde signifieng place and referred to a place for VVhen which is a worde importing time But had this worde VVhen bene placed in steede of VVhere they might perhaps haue had some cloake for the rayne for so the worde VVhen and the worde Shalt might both haue had relation to the tyme to come Pag. 44 And yet notwithstanding this kinde of speech would haue bene but a harsh kinde of speech namely to say Take thou authoritie to preach when thou shalt haue authoritie to preach coupling the present tense with the future tense the tyme present with the tyme to come applying that to them selues but men which is onely proper and peculiar to the holy Ghost vsing the future tense and the tyme to come for the certaintie of the euent thereof in steade of the present tense and the time present But these words Take thou authoritie to preach the worde to the Congregation in the place where thou shalt be appoynted is a very proper kinde of speech and the words themselues carry with them a naturall sense As if the statute should haue precisely and absolutely sayd thus In what place soeuer thou shalt hereafter be appoynted to execute the office of a Minister thou hast nowe authoritie giuen thee to preach For in case this were not the naturall meaning of the statute they might well forbid the Minister to administer the Sacraments without speciall licence in writing or not to praye or not to fast or not to saye seruice or not to burye the deade and such like But there is more to serue their turnes and to helpe their cause in the law Canon and in the Iniunctions the law Canon being thus QVIA VERO NONNVLLI c. But because some Ex. de hareâ—â—â—excom § Quia vero vnder the colour of godlines denying as the Apostle sayth the power thereof challenge vnto themselues authoritie to preach whereas the Apostle sayth Howe shall they preach vnlesse they be sent all they which are forbidden or not sent shall besides authoritie giuen vnto them either from the Apostolike sea or the Catholike Bishop of the place publikely or priuately presume to vsurpe the office of preaching let them be excommunicated and vnlesse they speedily repent let them be punished with some other competent paine Pag. 45 The Iniunction being this Item that they the persons aboue rehearsed shall preach in their owne persons once in euery quarter of the yeare at the least one sermon being licensed specially therevnto Wherevnto I aunswere that this decree and this Iniunction requiring speciall licenses to preach And the Bishop by vertue of the foresayd statute giuing authoritie to preache cannot â—arre much and that one litle wrest will set them in tune their oddes is so small If I say vnto one by word of mouth Syr take here the keye of the gate of my pasture where my grey ambling gelding runneth open the gate bring him out take him to your owne vse I giue him you frankly hath he not as good a title and interest to my horse as if I had made him a bill of sale vnder my hande and seale And hath not the Minister likewise as well a speciall license from a Bishop to preach that is willed openly in the presence of God men and angels as he that hath a speciall license giuen him alone in a corner the one is pronounced solemnly in the middest of the congregation the other is done secretly by a Goose quill Moreouer neither doth the foresayd Canon neither yet the Iniunction require a speciall license in writing to the ende that the Minister should haue power thereby onely to preach For so should you take away the forme and order appointed by act of Parlement whereby authoritie is giuen to a Minister to preach and commit the making of a Minister to the Bishop without a congregation But the ende why a speciall license ought to be had is not so much for the partie himselfe to preach within his owne cure as for them that shall admit him to preach out of his owne cure And that appeareth manifestly by the eight article of the Iniunctions The words are these Also that they shall admit no man within any their cures but such as shall appeare vnto them to be sufficiently licensed therevnto c. And in the ende of this Iniunction it is expresly permitted to euery Minister to preache within his owne sure though he be not specially licensed therevnto Pag. 46 The words are these And that no other be suffered to preach out of his owne cure or parrish then such as shall be licensed as is before expressed Therfore a Minister to preach within his owne cure yea though he haue no license is commaunded In the time of Henry the 4. at what time Wickliffe preached the Gospell the very same lawes were established against him and his brethren to staye the course of the Gospell and yet were neuer any forbidden to preach in their owne parrishes as appeareth by that that followeth Let no man within this Realme or other the Kings dominions presume or take vpon him to preach priuily or apertly without speciall license first obtained of the Ordinary of the same place Curates in their owne parrish Churches and persons heretofore priuiledged and others admitted by the Canon law onely excepted And that no manner of person secular or regular being authorized to preach by the lawes now prescribed or licensed by speciall priuiledge shall take vpon him the office of preaching the word of God or by any meanes preach vnto the Cleargie or Layetie either in the church or without in Latine or English except he first present him self be examined of yâ— Ordinary of the place where he preacheth and â—o being found a fit person as wel in maners as in knowledge he shal be sent by the sayd Ordinary to some one Church or more as shall be thought expedient by the sayd Ordinary according to the qualitie of the person Nor any person aforesayd shall presume â—o preach except first he giue faithfull signification in due forme of his sending and authoritie that is that he that is authorized doe come in forme appointed him in that behalfe and those that affirme they come by speciall priuiledge doe shew their priuiledge vnto the Parson or Vicar of the place where they preach And those that pretend themselues to be sent by the Ordinarie of the place shall likewise shew the Ordinaries letters made vnto him for that purpose vnder his great seale Pag. 47 Let vs alwaies vnderstand the Curate hauing perpetuitie to be sent of right to the people of his owne cure Furthermore no Cleargy man or Perochians of any parrish or place within our prouince of Canterb shal admit any man to preach within the churches churchyards or other places whatsoeuer except there be first manifest knowledge had of his authoritie priuiledge or sending thither according to the order aforesayd
Otho I haue before cited this decree following which Constitu Otho Sacer. may aptly be repeated againe to prooue the hauing of a scrutine to be necessary before the making of Ministers as it was there to proue what qualities were requisite in them Quare cum nimis periculosum sit c. Considering that it is a thing verie perillous to ordaine men vnworthie idiots illegitimate irregular persons vnlearned persons vagarant and such as haue not anie certaine or true title indeed we ordaine that before the conferring of orders diligent inquisition and search be made by the Byshoppe of all these things And the glose vpon the word antè Est ergo necessarium c. It is therefore necessarie that this scrutine of the examinants preceede the conferring of orders euen as the commaundement of the father or maister must necessarily preuent the taking of an inheritaunce by the sonne or by the seruant and this must be so done for the irreuocable preiudice that otherwise might happen And because this collation hangeth on the disposition of law any preposteration contrarie to the order appointed by law shall annihilate the whole act Againe an other glose hath these wordes Ordinandi ita sunt subtiliter examinandi inquirendum est de natione in qua nati sunt an sint de illa diocesi an legitimè nati an bonae famae Men to be ordained are Glos in cap. constitutus ver ordinanâ— dos exide purgatione c. narrowly to be examined and there must inquirie be made what countrie men they are whether they be of the same Diocesse whether they be legitimate whether they be of good fame Quia in nullo debet eorum opiâ—â—o vâ—cillare Because their credite ought not to be Distinc 33. 〈◊〉 shaken in anie case And the Pope in that Chapter reprehending the curiositie of the Bishop vnto whome he writeth for too too narrowly inquiring after the manners of certaine compurgatours Vtinam saith he sic discuteres ordinandos I wish thou wouldest make such inquisition of those whom thou preferrest to holie orders Another reason why a Minister should be tried is because he must be learned but qualitas extrinseca vt literatura non praesumitur nisi probetur Glos de elec le â— ca si â—orte ver 〈◊〉 â—â— Dâ—â—â—tu â—â—p l. qui liberos An outward qualitie as learning is not presumed to be in a man vnlesse it be so prooued and therefore he is to be examined vpon the same Pag. 53 Et vbi dare volo filiam meam id est ecclesiam in sponsam debeo inquirere de dignitate sponsiâ— ratio quia eligens tenetur inuenire conditionem debitam filio And where I minde to giue my daughter that is to saie a Church to be a Bryde I ought to Extrauag â—om c. ad â—uiusâ—â—bet de praebâ—nd dig The triall of Ministers enquire of the worthinesse of the Brydegroome videlicet of the Prelate the Brydegroome of the Church and the reason is for that euerie father choosing an husbande for his daughter is bounde by lawe to choose one of condition meete for his daughter In forme and manner of ordering Deacons by the Booke of Edward the sixth a certaine triall is likewise commaunded the Bishoppe vsing these wordes to the Archedeacon Take heede that the Persons whome yee present vnto vs be apt and meete for their learning and godlie conuersation to exercise their ministerie duelie to the honour of God and edifying of his Church This manner of triall cannot better appeare than by a comparison to the proceedings and Commencements in Oxenford or Cambridge familiarly knowen to Schoolemen in both Uniuersities Whosoeuer is to take any degree in Schoole either Bacheler Maister or Doctour in anie facultie he must first set vpon the schole doores his questions where in he is to aunsweare He must publikely aunsweare to euery one that will appose him he must afterward in the Uniuersitie Church submit himselfe priuately to the examination of euery one of that degree wherevnto he desireth to be promoted He must afterwards be brought by his presenter into the congregation house to the iudgement and triall of the whole house and if he shall there haue a sufficient number of his superiours voices allowing his manners and pleased with his learning he is then presented by one of the house to the Vice-chauncellour and Proctours and by them as Iudges in the name of the whole house admitted to his degree The examination whereof mention is made in the Booke of King Edward the sixth somewhat varieth from this kinde of trial and consisteth in the interrogatories betweene the Bishoppe demaunding and the parttie aunswering For saith the Bishoppe Doe you thinke c. Do you vnfainedly beleeue c. Will you applie c. Pag. 57 And the partie aunsweareth I thinke so I doe beleeue I will c. For saith the Booke then shall the Bishop examine euerie one of them that are to be ordained in the presence of the people after this â—l 7. pag. 1. manner following Do ye trust c. Do ye beleeue c. There is also to be required by the Booke that the Bishoppe shoulde haue knowledge of the partie to be made a Deacon or Minister Which knowledge euery man wil gesse should not be a bare view or externall sight of the comelinesse and proportion of his bodily shape and personage but a sure and stedfast iudgement grounded vpon substantiall proofes of the vertues and ornaments of his minde and the same also should be a farre more exquisite knowledge than onelie to know the man to be an honest man because the Booke requireth him also to be an apt and meete man to execute his ministerie duelie for which one amongest euen the meanest of vs all hauing vppon a sodaine espied one like an honest man yea or one happily commended vnto vs to be a right honest man indeed which one I saie of vs would foorthwith familiarly greete this man clappe his handes vppon his head and liberally entertaine him to teach his sonnes Demosthenes in Greek or Cicero in Latine the partie him selfe being such a one as neuer had learned the Greeke Alphabet or the Latine Grammar Would we not be thus circumspect trow you as to trie his cunning ere wee trusted his honesty in this case With what qualities such as are to be made Ministers or Deacons ought to be adorned hath beene alreadie sufficiently declared out of the lawes positiue in force And now what is to be vnderstoode by the face of the Church whereof mention is made in the saide booke that that followeth may sufficiently instruct Distinct 24. c. quando vs. The Canon law touching this point saith thus Alià s autem c. Pag. 58 But otherwise let not a Bishoppe presume to ordaine anie without the councell of the Cleargie and the testimonie of the people Againe see that solemnly at a conuenient time and in 70. Distinct c. ordinationes the
Gospell For what though an Heretike by the iudgement of an hereticall Synagogue obtaine the roome of a sacrificer in the same Synagogue and hauing once obtained it may not be remoued from the same roome by the former rule of lawe Though this be true I say what auaileth it to confirme that a sacrificing Priest by vertue of his admission vnto the Synagogue ought to haue a place of ministration in the Church of Christ For though he were admitted in the one yet was he neuer admitted in the other And therefore it resteth firme that they ought not to haue bene admitted then when as the whole manner of the gouernment of the Synagogue should haue bene altered For as at that time their lawes were vnaduisedly translated from them vnto vs So by their lawes we might aduisedly haue transformed them from amongst vs. They were Schismatikes and Heretikes by the lawes of our religion and therefore not to haue bene admitted by the lawes of their owne profession Yea if they remaine Idolaters still or keepe backe from the people of God the word of God they are to be remoued still their ietting vp and downe in their square ruffling and white philacteries or mumbling their mattens and euensong are not so forcible to keepe them in as their insufficiencie negligence contempt and idolatrous hearts are to thrust them out And yet no part of good holesome and christian gouernment and pollicie chaunged For though Iosiah moued by compassion benignly suffered the Priests of Baal repenting of their idolatry to receiue tithes and offerings with their brethren the Leuites Yet he straightly charged them not to enter into the Lords Sanctuary to do any manner of seruice there Neither did this his religious fact any whit hinder the outward peace of his kingdome Wherefore if a Bishop an Abbot an Archdeacon an Elder a Physition a Iudge an Aduocate a Iaylor a Tutor a Schoolemaister an â—rator and a Philosopher by iustice and equitie of lawe for vnabilitie insufficiencie negligence or other defects ought to be deposed and remoued off and from their roomes places offices and honors how should a pretensed Minister onely intruding himselfe to an office of most high calling and excellencie and vtterly destitute of all gifts and graces sit for the same be suffered to keepe and retaine the proper right and title of an other as his owne lawfull possession and inheritance Had the worshippers of the false gods care that their idolatrous Priests should haue knowledge of their idoll seruice and shall we the worshippers of the true God be blameles before his iudgement seate in case we maintaine such to serue him in the ministerie of his holye Gospell as whose seruice the veriest Paynymes and Idolaters would Cod. de Episâ— co 〈◊〉 l. Si quis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 12. refuse to haue in their Idoll temples And though these be sufficient proofes to euery one not addicted to his owne will preferring the same to all reason that prohibitus clericaâ—i debet reuocari ad pristinum sâ—atum per manus iniectionem and that serui vitam monasticam deserentes Cod. de Epâ—sc â— clerâ— l. 〈◊〉 ad prioris domini seruitutem restituuntur One prohibited to be a Clarke ought to be reduced to his former estate by authoritie of the Magistrate and seruants forsaking their monasticall life to be restored to the bondage of their former maister Pag. 76 And that Infamia non solùm impedit praefici sed etiam remoueri facit à dignitatibus habitis An infamie doth not only hinder a man to be preferred but also causeth him to be remoued from dignities already recouered Though I say these former proofes be sufficient to confirme these assertions yet to make Cod de correÌ„ â—â—nfamia lib. 10. de digâ—â—tatâ— l. Iudices lib. 12. the matter somewhat more plaine I haue thought good to reexamine the order and forme appointed by the former statute for the making of Deacons and Ministers that if vpon examination thereof also there doe appeare such a defect by statute law as whereby our dumbe and idoll ministers be no ministers in deede and truth but onely in shew and appearance that then therevpon order may be taken by her Maiestie for the displacing of them and for the placing of other lawfull and godly Ministers in their roomes For as the statute hath limited a certayne order and forme of making Deacons and Ministers so hath it appoynted that all that are made according to that order and forme should be in deede lawfull Deacons and Ministers The wordes of the statute are these And that all persons that haue bene or shall be made ordered or consecrated Archbishop Bishop Priests and Ministers of Gods his holy word and sacraments or Deacons after the forme and order prescribed in the sayde order and forme how Archbishops Bishops Priests Deacons and Ministers should be consecrated made and ordered be in very deede and also by authoritie hereof declared and enacred to be and shal be Archbishops Priests Ministers Deacons and rightly made ordered consecrated any statute lawe Canon or other thing to the contrarye nowwithstanding Which statute hath two braunches the one appointing the forme and manner of making Deacons and Ministers the other authorizing Deacons and Ministers made and ordered after the forme and manner prescribed in the sayd booke to be in very Pag. 77 deede rightly and lawfully Deacons and Ministers and so to be taken and reputed It followeth then that if the first braunch of the statute be broken and that the forme and order be not obserued that the second braunch can take no place for that in deede the validitie of the latter dependeth altogether vpon the obseruation of the first For it is plaine and euident by law that if you would haue a second or latter action to be good and effectuall because it is done say you according to a forme and order precedent you must first proue that the precedent was accordingly done or els the consequent can take no place And therefore if the forme and order prescribed by the booke be not obserued in making vnlearned Ministers I say then that vnlearned Ministers by law are no Ministers at all And why Neque eum ff ad â—â—g fal l. siâ—â— qui § quaedam vâ—â—um balneum aut vllum theatrum aut stadium â—ecisse intelligitur qui ei propriam formam quae ex consummatione contingit non dederit Neither can he be thought to haue made any â—ath or any theater or any race who shall not giue it that forme which perfecteth the same Againe â—â—â—or in ea â— extra de Iudi◠〈◊〉 Vbi ad substantiam aliâ—â—ius actus exigitur certa forma 〈◊〉 sâ— super alio actu debet quis probare formam praeâ—â—ssisse Where to the substance of any act a certaine forme is required founding it selfe vpon an other act there a man ought to proue the forme to haue passed before As for example In an
