is made by these Men as if it were Contra Regem against the King in Right or in Power But that 's a meer ignorant shift for our being Bishops Jure Divino by Divine Right takes nothing from the King 's Right or Power over us For though our Office be from God and Christ immediately yet may we not exercise that Power either of Order or Jurisdiction but as God hath appointed us that is not in His Majesty's or any Christian King's Kingdoms but by and under the Power of the King given us so to do And were this a good Argument against us as Bishops it must needs be good against Priests and Ministers too for themselves grant that their Calling is Jure Divino by Divine Right and yet I hope they will not say that to be Priests and Ministers is against the King or any his Royal Prerogatives Next Suppose our Callings as Bishops could not be made good Jure Divino by Divine Right yet Jure Ecclesiastico by Ecclesiastical Right it cannot be denied And here in England the Bishops are confirmed both in their Power and Means by Act of Parliament So that here we stand in as good Case as the present Laws of the Realm can make us And so we must stand till the Laws shall be repealed by the same Power that made them Now then suppose we had no other string to hold by I say suppose this but I grant it not yet no Man can Libel against our Calling as these Men do be it in Pulpit Print or otherwise but he Libels against the King and the State by whose Laws we are established Therefore all these Libels so far forth as they are against our Calling are against the King and the Law and can have no other purpose than to stir up Sedition among the People If these Men had any other Intention or if they had any Christian or charitable desire to reform any thing amiss why did they not modestly Petition his Majesty about it that in his Princely Wisdom he might set all things right in a Just and Orderly manner But this was neither their Intention nor Way For one clamours out of his Pulpit and all of them from the Press and in a most virulent and unchristian manner set themselves to make a Heat among the People and so by Mutiny to effect that which by Law they cannot and by most false and unjust Calumnies to defame both our Callings and Persons But for my Part as I pity their Rage so I heartily pray God to forgive their Malice No Nation hath ever appeared more jealous of Religion than the People of England have ever been And their Zeal to God's Glory hath been and at this day is a great honour to them But this Zeal of theirs hath not been at all times and in all Persons alike guided by knowledge Now Zeal as it is of excellent use where it sees its way so it is very dangerous company where it goes on in the dark And these Men knowing the Disposition of the People have laboured nothing more than to misinform their knowledge and misguide their Zeal and so to fire that into a Sedition in hope that they whom they causlesly hate might miscarry in it For the main scope of these Libels is to kindle a Jealousie in Mens Minds that there are some great Plots in Hand dangerous Plots so says Mr. Burton expresly to change the Orthodox Religion established in England and to bring in I know not what Romish Superstition in the room of it As if the external decent worship of God could not be upheld in this Kingdom without bringing in of Popery Now by this Art of theirs give me leave to tell you that the King is most desperately abused and wounded in the Minds of his People and the Prelates shamefully The King most desparately For there is not a more cunning trick in the World to withdraw the Peoples Hearts from their Sovereign than to persuade them that he is changing true Religion and about to bring in gross Superstition upon them Aud the Prelates shamefully For they are charged to seduce and lay the Plot and be the Instruments For his Majesty first This I know and upon this occasion take it my Duty to speak There is no Prince in Christendom more sincere in his Religion nor more constant to it than the King And he gave such a Testimony of this at his being in Spain as I much doubt whether the best of that Faction durst have done half so much as his Majesty did in the Face of that Kingdom And this you my Lord the Earl of Holland and other Persons of Honour were Eye and Ear Witnesses of having the happiness to attend Him there And at this day as his Majesty by God's great Blessing both on him and us knows more so is he more settled and more confirmed both in the Truth of the Religion here established and in Resolution to maintain it And for the Prelates I assure my self they cannot be so base as to live Prelates in the Church of England and labour to bring in the Superstitions of the Church of Rome upon themselves and it And if any should be so foul I do not only leave him to God's Judgment but if these Libellers or any other can disdover that his base and irreligious falshood to shame also and severe Punishment from the State And in any just way no Man's Hand shall be more or sooner against him than mine shall be And for my self to pass by all the scandalous reproacbes which they have most injuriously cast upon me I shall say this only First I know of no Plot nor purpose of altering the Religion established Secondly I have ever been far from attempting any thing that may truly be said to tend that way in the least degree And to these two I here offer my Oath Thirdly If the King had a mind to change Religion which I know he hath not and God forbid he should ever have he must seek for other Instruments For as basely as these Men conceive of me yet I thank God I know my Duty well both to God and the King And I know that all the Duty I owe to the King is under God And my great happiness it is though not mine alone but your Lordships and all his Subjects with me that we live under a Gracious and a Religious King that will ever give us leave to serve God first and Him next But were the days otherwise I thank Christ for it I yet know not how to serve any Man against the Truth of God and I hope I shall never learn it But to return to the business what is their Art to make the World believe a change of Religion is endeavoured What Why forsooth they say there are great Innovations brought in by the Prelates and such as tend to the advancing of Popery Now that the Vanity and Falshood of this may appear I shall humbly
