them which being agreed on by the Clârgie and by them presented to the King humbly requiring him to give his royal asâent unto them according to the Statute made in the 25 of K. H. 8 and by his Majesties Prerogative and Supream authority in Ecclesiastical causes to ratifie and confirm the same his Majesty was graciously pleased to confirm and ratifie them by his Letters Patents for himself his heirs and lawfull successours straightly commanding and requiring all his loving Subjâcts diligântly to observe execute and keep the same in all points wherein they do or may concern all or any of them No running to the Parliament to confirm these Canons nor any question made till this present by temperate and knowing men that there wanted any act for their confirmation which the law could give them 7. An Answer to the main Objections of either Party BUt against this all which hath been said before it will be objected âhat being the Bishops of the Church are fully and wholly Parliamentarian and have no more authority and jurisdiction nisi a Parliamentis derivatum but that which is conâerred upon them by the power of Parliamânts as both Sanders and Schultingius do expresly say whatsoever they shall do oâ conclude upon either in Convocation or in more private conferences may be called Pârliâmenâarian also And this last calumny they build on the sevâral Stâtutes 24. H 8. c. 12. touching the manner of eâecting and consecrating Arch-Bishops and Bishops that of the 1 E. 6. c. 2. appointing how they shall be chosen and what seaâs they shaâl uâe thâse of 3 and 4 Ed. 6. c. 12. 5 6. E. 6. âor authorizing of the book of Ordination But chââfly that of the 8 Eliz. c. 1. for making good all Acts since 1 Eliz. in coâsâcrating any Arch Bishop or Bishop within this Reaâm âo give a general answer to each several cavil you may please to know that the Bishops as they now stand in the Church of England derive their calling together with their authority and power in Spiritual matâers from no other hands then those of Christ and his Apostles their Temporal honors and posââââions from the bounty and affection onely of our Kings Princes their Ecclesiastical juriâdiction in caâses Matrimonial Testamentary and the like for which no action lieth at the common Law from continuall usage and prescription and ratified and continued unto them in the Magna Charta of this Realm and ãâã more unto the Parliament than all sort of subjects do besidâs whose fortunes and estates have been occasionally and collaterally confirmed in Parliament And as for the particular Statutes which are touched upon that of the 24 H. 8. doâh only constitute and ordain a way by which they might be chose and conâecrated without recourse to Rome for a conâirmation which formerly had put the Prâlates to great charge and trouble but for the form and maâner of their consecration the Staâuâe leaves it to those Rites and Ceremonies wherewith before it was perfoââed and therefore Sanders doth not stick to affirm that all the Bishops which were made in King Henries days were lawfully and Canonically ordained and consâcrated the Bishops of that time not onâly being acknowledged in Queen Maries days for lawfull and Canonical Bishops but called on to assist at the consecration of such other Bishops Carâinal Pool himself for one as were promoted in her Reign whereof see Masons book de Minist. Ang. l. c. ãâã Next for the Statute 1 E. 6. cap. 2. besides that it is satisfied in part by the former Answer as it relates to their Canonâcal Consecrations it was repeaeld to Târminis in the first of Queene Maries Reigne and never stood in âorce nor practise to this day That of the authorizing of the booke of Ordination in two severall Parliaments of that King the one a parte ante and the other a parte post as before I told you mâght indeed seeme somewhat to the purpose if any thing were wanâing in it which had beene used iâ the formula's of the Primitive times or if the book had beân composed in Paâliament or by Parliament men or otherwise received more authority from them then that iâ might be lawfully used and exercâsed thâoughouâ the Kingdome But it is plâin that none of these things were oâjected ãâã Queen Maries dayââ when the Pâpists stood mâst upon their points ãâã Ordinal being not âaâled in because it had too much of the Parliament buâ becauâe it had too lâttle of the Pope and reâshâd too strongly of the Pâimitive piety And for the Sâatute oâ 8 of Qu. Elizâbeth which is chiefly stood on all that was done therein was no more then thiâ and on this occasion A question had been mâde by captiouâ and unquiet men and amongst the rest by Doctor Bânner sometimes Bishop of London whether the Bishops of those times were lawâully ordained or not the reason of the doubâ being this which I marvell Mason did not sâe because the âook of Ordination which was annulled and abâogated in the ãâã of Queen Mary had not been yet restored and revived by any legal Act oâ Qu. Elizabeths time which Cauâe being brought before the Pârliamenâ in the 8 year of her Reign thâPârliâment took notice first that their not restoring of thaâ booke ãâ¦ã foâmer power in terâs significant and expresse was but ãâ¦ã and then declare that by the Stature 5 and 6 E. 6. it had been ãâã to the book of Common-prâyer and Administration of the Sacramânss as a member of it at least as an Appââdant to it and therefore by the Staâuâe 1 Eliz. c. â was restored again together with the sâid booâ ãâã Common-prayer intentionally at the least if not in Terminis But ãâ¦ã words in the said Statute were not clear enough to remove all doubâs they therefore did revive now and did accordingly enact That whatsoâveâ had been done by vertue of that Ordination should be good in Law ãâ¦ã the total of the Statute and this shews rather in my judgement thaâ the Bishops of the Queens first times had too little of the Parliament in them then that they were conceived to have had too much And so I come to your laât Objection which concerns the Parliament whose entertaining all occasions to manifest their power in Ecclesiasticall matââââ doth seeme to you to make that groundlesse slânder of the Pâpists the more fair and plaâsible 'T is true indeed that many Members of both Houses in these latter Times have been âeen very ready to embrace all businesses which are offered to them out of a probable hope of drawing the managery of all Affairs as well Ecclesiastical as Civil into their own hands And some there are who being they cannot hope to have their fancies authorized in a regular way do put them upon such designs as neither can consist with the nature of Parliaments nor the authority of the King nor with the priviledges of the Clergy nor to say truth with
