Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	kingdom_n	law_n	parliament_n	3,975	5	6.2994	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11213	The poore vicars plea Declaring, that a competencie of meanes is due to them out of the tithes of their seuerall parishes, notwithstanding the impropriations. Written by Thomas Ryves Dr. of the Ciuile Lawes.	Ryves, Thomas, Sir, 1583?-1652.	1620 (1620)	STC 21478; ESTC S116301	50,156	162

it selfe too small or ouerburthened with Pensions and other payments vse to resort and by them haue they remedie against the Monkes and others And for poofe heereof Petrus Rebuffus saith That himselfe hath beene often called to counsell in the assignation of these portions for the Vicar which could not be vnlesse the case were cleere and void of al doubt in law for vpon the least doubt or demurrer in law that could arise the Conseruators hands were closed and they forbidden to proceed as men appointed for redresse onely of such apparant iniuries as these were Happy Vicars where so many men of greatest place striue together who shall bee most forward to do them right There is also with vs some contention about them and their liuings but it is not who shall do them good But what doe I stand either to maintaine the right or to lament the wrong of our poore Vicars or to declare the Iurisdiction of the Ordinarie in these cases by proofes and arguments taken out of the Canon lawe seeing that nothing hath hitherto been said which hath not been long since acknowledged approoued and confirmed by the Common Law of these Kingdomes To let passe many others and to instance in one for all There is a Case reported Term. Michael An. 2. H. 4. fol. 10. Termino Michael in 2 H 4. fol 10. Cas 44. Cas 44. which seemeth a Briefe of all that hitherto hath been sayd and is as followeth The Abbey of Saltash in the County of Deuon was appropriated to the Colledge of Wind or And vpon the Appropriation the Vicar that then was endowed with certaine Houses for his entertainment to the valew of twenty pounds per ann by the Ordinary and by all those which had interest therein And moreouer tooke an Oath and was also bound in a great summe of money before the Collector of the Pope in England with the assent of the Ordinarie to bee paid into the Chamber of the Pope vpon condition that hee should hold himselfe content with the sayd Endowment and should neuer will the contrary neither should procure any thing or doe any thing against the said endowment or to the disanulling thereof nor should euer claime any more to belong to his Vicarage but should hold himselfe to the paiment of the sayd Endowment And if hee failed in the said Conditions or in any one of them that then hee should incurre the paine of the said summe to the Chamber of the Pope Afterwards came the Deane of the sayd Colledge into the Kings Chancerie and declared this matter and further auerred That the sayd Vicar had claimed another Endowment contrarie to the Endowment made by the Ordinary of the place and contrary to his Oath And that the Vicar vpon suggestion made That the Pleas of Couenant and Debts arising of Contracts within the Realme belonged to the Kings Court had purchased a Prohibition directed to the Collectour And hereupon aswell the Collector as the Deane prayed a Consultation Here wee see first that not onely the Reseruation of a Vicarage vpon an Appropriation but also the Endowment thereof belongeth to the Ordinarie of the place Secondly that the Vicar bringeth his action against the Deane which was the proprietary of the Tithes by vertue of the Impropriation Thirdly that hee brought this Action for a second Taxation as either pretending the first to haue been too little from the beginning or shewing that it had been abated or diminished afterward whether by chance of fire or falling of Rents or lacke of Tenants or by some other accident And lastly That this Action was brought before the Ordinarie of the place For whereupon was the Consultation prayed but vpon a Prohibition granted out of the Kings Court wherupon was the Prohibition granted but vpon the Deanes action brought before the Collector of the Pope And whereupon should the Vicar be sued vpon breach of Oath and Bond before the Collector but vpō his claime of a new Taxation before him which made the old i before the Bishop Neither can it bee said that this is a Case and not a Iudgement and therefore prooueth nothing For the Case being so put there was no exception taken neither against the Vicar that hee had not personam standi in iudicio neither yet against the Bishop that he had not iurisdiction in these cases for these exceptions had been peremptory if they had been true neither yet that the Endowment once made it ought not afterward to bee increased in fauour of the Vicar