Elders and Bishops so commonlie called therefore this whole matter seemeth inuolued in more darke and thicke mistes of obscuritie vnto such as are not expert in searching out hidden and vnknowen histories in the acts and monuments of the Apostles For by reason of the interchangeable communitie of names they think not that there is any difference or conceiue not what it is between those distinct persons which are called by names not distinct As for exemple this name Apostle would haue deceiued him fowly that should haue gone about to haue equaled all of this name with the twelue Apostles so stands the case also with the name of Bishops for that it is in danger to deceiue if it doe not daungerouslly deceiue those which indistinctly apply that one name to the two degrees of Elders Wherfore they must know that the same name is not alwaies of the same nature and many times one word is significant as well for the general as the particuler And this must we conceiue of this word Elder that in the capacity of his signification are indifferently intertained all degrees of Pastors so that the Apostles themselues may generally be called Elders when as properly the lowest degree of Pastors is best knowen and most fitly called by that name Besides all this there is in many wordes an Etimology or proper interpretation according to the which also it so falleth out that many times diuerse names haue the same vse by which meanes not onely Elders but Apostles also may be deriued into the same name of Bishops This may very easily bee exemplified in ciuill things and names where we may wel perceiue the like vse of no lesse titles as Dukes Earles Knights Lordes and Barons all which titles are giuen to many which differ much in honour and dignitie neither is it any new or insolent thing for one mightie King to haue many meaner Kinges vnder him of his name but not of his power The like wee may say of Dukes who haue also vnder them other Dukes of whome they receiue due fealtie and homage and some Earls also as the Count Palatine of Rhene Flanders are Lords also ouer other Earles What should I speake of Knights Lords Barons which vnder the same titles haue not the same tipe of honor or autority He would be laughed to scorne of very children for his labour that should inferre an equality of their callings from the qualitie of that they are called I but will some say there is not that reason of the Ecclesiasticke ministerie and the ciuill policy I also tell them that I doe not compare office with office but name with name that all the world may see how childish a reason it is for the community of names and titles to take away the diuersity of things persons Albeit there be some new writers of this age who hold opinion that the presidency of on ouer many elders is to be abolished as a thing that hath preuailed in the church of custom vpon the curtesie of mē only that against the groūded verity of gods sacred constitution yet for al that the vniuersal consent of alchurches in the world consorting with gods word shal further with me then the opinion male-content of the heretik Aerius or the misconceited iudgement of Hierome alone hauing lost himselfe in the ambiguity of doutful words not foūd out the antiquity of the first age of the church For this is manifest out of the word of God that in the time of Iohn the Apostle those 7. Cathedral Churches of Asia had their seuen Bishops and they imposed ouer them by a certaine diuine not any humaine ordinaunce For when as the holie Ghost there conceileth nothing in the which either the Angels themselues or they which were vnder there gouernement had offended he would neuer haue passed ouer without iust reprehension so insolent and ambitious an innouation for so it seemeth vnto some as then but newly subborned and boldly brought forth into the church of God and that confronting the flat ordinaunce of God himselfe No doubt those so famous and renowmed Churches had many Elders and happely a colledge of Elders and yet the defaults of those churches were not laid vppon the many Elders but hee calleth vpon the seuerall and principall Elder of euery particular church whose autority in the church gouernment vnlesse it had bene somewhat more then ordinarie they alone should neuer haue borne the blame of that function not well performed A certaine writer of this age goeth about to defend or at least to excuse this heresie or error if you had so rather of Aerius but his reasons with the which hee would doe it are so slanderous scandalous and reprochfull against the councels and against the fathers as of truth I am altogether ashamed of them Aerius like a good honest fellowe is excused the fathers poore soules or openly accused of no small faults ambition and tyranny who seeing he bringeth nothing woorth any thing besides that we haue before touched out of Hierome I will not vouchsafe his cauils the confuting How much more christian-like modestly hath that most famous man and thrise reuerend father Zanchius neuer sufficiently renowmed for his rare learning and religion how much more like a good christian hath he written in his Confession what hee thought concerning the controuersie These are his wordes My faith is grounded chiefly and simply vpon the word of God and then somewhat also vpon the common consent of the whole Catholike Church if so bee it repugne not the sacred writ For I doe beleeue that what things were concluded and receiued of the holie Fathers assembled in the name of the Lord by a common consent of all without anie contradiction to the holie scriptures that those things also althogh not of like authoritie with the scripture are of the holy Ghost Hence it commeth that whatsoeuer things are of this sort I nor will nor dare with a safe conscience disallow them But what one thing is more certaine out of histories out of Councels out of the writings of all the Fathers then that those orders of Ministers of the which we haue spoken were receyued and established in the Church by the common consent of the whole Christian common-wealth And who am I that what the whole Church hath allowed I alone should disallowe Neither yet haue all the learned men of our time dared to disallow them for that indeed they knew that both these things were lawfull in the Church also that they all were ordeined and performed of a godly religion and to good ends for the good of the elect Besides that reason was I should haue regard of those Churches also the which although they haue imbraced the Gospell yet they retaine their Bishops both in deed and name And what shall wee say of the Churches of the Protestants also where they want not their Bishops and Arch-bishops in deed whom hauing cast their good Greeke names
