fuerit notatus quis iure miretur Vt enim Totus componitur orbis Regis ad exemplum sic qualis Pastor talis grex In Sacerdotio Simoniae corruptela vitiato frustra quaeris pium probumque populum Et si Simoniacus Sanctus esse possit etiam furi competet nomen sanctitatis Qui enim non per ostium intrat sed alià in ouile scandit fur est ac latro inquit Pastor ille Magnus Vnde Lyra Atque hoc faciunt omnes infideles etiam mali fideles hoc est qui fidem profitentur statum Praelatione indebitè assequentes But saith he he that entreth in by the doore that is by the faith and humilitie of Christ and by his other vertues to him the Porter openeth that is the Holy Ghost reuealeth his truth that he may feed his sheepe but the thiefe commeth not but to kill So Lyra. Damianus tels of a certaine Simoniacall Bishop who by no meanes could name the holy Ghost although he could name the Father and the Sonne but when hee came to name the holy Ghost his tongue did stammer and became stiffe Merito enim Spiritum Sanctum dum emit amisit Vt qui exclusus erat ab anima procul etiam esset consequenter à lingua Hac igitur difficultate conuictus Episcopale decarcâ—raeuit Officium qui per Simoniacam haeresin ad Episcopatus culmen irrepserat For buying the Holy Ghost he deseruedly lost it that it being shut out of his soule should bee also farre off from his tongue So that being by this impediment conuicted hee abandoâ—ed his Episcopall Function hauing cropt to that top of his Episcopalitie by Simoniacall heresie So hee Gratian also relates a saying of Gregory to this purpose Vulnerato Pastore quiâ— curandis ouibus adhibet medicinam Aut quomodo populum orationis clypeo tucatur qui iaculis hostium sese feriendum exponit aut qualem fructum de se producturus est cui graui peste radix infecta est Maior ergo metuenda est locis illis calamitas vbi tales intercessores ad locum regimines adducuntur qui Dei magis in se iracundiam prâ—uocant quam per semetipsâ—s placare debuerant To this purpose Bernard saith to such Soli non potestiâ— perire qui praire debetis docendo operando Mulâ—i sunt Catholici praedicando qui Haeretici sunt operando Quod Haeretici faciunt per praua dogmata hoc faciunt plures hodie per mala exempla Et tanto grauiores sunt Haereticis quanto praeualent opera verbis So Bernard Simoniaci autem haeretici sunt in quibus quid impedit quo minus omne genus peccatâ— dominetur For as Senectus est omnis Morbus So Simonia est omne malum It is the Mare Mortuum wherein are buried yea bred more then all the sinnes of Sodome and her confederate Cities From whence come all those sinnes of Bribery in the Common-wealth but from this stinking lake from whence all that Lay-Simonie in buying and selling all sort of Offices great and small of publike Iustice and priuate seruice but from the authenticke precedent yea the spawne and sperme of Simonie Thus the Virgin Dinah the Virgin Church being rauished what followeth but that these two Simeon and Leui the Simoniacall Patron and Parson brethren in euill will be the Instruments of crueltie to destroy the whole Citie or Parish where they dwell and so make the whole profession of true religion to stinke in the nostrills euen of the enemies of the truth These two being like the two maine pillars whereon the whole house leaned if Simonie like Sampson shake these downe tell mee how the whole Parish cannot but perish with them Wee haue a memorable and deplored example hereof in Herod and Caiphas the one the Patron selling the other the Priest purchasing For it is well obserued by Ferus that Annas and Caiphas did purchase to themselues the yeerely vicissitude of succession in the Office of the High-Priest which is noted by the Euangelist saying That Caiphas was the High-Priest for that yeere So that Annas and Caiphas the father and sonne in law had their yeerely turnes in the High-Priests Office yeelding to Herod a yeerely returne for the same to keepe his fingers in vse and vre Vnde facile conijci potest quà m nihil pietatis habuerint multum autem arrogantiae vanae gloriae Whence it may easily bee coniectured how little or no pietie they had and how much pride and vaine-glory saith Ferus And who so fit as these grand Simoniackes to be the betrayers and murtherers of the Lord Iesus Christ whereupon insued the fatall ruine of that most ancient and renowned Church and Nation of the Iewes So when the Lord had denounced that fatâ—ll and finall destruction to Hierusalem and that Church doth he not immediately thereupon goe into the Temple and purge it from those profane Merchants Intimating that such like profanation of the Church by buyers and sellers should be one principall cause of the ruine thereof Luke 19.44.45 Saint Augustine reported that the holy fire of the