Opinion this Book was thrust now to the Press both to 〈◊〉 these Libellers and as much as in him lay to fire both Church and State And tho I wonder not at the 〈◊〉 yet I should wonder at the Bishop of the Diocese a Man of Learning and Experience that he should give Testimony to such a Business and in such Times as these And once more before I leave the 〈◊〉 Table Name and Thing give me leave to put you in mind that there is no danger at all in the Altar Name or Thing For at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Reformation tho' there were a Law for the taking down 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Altars and setting up of Holy Tables in the room of 〈◊〉 yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 places the Altars were not suddenly removed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Queen in her Injunction to this Why she says That there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of great moment in this saving for Vniformity and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Law in that behalf Therefore for any danger or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was in the Altars Name or Thing they might even then have been left standing but for Vniformity and the Imitation of the Law But howsoever it follows in the same Injunction That when the Altar is taken down the Holy Table shall be set In not cross the place where the Altar stood which as is aforesaid must needs be Altar-wise 14. The Fourteenth and the last Innovation comes with a mighty Charge and 't is taken out of an Epistle to the Temporal Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council Of which Epistle we got one Sheet and so for ought I yet know that Impression staid In that Sheet is this Charge the words are The Prelates to justifie their Proceedings have forged a new Article of Religion brought from Rome which gives them full power to alter the Doctrine and Discipline of our Church at a Blow as they interpret it and have foisted it such is their Language into the beginning of the 20th Article of our Church And this is in the last Edition of the Articles Anno 1628. in affront of His Majesty's Declaration before them c. The Clause which they they say is forged by us is this The Church that is the Bishops as they expound it hath Power to Decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in matter of Faith The word is Controversies of Faith by their leave This Clause say they is a Forgery fit to be Examined and deeply Censured in the Star-Chamber For 't is not to be found in the Latin or English Articles of Edward VI. or Queen Elizabeth ratified by Parliament And then in the Margent thus If to Forge a Will or Writing be censurable in the Star-Chamber which is but a wrong to a private Man how much more the Forgery of an Article of Religion to wrong the whole Church and overturn Religion which concerns all our Souls This is a heavy Charge my Lords but I thank God the Answer 's easie And truly I grant that to Forge an Article of Religion in whole or in part and then to thrust it upon the Church is a most hainous Crime far worse than the Forging of a Deed. And is certainly very deeply Censurable in this Court. And I would have humbly besought you that a deep Censure might have been laid upon it but that this Sheet was found after and so is not annext to the Information nor in Judgment at this present before you But then my Lords I must tell you I hope to make it as clear as the Day that this Forgery was not that this Clause mentioned was added by the Prelates to the Article to gain Power to the Church and so to serve our turns But that that Clause in the beginning of the Article was by these Men or at least by some of their Faction rased out and this to weaken the just Power of the Church to serve their turns They say to justifie their Charge that this Clause is not to be found in the Articles English or Latin of either Edw. VI. or Q. Elizabeth I answer The Articles of Edw. VI. and those made under Q. Elizabeth differ very much And those of Edw. VI. are not now binding So whether the Clause be In or Out of them 't is not much material But for the Articles of the Church of England made in the Queen's time and now in force that this Clause for the Power of the Church to Decree Ceremonies and to have Authority in Controversies of Faith should not be found in English or Latin Copies till the Year 1628. that it was set forth with the King's Declaration before it is to me a Miracle but your Lordships shall see the Falshood and Boldness of these Men. What Is this Affirmative Clause in no Copy English or Latin till the Year 1628 Strange Why my Lords I have a Copy of the Articles in English of the Year 1612 and of the Year 1605 and of the Year 1593 and in Latin of the Year 1563 which was one of the first Printed Copies if not the first of all For the Articles were agreed on but the Nine and twentieth day of January 〈◊〉 1563. And in all these this Affirmative Clause for the Churches Power is in And is not this strange boldness then to abuse the World and falsely to say 't is in no Copy when I my self out of my own store am able to shew it into so many and so antiently But My Lord's I shall make it plainer yet For 't is not fit concerning an Article of Religion and an Article of such Consequence for the Order Truth and Peace of this Church you should rely upon my Copys be they never so many or never so ancient Therefore I sent to the Publick Records in my Office and here under my Officers Hand who is a Publick Notary is returned me the Twentieth Article with this Affirmative Clause in it And there is also the whole Body of the Articles to be seen By this your Lordships see how free the Prelates are from Forging this part of the Article Now let these Men quit themselves and their Faction as they can for their Index Expurgatorins and their foul Rasure in leaving out this part of the Article For to leave out of an Article is as great a Crime as to put in And a Main Rasure is as Censurable in this Court as a Forgery Why But then my Lords what is this Mystery of Iniquity Truly I cannot certainly tell but as far as I can I 'll tell you The Articles you see were fully and fairly agreed to and subscribed in the Year 1563. But after this in the Year 1571 there were some that refused to subscribe but why they did so is not recorded Whether it were about this Article or any other I know not But in Fact this is Manifest that in that Year 1571 the Articles were Printed both in Latin and English and this Clause for the Church left out of both And certainly this could not be done but by