Iniunctions For wee must vnderstand thus much also that tenthes haue beene paide of olde not onely to the Priestes but vnto the chiefe Magistrate also Haue wee not heard of certaine tributes wont to bee paid to the common treasurie which afterwardes were giuen by the Emperour Constantine vnto the Churches Namely for that albeit the superstition of the Gentiles were in many places put down by publike authoritie yet the Nobles and richer sort with the greater part of the people hauing not forthwith receyued the faith of Christ the bare oblations of the faithfull althogh bountiful were not sufficing to relieue the poore and to maintaine the state of their Pastors So that vnlesse I quite lose mine ayme those tributes were eyther tenthes or tithes For there is nothing better knowne then that the Romanes imposed the paiments of tenthes vpon those prouinces they conquered and what proportion could they more fitly giue vnto professed Churches then the tenthes of those they conquered This example did Charles the great follow who hauing ouercome the Saxons and hauing put to flight their King Windekind hee commaunded tenthes to be paid vnto him part whereof the Bishops and other Pastors of the Church had and part the Kinges officers also receiued As for the coniecture of Crantz in his Metropolis who thinketh that tenthes were giuen vnto Nobles in fee by the Bishops I cannot for my part allowe thereof seeing it so euidently appeareth out of the approued Annalies that those tenthes were receyued of the Kinges Officers before there were any Bishops and whereas yet there were none But whereas tythes seemed not to suffice the state of the Cleargie the godly Prince of a religious and wise purpose added glebes and landes vnto the vse of the Church For indeed that wilde Nation tamed onely by force armes receiued the Christian Religion for feare but in affection were so estraunged from it that they would sooner suffer the Bishops and those preachers which the Emperour sent vnto them rather to sterue among then then to thriue by them But who so desireth to reade more of this matter may reade Crantz his Metropolis and the Saxon Chronicles In the meane while wee haue thus learned that those tenthes and tythes which no religion of the Christian people but the liberalitie of the religious Magistrate hath giuen vnto the Church were properly to bee accounted among the Churches Ciuill goodes But when as at this day they are so intermingled that the manner of their first donations is not known for good cause they are now called by the more certaine and the more singular part of them and are therefore accounted among those Church goods which are not ciuill but sacred and diuine As for those goods of the Church which wee distinguish by the name of ciuill goods and humane they may be distinguished into the possession of such fearms and rents which the Church had euen vnder heathen Emperors before Constantine and into the possession of such fees and mannors which vnder the Christian Magistrate haue annexed vnto them some ciuil iurisdiction The which because some contend that no Ecclesiasticall person ought to inioy wee are in like manner to examine that matter the rather for that there are some which thinke they ought rather to liue of other mens Almes Chap. XIII That the Pastors of churches are not maintained of almes but of the due reward of their labours SOme haue beene of opinion you will very hardly beleeue it neither doe I their opinion that our blessed Lorde and his Apostles did not onely liue very bare but verie beggers and therefore that the Ministers of the Church ought to liue of meere almes according vnto their godly example But the law of God defieth this errour and forbiddeth the whole trade of begging among his people Neither doe wee read that the Lord at any time repealed this lawe and sure we are that there haue beene alwayes extant among vs certaine lawes of the Emperours also against vpright beggers Almes are giuen for pittie sake to helpe and cheare the needie but whatsoeuer is giuen as a testimonie of any vertue is eyther a stipend for certaine paines taken or a present for a certaine reuerence conceiued albeit the party be poore vnto whom it is performed When the Lord therefore sent forth his Disciples to preach hee gaue them a commission to take vp their mainteinance of them to whome they preached and hee therefore compared them to labourers and their stipend to a reward not to an almes which being due is to be charged and discharged as of right Whereby the nature of those things which the godly did contribute vnto the Lord his vse and his Apostles is easely vnderstood to be of the condition not of almes but of fees Euen as the offerings and certaine parts of the sacrifices were alotted to the Priests not as free almes but as the fruites of their labours so the godly Pastors doe receiue of the faithfull people not a doale but a duetie the one beeing of right the other of meere pittie If any man vrge that the sense of this worde Almes doth extend it selfe more largelie amongst learned Diuines that it is taken for all kind of beneuolence which is shewed for Gods cause vnto the benefit of our neighbor Howe truly they so affirme I leaue that to them which are but meanely seene in the Greeke tongue In the meane while I will not sticke with them for so much as this commeth to that in such a sense those thinges which are giuen to the Church for the benefite of the Ministers may bee called Almes also this alwaies reserued that they still differ white and blacke from those almes with the which the poore are releeued For what haue they deserued You remember where I sayd that there is no other law imposed vpon the Minister by the Lord then vnto the rest of the faithfull excepting onely the condition of their function Neither doth any man doubt that the faithfull are forbidden by any religion to become the free tenaunts of their Princes But as for the lawes and conditions which perticularlie concerne the estate of Ministers there is not any one which inhibiteth them to vse the benefite of Princes and to be deuoted to them as far as other Citizens Ouer and besides all this the Euangelique precepts are in no case an excuse vnto the right of nations or the equity of Moses law but they all and all the worlde shall witnes the same haue appointed for the Priests and sacred Ministers both fields and farmes and other ciuill estates And can they by any law or equity be sequestred from the generall priuiledges of all cittizens which are to liue now among citizens and to sustaine vnder the same Magistrate the same burdens of the commonwelth with other Cittizens And hath not God himselfe commaunded by his law that there should be giuen vnto the Priests and Leuites not onely tythes and offerings but Cities also with
presume to make chalenge to the goods of the Popish Church to the vse and behalfe of reformed Churches In the first of the Codices de paganis sacrificijs the 14. title there is an imperiall decree extant the words wherof are these We wil commaund that all places which in the olde time of errour were deputed to sacred vses be ioyned to our substance But what so euer by that right either the liberalitie of former Princes or our Maiestie would haue come to the hands of any particular persons her soeuer let that remaine in their inheritance with an euerlasting assurance but those things which by many decrees our pleasure is should appetaine to the hly Church Christian religion shall chalenge that vnto it selfe Giuen the 3. of the Calend. of September at Rauenna Honorius 10. Theodosius 6. A A. Coss By which decree it is manifest that it was alwaies in the power and right of the Emperour to giue those things which were wast by the abolishing of Idolatry vnto whom it pleased them And Dig. the 23. bookes ◠title Da vsu vsu fructu Legalis Leg. 16. Legatum We read of Legacies giuen to the setting foorth of Pageants which might not beset forth the which chaunging but the name of Pageantes into the name of Popish-Masse are all alike the words are these A Legacie is left to a Cittie that of the yearely neuenewes therof a Pageant might be solemnized in that Cittie for the sacred memorie of the deceased which thing it is not lawfull to celebrated I aske therfore what you thinke of that Legacie Modestinus maketh answere Seeing the testator