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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	king_n	parliament_n	void_a	3,949	5	9.2539	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30253	A case concerning the buying of bishops lands with, the lawfulness thereof and the difference between the contractors for sale of those lands, and the corporation of VVells, ordered, Anno. 1650, to be reported to the then Parliament / with the necessity thereof, since fallen upon Dr. Burges.	Burges, Cornelius, 1589?-1665.	1659 (1659)	Wing B5670; ESTC R11486	85,757	85

that refused it was it not their great study and contrivance to put down Lectures not onely on those dayes but on week-dayes also was it not fully proved not by Puritans but by such as after turned head against them that one of those Bishops thanked God that he had put down all the Lectures even Mr. Crookes also which was preached gratis and at his great Cost within his Diocess were not even conformable Ministers how able soever scorned and persecuted as Praters not Preachers if they took so much paines in preaching as might justly shame the laziness and idleness of Drones and Prelatical Pluralists who held it to be an Evidence of their great Parts and deep Learning to preach but seldom was it not piacular for any Animalculum praedicabile or Preaching-Coxcomb as Dr. Lindsey stiled Bishop Vsher himself for his often preaching that is for any faithful Minister to preach twice a day being by another Bishop compared in a scoff to a bruit Animal Virgil's Cow that bis venit ad mulctram came twice a day to the Payl And as for the Bishops own preaching especially at last when they designed to gain all those Places and Offices of Trust Power and Judicature of the Commonwealth which the Popish Bishops in former Ages aspired unto it became an Offence unpardonable to mind them of their Duty in preaching when many of them had laid it aside as too mean and low a thing for their Greatness and as a thing unnecessary and incompetent with their greater and more weighty Affairs Among other Instances take this for one Anno 1635. Doctor Burges preaching a Latine Sermon to the London-Ministers in Alphage Church neer Sion Colledge pressed all possible sedulity in preaching to drive which nail to the head among other Arguments he urged what was antiently required herein even of Bishops themselves For which purpose he first minded them of the Third part of the Publick Homily against the Peril of Idolatry wherein it is said of the Primitive Bishops That they were preaching Bishops more often seen in Pulpits then in Princes Palaces more often occupied in His Legacy who said Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel then in the Embassages and Affairs of Princes After which he recited an old Canon of the sixth General Council in Trullo with Zonaras his Note upon it which Canon enjoyned Bishops To preach often at least every Lords day or to be Canonically admonished for their neglect whereupon if they reformed not they were to be excommunicated or deposed For this some of his Prelatical and dronish Auditors informed the Archbishop of Canterbury against him who forthwith complained of the Doctor to the King himself Shortly after he was by Letters Missive summoned into the High Commission Court then little better then the Spanish Inquisition to answer this haynous Crime Upon his appearance Articles were exhibited against him as being dis-affected to the Book of Common Prayer the Ceremonies and Government of the Church as also for charging the Bishops with conniving at the then too palpable growth of Arminianism and Popery f Act. 12. and their too much conforming thereunto c. But chiefly For that he seemed to tax and accuse divers Prelates and Reverend Bishops of this Kingdom for neglecting to preach often and for alledging to that purpose that the ancient Bishops were frequent and diligent Preachers quoting an old Canon that every Bishop should preach every Sunday and if negligent herein he should be admonished upon which if he reformed not he was to be excommunicated or deposed without considering their many and weighty Affairs This made them spurn so furiously against him that their Party every-where gave it out that he should be both Deprived and Degraded And doubtless it had been so had he not given them enough in his Answers to their cavilling Articles and in his Protestation annexed to the Copy of that his Sermon delivered to Archbishop Land who after perusal thereof never troubled him further he having professed to stand to what he had said in that Sermon against all Opposers to the Death This was the third time wherein the Doctor was called into that Court. Once g An. 1622. he was brought thither by a potent Adversary who had made a strong Party against him for being dis-affected to Episcopal Government for permitting some to sit at receiving the Lords Supper Another time h An. 1629. he was questioned there for refusing upon a Thursday he being then requested to preach the Lecture at St. Mary Overies for the then Lecturer there to read Common Prayer in his Surplice and Hood before the Sermon On purpose to deter Godly Ministers from preaching Lectures And as they thus grew incorrigibly negligent in the duty of the Ministry here and there one or two black Swans excepted so did they as much over-lash in another extrem being too pragmatical and conversant in Civils Insomuch as by reason of some affronts put upon one or two of them as they were going to the House of Peers assembled in Parliament many of them privately drew up a Protestation which they after delivered contrary to the Priviledge of Parliament to the King not to the Parliament it self against all Acts and Proceedings in Parliament in their absence as null and voyd This high Act of theirs drew upon them the hatred and scorn not only of their supposed enemies who as yet had done them no harm but of their friends also yea so did it incense all against them it that occasioned the throwing them first out of the Parliament and then out of their Episcopal Office and dignity for ever Object 3 But admitting they were justly ejected yet so many direful Curses have been denounced against all such as should aliene sell purchase or imploy those Lands to other uses that it may justly make any man afraid to meddle with them Answ To this a short Answer may suffice Where God bids Curse as in Deut. 27. there is cause to fear Cursing If an Elijah i King 1.10 12. an Elisha k 2 Kin. 2.23 a David l Psal 109. a Peter m Act. 8.20 acted by Gods Spirit shall denounce a Curse wo to such as fall under it Such Curses shall surely take effect God himself will own them and requireth all his people to say Amen to them n Deut. 27.15 c. But as the bird by wandring and the swallow by flying escapeth the Nets and Snares set by the Fowler for them so the causless Curse shall not come o Prov. 26.2 That Providence that preserveth the sparow from falling to the ground p Mar. 10.25 till God will have it so let the Fowler do what he can to take him doth likewise so order the matter in a causless Curse that it shall never reach him against whom it is intended yea God blesseth most where wicked men or others belch out the most bitter curses Let them then