thrée to whome shall he tell it in the third place where he himselfe hath the authoritie to excommunicate But the power of binding and loosing according to the word of God and the censure of reproouing and sharpe rebuking of publike offenders which doo conteine indéed the whole discipline ment to be attributed by this church of England vnto priuate and inferiour ministers whie are they left out in this place And whie did he not also yéeld vnto euerie minister as well as excommunication the censure also against obstinate heretiks and of anathematisme supposed by the best interpretors to be a higher censure than excommunication and vsed when all hope of amendment is gone And touching his second question whereof onelie as it séemeth any doubt is made Whether the doctrine sacraments and the discipline be to be ministered simplie as the Lord hath commanded or else whether they be to be ministred onelie as this realme hath receiued the same without the commandement of God I saie that as this question is contumelious to this whole church by insinuating a iarre in those points to be established by our lawes with The commandement of God so is it a verie captious and sophisticall question A diuisione bicause he diuideth those things Inconstant dealing in the author that not onelie the booke hath ioined togither but he himselfe within ten lines afore vpon the like copulatiue coniunction vrged the like concurrence of two other seuerall members in this selfe-same sentence And for answer to the question I doo affirme that these thrée are to be ministred both as the Lord hath commanded and as this realme according to the commandements of God hath receiued the same So that the one of these clauses shall not be vnderstood either to limit or restraine the other as he vnskilfullie thinketh may be obiected nor yet Dispositiuelie as though the law ment by authoritie hereof to establish that the order in these things by the realme receiued should be holden as agreable to the word of God but must be taken Enunciatiuelie to declare and affirme for the further incouragement and comfort of those who are to minister these things that following the order by law established they shall doo agréeablie to Gods will Not that it is to be thought that euerie ceremonie forme or circumstance about these thrée things are either in particularitie deliuered in scripture as this man hath not alone absurdlie fansied or that there in either this church or anie other is or can be tied to any such certeine exact forme In hypothesi as we terme it but that certeine generall rules for Articles of religion 34. art ceremonies and gouernement being there set downe euerie church is to followe the said rules in such particular maner as they shall iudge all varietie of circumstances weied to be most fit for the editieng and gouerning of that people For iudgement whereof I thinke that waie surest to follow which hath had the best proofe and experience of profitablenesse by longest continuance of time and purer antiquitie so that it be sure no commandement in the word to be to the contrarie And where as he concludeth though without premisses that A Bishop and a minister ought to minister the discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded though the lawes of the realme should not haue receiued the same afterward in plaine terms saith That our discipline vsed in the church of England is not the same which the Lord Christ hath commanded he dooth first iustifie that slander of this church which his question afore The authors slaunder of the whole estate did insinuate Secondlie he directlie contrarieth both that which the booke by law established which he himselfe had a little before affirmed in these words That the discipline is to be executed by the Bishop as he hath committed vnto him by Gods word as he is appointed by the ordinance of the realme to execute Lastlie he héereby both giueth libertie to Bishop and minister to vse what forme so euer of discipline shall séeme to them grounded vpon Gods word and dooth as it were crie an alarum to all men to oppose A seditious asseueration of the author themselues against the discipline of this church as wicked and not agréeable to Christs institution But let vs a little examine his proofes whereby he goeth about to infer that The discipline of the church of England is not according to the commandement of Christ The first reason that It appeareth by the word of God and likewise the second that it so Appeareth also by the discourses written by the learned to and fro are two childish fallacies A petitione principij proouing a thing in doubt by a matter as much or more doubtfull for who being of a contrarie opinion will not straight tell him that his proofe is as euidentlie false as his conclusion That which is said of The discipline of all reformed churches maketh more against him than he is ware of First more reformed churches come néerer vnto our outward policie discipline and ceremonies than those are in number who séeme to dissent from vs. Againe few or no reformed churches especiallie of seuerall nations or dominions doo iumpe in one externall policie of discipline or ceremonies And whie is it not as lawfull for vs héerein to differ from them as for them to differ amongst themselues And how is it possible if such a set forme as is pretended be set downe in scripture that they all differing so much one from another in externall policie should all be ordered therein according vnto the commandement of Christ and thus to be brought as a squire to leuell vs by who are alonelie belike in his fansie wide from the right discipline where as I sée no cause in any respect whie they should not rather take light of vs than we of them That which he speaketh of maister Nowels catechisme is verie generall and requireth the perusall of the whole booke But I suppose this to be the place which he meaneth where toward the latter end of the booke he saith In * pag. 652. graecolat Catech 1573. well ordered churches a certeine forme and order of gouernement was instituted and obserued certeine elders that is to saie ecclesiasticall magistrates were chosen which should reteine and practise ecclesiasticall discipline And dooth our author thinke that this man heere dooth meane their laie presbyteries neuer heard nor read of from the beginning of the world till within these fortie yeares or little more bicause he nameth them ecclesiasticall magistrates A foole fansieth that bels doo ring and almost speake anie thing wherewith he is delighted Or could he gather that maister Nowell here condemneth our churches discipline as not agréeable to that which Christ hath commanded if he had directlie said that in some well ordered churches an order of discipline differing from ours is obserued Dooth this follow Some well ordered churches differ in some points of externall discipline
he meane the discipline passiuelie I thinke he and his felow saints haue had some wrong at the chéefe prelats hands a great while If actiuelie that euerie minister without checke might haue the execution of all discipline in his owne parish I doo verelie beléeue that this man and others who so earnestlie call for they know not what if they might not be themselues also elders ancients or what you will sauing priests of the segniorie would be the first wearie of it For if I knowe their disposition any thing they are as vnpatient as any men to be at controllement and most of all by a poore minister 19. Section Pag. 37 38 39. THe question heere asked whether It was the meaning of the parlement that the Bishop should command an apothecarie not exercised at all in the holie scriptures and altogither vnable to teach to be notwithstanding a faithfull dispenser of the word of God and to take authoritie to preach hath a verie readie answer that it was not their meaning that any Not exercised at all and altogether vnable should so be commanded or authorised Neither yet is it to be gathered hence that they ment to haue none admitted hauing otherwise competent gifts of learning and reasonablie trained in the scriptures but such as could discharge the dutie of a preacher as this man else-where would inforce For to what purpose then should that limitation haue serued which the booke addeth but our author passeth ouer as though he saw it not to wit To preach the word of God and to minister the holie sacraments in the congregation where thou shalt be so appointed The second question Whether their meaning was to bind the minister to performe by himselfe this dutie to preach or that it should be done by a third person I take may truelie be satisfied thus that neither the minister if he be not able and therefore not authorised well to discharge that great worke of preaching should himselfe preach neither yet if he were authorised and no other impediment hindering that he should loiter himselfe and post it ouer to another And therefore he might haue spared to haue alledged his two texts as one and with one quotation being no more to purpose but that he ment to disport himselfe a little with his Maisters the doctors of the canonlaw which elsewhere he saith haue by ordinance long since béene inhibited from taking any such degrée and Doctors of the ciuill law Burgesses in the house of parlement Pag. 240 Truelie his skill in law appeareth to be so little that a verie doctor Buzbie might well beséeme to be his maister in law and yet his memorie is so fickle his inconstancie so great his passions so furious his pen so slanderous his mind so haughtie and his words so virulent in this booke that an honest quiet man though he were not troubled with parlement matters as this man is Iwis more than becommeth him would be loath to be troubled with such a headie scholar The other member of this text alledged out of the § Si quis alium institut de inutilibus stipulationibus if he had not taken it out of some summarie by retaile as appeareth both by his receding from the words of the text and by iumbling two texts in one would haue put him in mind how little it maketh for his purpose If a man saith the law haue solemnlie promised to procure that Titius shal giue so much he is thereby bound though if he promise that Titius shall giue so much the stipulation be void The other examples brought by him being so by the first disposition tied to one person that it is not sufficient to haue them doone by another doo not prooue generallie that where anie person is appointed for the performance of a matter that it must be done by himselfe personallie no not alwaies where the industrie of the person is especiallie elected as appéereth in our Sherifs though personallie sworne yet allowed by law their vndersherifs And the ciuill law saith He * l. 5. ita autemff de admin pericu tut §. quod si quis seemeth to haue delt in a gardianship of a ward or pupill that hath delt in it by another man And * l. 22. non solùm ff de liberali causa againe We are to take it that he is said to haue bought which hath bought by another man as peraduenture by his attournie And therefore though it néed not be so said in this place yet these his allegations notwithstanding a minister might haue performed this dutie by him vndertaken by a third person lawfullie But here the minister is onelie to promise to Preach if he be so appointed And the Fourth iniunction addeth Reg. iniun act 4. herevnto that if he be licenced herevnto he shall preach in his owne person at the least euerie quarter of a yeare one sermon for the which end the Ordinaries in most places do require of such as be not fit to be licenced to preach that they procure such duetie to be done by another which is able to performe the same and is licenced according to order Where he asketh Whether the meaning of the parlement were to haue the Bishop iudge the reading of homilies to be preaching it may be said that reading of homilies in a strict signification cannot be accompted preaching yet they serue to edifieng and are a kind of publishing the Lords will euen as well as a sermon being penned is and vttered foorth vnto the people and they were not by the Bishops but by hir Maiesties owne authoritie and iniunctions vnder the great seale of England recommended Iniunct 27. vnto all Ordinaries to sée amongst other things that all ministers being no preachers should read them in supplie of sermons for the banishing of ignorance blindnes And therfore I doo the more maruell why our author should aske this question Whether the Bishop may commit the office of reading homilies to a minister and so confidentlie to auouch that he may not One reason for proofe of this he bringeth séeing Three kinds of offices are appointed to be in the church deacons ministers and Bishops euerie officer hauing his seuerall dutie expresselie appointed as reading homilies to be the office of a deacon that therfore One priuate man and fellowe-seruant may not transpose from his fellowe-seruant an office committed vnto him by publike authoritie which he inforceth by this that Statute law is Stricti iuris and may not be extended Here I will also aske him a question séeing his worship will not permit to His lordship that which no Bishop neuer went about to doo of his own head and authoritie Whether dooth he permit vnto hir Maiestie notwithstanding this distinction of offices and strictnes of statute law which full wiselie he alledgeth any power to take the reading of homilies which he will néeds appropriate to a deacon and to laie it also vpon euerie minister If he will be so good vnto
