as well by the Title of the said Act as by the Body of it An Act restoring to the Crown the ancient jurisdiction over the state Ecclesiastical and spiritual 1 Eliz. 1. in divers places for that Stat. doth not annex any Jurisdiction to the Crown but that which in truth was or of right ought to be by the ancient Laws of this Realm parcel of the Kings Jurisdiction Now it is not unknown how from the root as it were of this inherent Authority grow the several Branches of the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As that he hath the supream Right of Patronage over all England and all Ecclesiastical Benefices within the same so that if the immediate Patron present not a Clark in due time nor the Ordinary nor Metropolitan the Right of Presentation devolves on the King and there rests Nullum tempus occurrit Regi He only hath the Patronage of all Bishopricks and none can be chosen but by his Conge d' Eslier and whom he nominates none can be consecrated Bishop or take possession of the Revenues of the Bishoprick without a special Writ or Assent from the King The King only calls National or Provincial Synods and by his Commissioners or Metropolitans gives life to Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions relating to the Government and Ceremonies of the Church for reformation and correction of Heresies Schismes Contempts c. Halls Case Coke 5 Rep. The King hath Power to pardon the violation of Ecclesiastical Laws to dispence with the rigour of them and to regulate all Ecclesiastical Persons as that a Bastard may be made a Priest 11 Hen. 7.12 a. That a Priest may hold more Benefices than one That he may succeed his Father That he may be non-Resident c. And for his Superintendency over the whole Church the King hath the First-Fruits and Tenths of all Ecclesiastical Benefices And from him lyes no Appeal to any forrain Jurisdiction whatsoever Neither is it unknown what strange incroachments and usurpations have been made upon the fundamental Right of our Kings by the Popes and Court of Rome and again how strenuously in all times it hath been asserted and vindicated by the Kings and People of England the Papal Dominion rising and falling here according to the quality of the Times and the measures of resistance which it met withall And evident is it also by what means this forrain Dominion came to be owned here for in the Empire the Bishops of Rome usurp'd one half of the Imperial Power and annexed the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Supremacy to their own See for taking advantage of the publick distractions occasion'd partly by the incursions of the Barbarians on the North and East parts and chiefly by the divisions of the Empire it self and by some opportunities of serving some weak and vicious Emperours in their unworthy purposes they gain'd at last by force or fraud the whole Dominion of Religion to themselves and by pretending to the Spirit of Infallibility they usurp'd an absolute Empire over the Faiths and Consciences of men which yet they could not maintain without the continual disdained affronts to the Princes of Christendom the last whereof reduced under this yoke were the Kings of this Island and for which there were not Arts enough wanting As by making a bad use of innocent and good meanings and improving the humility of others for an advantageous step whereon to mount it self For when Religion came to a consistency here the Bishop of Rome was greatly reverenced by the Christians of this Island as one that was the Primate of one of the then most glorious Churches in the World Patriarch of the West and residing in a City famous for Arts and Learning and the seat of the Empire And then the fame of this eminent Bishop crescens eundo Tacit. Hist lib. 2. and majora credi de absentibus as Tacitus speaks acquired a mighty reverence for him in these remoter parts though the devout Brittains who received more probably their first conversion from Asia applyed themselves chiefly to Judaea as a place of the greatest sanctity yet amongst the Saxons for the reasons aforesaid Beda Hist li. 4. cap. 23. Romam adire magnae virtutis aestimabatur as Ven. Beda hath it But as this was of their part no other than as to a great Doctor or Prelate from whose countenance and assistance they hoped for great advantages so those Instructions they received from Rome were not as coming from one that had Dominion over their Faith the one side not at all giving nor the other assuming more respect than what was decent and fit out of Charity Reverence and Christian affection each unto the other And therefore observable is it in that famous transaction of the Kingdom of France Platina in vita Zach 1. Spondan in eod about the deposing of Childerick and setting up Pepin in his room which some have contended to have been done by the Pope's Authority The Truth is Mente