unlawful to endow particular Parochial Churches with Glebes or Lands necessary for building of Churches upon and for the accommodation and provision of faithful Ministers of Christ that faithfully dispense his Ordinances to their Flocks so it be with leave from Authority and all interessed in them and that it be done moderately for necessary sustentation of them and their Families The Levites that might have no large Territories answerable to the rest of their Tribes had yet several Cities set out for their habitation and Suburbs for their Cattle But withal they might not grasp all that the People would give but were con●●●ed and limitted to such a quantity a thousand Cubits outright from the wall round about their several Cities and no more as was before shewed And so far hath it ever been accounted from being lawful for Bishops to lay Field unto Field Mannor to Mannor to impoverish many to inrich one upon the account of the Church and Gods acceptance thereof as sacred and holy that even an Archbishop w Spalat de Repuo Ecclesiast l. 9. c. 7. n. 36. having deserted the Romish Church hath proclaimed it Sacriledge rapinam injustissimam and most unjust rapine This is not saith he to inable men to labour in the Gospel but to supply them with Fewel for Riot and Excess and to pervert what was given for the benefit of the Church and for necessary provisions to the shame scandal and ruine of the Church it is not to take off but to multiply the impediments of the saving of Souls Thus we see the Title of Bishops Lands what it was and upon what grounds and in what manner procured and enjoyed vvhich argues them to be in the construction of Scripture far from being sacred and holy unto God by such corrupt Dedications and particularly of those very Lands purchased by Doctor Burges It remaineth now to make out That the aliening diverting No Sacriledge or sin to buy or sell Bishops Lands or purchasing such Lands for common use notwithstanding their first dedication neither is or can be Sacriledge or otherwise sinful or unlawful This is in great part evident by what hath been before set forth yet for more full satisfaction somewhat more shall be added To begin with the Cities and Suburbs of the Levites will be a good step to the clearing hereof First their Houses might be sold even by themselves without sin For that Law which was made for the redeeming of it at any time which others might not do that sold Houses in a walled City unless they redeemed them within the compass of the first yeer after sale and for the return of it at the next Jubilee x Lev. 25.32 33. in case it were not redeemed before plainly implies a lawfulness for any man to buy an House that pertained to a Levite if it were to be sold and that it vvas no sin to detain it till it vvere either redeemed or returned at the Jubilee as all other Lands sold by others were to be This might be done without the least branding of the seller or buyer Yet those Cities were by Gods own appointment set out for the dwelling of the Levites Indeed God forbad the Levites to sell their Lands to wit the Fields of the Suburbs of their Cities for it was their perpetual possession y Ibid. ver 34. It was the same in effect vvith our Parochial Glebes and so might not be aliened or sold so long as their service and Priesthood continued Howbeit afterwards vvhen their service vvas ended and the Priestood removed they might as lawfully sell their Lands as their Houses Else Joses sirnamed Barnabas a Levite had committed Sacriledge for that he after Christ changed that Priesthood having Land sold it and laid down the money at the Apostles feet which is recorded by the Spirit of God as an eminent act of exemplary piety and charity and of the sou●●lness of his faith and conversion Now if it were no sin in him then to sell it could not be a sin in others to buy such Lands and other Lands the Levites might then have none albeit those Lands by God's own Edict were to be continued in the Priests while their Priesthood lasted Can it then be so haynously sinful to sell or purchase Bishops Lands which no Law of God ever settled upon them after their Office and Function is wholly taken away But it is happened to some of those rash Censurers as it did to those Oxen of whom Columella that famous Husbandry-Writer in the dayes of Claudius Caesar noteth z De re Rust lib. 2. that feeding upon some rank grounds ran wild with the fatness of their Food And vvhatever some think now that it is Sacriledge to aliene any thing once pretendedly dedicated unto God yet even the Bishops themselves in Parliament have thought and determined otherwise as well as Kings and the rest of the Parliament in the Acts formerly mentioned vvherein especially in one of them a 15 Ric. 2.5 they make all Lands given vvithout License to be forfeited and to be seised unless they procure a License to amortise them or sell or alien them to some other Use before Michaelmas then next coming This shews plainly that albeit it was not held lawful for Bishops Monks or others to receive or purchase Lands in Mort-Main yet it was lawful if they had so done to sell them for the Parliament directed the sale and therefore lawful for others to purchase them for common uses when once it should be discovered that those Lands were so given and dedicated as therein was forbbidden To which may be added 1. That Bishops Lands especially were at first given to maintain their State and Magnificence as Lords with special reference to State-Imployments For that the Kings were wont to have the greatest part of their Counsel for the safegard of the Realm when they had need of the said Prelates and Clerks so advanced b Stat. de Provis Benefic 25 Edw. 3. 2. That neither in those times nor since did many of them yea scarce any take paines to teach the Law of God to the People which was one end for which Bishops were endowed with such large Revenues as the Statute De Provisoribus Benefic before cited expresly declareth So that this being neglected they lived in so great a sin as in the judgement of those few of them who made more conscience of their Duty in this kind next to the sin of Lucifer there could not be a greater Witness that Learned and Zealous Bishop Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincolne in the reign of Hen. 3. who having received a Command from Pope Innocent the Fourth Mat. Paris ad Ann. 1353. to admit one Frederick de Lavania that Popes Nephew that is his Bastard to be a Canon and Prebend of Lincolne that Bishop wrote back to the Pope a flat refusal of that his command telling him moreover Post peccatum Luciferi c. That next to