certain words there is offered up a real sacrifice expiatory for the sins of the living and the dead Non solum pro sidelium vivorum peccatis poenis satisfactionibus aliis necessitatibus sed pro defunctis in Christo nondum ad plenum purgatis ritè offertur And again Can. 1. Si quis dixerit in Missa non offerri Deo verum proprium sacrificum Anathema sit That is In the Mass is offered rightly not only for the sins punishments satisfactions and other necessities of the living but for the dead in Christ also And if any man shall say that in the Mass there is not a true and proper sacrifice let him be accursed Contrary to this idolatry blasphemy and superstition In the publick form of Administring the Sacrament in the Prayer Consecratory in our Liturgy whereby the Bread and Wine is set apart for that holy use Prayer before the distribution of the Sacrament The entrance is this Almighty God our Heavenly Father which of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption who made THERE BY HIS ONE OBLATION OF HIMSELF ONCE FOR ALL a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world and did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual MEMORY of that his precious death until his coming again Transsubstantiation Artolatria Communion in one kind Concil Constant Sess 13. What should I speak of Transsubstantiation and of the worshipping of the Host whereas the Prayer-Book teacheth us to believe it is Bread and Wine still and to lift up our hearts to worship Christ in the Heavens The defrauding of the people of one half of the Sacrament the Cup licèt Christus post coenam instituerit suis discipulis administraverit sub utraque specie panis vini hoc venerabile sacramentum tamen hoc non obstante c. that is though Christ instituted this after Supper and administred it unto his Disciples under both kinds of Bread and Wine yet this notwithstanding They forbid the Priest to give it so under the penalty of Excommunication 7. Sacram. Corruption of Bapt. c. 5. Prayer for the dead Concil Trid. Sess 9. sub p. 4. Decret 1. The multiplying of the Sacraments the vitiating of Baptisme by superstitious ceremonies of exorcising with Cream Spittle c. All which foul Spirits are cast out by the Liturgy from our worship with multitude of others I shall but name one more that you may tell them on your fingers And that is prayer for the dead Whereas the Church of Rome it self doth teach that there is no use of Prayer for the damned because Purgatorium pro eis tantum esse qui cum venialibus culpis moriuntur Bell. de purgat lib. 2. cap. 1. ad fin A wise distinctâ—on rursum pro illis qui discedunt cum reatu poenae culpis jam remissis Purgatory is for those only that dye in smaller sins or in guilt of punishment the offence being pardoned Now our Church excludeth the use of Prayer for any deceased For those who dye excommunicate they have no solemn Burial And for others who dye in the Faith and Fellowship of the Church it prayeth not Form of Burial whilst the earth is cast upon the body but first professeth its Faith of their happy Resurrection Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God to take unto himself the soul of our dear Brother here departed we therefore commit his body to the ground in sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life c. Then professing against Purgatory it saith Almighty God The Thanksgiving before the last Collect at Burial with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord and in whom the souls of them that be elected after they be delivered from the burden of the flesh be in joy and felicity Lastly it giveth therefore thanks We give thee hearty thanks for that it hath pleased thee to deliver this our Brother out of the miseries of this sinful world c. Where by the way let it not offend that this form is applyed to all Why the same form is applyed to all that are buried For first it useth the word hope not knowledge Secondly it is applyed only to those who dye visible members of the Church and not excommunicated So that charity doth not interpose its private judgment where the Church hath not pronounced hers To conclude the Br. must consider that the Liturgy was directed on purpose to oppose Popery as was noted above His Majesty remembring with what doctrine the Church of England in her first and most happy reformation did drive out the one and keep out the other namely Popery and Separation saith his Grace of Cant. And thus much in answer to the fifth general Exception viz. Popery Superstition and the Mass-Book SECT VI. Of the Non-establishment of the premises by law COme we to the sixt viz. That the doctrine the worship the discipline and government are not established by law in this Church and Nation This I shall reply unto in reference unto them all in general first and then