Onely the Deane granting all this sued the poore Vicar before the Collector for breach of Oath and forfeiture of his Bond For this was euer the policie of that kind of men to secure themselues both frō the poore Vicars lawful claim from the ordinary Iurisdictiō of the Bishop by some collaterall and indirect securitie As for example in a Case before mentioned betweene the Bishop of Meath and the Abbat of S. Thomas The Abbat got the Bishop to bee bound in a Bond of a thousand pounds neuer after that to trouble the Monkes with a new Taxation And here wee see the Vicar tyed not onely in a Bond of a great summe but also by a solemne Oath neuer afterwards to claime a new Endowment which needed not had not the Lawes of the Land agreed with the Lawes of the Church in fauour of the distressed Vicar But the Deuill I thinke was in those men onely to ruine the Church and Christian Religion by them But to make these points yet more apparant according to the course of the Common Law It may not be forgotten That anciently in these Kingdoms the Vicars right was much challenged in the Kings Courts for bringing Actions in his owne name especially against the Parson But the Parliament as it seemeth being informed of this mischiefe and seeing the misery which the Vicars fell into hereby prouided for them by a Statute Anno 14. Edw. 3. cap. 17. wherein it is ordained That Vicars An 14 Edw. 3. cap. 17. may bring their Writs of Iuris vtrum or recouer by any other Writ aswell as the Parson might And this was it which not long after namely Anno 40. of the same King in a Case reported Term. Trinitat Cas 15. fol. 28. Term. Trinitat cas 15. fol. 28. Fincheden said That it was true that in ancient times the opinion was That the Vicar should not haue action against the Parson but I finde saith hee that this is changed for the better which as Brooke saith Nemo dedixit i. no man gainsaid Abridgement tit Vicars And consequently it was then taken to be cleere in Law And as touching the Iurisdiction of the Ordinarie in prouiding for the Vicars maintenance Belknappe in debating the same Case vseth these wordes Wee haue these lands assigned to the Vicar by the assent of the Ordinarie And you will grant that the Ordinarie may encrease or diminish his portion hauing regard vnto the charge which belongeth vnto

Beneficiorum necessariò sequitur ignorantia Sacerdotum This inconuenience was long since discoured and thence it was that Alexander the third blaming the horrible couetise and abuse of the Monkes which allowed not aboue the sixteenth part of the reuenues of the Benefice for the maintenance of the Vicar addeth this as the cursed fruit of so vile a stocke that thence it came to passe Vt in illis Regionibus penè nullus inueniretur Sacerdos parochialis qui vllam vel modicam habere● peritiam literarum And Clement the third vpon the same occasion saith That the exempt Monkes left so small a portion to the Vicars that they were not able to liue thereon propter quod s●pe contingit quod non inueniuntur personae idoneae quae huiusmodi Ecclesias velint recipere sicque frequenter minus idoneis conferuntur ex quo pericula imminent animarum The reason is plaine for Honos alit artes We may flatter our selues and say That men ought to take this Calling vpon them not for any worldly respect but only for deuotion vnto God But experience hath euer proued that if there be no maintenance there will be no Ministery The saying of Demosthenes to the Athenians is sure and true Neuer looke for a man saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he who to doe you seruice will vndoe himselfe for you shall neuer finde any such And therefore we may not hope that any man will set his sonne to schoole and traine him vp in the study of Diuinity vnlesse there bee hope of wealth and honour in their age Now from want of learning in the Minister proceedeth a generall decay of all Religion Whence it was that as the learned Chiefe Iustice that late was hath obserued Le sieur Ed. Coke en Euesque de ●inchesters case out of the Ecclesiasticall Historie Iulian the Apostata hauing a purpose wholly to ruine the profession of Christianity from which himself was by transgression fallen vsed not the sword as Dioclesian and others did but tooke away the means of the Clergie knowing well that if those once failed the number of the Preachers would not long continue And that Prophecie of his wil no doubt one day befulfilled where he saith That le decaie des reuenues de saint Eglise en le fine sera subuersion del seruice de Dieu de son Religion i. That the decay of the reuenues of holy Church will one day be the subuersion of the seruice of God of his Religion For Plowden in his Cōmentaries sheweth That the reuerend Iudges of England long since obserued that by the abuse of the Monkes in applying