as an Excâescence at the best in the body mystical subject and fit to be pared off as occasion served though on self-ends Reasons of State and to serve their several turnâ by him as their needs required they did and do permit him to continue in his former greatnesse For Lewis the 11. King of France in a Councel of his own Bishops held at Lions cited Pope Iulius the 2. to appear before him and Laâstrech Governour of Millaine under Francis the 1. conceived the Popes authority to be so unnecessary yea even in Italy it self that taking a displeasure against Leo the 10. he outed him of all his jurisdiction within that Dukedome anno 1528. and so disposed of all Ecclesiasticall affairs ut praefecto sacris Bigorrano Episcâpo omnia sine Romani Pontificis autoritate adminâstrarentur as Thuanuâ hath it that the Church there was supremely governed by the Bishop of Bigorre a Bishop of the Church of France without the intermedling of the Pope at all The like we finde to have been done about six years after by Charleâ the fift Emperor and King of Spain who being no lesse displeased with Pope Clement the 7. abolished the Papall power and jurisdiction out of all the Churches of his Kingdomes in Spain Which though it held but for a while till the breach was closed yet left he an example by it as my Aâthor noteth Ecclesiasticam disciplinam citra Romani nominis autoritatem posse conservari that there was no necessity of a Pope at all And when K Henry the 8. following these examples had banished the Popes authority out of his Dominions Religion still remaâning here as before it did he PopeâSupremacy not being at that time an Article of the Christian Faith as it haâh since been made by Pope Pius the 4. that Act of his was much commended by most knowing men in that without more alteration in the face of the Church Romanae sedis exuisset obsequium saith the Author of the Tridentine History he had âreed himself and all his subjects from so great a Vassaâlage Now as K. Henry the 8. was not the first Christian Pâince who did de facto abrogate the Popes authority so was he not the last that thought it might be abrogated if occasion were For to say nothing of King Edward the 6. and Queen Elizabeth two of hiâ Successoâs who followed his example in it we finde it to have been resolved on by K. Henry the 4. of France who questionlesse had made the Archbishop of Bouâges the Patriarch of the Gallicane Church and totally withârawn it from acknowledging of the authority of the See of Rome had not Pope Clement the 8. much against his will by the continual solicitations of Cardinal D' Ossat admittâd him to a formal Reconciliation on his last falling off to popery How neeâ the Signeury of Venice was to have done the like anno 1608. the History of the Interdict or of the Quarrelâ betwixt that State and Pope Paul the 5. doth most plainly shew This makes it evident that in the judgement and esteem of most Christian Pâinces in other things of the Religion of the Church of Rome the Popes Supremacy was looked upon as an incroachment and therefore might be abrogated upon betâââ ãâ¦ã been admitted in their several Kingdomeâ By consâquence the doing of it here in England neither so injurious or unjust as your Zelots make it 2. That the Church of England might proceed to a Reformation without the Approbation of the Popâ or Church of Rome But here you say it will be replied that though the Pope ãâã not conâidâreâ aâ the ãâ¦ã of the Church with reference wherâunto his super eminent jurisdiction was disputed in the former times yet it cannot be denied with reason but that he is the Patriarch of these Wâstern Churches and the Apostle in particular of the English Nation In these respects no Reformation of the Church to be made without him especially considering that the Church of England at that time was a Member of the Church of Rome and therefore to act nothing in that kinde but by consent of the whole according to that known Maxim of the Schools Turpis est pars ea quâe toti suâ non cohaereât This though it be a Triple Cord will be easily broken For first the Pâpe is not the Patriarch of the West One of the Patriââââ of the Wâst we shall easily grant him but that he is the Patriarch we will by no means yeeld To tell you why we dare not yeeld it I must put you in minde of these particulars 1. That all Bishops in respect of their Office or Episcopality are of equall power whether they be of Rome or Rhegium of Constantinople or Engubium of Alexaâdria or of Tanais as S. Hierom hath it Potnâia divitiarum paupertatis humilitas vel sublimiorem vel inâeriorem âpiscopum non faciâ A plentiful Revenue and a sorry Competency makes not saith he one Bishop higher then another in regard of his office though possibly of more esteem and reputation in the eyes of men 2. That in respect to Polity and external order the Bishops antienâly were disposed of into Sub et supra according to the Platform of the Roman Empire agreeable to the good old Rule which we finde mentioned though not made in the general Councel of Chalcâdon that is to say {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} c. The ãâ¦ã