Arts or Bachelour of Law or 〈◊〉 whom they shall meet or be in presence with And that you proceed to the punishment of all such as fail in this kind And 〈◊〉 I pray acquaint Dr. Prideaux and Dr. 〈◊〉 that I will look they shall read their several Lectures as the Statutes require And if they read treatably that their younger Auditors may observe by writing if they please one Lecture may be broken into many to their own great 〈◊〉 and the greater profit of them that hear them and a Face of the University be kept in that particular And last of all these are strictly to require you that since his Majesty hath so lately and fully exprest himself for the keeping of his Declaration in all points that you shew your self very careful in that particular and that you proceed impartially against Delinquents any way that neither one nor the other may have cause to say that you favour a Party And you have great reason to be watchful in this because you know it was objected against you at Woodstock in Dr. Potter's Case which though it appeared palpably false yet it may and ought to be a Summons to you to look warily to your self And some eye it is fit you should bear towards me even in this particular that my Government be not slandered by it Septem 23. 1631. GVIL London In this year there arose a great stir in the University by some factious men which laboured to disturb the Government both in their Sermons and in Convocation and by secret Plotings Their profest aim was to dissolve the Delegacy appointed for the ordering and settling of the Statutes and to set the Proctours in as cunning a way as they could against the Chancellor till they had almost brought all Disorder into the U niversity How far they proceeded and what issue their plots had will appear in the Acts following The Head of all these Tumultuous stirs was by violent presumptions conceived to be one whom it least became for his Coat-sake And I shall spare his name rather for his Coat than himself Right Reverend My Honourable Good Lord I Have not hitherto troubled your Lordship with Letters of Information concerning any of our University-affairs knowing into what sufficient hands you have committed the trust of them from whence I imagine you receive a weekly account But such hath been the height of our late Disorders both without and within the Pulpit that should I not some way express that I am troubled with it I might be thought a very insensible Member of this Body which you govern For these late stirs are not of an Ordinary nature but strike at the very Root of Government which now lies bleeding The Vicechancellor's d power is Questioned The Proctours that should assist him receive the Appeals of Delinquents from him The Delegates such as are rather Parties than Judges And I could wish this were all But this Gangrene will spread farther For the University by these means is likely to become the Seed-plot of Mutiners to 〈◊〉 both Church and Common-wealth with But my comfort is that the way of their own Choosing the way of Appeal which it may be at first they did not think of must at last end before his Sacred Majesty For there is nothing left but the Voice of such a Power to allay this Storm The whole University though with several affections stands now at Gaze And the end of this Business must either prove an awful peace or the letting loose of all Confusion My Duty to my King my Love to Peace and my respect to your Lordship hath commanded this Letter from me which if you please to pardon you will tread in the steps of your former goodness and oblige me to the continuance of my prayers for you whom you shall ever find Ch. Ch. Aug. 1. 1631. Your Lordships most humble and true servant Brian Duppa To the King 's Most Excellent Majesty The humble Petition of WILLIAM SMITH Dr. of Divinity and Vicechancellor of the Vniversity of OXFORD WHereas of late the Peace of your Majesties University of Oxford hath been much disturbed through the Sedicious practices of some distemper'd Spirits who have not only in their Sermons presum'd to handle divers points of Doctrin prohibited by your Majesties strait Command but also by some not obscure passages have endeavoured to fasten the imputation of Apostacy and Back-sliding upon some Persons of Eminent quality there and elsewhere And whereas one Thomas Foord having in a late Sermon of his at S. Maries offended in that kind was thereupon by your humble Petitioner according to the Statutes of the University convented and required to exhibit a Copy of his Sermon And upon his Refusal so to do was therefore commanded to Prison He likewise contrary to his Oath disobeying that command also And Appealing from your Petitioner to the Congregation-house which by the Statutes of the University in that case of breach of Peace he might not do The Proctors notwithstanding which should have assisted your Petitioner received the Appeal and the major part of the Delegates entertained it to the wrong both of your humble Petitioner and the Government of the University and quitted the said Foord as not guilty of the Perturbation of the Peace And whereas upon this Sentence of theirs your humble Petitioner finding himself aggrieved appealed to the House of Convocation through default of Appearance of a major part of Delegates appointed thereunto your humble Petitioners Cause being there deserted and let fall is at lengh according to the Statutes of the University devolved into your sacred Majesties hands And whereas one Giles Thorne by a scandalous Sermon of his lately preached in the same Place hath likewise farther disturbed the Peace of the University and more are like to follow especially not wanting Abettors to give them encouragement unless some speedy course be taken for prevention The humble suit therefore of your Majesties poor Petitioner is that out of your special Clemency always plentifully extended towards the Church and her Seminaries your Majesty would be graciously pleased to take into your own Royal Consideration the preservation of the Peace and Tranquillity of your University and of the Authority of her Governours against the Practices of such as under the colour of Religion or Liberty oppugn both Church and Civil Government That so these Troubles of the University may have a present end by your Majesty's happy Coming so near it And your humble Petitioner shall pray c. IN Dei nomine Amen Coram vobis Notario publico publicâqu authenticâ personâ ac testibus fide dignis hic praesentibus Ego Guilielmus Smith Sacrae Theologiae Professor Vniversitatis Oxon. Vicecancellarius ac Commissarius legitimè constitutus animo Appellandi déque nullitate nullitatibus omnibus singulis infrà scriptis aequè principaliter querelandi omnibus melioribus viâ modo juris formâ quibus meliùs aut
