their own Nature as all the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Ghost whether ordinary or extraordinary or whether they be such by Divine Institution and that either as Instruments and Means for working Spiritual Effects as the Word the Sacraments the Spiritual Offices in the Church Vocation Ordination Authority to exercise these Offices and the Exercise or Administration of Spiritual Things thereby or as Ministeries and Helps to Spiritual Things as Things Consecrated and Devoted and Benefices and Maintainances set apart for the utility and support of Spiritual Offices with the Presentations Rights and Titles thereto c. All buying or selling or bargaining I say about any of these things is Simony and a grievous Sin in the sight of God in that it doth put to a Price these Gifts of God which are not the subject of Merchandise That buying or selling of any of these things save of the last kind falls under the Sin of Simony is scarce doubted by any But as for the Matters of Benefices and Church-maintainances and things set apart to serve Spiritual Offices there be many whose Interest prompts them to cavil upon that Subject And because these things are in their own Nature things Temporal therefore they are bold to argue That all such things with their Rights and Presentations and Titles thereto may be bought and sold at least the buying or selling thereof falls not under the Guilt of Simony But hereunto I Answer First If we consider these things in their own Nature as separate from the Spiritual Office and Use to which they are appointed they be things Temporal indeed and so are vendible yet by Virtue of the Annexation and Dedication to the Ministery of such an Office they become things Spiritual and so not Vendible For this altereth the Nature thereof Even as the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist are in their own Nature and whilst separate from the Sacrament things Temporal and may be bought and sold but when by Consecration they are set apart for that spiritual and sacred Use of the Sacrament they change the Nature of Temporal Things and are no more Vendible Thus things Devoted before they were Devoted were but Temporal and so Vendible But being once Devoted they could not so much as be altered or changed the Lord himself hath said Levit. 27.10 28. Every Devoted Thing is most holy unto the Lord. 2dly Whatsoever Benefices or such things as minister to Spiritual Offices and Uses may be as to the Matter yet in regard of their Connexion as I have said they become Spiritual as being Consecrated and Devoted to God so as no Merchandise can be made thereof without Usurpation upon God's Right and Violation done to his Divine Majesty in regard he hath avouched these things as Sacred and Holy to himself as is evident in the 27th Chapter of Leviticus where the Lord asserteth his Propriety in the things Devoted and in the Tythes set apart for the Maintainance of the Priests and Levites saying of every such thing It is most holy unto the Lord. Levit. 27.28 30. So that whosoever transacts by way of buying or selling for Benefices or any part of the Church-livings or Stipends dedicated for the Ministery of Spiritual Offices cannot shun to incur the Guilt either of Simony or Sacrilege If it be done meerly in contemplation of the Benefice without intuition to the Office but only that the Buyer may enjoy the Church-Revenue without any purpose to exercise or discharge the Office to which it is annexed he who either buyeth or selleth a Benefice so becomes guilty of gross Sacriledge in that he disjoineth and separateth what God hath join'd together and comes under that Increpation and Curse uttered from the Mouth of the Lord by Malachy against those that rob God saying Will a Man rob God Mal. 3.8 9. yet ye have robbed me But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee In Tythes and Offerings Ye are cursed with a Curse for ye have robbed me even this whole Nation And is liable to that Woe which is denounced against those that eat the Fat Ezek. 34.2 3. and clothe themselves with the Wool but feed not the Flock But if a Man make any such Bargain in order to the Office intending that in regard of the Connexion that the Benefice hath with the Office by a Title to the one the Buyer may come to the other he is guilty of Simony As when one buyeth a Presentation or Title to a Benefice whereby he may come to be invested with a Spiritual Office and so having the Office may enjoy the Benefice whosoever doth so incurs this Guilt because he not only buys a Benefice which being annexed to a Spiritual Office is Spiritual and Sacred as being a thing whereunto God lays a Claim of Propriety but also by that Bargain he comes to be invested with a Spiritual Office And therefore 3dly With good Reason I may say That whosoever buys or sells a Benefice or Presentation thereto buys and sells the Office also For it is a known Maxim Causa causae est causa causati That which is the Cause of the Cause is the Cause also of the Effect Now the Money which the Buyer pays to the Seller is the Cause which procures the Presentation the Presentation procures Ordination and Ordination the Office and so the Money answereth all and being the Cause of the Presentation is the Cause also