his will was that a Pageant should be set foorth but such as was not lawfull there to bee set foorth that it is no reason such a quantitie of money which the deceased bequeathed to the shew should returne the benefite of the heire And therefore the heires of the deceased and the chiefe of the Cittie being gathered together they are to consider vnto what vse the thing commised to their trust may bee conuerted that the memorie of him that made the testament may be solemnized in another and more lawfull kind These thinges siath Mode inus in the ninth of his answeres By which law any man may see what is to bee though of such behestes as are bequeated to the celebrating of vnlawfull Masses To these thinges it may bee added that the auarice of Church-men was insatiable procuring to themselues infinite donations both superstitious and superfluous Yea when liberalitie waxed colde they purchased of themselues both fieldes and fearms and many times whole countries so that at last they would haue incroached vppon all Christendome had not the lawes of aduised Kinges and Emperours limited them who did perceiue that thier ouer-thriuing was to the ouer-turning of the Common-wealth And therefore euery wise Magistrate had need to take heed that they dash not their feet against the same stone Chap. IIII. An answere to the arguments of the former chapter I May answer that we haue no lesse need to beware least while like wise men wee plie vs to run from one fault we rush like fooles into another Haue not our fore fathers kept a meane Why then let their errour bee a warning vnto vs. For wee are men also and it is a more ordinary thing among vs to slide into a contrarie vice then to keepe a commendable meane and therefore it may also come to passe that too much niggard-lines may carrie vs whither wee ought not But to admitte the vtmost that the Cleargie would haue raked together their wealth to the ruine of the Common-wealth and that of olde donations were made partly superstitious partly superfluous yet of all this it followeth not that there were none lawfull none religious none acceptable vnto GOD and a greeable vnto his worde and profitable vnto his Church But was there any thing in their goodes superfluous it might haue beene cut off was there any thing in his vse superstitious it might haue beene taken away or turned to better vse That they say it was doone for the ouer-ture of the Popes tyrāny the inuestiture of true christianity it is but a meere colour and that but a bad one neither Craftie men abused the preaching of the Gospell and the simplicitie of godlie men whome it was easie to hold so in hand that so themselues might gourmandize the goods of the Church as a fat pray that hung fit for their lips That it was so the thing it selfe preacheth vnto vs. Neyther will I any longer stay therin least this sinke beeing stirred should exhale a vapour too filthie and vnsauorie But that which is aleged for the defence of sacrilege may not so passe vnexamined The first is That the church goods serued to idolatrous prophane vses which being taken away could by no lawe deuolue to any but to the publike treasury Now that the fallacie of this proposition may the better appear I assume that to me which themselues cannot deny me namely that there is a difference to be found betweene those thinges which are dedicated to idolatry and excesse and those thinges which are abused to idolatry and excesse There is nothing so holy which the wicked may not abuse and yet the abuse of a good thing dooth not inuert the nature thereof As for the welth of the Romish Cleargy it was not all giuen to idolatrous and vngodly vses for there were many thinges giuen of old to the vse of the poore and Pastors of the Church The which albeit the Popish Cleargy haue abused yet the nature of the donation is not thereby altered Of the donations which were made to Churches some were before the corruption of the Church and some after For I shewed before that the oblations and donations of the faithfull had their beginning euen with the Apostles But that these which were made before the corruption are sacred to God no godly man will deny the same Now the Bishop of Rome and other heretical Pastors found the churches founded by the Apostles and furnished according to those times with sufficient riches to the which albeit they added much by much naughtines yet the same is not to be esteemed of alike but so to bee accounted of as the rest was No question in the Church of Rome and other heretique Churches there are diuerse and sundry thinges the which if they be taken in their proper kind are very christian and commaunded by God himselfe such is the sacred Ministery of the Church holy care of the poore So that whatsoeuer was bequeathed to either of these or vnto them both hath a godly end and may haue a godly vse As for the prophanation of things it ought not so much to mooue vs as the nature of things against the which there is no litle to be gained ether by prescription of time or abuse of the thing But if it so fall out that the prophane vse be abolished they
commanded by them as of old so nowe they may professe alwaies remembred that they doe it for the good of the church A degree of the vniuersity or any other testimony of learning ought not to impair the authority of the Pastors or to disturbe the good order of the Church That at this day they which are created Doctors are for the most part Elders I doe not mislike it for of olde also it was but a very rare and extraordinary thing for lay-men to professe the woorde publiquelie But time place and necessitye may limite this matter and prescribe an order therevnto not to bee ordered by head-strong and desperate temeritie Yong mē must here take heed least they presuming for their learning vpon the Vniuersities testimony they should therefore thinke that they are already adopted into the orders of the holy ministery vnlesse they be otherwise ordained then so the which I would haue thought scarse worthy the noting were it not that I haue found some to farre ouershot in this error There are also some others at this day who disclaiming the office of Pastors and that ordination which is solemnised by the Bishops will notwithstanding be accounted Doctors in the church but to baptise to minister the sacraments to visite the sicke to bury the dead to read publique prayer in the Church they think it stands not with their credit And why For sooth because they see these parts of the ministery performed sometimes by some not deeply learned Againe there are other which thinke it no smal part of reformation that euery church should haue with their Pastor a Doctor as if good men one Pastor who of duetye is also a Doctor could not discharge both parts Many such fancies I wittingly omit and recount them amongst the wel-pleasing dreams of such as learne to feed themselues whome verely I cannot so well like of For albeit I confesse that certaine Doctours publiquely professed in the Church which were not Pastors yet I find how that was vsed in the Apostles times of necessity and afterwards very extraordinarily onely then when either the vrgent necessity or the present commodity of the Church did so require For the ordinarye Doctours of the church are the Bishops themselues who if they could suffise to perform al duties alone they needed nor Elders nor Deacons to ioyne with them We know how in a small Church one Elder is enough And that the greatnes and great increase of Churches made this diuersity of ministers both for order and