Sacred Majesty Moreover I do likewise with hearty sorrow confess that I did let fall some passages that might be taken to the disparagement of the Government of the Church in making erroneous and heretical opinions the way to preferment All which with the main current of my discourse might sound to sedition in the Ears of the present assembly By this my great and inexcusable offence I do freely acknowledge that I have deserved the sharpest of Censures and severest of punishments and therefore that his Royal Majesty hath justly rewarded me for the same it being an offence of so high a nature And I have nothing at all to plead but the Royal Mercy of my gracious Sovereign for my restitution to this famous University This my Confession and Submission I do most humbly tender to the favourable acceptance of this Venerable House craving the Pardon of the University in general so more especially of our most Honorable Chancellour whom with all humility I beseech to present this my acknowledgement to his Majesties Sacred hand as the pledge and ingagement both in present and for the future of my readiest obedience William Hodges I Thomas Hill do freely and sincerely acknowledge before this Venerable Assembly of Convocation that in a Sermon lately by me preach't in St. Maries I did let fall divers scandalous Speeches partly in opposition to His Majesties Injunctions by odious Justling together the names of certain Factions in the Church and imputing Pelagianisme and Popery to the one side Partly in disparagement of the present Government of State and Church by making foul and erroneous Opinions the readiest steps now-a-days to Preferment As also in disparaging the whole Order of Bishops in point of Learning and Religion making them favourers of unsound and erroneous Doctrine and disfavourers of sound Doctrine As likewise in imputing to a great part of our Clergy only Politique and Lunatick Religion Besides private glances against particular Persons concerning some Speeches delivered in their late Sermons in all which passages in my Sermon I confess to have given just offence to the University and to deserve the sharpest of Censures Wherefore with all humble submission I beseech the whole University represented in this Venerable House to pass-by this my willful errour of undiscrect and misguided Zeal and do faithfully promise henceforward to abstain from all such scandalous aspersions and intimations as tending only to the disparagement of the Church and the Distraction and disquiet of the University And this my Submission I humbly crave may be accepted which I do here make willingly and from my heart with true sorrow for what is past Thomas Hill VVHEREAS Upon Information given to his Majesty concerning Misdemeanours of the Delegates in hearing and determining the Cause of Appeal set on foot by Mr. Forde against Mr. Vice-Chancellour his Majesty was pleased to give Order that as soon as I came unto the University notice should be given unto the Right Honourable and Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bp. of London our Chancellour that upon Examination of the business I might receive such Censure as the merits of the Cause should deserve and his Lordship upon my voluntary appearance acknowledgement of my Errours and humble submission to his Lordship has been pleased to remit me back to the University and hath ordered that in the presence of Mr. Vice-Chancellour and the Governours of Colleges and Halls I should make the like Recognition of my Errors and offensive Carriage in that business I with all humility and thankfulness acknowledge his Lordship's favour and do freely and ingenuously confess that in the hearing of that Cause I did declare my self in the maintenance of Mr. Ford's appeal with more Vehemency than did become an indifferent man not without disrespect to Mr Vice-Vhancellour and some other Misdemeanours For which inconsiderate Carriage I am very heartily sorry and do humbly crave pardon of Mr. Vice-Chancellour and the University and do seriously promise that from henceforth I will avoid all partakings or factious endeavours against the quiet and Government of the University and as much as shall be in my power will be assisting to the orderly proceedings of those who are in authority and set over me in this place Francis Hyde Right Honourable and Right Reverend Father in God VVIth all Humility let me beseech your Lordship amongst other faults of mine to pardon this one of Presumption And having sealed me a pardon for my boldness I must again beseech your Honourable favour to entertain this the necessary Testimony and tender of my heartiest thanks and most humble Service Let all the World forget me when I forget to be grateful having been bless'd with as great a favour from your fatherly hands as I could in reason or modestly sue for The re enlivening of dying hopes the seasonable refreshing of a whithering branch the happy recovery of a man as low in present being of his decayed fortunes as punishment and desert could set him the work your Lordships mine the benefit my expressions may come below the greatness both of the Benefit I enjoy and of the Favour I have received but my Prayers and continual Devotions shall not I shall make up in these the defects of the former and in these I shall pray God to bless me so through the course of my Studies and Endcavours as that I may be able to approve my self From Exon. Coll. in Oxon. Febr. 22. 〈◊〉 Your Lordships in all thankfulness and faithful Service to be commanded VVilliam Hodges S. in Christo. AFter my hearty Commendations c. I am very sorry that I have this Occasion to write to the University which I love so well that it cannot but trouble me to hear of any thing ill done in it I have divers ways heard what disorders and tumults have accompanied the publick Disputations toward the end of the last Lent to the great scandal of the University and tending to the breach of all Government there The noise of these great Disorders was like enough of it self to be heard far and to add to this Unhappiness these Misdemeanours were then committed when they might be seen by some which meant not to conceal them Insomuch that the report of them is come to his Majesties Ears who is highly displeased with this ill carriage and the more because he thought the care and the pains which he lately took to settle some breaches of Government there would not so soon have been forgotten as it seems to him they are Upon this his Majesty hath directed his Princely Letters to me and by them required me to look both to the punishment of these Distempers and the preventing of the like hereafter According to these his Majesties Royal Commands I do pray and require you Mr. Vice-Chancellour and the rest of the Governours to look carefully to your several Charges both publick and private not only for the Honour of the University which it seems by some