Civil State 3. That the Român Empire was divided anâiently into 14 Juridical Circuitâ which they called Diocesses reckoning the Praefecture oâRome for one of the number six of the which that is to say the Diocessâs of Italie Africk Spain Britain Gaul and Illyricum occidentale besides the Pâaefecture of the City were under the command of the Western Emperoâs after the Empire was divided into East and West 4. That in the Pâaefecture of the City of Rome were contained no more than the Provinces of Latium Tuscia Picenum ãâ¦ã and Lucania in the main land of Italy tâgether with the Islands of Sicilie Corsica and Sardinia 5. That every Province having sâveral Cities there was agreeable to this model a Bishop placâd in every City a Metropolitan in the chief City of each Province who had a superintendence over all the Bishops and in each Diocesse a Primate ruling in chief over the Metropolitans of the several Provinces And 6. though at fiâst only the three Primates or Arch-bishops of Rome Antioch and Alâxandria commonly and in vulgar speech had the name of Patriarchs by reason of the wealth and greatnâsse of those Cities the greatest of the Roman Eâpire and the chief of Europe Asia and Africa to which the Bishops of Hierusalem and ãâã were after added yet were they all of âqual power amâng themselveâ and shined with as full a splendor in their proper Orbes as any of the Popes then did in the Sphere of Rome receiving all their light from the Sun of righteousnesse not borrowing it
from one another for which the so much celebrated Canon of the Nâcene Councel may may be proâf suââicient If not the Edicts of Iusâinian shall come in to help by which it was decreed that all Appeals in point of grievance should lie from the Bishop to the Metropolitan and from the Metropolitans unto the Primates the Patriarchs as he cals them of the several Diocessâs By which accompt it doth appear that the Patriarchâte of Rome was anâiently confined within the Praefecture of that City in which respect as the Provinces subject to the Pope were by Ruffinus called Regiones Suburbicariae or the City Provinces so was the Pope himself called Vrbicus or the City-Bishop by Optatus Aâer To prove this point more plâinly by particular instances I shall take leave to travel over the Western Diocesses to seâ what marks of Independence we can finde among them such as dissenting in opinion from the Church of Rome or adhering unto different ceremonies and formes of worship or otherwise standing in defence of their own authority And first the Diocesse of Italy though under the Popes nose as we use to say was under the command of the Archbishop of Millaine as the Primate of it which City is therefore called by Athanasius {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the Metropolis or chief City oâItaly The Saturdaies fast observed at Rome and not at Millaine Quando Romae sum jejuno Sabbato quum hic sum non jejuno Sabbato as S. Ambrose hath it shewes clearly that the one had no dâpendence upon the other And yet the diffârence of Divine Offices or Formes of worship is a more pregnant proof then this the Churches of Millain officiating for many ages by a Liturgie which S. Ambrose had a special hand in they of the Patriarchate of Rome following the old Roman Missals not fully finished and compleated till the time of Pope Gregory Whence the distinction of Ecclesiae Ambrosianae Ecclesiae Gregorianae extant in Bonaventure and others of the writers of the later times Crosse we the Seas unto the Diocesse of Africk governed in chief by the Pâimate or Archbishop of Carthage and there we finde S. Cyprian determining against Pope Stephen in the then controverted case of Rebaptization and calling him in his Epistle of Pompeius an obstinate and presumptuous man and a fauter of Hereticks no very great tokens of subjection if you mark it well The error of his judgement in the point debated I regard not here but I am sure that in defence of his authority and jurisdiction he was right enough and therein strongly seconded by the African Church opposing the incroachments of Zosimus Boniface and Celestine succeeding one another in the Roman Patrâarchaâe prohibiting all appeals to Rome in the Councels of Milevis and Carthage and finally âxcommunicating Lupicinus for appealing to Pope Leo the first contrary to the rites and liberties of the African Church Next for the Diocesse of Spain I look upon the Musarabick Liturgie composed by Isidore Archbishop of Sevil and universally received in all the Churches of that Continent ãâ¦ã as the Amârosian Office was in the Church of Mâllain the Roman or Gregorian Missal not being used in all this Countrey till the year 1083. At which time one Bernard a Frenchman and a great stickler in behalf of the Roman Ceremonies being made Archbishop of Toledo by practising with Alfonso the then King of Castile first introduced the Roman Missall into some of the Churches of that City and after by degrees into all the rest of those Kingdomes soon after the Chuâches of France the greatest and most noble part of the Gallick Diocesse they were originally under the authority of the Bishop of Lions as their proper Primate not owing any suiâ of sârvice to the Court of Rome but standing on their own Basis and acting all ãâ¦ã did The freedome wherewith Iâenaeuâ the renowned ãâã of that City reproved the rashnesse of Pope Victor in the Case of Easter not well becoming an inferiâr Bishop to the Supreme Pastor shewes plainly that they stood on even ground and had no advantage of each other in respect of sub supra as Logicians say notwithstanding that more powerful Principality potentior principalitas as the Latin hath it which Irenaeus did allow him over those at home But a more evident proof of this there can hardly be then those large libârties and freedomes which the Church Gallican doth at this time enjoy the remainders past all doubt of those antient rights which