Sacrifice which during the seuentie yeeres captiuitie in Babylon liued vnder water was extinguished when Antiochus sold the Priesthood to Iason And what maruell then if the fire of godly zeale and the very life and light of religion bee in danger to bee wholly extinguished in that Church where Simonie is predominantâ— In Pope Gregory the ninths time a Grecian Archbishop elect comming to Rome to bee confirmed and not speeding without a large summe thereupon returned re infecta which gaue the first occasion to the Greeke Church to reuolt and rent it selfe from the Latin as Matthew Paris saith But this by the way to shew how odious and how pernicious Simonie is Cyprian de Lapsis saith Non in Sacerdotibus religio deuota non in Ministris fides integra non in operibus misericordia non in moribus disciplina Episcopi plurimi quos hortamento esse oportet cateris exemplo diuina procuratione contempta Procuratores rerum saecularium fieri derelicta Cathedra plebe deserta negotiationis quastuosa nundinas ancupari esurientibus in Ecclesia fratribus non subuenire habere argentum largiter velle c. Quid non perpeti tales pro peccatis eiusmodi mereremur Adeo traditam nobis diuinitus Disciplinam pax longa corrupit c. And de ieiunio tent 6. Simon Apostolorum temporibus vaenalem putans Spiritum Sanctum Petrum donis aggreditur tentat emere potestatem per quam plura lucretur Haec sacrilegij forma per omnia Officia gradusque discurrit nihil intentatum ambitio praetermittit Nec dubitet quisquam Diaboli esse negotia nundinatores eius quicunque haec exercent commercia nec quicquam huâ—usmodi abeo nisi praemissa Apostasia donari So that Simonie and Apostacie goe together What should I speake here of the
shall bee as superfluous to speake of more as it would bee infinite and impossible for an vnexperienced Simplicitie to diue into the Mysterie of this iniquitie and sound all the deepes of it As for Impropriations though they were originally maine brances of the Leuiticall Stock and so the merchandizing of them also might claime kindred with Simonie yet because they are slips broken off and transplanted out of the Garden and Paradise of God the Learned Treatise of that godly Scotish knight Sir Iames Semple as also that other of Sir Henry Spelman an English Knight both of the Lay Tribe two noble and pregnant witnesses doth more iustly intitle it selfe to this Argument Onely I would to God these two worthy Treatiâ—es were throughly studied and conscionably applied and printed in the hearts and consciences of all Impropriators to their eternall saluaâ—ion by being conscionably perswaded to shake their hands of such sacred things restoring them to Christ the onely true Proprietary the wronging of whom in this kind will one day proue fearefull sacriledge whatsoeuer men thinke of it now CHAP. XI Of the highest degree of Simonie committed in Ordination COncerning Simonie committed in Ordination although haply the money giuen for a simple Ordination be but small vnlesse it be for some egregious Dunce to which as Salomon saith of a dull-edged instrument a man must put the more strength and as it were the more weight to the lighter scale Yet of all other kindes of Simonie this is the most pernicious and damnable yea the lesse a man giueth or receiueth in this respect it is an argument of the lesse esteeme he makes of so holy and excellent a Calling As the Lord saith of Iudas his selling of Christ for thirtie pieces of siluer A goodly price that I was prized at of them Now this is so properly Simonie as it is the very sinne of Simon himselfe which is to buy the gifts of the Holy Ghost A sinne so detestable as that the Church of Rome it selfe though now the Mother and Nurse of abominations hath cried out against This sinne For we must put a great difference betweene the now Church of Rome and that which it hath beene formerly and that euen within these three or foure hundred yeeres For in former times as that Church hatched fostered many enormities both of Doctrine and Manners which by degrees crept in till Antichrist should come to his full stature yet there was place left for reproofe deuout and learned men might speake and write freely of the abuses of it But now within lesse then these hundred yeeres since the Councell of Trent this Church is growne to that superciliousnesse and height of pride that no man may once mention the least speâ—k or blemish of that foolish Virgin or rather filthy Whoore nay those that haue alreadie in their writings left any record or Monuments of Romes sin and in espeâ—ial of this of Simonie it must passe through the fire of their Index Expurgatorius Take one example among other Clau-Espencaeus in his Commentaries vpon his Epistle to Titus where he toucheth the corruptions