of the Office which without the Presentation is not attain'd Wherefore Lombard says well Quisquis horum alterum vendit Lib. 4. Senten Dist 25. sine quo alterum non habetur neutrum invenditum derelinquit Whosoever sells the one of these things without which the other is not enjoy'd leaves neither of them unsold And what is said I suppose may be sufficient to make any Person who pretends to Religion blush to plead in behalf of such Simoniacal Transactions CHAP. II. Of the several Ways whereby the Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in the Entrance upon a Spiritual Office THAT the buying and selling or the making Merchandise of Sacred and Spiritual Things is the sin of Simony I have shewed and how hainous a sin it is I shall afterwards God willing more fully shew Only before I proceed I cannot tell if I shall need to warn That howsoever it was Money that Simon Magus offered and that it was for this that the Apostle condemn'd him that he thought the Gift of God could be purchased with Money that none therefore suppose for I think none so ignorant as to suppose so that the Guilt of Simony cannot be incurr'd unless Money be told in the bargain But whereas many other things may be commensurate by Money and there be much Merchandizing and many sorts of Transactions in buying and selling where things of other Species come in the room of Money and become the Price of what is bought and sold Therefore every gainful Transaction and every Compact or Bargain whereby any thing is
yielded given or received as a Price intended for the purchase of Spiritual Things is a Sinful and Simoniacal buying and selling thereof no less than if Money were paid for the same And whereas there be many ways whereby the guilt of this Sin may be incurr'd that every one who fears God and hath zeal for his Church may keep their Hands undefil'd therewith I shall here lay before their Eyes the several ways whereby Men may chance to split thereupon at least I shall set down so many ways thereof as unto which all others may be easily reduc'd and within the compass whereof he who is any way guilty shall find himself either explicitely or implicitely included It is then to be considered That the guilt of Simony may be incurr'd either by a mercenary Entrance into a Spiritual Office or by a mercenary Exercise or Administration of Spiritual Things in that Office As to the Entrance upon a Sacred or Spiritual Office Men may incur this Guilt either as Principal Agents or as Abettors and Instruments therein and participant with them Those who come first under our View are the Principal Agents And a Man as such may incur this Guilt three ways to wit either in affectu in the inward Affection or in conatu in the Endeavour or in effectu in the external Effect or Deed. First There is a Guilt of Simony in affectu in the Affection or Will when a Man hath an inward Desire or Purpose of Heart and Intention either to buy or sell any Sacred Office or Spiritual Thing by any Compact or Condition for Money or any thing answerable thereto And therefore as I have told before it is defin'd by the School-men and Canonists to be Studiosa voluntas vel cupiditas c. An earnest Will and Desire of buying or selling Spiritual Things And this very Desire and Purpose in the Heart of Simon Magus did the Apostle Peter look upon as such a sin that he uttered against it this very Increpation Thy Money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the Gift of God may be purchased with Money And Thy Heart is not right in the sight of God And therefore it is rightly observed by the Canonists Bernard Compost in Decret Greg. 9. de Sim. cap. 34. That Intentio facit hominem Simoniacum The Intention renders a Man guilty of Simony I do not say That the Desire or Purpose of the Heart to have a Spiritual Office is either Simony or Sin For the Apostle Paul saith 1 Tim. 1.3 If a Man desire the Office of a Bishop he desireth a good Work But to desire to come thereto in the way of Bargaining or by Bribery that is the Sin that by a preposterous way he will buy from the Hand of Man what he should wait for from the Hand of God And a Desire to enter thus before God open the Door is no doubt for an evil end and with an Eye more to Preferment or Gain than to God's Glory 2dly The Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in Conatu exprimente affectum in the Endeavour whereby the Affection or Desire is expressed or manifested And thus whosoever use any Endeavours to purchase by Money Bribes or such unlawful Means a Place or Office in the Church or to procure a Presentation Title or Order thereto whether these Endeavours produce the effect of their Desire or not they are guilty of Simony whether they be the Buyers or the Sellers It was but a frustraneous Endeavour that Simon used when he offer'd the Apostles Money it was neither accepted nor did he thereby attain his end yet was he therefore condemn'd by Simon Peter And it was but in vain Numb 16.9 10 32. that Korah conspir'd with Dathan and Abiram by Force and Tumult to be possessed of the Priest's Office and yet not only did Moses rebuke him for it but the Lord also by a visible Judgment condemn'd the Attempt And whosoever use such Endeavours their Heart is not right in the sight of God Hence it is that all Offers Promises Conditions Compacts Insinuations Force or Fraud and all subdolous Arts and Machinations whereby Men aspire to Sacred Offices or go about to obtain the same being such Endeavours as do express their inward Simoniacal Affection and Desire are justly condemn'd as Simony As by the 4th Council of Toledo They are condemn'd as unworthy of the Priestly Office Concil Tolet. 