of Ours That there is no such Light to the true meaning of Scripture as the Practice of matters contained in it under the Synagogue and in the Church afterwards Now what Light can we possibly receive from the Synagogue if those things which were before can give no Rule to us Besides for ought I know of this Lord's Religion he may brand all the Old Testament as deeply as the Manichees did of old or go very near it if it can give no Rule and so be of no use to Christians St. Augustine was of another Mind through all his Books against Faustus the Manichee And St. Ambrose most expresly and very frequently recommended this tanquam Regulam as a Rule to the People And in this very Case of Episcopacy Clemens Romanus tells us There is a kind of Parallel between Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the one and High Priests Priests and Levites in the other Church And St. Jerom speaks it out that such as Aaron and his Sons and the Tribe of Levi were in the Temple the same are Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the Church of Christ. And this they might justly challenge to themselves and make it a Rule But 't is time to proceed to other Particulars In the Case of Tythes we find that they were due Jure Divino by Divine Right to the Priests under the Law and some were paid before the Law no Man doubts but many will not grant that there is any Divine Right commanding or ordering them to be paid to the Priests under the Gospel Yet this is undeniable that Tythes have been paid to the Ministers under the Gospel in all or most parts of Christendom for many Hundreds of Years together and God be thanked the Payment continues yet in some Places What was it then if not Divine Right that gave the Rule to Christians for this kind of Payment but the Practice before the Law and the Precept under it Shall we say here as this Lord doth That what was before can give no Rule to this Now God forbid The whole Christian World thought otherwise And whatsoever becomes of the Controversie about Tythes yet this is certain that the Ministers of the Gospel ought to have a liberal and free Maintenance Men whom they serve in and for Christ must not open their Mouths too often to preach and muzzle them whom they should feed And the Rule for this is given by the Law for it is written in the Law of Moses Thou shall not muzzle the Mouth of the Ox that treads out the Corn. Doth God take care for Oxen or saith he it altogether for our sakes For our sakes no doubt this is written 1 Cor. 9. 9. And yet how many of these Oxen are poorly shuted and in a manner muzzel'd is evident enough How comes this to pass How Why surely the Apostle St. Paul was utterly deceived here ask my Lord else for he proves this point of their Maintenance because 't is so written in the Law of Moses whereas that Law which was before can give no Rule to this Again The Lord himself hath ordained so saith St. Paul v. 14. that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel Not starve by the Gospel but live upon it live plentifully and decently But by what Rule did the Lord himself proceed in this If his Will had been his Rule no Rule so strait it could not but have been just But St. Paul tells us there v. 13. that God himself proceeded by another Rule Do ye not know saith he that they which minister about Holy things live of the things of the Temple and they which wait on the Altar are partakers with the Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even so hath the Lord ordained Just so That as the Priests and Levites under the Law did wait on the Altar and live by it so must they who preach the Gospel by the Gospel Just so Why then how did the Priest under the Law live 'T is set down at large Deut. 18. 1. Numb 10. 9. and a very full Portion they had so full as that they might have no Inheritance amongst their Brethren the Lord's Portion which was made theirs was so great yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Lord ordained for the Ministers of the Gospel Press this a little farther and 't will come to the quick The Priests and Levites under the Law besides their partaking with the Altar had the Tythes of all duly paid them Will not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reach to this too If so then 't is clear in the Text that the Lord himself ordained payment of Tythes to the Ministers of the Gospel For the ordained that the Ministers of the Gospel should live of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 just as the Priests under the Law did of the Altar I will not be peremtory in this sense of the Text yet I would have it well considered And howsoever that a free and plentiful Certain Maintenance is the Ordinance of the Lord himself is by this Text as clear as the Sun Now this Lord should do well to tell St. Paul that either he mistook the Lord's Ordinance or if he did not that then the Lord himself was mistaken in so ordaining for the Ministers of the Gospel because what was before can give no Rule to this Farther yet you may see the Vanity the Nothing of this bold Assertion in other particulars beside the Case of Tything For if neither the State of Man before the Law nor the Law it self can give any Rule in things of this kind to us that live under the Gospel then there is nothing in God's Law that can give a Rule to us but that a Man may remove his Neighbour's Land-mark he may lead the Blind out of the way he may smite his Neighbour so it be secretly he may marry in many Degrees of Consanguinity and what may he not For all these and many things more are prohibited only in the Law Deut. 27. Levit. 18. But that going before can give no Rule to these Now the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 10. 6 11. That those things were our Examples and written for our admonition And he speaks of things before and under the Law And more generally Rom. 15. 4. Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our Learning Now learn well and certainly we cannot but by Rule and therefore most manifest it is that those things which were before can give us Rules whatsoever is here said to the contrary Two things there are which work much with me why this Lord should say that the things which were before and under the Law can give no Rule in this And if not in this then not in things like to this The one is the Power which Kings have in their several Dominions over the external Government and Polity of the Church The Apostle's Rule goes in the general only Let every Soul be subject Rom. 13.