of the Church of Rome in matter of Simonie there hee must bee purged For the purpose in that Impression at Paris by Michael Sonnius Pag. 65. Deleatur ab illis verbis sed annon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsque ad Idque adeo in confesso est And Pag. 74. Circa medium deleantur illâ— verba Adeo Romanam Curiam repurgare sibi non permisit And Pag. 76. Deleatur ab illis verbis Vinere qui capitis vque ad Sacra sunt vaenalia Romae pag. 78. lin 8. Deleatur ab illis verbis Et cum alia vendaâ—t alij vsque ad Coelum est vaenale Deusque Which places because they are not obuious to euery Reader and that it may appeare how their Index cannot so blur the truth or bleere mens eyes but that the Whoores filthinesse will be discouered I haue thought good to set downe the former alledged places at large sauing where whole pages are expurged too long here to be insâ—â—ted In the first place those Verses out of 〈◊〉 are to be cashered Si quid Roma dabit nugas dabit accipit curum Verba dat heu Romae nunc solâ— pecunia regnat Hoc est Roma viris auibus quod noctua i. captatrix If Rome giues ought t is trislles gold shee takes Gâ—ues words at Rome alacke now money makes Alone the market Rome is that to men Which th'owle is to the birds Where also other most beastly stuffe such â—s my Author saith breeds horrour in the very mention all contained in the Roman Taxa Camerae where all sorts of most horrible sinnes are dispensed withall at such a rate as Presbytericide or Priest killing Parricide Matricide or killing of ones parents though willingly also Simonie as deseruing to bee ranked among such sinnes all which and much more are not onely dispensed with for so much money but the offenders made capable of any honour or preferment in the Church all that rabble must bee expurged out of the Author notwithstanding the Taxa Camerâ— remaines still in force and none of all these reformed as the Author saith which must also bee expurged Adeo Romaâ—am Curiam repurgare sibi non permisit c. no reformation will bee indured Againe these Verses must out so famous in many Authors Vinere qui capitis Sanctè discedite Roma Omnia cum liceat non licet esse bonum All you that would liue holy hence from Rome Where all things else but goodnesse find a roome And these also related by my Author must out Quis quis opes sacras nummo reperire profano Quâ—rit eat Romam sacra sunt vaenalia Romae Who sacred grath seekes with vnhallowed gold Get him to Rome where sacred things are sold. And this which followeth Et cum alia vendaut alij And whereas others sell other things vaenalia â—obis Templa Sacerdotes Altaria Sacra Coronae Ignes Thura Prâ—ces Coelum est vanale Deusque Wee doe sell Temples Priests Altars Sacrifices Crownes Fires Incense Prayers Heauen God are sold for crownes But it is labour in vaine for Rome to goe about thus to purge out of mens writings the memory of her inbred corruptions out of which source whatsoeuer Simonie is now in any part of the Church hath issued Enough to stigmatize and branâ— this sinne with the greater note of infamie if it should bee found as well in Iuda where religion iâ— maintained in her integritie as in that Idolatrous reuolted Israel where that grand Ieroboam of Rome for base bribes admits into the Priesthood the basest of the people I loue not to be an vâ—guis in this vlcer yet being to speake of this sin as it is committed in the highest degree to wit in Ordination leauing it to Cham to diuulge his owne Fathers nakednesse if any such nakednesse were it shall suffice to doe herein as Lycurgus
infinite and insupportable discouragements which both learning and honestie ioyntly suffer by reason of Simonie when as an honest Schollar seeth before his eyes an impossibilitie of comming to any place in the Church his honestie being in this respect so lame as it cannot stirre either hand or foot to climbe or clamber to any such place by by-paths That reuerend and learned Bishop Iewell in one of his Sermons before the late Queene Elizabeth of famous memory among many other excellent obseruations to the like purpose saith thus Loth I am to speake quoth hee yet the case so requireth Maintenance of Learning whereby an able and sufficient Ministry may grow and bee established in all the Churches of this Realme is to bee wished for The good estate of this noble Kingdome the comfort of posteritie the stay of religion the continuing of the Gospel the remouing of darkenesse hangeth vpon it One asked sometimes how it was that in Athens so goodly and great a Citie there were no Physitians To whom this answere was made because there are no rewards appointed for them that practice physicke The same answere may be made for our times the cause why the Church of God is so forsaken