an exception whereby vpon occasion beneficed persons may by the Bishop be inhibited or suspended from preaching or expounding euen in their owne cures And if it were not so then this being but a prouinciall constitution which cannot derogate from the canon law afore in this section alledged by our author should be meerelie void Yet to make it more plaine what great doughtie sermons these were which beneficed persons in their owne cures were in this great restraint pretended suffered to vtter Forsooth they were nothing but that shallowe paraphrase * Const prou ignorantia sacerdotum de off Archipresbyteri afore spoken of which they might simplie conne without booke and preach to their people but they might wade no further as appeareth in this * ibid. §. sacerdotes selfe-same constitution And therefore this is farre inough from giuing any authoritie to all ministers to intermeddle with preaching without further licence than their ordination to the ministerie The obiection which to this purpose against the author might be brought out of the aduertisements he handleth as Alexander did Gordius knot which bicause he could not handsomlie vntie he hewed it in sunder with his sword And so dooth he by denieng the authoritie of them bicause they are not with priuiledge nor printed by the Quéenes printer although they were commanded by hir Maiesties expresse letters And is any man to surmise that those reuerend and wise Fathers who subscribed vnto the said booke of aduertisements would or durst publish them in hir Maiesties name and as by hir Highnesse authoritie and letters dafed such a certeine daie if it were not so or that they would enterprise to forbid or restraine that which the law had so exactlie charged and commanded as this man dreameth But it is the guise of little children where they cannot read there to skip ouer But this matter is clearelie determined by a later * 13. Elizab. cap. 12. statute than all these which yéeldeth a preheminence excluding all others vnto a preacher lawfullie allowed by some Bishop within this realme or by one of the vniuersities of Cambridge or Oxenford to haue a benefice of thirtie pounds a yeare in the Quéenes bookes in like sort as a bacchelor of divinitie by the said statute may haue Now if euerie one ordeined a minister by a Bishop were thereby by the secret operation of law admitted withall a preacher by the said Bishop then were this no prerogatiue to a bacchelor of diuinitie or to a preacher when as euerie minister should be as capable of a benefice of that value as they and so the statute should be absurde and elusorie 23. Section Pag. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 HAuing had so hard hap with particular proofes he héere commeth to a generall reason or presumption Bicause Statutes in doubtfull points are to be interpreted by the common lawe and so that they may as little preiudice the same as may be and for that the calling triall examination and qualities required are spoken of about making deacons and ministers without particular mention of what sort of calling triall examination or qualities and for that the makers of the Act were men desirous to promote the glorie of God therefore such calling triall examination and qualities are ment as are requisite to be in those two callings by the law of God which he prooueth also to be likelie By the praiers and places of scripture vsed in that action Touching his conclusion I can easilie assent vnto it If this withall be vnderstood that if either in this forme of ordering or in any other forme in any reformed church euerie speciall circumstance vsed be not Modo forma found in the word of God as indeed it is not possible yet notwithstanding if nothing therein be repugnant Articles of religion art 34. to the word of God that it may and ought to be accompted in this action and all other of externall policie to be agrèeable and according vnto it and to be that which is required by the law of God yet the conclusion followeth not of those premisses for he should haue inferred that such calling triall c is vnderstood as the common law dooth set downe Now as touching the qualities required in a priest or minister by the canon law which is the common law ecclesiasticall no such matter of preaching is required of him nor no necessarie tieng vp of the deacon onelie to reading of homilies Ad * c perlectis §. ad presbyterum dist 25. presbyterum To a priest saith the canon it belongeth to performe the sacrifice of the bodie and bloud of the Lord on the altar of God to praie and to blesse the gifts of God As concerning his allegation out of Panormitane there is no such chapter in that title wherevpon he might write yet I find in him vpon the said title this conclusion that The * Abb. in c. cum dilectus Ext. de consuetudine words of a statute ought to be construed either most largelie or most strictlie to the intent that the correction of the common law may be auoided by such interpretation Yet this moderation as the law else-where teacheth vs that * Ibid. §. in gl ver nec iuri per l. 2. c. de noxal per Bart. in l. omnes populiff de iustitia iure Where the words are euident there we ought not to take an vnproper sense of them to the intent to reduce them to the common law but where they are doubtfull or haue a double vnderstanding whereof the one is proper and the other vnproper then we ought to take in interpreting euen the vnproper sense that by it we may swarue so little as may be from the common law But in such maner also As * Abb. in c. cum dilectus Ext. de consuetud that we swarue not from that sense which custome yeeldeth although by somthing happening afterward it should appeare that such sense were not good bicause custome hath a power of interpreting of derogating and of imitating whereby it supplieth where law faileth So that I would gladlie learne what words are so doubtfull or of so diuers significations in any of our statutes or inâ—unctions touching the authorising of euerie minister without further licence to preach and barring him from reading homilies as that for auoiding of a contrarietie betwixt them and the canon law and for the reteining of the vsuall meaning of them which the custome of this church hath yèelded we should be forced to follow our authors fansies herein naie the custome of this church I am sure he will not denie but that it is against him Moreouer one of his chèefest assumpts to wit That no kind of particular calling triall or examination is set downe by the said booke so by act of parlement confirmed is vtterlie vntrue For the preface of the booke saith An bâ—truth thus It is requisite that no man shall execute anie of the said offices
not being at that present time Bishop priest nor deacon except he be called tried examined and admitted according to the forme hereafter following And if so be that none of these be specified or declared in particular Pag. 7 6. sic deincepâ— as he here affirmeth why dooth he kèepe such hot schooles a little after sèeking to prooue that they are no ministers nor deacons indèed by law which haue not bèene made according to this exact forme of calling triall examination c. But to what purpose dooth he bring this reason except he would haue shewed vs withall what that Calling triall examination and qualities be which he supposeth to be required by the law of God and which They the Bishops whome as I take it he meaneth by waie of supposall are by him indirectlie charged to haue broken Naie he supposeth In them vnfaithfulnesse to the Lord accompting his waies not the best waies nor his counsels not the wisest counsels that they haue set the consultations of the grauest senators and wisest counsellours and cheefest rulers of the land behind their backs that they make their will a law and that they are not ruled by reason Truelie if these his crooked virulent and contemptuous accusations of such men reaching so high as to charge them with apostasie and these mutinous sèeds of dissention sowne betwixt them and other great men of the land be to be tolerated in a published and printed libell though they were true and iustifiable then I doo not sèe but that euerie other lewd disposed person will take the like boldnesse vpon any discontentment to whet his dog eloquence vpon any the best and best deseruing within this common-wealth For Psal 64 3. they haue whet their toong like a sword and shot foorth their arrowee bitter words Therefore we will praie with the prophet Let the lieng lips be made dumbe which cruellie Psal 31 18. proudlie and spightefullie speake against the righteous and deliuer our soules D Lord from lieng lips and from Psal 120. a deceitfull toong which is as the coles of iuniper 24. Section Pag. 53 54. OUr author omitting to declare vnto vs the Maner of calling c of ministers and deacons which is required by the law of God and required also by the law of this land as he telleth vs and leauing it to the dèepe considerations of such as know his meaning if he doo but gape vpon them dooth in this section intreate of Another maner of calling and triall by other positiue lawes required charging the Bishops euen by their owne records to haue neuer or verie seldome vsed any of them So that sèeing he exacteth of them in this action first â—bsâ—â—â—ditie in the authors platforme the obseruation of the booke for the forme and maner of procèeding therein next the calling triall and examination required by the law of God and lastlie now another maner of calling required by other positiue lawes it had beene mèet that either he would haue set downe all these threè forms to be one and to agrèe in euerie circumstance or else to haue prescribed vnto them which of the thrèe they should vse that so they might auoid his high displeasure and indignation against them And I would he had vouchsafed to let himselfe so much downe as to haue told vs where these positiue lawes which he alledgeth are written * Dist 24. c. quando Epâ—â—s being indèed the canon lawe conteined in the decrees Wherein I find a difference from the forme by act established which appointed the Archdeacon to examine and present those which are to be ordered Whereas here The elders Vide sect 26. sect 40. indeed priests are to present and certeine ministers and others skilfull are to trie and examine them The forme of calling which these positiue lawes that he speaketh of doo meane is nothing as he saith But a proces to be fixed vpon the cathedrall church doores or a proclamation by an apparitor the fourth daie before the ordination signifieng that such a daie the Bishop will make deacons or ministers warning such to be present as will offer themselues meet men for that seruice If this be true and also that Three daies together they are to be examined before the daie of ordination truelie they haue but Skarborough warning so suddenlie to be called euen the first daie whereon they are to be examined But he saith this Maner of calling is also commanded by the booke though briefelie in these words When the daie appointed by the Bishop is come certeinlie he had nèed to haue a head full of proclamations that can picke out of these words such a solemne calling or proclamation But whie dooth he not also tell vs whether of the two or whether both of them be ment by this law that is to saie the intimation vpon the church doore or the apparitors proclamation And where the articles of religion doo determine That none may take vpon him the office of publike preaching or ministring the sacraments in the congregation before he be lawfullie called and sent to execute the same vnderstanding hereby the whole action Dotable wresting and falsification of externall vocation which he restraineth to the letters of intimation or to the apparitors proclamation whereby signification is giuen of the daie of solemne giuing of orders he dooth heerein notablie abuse the patience of his readers whome he thinketh verie sottish if they can make no difference betwixt these two kinds of callings But as no man denieth but that it is requisite some publike notice should be giuen a conuenient time before anie solemne daie of generall ordination prefixed doo come to the intent as he saith men méet for that seruice may then and there offer themselues so if héereby he will sucke any matter to obiect against such Bishops who vpon especiall occasions and with more due triall and examination than can be had where such a confused multitude at once must be run ouer doo laie their handes vpon one or two well knowne vnto them without any such solemne notifieng thereof he shall rather hereby argue his spitefull stomach against them than anie care he hath of reformation or obseruation of law which he dooth pretend sometimes when it séemeth to accord with his humor For it is notorious that such of the Bishops as haue kept that course haue sent abroad more sufficient preachers and fewer of meane gifts haue escaped their hands than possiblie can be performed at those generall ordinations And dooth not our author himselfe dissallow in a whole treatise as Vnlawfull Contrarietie to ordeine a minister without a title which platforme can no waie stand with this generall publication of orders for all commers found méet therevnto without respect of hauing or not hauing anie place void in the diocesse allotted foorth vnto them Conueniet nulli qui secum dissidet ipsi 25. Section Pag. 54 55 56 57. IN this section conteining the maner of
ground of his depriuation if he will applie to his purpose though I thinke some ministers in our church vnworthie that calling yet I beléeue he shall find verie few or none within the compasse of this decision which neuer learned any thing of their Grammar And yet neuerthelesse his reason being A maiore ad minus affirmatiuè dooth not follow Séeing it is notoricus that lesse learning is requisit in an inferiour minister than ought to be in a Bishop And it séemeth that if this Bishop had learned but his Graâ—mar by want whereof he was apparentlie insufficient this gentle pope in fauour of some not much déeper clearkes sitting in that See as the pope that writ Fiatur for Fiat in despectum omnium Grammaticorum and he that to an ambassador did so prettilie Italianize in his Latine Facit magnum frigum and being aduertised softlie by one of his cardinals that it should be gus gus as scholarlike did amendit with Facit magnum frigumgus it is likelie I saie he would haue tolerated it in this Bishop of Calinea And therefore it is not verie safe to exact no better measure of learning in a minister than this canon seemeth to doo Here vpon our author groundeth a wish for a generall visitation but verie vnperfectlie in my poore conceit for he requireth neither learning in law experience nor discretion in his visitors he authoriseth them to depriue onelie vniust possessors which would hardlie be racked vnto all though not so sufficientlie qualified as he requireth he endoweth them with no absolute power to place fit men in their roomes without sharing out any thing to the patrones least he should displease some that perhaps with all things reformed sauing that nor yet telleth vs whence so manie places in short time might be furnished with sufficient preachers But he is of a sure ground for the promise of augmentation of hir Maiesties treasure for he saith that the first fruits vpon auoidance of vniust possessors will be more Than the best subsidie that hir Highnesse hath leuied of them But saith not more than of them and of all other ministers besides Which must néeds be true for the greatest subsidie was but sixe shillings in the pound to be paid in thrée yeares whereas the new incumbents comming in vpon displacing of the old should paie the whole value of their benefices in the space of two yeares His first allegation concerning an abbat threatened to be deposed if he be negligent in his office is altogether impertinent to prooue that a minister vnworthie in respect of learning or bicause he is not able to preach is to be deposed But I obserue that where the law is Let him as often as he may be with his brethren in the couent our author I know not to what aduantage dooth translate thus How much more Corrupt translation ought he to be frequent with his brethren in all things The second allegation out of a canon of Triburiense concilium toucheth onelie an abbat that is criminous in life and negligent in his gouernement to be worthie of deposition and cannot be extended to vnworthines of a minister for insufficiencie of learning Naie though ministers that be scandalous to their calling may be depriued or deposed according to the atrocitie of the fault yet the same punishment that is inflicted vpon abbats who are tied to a straiter rule and obseruance cannot alwaies be extended by identitie of reason for the like offenses vpon ministers For the * c. per. tuas 1. in fine Ext. de simonia Gl. in verbo cantus 18. q. 2. c. si quis abbas lawe noteth that abbats for causes of lesser importance yet being against the rules and customes of their order may be remooued from their administrations Yet to the intent it may appeare how impertinentlie these places of an abbat are brought and how vnskilfullie he reasoneth it is to be remembred that although an exacter and more strict course of conuersation be required of an abbat than of an inferiour minister yet lesse learning will serue his turne a great deale to reteine him in his office therefore * Ab. in c. vlt. Ext. de aetate qualitatâ— Panormitane concludeth That an abbat shall not be deposed bicause he is ignorant in Grammar if otherwise he be skilfull in the rules of his order and discreet by which rules his function is limited to which purpose serueth that in abbats diligent industrie rather than learning is required c. multa ne cler vel mona Also in old time abbats were laie men c. a subdiacono dist 93. Therefore it is sufficient for him if he be discreet and vigilant ouer his flocke 8. q. 3. c. dilectissimi Which our author perhaps perceiuing dooth shew more néere to purpose that an inferiour minister may also be depriued by the Bishop if he be vnprofitable and vnworthie But what the lawe will account such vnworthines vnprofitablenesse or negligence to be he hath not yet shewed and therefore is farre from proouing his issue that euerie one is an vnworthie minister and to be depriued which is not able to preach And séeing he alledgeth this for law whie shall not the words following which he cunninglie cropped off with an c. be law also Videlicet Both * Facit 15. q. 7. cap. 1. vlt. institution and destitution of priests dooth notoriouslie belong to the office of the Bishop Belike he was loth to attribute so much vnto them as must either cut off his popular election or improoue that which he saith afterward against all absolute ordinations His next allegation which he left without * c. dictum est dist 81. quotation Vagatur extra oleas and speaketh of negligence which may be such as deserueth deposition And this may as well happen in a minister worthie and sufficient as in one vnworthie of such a place in respect of disabilitie And yet it is not euerie negligence but grosse negligence as the glosse there telleth him which the lawe matcheth with Male engine that deserueth deposition For Magna * L. 226. magnaff de ver signif negligentia culpa est magna culpadolus est as if the minister being required to baptize a child being verie weake shall vpon a * 1. q. 1. c. neque c. si quis per ignorantian dissolute negligence omit to doo it whereby the child dieth without baptisme he deserueth deposition That which our author alledgeth as out of the * 1. q. 1. si qui Epi. §. ecce canon are indéed the words of Gratian collected vpon the canon are notablie by our author falsified and wrested For whereas Gratian saith Behold where Bishops doo escape without danger of their estimation for ordeining such ministers as by lawe they ought not so that they may as priests administer all other sacraments yet from this onelie Videlicet the sacrament of ordering not onelie for heresie or for any great fault but euen for negligence
