Archâ—episcopall and Episcopall seas shall therevpon thinke that lawfully by their ordinary iurisdiction onely without regard of any Authoritie graunted vnto them by the statute they may proceed ex officio to punish these defaultes then we pray their Lordships to resolve vs by what law besides this statute they may so proceed First this booke before 5. and 6. of Edward the sixth was never alive and being once dead by the statute of Queene Mary was but restored to life by the Queenes statute of Reviver Before this statute theÌ„ was revived these offences were no offences for where no lawe was there could be no offence Besides we have some reason to conceave thus well of the Ordinaries that they should be more prudent discreete then to iustifie their criminall processe ex officio by a plenarie power or a soveraigne pleasure And to say that ex officio by vertue of the popish canon Law they may lawfully proceed to suspension excommunication or deprivatioÌ„ of any Minister of the Gospell for the not observation of the booke of common prayer we assure our selves that so to say were to say amisse yea and more then ever they will be able to proove First the whole forme order of common service administration of Sacramentes vse of rites and ceremonies as they be mencioned and set forth in the booke of common prayer by all the groundes rules of that popish law is adiudged to be erroneous scismaticall and hereticall And therefore the refusing to vse the same booke or any parte thereof is so farre from being punishable by the same law as by the same law it is a matter worthy of high prayse and commendation for a Minister to refuse to vse it Againe what a vaine part were it for an ordinarie to plead the popish canon law for the validitie of his proceding ex officio when as the whole body and every title chapter and versicle of the same law at the petition and submission of the Clergie hath long since bene for ever adnulled made voide and of no value by an act of Parliament In regard whereof and in regard also that every ordinaries processe ex officio may be aswell iustifiable in respect of him selfe as aequall toward the Kings subiects it much every way importeth him that his proceedings ex officio be tempered hereafter with better morter and grounded vpon a surer foundation then be the maximes principles of that law Namely it behooveth that they bee founded and established vpon the Kings either ecclesiasticall or temporall lawes and statutes of which sorte of the Kings lawes we may bouldly and honestly say that the Popish and foraine canon law is none which saying also of ours we briefly proove thus The Clergie of the Realme aswell for their successors as for themselves having like humble and obedient subiects to the King promised in verbo sacerdotij that they would never from thence forth presume to attempt alleage claime or put in vre or enact promulge or execute any new canons costitutions or ordinances provinciall or other c. It was enacted by authoritie of Parliament according to the said submission and petition of the Clergie that neither they nor any of them from thence forth should presume to attempt alleadge claime or put in vre any constitutions or ordinances Provinciall or Sinodalls or any other canons All canons then by these wordes or any other canons of what sort or degree soever whether domesticall and homebread or strangbread and foraine canons before that time made were once vtterly forbidden to be attempted alleadged claimed or put in vre by which meanes they were once concerning their practise and execution with vs adnulled and made void And therefore so many of them as at that time were not or since that time have not bene revived and reauthorized ought not to be attempted alleadged claymed or put in vre at this day It remaineth then to be discussed what canons constitutions ordinances Provinciall or Synodall or what other canons were at that time or have at any time sithence bene recommanded reestablished vnto which point from the whole scope plaine letter of the statute we answere that only such canons constitutions and ordinances provinciall or Synodall may be attempted alleadged claimed and put in vre as were made before that time by the Clergie within the Realm were not contrariant nor repugnant to the lawes statuts and customes of the Realme nor to the domage or hurt of the Kings prerogative Royall And that therefore all canons decrees decretall sextes clementines extravagants and all other whatsoever constitutions and ordinances Papall being strangers and aliens from the common wealth of England and not begotten by the Clergie within the Realme are forbidden at this day to be attempted alleadged claimed or put in vre The reasons of which our answere drawne from the letter of the statute be these The Parliament having enacted as before is mencioned did neverthelesse according to an other branch of the petition of the Clergie not only give to the King 32. persons by him to be nominated c. power and authoritie to viewe search and examine the said constitutions and ordinances Provinciall and Synodall before that time made by the Clergie of this Realme but also enacted that such of them as the Kings highnes and the said 32. persons should deeme adiudge worthy to be continued and kept should be from thence forth kept obeyed and executed within this Realme All canons then made before that time without the realme being secluded by the Parliament from the view search and examination of the King and 32. Persons though he and they had deemed and adiudged the said canons to have