number But if anye man desire to see more of this argument he may read the writers of this age These thinges as I thinke may serue for this turne who purpose not to treat of euery thing exactly but onely to shew what I find wanting in some Churches which would seeme the best reformed To the which end I haue recounted vnto you the diuers degrees of the ministers of the church euen as they were ordained of the Lord and deliuered of the Apostles and receiued of our first fathers and Apostolik predecessors In whose foot-steps we may more safely continue then by not containing our selues therin to intangle our proceedings in some other new and strange extrauagants The second Booke Of the honour which is due vnto Prelats and Elders in the Church Chap. I. That by a certaine law of Nature among all nations the Presidents of Religion were esteemed worthie great honour HOw great the dignitie and excellencie of the Gospell is aboue all the vnhalowed mysteries of prophane nations and how farre it excelleth the Leuiticall Priest-hoode of Moses also and consequently in how great regarde of honour the same ought to be amongst all that professe Christianity the time hath bene when it was needlesse to tell but now more then necessary to proue For the lewdnes I might say the irreligion of some men in this our age doth of force compell me somewhat more earnestly to lay to their charge the neglect dutie of ingrate mindes towardes Gods Ministers whome while they depriue of their due honour they bring Religion it selfe into deepe disdaine and withall they bewray that they make no great account of God himself whose Legats they depraue For there be which think it were not a poinct matter if they were not left woorth a poinct and thinke it neuer the worse for the common-welth if they had no place at all in the common-wealth Because forsooth it is said of our Sauiour his Apostles that they renounced all worldly honours therefore are they thought worthy no honour in the world any vile or vulgar esteeme if so bee they may haue that is enough for them least haplie they should bee exalted in their owne sence and become proud of nothing Thus they thinke none worthie of honour that either doe not affect it or are not infected with it This errour is to bee confuted in this discourse in the which it shall bee shewed that by all rights both of God and man the sacred ministerie in a well ordered common-wealth hath alwaies beene had in greatest honour and estimation amongst all nations and that Christians aboue all others doe owe no lesse to their Pastors then did of olde the people of God to their Priests Albeit the life of man bee inuolued and ouer-cast with darke and thicke mistes of errour and ignoriunce insomuch that manie times it is dazeled at the view and sight of such thinges which of themselues are cleare enough notwithstanding there are yet some thinges so cleare and so manifest as in the which no man beeing not sencelesse or besotted can pleade or pretend any ignorance Such are those generall notions of sinne which GOD the author of nature hath imprinted and imprized in our heartes and mindes as thinges which are ingendred and congenerate with vs such is Religion towardes GOD loue towardes our parentes and reuerence towardes our progenitors And albeit the relique of God his Image is many waies disteyned in vs since the attaindour of our first parentes yet is it not altogether destroyed there alwayes remayned such a resplendent light of that diuine nature as by the which men might naturally and clearely see both what was good and what was not good and conceaue in some sort also what was godly and what was godlesse Indeede the Gentiles aberred from the true knowledge of the Godhead and the true worship thereof yet notwithstanding in this one thing they were well resolued that there was a GOD and that hee was to bee honoured Their Religion was depraued by them yet were not they depriued of Religion but now where it is come to that passe that men thinke eyther that there is no God or no worshippe of God there the minde may bee sayde not to erre but to raue for they alone offend against that notion of God which is ingrauen in the mindes of all men and which ingrafteth a voluntarie Religion and a religious inclination will they nill they in the heart of euerie man Nor was
vpon iust account to haue liued rich against whom he hath pronounced the woe of his eternall curse they all shall perish euerlastingly and they onely which shall bee found among the poore in spirit vnto whom the kingdome doth appertaine shall liue eternally The precept of Euangelike pouertie which Christ followed and left in charge to be folowed of vs is this namely Lowlines of minde which is the most peremptorie contemner of al visible things The pore in spirit is he which beareth not a hautie spirit neyther honereth after dishonest desires which liueth content with his estate and committeth his whole life vnto God if hee haue nothing or if it be little which hee hath he is not solicited with disquiet cares but trusteth in God his maker of whom he hopeth for his daily bread Againe if he be rich his spirit is not exalted by reason of his riches but well remembreth that he brought nothing vnto this world neyther shall carrie any thing away hee knoweth that riches are but wash and waxe wayward that they may easily bee translated from him that they may many waies perish with him he acknowledgeth that he hath receyued them of the Lord neither to be kept in ward nor to be spent in wast All which partes of spirituall pouertie the Apostle requireth in his first to Timothie the sixt chapter where he admonisheth Timothie to exhort the rich vnto this pouertie Charge them that are rich saith he in this world that they be not high minded that they trust not in vncertain riches but in the liuing God which giueth vs abundantly all things to enioy that they doe good and be rich in good workes readie to distribute Heere haue we that pouertie which our Sauiour requireth to be in rich men which as you may see doth nothing at all inuert the vse and proprietie of earthly thinges This I say is that pouertie the mother of vertue which all the holy Patriarches and Prophets with all the Apostles first Christians and last of all which all the godly haue alwayes obserued and our Sauiour himselfe both in word and deede both in plentie and pouertie taught to be obserued But is not this the verie Atheisme of Iulian the recreant and the onely Saracisme of the enemies of Christian religion when they haue robbed and rifled the Churches of their wealth and dignities to insult ouer the poore Ministers and to say they ought to be poore after the example of Christ and his Apostles As for that they fetch in the vncertaine sound of a certain voice heard in the time of Constantine it is to be vnderstood if it be to be beleued of Arrius and his inuenomed doctrine not of the forged donations of Constantine .. The wealth and riches which Constantine vouchsafed could not bee offensiue to the Church seeing they were neither so great as they make them nor yet seduced the Bishops and Elders from their Ecclesiasticall functions as they would haue them But then the husbanding disposing of them was after such a sort as might easely cleare the Bishops from all suspition of auarice Chap. VI. That the honour which is giuen to the Pastors of Christ his Church is ioined with a certaine Religion towards God THat the Priests and Leuites vnder the olde law were exceedingly well prouided for that according to Gods owne