of another Nature and so he is at a loss in that And if it be of another Nature yet it appears by the Apostle's practice that for all that it can give a Rule in this For that which can give the Apostle a Rule can give a Rule to us And so he is at a loss in the whole Proposition For whether that which was before be or be not of another Nature yet it can give a Rule I have been long upon this Passage because I conceive the main Controversie hangs and turns upon this hinge And if any Reader think it long or tedious or be of this Lord's Mind that he need not go so high for Proof yet let him pardon me who in this am quite of another Judgment And for the pardon I shall gratifie him by being as brief as possibly I can in all that follows Thus then this Lord proceeds The Question which will lye before your Honours in passing this Bill is not Whether Episcopacy I mean this Hierarchical Episcopacy which the World now holds forth to us shall be taken away Root and Branch but Whether those exuberant and superfluous Branches which draw away the Sapp from the Tree and divert it from the right and proper use whereby it becomes unfruitful shall be cut off as they use to pluck up Suckers from the Root After this Lord had told us we need not go so high for the business he comes now to state the present Question Where he tells us what himself means by Episcopacy Namely Hierarchical Episcopacy such as is properly and now commonly so called in the World And this his Lordship adds because of that distinction made by Beza in his Tract de Triplici Episcopatu Divino scilicet Humano Satanico In which what part Beza plays I will forbear to speak but leave him and his Gall of bitterness to the Censure of the Learned Sir Edw. Deering in his printed Speeches tells us that others in milder Language keep the same sense and say there is Episcopus Pastor Praeses and Princeps So in his account Episcopus Princeps Satanicus is all one in milder terms But the Truth is that in the most learned and flourishing Ages of the Church the Bishops were and were called Principes Chief and Prime and Prince if you will in Church Affairs For so Optatus calls them the Chief and Princes And so likewise did divers others of the Fathers even the best learned and most devout And this Title is given to Diocesan or Hierarchical Bishops which doubtless these Fathers would neither have given nor taken had Episcopus Princeps and Satanicus been all one Nor would Calvin have taught us that the Primitive Church had in every Province among their Bishops one Arch-Bishop and that in the Council of Nice Patriarchs were appointed which should be in order and dignity above Bishops had he thought either such Bishops or Arch-Bishops to have been Satanical And had Beza lived in those times he would have been taught another Lesson And the Truth is Beza when he wrote that Tract had in that Argument either little Learning or no Honesty But for this Lord whether he means by Hierarchical Episcopacy the same which Beza I will not determine He uses a Proper word and a Civil and I will not purpose to force him into a worse meaning than he hath or make him a worse Enemy to the Church if worse he may be than he is already Though I cannot but doubt he is bathed in the same Tub. Having told us what he means by Episcopacy he states the business thus That the Question is not whether this Hierarchical Episcopacy shall be taken away Root and Branch So then I hope this Lord will leave a Hierarchy such as it shall be in the Church We shall not have it all laid level We shall not have that Curse of Root and Branch for less it is not laid upon us Or at least not yet But what shall follow in time when this Bill hath us'd its edge I know not Well if not Root and Branch taken away what then What why 't is but whether those exuberant and superfluous Branches which draw away the Sapp from the Tree and divert it from the right and proper use whereby it becomes unfruitful shall be cut off as they use to pluck up Suckers from the Root This Lord seems to be a good Husbandman but what he will prove in the Orchard or Garden of the Lord I know not For most true it is that Suckers are to be plucked from the Root and as true that in the prime and great Vine there are some Branches which bear no fruit and our Saviour himself tells us that they which are such are to be taken away St. Joh. 15. 2. And therefore I can easily believe it that in Episcopacy which is a far lower Vine under and in the Service of Christ and especially in the husbanding of it there may be some such Branches as this Lord speaks of which draw away Sapp and divert it and make the Vine less fruitful and no doubt but such Branches are to be cut off So far I agree and God forbid but I should But then there are divers other Questions to be made and answered before this sharp Lord fall to cutting As first What Branches they be which are Exuberant and Superfluous as this Lord is pleased to call them What time is fittest to cut them off Whether they be not such as with Pruning may be made fruitful If not then how near to the Body they are to be cut off Whether this Lord may not be mistaken in the Branches which he thinks divert the Sapp Whether a Company of Lay-Men without any Order or Ordinance from Christ without any Example from the days of Christ may without the Church take upon them to prune and order this Vine For whatever this Lord thinks in the over abundance of his own Sense the Lord hath appointed Husbandmen to order and prune this Vine and all the Branches of it in his Church without his Usurpation of their Office And while he uses a Bill which is too boisterous a Weapon for a Vine instead of a Pruning-hook the Church it self which is the Vine which bears Episcopacy may bleed to death in this Kingdom before Men be aware of it And I am in great fear if things go on as they are projected that Religion is upon taking its leave of this Kingdom But this Lord hath not quite done stating the Question for he tells us next That The Question will be no more but this Whether Bishops shall be reduced to what they were in their first advancement over the Presbyters which although it were but a Humane device for the Remedy of Schism yet were they in those times least offensive or continue still with the addition of such things as their own Ambition and the Ignorance and Superstition of succeeding times did add thereunto and which are now