bene continued kept and obeyed yet notwithstanding the same Canons ought not to have bene kept obeyed and executed For only such canons by the King and 32. Persons ought to have ben deemed adiudged worthie to be continued kept for the continuance and keeping wherof power authoritie by Parliament was given to the King and 32. Persons But such canons constitutions and ordinances Provinciall or Sinodall only and not Papall were committed c. Therefore Papall being once disclaymed and disauthorised by Parliament and not againe committed by Parliament to view search and examination were never by intendement of Parliament to bee continewed kept and obeyed within this Realme And this againe most pregnantly is confirmed vnto vs by the last provisoe of this act the wordes whereof are these Provided also that such canons constitutions ordinances and Synodalls Provinciall being already made which be not contrariant or repugnant to the lawes statutes and customes of the Realme nor to the domage or hurt of the Kings prerogative Royall shall now still be vsed and executed as they were before the making of this act till such time as they be viewed searched or otherwise ordered and determined by the said 32. persons or the more part of them according to the tenor and effect
of conscience vpon so slender a ground of periury or contempt vpon persons every way so peaceable well qualified and wherein no scandall hath ensued we suppose it can not bee shewed among all the decrees and sentences recorded among all the Popish canonists that ever any Popish ordinaries in any age have vsed the like iudiciall rigour against any their Popish Priests It is to be noted that the foraine canon Law is none otherwise in any part of this Treatise intended to be the Kings Ecclesiasticall law then only vpon a false supposition of the Archbishops and Bishops Because the same law is yet vsed practised in their Consistories notwithstanding it hath bene long since abolished by Act of Parliament God saue King IAMES Faultes escaped in printing In the Epistle Fol. 2. pag. 1. lin 12. say we for say we Fol. 4 pag. 1. l. à fine 9. efrom for from Fol 6. pag. 1. l. à fine 3. Wincester for Winchester In the Booke Pag. 11. l. à fi 11. appointed for appointeth Pag 11. l à fi 6. appointed for appoonteth Pag. 12. the 8. line is superfluous Pag. 19 l. 7. expcessed for expressed Pag. 22 l à si 10 ad in marg 1. Mar ses 2. 6. 3. Pag. 24. l. 14. fift for fifth Pag. 24. l à fi 11. decretall for Decretalls Pag. 35. l. 11 provincalls for Provincials Pag. 36. in fine in marg diceat for dicent Pag. 37. in marg 25. is to be added to H. 8. c. Pag. 39 l à fi 10 preceptum for praeceptum ibid in mar cc. for c. Pag. 40. in mar casti for cousti contemp for contem Pag. 42. l. vlt he for the. Pag. 43 l. 17. à si enioyning for enioying Pag. 46. l. 8. Ardbishops for Archbishop Pag. 47. in f. in mar Dioceson for Diocesan Pag. 48. l. 12. Dioocasan for Diocesan Cap. 29. Act. 24. Act. 21. 38 Act. 5. 36. 37. Cod. de seditio li. 1. a Glos lind de heret c. 2 verb. sectam b Glos lind de Magis ca. 1. verb. scismatum Isa 22. 11. By whole Clergie wee meane the Archb BB. other learned of the clergie heretofore vsually assembled in convocation by the Kings writ The articles of religion 1562. were agreed vpon in convocation by the whole clergie of the Realm vide 13. Eliz. ca 12. Par in pareÌ„ noÌ„ habet im perium and therefore Yorke not subiect to Canterbury b sf de li. posthu l. cum quidá c â—f de poen l. interpretatione de poe dist l. â—poenae Lyud de celeb miss c. vle verb. animabuâ— Lind. de coÌ„cesâ—i preb â—â—esurientis verb procurantes d mag char cap. 14. Panor in 〈◊〉 querenti de verb. siguif nu 5. e Panor in c. multa de preb nu 10. ca. statut de cleâ— lib. 6. g Panor c. inquisition de sent excom nu 3. k Panor in cad aures de aeta cual â— Panor in c. per tuas ex iii. nu 3. 4. desimo L. Bald. de nihiâ—urand l vide Simon de Graph. de casibus conscientiae pa. 359. Exacting the oath 1. Part. 33. The institutioÌ„ of a christian maÌ„ dedicated to K. H. 8. fol. 57. 58. Answer Reply Fol. 57. 7. Constit oâ— c. ecclesias ne dig traâ— ad sir. glossa ibid verb â—â—â—ltitudinis 8. Panor in 1. de cler â—grot 〈◊〉 dist faperversuÌ„ extra de t. aegrot 〈◊〉 totum â—ag chart 〈◊〉 H. 8. c. 〈…〉 â—9 â—liza c. 2 â— 6. The second part of the right vse of the Church Obiection Answere Obiection Answere 2 K. 12. 4. 5 Note that the Lordes only not Lordes spirituall and temporall are mencioned spirituall Lordes therefore were not of this Parliament For by divers statutes when only Lords are mencioned temporall Lordes are included and spiritual Lords excluded Sir Edward Cooke de iure reg eccle fol. 9. The order where morning evening prayer c. fol. 1. Obiection Answere Lind de celebra Missae c. lâ—â—theamina The Bishop by his ordinary iurisdictioÌ„ hath no authority to deprive a minister for not wearing a Surplice ff Si quis ius diceat non obte l 1. l 2. si quis in iuâ— vocat Foraine canoÌ„ law abolished 25. H 8. c. 19. A Bishop by the forrain canon lawe hath no iurisdiction An ordinarie by the Kings ecclesiastical law cannot impose an arbitrarie peyne for not wearing a Surplice Obiection Answere a Lind. de constitut ec quia incontinentiae verb praecipimus b verb. praecipimus ex de conc praeb c. quia c. vlt. de elect Lind de casti quia verb neglexerit Lind. de sen ten excom verb. contemp glos in verb contempseâ—it c. 1. de appell li. 6. Luke 1. Answer Reply Cooke de lure regis eccle fol. 8 fol. 53. fol. 55. Do. Sutclif Doct. Bilson 2. part of the right vse of y e Church If Diocesan Bishops bee scripturely Bishops theÌ„ may they stand without y â— King Dioceson Bishops hither to vphelde only by the lawes of the Realme fol. 59. 60.