nature For if he will intend any to be no ministers in this church in this respect that they were not ordered according vnto that forme which he imagineth of necessitie is so required that without it the whole action is made void then must he prooue such necessarie forme to haue béene omitted at their making which else by the instrument and testimonials therof made will be otherwise presumed and also that it is not onlie an accidentall forme or solemnitie but of that substance and weight in that action that the neglecting thereof shall ouerturne that which is doone euen as though it neuer had beene As touching the first where it appeareth a fact to be doone as that a minister hath beene ordered is prooued by the Autentike seale of the Bishop that there the law will also intend presume till the contrarie can be shewed all things thereabouts to haue béene lawfullie orderlie and solemnelie doone is by law verie euident Generallie a L. 30. sciendum ff de verb. oblig is to be vnderstood that if a man write that he hath become suretie for one all things thereto incident are intended b to haue beene solemnelie doone Likewise b L. 5. ff de proba Paule did answer for lawe that if any man denie an emancipation or infranchising from the fathers power to haue beene rightlie made there he must vndertake to prooue it bicause the presumption of law is to the contrarie Also In the c Instit defideiuss §. finali bonds and stipulations of sureties we are to vnderstand that it is generallie to be holden that whatsoeuer is set downe in writing as doon that is intended accordingly to haue been doone And therevpon is gathered againe as I haue alledged before in the first place and as may be gathered out of verie many other d L. 19. §. sed â—tsi ff de probat l. 134. Titia §. penult ff de verb. obligat Instit de inutil stipulat §. si scriptum l. 1. C. de contrahenda stipulat l. 51. merito ff prosodo lawes too long to be particularlie rehearsed Moreouer e Arg. l. 6. qui in §. 1. ff de acquir vel â—mit haered the verie continuance of time and possession of their places by their ordering dooth breed a presumption in law that those things which were thereto necessarilie required were therein vsed And as to the second point in case it should be prooued that diuers points of maner forme by the booke of ordring prescribed haue beene in ordring of some omitted yet the want therof can no waie impeach the truth of their ministerie or lawfulnes of their calling except they were at the least prooued to be of the necessarie substance and forme of that action And in the meane time what shall we thinke of this man who vnder this pretense of skirmishing onelie with vnlearned ministers dooth leaue as much as in him lieth a scruple in the minds of all our ministers least peraduenture vpon occasion of some part of the forme and maner prescribed being by the Bishop omitted they might hereby by law be adiudged vniust possessors of their places and consequentlie with an euill conscience to haue receiued the reuenues of their benefices But The a L. 1. §. fin ff de ventre inspi ibid. Bart. in l. 1. de edicto aedilitio in l. Diuus ff de restitutione in integrum not vsing of any forme or solemnitie being not of the substance of the matter dooth not make void the action Now The b Bald. in l. penult C. de cond insert forme which is of substance is nothing else but the verie perfect state of anie matter or disposition And If c l. 6. vniuersis C. de precibus imperas offerend any solemnitie be required in the maner of dooing any act though the same were not vsed therein yet the act may be made good and ratified so the said forme were not of substance Againe The d Bald. in rubr C. de success aedi leauing out of an accidentall or small solemnitie maketh not the action wherein it was required to be called backe againe And beside the place here quoted the said Baldus is of the same iudgement In l. fin C. de iure deliberandi and not onelie he but as I haue read all other doctors writing In l. 1. § 1. C. d. sauing onelie Fulgosius which in that place and in the preface of the Code is of another conceit and is therfore iustlie reprehended by Iason Cons 26. vol. 1. In which respect Baldus saith that A e Bald. Alex in l. 1. in fine ff de liberis posthumis Bald. in Ant. matri C. quando mulier tut off slender or light solemnitie is not to be constructed as a coÌ„dition set downe by law So that vpon failing thereof the disposition of law shall not thereby faile and be auoided And it is then said to be but an accidentall and light solemnitie f Bald. Ang. in l. fin §. si vero C. de iure delibe when it bringeth either small or no preiudice at all or is such as g Bald. in l. hac consultissima C. de testamentis was not established vpon any vrgent reason or vtilitie or that Which if h Bart. in l. 1. §. plures ff de exercitoria Iason Cons 26. vol. 1. it be omitted cannot change and alter the substance of the fact Naie the law teacheth vs that if i a certeine forme be set downe by man as by the prince in â—â— Pisanis ibi Iohannes Andr. Abb. Ext. de restitu spoliatorum Car. in Clem. 1. 30. q. de decimis Innoc. in c. cuÌ„ dilect Ext. de rescriptis Alex in l. cum lex ff de fideiiuss a commission then the action that is done without that solemnitie shall of it selfe fall to the ground but it is otherwise when the forme is appointed out by law for then such an act without that forme may well inough be auailable yet alwaies with this limitation so that the law or statute commanding or prescribing an act to be doon in such or such maner and forme doo k Bald. Imola Alex. in l. 1. ff de liberis posth Bald. in l. non possunt ff de legibus in l. si quis mihi §. coram ff de acquir hered procéed no further as in expresse words to adnull that which shall be done otherwise or else doo l Alex. in l. 1. ff de liberis posthu cons 23. 3 5. in 4. part not prohibit such an act to be done otherwise than in the said certeine maner and forme for if it doo prohibit though mention be not made of annihilating yet by verie force of law the act being done without such a necessarie forme as the prohibition importeth dooth become void 40. Section Pag. 80 81 82. BIcause our author foresaw what might be truelie answered to his thicke mist of
hath told vs in his booke a Pag. 19. that Our cheefe prelats haue not yet abandoned the policie of the traitorous law-maker that it is perillous for the gouernement of the state of the Lords houshold and not meet for the Lords seruants to be guided by that they vse wilfull disloyaltie to the Lord that the procurations dispensations ceremonies non residence excommunications visitations paiments of oblations courts offaculties and licences are mainteined onelie by the popes lawes and are all popish b Pag. 19 20. that the applieng of that to good vses which hath beene abused dooth accuse the sonne of the most highest that he hath not dealt faithfullie in his fathers houshold by giuing them as perfect a law for the gouernement of his houshold by discipline as by doctrine c Pag. 20. that for their fellowe-seruants sakes they ought to be more fauourable to their Lord and maisters cause d Pag. 30. that they doo execrablie mocke and delude the Lord to his face e Pag. 35. that a Bishop and minister ought so to minister the discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commaunded though the lawes of the realme should not haue receiued the same f Pag. 36. that no discipline in truth can be said to be the discipline of Christ vnlesse it be indeed ministred as the Lord Christ hach commanded the same should be ministred that g Pag. 36. it is vtterlie vntrue to say that our discipline vsed in the church of England is in verie deed the verie same discipline which the Lord Christ hath commanded h Pag. 37. that the saints of God and loyall subiects to hir Maiestie calling for discipline commanded by the Lord and in truth established by the lawes of hir Highnesse empire haue open wrong and intolerable iniurie offered at the cheefe prelats hands i Pag. 20. that the law dooth indeed for them authorise that which the same law in appearance onelie approoueth for the other k Pag. 53. that the chéefe prelats are not so faithfull to the Lord as were expedient for them that they accompt not the Lords waies to be the best waies his counsels not to be the wisest counsels to interpret the meaning of the statute bicause they are such waies as wherein the Lords seruants applie themselues preciselie to walke and therefore ignominiouslie are termed Praecisians l Pag. 62. that the statutes of the realme giue to all the faithfull of the land an interest in choise and allowance of their pastors m Pag. 74. that at the entrie of hir Maiesties reigne the whole maner of the gouernement of the synagog should haue beene altered n Pag. 74. that at that time their lawes were vnaduisedlie translated from them vnto vs o Pag. 91. that they which be called Puritanes make conscience not to offend God in any small thing p Pag. 91. that for their conscience sake they are thought worthie to be whipped and excommunicated q Pag. 263. that it is a matter worthie inquirie whether the pastor of euerie congregation be suffered to execute the discipline of Christ authorised by Act of parlement r Pag. 264. that those who haue spoken touching matters onelie of discipline and ceremonies wherevpon before Bishops they are sifted with othes haue spoken or preached out of the word of GOD the truth of God touching the same s Pag. 227. that the freends of reformation are greater freends and mainteiners of hir Highnesse prerogatiue than the other be t Pag. 231. that the enimies of reformation are enimies to hir Maiesties prerogatiue u Pag. 228. that they onelie execute such iurisdiction as by popish constitutions or popish customes hath beene heeretofore annexed vnto their dignities and that by an vtter enimie to hir royall person state and gouernement k Pag. 238. that the popish ecclesiasticall law ought to be abandoned and as a froth or filth to be spewed out of the common-weale * Pag. 238. that hir Maiestie can by no meanes more honour the Lord than vtterlie to abandon all semblance of any gouernment proceeding from an enimie and traitor to his Maiestie z Pag. 239. that for the gouernement of the church we haue the perfect and altogither righteous law of God to rule the same by Also * Pag. 95. by waie of supposall he séemeth to doubt that the Lord hath not yet gratiouslie opened hir Maiesties eies to vnderstand all and singular mysteries of his testament that blemishes and blots remaine that aduersaries to the people of God doo hire councellours to trouble their building and deuise all the daies of Cyrus that the walles are to be reedified by some Eliashib that the church must yet tarrie some leisure and that it may be some other glorious worke is to be doone in our daies by hir Highnesse with infinite such like saiengs procéeding from the said puddle of pride faction rancor and disloialtie Wherevpon we may gather besides his vnthankefulnesse to God and vndutifulnesse to hir Maiestie by whose ministerie God hath singularlie blessed vs besides his boiling malice against the state ecclesiasticall his factious gréedinesse of innouation and his schismaticall titles of glorie laid with a kind of peculiar prerogatiue vpon those who impugne lawes vnder colour of their wished reformation that he is persuaded and so would haue others to be both that diuerse points of their new church-plot are by lawes of this land established which yet are kept from them by strong hand and also that there is some perfect exact and set order of all externall policie concerning ceremonies and discipline in all church matters prescribed by the commandement of Christ which is not yet by law established as it ought to be and from which in the meane time this church of England wholie dooth varie That he thinketh they are debarred of some thing which they wish and ought by law to enioy it may appeare partlie by some of his spéeches aboue mentioned but more plainelie * Pag. 92. where he calleth for certeine Orders and lawes to be put in practise which the magistrats haue made that such as speake for them preach for them call for them and write for them may be no more controlled c and that they may either be mainteined as lawes or else he and others be deliuered from their duties in desiring their execution and obeieng them which they could hitherto neuer be brought to obeie or like of And * Pag. 105. likewise where in the verie end of his first treatise he praiseth certeine Lawes as wholsomelie prouided against wilfull law-breakers Which lawes by him ment if they be declared in particular I hope they haue bene sufficientlie spoken vnto alreadie But if any of them which he so commendeth be parts of the Canon law then he is to be praised for a man of a good nature which after his furie being ouerpast which belike hath Dilueida interualla will
vs shall lay to some vvholesome remedie If the disease and maladie of pluralites in time of ignorance and superstition was such that the blinde leaders of the blinde 5. P. 2. had their eies in their heads to see the infection therof to be most perillous as well to their synagogue as to their common weale how is it possible that plurified men in the time of the knowledge and truth of the Gospell should finde anie meanes to escape the fire and reuenge which the idolators feared And not onely these Canons and prouincials but the statute lawes of England also made against these excesses prohibite likewise the hauing of â—â— benefices as appeareth by an act of Parliament made the 21. yeare of Henrie the 8. the tenor whereof ensueth And be it enacted that if anie person or persons hauing one benefice with cure of soules being of the yeerelie value of 8. pounds or aboue accept and take anie other with cure of soule and be instituted and inducted in possession of the same that then and immediatlie after such possession had thereof the first benefice shall be adiudged in the lawe to be voide And that it shall be lawfull to euerie patron hauing the aduouson thereof to present another and the presented to haue the benefit of the same in such like manner and forme as though the incumbent had died or resigned Anie lisence vnion or other dispensation to the contrarie hereof Pag. 113 obtained notwithstanding And that euerie such license vnion or dispensation had or heereafter to bee had contrarie to this present act of what name or names qualitie or qualities so euer they bee shall be vtterlie voide and of none effect As touching anie other Canons made and in force before 25. Henrie 8. allowing certaine immunities priuiledges and dispensations to be graunted for the possessing of manie benesices and Parish Churches rightlie vnderstood are no waie preiudiciall vnto these former ordinaunces For in things depending vpon the meere disposition of man though the magistrate haue authoritie as well generallie to forbidde and prohibite as also in some cases besides the said lawe to license and dispence yet concerning the matter of pluralities it will not be found Pluralists I confesse and their abettours ground their assertions vpon these and such like rules following viz. Eius est destruere cuius est construere eius est interpretari cuius est condere Papa qut ius condidit est supra ius matorem enim retinuâ—t potestatem c. That is To him it belongeth to pull downe to whom it belongeth to set vp and the interpretation of the lawe belongeth to the lawe maker the Pope that made the lawe is aboue the lawe because he hath retained a greater power to himselfe then he hath giuen to the lawe The Pope hath a fulnesse of power to dispose of benefices at his pleasure And therefore saie they As Churches were at the first by Lawe positiue both founded and distinguished so may they againe by the same Lawe positiue either be cleane taken awaie or vnited Which vnnecessarie and sophisticall consequence is simplie to bee denied First for those former rules generallie vnderstoode without limitation and distinction bee either vtterlie false or else contrarie and repugnaunt to other principles of Lawe Pag. 114 Againe concerning these or anie other like generall conclusions in lawe I aunswere and that by an vnfallible maxime in lawe that no rule can be so generallie giuen in thinges of meere pollicie and disposition of man onelie