is the want of zeale to them that should either for their courtesie or for their habilitie bee fosterers of learning and increase the liuings where occasion is and giue hope and comfort to learned men What said I Increase Nay the liuings and prouision which heretofore were giuen to this vse are taken away Haue patience if any such bee here as I well know there are whom these things touch Suffer me to speake the truth it is Gods cause The liuings of such as are in the Ministry are not in their hands to whom they are due All other Laborers and Artificers haue their hyer increased double as much as it was wont to bee onely the poore man that laboureth and sweateth in the Vineyard of the Lord of hosts hath his hire abridged and abated I speake not of the Curates but of the Parsonages and Vicarages that is of the places which are the Castles and Towers of fence for the Lords Temple They seldome passe now adayes from the Patron if hee bee no better then a Gentleman but either for the Lease or for present money Such Merchants are broken into the Church of God a great deale more intollerable then were they whom Christ whipped and chased out of the Temple Thus they that should be carefull for Gods Church that should be Patrons to prouide for the consciences of the people and to place among them a learned Minister who might bee able to preach the Word vnto them out of season and in season and to fulfill his Ministry seeke their owne and not that which is Iesus Christs They serue not Iesus Christ but their belly And this is done not in one place or in one Countrey but throughout England A Gentleman cannot keepe his house vnlesse he haue a Parsonage or two in farme for his prouision O mercifull God whereto will this grow at last If the miserie which this plague worketh would reach but to one age it were the more tolerable But it will be a plague to the posteritie it will be the decay and desolation of Gods Church Young men which are toward and learned se◠this They see that hee which feedeth the flocke hath least part of the milke hee which goeth a warfare hath not halfe his wages Therefore they are wearie and discouraged they change their studies some become Prentises some turne to Physicke some to Law all shun and flee the Ministerie And besides the hinderance that thus groweth by wicked dealing of Patrons by reason of the Impropriations the Vicarages in many places and in the properest Market townes are so simple that no man can liue vpon them and therefore no man will take them They were wont to say Beneficia sine Cura Benefices without charge but now may bee said Cura sine Beneficio Charge or Cure without Benefice Thus and much more to this purpose said that peerlesse Iewell And he concludes with a graue Exhortation to her Maiestie as followeth O that your Grace did behold the miserable disorder of Gods Church or that you might foresee the calamities which will follow It is a part of your Kingdome and such a part as is the principall prop and stay of the rest I will say to your Maiestie as Cyrillus sometimes said to the godly Emperours Theodosius and Valentinian Ab ea quae erga Deum est pietate reipub vestrae status pendet The good estate and welfare of your Common-weale hangeth vpon true godlinesse You are our Gouernour you are the Nurse of Gods Church We must open this griefe before you God knoweth if it may bee redressed it is runne so farre But if it may bee redressed there is no other besides your Highnesse that can redresse it I hope I speake truly that which I speake without flatterie that God hath indued your Grace with such measure of learning and knowledge as no other Christian Prince He hath giuen you peace happinesse the loue and the hearts of your Subiects Oh turne and imploy these to the glorie of God that God may confirme in your Grace the thing which he hath begun To this end hath God placed Kings and Princes in their state as Dauid saith that they serue the Lord that they may see and cause others to see to the furniture of the Church The good Emperour Iustinian cared for this as much as for his life Constantine Theodosius and Valentinian and other godly Princes called themselues Vassallos the Subiects and Bond-seruants of God They remembred that God furnished them in their houses and were not vnmindfull to furnish his House To this purpose also a graue and learned now Prelate of this Church in his sermon at Paules Crosse thus said Wee that are bred vp in learning and destinated by our Parents to this end We suffer our child-hood in the Grammar Schoole which Augustine calls Magnam tyrannidem graue malum and compares it to the torments of Martyrdome when wee come to the Vniuersitie if we liue of the Colledge allowance as Phalaris obiected to the