ought to be maintayned as good and iust or rather whether the same ought not as the Kings law requireth to bee reversed and disannulled as evill and erroneous And thus I leave and commend vnto your most honorable care circumspection and vigilancie the hearkening and spying out by all the possible wayes and meanes in your highest wisedomes you can best devise how the good lawes statutes Decrees of the Church Realme being duly executed a learned vertuous paynfull and godly Ministerie may be nursed and suffered to grow vp And how on the other side an Idle Ignorant Scandalous and godles ministerie may as worthily it deserveth be cut downe and troden vnder foote The one by a perpetuall Decree and ordinance of God hath establishment from heaven and therefore without sinne offence to God can not be neglected the other springeth from below and is much like to an evill herbe or weed which if it be not speedily rooted vpp but suffered to spread will soone so over-spread the gardens of God with vice and impietie as there will scarce be any roome left for vertue and pietie the one by vse and execution of the Kings ecclesiasticall lawes may easilie be cherished the other without abuse and contempt of the same law can not in any sort bee tolerated It was said vnto Shebna the Steward of the house of King Hezekiah What hast thou to doe here and what hast thou here that thou shouldest hewe thee out a sepulchre as he that heweth out his sepulchre in an high place or graveth an habitation for him selfe in a rocke But oh you most noble Lordes are not as Shebna in the house of Hezekiah but you are vnto King IAMES and his house as was Eliakim vnto Hezekiah and to the house of King David As the key of the house of King David was layde vpon the shoulders of Eliakim so is the Key of the house of King Iames laid vpon your shoulders If you shall open no man shall shut if you shall shut no man shall open Would your Lordshippes then bee fastened as a nayle in a sure place as Eliakim was And would you desire to be the throne of the glorie of your Fatbers houses as Eliakim was to his You must then hee clothed with the garmentes and strengthened with the girdle of Eliakim yea and you must be Fathers to the inhabitantes of Ierusalem and of the Cittie of God Yea Shebna though he were in mans iudgement so fastened as though he should never fall yet must his face bee covered and he him selfe rouled and turned like a bale in a large lande Yea hee must be driven from his station destroyed out of his dwellinge place and bidden to departe Nay the burden that was vppon him must bee cutt off that the Chariottes of his glorie may bee the shame of his fathers house These thinges most honorable Lordes if you accomplish and bring to effect you shall approove your selves vnto the great and mighty GOD to be such little Gods vnder him as you may not bee ashamed at his glorious appearance but may reioyce and be glad that your worthie and divine actes have beene aunswerable to your divine and worthie names And thus the God of power and Maiestie confirme strengthen and stablish your heartes faithfully and couragiouslie to doe the worke of God and of his King The Corrector to the Christian Reader THis tempest good Reader having blowne downe so many poore Parsons houses vncovered their Churches and overthrowne their Pulpits hath wakened mee to behold the harmes and to consider the danger least staying vnder the roofe of a tottering building I might perhaps bee suddenly overwhelmed with the ruines Herevpon I betoke me to examine the foundations vpon which this house so sore beaten doth stand I found the groundworkes good and sure even Christ and his Apostles with all the sacred word of God The walles I perceyved well strengthened with buttresses of the fayrest and firmest stone that the Temple hath bene repayred within these laste times I grew secure that howsoever the tiles did fly about our eares yet the walles and the substance would abide Notwithstanding I looked about me still for more props no store being superfluous in such extreeme perill and by Gods good providence I light vpon this worthy Treatise very learnedly written and with great judgement whereby I receyved comfort and confirmation a fresh In it I beheld how the vehemencie of the storme forced things cleane contrary to the current of our owne lawes And from hence I conceyved this tempest would be blown over anon For can his sacred Maiestie when he shall throughly vnderstand how his statutes are abused suffer his most loyall subjects to groane any longer vnder such heavy oppression It cannot bee but together with his high Court of Parliament he will at laste take order that the ambition of none shal be of greater force then his regale decrees I have thought good to imparte vnto thee this treasure that thereby thou maist learne what the Lawes of the Lande require in this case and maist labour by prayer and by what dutifull and lawfull meanes thou canst to obteyne remedie Farewell Certaine considerations drawne from the Canons of the last Synod and other the Kings Ecclesiasticall statute law ad informandum animum Domini Episcopi Wigorâ—ensis seu alterius cuiusuis iudicis ecclesiastici ne temere incoÌ„sulto prosiliant ad deprivationem ministrorum ecclesiae for not subscription for the not exact vse of the order and forme of the book of common prayer c. FIrst by the letter of the statute 25. H. 8. cap. 19. it seemeth to be a playne case