descend unto the severals 1. The Authors of the Book intituled Reasons shewing the necessity of Reformation c. And here before I come to the matter it self I must take leave to speak a word unto these objectors And it shall be in their own Language namely that they are like to give a sad account unto God or in a more Authentick one that they must look unto it for this their writing As they will answer before God for such evils and plagues wherewith Almighty God may justly punish his people for neglecting this good and wholesome Law Act for uniformity of Common-Prayer vîz the Act 1 Eliz. 1. establishing the form of Gods worship The obedience unto which and other tending to the setling of Religion among us hath been so much shaken by the form and appearance of truth and godliness which their Treatise hath without the power thereof seemed to have This to their persons 2. Their scope Next for their scope they express it not to be a reformation of the things they except at but a plain abolition of them Zâ—nch Epist ad Cardin. Letharing ib. 2. whereas our Lord Christ saith the Cardinal approved by a chief man of our own did not destroy the Temple but only purge it Christus non destruxit Templum sed repurgavit ita ecclesiae in quas irrepserunt aliquot errores abusus superstitiones non sunt convellendae sed repurgandae So the Churches saith he into which some errors abuses and superstitions are crept are not to be plucked up but purged But it seems ubi dolor ibi digitus the Kitchin of the chief supposed Author of that Treatise is like to be cooler for the late restitution having
Bez. in 1 Cor. 7.6 were it but for this Cùm alioquin ipsum conjugium per se purum sit ac honestum tamen ipsius usus vix aut ne vix quidem careat aliqua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed quae velo matrimonii obtegatur Because that though marriage of it self be pure and holy yet the use of it can hardly if possible be without some irregularity yet such as by the ordinance of Matrimony is vailed over and covered And therefore at the first when there is most danger the stronger obligations from the most solemn and sacred ordinances have a necessary use Next Scurrilously they enquire if they do not receive who shall be punished c. When the Lord appointed that the children of Israel must dwell in Tents once a year Levit. 23.34 in remembrance of their dwelling in the wilderness yet 't is said in Nehemiah Nehem. 8.17 that they had not done it so till then from the time they came out of Aegypt Must we quarrel now with Gods own Law because if the people would not do it it did not design who should be punished Some punishments are appointed the Magistrate but withal there are some left to our own consciences and to Gods secret Judgment It is much upon this account that the Rubrick after the Catechisme scaped the Br. lash which saith that all parents and masters shall cause their ch ldren and servants to come to catechizing which is as much observed as the other They may ask here also who shall punish them Even he who will take account of every idle word and question Matth. 12.36 Where they say they are not bound to receive above thrice in the year and therefore not at marriage Prov. 26.5 So puerile a vanity calls for the like answer Have they never learned that besides Propria quae maribus there is also Quae genus aut flexum variant The eighth and last Rubrick they except against is The eighth Except Rubrick after the Commun of the sick That after the Communion of the sick where it is said that in the plague or other infectious diseases when company cannot be had upon special request of the sick the Minister may alonely communicate with him Where first their supposition is that the Minister is bound to visit every sick person of the plague and to give him the Communion if he desire it Minister visiting the sick of the plague Upon this they build a three-fold battery of unchristianity of opposition to the other Rubricks touching the Communion and particularly that of the sick Lastly of inhumanity Answ But Castles in the air have no foundation The Rubrick doth not say as before he shall or must but he may it thereby being left to his own conscience and discretion Their footing therefore fails them but if it were good Matth. 