deuised by man of which sorte these former rules are that receiueth not some limitations and restrictions And that therefore these principles wherevppon the foundation of pluralities is layde beeing weake and easilie shaken with a little blast of mannes wit cannot stande or haue anie sure setling in as much as against the same manie challenges may bee made and manie exceptions taken Secondlic the foresayde coherence followeth not for two apparaunt and principall fallacies contained in the same as afterwardes shall bee manifested But first touching these rules before mentioned Eius est destruere cuius est construere c. Hee may breake a Lawe that may make a Lawe the same is not alwaies true It taketh no place Vbt causa prohibitionis est perpetua where there is a perpetuall cause of a prohibition For then the cause beeing perpetuall the prohibition ought to bee perpetuall Quta perpetuam habet causam prohibitionis nulla est obligatio Because Fi. de verb. oblig l si slipuler in id glos extra de simo c. si quis ver iuramentum it hath a perpetuall cause of prohibition there is no obligation As for example the reason and cause of prohibition against murther thefte rauine blasphemic is perpetuall and therefore the Lawe against murther thefte rauine and blasphemie ought to bee perpetuall And therefore men hauing once made Lawes against these vices it is not lawfull for man afterwardes to dispence with these vices or by license to warrant anie man to steale to kill to spoile or to blaspheme For whosoeuer shall in this sorte dispence with a Lawe the same also may dispence with the reason of the Lawe and so with the soule and life of the Lawe and so make the Lawe a vaine and dead Lawe Ratio legis est anima legis Pag. 115 The reason of the Lawe is the soule and life of the Lawe and therefore as none may dispence with the reason of the Lawe or take awaie the soule and life of the Lawe so none may dispence with the law or take awaie the Lawe Now for as much as it is not lawfull for all the Princes in the earth to chaunge or dispence or take awaie the reasons and causes of the Lawes prohibiting manie benefices Therefore it is not lawfull for them to chaunge or dispence or take awaie the Lawes against pluralities The reasons where vpon pluralities are forbidden are reasons taken from the Lawe of Nature and from the equiâ—â—e of the Lawe of God but none can alter or take awaie the lawe of Nature or dispence with the lawe of God therefore none can Institutio de iure nat gen ci § sed naturalis Iam. alter or impugne or dispence with the reasons of either of them For as the lawe of Nature is immutable so is the reason of the Lawe of Nature immutable and as the will of GOD is vnchaungeable so is the equitie of his Law vnchaungeable to If then naturall reason bee the cause and soule and life of a naturall Lawe and the will of God the onelie cause of the Lawe of God and his onelie will the rule of all iustice vuchaungeablie none can challenge authoritie to chaunge or dispence with the Lawe of Nature or with the Law of God but hee must foorth-with challenge authoritie to dispence both with the reason of the Lawe of Nature and with the pleasure and will of GOD. And therefore out of the premises I conclude thus 1
Wheresoeuer the cause of a prohibition is perpetuall there the prohibition ought to be perpetuall 2 But the cause of the prohibition against pluralities is perpetuall 3 Therefore the prohibition ought to be perpetuall 1 Euerie lawe grounded vpon the reason of nature and the Pag. 116. equitie of the lawe of God is immutable 2 But the lawes prohibiting pluralities are grounded either vpon the reasons of nature or vpon the equitie of the lawe of God 3 Therefore all the lawes prohibiting pluralities are immutable THE first proposition of the first syllogisine hath beene proued Institut de iure natu gent. ciui § sed naâ—uralia Iames. alreadie the first proposition of the 2. syllogisme is manifest Omnia naturalia sunt immutabilia All naturall things are immutable and there is no altering or shadowing by turning with the almightie The second proposition of either syllogisme shall bee manifested by that that followeth But first to aunswere the falacies before spoken of because pluralities are not forbidden by lawe positiue of man alone but prohibited also by the lawe of nature and by the lawe of God therefore it followeth that they may not be tollerated by lawe positiue of man alone And therfore if pluralitie men would fitly argue to conclude their purpose they should frame the same after this sort 1 Whatsoeuer is prohibited by the law of man alone the same by the lawe of man alone may be licensed againe 2 But pluralities are forbidden by the lawe of man alone 3 Therfore they may be licensed by the lawe of man againe THE second proposition of which syllogisme beeing vtterlie false you see euidently wherein the conclusion halteth and the falacie consisteth therefore I conclude against them thus 1 Whatsoeuer is forbidden by the lawe of nature by the law Pag. 117. of God the same cannot be licensed by the law of man alone 2 But pluralities are forbidden by the law of nature and by the lawe of God 3 Therefore they cannot be licensed by the lawe of man alone And againe 1 Whatsoeuer ratifieth a thing monstrous and against nature the same may not be priuiledged by the law of man 2 But dispensatioÌ„s for pluralities ratifie monstrous things and things against nature 3 Therefore dispensations for pluralities may not be priuiledged by the lawe of man THe second proposition of the first syllogisme shall be proued in this place The second proposition of the last sillogisme I proue from the etymologie or discription of a priueledge or dispensation for a priuiledge and a dispensation in effect signifie both one thing Priuilegium dicitur quod emanat contra ius Glos lib. 6. de rescript c. versan principio Extra dâ— iudic c. At si clerici § de adulterijs â—ommune in fauorem aliquarum personarum super prohibitâ—s despensatur quia permissa iure communi expediuntur prohibita vero dispensatione egent A priuiledge is said to bee that that for the fauour of certaine priuate persons commeth forth against common right things prohibited are dispensed with because things permitted are dispatched by common right but things forbidden require dispensation By which discriptions of a priuiledge and dispensation it is apparant that a priuiledge and dispensation for pluralities must license and authorise that that the lawe against pluralitie dooth infringe and disalowe and so bee a lawe contrariant and repugnant to the Lawe against Pluralities but the Lawe against Pluralities is the lawe of nature and the lawe of God Therefore a priuiledge or dispensation for Pluralities is against the lawe of Nature and against the lawe of God a more monstrous lawe was neuer established Nowe Pag. 118. that Pluralities are forbidden by the lawe of Nature and by the lawe of God which was the second proposition of my first Syllogisme I proue thus All the reasons wherevpon the positiue Lawe of man against Pluralities was first established are taken and drawne from the Lawe of Nature and from the Lawe of God The reasons and causes of the prohibition are these First the auoiding of Couetousnesse of Ambition of Theft of murther of Soules of a dissolute a roaging and a gadding Ministerie the necessitie of comelynesse and decencie in the Church are speciall and primarie causes for the prohibiting Pluralities but all these are forbidden or commaunded by the lawe of God therefore the causes of the prohibition of Pluralities are grounded vppon the will of God and therefore immutable and therefore not to be dispensed with Againe for one man to haue the stipends of manie men for one man not able to discharge his dutie in one place and yet to haue many charges in manie places committed vnto him for one man to hinder another man from ordinarie meanes to doo good to the Church all these causes I saie are second causes for the prohibition of Pluralities but all these causes are causes of reason and nature therefore by the Lawes of reason and nature Pluralities are forbidden and therefore not to bee dispensed with no more then thefte or murther or blasphenne maye bee dispensed with And if Antichrist thinke it Thefte Rauine Couetousnesse Ambition Pride murther of Soules for one man to haue manie Benefices without dispensation if Antichrist account the hauing of many benefices without dispensation to be a meete meane to maintaine a roauing a gadding and a dissolute Ministerie to foster extortion and vnlawfull gaine what shall the seruauntes of the Lorde Christ the sonne of the most highest Whome hee hath commaunded to bee holie and Pag. 119. perfect as his heauenlie father is perfect defend all these horrible sinnes impieties tollerable by dispensation Can a dispensation from a Pope or an Archbishoppe make Theft no Theft Rauine no Rauine Couetousnesse and Ambition no Couetousnesse and no ambition I speake heerein to Christians which ought to maintaine the Lawe of Christ against the lawe of Antichrist For I knowe some of the Popes Chaplaines grounding themselues vppon these rules of lawe whereof mention hath beene made before giuing vnto the Pope Merum imperium â—n absolute power on earth will affirme that the Pope Vid gloss Extra de confes prebend c. proposiut vers si pra ius §. Apostol dispensat 34. distinct c. lector Glos inc non est extra de voto vers authoritate can make Nihil ex aliquo and Aliquid ex nihilo Nothing of somewhat and somewhat of nothing Sinne to bee no sinne and no sinne to bee sinne These blasphemies they spue out and these blasphemies they maintaine that thinke they may bee theeues and murtherers and extortioners by dispensation And such are plurified men by their owne pluralitie Lawes as shall further bee manifested For as to the making of euerie generall and publike ordinaunce and constitution it is necessarilie required that the same tend first to the aduauncing of the honour praise and glorie of God secondlie that it bee proâ—itable and expedient for the peace and safetie of the weale
that no perpetuall dispensation for receiuing of Ecclesiasticall fruits be graunted no not by the Pope himselfe And there is expresse mention made of him that shall not be resident vppon one of his Churches that shall be student in anie schools of learning that shall be absent from his benefice either at the court of Rome or at anie other place whatsoeuer that euen such a one shall not haue anie perpetuitie by Dispensation thereby to receiue the fruites and profites of the Church from the which for anie of those foresayd respectes he may be absent Therefore against perpetuities of Piuralities out of the Chapiter Is etiam and out of the Chapter Quia before rehearsed I conclude thus 1. Euery Dispensation graunted for the enioying of the fruites of any parish Church without limitation of a certaine time is a voyde Dispensation 2 But euery Dispensation graunted for the perpetuall receiuing of the fruites of any Parish Church is a Dispensation without limitation of a certaine time 3 Therefore euery such perpetuall Dispensation is a voyde Dispensation Pag. 149 THE first Proposition of this Syllogisme is the Position of the law it selfe The Minor is most plaine For whatsoeuer is perpetuall the same can not be limitted and whatsoeuer is limitted the same can not be perpetuall And this perpetuitie in this case as I sayde before hath euermore relation to the terme of lyfe because he is saide to haue a perpetuitie in a benefice that hath a benefice for terme of lyfe And to take away all sinister and double dealing in this action you shall vnderstand that a dispensation graunted once for seuen yeares at the ende of the sayde seuen yeares may not be renued and reiterated for so at the ende of euery seuen yeares a new dispensation being had in effect a perpetuall dispensation might be tolierated and so a man by fraude and couin might enioy that from the which by equitie and law he is altogether secluded which fraudulent and disorderly dealing by certaine general principles and rules in law is absolutely prohibited The maximes are these Ne statutum ipsum fiat ludibrio debitoque frustretur effectu non rebus sed verbis cum sit potius contrarlum faciendum lex imposit a De diuor c quaÌ„to § fi de elec comiss l. 6. Extr. de regni iurâ—c cum quod ff de ver ad ciuili perti l. li. § 1. videatur nullatenus ea vice poterit iterato conferri Quod directè prohibetur indirectè non conceditur cum quod vna via prohibetur alicui ad id alia via non debet admitti quod quis in persona sua facero prohibeltur id per subsectam personam exercere non debet That the statute it selfe may not be deluded and frustrated of hir due effect and that the law may seeme to be made not for thinges but for wordes when the contrary is rather to be done it may not by any meanes be againe the second time conferred And that which is directly prohibited is not by an other way indirectly to be suffered whensoeuer a thing is forbidden any man one way the same man ought not to be admitted to the same thing an other way And that which a man is forbidden to doc in his owne person he ought not to exercise by a substituted person So that once againe I saie if it might please God to stirre vp the hearts of her Highnesse Commissioners to haue a mature and deliberate consideration of the statute before mentioned they shal find matter sufficient to pronounce a great number of licences faculties and dispensations by law to be meerly voide and of none effect Pag. 150 And so manie benefices to be void and in the hands of her Highnesse vnto whome by lapse right hath accrued to present For by that statute the Archbishoppe hath no power or authoritie to graunt anie other licence facultie tolleration or dispensation then such as before the making of the statute was vsed and accustomed to be had and obtained at the sea of Rome or by authoritie thereof But no licence facultie tolleration or dispensation before that time was had or obtained at the sea of Rome or by authoritie thereof for the Fruits of anie Parish church by way of anie kinde or manner of anie perpetuall dispensation or for anie longer time than for seauen yeares onelie as appeareth by the former Canons and constitutions therefore none other ought heeretofore to haue beene graunted neither though they haue beene graunted are they effectuall or auaileable being graunted A non iudice contra formam iuris scripti ff quod vi aut clam l. prohiberi § plane Extra de reb eccle non alienam c. by one that is no Iudge and against the forme of lawe written Iudex non potest vltra facere quam ei concessum est a lege vel consuetudine A Iudge may not doe beyond that that is graunted him by lawe or custome It is forbidden that Church goods shoulde be alienated without a cause or without authoritie of the superiour If therefore anie alienation be made of Church goodes without a cause and not by authoritie of the superiour the alienation is voide Quae contra ius fiunt debent pro infectis haberi Things done contrarie to law ought to be Cod de leg l. non dubium Cod de pre cib imper offerrend l. 1. accounted as things vndone And againe Sufficit legislatorem aliquid prohibuisse licet non adiecerit si contra factum fuerit non valere It is sufficient that the lawe maker forbidde though hee shall not adde that the thing done contrarie to his prohibition shall be void And againe Pag. 151 Imperiali constitutum est sanctione aperte vt ea quae coÌ„tra legeÌ„ fiunt non soluÌ„ inutilia sed etiam pro infectis habenda sint It is plainly decreed by an imperiall constitution that the things done against the lawes are not onelie vnprofitable but also are to be accounted for things vndone And thus much concerning the causes and circumstances of dispensations for manie benefices It followeth then in the description of a dispensation Glos Extra uagan de pre bend dig c. â—â—â—erabilis ver vltimae as you haue seene that the same ought to be graunted cum causae cognitione with knowledge of the cause the reason is this Duo sunt in dispensatione necessaria authoritas dispensantis fastum per quod dispensatur Nam in quolibet actu considerari debent duo factum modus Two things are necessarie in a dispensation authoritie of the dispenser and the fact whereby he shall dispeace For in euerie act two things are to bee considered the fact and the manner of the fact And therefore a Magistrate hauing authoritie to dispence ought not vpon the bare affection and simple allegation of anie person â—esirons to be priuiledged and to haue the Magistrate to mittigate the rigour and extremitie of common right