that no constitutions canons or decrees by what name soever they be called ought to bee made promulged or put in execution within this Realme vnlesse the same be made by the whole clergie of the Realme assembled by the kings writ in their convocations For as by these wordes the Clergie of the Realme inserted in the submission petition of the clergie the whole clergie of the Realme is vnderstood even so likewise these wordes clergie of the Realme beeing repeated in the body of the act can not well be taken and vnderstood to bee meant of parte of the clergie but of the whole body of the clergie of the Realme For otherwise the body of the Act should not accord and bee answerable to the submission The last Synod then being as appeareth by the tytle of the booke of canons but a provinciall convocation for the province of Canterbury consisting only of the Bishop of London president of the same convocation and the rest of the Bishops and Clergie of the said Province it followeth the Archbishop of Yorke and the Bishops of that Province so the whole Clergie of the Realme not beeing assembled with the Kings writ to this Synod that the constitutions made in this Synode have nor bene made by the whole clergie of the Realme according to the
published which hath but the shew of a booke then as it seemeth hath the Clergie no law but the shewe of a law to enforce the vse of such a booke as the State hath not authorized And therefore we may not for clearing the Clergies iust reproofe confesse an vntrueth and still conceale a kinde of iniustice vnwitting to the State executed by the Cleargie vnder a colour of Iustice as if their iniustice by colour of errour were maintainable by the State For so contrarie to all reason and good duetie which we owe to the state and to the Church we should not only interlace the innocencie of the State with the guiltines of the Cleargie but also mingle the churches industrie with the Clergies ill husbandrie It is therefore no cavill to oppose a iust and true answere to an vntrue and vnsound plea For albeit the two bookes agree in many pointes and specially in mencioning the making of a crosse c. nevertheles the parish booke can not therefore any more truely be counted that booke which is authorised by act of Parliament then can that coyne bee reckoned to be the Kings coyne which hath in it nine partes silver and the tenth part copper nether is it any more lawfull for an ordinary to presse the vse of a booke in it selfe corrupted though in many points it agree with the originall then it is sufferable for the Kings Iustices to enforce the vse of a coyne in it selfe counterfeite though in forme and charactere it be like the Kings Image and superscription Wherefore the mencion made in the parish booke of making of a crosse c. not being a matter of power sufficient to warrant the parish booke but the booke authorised by act of Parliament being a matter of power to warrant the making of a crosse c. wee may iustly avow the booke of common prayer attayned and gotten by the parishioners not to bee that booke which the Ministers in their day he ministration of divine service be bound to vse notwithstanding the making of a crosse and signing the child in the forehead with a crosse be therein mencioned If reply bee made that this plea would but litle ease or advantage the Ministers in case the right booke should be reviewed corrected and new printed we then reioyne and averre First that the day is past long since before which time this worke should have bene refined and that therefore it is now too late without a new law to reviewe and amend the same Secondly that this plea will not only but litle ease and advantage the nullities iniquities and iniustices of sentences heretofore passed by the ordinaries vnder colour of that booke but also much advantage the King and his state if his Maiestie might bee pleased to do as King Ioash king of Iudah or as K. Henry the eighth king of England did king Ioash in or about the beginning of his raigne as it seemeth having appointed the Priestes to take all the silver of dedicate thinges brought to the house of the Lord and therwith to repaire the broken places of the house wheresoever any decay was found and the Priests vntill the three and twentith yeare of his Raigne not having mended that which was decayed nor repayred the ruines of the Temple the king I say because of the Priests negligence commanded the Priests to receive no more money and tooke from them the ordering of the money and committed the same to his Secretary and to Iehoâ—ada the high Priest who gaue the money made ready into the hands of them that vndertooke the worke and that had the oversight of the house of the Lorde of whom there was no reckoning taken because they dealt faithfully If the Priestes then of our age have not only not within three and twentie but not within three and fortie yeares published that booke which is mended and corrected by the Queene her state in the first yeare of her Raigne but also for the space of eight and fortie yeares have suffered a corrupted booke to be intruded into the place of a true booke we commend it to the wisedome of our Soveraigne Lord king IAMES who is as an Angell of God to discerne betweene things that differ there being no high Priest in our dayes like faithfull as was Iehoiada the high Priest in the dayes of king Ioash whether his Maiestie might not be pleased for the redresse of this and other corruptions in the Ecclesiasticall state to appoint as king Henry the eighth did an other Cromwell to be his Maiesties Vicegerent and Vicare generall over the Clergie Vnto these differences and alterations betwene the two bookes not mencioned in the statute may be annexed both an addition of certaine new prayers and some alteration also of the forme of the old prayers to be said after the end of the Letanie By addition in the parish booke there be set three severall prayers not any one of them mencioned in the Kings booke viz. A prayer for our Bishops Curates beginning thus Almightie and everlasting God which only workest great marveilles send downe vpon our Bishops and Curats c. Secondly a prayer out of the 2. of Corint 13. 