this last Act of Parliament hath taken away their Trappings As for that which follows next that these things have cast them out of the Consciences of Men that 's not so For in other Kingdoms that are Christian and some Reformed as well as other they have more Employment in Civil Affairs than with us and yet are in high esteem in the Consciences of Men. But the Truth is Schisin and Separation have so torn Men from Clergy and Church from God and Christ and all that they have not only cast Bishops but Religion too out of their Consciences and their Consciences are thrown after God knows whither Now for the Reason which this Lord gives he is quite wide in that also For every thing is not esteemed as it is eminent in its own proper Excellency as he says it is Indeed it ought to be so but so it is not For in the place before cited Eccles. 9. 16. Wisdom is better than Folly and is most eminent in its own proper Excellency but is it always esteemed so No sure for the poor Man's Wisdom is despised There however it ought to be esteemed for its proper Excellency yet if it be found in a poor Subject 't is despised and accounted as mean and vile as he is that hath it And as for the Illustration which his Lordship makes of this his Proposition 't is meerly fallacious For Arguments drawn from Natural Things which ever work constantly the same way to Moral Things which depend upon voluntary and mutable Agents will seldom or never universally follow And therefore though it be true that the Eye is esteemed for seeing not hearing and the Ear for hearing not speaking and should it be otherwise it would be rather monstrous than comely That 's true because they are Agents determined ad unum to that one Operation and cannot possibly do the other but then by his Lordship's leave so it is not with Bishops for though their proper Excellency be indeed Spiritual yet they may meddle with other things so long as they can observe the Apostle's Rule 1 Cor. 7. 31. and use this World as if they used it not that is use it so long and so far as may help their Service of God and cast it off when it shall hinder them But this Lord thinks all use of these things and Employments in them to be unlawful for our Calling And therefore he adds That when they contrary hereunto seek after a worldly Excellency like the great Men of the World and to Rule and Domineer as they do contrary to our Saviour's Precept Vos autem non sic But it shall not be so amongst you Instead of Honour and Esteem they have brought upon themselves in the Hearts of the People that Contempt and 〈◊〉 which they now lie under and that justly and necessarily because the World sees that they prefer a worldly Excellency and run after it and contend for it before their own which being Spiritual is far more excellent and which being proper to the Ministery is that alone which will put a Value and Esteem upon them that are of that Calling All this which follows is but matter of Ampliation to help aggravate the business and to make Bishops so hateful to other Men as they are to himself For I hope no Bishops of this Church do seek after worldly Excellency contrary to their Function at least I know none that do And they are far from being like the Great Men of the World As to Ruling 't is proper enough to them so far as Authority is given but Domineer they do not This comes from this Lord's Spleen not from their Practice And by that time his Lordship hath sat a while longer in the State Men will find other manner of Domineering from him than they found from the Bishops Nor do they in their meddling with Civil Affairs in such sort as is now practised in England go contrary to our Saviour's Precept Vos autem non sic It shall not be so amongst you as I have proved before Most true indeed it is that the poor Bishops of this Church do now instead of Honour and Esteem lie under Contempt and Odium in the Hearts of the People Of some not of all no nor either of the greater or the better part for all the noise that hath been raised against them and this Lord is much deceived to say they have brought it upon themselves For it is but part of the Dirt which this Lord and his fellow Sectaries have most unchristian-like cast upon them And this only to wrest their Votes out of Parliament that now they are gone they may the better compass their ends against Church and State which God preserve against their Malice and Hypocrisie But this Lord says farther That the Bishops have brought this Contempt upon themselves justly and necessarily Now God forbid that it should be either and his Lordship proves it but by saying the same thing over again namely because the World sees that they prefer a worldly Excellency and run after it and contend for it before their own And surely if they do this they are much to blame but I believe the World sees it not unless it be such of the World as look upon them with this Lord's Eyes and that when they are at the worst too And I verily persuade my self and I think upon very good grounds that the present Bishops of this Kingdom all or the most of them are as far from any just tax in this or any other kind as they have been in any former Times since the Reformation 'T is true that their own Calling being Spiritual is far more excellent and I shall the better believe it when I see this Lord and the rest value it so For I have told his Lordship already that every thing which is more excellent in its self is not always so esteemed by others And though this Excellency be never so proper yet by his good leave it is not that alone which will put a value and esteem upon them and their Calling There must be some outward helps to encourage and countenance and reward them too or else Flesh and Blood are so dull that little will be done And suppose this Religious Lord and some few like himself would value and esteem them for their Spiritual Calling only yet what are these to so many as would 〈◊〉 them And yet to speak the Truth freely I do not see this Lord nor any of that Feather put a value upon that Calling for the Spiritual Excellency only for then all Ministers that do their Duty should be valued and esteemed by them the Calling being alike Spiritual and alike Excellent in all whereas the World sees they neither care for nor countenance any Ministers but such as separate with them from the Church of England or are so near to it as that they are ready to step into an Independent Congregation so soon as by the Artifice of this