under their own Patriarch they were first possessed of not suffering the Decrees of the Councel of Trent that great supporter of the Popâdome to take place amongst them but as insensiâly and by the practises of some Bishopâ they were introduced cuâbing the Popes exorbitant power by the pragmatick Sanction and by the frequent Judgements and Arrests of Parliament insomuch âs a Book of Cardinal ãâã tending to the advancement of the Papall Monarchy and another writ by Becanus the Iesuiteântiâuled Controvârsia Anglicana in maintenance of the Popes supremacy weâe suppâessed and cenâuâed anno 1612. Another writ by âaspâr Schioppius to the same effect but with âar lesse modesty being at the same time burnt by the hands of the Hangman Finally for the Churches of the Diocesse of Britain those of Illyricum lying too far off to be brought in here they had their own Primate also the Archbishop of York and under him two Metropolitânâ the Bishops of London and Caer-leon And for a character of their Freedome or self subsistence they had four different customes from the Church of Rome as in the Tonsure and the keeping of the Feast of Easter wherein they followed the Tradition of the Eastern Churches So firm withall in their obedience to their own Primate the Archbishop of Caâr-leon on Vsh the only Archbishop of three which before they had that they would by no means yeeld subâection unto Augustine the Monk the first Archbishop of the English though he came armed amongst them with the Popes authority Nor would they afterwards submit unto his successors though backed by the authority of the Kings of England acknowledging no other Primate but the Bishop of St. Davids to which the Metropolitan See was then translated untill the time of Henry the 2. when the greatest part of South Wales and the City of S. Davids it self was in possession of the English These were the Patriarchs or Primates of the Western Churches and by these Primates the Church was either governed singly but withall supremely in their several Diocesses taking the word Diocese in the former notion or in conjunction each with other by their letters of advice and intercourse which they called Literas Formatas and Communicatorias You see by this that though the Pope was one of the Western Patriarchs yet was he not originally and by primitive Instiâution either the Patriarch of the West that is to say not the only one nor could pretend
Doctrine and in such points of doctrine as have not been before defined or not defined in form and manner as before laid down the King only with a few of his Bishops and learned Clergy though never so well studied in the point disputed can do nothing in it That belongs only to the whole Body of the Clergy in their Convocation rightly called and constituted whose Acts being ratified by the King binde not alone the rest of the Clergy in whose names they Voted but all the residue of the subjects of what sort soever who are to acquiesce in their Resolutions The constant practise of the Church and that which we have said before touching the calling and authority of the Convocation makes this clear enough But if the thing to be Reformed be a matter practical we are to look into the usage of the primitive times And if the practise prove to have been both ancient and universally received over all the Church though intermitted for a time and by time corrupted the King consulting with so many of his Bishops and others of his most able Clergy as he thinks fit to call unto him and having their consent and direction in it may in the case of intermission revive such practise and in the case of corruption and degeneration restore it to its Primitive and original lustre whether he do it of himself of his own meer motion or that he follow the advice of his Councel in it whether he be of age to inform himself or that he doth relie on those to whom he hath committed the publick Government it comes all to one so they restrain themselves to the ancient patterns The Reformation which was made under Iosias though in his Minority and acting by the Counsel of the Elders as Iosephus telleth us Antiqu Iud 1. cap. was no lesse pleasiâg unto God nor lesse valid in the eyes of all his subjects then those of Iehâsaphat and Hâzekiah in their riper years and perhaps acting âiâgly on the strângth of their own judgements only withâut any advice Now that there should be Liturgies for the use of the Church that those Liturgies shâuld be celebrated in a language understood by the people that in those Liturgiâs there should be some prescribed Formes for giving the Communion in both kindes for Baptizing Infants for the reverent celebration of Marriage performing the last office to the sick and the decent burial of the Dead as also for set Feasts and appointed Festivals hath been a thing of primitive and general practise in the Christian Church And being such though intermitted or corrupted as before is said the King advising with his Bishops and other Churchâmen though not in a Synodical way may cause the same to be revised and revived and having fitted them to edification and increase of piety either commend them to the Church by his sole authority or else impose them on the people under certain penalties by his power in Parliament Saepe Coeleste Regnum per Terrenum proficit The Kingdome of Heaven said Reverend Isidore of Sevil doth many times receive increase from these earthly kingdomes in nothing more then by the regulating and well ordering of Gods publick worship We saw before what David did in this particular allotting to the Priest the Courses of their Ministration appointing Hymns and Songs for the Iewish Festivals ordaining singing-men to sing and finally prescribing Vestments for the Celebration Which what else was it but a Regulating of the worship of God the putting it into a solâmn course and order to be observed from time to time in succeeding ages Sufficient ground