13. viz. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ c. And thirdly a prayer beginning thus O God whose nature and propertie is ever to have mercie c. And whereas by the forme of King Edwards booke the Letanie should ever end with this collect following viz. Almightie God which hast given vs grace at this time with one accord c. and so this collect should be after the prayers for rayne for faire weather in the time of dearth in the time of warre and in the time of any common plague or sicknes as the time requireth This collect I say by King Edw. booke appointed to be said after all these prayers is by the parish booke set before all these Yea and it is to be said also before the prayer beginning O God whose nature propertie is ever to have mercy By meanes wherof the very forme and order of some prayers appointed in the Kings booke and by the statute commaunded to be vsed and none other or otherwise is so transposed and inverted as that the minister observing the parish booke can not but breake the order and forme of common prayer commanded to be vsed and so can not but cast his body one whole yeares fruites of his benefice vpon the kings Iudges and Iustices mercy Moreover besides these additions and alterations in the end of the Letany of King Edw. booke there is one prayer inserted which by the parish booke is wholy left out namely O God mercifull Father which in the time of Heliseus c. Lastly at the latter end of the communion in the kings book there is one Rubrick concerning kneeling at the communion which Rubrick is not in the parish booke the same beginneth thus Although no order c. There is also one Rubrick among those Rubricks
which are in the parish booke not to be found in the Kinges booke beginning thus And in Cathedrall or Collegiat Churches c. Wherefore the parish booke in so many and materiall poyntes being thus grosly corrupted and no one true original copie provided by the parishioners for the ministers to vse it seemeth to be a very lamentable and wofull case that subscription to a feyned record should bee thus streightly vrged And that so many learned peynfull and godly Ministers for refusing to subscribe or precisely to vse an vnauthenticall scedule should be grieved and molested By what guyle or by whose cunning so foule a stratageme to the deluding of the Queene the Lords and commons in Parliament assombled was first wrought we know not Neither have we any reason to charge any of the Clergie now living with so foule and grosse an abuse Because there is not one of the Clergie to our knowledge living that in the beginning of our late Queenes raigne had ought to medle in Church-government or survey of printing bookes But this we may speake and not speake as we thinke vntruly that some one guilfull priest or other vnwitting to the Queene and State yea and it may be vnwitting to the Clergie too was suffered to shoufle and to set the cardes with the sleight of a false finger For otherwise it could not possibly have come to passe that so many chapters of the Apocryphall writings should be conveyed into the parish booke in steed of so many chapters of the true and authenticall scriptures appointed by K. Edw. booke especially the same chapters in the parish booke as it were of set purpose being ordered to be read when all the people are solemnly assembled togither vpon festivall dayes Wherefore these differences betweene these bookes being apparantlie true and the statute having decreed that the minister shal be bound to say and vse the Mattens Evensong c. in such order and forme as is mencioned in the same booke of King Edward with such alterations and additions as be mentioned in the act none other or otherwise and the parishioners not having atteyned and gotten the saide booke it is a matter that worthily and necessarily requireth the consideration and resolution of the Kings learned Iudges and Iustices Whether a Minister by the letter of the statute be bound exactly and precisely to vse a booke atteyned and gotten by the parishioners the same booke not being authorised by the letter of the statute And if not then whether the Minister by the letter of the statute bee to loose and forfeite to the King one yeares profit of all his spirituall benefices and promotions and his body to suffer imprisonment by the space of six monethes if he shall refuse to vse some part of a booke not authorised For it semeth as yet to vs absurd that a Minister should bee vrged to vse such a booke as for the vse whereof hee hath no authoritie or that he should be punished for refusing the vse of such a booke as for the vse whereof hee is by the law punishable But be it graunted that the very booke authorised and none other is atteyned and gotten by the parishioners for the Minister to vse then is it againe a matter carefully to be weighed and for the ful contentation of the mindes of all persons to be resolved by the Iudges what maner of fact is to be holden and adiudged by the Letter of the