stupidus vitâ ignavus Paul Aemil. Childerick was set aside by the Peers of France for a Fool or Frantick and Pepin stepping up applyed himself to the then Pope Zachary to confirm not to confer his new obtained Kingdom for in those days they gave no such power neither did Pope Zachary claim it Only that such an extraordinary action might carry the better face in the world it was thought requisite to have the suffrage of so grave an Oracle and therefore Baronius confesses and that you will will say is much Baron Annal. Francos non Zachariae paruisse decreto sed acquievisse consilio and there is great difference between an Authoritative Injunction and a Prudential Advice which is only an Answer out of discretion and left to discretion and so can imply no obligation at all And Sabellicus relates it thus That the Peers of France deposed Childerick Sabell Ennâ—ad 8 lib. 8. and set up Pepin in his stead Romano Pontifice consulto whence this Gloss upon one of their Laws Papa deposuit id est deponentibus consensit But enough of this But certain it is that by one way or other the Papal Dominion arrived to a great height in the World and particularly in this Island in after times and then the former addresses of the Christians of this Island to the Bishop of Rome were made use of as notes and evidences of subjection and what had passed by the Popes advice and Counsel only was afterward said to have been done by his Authority And so the ordering and determining of Ecclesiastical affairs was endeavoured to be drawn to a forraign Judicature to the apparent prejudice and diminution as well of the Rights of the Crown as of this Church And therefore in this case it fared with our Ancestors as with her in the Tragedy Quisquis in primo obstitit Repulitque amorem tutus ac victor fuit Sâ—nec Trag. Hippolyt Qui blandiendo dulce nutrivit malum
and Religion than in those that dwelt nearest to Rome the main point of Religion there practised being how to draw this Prince or that State or Territory under the Spiritual Dominion of the Pope Pâ—atin in vits Gâ—â—g 7. there esteemed the very Atlas of the World with power to depose dispose and impose in all Kingdoms as he please But for true Christianity Hosâ— in de Orâ—g Monac li. 6. ca. 66. Hospinian affirms that the name of Christian in the Italian tongue was used to note a Block-head and a Fool. Add to this the many Treasons Rebellions Perjuries Wars and Commotions raised in Christendom about this very quarrel And for this main drift of the Papacy for Dominion in all places but now mentioned it is visible that the Pope's Supremacy is the foundation that supports the whole building of that Hierarchy and therefore it hath been thought necessary by them always to lay that stone in the first place As about the year 1594. the Bishops of South Russia being under the King of Poland but of the Greek Church submiâ—ted themselves to the Bishop of Rome in the point of Jurisdiction yet not without special reservation of the Greek Religion Brierw Inquir cap. 18. fo 138. and Rites before they would acknowledge their subjection as appears by the Articles of conditions extant Whereby it is manifest that the Pope aim'd not so much to reduce those Churches to the Truth as to his own Obedience As the Emperours and our Kings John and King Hen. 8. thunder'd against only for impugning the Pope Supremacy though they held all other points of Romish Religion And as the Papacy gained in this matter in some places and in some measure so it lost much more in others by straining and aspiring to an unlimitted authority suis ipsa Roma viribis ruitâ— For when the Pope and his Clergy endeavoured the advancement of their Sâ—veraignty over the World upon this occasion any Countreys fell away not only from 〈◊〉 Dominion but also from many other corrupt Dâ—ctrines of the Church of Rome For when they perceived that the chief struggle and design was for Temporal Greatness that many conclusions tending to that end were obtruded as Articles of Faith so manifestly contrary to the Dictates of Christianity and prejudicial to the Rights of others Then both Princes and People began to look into their Title and examine their Evidences and finding them all defective and defeasible thought there was no other remedy but quite to cut off that Power that would not be confin'd whereby this Image of Papal Supremacy became broken and thrown down in many Countreys and is but in a tottering condition in several others at this day The Kings and Princes of the Earth maintaining the just Rights of their Crowns and Kingdoms against this Usurpation on these and the like grounds and reasons viz. That the Title and Power of Kings is far more ancient than this pretended Spiritual Dominion and Quod prius est tempore potius est jure and that in this sence Grace destroyeth not nature and Kings must not lose by becoming