for Christian Princes to proceed on in the like occasions especially when all they do is rather the reviving of the Ancient Formes then the Introduction of a new Which as the King did here in England by his own Authority the Body of the Clergy not consulted in it so possibly there might be good reason why those who had the conduct of the Kings affairs thought it not safe to put the managing of the businesse to a Convocation The ignorance and superstition of the common people was at that time exceeding profitable to the Clergy who by their frequent Masses for the quick and dead raisâd as great advantage as Demetrius and the Silver-Smith by Dianas shrines It hapned also in a time when many of the inferiour Clergy had not much more learning then what was taught them in the Missals and other Rituals and well might fear that if the Service were once extant in the English tongue the Laity would prove in time as great Clerks as themselves So that as well in point of Reputation as in point of Pâofit besides the love which many of them had to their former Mumpsâmus it was most probable that such an hard piece of Reformation would not easily down had it been put into the power of a Convocation especially under a Prince in Nonage and a state unsetled And yet it was not so carryed without them neither but that the Bishops generally did concur to the Confirmation of the Book or the approbation of it rather when it passed in Parliament the Bishops in that time and after till the late vast and most improvident increase of the Lay-nobility making the most considerable if not the greatest part of the House of Peers and so the Book not likely to be there allowed of without their consent And I the rather am inclined unto that Opinion because I finde that none but Tunstall Gardiner and Bonner were displaced from their Bishopricks for not submitting in this case to the Kings appointments which seems to me a very strong and convincing argument that none but they dissented or refused conformity Adde here that though the whole body of the Clergy in their Convocation were not consulted with at first for the Reasons formerly recited yet when they found the benefit and comfort which redounded by it to good Christian people and had by little and little weanâd themselves from their private interesses they all confirmed it on the Post-fact passing an Article in the Convocation of the year 1552. with this Head or Title viz. Agendum esse in Ecclesia lingua quae sit Populo nota which is the 25. Article in King Edwards Book Lay all that hath been said together and the result of all will be briefly this that being the setting out of the Liturgie in the Englishâongue was a matter practical agreeable to the Word of God and the Primitive timâs that the King with so many of his Bishops and others oâ the Clergy as he pleased to call to Counsel in it resolved ãâã on the doing of it that the Bishops generally confirmed it when it came before them and that the whole body of the Clergy in their Convocation the Book being then under a review did avow and justifie it The result of all I say is this that as the work it self I say was good so it was done not in a Regal
to whom they had made themselves a kinde of voluntary slaves to him who justly challenged a natural dominion over them and secondly that that submission of theirs to their natural Prince is not to be considered as a new Concessiân but as the Râcognition only of a former power In the next place I do not finde it to be contraây to the usage of the primitive times I grant indeed that when the Church was under the command of the Heathen Emperorâ the Clergy did assemble in their National and Provincial Synods of their own Authority which Councels being summoned by the Metropolitans and subscribed by the Clergy were of sufficient power to binde all good Christians who lived within the Verge of their Jurisdiction They could not else assemble upon any exigence of affaiâs but by such authority But it was otherwise when the Church came under the protection of Christian Princes all Emperors and Kings from Constantine the Great till the Pope carried all before him in the darker times accompting it one of the principal flowers as indeed it was which adorned their Dâadems I am not willing to beat ân a common place But if you please to look into the Acts of ancient Councels you will finde that all the General Councels all which deserve to be so called if any of them do deserve it to have been summoned and confirmed by the Christian Emperors that the Câuncel of Arles was called and confirmed by the Emperor Constantine that of Sardis by Constans that of Lampsacus by Valentinian that of Aquiâeia by Theodosius that of Theââalânica National or Provincial all by the Emperor Gratian that when the Western Empire fell into the hands of the French the Councels of Aâon Mentâ Meldân Wormes and Colen received both life and motion ââom Charles the Great and his Successors in that Empâre it being evident in the Records of the Gallican Church that the opening and confirming of all their Councels not only under the Caroline but under the Merovignean Family was alwaies by the power sometimes with the Presidence of their Kings and Princes as you may finde in the Collections of Lindebrogius and Sirmondus the Iesuite and finally that in Spain it self though now so much obnoxious to the Papal power the two at Bracara and the ten first holden at Toledo were summoned by the Writ and Mandate of the Kings thereof Or if you be not willing to take this pains I shall put you to a shorter and an easier search referring you for your better information in this particular to the learned Sermon preached by Bishop Andrewes at Hampton Court anno 1606. touching the Right and power of calling Assemblies or the right use of the Trumpets A Sermon preached purposely at that time and place for giving satisfaction in that point to Melvin and some leading