Statute to be a breach of the statute and for the which fact a Minister before the Kings Iustices is punishable in maner and forme expeessed in the Act. For the better resolution of which question it shall not be amisse to repeate in this place the first clause of the body of this Statute For in the clause of the repeale of the statute of Queene Mary and reviving the booke of king Edw. it is said that the laid booke shall stande and be in full force and effect according to the tenor and effect of this Statute the tenor and effect of this statute then is to bee noted the wordes whereof are these And further be it enacted by the Queenes Highnes with the assent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by authoritie of the same that all and singular Ministers in any Cathedrall or Parish church c. shall from and after c. be bound to say and vse the Mattens Even song Celebration of the Lords supper and administration of each of the Sacramentes and all their common and open prayer in such order and forme as is mentioned in the said booke so authorised by Parliament in the said fifth sixth yeares of the raign of King Edward the sixth with one alteration or addition of certayne lessons to be vsed on every Sunday in the yeare and the forme of the Letany altered and corrected and two sentences only added in the deliverie of the Sacrament to the communicantes and none other or otherwise Out of which clause one special poynt for the better vnderstanding of the whole tenor and effect of the statute is to be observed Namely that the Parliament hath wholy in this branch omitted and not once mencioned the vse of any rites or ceremonies in saying and vsing the Mattens Evensong celebration of the Lords Supper and administration of each of the Sacramentes So that vnlesse such rites and ceremonies as be mentioned in the book of K. Edw. the sixth be respectively part of the order forme of saying vsing Mattens Euensong celebration of the Lords Supper and administration of each of the Sacramentes c. it can not bee denied but that rites and ceremonies mencioned in that book are secluded out and not comprised within this branch and therefore not commanded by this branch to be vsed The 2. branch of the body of this statute followeth in these words And that if any maner Parson Vicare or other what soever minister that ought or should sing or say common prayer mencioned in the said booke or minister the Sacramentes c. refuse to vse the said common prayers or to minister the Sacramentes c. as hee should vse to Minister the same in such order and forme as they be mencioned and set forth in the said booke or shall wilfully standing in the same vse any other rite ceremonie order forme or maner of celebrating of the Lordes Supper openly or privily or Mattens Evensong administration of the Sacramentes or other open prayers then is mentioned and set foorth in the said booke c. or shall preach declare or speake any thing in the derogation or depraving of the said booke c. shal be therof lawfully convicted according to the lawes of this Realme c. shall loose and forfeite to the Queenes Highnes c. for his first offence the profite of all his spirituall benefices and promotions comming and arising in one whole yeare next after his conviction And also that the Parson so convicted shall for
or shall wilfully and obstinately standing in the same vse any other rite ceremonie order forme or maner c. By which Letter of the Statute it seemeth that the Minister is none otherwise punishable before the Kings Iustices vnlesse wilfully and obstinately standing in the same hee shall vse some other rite ceremonie order forme or maner of celebrating the Lords Supper then is mencioned c. And vpon this clause as hath bene heretofore generally conceaved certaine inditements exactly framed even by some Iustices of assises sitting vpon the bench against certaine Ministers for the not observation of the booke before other of the Queenes Iustices haue ben traversed and avoyded as being in this point erroneous and not agreeable to the intendement of the statute Yea and it hath bene the opinion of some great Lawyers who have bene since Iudges that it is almost impossible to frame an indightement against a Minister for the breach of the first parte of the former clause of the statute which is not traversable and avoydable Fift Quaere If a Minister bound to say common prayer in any parish church shall not refuse to vse but indeed shall vse the said common prayers in such order and forme as they bee mencioned in the said booke whether he be punishable before the Kings Iustices in maner and forme before expressed if he refuse to say any part chapter or section of the said booke which part chapter of section conteyneth no prayer For howsoever the whole booke be authorised yet the peyne seemeth in this case to have bene inflicted only for the omission of prayer and not for the omission of every part chapter or section of the booke Besides these questions and their reasons there bee other reasons to induce vs to be of opinion that a Minister before the Kings Iustices is not punishable in maner and forme above expressed for his refusing to vse all and every prayer and prayers rite and rites ceremonie and ceremonies section and sections in such order and forme as they bee mencioned and set forth in the said booke In the preface to the booke it is confessed that nothing can almost so plainly be set forth but that doubts may arise in the vse and practising of the same and therefore for the appeasing of all such diversiâ—ie and for the resolution