ordinance and institution it is a thing better knowne then that any man can make any question of it The same is as plain a case also for the Ministers of the Gospell vnder the new Testament and that by the same authoritie and for the same reasons were it not for the sacrilegious impiety of some who while as they say they seeke to shun one occasion of euill in the Church they bring vpon the same many miserable extreems Neither is want lesse to be feared then abundāce to breed the bain of the church In what things our Fathers as we thinke offended we see verie clearely but where wee offend our selues we wil not grope with our hands Lynces in other mens faults Moules in our owne That there is an honor due vnto Parents Lawyers Tutors physitions it is most manifest neither is there any man that is not a bad man that will denie it How much rather are all Christians deuoted vnto the Ministers of the Gospell seeing they alone doe beare the person the burden of these all For they are both Fathers Tutors Lawyers and Physitions therfore how much more they excell in worthines so much more worthy to be preferred in worship Besides all this the reuerence which is giuen to these and such like is onely of curtesie common ciuilitie and respecteth man onely and our duties to men but the honor which is due vnto Gods Ministers respecteth God himself his heuenly ministery They are the seruants of God his legates the dispensers of the mysteries of God are sent of God to discharge an heuenly embassie for God in the person of Christ whō whosoeuer contemneth contemneth the Lord Iesus God the Father their iudge and reuenger The countenance or contempt of God his seruantes toucheth God himselfe verie nearely who is alwaies most honored or dishonored in his Minister Wherefore that prerogatiue in the Church with the which not man so much as God him selfe is honored is sacred and religious and hath the promise of reward not onely in this life but in the life to come Mathew the tenth and the fifteenth chap. He which receiueth you receiueth me he which receiueth me receiueth him that sent me He which receiueth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shal receiue a Prophets reward and he that receiueth a iust man in the name of a iust man shal haue a iust mans reward whosoeuer shall giue drinke to one of these little ones euen a cuppe of cold water onely in the name of a Disciple verely I say vnto you he shall not lose his reward The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians calleth those presents which were sent to him an odour that smelleth sweet a sacrifice acceptable and pleasant to God So that in the poore whose wants we releeue Christ is worshipped but in the Ministers whose calling we maintain Christ is honored The Leuitical sacrifices haue had their end but the Euangelical sacrifices shal haue no end vntil the worlds end The Euangelike sacrifices are the confessiō of faith vnfained thāks giuing and all the trophees of prayse which wee erect and direct vnto the glorie of God as also the chearefull bountie and charitable good workes wee shew foorth vnto the comfort of men For which cause the Apostle to the Hebrues exhorteth all men that they would continually offer the sacrifice of prayse vnto God through Christ that is the fruit of the lips which confesse his name and moreouer that they would not forget to doe good and to distribute for they are the sacrifices saith he with the which God is
and more-ouer he commandeth that the execution of their iudgements be done by his ciuil iudges By reason of the statute of Praemunire as they call it against the which whosoeuer offend they are punished with is a matter of verie great daunger in England for Church-men to inuade the office of the ciuill Magistrates and therefore there is kept a most circumspeact distinction betweene the affaires of the Ciuil and the Ecclesiastical Court If at anie time anie of the Bishops or anie other of the cleargie are thought meet men to vndertake any ciuill charge they doe it not by the especiall commaundement and commissiō of the King vnder the broad seale of England But those charges are alwayes accompanied with some honour so that they may be accounted rather a help then a hurt to the proceedings of the Gospell as are the offices and dignities of a priuie Counseller a Commissioner a Iustice of peace and such like Neither as I doe thinke will any man of sound iudgement say that those charges are eyther imposed vpon any Cittizen without the chiefe Magistrate or if they be so imposed that they can of any man be deposed or laide aside If any man except that this is more abhorring from the office of a Bishop then was of olde the charge of the poore from the which notwithstanding the Apostles did abdicate themselues because they could not attend vppon that and their owne charge too and therfore vrge that it is not possible for Bishops that they should discharge both charges well for which cause they ought to sequester themselues from the one I answer first that the Apostles did not so far foorth discharge themselues of the poore mans boxe that that they thought it not appertaining to them to haue any further care thereof for they alwayes continued patrons of the poore as doe the Bishops also whom we will not so intangle with ciuill causes that they forsake their owne but that as it especially concerneth their office vpright dealing and sincere charitie may bee maintained among them whose soules health is committed vnto them But how much a godly and diligent Bishop may doe in this matter Austine alone may serue for many examples who wrote so many excellent volumes when as yet he imployed no small part of his time in these troublesome affaires Whose words I will heere infer for that they inforce a sufficient confutation of this their cauill I call the Lord Iesus witnesse to my soule saith hee in whose name I boldly speake these thinges that for so much as concerneth my commoditie I had rather worke euerie day with my hand as it is vsed in wel ordered Monasteries and reserue the other houres free to read and to pray and to exercise my selfe in the Scriptures then to sustaine the tumultuous perplexities of other causes in determining secular controuersies by iudgement or in taking them vp by arbitrement To the which troubles the same Apostle hath appointed vs not of his owne will but of his that spake in him The which notwithstanding we read not that he himselfe susteined for indeed the course of his Apostleship stood not with it Neither did he say If therefore you haue any secular controuersies bring them before vs or appoint vs to giue iudgement of them but those which are least esteemed in the Church set them vp saith he And I speak to your shame is it so that there is not any wiseman among you which can iudge betweene his brother but the brother goeth to lawe with the brother that before infidels Wherfore those wise men which were resiant in some certaine place beeing faithfull and godly not those which discoursed this way and that way for the Gospel sake I say such would hee haue to bee the examiners of those matters For which cause it is no where written of him that he at any time attended vpon any such busines from the which notwithstanding we cannot bee excused albeit wee bee of the number of those which are least esteemed because he would haue those also set vp if wise men were wanting rather then that the controuersies should bee brought into the open and ordinarie Court The which labour notwithstanding we vndertake not