4. Can. 8. Qui Honorem illum muneribus obtinere moliuntur Who do but endeavour to obtain that Honour by Gifts And the Canonists determine That Sola promissio est Simonia Bernard Compost in Decret Greg. 9. De Simonia cap. 12 34. The Promise alone is Simony and that no Offer or Paction or Condition in Spiritual Things is free from this Vice And therefore Athalaricus that Gothick King of Italy about the Year 531. having by that Edict of the Marble Table condemn'd Simony He doth also by his confirmation of the Decree of the Senate against it Epist ad Johan 22. in Concil Tom. 2. Part. 1. condemn those as Simoniacal Persons who should be found rei ambitus guilty of going about or ambitiously compassing or by fraudulent Machinations studying to enter upon Places in the Church and denounceth them Infamous So then whosoever should go about to invade an Office in the Church by such ways as Vigilius did the Papal Chair who by Calumny and Force extruded his Predecessor Silverius and by dishonest Promises made to Theodora Augusta of Favour to an Heretick got himself Promoted or by such an Artifice as Benedictus Cajetanus called afterwards Boniface the Eighth went about to mount to the same Place whilst by a counterfeit Voice transmitted thorow a Wall by an hollow Engine as if it had been an Angel or some Divine Warning from Heaven he so abused the Simplicity of Caelestinus his Predecessor as he made him betake himself to an Hermitage to make room for him whosoever I say should go about by any such kind of ways either of Force or Fraud to enter whether they should prove successful or not even upon the account of these dishonest Endeavours they were justly to be reputed Simoniacal Persons 3dly The Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in effectu in the Effect or Deed and that is when Persons by any real Bargain Compact or Condition do buy and sell or make Merchandise of any Spiritual Benefices and Offices in the Church Whosoever doth so whether it be he that is to receive the same or the Patron that gives Title or he that Ordains and Consecrates or he that hath any kind of Right or Suffrage in Election he is guilty of Simony And whereas this may be done either by real Money or other things commensurate by Money or by what may stand one in as good use as Money therefore does Gregory the Seventh and the School-men observe Greg. 7. Lib. 6. Epist 34. Thom. 22ae qu. 100. Art 5. Durand Lib. 4. Dist 25.
qu. 4. That the Sin of Simony may be committed in the Effect or Deed these three ways which are comprehensive of all others to wit Aut munere à manu aut à Lingua aut ab Obsequio By a Gift either by the Hand or by the Tongue or by Homage or Service First This Sin may be committed by a Gift or Bribe à Manu by the Hand that is by Transaction for Money or for any thing Moveable or Immoveable which comes in the room of Money as a Price laid out of the Hand for the thing transacted Thus when any Person doth purchase a Presentation and Title to a Spiritual Office or Ecclesiastick Charge or procures Ordination thereto or obtains Suffrages for his Election by Money or any Gift or Bribe whatsoever given by himself or others in his behalf or when any Patron bestows a Presentation or any Bishop or Ordinary gives Ordination or any Man gives his Voice for Election to such an Office upon the condition of receiving any Money Gift or Bribe such are in effect guilty of palpable Simony For if it was sin in Simon Magus to offer the like much more is it in effect to give or receive it For this is not the way that God will have his Priests made but the way after which by the contrivance of Jeroboam as Abijah upbraids him the Priests of the High Places were made 2 Chron. 13.9 that whosoever came to Consecrate himself or as it is according to the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Implendum to fill his Hand with a Young Bullock and seven Rams the same might be a Priest of them who are no Gods And therefore all such Transactions for such Offices by Money Gifts or Bribery are justly condemn'd as gross Simony So concludes the Canon-Law of him who by Paction obtains a Right from a Patron Decretal Greg. 9. De Simonia cap. 20. Si Ordinandus praesentatori suo c. If he who is to be Ordained give unto him who Presents him any thing by way of Paction it is a Simoniacal Bargain So likewise De Simonia cap. 11. when one practiseth by a Paction with any of the Clergy for the bestowing of Offices in the Church or with any Prince or Laick Person by Money to give consent or to further his Election to a Bishoprick or any High Place in the Church he falls under the Sentence of a Simoniacal Person And upon this Account likewise the bestowing of a Presentation with a Reservation of any Portion of the Benefice or with a Paction of yielding some yearly Benefit thence is justly concluded to be Simony So says the