of all doubts concerning the maner how to vnderstand doe and execute the things conteyned in the booke it is provided that the parties that so doubt or diversly take any thing shalresort to the Bishop of the Diocesse who by his discretion shall take order for the quieting and appeasing of the same so that the same order be not contrarie to any thing contained in the said booke And in the two last clauses of the preface it is said that all Priestes and Deacons shall be bound to say daylie the morning evening prayer either privately or openly except they be lett by preaching studying of Divinitie or by some other vrgent cause And that the Curate that ministreth in any parish Church or Chappell being at home and not otherwise reasonably lett shall say the same in the parish Church or Chappell where hee ministreth From which places of the preface being part of the booke it is plainly to be gathered that the intent and meaning of the Parliament was not to have the Ministers to be punished before the Kings Iustices in maner and forme before expressed for refusing to vse all and singuler the prayers rites ceremonies and sections in such order forme as they be mencioned in the said booke if either vpon the Ministers doubts rysing in the vse and practise of these things the Bishop by his discretion did not take order for the quieting and appeasing of the same or if the Minister by preaching the word studying of Divinitie or by some other vrgent or reasonable cause were let so to doe And if no Minister in any of the cases before meÌ„cioned be punishable by the Kings Iustices in maner and forme aboue expressed then it is manifest by the provisoes following that the Archbishops and Bishops have no power and authoritie by vertue of this act to inquire and punish the default of any minister in these cases by admonition excommunication sequestration or deprivation And this not onely by the letter of the last provisoe ordeyned for corroboration of the Archbishops Bishopps and other Ordinaries power and authoritie but also by the provisoe next and immediately following that Provisoe is a matter most cleere and vndeniable Provided alwayes and be it enasted c. That all and singular Archbishops and Bishops c. shall have full power and authoritie by vertue of this Act aswell to inquire in their Visitation Synodes c. to take accusations and informations of all and every the thinges above mentioned done committed or perpetrated within the limites of their Jurisdictions c. And to punish the same by admonition excommunication sequestration or deprivation c. If then a Minister shall not doe commit or perpetrate any of the things above mencioned and so not be punishable by the Kings Iustices it followeth that the same minister is not punishable by the Ordinarie And this also by the next Provisoe is more playne by which it is enacted That What soever person offending in the premises shall for his offence first receyne punishment of the Orainarie shall not for the same offence est soones be convicted before the lustices And likewise receyving for the said first offence punishment by the Iustices he shall not for the same offence est soones receyve punishment of the Ordinarle No offence then punishable before the Iustices no offence punishable by the Ordinarie From all which premises it seemeth that the Queene the Lords and Commons never intended to impose such an exact and precise observation of the booke of common prayer vpon the Ministers as that in no place nor at any tyme they should omitt the reading saying or vsing of a chapter a prayer a section a rite or ceremonie vpon peyne of imprisonment c. before the Queenes Iustices or vppon peyne of deprivation before the ordinary And therefore the intent of the Parliament not beeing so much to binde the Minister to such an exact and precise observation as to seclude all orders and formes of prayers ministration of Sacramentes vse of rites and ceremonies not mentioned and set forth in the saide booke it seemeth very vnreasonable and much derogatorie to the authoritie of that Parliament that Archbishoppes and Bishoppes who were all secluded from that Parliament should by their extentions constructions and interpretations as it were invert the playne meaning of the Parliament and that ea qua sunt destinata in vnum sinem should by them bee converted to an other end But now if the Archbishops and Bishops at the abandoning of the Popes power out of the Realme have as we confesse they had an ordinarie iurisdiction by the statutes of the Realme reserved to their
provided to bee worne the Surplice may not be worne For the better manifestation whereof it is necessary that we set downe the wordes of the Statute of the parish booke and of the booke of the second of K. Edw. the sixth vnto which booke of king Edward for the vse of ornaments the Ministers be referred both by the parish booke statute of 1. Eliza. c. 2. the wordes of which statute are these Provided alwayes and be it enacted That such ornamentes of the Church and of the Ministers shall be retayned and be in vse as was in the church of England by authoritie of Parliament in the second yeare of the raigne of King Edward the 6. vntill other order shal be therein taken by authoritie of the Queenes Matestie with the advise of her Commissioners appointed and authorised vnder the great seale of England for causes Ecclesiasticall or of the Metropolitane of this Realme Thus farre the statute the wordes of the parish booke follow It is to be noted that the Minister at the time of the Communion and other times in his