without comfort in the Lorde for the hope of eternall life that we may bring forth fruit with patience Thus saith Augustine whose reasons in my iudgement may satisfie any reasonable man verely they satisfie mee neither can I finde anie thing to mislike in this action of his This is one generall maxime in the rules of Christianity That whatsoeuer wee reade in the word of God eyther forbidden beeing not euill of his owne nature or commaunded beeing of it selfe not good in those thinges Christian charitie dispenseth and disposeth of the matter as the time the place and the cause doth require Vnto the which whosoeuer doth refuse to subscribe he doth it of stubborne and froward hypocrisie not of any religion or deuotion he hath of the precept Neyther is the Diuines rule vnknown concerning those things which are bidden or forbidden in the word of God namely That some thinges are forbidden because they are euill and some thinges are euill because they are forbidden suppose for some especiall purpose And againe on the contrary part That there are some things commanded because they are good and some thinges therefore to bee accounted good because they are commaunded by God who requireth such thinges of men for some especiall causes Now those things which are of the first sort and section are vnder a constant and perpetual law and not to be changed by any means but there is not the like condition of the other sort neither do they bind anie man any further then the reason and occasion of the law doth require Examples of this matter wee haue in the obseruation of the Sabaoth and the vse of the Shew-bread of the which it was not lawfull for any man to eate but the Priests onely besides many other things of like nature which we read to be either commaunded or condemned In this our case it is no crime to be a King nor to be a Magistrate a capitall sinne And therfore the reason of the commandement abating the thing it selfe abideth free and it remaineth lawfull for Princes and other Magistrates to be of power to command the Bishops of the Church in a Christian common-wealth those things which would rather be an aide and an ornament then any hurt or impediment to their holy calling I speake of calling in generall not of any one mans calling which haplie may be hindred and shall haue neede of others which may helpe him but of all theirs which are in the same calling vnto whome there ariseth any honour and authoritie from the rest So that if all things be throughly examined and all commodities with all discommodities compared together which may any waies accrue vnto the Church and common wealth I doubt not but that which wanteth in one parte shall be requited
is not the Church But this distinction hath no place in a Christian people In times past when christians were mingled with the heathen as at this day they are among the Mahometists it was then of force a part by it selfe and it might be said the Church is in the Common-welth as the people of Israell were sometimes in Aegypt or at Babylon I touch not now that state of a Common-welth in the which the head-strong people are distracted into diuerse factions and the headlesse Churches are dismembred vnder the same Magistrate That is a waightie matter indeed and such as requireth a proper treatise of it selfe But where the whole nation hath giuen their names vnto Christ and there is no man which is not sprinckled in his Baptisme there doubtles the Church is the Common-wealth and the Common-wealth the visible Church vnder the which who so supplieth whether in respect of the one onely or in regard of both names the order appointed by God being kept and those things remaining diuerse which in nature are distinct there is nothing in the Gospell that forbiddeth the same In that a man is Pastor of the people or Bishop of the Church hee holdeth of Christ in that hee is a subiect and a tenaunt to the Common-wealth hee holdeth of the Prince that he may performe his dutie to both these he is not constrained to giue ouer either of these the same man may giue vnto Caesar those things which are Caesars and neuerthelesse performe that vnto God which is due vnto God A Bishop as hee is a Pastor doth owe vnto Christ a vigilant care ouer the flocke committed vnto his charge and as hee is a subiect and free Cittizen hee oweth vnto his Prince faithfull obedience dutiful homage and all other kinds of lawfull seruice If it should so fall out at this day as it hath doone full oft and full well that some noble-man holding in fee of the King should bee called vnto the Ministery as one which hath sufficient learning and no lesse deuotion the doctrine of the Gospell doth not prohibit that such a man should be made a Bishop and yet retaine his free holde and the royalties belonging there-unto Alwaies to bee considered that the lawes of the Common-wealth permit the same Neither is there any cause why any man should thinke that this Bishop would be caried away with his secular affaires from his pastorall charge For if there be any feare of God in him and if he haue any care of the Church hee will honestly and may easily prouide that such things be discharged by his seruants and wil gouerne his Church himselfe We see that noble-men haue the surplusage of as much time from their secular affairs to dispend in idle repasts as might well suffice a Pastorall charge And therfore it is not the possessions of the Kings farms and fees which do so alienate a man as that he cannot be both Lord of them and a good Bishop too And therfore if any christian King shal thinke it behooful either for the honor of his estate or the stay of the Cōmon-wealth that certain BB. of the church shuld hold in fee either manors or honors by their priuilege I cānot find that ether he is forbidden to grant demise or that they are commaunded not to receiue inioy the same And that which I read not to be prohibited I vnderstand to be permitted nether can that be preiudicial to the Church which is beneficial to the cōmon-wealth especially when the Church is the Common-wealth CHAP. XXVII An other argument against the donation of fees confuted IF so be any man vrge vs any further and say that the oblations which are made in the Church with the which as well God himselfe as his seruants are honored are vtterly opposit to the nature of fees because they are offered to testifie the gratefull memory of some benefite receiued But contrariwise a fee is graunted by the Lorde thereof vpon that condition that the tenant in fee acknowledge the doner in some kind of duty for a benefit bestowed And therefore seeing these two are opposite between themselues and in condition crosse each other it seemeth that Bishops and Pastors are not rightfully indued with the title of fees and this also is made good vppon them by this reason Those thinges which are giuen to the Pastors of the Church in regard of their ministery are in the nature of certain presents and are reputed amongst the holy actions of religion which are to be rewarded of God onely And therfore to require in lieu of them any temporal recompence or ciuil obsequie is a thing no lesse preposterous then irreligious but fees are granted vpon that condition that the feudatory recognize his Patron in some kind of personall or proportionable dutie therefore our auncestors haue not wel done to honor the Church with their indowments of fees The distinction of Church-goods which before I remembred doth containe a very easie plaine answer to all this namely that the goods of the Church are partly sacred and