Leontines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 needy of all things but hunger and feare or if wee bee maintayned but partly by our Parents cost doe expend in Vniuersitie maintenance books and degrees before wee come to any perfection fiue hundred pounds or a thousand markes if by this price of the expence of our time our bodies and spirits our substance and patrimonies wee cannot purchase those small rewards which are ours by Law and the right of inheritance a poore Parsonage or a Vicarage of fiftie pounds per annum but we must pay to the Patron for the lease of a life a spent and out-worne life either in annuall pension or aboue the rate of a Copy-hold and that with the hazard and losse of our soules by Simonie and
their hospitall reliefe and goe sculke in some corner of the Citie or other and there thrust himselfe into some Lecture there hee gathers vp his crums againe And after some miserable difficultie recouering himselfe doth hee then retire home to feede his flocke Nothing lesse But as Issachar hee is like a strong Asse couching downe betweene two burthens he seeth that rest is good and the land pleasant and now begins he tooth and naile to gather another stocke to purchase another preferment and that done after awhile another and so the tyde at last comes in so fast vpon him as it beares vp his Barke now readie rigged for any Port of preferment or Prelacy like some trauailing heads who for gayne will hazard their life in some farre and dangerous voyage but herein vnlike Those goe with a minde and hope to returne home These seldome or neuer so much as once looke backe towardâ— their more homely home on the Playne fearing belike the punishment of Lots wife So eager they be with the wingâ— of Ambition to flie to the highest Mount of preferment aâ— if there were no safetie but there Those againe lay out one to receiue three or foure at their returne These will giue three for one if they neuer returne Whence what mischiefe to the Church What decay of Religion What coldnesse of deuotion What contempt of the sacred Calling What scandall to the Gospell What ignorance the mother of Popish deuotion indeede of all impietie and profanenesse of all heresie and superstition All threatning imminent and ineuitable danger if it bee not the sooner preuented by a happy reformation both to Church and Common-wealth It were endlesse to muster vp all the mischiefes which follow this one Generall Simonie A worthy Minister once of this Church said A Simonist is a perpetuall eare-boared bond-slaue to his Patron Hee hath no warrant to teach the people and commonly lesse successe Whereas if a man be sent of God to gouerne a people neuer so ignorant and fierce God will put his hand betweene and tame them According to that of the Prophet Ierem. 23.32 I sent not those Prophets nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit this people at all saith the Lord. I will conclude therefore with two or three zealous and pithy Admonitions of Gregorie to this purpose in his 64. Epistle to Queene Bruniâ—hilda hee instantly exhorteth her to roote out of her Kingdome this heresie of Simonie saying Prouidete animae vestrae c. Haue a care of your soule haue a care of your posteritie to whom you wish a happy raigne haue a care of your Prouinces and before our Creator put forth his hand to smite bethinke you most carefully of the correction of this sinne And in his 51. Epistle to Virgilius Bishop of Aâ—les Constat c. It is reported that in the prouinces of France and Germanie none is admitted to holy Orders without giuing a bribe if it be so I speake it with teares I denounce it with griefe that the Priestly order being decayed inwardly the outward state of it cannot stand And Epist. 54. Hee exhorteth Theodorick the French King to assemble a Synode V◠〈◊〉 c. That all euill conuersation of the Priests and Sâ—mâ—niacall heresie which first arose in the Church by impious ambition may by the definitiue Sentence of the Councell â—acked with the censure of your authoritie bee taken away and rent vp by the roâ—â—es Lest if gold be morâ— set by theâ— God Hee whose gentlenesse is now dispised in his precepts may afterwards cause â—ee wrath to be felt in reuenge And Epist. 