men of the Scotish Puritans who of late times had arrogated to themselves an unlimited power of calling and constituting their Assemblies without the Kings consânt and against his will As for the Vassallage which the Clergy are supposed to have drawn upon themselves by this Submission I see no fear or danger of it as long as the two Houses of Parliament are in like condition and that the Kings of England are so tender of their own Prerogative as not to suffer any one Body of the Subjects to give a Law unto the other without his consent That which is most insisted on for the proof hereof is the delegating of this power by King Henry the 8. to Sir Thomas Cromwell afterwards Earl of Essex and Lord high Chamberlain by the name of his Vicar General in Ecclesiastical matters who by that name pâesided in the Convocation anno 1536. and acted other things of like nature in the years next following And this especially his presiding in the Convocation is looked on both by Sanders and some Protestant Doctors not only as a great debasing of the English Clergie men very learned for those times but as deforme satis Spectacuâum a kânde of Monstrosity in nature But certainly those men forget though I do not think my self bound to justifie all King Harrâes actions that in the Councell of Chaâââdon the Emperor apointed certain Noble-men to âit as Judges whose names occurre in the first Action of that Councell The like we finde exemplified in the Ephesine Councell in which by the appointment of Theodâsius and Valentinian then Roman Empârours Candidianus a Count Imperiall âate as Judge oâ President who in the managing of that trust over acted any thing that Cromwell did or is objected to have been done by him as the Kings Commissioner For that he was to have the first place in those publick meetings as the Kings Commissioner or his Vicar-General which you will for I will neither trouble my self nor you with disputing Titles the very Scottish Presbyters the most rigid sticklers for their own pretended and but pretended Rights which the world affords do not stick to yeeld No vaââallage of the Clergy to be âound in this as little to be feared by their submission to the King as their Supreme Governour Thus Sir according to my promise and your expectation have I collected my Remembrances and represented them unto you in as good a fashion as my other troublesome affairs and the distractions of the time would give me leave and therein made you see ãâã my judgement fail not that neither our King or Parliaments have done more in matters which concern'd Religion and the Reformation of this Church then what hath formerly been done by the secular Powers in the best and happiest times of Christianity and consequently that the clamours of the Papists and Puritans both which have disturbed you are both false and groundlesse Which if it may be serviceable to your self or others whom the like doubts and prejudices have possessed or scrupled It is all I wish my studies and endevours aiming at no other end then to do all the service I can possibly to the Church of God to whose Graces and divine Protection you are most heartily commended in our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ By Sir Your most affectionate friend to serve you Peter Heylyn
of their money which as it doth at large appear in the Records and Acts of the Convocation so it is touched upon in a Historical way in the Antiq. Britan. Mason de Minist. Anglic. and other Authors by whom it also doth appear that what was thus concluded on by the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury was also ratified and confirmed by the Convocation of the Province of York according to the usual custom save that they did not buy their pardon at so dear a râte This was the Leading Card to the Game that followed For on this ground were built the Statutes prohibiting all Appeales to Rome and for determining all Ecclesiastical suits and controversies within the Kingdoms 24 H. 8. c 12. That for the manner of electing and conseârating of Arch-Bishops and Bishops 25 H. 8. c. 2â and the prohibiting the payment of all Impositions to the Court of Rome and for obtaining all such dispensations from the See of Canterbury which formerly were procured from the Popes of Rome 25. H. 8. c. 21. Which last is built expresly upon this foundations That the King is the onely supream Head of the Church of England and was so recognized by the Prelates and Clergy representing the said Church in their Convocation And on the veây same foundation was the Statute raised 26 H. 8. c. 1. wherein the King is declared to be the supream Head of the Church of England and to have ãâ¦ã which were annexed unto that Title as by the Act it self doth at full appear Which Act being made I speak it from the Act it self onely for corroboration and confirmation of that which had been done in the Convocation did afterwards draw on the Statute for the Tenths and first fruiâs as the point incident to the Headship or supream Authority â6 H. 8. c. 3. The second step to the Ejection of the Pope was the submission of the Clergy to the said King Henry whom they had recognizanced for their supream Head And this was first concluded on in the Convocation before it was proposed or agitated in the Houses of Parliament and was commended onely to the care of the Parliament that it might have the force of a Law by a civil Sanction The whole debaâe with all the traverses and emergent difficulties which appeared therein are specified at large in the Records of ãâã Anno 1532. But being you have not opportunity to consult those Records I shall prove it by the Act of Parliament called commonly The Act of submission of the Clergy but bearing this Title in the Abridgment of the Statutes set out by Poulton That the Clerây in their Convocations shall enact no constitutions without the Kings assent In which it is premised for granted that the Clergy