Third Lateran Council Append. Concil Lateran 3. Part. 49. Cap. 7. Res Sacraut possideatur c. Whilst for the obtaining of the Enjoyment of a thing Sacred any thing is given or promised or somewhat upon that account is retain'd it appears to be Simony And so says Aquinas Thom. 22ae qu. 100. Art 4. Si Episcopus ab eo cui Beneficium confert c. If a Bishop from him upon whom he bestows a Benefice require any thing of the Fruits of that Benefice it is all one as if he should exact from him a Bribe and is not free of Simony For as say the Canonists Bernar. Compostel in Decret Gregor 9. De Simon Cap. 45. Remissio juris c. A passing from that Right which should befall one by Virtue of a Presentation is as much as to give something And who knows not that in such cases Remissio juris proprii cadit sub rationem pretii A Man 's yielding up of his own Right is of the same nature with a Price paid for what he Transacts about And the Council of Turon condemns the Advancing of any to the Government of Churches Sub annuo pretio Can. 5. for a Yearly Rate as a making of the Priesthood Vendible And upon the same account the bestowing of a Presentation or the giving of Ordination with a Condition whereby the Hands of the Person Presented or Ordain'd are bound up from Suing his Patron or Ordinary for any farther just Provision is justly judged and condemn'd as Simony Decretal Gregor 9. De Sim. cap. 45. Si quis Ordinaverit c. If any Man Ordain or Present to Ordination any Person taking of him a Promise or Oath that he shall not trouble him for his Provision they are by the Law made liable to severe Censures And by the Second Aurelian Council Can. 3. Lib. 1. cap. 11. and by the Council of Paris under Gregory the Fourth the exacting of Money or any thing else for Elections or Ordinations is condemn'd as Simony and as ungodly Corruption and execrable Impiety And thus it appears how Simony is incurr'd by a Gift of the Hand 2dly Persons may fall under the Guilt of this Sin munere á Lingua by a bribing Tongue For Bribery may be practised as well with the Tongue as with the Hand and by the one as well as by the other a Man may be brought in a Snare Thus Absalom by his fair Tongue 2 Sam. 15. bribed the Affections of the Men of Israel and by stealing away their Hearts thereby ensnar'd them in a course of Rebellion and Treason against his Father And thus by the Peoples Tongues was Saul brib'd to spare Agag and the fat Cattel of the Amalekites and so was ensnared in the sin of Rebellion against God fearing lest if he should not have hearkned to their Voice he should have lost their Favour and incurr'd their Hatred Therefore said he to Samuel I feared the People 1 Sam. 15.24 and obeyed their Voice And so when by Complement or Flatteries or by Minaces or Threats or to gratifie the Intreaties or Solicitations or Importunities of carnal Friends or great Persons for conciliating their Favour or for fear of incurring their Displeasure one is moved to Present Ordain or Advance any Person to a Spiritual Office without consideration of his Worth or to prefer any by Partiality he falls under this Guilt of Simony by the Tongue For as the Canonists rightly conclude Favor vel gratia vel odium Bernard Compost in Decret Gregor 9. De Sim. cap. 14. succedit loco pretii Favour or good Will or Hatred in such cases falls in place of a Price And I am sure to promote one upon such carnal Respects agrees not well with that Apostolical Canon which the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and charg'd him before God and his Angels 1 Tim. 5.21 22. to observe without preferring one before another doing nothing by Partiality and saying Lay Hands suddenly on no Man neither be partaker of other Men's Sins From which how he keeps his Hands pure who to gratifie the Solicitations and Importunities of carnal Friends inconsiderately advanceth a Man to a Spiritual Office I see not Yet this is not so to be understood as if all Intercessions in Affairs of this nature were either Simoniacal
or Sinful but it must be considered whether the Person in whose behalf Friends do interceed and intreat for be a Person worthy that is Holy and well Qualified for such a Sacred Function or unworthy and unsuitable for it If he be unworthy then certainly he sins hainously who interposeth in his behalf For he sacrificeth the Glory of God and the Blood of poor Souls to the interest of his unworthy carnal Friend or Favourite and so doth he who to gratifie Man is mov'd by Intreaties to invest him with such an Office But if the Person be worthy then he who interceeds for him must consider upon what Principle he doth so If it be out of a pious Affection to the good of the Church and a well-grounded Hope of his being a good Instrument for the Glory of God upon such a ground one may not only without sin but very commendably recommend such a Person and even use Entreaties and Solicitations for his Advancement to such an holy Function nay and so much the rather if he be a Person in whom he hath an Interest of natural Relation For Religion doth no way weaken but rather corroborates the Bonds of natural Affection Neither doth such Dealing want Precedents which may sufficiently warrant it Acts 18.27 The Brethren at Ephesus did recommend Apollo by Letters to