diuine partlie ciuill and humaine For fees are ciuil goods therefore not to be numbred among oblations but donations neither were those Cities and suburbs which were giuen by the people of God to Priests Leuits at any time recounted among their offeringes Besides this there is a difference betweene these things to offer som thing to God to giue any thing to the church Things mooueable which do perish togeather with their very vse are said to bee offered vnto God when they are giuen to his Ministers or to his poore members for Gods-sake albeit the one hath the name of a gift the other of an Almes The which thing for that the benefit thereof hath the nature of an oblation or sacrifice for neither are they giuen for any reward nor receaued vppon any condicion therefore in nature they are nothing alike vnto the donation of fees as themselues very well confesse I admit they also oblige a man to a gratefull memorie of that they haue receaued yet are they not giuen vppon that condicion that there-vpon some dutie should be performed Wherefore seeing that the donation of fees are neither in vse nor in sense like vnto the religion of oblations why shuld they be confounded with them Or how should a man honestly argue from thence that the Ministers of the church may not be endewed ther with Are they not Cittizens and subiectes and liue vnder the same lawe and obey the same Magistrate and beare the same burdens of the Common-wealth By what equity then can they be abridged the possessions of ciuill goods by the benefit of the Prince common-wealth Besides seeing it is thought but equall by the consent of the holy Fathers that the fieldes and farmes of the Church should yeeld a tribute vnder the most Christian Princes that the increase and benefite of those fees should serue for the good partly of the Church partly of the
Prince partly of the Common-wealth it is not repugnant to the state of the Church or stay of religion And indeed why should not the same thing betide their fields which befall the persons thēselues who albeit they are dedicate to God mancipate to his seruice yet they commit nothing vnworthy their function or not beseeming their calling when as according vnto the dignity of their place they performe due seruice to their Prince and other duties to the common-wealth That which is added of the pension or stipend of Ministers is easily answered by the same reason for it differeth not from the other Wherfore as a man may consecrate him selfe and his labours to God and the Church yet reserue his due obsequie to his Prince and the common-wealth so likewise may the Church inioy both fields and fearms and fees in the common-wealth and yet make no claime to any extraordinary immunity from seruice nor euer think much of any ordinary fealtie due to the patrōs therof The Bishop and euery other Minister of the Church is subiect to the lawes and Magistrate of the common-wealth and seeing he oweth homage to the Prince as to the cōmon parent of the people there is no absurditie committed if by the accesse of some especial benefit he become more nearly bound vnto him then the common sort How many and how bloudie wars the Bishops of Rome haue made vpon the Emperours and other Christian Princes euen for the onely inuestiture of those fees which they chalenge vnto themselues as consecrate to God therefore as they perswaded themselues free from all ciuill seruice all histories can well witnesse Wherefore those Magistrates at this day doe shew themselues very ingrate I may say vngodly to the present Ministerie who when as by defending the authoritie of the ciuill Magistrate which the Bishop of Rome had impayred they haue now at the length brought to passe that they haue recouered the same by their means doe now notwithstanding enuie them their poore estate in the Church and their small authoritie in the common-wealth May not that of the Apostle 2. Cor. 11.19 be truly said of this people They suffered those gladly which brought them into bondage which tooke of their goodes which exalted themselues which smote them on the face I more which afflicted them with fire and sworde and made them runne through Purgatorie glad that they might get to Hell But the faithfull seruantes of Christ which set them free frō the captiuitie of the Pope and gaue them that libertie which they nowe abuse against the Church those they doe not onely not reward with that honour they well deserued but they depriue them of those dignities they once possessed They lay baites for the bane for some set snares for the liues of others contriue plots for the deposing and disparaging of all Is this the thankes they giue to their Pastors And is this the reward for so many benefits receiued by their preaching O God forgiue them this sin if it be possible But thou wilt one day iudge betweene them and vs and reuenge this infamie done vnto thy selfe Chap. XXVIII Of the honorable titles which are giuen vnto Bishops NOw we haue spoken of fees and of that ciuill iurisdiction which is annexed vnto them it remaineth that wee speake somewhat also of their titles of honour Neither will I seeke into all but will shew you vnto a few of them and comprise in one or two all the rest which either the custome of the time place or the curtesie of Kings and Princes doe giue vnto the chiefe states of the kingdome With the which here are some in England which find themselues not a little offended would hold others in hand thogh they dare not hold their hand that such titles are not to bee giuen to the greatest Bishops The first that displeaseth them is the title of Lord which yet at this day is vsed to be giuen rather for honor sake then for homage The proper signification thereof is sufficiently known to haue relation to the possession proprietie of a thing In which sense euery man is Lord of that hee hath It hath a secondary relatiō also to a Seruant in which sense the Romane Emperours would not be called Lords or Maisters Suetonius reporteth of Octauius that he abhorred the name of Lord Maister as curse and a slaunder Indeed the Barbarians acknowledge no other distinction of persons but of Maisters Seruants therfore their Kings also do domineer ouer their subiects as maisters ouer their seruants the fathers of families haue the same authoritie ouer their wiues children as ouer their seruāts This would seem might well a very vnreasonable thing to vs being not as they are a people base seruile And yet the Moschouites rule at this day after this manner neither is the Empire of the Turkes much vnlike the same And generally all the Easterne kingdoms were once of this gouernment kept this foule rule ouer the nations wher they conquered Whether the Kings kindred had any priuilege besides the rest it is to be doubted so I leaue it But these a man might truly cal Dominos Lords or Maisters in which sense our Kings themselues wil not be so called nor will they take it in good part to be so slandered for their subiects are not their slaues or seruants neither do they so vse them They hold it their chiefest glory to haue a free people subiect vnto them and thinke it more honorable to command ouer a free then a seruile nation And albeit the King may truly be called Lord and indeed the only chiefe Lord in his own kingdom referring the signification of that title either to the subiection of the whole people or the propriety of his own kingdome yet contenting himself with the royal title of King which glory he wil cōmunicate with no subiect he enuieth not his subiects the name of Lords but whō he thinketh worthy hee honoureth with that title Neither do inferior persons only cal superior personages Lords but they also which are Nobles of equall authoritie do so salute their peeres And doth not the King himselfe vouchsafe to greet the Honors of his lande by the names of Lords The name of Lord is of many significations and is as I haue said a title rather of honour and of fauor then of rule and of Empire the which argueth the no smal malice or otherwise the great ignorance of them which hold the title of Lord to bee of so great authoritie as that it is not conuenable to the calling of Bishops And yet at this day among the best Latinistes the same name ordinarily is giuen to any man of any ordinary esteeme So doth the signification of this title varie according to the diuersitie of regions and persons and proprieties They which in England do make the same a signification of greater honor then that it may any waies agree with