Christians That Dominion is expresly given in Scripture unto Kings and is as expresly denyed in Scripture unto the Clergy That as the Pope claimeth at best to be but the Vicar of Christ and that not as he was God it is most certain that Christ never impeach'd impair'd or impos'd upon the Temporal Right of any man the same Authority that Princes had either by the Law of Nature or of Nations before his coming the same he left untouch'd at his departure neither did any of the Apostles or Disciples after his recess ever innovate in the same That the Church in this world is not at home but in a state of perigrinancy and militancy and it is neither Reason nor Justice that strangers should either expell or domineer over the ancient Inhabitants and Melior est conditio possidentis as the Lawyers speak That the proper Rights 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacra Regni Sacra sublimâ—â— and Qualities of Majesty and Soveraignty are to be both perpetual and absolute as not depending upon any other nor subject to any exception or restraint That these Rights consist in managing affairs of the highest nature which cannot be separated from the Soveraign Power for upon the guiding of them all the fortunes of a State depend That nothing is of so high a nature in a State as Religion for inasmuch as Religion commandeth the Conscience Religio à Religando and holdeth the soul in subjection if supremacy therein be acknowledged in any forrainer the very sinews as I may say of Soveraignty are cut asunder And it is the most destructive Error in Policy and Government to allow to any other a power of disposing or declaring in matters of Religion either besides above or against the Prince himself by which means any King or Prince would soon be despoil'd of his Authoriâ—y and his Subjects drawn from their due Allegiance upon pretences of Conscience and Religion But now for a Conclusion of this Discourse touching the Kings Supremacy it will be but pertinent and reasonably expected to clear one thing viz. whereas upon restitution of that Right to the Crown by the Statute made in the First year of Queen Elizabeth some were induced to conceive by the generality of the words that affirm her Majesty to be Supream Governor as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical causes as Temporal c. as if it had bin an usurping upon the Sacred function of the Church properly belonging to them in Sacred Orders To give satisfaction in this we may in the first place observe in what Sphears and in what distances all the Divines agree that Ecclesiastical Authority doth move and for our purpose at this time Bellarmine shall suffice for all Bellarm. de Rom. Pont. li. 4. c. 22. s 1. who divides Spiritual Power into that of Ordinis and that of Jurisdictionis For that of Ordinis it appears chiefly in the Administration of the Sacraments That of Jurisdiction is held to be double First Internal where the Divine or Holy man by Demonstrations Perswasions Instructions Heavenly Counsel and the like so convinceth the inward Conscience of a man as it presently resigns and yields obedience to that which is proposed as did those Three Thousand Souls Acts 2.37 41. which were converted at the Preaching of St. Peter Secondly External when Christians in foro exteriori are compelled to their duty and Obedience Now for that first power of Order and for that power of Jurisdiction Internal our Kings never claimed or pretended to claime or excercise them or either of them The example of Vzza sufficiently lessoning all persons to keep within their due and proper distances and Offices in God's service 2 Sam. 6.7 this bold person being immediately stricken by the Divine Hand for his error and for his acting an irregular part in the holy Procession of the Ark.
And that of Vzziah a King indeed proclaming aloud both the sin and danger in trespassing beyond the stated and just bounds and limits in Religious Offices whilst under his usurped Pontifical Robes 2 Chron. 26.21 he wore a loaâ—hsome leprosie to his dying day as a most signal mark of the Divine vengeance for Exchanging his Scepter for a Censer to offer up unwarranted and noisome Incense But God be thanked neither of these is the case of our Kings who otherwise have taken f r their patterns divers other Noble Hâ—zekiah Jâ—siah c. vertuous and Religious Princes to whose Honour it is recorded how though they neither offered Sacrifice nor Incense yet that they cleansed the polluted Temple reformed the corrupted Religion and manners of their times and caused Judah and Jerusalem to serve the Lord. So ours never assumed to themselves a Power or Authority of Preaching Teaching binding or loosing in foro animae Administring the Holy Sacraments conferring Orders or any thing in particu ar properly annexed to those Orders But only in matters External that is of Jurisdiction external