25. not against Christianity therefore For I was sick he excepteth no disease and ye came unto me what only the people capable of this reward and blessing not any Minister Then was Calvine weak who would have gone to those visited of the plague Beza in Vit. Calv. ad Ann. 1542. if the Senate who were concerned more waies then one in his life would have suffered him Yea and the Senate too who thought that for these visited of the plague there Pastoris constantis ac seduli opera requireretur that the labour of a grave and diligent Minister was very requisite and accordingly Sebast Castellio though chosen by lot refusing Blanchetus another Minister took it upon him And how else shall we fulfill that Engagement 1 Joh. 3 16. viz. that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren Neither Secondly Is it true which they say Private Communion that the very nature of the Sacrament requires a publick administration The practice of it indeed so far as is recorded we Answ 1 find to be with company but the nature of it is another thing urgy in the Q. of the r. that being an outward and visible sign ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we may apply the body and blood of Christ and a pledge to assure us thereof Or it is not onely a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves which is represented by the company and number one to another ic of Re◠28. but rather it is a Sacrament of our redemption by Christs death or 10.16 insomuch as to such as rightly worthily and with faith receive the same the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ and likewise the Cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ This being so it is not of the nature and essence of the Sacrament nor necessarily required to the comfort and benefit of receiving thereof that it be publickly no nor with company celebrated Answ 2 Secondly Their proof is as as weak taken from those Rubricks that speak of the Communion when company may be had or of comforting the sick if by any just impediment the sick be deprived of the Communion The lack of company is mention'd as one which yet is no contradiction although it be allowed that the Minister alonely may receive with him For this may well refer to the sick man's family for 't is said When none of the parish or neighbours can be gotten but is supposed those of his own house may and if that cannot be it may be an impediment to the administration of the Communion Unless it be as the Rubrick saith upon special request of the diseased and that the consolation appointed for him in case the former impediments do hinder the convenient administration do not satisfie his conscience but that still he be importunate for it in such case he may c. where they put in That unless he truly repent of his sins st and stedfastly believe in Christ c. which the Exhortation is to put him in mind of what good will he get by receiving the Sacrament Answ 3 This savours of Famialism as if in case he do these there were no need of the Sacrament Thirdly it is no whit contrary unto humanity as they affirm but the quite contrary But must a Minister pag. 26. who hath charge of many souls venture pag. 26. adventure his health and life to gratifie an infectious person in that which is not necessary to his salvation say the Brethren It hath been shewn above that it is not a must but a may Again he must if called by God through the voice of his Church the sick person and his own conscience In case these concur as it may fall out or else he cannot be Christs Disciple much less a Minister of his as we saw above The charge of the souls belong more to the Church and to God Almighty to take care of than to any particular Minister What is that to thee Joh. 21. follow thou him
1 Cor. 4.5 until the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God who shall defer his judgement till then for that his modesty and charity Neither let others be difficult in forgiving Concilium Alexandr apud Ruffin Hist lib. 1. cap. 28. remembring that ille Evangellicus junior filius paternae depopulatur substantiae sed in semetipsum reversus non solum suscipi meruit sed dignus paternis complexibus deputatur annulum fidei recipit stola circumdatur per quam quid aliud quam Sacerdotii declarantur insignia Nec probabilis extitit apud patrem senior filius quod invidit recepto nec tantum meriti habuit non delinquendo quantum noxae contraxit non indulgendo Germano I. E. Luke 15. That younger Son mentioned in the Gospel the waster of his Fathers substance but returning unto himself did not onely obtain to be received but was also counted worthy of his Fathers embracements and received the Ring of Faith and was cloathed with a Robe by which what other thing is signified than the Ornaments of Priesthood Neither was the elder Son approved of his Father in that hee envyed the reception of his Brother Neither deserved hee so well by not offending as hee contracted guilt by not indulging Let no man therefore bee high minded but fear Rom. 11. Gal. 6. and let him that standeth take heed least hee fall And let him whom God hath recalled Psal 8. Prov. 14.14 1 King 2. see that hee return not again to folly For the backslider in heart shall bee satisfied with his own way as wee see in Shimei who was not hearty to his submission And I remember that Watson the Priest