power or hath he by any counsell aduised them to withdraw their bountie from his seruantes or that they should haue no regard of those duties they haue performed or not to grace with titles of honour their honest demerits of whose truth wisdom they haue made great vse had great experience Nabuchadnezer preferred Daniel amongst the Babilonians Darius aduanced Mardocheus among the Persians and shall it not be lawfull for a Christian King to honor the seruants of Christ for their religion that vpon a certain religion forsooth That the meane may be exceeded no man doubteth namely when as diuine honors are giuen to mortal men or where immoderate dignities are ambitiously affected of them who ought to be the patterns of modestie the Doctors of humilitie but yet that ciuil honour cannot bee thought immoderate but of immoderate men which according to the custome of the Cuntry is giuen for iust causes by the aduised Prince to his approued Subiects How many most holy men whose liues were only priuat yet publikly renowned which haue suffered themselues to be called Lords witnesse the two Testaments 3. Reg. 18. Did not Abdias the seruant of K. Achab meeting with Elias salute him by the name of Lord 4. Reg. 4. Was not Elizeus honored of the Sunamite by the name of Lord Did not the keeper of the prison call Paul and Barnabas by the name of Lordes Acts. 16. And yet the modestie of their mindes notwithstanding was no lesse then that of Peter who would not suffer himselfe to bee honored of Cornelius aboue measure We read of Paul Barnabas how they rent their clothes and ran into the throng repealed the diuine honors which Iupiters Priest with the peple would haue done vnto them and verely if so bee in the name of Lord ther had bene any such eminent honor or imminent danger as som think they would haue refused that I conclude therefore that in a Christian common-wealth which is the Church of Christ all externe things as wealth riches preferment and ciuill honours may bee referred of all and euerie the faythfull of any calling or condition whatsoeuer to the glorie of GOD and the good of the Church and the benefite of the common-wealth For so indeede they ought to bee referred With the which I include this also that the seruantes of Christ ought so to prepare themselues both for honour and ignominie both for wealth and want as that they may vse all thinges aright to the honour of God and edifiyng of his Church Chap. XXIX Of the Bishop familie and retinue BEsides all this the Bishops retinue ordinarie attendants are no small motes in the eies of some that cannot without enuie behold the same For doe they not therein imitate the peeres and potentates of the lande Not Christ I warrant you not Peter not Paule were euer thus garded But alâs poore popular and child-pleasing speech simple are the men whom these faire wordes make faine for I dare be bold to say that the retinue of Christ his Apostles was as honorable as it might be in respect of the time the thing for the which he came into the world much more honorable should haue beene if God had meant to restore mankind after an other sort then he did And yet as it was our Lord and Sauiour was not without aboue fourescore men in his family which waited vpon him whither he went or went before him whither he was to come I but there were no gallant Gentlemen to braue it in their chains of gold there were no barbed steeds to praunce it in their siluer studded raynes In that solemne pompe when Christ would shewe his glorie vnto the Cittie hee was well mounted vppon a sorie Asse attended with the simple companie of his weake Disciples I but this againe is but a popular perswasion in the which ther is nor pith nor rind against the thing in question Will they neuer learne that our Sauiour after that manner prouided for that season least eyther hee should incurre the suspicion of affecting an earthly kingdome or other-wise might haue hindered the worke of our redemption Doubtles had he bene knowen in his kind to Herod to Pilate and to the chiefe Priests that which the people did of a good zeale they would haue done for their own aduancement but then would they neuer haue crucified the Lord of glorie Neither would he which tooke in good worth the honor of that oyntment which was powred vpon him and receiued royall presents of the wise men golde myrhe and frankincense haue euer refused that honour which was due vnto him from all earthly Princes might it haue stoode with the saluation of mankind But is not this a worthy kind of arguing which is vsed aswel against the Papists as against vs to reason from the times actions of a faithles people to the times and duties of a christian nation neither doe I commend in our Bishops either pride or ryot or any superfluous excesse but this I say that that retinue is not to be disalowed which the receaued and continued custome of the countrey requireth It was an auncient custome in the Church that a Bishop should neuer walke forth alone or be alone hee had records and eie-witnesses of al his actions Now they which are more indifferent to Bishops had rather they should bee attended with gown-mē the which I also had rather But let vs weigh the matter in an euen ballaunce for they which would haue the Bishops retinue to be men of his owne quality seeme to say some-what and to stand to the examples of the ancient Fathers But it is wel knowen that our BB. are neuer without such also Wherefore the question is now of the number which cannot bee prescribed to all alike for that their reuenues are not all alike But go too let vs once againe alow Bishops their ancient attendants The more there is of them the greater is his family so a greater number of seruants and so a greater retenue by ods then is as this day and shall not their enuy also increase with the company for company But the seruing mens swords and the Gentlemens chains do gall them at the heart and paine them in their eies as if good men it were a thing misbeseming the calling of christians that a Bishop shuld be attended by Gentlemen whether old or young That yong Gentlemen and wel nurtered should be preferred to some godly BB. that they may attend his person and marke his maners therby become the better and better learned there no is no man without an enuious eye that can mislike the same Bishops houses haue bene alwaies Colliges of learned men and schooles of al virtue and what hindreth that they may not now be But least I should seme to haue taken vpon me the patrociny rather of BB. then of their calling I may not seeme to set forth the virtues of any which at this