of the Realm of England had not onely acknowledged according to the Truth that the Convocation of the same Clergy is alwayes hath been and ought to be assembled alwayes by the Kings Writ but also submitting themselves to the Kings Majesty had prâmised in verbo Saceâdotis That they would never from henceforth presum to attempt allcadge claim or put in ure enact promulge or execute any new Canons Constitutions Ordinances provincial or other or by whatsoever other name they shall be called in the Convocation unless the Kings most Royal Assent may to them be had to make promulge and execute the same and that his Majesty do give his most Royall Assent and Authority in that behalf Upon which ground-work of the Clergies the Parliament shortly after built this superstructure to the same effect viz. That none of the said Clergy from thenceforth should presume to attempt alleadge claâm or put inâure any Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodals or any other Canons nor shall enact promulge or execute any such Canonâ Constitutions or Ordinances Provincâsâ by whatsoever name or names they may be called in their Convocations in time coming which alwayes shall be assembled by the Kings Writ unless the same Clergy may have the Kings in st Royal Assent and Licence to make promulge and execute such Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial or Synodical upon pain of every one of the said Clergy doing the contrary to this Act and thereof convicted to suffer imprisonment and make fine at the Kings Will 25 H. 8. c. 19. So that the statute in effect is no more then this an Act to binde the Clergy to perform their promise to keep them fast unto their word for the time to come that no new Canon should be made in the times succeeding in the favour of the Pope or by his Authority or to the diminution of the Kings Râyal Preâogative or contrary to the Iuwes and statutes of this Realm of England at many Papal Constitutions were in the former Ages Which statute I desire you to take notice of because it is the Rule and Measure of the Churches power in making Canons Constitutions or whatsoever else you shall please to call them in their Convocations The third and small Act conducing to the Popes Ejection was an Act of Parliament 28. H. 8. c. 10. entitâled An Act exâinguishing the ãâã of the Bishop of Rome By which it was enacted That if any person should extoll the Authority of the Bishop of Rome he should incur the penalty of a praeminire that every Officer both Ecclesiastical and Lay should be sworn to renounce the said Bishop and his Authority and to resist it to his power and to repute any Oath formerly taken in maintenance of the said Bishop or his Authority to be void and finally that the refusal of the said Oath should bejudged High Treason But this was also usher'd in by the determination first and after by the practice of all the Clergy For in the year 1534 which was two yeares before the passing of this Act the King had sent this Proposition to be agitated in both Vniversities and in the greatest and most famous Monasteries of the kingdom that is to say ãâ¦ã Romans dejure competat plusquam alii cujamque Episcoâo extero By whom it was determined Negatively that the Bishop of Rome had no more power of right in the Kingdom of England than any other forreign Bishop Which being testified and returned under the hands and seales respectively the Originals whereof are still remaining in the Library of Sr Robert Cotton was a good preamble to the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy assembled in their Convocation to conclude the like And so accordingly they did and made an Instrument thereof subscribed by the hands of all the Bishops and others of the Clergy and afterwards confirmed the same by their corporal Oaths The copies of which Oaths and Instrument you shal finde in Foxes Acts and Monuments Vol. 2. fol. 1203. and fol. 1210 1211. of the Edition of Iohn Day Anno 1570. And this was semblably the ground of a following statute 35 H. 8. c. 1. wherein another Oath was devised and ratified to be imposed upon the Subject for
the more cleer asserting of the Kings Supremacy and the utter exclusion of the Popes for ever which statutes though they were all repealed by an Act of Parliament 1 and 2d of Phil. and Mary c. 1. save that the name of supream Head was changed unto that of the supream Governour and certain clauses altered in the Oath of Supremacy Where by the way you must take notice that the statutes which concerns the Kings Supremacy are not introductory of any new Right that was not in the Crown before but onely declaratory of an old as our best Lawyers tell us and the statute of the 26 of H. 8. c 1. doth clearly intimate So that in the Ejection of the Pope of Rome which was the first and greatest step towards the Work of Reformation the Parliament did nothing for ought it appeares but what was done before in the Convocation and did no more than fortifie the Results of Hely Church by the addition and corroboration of the Secular Power 3 Of the Translation of the Scriptures and permitting them to be read in the English Tongue THE second step towards the Work of Reformation and indeed one of the most especial parts theâeof was the Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue and the permitting all sorts of people to peruse the same as that which visibly did tend to the discovery of the errours and corruptions in the Church of Rome and the intollerable pride and tyranny of the Romane Prelates upon which grounds it had been formerly translated into English by the hand of Wiâkliff and after on the spreading of Luthers Doctrine by the paines of Tindal a stouâ and active man in King Henries dayes but not so well befâiended as the work deserved especially considering ââat it hapned in such a time when many printed Pamphlets did disturb the State and some of them of Tââdals making which seemed to