having well * Watsons Quodlibets defended allegeance was afterward executed for * At Winchester treason I crave therefore the benefit and exercise of that Article of our Faith which every one of us professeth the communion of Saints And particularly in the conjunction of their prayers with mine that God who hath begun this good work in mee Phil. 1.6 would strengthen stablish confirm and perfect it until the day of Christ Amen SECT II. The heads of this Treatise ANd now having rendred the grounds of these Retractations and given a reason of mine and the Church of Englands Faith in these particulars And represented the consent thereof with the holy Scripture with primitive Antiquity and with the judgement of the best of the late writers of the Reformed Churches and made reply also to such Objections as did seem material let mee adjure all men and conclude in the Church affair with the prayer obtestation and admonition of the learned Zanchy Zanch. in clausulâ observationum in confess suam Tom. 8. Precor omnes Christianos per Dominum Jesum ut positis vanis privatorum hominum somniis positis etiam propriae carnis affectibus odiis inimicitiis amplexi vero certam ac salutarem veteris Ecclesiae doctrinam Christianamque dilectionem coeamus omnes in unam fidem sanctamque amicitiam sicut nobis quoque omnibus unus est Deus unus Mediator unum Baptisma una spes vocationis nostrae Ad gloriam nominis Dei Ecclesiae aedificationem salutemque animorum nostrorum Citius enim quam putamus sistemur ante tribunal Christi ut referat unusquisque prout se gesserat in corpore in hac vita Quando post hanc vitam nulla spes veniae nullus resipiscentiae locus I beseech all Christians saith hee by the Lord Jesus that laying aside the dreams and vanities of private men and laying aside also the corrupt affections of their own flesh as hatred and enmities and embracing the sure and soveraign Doctrine of the Antient Church with Christian love wee may all grow into one Faith and Christian friendship As there is to us also all but one God one Mediator one Baptism one hope of our Calling This do wee to the glory of the Name of God the edification of the Church and the salvation of our own souls For sooner than wee are aware of Note wee shall bee set before the judgement seat of Christ that every one may receive according as hee hath carried himself in the body and in this life when after this life there will bee no hope of pardon no place for repentance Thus far hee And in the matter of the Civil State I cannot end better than with that most true and charitable both judgement and prediction of the Kingly Prophet our late slaughtered Soveraign Icon. Basilic Medit. 27. speaking to His Majesty that now is and whom God long preserve Be confident saith hee as I am that the most of all sides who have done amiss have done so not out of malice but mis-information or mis-apprehension of things And none will bee more loyal and faithful to mee and you than those subjects who sensible of their errours and our injuries will feel in their own souls most vehement motives to repentance and earnest desires to make some reparations for their former defects Psalm 32.3 5. Whilst I kept silence thy hand was heavy on mee I said I will confess and thou forgavest mee O ter beatum cui bonus arbiter Non imputavit lubrica devia Errata vitae nec reperit dolum Caeco in recessu pectoris Erasm in vita Hieron de ipso Hieron verba faciens Fit nescio quo pacto ut efficacius nos eorum exempla permoveant quibus ex vitiosa vita contigit ad pietatem resipiscere * Reg. juris in Tit. digest Reg. 108. Fere in omnibus paenalibus judiciis aetati imprudentiae succurritur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 CHAP. XI Fuga Vacui or Some Additionals Phys lib. 4. cap. 8. Seqq. NOn dari Vacuum that there is no emptiness in Nature and the works of God was the assertion of the Philosopher And ne detur Vacuum that there may be none in Morals and in our works must be the contention of every Writer For which purpose partly to fill the Vacant pages and specially the Readers mind with satisfaction I shall subjoyn first certain notes in reference unto the chief Arguments in this Treatise Next some other Examples of Retractations and lastly an undoubted evidence of the sincerity of my own Concerning the Notes 1. Touching the Common-Prayer-Book the notable * Suggested to my search by my Reverend friend Mr. Tim. Thriscrosse Testimony of John Careless Confessor and Martyr who died in the Marshalsey 1556. The words * Fox Act. Mon. Edit the first for none since have it in his Examination are Dr. Martin But I pray thee how sayest thou now thy second Book the Liturgy reformed in 5 6. Edw. 6. is also condemned in divers points of Heresie at Frankford among the Brethren which Book will you allow Careless I am