high court of parlement to the dispute and graue censure naie to be a theame for euerie flieng pamphlet to iangle and euery ale-bench to ring vpon It is good sound counsell that one giueth about the rules of oratorie that he which is to treat or to wrife of any matter shall deale aduisedlie if he prefir before him continuallie the verie point of the issue whervnto he is to speake least by the course streame of matter vpon matter he be carried from the purpose Which aduise if our author had followed he would not in this diuerse sections followed he would not in this diuerse sections following haue ginen vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quid proquo one thing for another as apothecaries are burdened Wand ring from the ifsue samâ—times to doo For how dooth this follow It is against the law for a man to haue manie benesices Ergo it is against the law to dispense with a man to haue manie benefices or for the reteining of two benefices Naie the contrarie is true followeth well The law in some cases dooth permit a dispensation for reteining of mo benefices considering a dispensation néedeth not but where the rigor or generalitie of law is vpon some occasion to be declared mitigated or released And it can not be called a dispensation or immunitie but where the law is or appeareth to be in generall termes otherwise to the contrarie And it is incident to the libertie and fréedome wherein we are borne that we may without further licence doo that which law dooth not forbid vs in which respect Priuilegium is called Quasi priuata lex a priuat or particular law touching but a few in comparison of those that be within the generall disposition of that lawe which seemeth to be contrarie And therefore by as good pretext and colour of probabilitie he might haue reasoned thus By common right in this land a fellon or traitor condemned is to be executed Ergo it is vnlawfull for the prince to pardon him Or thus By common right all wrecks dedans fellons and outlawes goods léets and views of franke pledge doo belong vnto the crowne Ergo the speciall grants of these and such like from hir Maiestie and hir noble progenitors to sundrie persons and corporations in this realme are vnlawfull and the patentees can not with a good conscience enioy them And againe It is not permitted simplie to euerie man in the land to weare cloth of gold cloth of siluer luzernes sables veluets and silkes Ergo the immunitie granted to great personages to weare these or some of them is vnlawfull So that till our author shall take vpon him to prooue that either the law dooth not permit anie dispensations at all for mo benefices than one vpon anie circumstance or occasion whatsoeuer or else that the law ought not and can not grant anie such immunitie or priuiledge we must follow him vp and downe at rouers speaking to no purpose and in the meane time as the prouerbe is wash an asses head Therefore let vs brieflie looke into his proofes against one mans reteining of mo benefices and into his apodesticall syllogismes collected vpon them as he imagineth His first allegation * c. quia nonnulli Ext. de clericis non resid taken out of the decretals though both it and all other sounding to that purpose be to be vnderstood as shall appeare after of such persons onelie as be not qualified as they ought nor dispensed with as they might dooth yet simplie in it selfe considered make nothing against the practise of our church herein for it prouideth against the couetousnes of such onelie as Being scarse able to discharge one office doo not onelie seeke being vnqualified and vndispensed with to Procure vnto themselues diuers ecclesiasticall dignities but also Diuers parish churches So that it might verie well be applied against such a man being priuie to himselfe how vnworthie he is for the enioieng of anie such extraordinarie fauor and therefore out of hope euer to procure dispensation would De facto for the satisfieng of his gréedie gaine inuade as manie dignities and inferior benefices ecclesiasticall as by hooke or crooke he could anie waie come by For the other * c. 1. de consuetudine in 6. place here quoted cleerelie decideth both that with dispensation a man may reteine lawfullie two personages two dignities prouostships or offices togither with a prebend though all thrée belong to one church so the same be expreslie conteined in such dispensation and also that if the custome of the said church be so he may reteine one personage dignitie prouosiship or office ecclesiasticall togither with a prebend without dispensation And therefore his second or Minor proposition of his first syllogisme where he simplie assumeth that the enioieng of many benefices howsoeuer or by whomsoeuer to be a maintenance of couetousnes is not true nor out of this place confirmed For if it were Causa per se non per accidens tantùm of couetousnes then should the hauing of so much yéerelie liuing as such benefices ioined togither amount vnto be vnlawfull condemned as a necessarie roote of couetousnesse in anie man whatsoeuer And if his first proposition or Maior be vnderstood of a Fallacies for reasons cause or maintenance of couetousnes Perse then hath he made a fallacie Ab. accidente to condemne in his Minor that as simplie mainteining of couetousnesse which onelie by accident and casualtie falleth out to giue an occasion for a couetous mind to worke on But if he meane that euerie thing is vnlawfull which accidentallie may occasion couetousnes then is his Maior vntrue for then gold siluer possessions children and all such externall goods whereby not by any fault in themselues but as by an occasion men be diuerssie drawne into couetousnes should be condemned and abandoned as simplie vnlawfull His second syllogisme is a fallacie Ab eo quod est secundum quid vt simpliciter For his Minor is false if it be vnderstood of those that be both qualified and dispensed with as law prescribeth which he setteth downe as simplie true bicause the canons forbid generallie men not dispensed with therevnto to reteine mo benefices The like is to be said of the third syllogisme whose Minor being propounded simplie as though euerie one though he be dispensed with taking the stipend of mo benefices did take that which is due vnto manie is vtterlie to be denied Except he will saie that as the said stipends haue beene heeretofore seuered vnto mo so they may be againe and therefore are due to many But then séeing he disputeth not according to the same time his argument is faultie vpon the Ignorance of the elench And if his Minor of his fourth syllogisme be vniuersallie taken which it must needs be or else his conclusion will be particular and carrie no shew to his purpose then is the same also as vntrue as the former and to be denied For I doo
manie or more weightie reasons do swaie one waie against fewer or meaner reasons of the other side Secondarilie this happeneth when as one reason and principle is so counterpeised with another to the contrarie that it cannot well be decided whether of them ought to be of more moment As when it was doubted whether in fauour of libertie it were better to permit a yoong man alreadie come to his owne guiding to manumit his bondmen or else to bind him from it till he should atteine the setled ripenesse of xxv yeares of age required to other his alienations It was by Iustinian prouided Feriendo medium bicause of inconuentences that appeared on both sides that he might manumit them at the going into the xviij yeare of his age And this equalitie indifferencie of principles differing as it were euenlie among themselues is that which bréedeth such great diuersitie of iudgements and so manie controuersed opinions in law both In schooles and consistories when men in pondeting and waieng of them are distracted into diuerse opinions thereabouts Whereof rightlie to determine is in truth the cheefest point of maturitie and discretion that may be wished or can be had in a notable iudge And yet herein it offentimes commeth to passe that in respect of right and iustice it is not greatlie materiall whether the one reason or the other be allowed bicause in regard of sundrie circumstances reasons and motions of a mans mind the selfe-same thing may be diuerse waies if not well determined of yet at the least not vniustlie which bicause vnskilfull men doo not vnderstand thinking that vpon euerie externall transmutation of anie matter the inward propertie thereof is changed and haue not learned to conceiue that as in the sea it is not requisite nor skilleth greatlie to haue all men saile iust in one line which go for one hauen or port they doo therefore make great stirre about nothing as some huge volumes of law for want of consideration hereof vainelie written may testifie Thirdlie when as the weight of these contrarie principles about a matter are neither such that one of them may farre surmount the other nor yet of such equalitie but that the one shall something rebate and diminish the force of the other whereby that which directlie cannot be brought to passe is by some circuition otherwise effected As although no law of nature be to the contrarie but I may freelie marrie hiâ— which was betrothed onelie in mariage vnto my brother without solemnization or carnall knowledge yet is this in regard of a kind of externall publike honestie not permitted by law positiue And though reason would that a man should not be damnified by anie contract wherevnto he is inueigled by guile and mal-engine neuertheles it is thought necessarie that he should first by sentence haue his intire restitution vnto that condition which he was in before his circumention And further vpon due consideration of circumstances euen the principles and reasons that be generall doo often yeeld and giue place to those which be but singular ordinarie to extraordinarie internall to externall yea and naturall to such as be but ciuill and positiue though by ordinarie course it be cleane contrarie Which due pondering of circumstances is of such force that it interpreteth offentimes the generalitie of some lawes of God and declareth in some especiall cases the reasons of them to cease though they themselues in generalitie or in Abstracto as others do speake are immutable For though the law of God be generall that he which sheddeth mans blood his blood shall be shed by man that we should doo no murther yet is not the magistrate or executioner of iustice vpon malefactors nor they which in their owne iust and necessarie defense or by chance-medlie and misaduenture doo happen to kill another guiltie of the breach hereof or to be punished with penaltie of death And therefore vpon these and such like circumstances God himselfe did dispense with their life and appointed vnto them certeine cities of refuge as sanctuaries to flie vnto for their safegard So did he by Moses his seruant dispense for the hardnes of their harts with the law of thâ—indissoluble knot of mariage And though by the law of God and of nations all contrectation of another mans goods without the owners consent be theft yet is this matter so qualified and abridged not vnlawfullie with vs in England that an apprentice or seruant which carieth and imbezeleth awaie his maisters goods and wares remaining in his custodie and vnder a certeine value shall not be holden as a theefe or punished as a fellon And it is euident that exceptions doo abridge and limit the generalitie of rules the common law of the land dooth restraine and interpret the Maximes in that law and the statutes and acts of parlement doo cut off the common law But let vs passe from those things which in generalitie being forbidden haue yet their exceptions and vpon the concurrence of some circumstances are exempted from the reasons and generalitie of such lawes Touching his Antecedent which is that The reasons of prohibiting pluralities are drawne from the law of nature and of God which hereby he prooueth bicause they were forbidden For auoiding of couetousnesse ambition theft murther of soules dissolution and for reteining of comlinesse and decencie in the church it hath béene partlie spoken vnto in the beginning of the examination of this treatise Further it is to be remembred that if these inconueniences doo but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for the most part follow the enioyeng of mo benefices by one man or be but Causae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or impulsiue vnto that prohibition for the surer auoiding of such danger then cannot anie sound reason be grounded vpon them to prohibit mo benefices to be reteined by one man both bicause a good man may vse that thing well which might be an occasion of sliding vnto some other not so well staied and also for that the law may remaine where the impulsiue cause thereof ceaseth and of the contrarie such cause may be of force when the law is abrogated But if he will make them necessarie actuall effects arising as of a formall or efficient cause from the reteining of mo benefices and presume necessarilie that all these must needs possesse him that inioyeth them then should this fall out to be so either by reason of the quantitie of the stipend liuelihood arising of them by the quantitie of ground and content of both the parishes by the number of the parishioners of both or by the diuiding of the auditorie whome at seuerall times the minister is to instruct If the quantitie of the liuing and reuenue doo so necessarilie infâ—ct a man with these vices and enormities then should he haue set downe what ought to be the iust measure and standard of euerie ministers yéerelie reuenue which he may not come short of least he want sufficiencie of maintenance nor anie waie
passe or exceed least he fall of necessitie into these damnable vices But if there be such a tax what may be said then of such as albeit they haue two benefices are yet far vnder a mediocritie and which if they might haue six mo of such liuings as they haue should not yet reach vnto the value of some one benefice Shall we saie he which hath but one such great one is free from this danger and he which hath two though neuer so little ones shall be caught with ambition for aspiring to such an high honor and be touched with couetousnes by the great temptation of such notable reuenues as peraduenture will not make his pot séeth twise in a weeke Naie if these sins must necessarilie take hold of him that hath euen two of the fattest in England by reason of the quantitie of the reuenue of them and if the rest of his reasons be also in this point good and effectuall then shall the like stint of liuing in all men as well laie as ecclesiasticall be simplie condemned as being against the law of God and of nature for feare of necessarie staining of them with ambition couetousnes theft murder dissolutenesse breach of order But if the quantitie of ground or number of the parishioners to be instructed be the efficient or formall cause of producing necessarilie such foule effects then should he likewise haue cast out his modell of ground and proportion of euerie flocke which may not be exceeded and should haue shewed vs how farre the large parishes which we haue in sundrie places ought to be shred off lopped pared and therby reduced to the Comelines and decencie which he fansieth And also how this deuise may stand with theirs and his owne platforme which would haue diuerse parishes vnited into one And likewise why one may not haue two parishes by the name of two as some by law therevnto allowed haue at this time as well as by the new guise and deuise to allow the same man three or foure parishes in déed but vnited together and called but one For the Abstractor maketh no difference in this treatise whether the benefices doo ioine together or be disioined by anie distance for he indefinitlie dooth condemne the hauing of mo benefices than one howsoeuer they be situat And herevpon it would follow that it is more méet that all the parishioners though in the foule and short daies of winter how old and crasie soeuer they be of thrée or foure parishes as they be now distinguished should take the paines to assemble themsolues into one place to heare their minister rather than he should come vnto them and teach them at home in their parish churches as they now doo lie in seueraltie But if the diuiding of his auditorie and teaching them at sundrie times be the verie efficient or formall cause of this heape of enormities and the onelie thing which misliketh him then truelie besides that it can not be proued or yet imagined how the diuision of a mans auditorie should make the minister guiltie of such crimes he must also likewise condemne those which doo teach and instruct seuerall families at home and apart from the rest of the bodie of that congregation Also we must hereby disallow all chappels of ease whersoeuer some of which as I haue crediblie heard are in some places 6. 7. or eight miles distant from their parish church And by the like reason if all diuiding of a mans auditorie be so vnlawfull it will follow that the minister is much to be blamed which teacheth not all his parish at one time though in deed necessarie occasions of businesse falling out doo draw sometimes one and sometimes another into other places abroad and doo deteine those which be seruants verie often at home whereby it is not possible to teach them all at once And therefore we may conclude safelie that the hauing of mo benefices dooth not formallie or efficientlie infer anie of those faults which the Abstractor by the misvnderstanding of the canon law would needs inforce and that therevpon the Antecedent of his reason is to be denied And yet further these reasons taken as he saith from the law of God whervpon the prohibition of pluralities is grounded and those second causes of one mans enioieng the stipends of many of his vnabilitie to discharge manie charges of the hinderance of other from dooing good in the church being causes as he affirmeth vntrulie of nature are not simplie and absolutelie alledged by the law as may appeare by the discourse afore as things incident to any enioieng of mo benefices but onelie then when as the partie which so reteineth them is not qualified sufficientlic nor dispensed with therevnto according as law requireth And therefore his collection is a fond Paralogisme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by taking that as simplie and indistinctlie spoken which is limited and restreined onelie vnto certeine offenders of law in that behalfe And he might with as great probabilitie gather bicause coining is by law forbidden as high treason that those who by authoritie are therevnto appointed doo breake that law Or bicause such who seise into their hands fellons goods or wreckes happening in their lordships are vniust men and punishable for taking that which belongeth onelie to hir Maiestie that those therefore are also wrong-dooers who enioy the same by speciall grant or priuilege from hir Highnesse or hir predecessors in reward of theirs or their predecessors good seruice But the Abstractor in effect here confesseth that all these great crimes in the canon law were but obiected against such as reteined mo Benefices without dispensation and therfore by the perfection that is required in vs he would threap kindnesse of vs that for vs to enioy more than one benefice by dispensation is To defend all those horrible sins and impieties as tolerable by dispensation In which respect he asketh vainelie whether A dispensation from a Pope or an Archbishop can make theft no theft c. Wherein though it please him to ioine in the poisoned cankerdnesse of his malicious stomach the pope and the Archbishop together who is I dare sate as far and that is far inough from poperie as the pope himselfe either yet the Abstractor are from christian modestie and charitie Yet if he had but common sense which now is drowned in malice he might haue remembred that a dispensation dooth not make a thing which is simplie vnlawfull to be thereby lawfull but declareth the rigor of some generall positiue law weied with all particular circumstances and the reason thereof vpon especiall grounds considerable in that case and at that time to cease or else worthie to be released and to leese his force as being in such a case without the meaning of the law And yet it is shewed afore that the enormities which he speaketh of are not by law attributed to the hauing of mo benefices simplie but when they are enioted contrarie to law nor euen then as