the Brethren in Achaia intreating them to receive him The Apostle Paul recommended Epaphroditus to the Philippians as likewise Marcus Philipp 2.29 30. the Sister's Son of Barnabas Colos 4.10 did he recommend to the Colossians Nay and though carnal Affection was no ingredient in our Saviour's Choice of his Disciples yet it is manifest that John his Cousin according to the Flesh was taken into the number and is more than once called Joh. 13.23 and 19.26 and 20.2 and 21.20 The Disciple whom Jesus loved But though the Person for whom one interceeds be never so worthy yet if his Intercessions for him proceed not from a Religious but only from a carnal Principle to promote a worldly Design then is the Intercessour guilty of this Simony by the Tongue whilst his End therein is not to serve the Lord Jesus Christ but only a carnal Interest Moreover Some Parents it may be may have in their pious Intentions design'd a Child to the Ministry of God's House as Hannah did her Samuel 1 Sam. 1.11 28. choosing rather to have him serve God at the Sacred Altar than in any Secular Employment and upon this Account have studied to have him qualified for that work Now for such a Parent when occasion offereth to interpose for a Child whom he finds competently endowed with Gifts and Graces for the same to have him placed in the Sacred Function not designing it meerly as a Trade of Lucre and Livelihood is not only lawful but laudable as it was in Hannah 1 Sam. 2.20 21. whom Eli praised for this Devotion and for which the Lord rewarded her with the Blessing of more Children Nay he who out of zeal to the Glory of God in the simplicity of his Heart not with a covetous Eye to Gain nor with an ambitious Eye to Preferment hath made it his study to furnish himself for the holy Ministery of the Church may even lawfully offer himself and express his Desires to those who have Right and Title to advance him thereto so he do it modestly and without a preposterous thrusting himself upon the Sacred Function For to this he hath the approbation of the Apostle saying 1 Tim. 3. â— If a Man desire the Office of a Bishop he desireth a good Work And so his Desire is good Pastor Part. 1. Cap. 8. if it proceed as Gregory saith A zelo Charitatis Divinitus excitato from a zeal of Charity stirr'd up by God And for any to comply with the desire of such a Person upon the consideration of his Worth is neither Simoniacal nor Sinful 3dly The third way of Bribery whereby the Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in Deed is Ab obsequio by Homage or Service Thus he who either for the present or by any Obligation for the future doth Service or Homage or by any good Offices ministers to the Interests of Man upon design to procure his own Advancement to a Spiritual Office is guilty of Simony as the Buyer and so is he as the Seller who upon the account thereof promotes him thereto For whilst by such Service the one bribeth and the other is bribed it is all one as if the Merchandise were made by Money When Jacob did purchase his Wives by his Service from Laban they accounted themselves as sold for Money Gen. 31.15 And so the Homage or Service which one payeth for Spiritual Things is nothing else but the Money of Simon Magus transmitted with another Impression from a different kind of Mint Therefore says the Canon Law Simoniacum est Decret Gregor 9. De Sim. Cap. 12. pro temporali obsequio Beneficium clesiasticum promittere To promise an Ecclesiastical Benefice for Temporal Service is Simony And again Cap. 17. Pro habendis Spiritualibus homagium facere Simoniacum est To do Homage for enjoying of Spiritual Things is Simony And therefore how they can wash their Hands from the loathsom Stain of this Sin who pay their Servants Salaries by a Spiritual Benefice or who serve any Man with a design to earn a Church as their Wages I cannot see Nor are they less guilty who make their Matches an Engine to promote them to a Charge or who make the Donation of a Church a Mean much more a Condition for the Marriage of an Hand-maid or to procure a Fortune unto or to supply the place of a Dotal Provision for an indigent Neice or Cousin which is not unfitly termed by our Country-men Smock-Simony because by serving of such Interests the Church is sold And they may well be brought within the same Predicament who make a Spiritual Benefice a Patrimony unto or a Rescue for the Penury of an useful Friend or Kinsman Upon which account the Canon Law decrees thus Decret Gregor 9. De Jure Patronat cap. 6. Qui emit jus Patronatus c. He who buys the Right of Patronage that he may Present a Son or a Nephew or any whom he pleaseth ought to be depriv'd thereof And this is an Evil that Jerom much complains of Advers Jovin Lib. 1. That Affinity or Consanguinity or Service should be the ground of preferring Men to Spiritual Offices or Degrees as if they were to be bestowed as Men are Advanc'd to Military Offices in the World Yet I do not say but that any Man may lawfully prefer to an Ecclesiastick Charge a Friend or Relative who is well qualified for the Office For as I have said already Religion doth not weaken but rather strengthens the Bonds of natural Affection so that it were Injustice to deal worse with Relatives than with Strangers or caeteris paribus not