all to their own bellies and leauing nothing to the Vicars which yet as hee saith were deuised and ordained of purpose to supply the defects of the Monkes and others in the ministery seruice of the Church there crept in many abuses and hee addeth that As the reuenew of the Parish Church decaied so likewise did Preaching And this was the cause why the Emperor Iustinian was so carefull that the number of his Clergie should not exceed the proportion of meanes which was laid out for their entertainment For the end he saw would be the beggery of the Ministery whence could not choose but follow the ruine of that holy Order and consequently a finall decay of true Religion We neede not passe the Seas to seeke for proofe of this assertion What is so poore as our Clergie here in Ireland I speake not of our Prelats God increase it to them and make it ten times more then now it is But what is so deformed a sight as the face of our Ministerie which consisteth of Curats and Vicars is But withall what can be more vnlearned then they are and what can be more irreligious or lesse vnderstanding of what belongeth to God and godlines then the people is which could not be if there were men among them to teach and to instruct them For the people is as capable of instruction as any other and where they come to be informed of the truth are as zealous thereof as any Nation in the world This mischiefe is great and the iniury and iniustice whence it proceedeth is no lesse For wherefore are Tithes giuen but in consideration and recompence of preaching the word and ministring the Sacraments to those which giue them Is it a great thing saith Saint Paul if when wee sowe spirituall things wee reape carnall things Preaching therefore and other diuine seruice is the thing in lieu whereof the Tithes are payd vnto the Minister And our Lawyers affirme that Beneficium non debetur nisi propter officium What Iustice therefore that a man should part with a Tenth of all that God hath giuen him in bargaine to haue the word of God truely preached to him and yet be defrauded of that also And the worse is that the greater the Parish was and the greater the charge which it was at in this regard the worse were they serued and the lesse respect was euer had vnto them for euen as heretofore the whiter the Cow the sooner she came vnto the Altar so the fairer the Benefice the more in danger was it euer of Appropriation And as in the sacke of a citie the fairest of euery kind is soonest made a spoile vnto the souldier so in that Inuasion which the Regular Clergie made vpon the Churches the greatest and richest Benefices were the first made a pray vnto the Monkes and the poore Parishioners in stead of a man of learning and wisedome by whom they might be taught aduised in things belonging to this life and the life to come were turned ouer to bee serued by them which were scarce worthy to serue horses This saddle was put vpō the peoples backs by perswading them that the Pope was CHRISTS Vicar here on earth and by vertue of that office had power in himselfe to dispose of all things belonging to the Church The Iesuites goe further and teach that he is Lord and master of all together But the Sorbonists at Paris aswell in their late action against them as heretofore in the yere 1429 in the case of Iohn Sarrazin a Friar predicant and at sundry other times haue opposed themselues against this vnbridled and vnlimited power of the Popes And the Churches of France by their example animate their Kings and Courts of Parliament to doe the like to withstand their vsurpation which neuer tended but to the establishing of a Monarchie in that See with the ruine of other Churches The ends which the Popes pretended in these Appropriations were Increase of Religion and Hospitalitie what good Religion hath reaped by them hath beene already shewed and as for Hospitalitie Plowden saith That Impropriations were the decay thereof especially in those places where it ought principally to haue beene kept that is in the Parishes themselues Had we liued in those daies no doubt we would not haue done as our Predecessors did but hereby are we witnesses against our selues that we are the Successours of them which did such things we haue indeede diuided the sinne with them they were the robbers and we are the receiuers they tooke from the Church and wee enioy it And I woonder that following their example we doe not feare their end To conclude If this course be legall and may be taken for the better maintenance of the poore Clergie in this miserable kingdome well and good If not God grant some other may for if none be farewell Religion and what can then ensue but the abomination of desolation in the highest places of this kingdome Which GOD forbid FINIS LONDON Printed by IOHN BILL ANNO DOM. M. DC XX.