Iuxta aequum bonum For a g Thom. 2. 2. q. 88. art 10. lawe is established with regard to that which for the most part is good and bicause it happeneth in some cases not to be good it was méet there should be some to declare and determine that in such a case it was not of necessitie to be kept Likewise in this sense of dispensation the same author as he is h Dom. Sotus de iust iure li. 1. q. 7. art 3. alledged dooth define that it is Commensuratio communis ad singula an admesurement or attemperance of a generall vnto his particular or singular circumstances or as some doo read it an attemperance of reason For he rightlie may be said l L sin C. de legib c. cum venissent Ext. de iudicijs to interpret law which declareth whether the matter in hand is included in the said law or no. An example hereof where Gods law is in this sort interpreted and declared not to haue place euen by the positiue lawes of men may be taken from the commandement of God that we shall noâ— kill which is truelie declared not to haue k L. vt vim ff de iust iure place where in necessarie defense of our selues we are driuen to kill rather than be killed vniustlie In the lawe of nature the generall and most vsuall reason requireth that vpon request made I should redeliuer that which in trust you haue recommended to my custodie yet some most iust reasons and considerations may l L. bona fides ff depositi Plato li. 1. Polit. fall out why this should be denied at some time And therefore * Offic. li. 3. Tullie speaking hereof saith that Manie things which naturallie are honest vpon some occasions are vnhonest In most countries they haue a positiue law that a man should not carrie out of the realme any monie armour or weapons yet such occasions vrgent causes may happen that in iustice a man may not be denied to doo this whom the prince will haue to trauell into some dangerous countrie And of this sort of dispensations or declarations of the meaning of law or mixt of them both are all such which the Archbishop of Canturburie by act of parlement is authorized to passe as may appeare in that he is limited onlie to those dispensations which be not against the word of God or lawes of the land and for the most part also to those which vsuallie haue bene granted and in that the qualities of the persons also to whom in some cases he is to grant it are expressed and lastlie bicause if he doo denie to dispense with him which is qualified therevnto and hath need of a dispensation without a sufficient cause and doo so persist this authoritie may be deriued by that act of parlement vnto others So that we sée in effect he is onlie made a iudge herein to examine and wey the inward qualities and sufficiencie of the suter for the dispensation whom if he find fit and a good cause in equitie to warrant it he cannot in iustice put him off but must grant the dispensation vnto him And that none of such dispensations faculties or immunities which are vsuallie passed according to law by the Archbishop of Canturburie are of that sort which be either by the law of God forbidden or yet such as may not haue a necessarie vse so that without manie inconueniences they cannot wholie be abolished may appeare to the wise who can consider of their seuerall vses vpon rehearsall onelie of them and shall be defended God willing by learning and sound reason so to be against the other sort which are factuoustie bent against them As a benefice In commendam to a Bishop who hath a slender maintenance by his Bishoprike a trialitie for a prebend or dignitie being no cure of soules by statute with two benefices hauing cure of soules or a pluralitie for two such benefices to such as excell the common sort in Gods good gifts For take awaie inequalitie or reward and no place will be lest to indeuour for any excellencie in learning of one aboue another in verie short time A legitimation of him to be preferred to holie oâ—ders who was borne out of lawfull matrimonie or before espousals or for a man to succeed his father in a benefice either in respect of the great and excellent gifts in them or vpon some other weightie considerations A dispensation for one aboue eightéene and not xxiij to reteine a prebend being without cure of soules though he cannot be assumed to be a deacon A dispensation for some notable man emploied in hir Maiesties seruice at home or abroad to reteine for his better maintenance a dignitie ecclesiasticall or a prebend of like nature without his residence in that church or entring into orders which is not fit to be made generall to all which haue not like occasions The dispensation for non residence is verie sildome or neuer granted yet the recouerie of a mans health mortall enmitie of some in his parish against him emploiment in some necessarie scruice or publike calling being of as great or greatèr vtilitie to the church and common-wealth may be sufficient inducements in equitie to grant it for a time The dispensation of Perinde valere may haue a necessarie vse where no right is growne to another person for a man that hath incurred ecclesiasticall censures or is made vncapable by law â—ither to reteine or receine an ecclesiasticall benefice as by misaduenture occasioning the death of a man violating the interdiction suspension or excommunication of the church vnaduisedlie or by succéeding his father in a benefice and such like a number In like maner manie necessarie occasions may happen whie a man should be licènced to be ordeined at some other Bishops hands than where he either dwelleth or was borne or to be ordered deacon and minister both at one time or to solemnize matrimonie though the banes haue not béene thrise publikelie asked in the church or to eat flesh on daies appointed by politike constitutions for fish daies or to abolish the infamie or irregularitie of some profitable man in the church growne by law against him vpon ignorance simplicitie or want of due consideration without wilfull contempt Besides this the statute of 25. H. 8. dooth not alone endow the Archbishop with dispensing but to grant rescripts in diuerse néedfull cases namelie for creation of publike notaries and to grant tuitories for the lawfull and indifferent hearing of such as are by iniurie vpon some great displeasure conceiued too rigorouslie and violentlie handled and sought by an inferiour Ordinarie But it may perhaps be said that if to ground such a Dispensation of iustice a iust cause be required then the reason of the lawe in that case ceaseth and thereby the law also ceaseth therein so that a dispensation is not néedfull To which I answer that albeit the reason of the law doo cease and take
possibilitie prooue that which he intends that no dispensation whatsoeuer in any case may be granted but vpon cause and much lesse that Vrgent necessitie and euident vtilitie be those causes and the onlie causes of all dispensations for his owne author Rebuff reckoneth foure causes of this dispensation Or yet that these causes as he gathereth doo signifie nothing else but The well gouerning of the soules of the people But it is not to be omitted that the Abstractor here contrarie to himselfe afore alloweth of dispensations with such lawes whose reasons are grounded vpon the law of nature or of God yea euen to dispense with that which is Vnlawfullie taken onlie by colour Contrarietie to himselfe of an Vnreasonable custome beeing void in lawe First the refusall to receiue moonks to cure of soules who as an ancient father saith had Officium plangentium non docentium were to moorne not to teach and were in those daies meere laie men or the refusall of any other laie man whomsoeuer is grounded vpon that scripture Let no man minister but he that is lawfullie called as was Aaron and let him not be a yoong scholar Yet I must put the Abstractor in mind that he mistaketh the matter when he thinketh that such had dispensation for the Gouernement of a Ignorance in the Abstractor church with cure of soules they remaining still laie men For Exlaico and Ex monacho doo onlie signifie that it was against the generall canons suddenlie without great cause to prefer such from meere laie men to the order of the ministerie and so to a Bishoprike or other cure of soules before they had serued as clearks in other inferior orders and ministrations For by the opinion of Fisher euen at the common * 21. H. 7. 3. law an act of parlement cannot inable a laie man so remaining to become a parson of a church bicause it is a matter meere spirituall although the parlement as Vauisoure thinketh may take order in such spirituall matters as are mixt with temporall causes Likewise the prohibition of ordering the sonne of a professed nonne is grounded vpon those canons of integritie required in all ecclesiasticall men which are set downe by S. Paule which is greatlie blemished and stained by the fault of such parents As for that generall asseueration which without all proofe or weighing of any circumstances he vseth against all inioyeng of mo benefices as simplie vnprofitable at all times to the church when he shall deliuer his proofes of it shall either be answered or yeelded vnto and in the meane time is as easilie reiected as it is by him boldlie auouched But although it did not carrie with it an vrgent necessitie or euident vtilitie of the church yet hereof it dooth not follow that a dispensation to that end is vnlawfull Bicause he can neuer prooue them to be onlie causes of that dispensation for that the law rehearseth diuerse other causes of dispensations in generall and they are gathered by the glosse vpon that verie canon which in this section he alledgeth A dispensation is granted saith the * Gl. in verb. vt plerisque in fine 1. q. c. requiritis glosse when necessitie or vtilitie requireth Infra eo tali Also sometimes a dispensation is granted bicause a greter euill is feared in which respect the Englishmen were dispensed with 35. q. 3c quaedam lex § quod scripsi Also sometimes for some good to insue as when we dispense with heretikes that other may more easilie returne to the church 23. q. 4. c. ipsapietas Also sometimes for the multitude and for auoiding of offense c. vt constitueretur 50. dist And the same canon rehearseth other considerations and inducements to dispense as mercie pietie in the person the circumstance of time and the euent of the matter Insomuch * that another glosse dooth thus gather When as Gl. in verb. causae c. exigun◠1. q. 7. rigor and extremitie is of one part and mercie of the other the iudge ought rather to follow mercie c. 2. Extra de sortileg l. placuit C. de iudic So that it seemeth a dispensation is a due bicause the precept of mercie is common to all c. non satis 86. dist Which I grant that indeed sometimes it is due the iudge should offend which in that case would not dispense though no law be set downe wherby we may demand a dispensation But bicause both schoolemen and some few lawyers who handle this matter doo varie diuerslie one from another and confusedlie speake concerning the causes of dispensations I doo take it woorth the labor vpon due weieng of all their reasons and allegations to reduce them thus brieflie to an harmonie In Dispensations of méere Grace and fauor which are such as the prince may lawfullie gratifie one man in and denie vnto another as are indenizations legitimations pardoning or remitting the penalties for faults not verie heinous there is not anie a L. 1. ff d◠constit princip it Authent quibus mod natur efficiātur legit quibus modis sui C. de sententiā passis necessitie either in court of conscience or in the ciuill court of man to the dispenser or dispensed that they should proceed vpon anie cause more than of méere bountie of the souereigne prince who onelie hath this authoritie seeing it is to be intended that the people and lawes of euery countrie in these and other small matters haue yéelded this b Arg. l. scioff de minoribus power vnto their souereigne princes But touching those Dispensations which are called of Iustice they are conuersant either about the law of God and nature or about the positiue law of man In the lawes of God and nature there is no relaxation of the bond of them which none but God himselfe may doo yet there may be vpon good grounds a declaration and interpretation that the generalitie of the words doo not in deed extend to some especiall cases As although Gods law doo indefinitelie require credit to be giuen to two witnesses yet is this generalitie by mans law rightlie declared not to haue c c. relatum 1. c. cum esses Ext. de testamentis §. 1. instit d. it place where such two witnesses are but children and haue not atteined the yeares of diseretion to accept of an oth By the law of God it is commanded that he that killeth should himselfe be done to death yet d L. v. vim ff de iust iure ibi gl DD. is this truelie interpreted not to haue place where a man killeth in his owne necessarie defense Yea not onelie in the defense of his person is this thought not vnlawfull but e Iason in d. l. qui dicit eā esse comet Diaz reg 597. also in the defense of his goods although f Felni c. 2. Ext. de homicidio some other not so truelie doo hold in this case the contrarie The generall commandement