57. to Queene Brunichilda Synodum c. Call a Synode and amongst other things carefully cause the heresie of Simonie to be abandoned out of your Kingdome For beleeue me as we haue learned by manifold experience That is to bee reckoned among our losses whatsoeuer is gayned by sinne If therefore you would bee defrauded of nothing vniustly bee carefull to possesse nothing vniustly For in earthly things alwayes the cause of damage is originally from sinne If therefore you would out-strip your aduerse Nations if by Gods assistance you desire the conquest of them intertaine with reuerence the Commandements of the same Almightie Lord that hee may vouchsafe to fight for you against your foes who â—ath in his holy Oracle promised saying The Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace So this last good Bishop of Rome Now the Almightie Lord God giue grace to this Church and Common-wealth that for the still flourishing of his glorious Gospell amongst vs the good of our soules the welfare of our estates the settling of our peace the securing of our posteritie and the subduing of all our enemies there may be stirred vp in vs all a godly care and conscience to ioyne hearts and hands together to the vtter extirpation if possible of this mother sinne of Simonie CHAP. XVI Of the cutting off or curing of Simonie ALthough when the Article of Simonie among other enormities came to bee considered of in the Councell of Trent for reformation it was cautelously proposed that the abuse occurring in the collation of Benefices should not be mentioned as being an infirmitie not to be cured with any remedie but death Yet sith this Mâ—rbus Romanâ—-Catholicuâ— is not yet growne so epidemicall or inueterate in the maine branches of the true Catholicke Church but that there is some hope left of staying the further spreading and of allaying the fury of it My conclusion shall bee an humble supplication to the Almightie to whom nothing is impossible through the mediation of the great Shepheard to perswade and moue his Vice-gerent our gracious King and the most honourable and high Court of Parliament now assembled That for as much as Simonie is the very Masse of all mischiefe and misdemeanure both in Church and Common-wealth It would therefore please his Royall Maiestie and this Noble Assembly to adde some more cords to the whip of former Lawes and to make and take order that it bee more surely and seuerely inflicted vpon the transgressors in this kind True it is that we Ministers for our parts need not desire any other Lawes for the restraint of Simonie then the Oath it selfe which alone is sufficient if there were no other reason to make vs decline all the wayes of Simonie For how many thousands doth this Oath alone preuaile with Loth we are in the most opposite sense to become a spectacle to the world and to Angels and to men Wee will chuse rather with the Apostles of Christ to become spectacles for our pouertie and contempt which our very Calling suffereth of the vngratefull world Therefore as Ezra the Priest was ashamed to require of the King a Guard for his safe conduct hauing professed to the King and promised to himselfe that God would guard and defend them that seeke him in goodnesse So I confesse and that in the name of all
and God thaâ— put it in your heart to will will also direct and enable you to doe it of his good pleasure The readie way is as one saith Sapere aude Incipe c. Resolue to bee wise betime begin Hee that delaâ—es the time of doing good is as hee that obserues the Riuer while it runne all out Men vse to put off their doing of good vntill their death A dangerous aduenture For either they may bee preuented by vntimely death vnexpected or after death their Will may either bee neglected by or betweene the Executors or made frustrate by some little flaw in the conueyance if it bee no bigger then haply some nimble Atturney may put in his little finger or but looke through the narrow crany of it be it no wider then the space of one word or one small letter But this commonly happeneth vnto such Legacies as extend no farther then to temporall ends as to bodilie reliefe Although I could wish men would see it done in their life time But this which concerneth mens soules would bee done now while wee liue Wee need not distrust Gods prouidence as fearing to lacke it our selues ere wee die no wee may rather expect a greater blessing of God euen in this life For as our Sauiour saith Hee that forsaketh house or land for my sake and for the Gospels shall receiue an hundred fold now in this life Now the money wee part wiâ—hall for such a purchase is for Christs sake and for the Gospels But if you cannot come to see it performed in your life time then consider vpon what assurance you may best trust it to bee done after your death If I were either able or worthy to giue aduice in this matter I should thinke that the Legacie so to bee bestowed were best to bee put into the hands of some Colledge in Cambridge or Oxford and they both to lay out the money vpon the purchase and so to haue the perpetuall Patronage for the placing of some worthy member of their house in the Pastorall charge so redeemed But they that are so well disposed and inclined to so worthy a worke cannot want the best aduice for the wise