the last Branch of Ecclâ—siastical Authority and what belongs to the outward Polity of the Church they look upon it as their duty and honour to become Nursing Fathers to see that the true God be publickly worshipped to see that Atheists Polyâ—heists and all such as break the Moral and eternal Law be Corrected chastised and restrained upon which acconut it is often said that Rex est Custos utriusque Tabulae To see that good and wholesome Laws be made and established for the good government of the Church That both the Church and Church-men be regulated and defended in their respective Rights Possessions Interests and concerns and that such as do transgress the lawful constitutions of the Church be duely punished and to this purpose the Regal Office is thus described in King Edward's Law Rex Leg. Edv. Confes cap. 17. fo 142. quia vicarius Summi Regis est ad hoc est constitutus ut regnum terrenum populum Domini super omnia Sanctam veneretur Ecclesiam ejus regat ab injuriosis defendat Jo. Brompt Coll. 761 923. c. And much to the same purpose in those of Ina Canutus and others And hence it also is that in those Laws we often find the Prince extending his Commands unto the same things the Priest did his Exhortations And thus the premises considered it plainly may be collected wherein the formalis ratio of our King's Supremacy and Ecclesiastical Authority doth consist which being inherent in their Crowns they do and may at all times put in practice sine ulla labe Christianitatis and without praying the Aid of any forraign Power or Potentate whatsoever And further to anticipate all prejudice and Scandal in this matter Queen Elizabeth in the same year of the Restitution of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to her Crown did declare she did not challenge any other authority Admoniâ—ions annexâ—d unto the Injâ—â—ctions 1 El. then was challenged and lately used by King Henry the eighth and King Edward the sixth which is and was of ancient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that is under God to have the Soveraignty and rule over all manner of persons within her Realms and Dominions c. And for the Oath of Supremacy appointed by the said Stat. 1 Eliz. whereby her Highnesse's Supremacy was Declared in the stile aforesaid It was Dâ—clared in a Statute made the next Parliament Stâ—t 5 El. Ca. 1. That the said Oath shall be taken and expounded in such form as is set forth in an Admonition annexed to the Q. Majesty's Injunction c. At which time also a Synod being held for avoiding of diversity of Opinions and establishing of consent touching true Religion c. It did expresly declare Artic. 37. That they did not give to our Princes the ministring of God's word or the Sacraments But only that Prerogative as is given in the Holy Scriptures by God himself viz. That they should rule all Estates and degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil sword the stubborn and evil doers c. Stat. 13 Eliz. cap. 12. And thâ— Articles of this Synod were likewise confirmed by Parliament So that now no man need doubt but that all this was but acknowledgement that what our Kings and Princes had done in former Ages might lawfully be continued by their Royal Successors and that therein they did not usurp upon the Rights and Offices of others but only maintained their own and that all these Declaratory Supervening Statures passed and Enacted upon the most weighty Reasons of State were not Introductory of any new Law but only Assertory of the just Rights and Prerogative of the Kings and Crown of England Like as a Reformation once made in the ancient Roman Empire Jul. Capitolin vit Ant. 〈◊〉 by the Emperour Antoninus Philosophus is thus celebrated by Julius Capitolinus in his life Jus autem magis vetus restituit quam novum fecit Applicable as well to all the other points and branches of the Reformation here as to that of the King 's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction But the clearing that I leave to the Divines And thus have taken a brief view only for much more might have bin added out of our authentick Records and Histories as of the ancient Rights of Kings and Princes in general so particularly of our own in matters Ecclesiastical How the same have for some time been suppressed and usurp'd upon by the Papal Faction but happily Vindicated and restored in these latter Ages In which affair no Country hath proceeded more regularly laudably or legally than this our Kingdom of England the Princes of the same as Supream within their own Dominions calling together their own Clergy and with their assistance and advice reforming the Church And what remains now but my submission and pardon for the presumption of this attempt upon my Soveraign's Supremacy seeing that Prince may be said in a manner to be deposed that is made the Subject of an usurping Pen. FINIS