of absteining from labor in the obseruation of the sabaoth is declared by our sauiour Christ not to bind nor to haue place in the priests occupied about the sacrifices in the temple nor in the necessarie works of christian charitie neither did reach vnto those Iewes who were forced by their enimies watching the opportunitie of that time to fight and defend themselues from violence euen vpon that day And it is in a L. omnes C. deferâ—â—s some cases euen by mans law not wronglie declared to cease The precept of obeieng our parents is aright interpreted to haue no b L. Lucius ff de condit demonstr L. nepos ff de verb. signif L. filius ff de cond instit l. reprehendcÌ„da C. de insti subst ibi DD. place where the father commandeth anie vnlawfull or dishonest thing The commandement of kéeping our oth is not so generall but that it is c L. non dubium C. de legibus l. fin C. de non numer pecu c. non est obligator de reg iuâ— is in 6. declared rightlie to cease where it should otherwise bind vs to performe an vnlawfull thing And although by the law of God and of nature d L. manumissiones ff de institia iure inst de iure personarum euerie man is borne free according to that of the Psalmist Thou hast subdued all things vnder his feet yet hath the law e Ibidem of nations not vngodlilie attempered this and declared bondage vpon good occasions to be lawfull least otherwise those which be ouercome in warre should without mercie be put to the sword For S. Paule saith Art thou bond seeke not to be loosed By the law of nature and of nations traffike betwixt man and man ought to be frée yet hath law positiue f C. ne Iudeus Christ mancipium l. inter stipulanteÌ„ ff de verb. oblig §. sacraÌ„ ibi DD. iustlie declared the said law in some cases to cease It is of the law of nature to haue him called and cited to be present at anie act who may be interessed or preiudiced thereby yet the souereigne prince vpon good cause vsing that right which is in him although it may indirectlie turne to the harme of another may g Gl. in l. anâ—ep ff ex quibus causis maior quà m dicit com approbari Fely c. eccles Ext. de constitut infranchise another mans bondslaue the maister not being called By which examples it appeareth that albeit princes and other iudges who are all inferior to the law of God and of nature cannot dispense with them vpon anie cause by releasing the bond of them yet vpon good and sufficient grounds in such cases as be euidentlie of that nature which by most strong arguments we may gather that God himselfe would not haue included in the generalitie of his law interpretation declaration and limitation may be made of them And this is one kind of a Decius coÌ„s 112. in c. que in ecclesiarum Ext. de costiâ—utionibus dispensation of iustice largelie so called whereby the bond of the law is not released but the law is interpreted in such case not to haue place according to the true meaning of it But yet with this moderation that we neuer so intend and presume for the sufficiencie of the causes where vpon such declaration of the law of God and of nature is supposed to be grounded but that for stopping of a dangerous step vnto tyrannie and blasphemie proofes to the contrarie must alwaies be admitted if anie may be brought Now in that other member of Dispensations of iustice more properlie so called which are bestowed about the positiue lawes of man we haue to obserue two seuerall varieties One is when the generall force and obligation of the law remaining yet the reason thereof in some particular case dooth cease which may and ought to be by the souereigne prince or other inferiour iudge so declared Another is when as the law is grounded vpon diuerse reasons For then though one or two of such reasons doo cease yet in regard of those reasons thereof which doo remaine the law shall still reteine his force Nay though the positiue law of man be enuious as b L. vnica C. de caducis tollend was Lex Papia verie c L. prospexerit ff qui a quibus grieuous and hard or such as the reason thereof is wholie ceased yet shall the disposition and life of it continue and howsoeuer the execution thereof perhaps may be intermitted yet is not the law thereby taken awaie and extinguished but is d L. vnica in principio C. de caduc tollend onelie Sopita as it were laid asleepe for a time So that if the like necessitie happen for the which such a law was first established it shall reuiue againe without anie new enacting which it e L. inter slipulantem §. sacram ff de ver oblig could not doo if it were wholie extinguished For otherwise if euerie priuate man might take vpon him to decide when and how the reason of his superiors law dooth wholie cease and that thereby the law might be said to be extinguished and abrogated which kind of interpretation * L. fin C de legibus dooth onlie belong to the souereigne prince or to such as he committeth it vnto then verelie in this last case there should need no dispensation though in the meane time such libertie would bréed a great confusion and an open contempt of all lawes Howveit I haue declared alreadie that wheresoeuer the generall law dooth remaine though in some particular case it doo cease that there as in the other cases here alledged this Dispensation is needfull and ought not in right to be denied for the which cause it is also called A dispensation of iustice Besides these there is a third kind of dispensation mixt of both as taking some part of that which is called Of grace bicause he that hath authoritie to dispense hereby is not in waie of iustice preciselie compellable to grant it and borrowing other some part of that which is called Of iustice bicause this ought not to be granted simplie but vpon iust cause by reason that the positiue lawes of man about which onelie this dispensation is conuersant by common intendement are enacted for some publike vtilitie and benefit So that without good ground a man ought not to be exempted from the generall charge of the common-welth which other are to suffeine speciallie when such his exemption shall be burdensome to others This last sort of dispensations may be defined to be A release in some especiall case and certeine persons of the generall bond and reason of a positiue law by him that hath authoritie therevnto And this authoritie must either be committed expreslie or is couertlie implied to be attributed vnto a souereigne prince either by the operation of the law as when * L. d. C. de legibus
such souereigne is the lawgiuer himselfe or by presumed intention that they which made the law meant to yeeld power of dispensing with the rigor and extremitie of it vnto him in all * Arg. ex gl §. fina l. tale pactum ff de pactis such cases as by likelihood and probabilitie they themselues would haue dispensed with if they had bene in particular it ie opened and recounted vnto them at the first establishing of it But an inferiour vnto whom anie such authoritie is expresselie yet without full power and authoritie committed is to follow in all points the direction of his commission or where the same is defectiue the common positiue law concerning the ruling and guiding of such dispensations And this same presumed intention of the meaning of the lawemakers is the most proper cause that in my iudgement can be assigned generallie of euerie dispensation of this qualitie and condition Now when a c. si quis culpatur 23. q. 1. c. in pres de renunciat gl in c. ad aures de temp ord in c. 2. de maior obed Cynus Bart. in l. fin C. Si contra ius vel vtil Fely nu 60. Dec. nu 24. in c. quae in cccle Ext. de constitut a souereigne prince dooth dispense with any positiue law of man the lawe teacheth vs to intend and presume both that there is a cause why he should so doo and that the same cause is iust and sufficient insomuch that b Anchor cons 288. Fulgos cons 143. Loazes pag. 371. no proofe to the contrarie of this presumption may be admitted as some doo hold but if he doo dispense with such a law of man as hath some necessarie and neere coherence with the law of God or of nature as for example sake we may assigne lawes for distribution of almes and other beneficence to the poore godlie bequests and deuises of the dead vnto good vses without a good and sufficient cause in déed though both the dispenser and he which is dispensed with in vsing of it doo in the inward court of conscience and before God offend yet neuerthelesse that verie relaxation of the bond there of being onlie of man shall stand so farre foorth good and effectuall as that the acts c Fely vt supra nu 6. Bart. post gl in l. relegati ff de poenis which by vertue thereof are doone shall be in the court of man auailable and not to be impugned Yea by the opinion of some verie well learned such acts doone shall be of force d Syluest rer Papa que 15 euen in the inward court of a mans soule and conscience For example wherof they bring a dispensation granted without any cause for the mainteining and sirengthening of a clandestine matrimonie contracted which is condemned iustlie by the law of man vpon verie good and pithie reasons And howsoeuer both the parties themselues saie they haue offended therin first in so contracting then in vsing a dispensation vpon no iust ground and he also that shall condescend to dispense with it being mooued with no good reason therevnto yet the matrimonie shall be of force and the issue thereof is in both courts legitimate And whereas a Fortun in l. Gallus §. quid si tantū ff de l. post some doo seeme to be of contrarie opinion héerein which thinke such a dispensation granted without cause not to enable any act to be of force which is done by vertue thereof their opinion is thought not to be sound except it be vnderstood of an inferiour that shall by commission haue a limited and not full authoritie from the souereigne to dispense b Innoc. in c. cum ad monasterium de statu regulaerium in c. dudū 2. Ext. de electio bicause such a dispensation from him cannot be of any validitie either in the one court or the other except it be warranted as procéeding vpon some good cause For we are not by law to presume and intend for the goodnesse and sufficiencie of the c Fely in c. que in ecclesiarum Ext. de constitut gl DD. in L. relegati ff de poenis est com opinion Loazes in loco citato cause for any dispensation passed by an inferiour not endowed with full power and authoritie vnlesse it doo so appeare indéed Now on the other side if he that hath authoritie be he souereigne or inferiour doo grant a dispensation without any reasonable cause about such a law as is méerelie positiue and hauing none immediate or néere relation vnto the law of God or of nature then albeit he in so dispensing d Ber. in c. non est Ext. de vnto Thom. 1. 2. q. 97. ar 4. dooth offend by breaking that right and equabilitie of the law intended to publike good and which is common to all in fauour of one yea and that without any iust cause of preheminence to him aboue other yet he that vseth such dispensation especiallie if it be without greeuous offense giuen and direct damage of others dooth not e Gl. in ver execrabilis Ext. execrab de praebend Fely c. ad audientiam 2. de rescriptis Gigas de pensi q. 6. nu 13. offend against a good conscience but may lawfullie inioy it bicause he is by the same authoritie deliuered from the bond of that law by the which he stood bound as is euident in the verie matter of pluralitie and dispensation which we haue in hand And according to these distinctions are all those things to be vnderstood which to like purpose here and there in this treatise as occasion was or shall be offered are by me vttered whereby the grounds and causes wherevpon all dispensations and exemptions may lawfullie and safelie be granted and vsed according to the more sound opinion of the best learned lawyers and schoolemen may partlie I hope with some plainenesse be discouered But if it should be asked in which degrée and sort of these three dispensations those for pluralities which by statute of the realme are committed to the Archbishop of Canturburie ought to be placed Truelie in consideration that both they and other dispensations by him to be granted are there so bounded for the matters themselues and for the persons though not for the maner of procéeding are so exacted of him to passe them where iust cause appeareth that if he shall refuse to dispense then this power and authoritie giuen by the whole church and the realme to him shall be deuolued ouer to others I cannot see but that they are to be reckoned either amongst those Dispensations of iustice which are conuersant about the positiue lawes of man or amongst such as be mixt of both 14. Section Pag. 129 130 131 132 133 134 135. HEere the Abstractor fansieth that he hath so battered vs with his canons that we must be forced to raise a rampier of our statutes to make vp the breach whereas in truth
answers before made may suffice The first of them he would prooue by similitude of other matters wherein a bare allegation without proofe is not sufficient Which though it might well be spared as being nothing doubtfull nor necessarilie concludent to his purpose yet I must tell him that his quotations in the margent doo not warrant that which is in the discourse For * Bartol in l. 1. C. de probat Bartol in the place quoted onelie saith that the plaintiffe is to prooue his action as the defendant is his exception The place quoted out of the Authentikes Collat. § teneantur and the next Glos Doct. in proem l. 6. are new-found directions which I cannot for my part skill of except by the latter of them he shuld meane the preface vpoÌ„ the Sext where yet no such thing is found That Of restitution of a church damnified wanteth wholie proofe where he saith The like is verified of him that is dispossessed of his goods in the time of his absence beyond the seas and thereto quoteth or ment to quote C. consultationibus Ext. de offic delegati He is to vnderstand that no such thing to any like purpose is there verified but that If a man pretended himselfe to haue beene eiected out of possession through wrong or force by some that is then trauelling abroad about studie or such necessarie occasion that possession may not be awarded in this case vnto him Touching the next and second point though the dispensations we handle were such as ought to be granted according to the strict course of proceeding in lawe yet one of the foure causes which is sufficient being so easie to be prooued as he himselfe dooth confesse we shall not need to expect a concurrence of them all as he must either here haue insinuated to be requisite or else must yeeld that he talketh impertinentlie to the matter Yet both necessitie and vtilitie to haue beene looked vnto in these dispensations may be shewed though not in the prerogatiue court amongst wils and administrations as he gesseth nor yet as arising by Not teaching the people as he calmuniousâ—ie dooth suggest But bicause it is more profitable for the people of two parishes to haue a learned man sometimes to instruct them and he thereby to be well mainteined than that they should be committed to two seuerall men though abiding with them continuallie yet not able to preach to anie purpose vnto them And both the consecution hereof and the thing it selfe considering the number of congregations and the raritie in comparison of them all of able preachers in England is or may be notorious to the world Yea and they are forced to take the like course for want of able preachers in other reformed churches abroad as in Holland Zeland and other places at this day where I wis they haue not all their ministers learned and able preachers but sundrie simple though godlie artisans to serue in their meaner congregations And if he tell vs here it were better in this case to haue an vnion though this cannot so be cast that either the people may or will come togither to one place but that euen then there must be chapels for easier resort in winter and for the elder and weaker sort at all times which is all one in effect with Pluralitie séeing the auditorie receiueth partition yet it were more thanke-worthie in him or in any other that could deuise a plat not onelie how all these and other difficulties and the inconueniences of innouation may be met with in these vnions but also the meanes how it might be compassed that patrones should willinglie relinquish their inheritance herein or ioine it according to this deuise with others Per alternas ternas aut quaternas vices or how it may stand with reason to breake the founders and testators wils in this case more than in the other In his entrance into the third point he contrarieth his Contrarietie owne saiengs as well afore where he assured the commissioners they should find Manie dispensations vpon omission of some circumstances to be void and thervpon their benefices void as here where he saith The most part of dispensations to be nothing in effect at all For here he alledgeth manie lawes onelie to prooue that such faculties ought to be reuoked and made void in lawe and so confoundeth Void in law and voidable onelie by law But to this third point I answer Insomuch the Archbishop hath by statute Full power and authoritie by his discretion to dispense whereby sufficient cause is alwaie presumed and he not tied to all these solemnities and circumstances and for that neither the places by the Abstractor afore alledged doo make a dispensation simplie void where such circumstances be omitted and bicause manie things may be done in other forme and maner than law prescribeth which are not in that respect void and adâ—â—hilate as hath béene shewed in the first treatise and lastlie bicause the allegation of these omissions is a matter in fact and by himselfe but surmised without proofe that although all his allegations of law here were directlie to his purpose that yet these dispensations are neither void nor voidable But in the fourth and last place he presseth vs with authoritie of The Lords seruants who speake against them preach against them and write against them Indeed a man may be the Lords seruant and so doo though thereby it dooth not follow that either they doo well and aduisedlie therein or that they perfectlie vnderstand the matter and the exigence of the cause or that therefore the thing is impious and wicked I haue knowne as great greater exclamation vsed against meere indifferent things now by them confessed so to be as though they had béene either simplie impious or so fowlie abused that they could not haue any tollerable vse euen by as godlie and learned men as these are which now he speaketh of But it is the abuse of some few carelesse men and not of the matter it selfe which giueth occasion of that offense which is taken and it were vnreasonable bicause caterpillers some yeare haue bred in your orchards in that respect to hew downe all your trees The philosopher saith Whatsoeuer hath his vse may be abused sauing vertue And so whatsoeuer may be abused being not simplie vicious and wicked may be well vsed And it is not the continuall aboad amongst their parishoners which none of them all doo nor the often but the sound orderlie and pithie preaching vpon necessarie points that dischargeth the dutie of the pastor who may be in truth as bad as Non resident though he were continuallie nailed to the pulpit as Luther once pleasantlie spake of Pomeran And those which by following this theame doo shoot at nothing else but to tie vp a good and learned diuine to a petit and meane salarie by yeare let them be assured that desolation of the exact studie of diuinitie and other good learning whereby onelie