and well managing of such a businesse The Lord God strengthen the hands and stirre vp the hearts of all true Christians to put their helping hands to this great worke No doubt but many Impropriators themselues well considering and weighing the nature of such a businesse will be content to meet the Purchaser halfe way or at least be content to stoope and condescend to some reasonable composition TO THE HIGH AND HONORABLE COVRT OF PARLIAMENT now assembled The humble Supplication of the Author in behalfe of many poore Soules that perish for want of foode HVmbly shewing to the wisdome of you the most Noble Senate of this State that whereas in many places of this Land where Jmpropriations be the allowance for the Vicar and Curate is so pitifully small and the Charge or Cure it selfe so exceeding great as commonly Impropriate liuings be being great Parishes as no Minister of any parts can easily be inuited to take it vpon him but is necessarily deuolued vpon some poore ten-pound-man at the most nay in many places lower value and that by more then halfe in mine owne knowledge to the ineuitable perill of so many poore soules whose mouthes should be fed with the bread of life yea my selfe knowing by mine own wofull experience that in a poore Towne in Yorkeshire where first I tooke breath and was bred vp that long before I was borne and euer since now aboue this fortie yeeres there hath not been a Preacher but only a poore Reader one of the cheapest rate yea one that dwelleth two long miles off at another Towne where he hath also another Cure posting between albeit now a poor Emeritous Octogenarie Leuite to serue both hired at so small a rate as I think himselfe as poore as he is would blush to name it although the Parsonage it selfe be worth two hundred and forty pounds at the least by the yeere there being also a poore Vicaridge house which is also made by long-custome impropriate being let out for a Lay-mans tenement so that there is neither Minister nor School-master to instruct old or young which one Precedent without any further knowledge may iustly breed a feare that many other places impropriate in this Kingdome may suffer the like calamitie May it please your wisdomes therefore out of a tender compassion to the many dispersed Flockes of Iesus Christ in this Kingdome who are as Sheep without a Shepheard suffering Egyptian darknesse euen in the midst of Goshen to appoint and allot by Act a certaine proportion according to your graue iudgements of all Impropriations within this Kingdome to the better maintenance of a worthy Minister especially where there are no Vicaridges at all indowed or those that be are very poore and incompetent to maintaine liberally the Lords labourers So shall you bring a blessing vpon you and yours yea vpon this whole Land and Church extending euen to Posteritie whose race shall we trust sing the memorable Acts of this euery way as we pray most prosperous and happy Parliament and your humble Suppliant shall daily pray to God so to blesse this your happy Assembly as hereby Gods glory may be aduanced Religion propagated the Common-wealth established Antichristian Heresie extirpated and your selues blessed in your deed Amen The Authors Conclusion contayning his ingenuous protestation and zealous gratulation AS it is in the naturall body so in the politike The fairest and best constituted body may haue some bad inbred Humours or Impostumes or Vlcers which as they bee growne to greater height require the bitterer Pills and Potions the sharper Lancers the hotter Cearers and more eating Corrâ—siues Now although the remedie bee applied onely to the ill-affected part or member yet such is the mutuall sympathie of all the parts that they all ioyntly suffer as one all complaine alike of the bitternesse sharpnesse and smartnesse of the physicke impatient of it as if each part were the Patient Which waighing with my selfe I might iustly suspect least this Censure of Simonie consisting of so many Ingredients composed as it were into one plaister or pill according to the iudgement and prescript of so many Doctors proportionated to the qualitie and quantitie of the disease being found to be so bitter and sharpe as it is although it be applied onely vnto some ill affected members in this goodly and beautifull body politicke yet the most intire vncoâ—rupt and most noble parts out of some tender sympathie might complaine as if without discretion I applied it to the whole but that I know there is no one member of the body naturall can better put a difference betweene its owne integritie and its fellowes infirmitie then those of the politick can So that for me as it were but the simple Apothecarie of so many Doctors to goe about to protest that this Censure