be quieted by this Assurance that neither the Law nor their Liberty as Subjects is thereby infringed And for Physick the Profession is honourable and safe and I know the Professors of it will remember that Corpus Humanum Man's Body is that about which their Art is conversant not Corpus Ecclesiasticum or Politicum the Body of the Church State or Commonwealth Bastwick only hath been bold that way But the Proverb in the Gospel in the Fourth of St. Luke is all I 'll say to him Medice cura teipsum Physician heal thy self And yet let me tell Your Majesty I believe he hath gained more by making the Church a Patient than by all the Patients he ever had beside Sir both my self and my Brethren have been very coursely used by the Tongues and Pens of these Men yet shall I never give Your Majesty any sow'r Counsel I shall rather manifie Your Clemency that proceeded with these Offenders in a Court of Mercy as well as Justice Since as the Reverend Judges then declared You might have justly called the Offenders into another Court and put them to it in a way that might have exacted their Lives for their stirring as much as in them lay of Mutiny and Sedition Yet this I shall be bold to say and Your Majesty may consider of it in Your Wisdom That one way of Government is not always either fit or safe when the Humours of the People are in a continual Change Especially when such Men as these shall work upon Your People and labour to infuse into them such malignant Principles to introduce a Parity in the Church or Commonwealth Et si non satis sua sponte insaniant instigare And to spur on such among them as are too sharply set already And by this means make and prepare all Advantages for the Roman Party to scorn Vs and pervert Them I pray God bless Your Majesty Your Royal Consort and Your hopeful Posterity that You may Live in Happiness Govern with Wisdom Support Your People by Justice Relieve them by Mercy Defend them by Power and Success And Guide them in the true Religion by Your Laws and most Religious Example all the long and lasting Days of Your Life Which are and shall be the daily Prayers of Your Sacred Majesty's most Loyal Subject and Most Dutiful Servant as most bound W. Cant. Arch-Bishop LAVD's SPEECH AT THE CENSURE OF J. Bastwick H. Burton and W. Prinn My LORDS I Shall not need to speak of the infamous Course of Libelling in any kind Nor of the Punishment of it which in some Cases was Capital by the Imperial Laws as appears Cod. l. 9. T. 36. Nor how patiently some great Men very great Men indeed have born Animo civili that 's Sueton. his word laceratam existimationem The tearing and rending of their Credit and Reputation with a gentle nay a generous Mind But of all Libels they are most odius which pretend Religion As if that of all things did desire to be defended by a Mouth that is like an open Sepulchre or by a Pen that is made of a sick and a loathsom Quill There were Times when Persecutions were great in the Church even to exceed Barbarity it self Did any Martyr or Confessor in those Times Libel the Governours Surely no not one of them to my best Remembrance yet these complain of Persecution without all shew of cause and in the mean time Libel and Rail without all measure So little of kin are they to those which suffer for Christ or the least part of Christian Religion My Lords It is not every Man's Spirit to hold up against the Venome which Libellers spit For S. Ambrose who was a stout and a worthy Prelate tells us not that himself but that a far greater Man than he that 's King David had found out so it seems in his Judgment 't was no matter of ordinary Ability Grande inventum a great and mighty Invention how to swallow and put off those bitter Contumilies of the Tongue And those of the Pen are no whit less and spread farther And it was a great one indeed and well beseemed the greatness of David But I think it will be far better for me to look upward and practise it than to look downward and discourse upon it In the mean time I shall remember what an Antient under the name of S. Hierom tells me * Indignum est praeposterum 'T is unworthy in it self and preposterous in demeanour for a Man to be ashamed for doing good because other Men glory in speaking ill And I can say it clearly and truly as in the presence of God I have done nothing as a Prelate to the uttermost of what I am conscious but with a single Heart and with a sincere Intention for the good Government and Honour of the Church and the maintenance of the Orthodox Truth and Religion of Christ professed established and maintained in this Church of England For my Care of this Church the reducing of it into Order the upholding of the external Worship of God in it and the setling of it to the Rules of its first Reformation are the Causes and the sole Causes whatever are pretended of all this malicious Storm which hath lowred so black upon me and some of my Brethren And in the mean time they which are the only or the chief Innovators of the Christian World having nothing say accuse us of Innovation They themselves and their Complices in the mean time being the greatest Innovators that the Christian World hath almost ever known I deny not but others have spread more dangerous Errors in the Church of Christ but no Men in any Age of it have been more guilty of Innovation then they while themselves cry out against it Quis tulerit Gracchos And I said well Quis tulerit Gracchos For 't is most apparent to any Man that will not wink that the Intention of these Men and their Abettors was and is to raise a Sedition being as great Incendiaries in the State where they get Power as they have ever been in the Church Novatian himself hardly greater Our main Crime is would they all speak out as some of them do that we are Bishops were we not so some of us might be as passable as other Men. And a great trouble 't is to them that we maintain that our Calling of Bishops is Jure Divino by Divine Right Of this I have said enough and in this place in Leighton's Case nor will I repeat Only this I will say and abide by it that the Calling of Bishops is Jure Divino by Divine Right tho' not all Adjuncts to their Calling And this I say in as direct opposition to the Church of Rome as to the Puritan Humour And I say farther that from the Apostles times in all Ages in all Places the Church of Christ was governed by Bishops And Lay-Elders never heard of till Calvin's new-fangled Device at Geneva Now this