ministration shall vse such ornamentes in the Church as were in vse by authoritie of Parliament in the second yeare of King Edw. the sixth according to the act of Parliament in that case enacted and provided The wordes of which booke of the second of King Edward are these Vpon the day and at the time appointed for the ministration of the holy Communion the Priest that shall execute the holy ministerie shall put vpon him the vesture appointed for that ministration that is to say A white Albe playne with a vestiment or cope Afterward it is said thus Vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes the English Letany shal be said or song c. And though there he none to communicate with the Priest yet those dayes after the Let any ended the Priest shall put vpon him a playne Albe or Surplice with a Cope and say all things at the Altar c. From all which places it is plaine First that no Minister at any time vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes after the Letany ended was bound simplie to weare a surplice at the Altare for it was in his choyse to put vpon him a playne Albe or Surplice with a Cope Secondly that no Priest vpon the day and at the time appointed for the Ministration of the holy communion might put vpon him a Surplice but only a white Albe playne with a vestiment or Cope Thirdly that no Minister vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes when hee read the Letany did weare or was bound to weare an Albe or Surplice and Cope For it had bene in vayne and a thing ridiculouse for the booke to have willed the Minister after the Letany ended to put vpon him those ornamentes if in the time of reading the Letany hee had had them vpon his backe Fourthly that no minister at or in any of the times services aforesaid is bound to put vpō him a Surplice vnlesse therewithall he weare a Cope For the vse of ornamentes ought to be according to the act of Parliament And therefore where no Cope there by the act no Surplice where no Altar to goo vnto after the Letany ended there no Surplice to be put on after the Letany where a Communion with a white Albe plaine a vestiment or Cope there a cōmunion without a Surplice There is yet one other speciall observation before touched though for an other purpose worthy to be reiterated in this place against the vse of the Surplice at the communion reading the Letany and saying prayers at the Altar And that is this Namely for that as well the Statute 1. Eliza. as the parish booke hath revived and commaunded the vse of those ornamentes according to the Act of Parliament 2. Edw. 6. which were repealed and forbidden by the booke of the 5. and 6. of King Edward the sixth It is to be noted saith the booke of 5. and 6. of King Edw. 6. That the Minister at the time of the communion and all other times in his ministration shall vse neither Albe vestiment nor Cope but being an Archbishop or Bishop he shall have and weare a Rochet and being a Priest or Deacon he shall have and weare a Surplice only And here it is to be noted sayeth the parish booke that the Minister at the time of the communion and at all other tymes in his ministration shall vse such ornamentes in the church as were in vse by Authoritie of Parliament in the 2. yeare of the reigne of King Edw. the 6. according to the Act of Parliament in that case made and provided which were as the booke of K. Edw. saith an Albe with a vestiment or Cope at the communion and an Albe or Surplice with a Cope vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes after the Letany ended But by the Provinciall constitutions ratified and confirmed by Act of Parliament the parishioners are enioyned at their costes and charges to provide a Surplice and in vayne were this charge layde vpon them if so be the Minister were not bound by the law to weare it It is true and can not be denied that all parishioners are enioyned and that every Masse-priest is bound by the Provincials the one sorte to provide the other to weare a Surplice for and at the celebration of the Masse and for and in the vse of other popish services The reason of the vse of which Surplice by the popish Glosers and Provincials is yeelded to be this That the Priest must be clothed with white to signifie his innocencie and puritie and also ob reverentiam Salvatoris nostri totius caelestis curiae quam sacramento altaris consiciendo confecto non est dubium interesse But how doeth it follow either from the provincall or reason of the provinciall that a Minister of the Gospell is bound by the provinciall to weare a Surplice at the ministration of the word and Sacraments of the Gospell when the doctrine and service of the Gospell is contrarie and repugnant to the service and doctrine of the Masse And when by the statute the Provinciall is not to be vsed and executed but as it was vsed and executed before the making of the statute which was Anno 25. of King Henry the eight at what time the service of the Masse called the Sacrament of the Altar was only in request A Minister therefore of the Gospell by the Provinciall is no more bound to weare a surplice then by the Provincials other lawes of the Realme he is bound to say a Masse For the Provinciall appointeth a surplice to bee worne at the Masse and other idolatrous services all which services and which Masse as being blasphemous to the sacrifice of our Saviour Christ once made vpon the crosse repugnant to the holy worship of God is abrogated by the lawes of the Realme Now then it were to bee wished that all states were given to vnderstand by what equitie law or good conscience