âend unto sedition and the change of Government Which being remonstrated to the King he caused divers of his Bishops togâther with sundry of the learn d'st and most eminent Divines of all the Kingdom to come before him Whom he required freely and plainly to declare aâwel what their opinion was of the foresaid Pamphlââ as what they did think fit to be done concerning the Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue And they upon mature advise and deliberation unanimously conden ned the aforesaid Bâoks of Hârâsie and Blasphemy no smaler crime then for translating of the Scriptures into the English Tongue they agreed all with one assent that it depended wholly on the will and pleasure of the Soveraign Pâince who might do thârein as he conceived to be most agreeable to his occasions but that with reference to the present estate of things it was more expedient to explain the Scripture to the people by the way of Sermons then to permit it to be read promiscuouââ by all sorts of men yet so that hopes were to be given unto the Laity that if they did renounce their errours and presently deliver to the hands of his Majesties Officers all such Bookes and Bibles which they conceived to be translated with great fraud and falshood as any of them had in keeping his Majesty would cause a true and catholike Translation of it to be published in convenient time for the use of his Subjects This was the sum and substance of the present Conâerence which you shal finde laid down at large in the Registers of Arch-Bishop Warham And according to this advice the King sets out a Proclamation not onely prohibiting the buying reading or translating of any the aforesaid Bookâs but straitly charging all his Subjects which had any of the Bookes of Scripture either of the Old Testament or of the New in the English Tongue to bring them in without delay But for the other partâ of giving hopes unto the people of a true Translation if they delivered in the false â or that at leasâ which was pretended to be false I finde no word at all in the Proclamation That was a work reserved unto better times or left to be solicited by the Bishops themselves and other Learned men who had given the counsel by whom indeed the people were kept up in hope that all should be accomplished unto their desires And so indeed it proved at last For in the Convocation of the year 1536. the authority of the Pope being abrogated and Cranmer fully setled in the See of Canterbury the Clergy did agree upon a form of Petition to be presented to the King That he would graciously indulge unto his subjects of the Laity the reading of the Bible in the English Tongue and that a new Translation of it might be forthwith made for that end and purpose According to which godly motion his Majesty did not onely give Order for a new Translation which afterwards He authorized to be read both in publique and private but in the interim he permitted CROMWEL his Vicar-General to set out an Injunction for providing the whole Bible both in Latine and English after the Translation then in use which was called commonly by the name of Matthewes Bible but was no other then that of Tindal somewhat altered to be kept in every Parish Church throughout the Kingdom for every one that would repair unto and caused this mark or character of Authority to be set upon them in red Letters Set forth with the Kings most gracious Licence which you may see in Fox his Acts and Monum. p. 1248. and 1363. Afterwards when the new Translation so often promised and so long expected was compleat and finished printed at London by the Kings Authority and countenanced by a grave and pious Preface of Arch Bishop Cranmer the King sets out a Proclamation dated May 6. Anno 1541. Commanding all the Curates and Parishioners throughout the Kingdom who were not already furnished with Bibles so authorized and translated as is before said to provide themselves before Al. hallowtide next following and to cause the Bibles so provided to be placed conveniently in their several and respective Churches straitly requiring all his Bishops and other Orâinaries to take special care to see his said commands put in execution And therewithal came out Instructions from the King to be published by the Clergy in their several Parishes the better to possesse the people with the Kings good affection towards them in suffering them to have the benâfiâ of such Heavenly Treasure and to direct hem in a course by which they might enjoy the same to their greater comfort the reformation of their lives and the peace and quiet of the Church Which Proclamation and Instructions are stil preserved in that most admirable ãâã of Sr Robert Cotten and unto these Commands of so great a Prince both Bishops Priests and People did apply themselves with such cheerful reverence that Bonner even thaâ bâoudâ ãâã as he after proved caused six of them to be chained in several places of St Pauls Church in
London for all that ãâã so ãâ¦ã inclined to resort unto for their edification and instruction ãâã Book being very chargable because very laâge and therefore called commonly for distinctions sake The Bible of the greater ãâã Thus have we seen the Scriptures faithfull translated into the English Tongue the ãâ¦ã Churches that every one which would âigh peâuse the same and leave permitted to all people to buy them for âhen private use and reâde them to themselves or before thâi Families and all the brought about by no other meanes then by ãâã Kings Authority onely grounded on the advice and judgment of the ãâã But long it was not I confess before the Parliament put in for a share and claimed some interest in the Work but whether for the better or he worse I leave you to iudge For in the year 1542. the King being then in agitation of a League with Charles the Emperouâ He caused a complaint to be made unâo him in this Court of Parliament That the ãâã âranted to the people in having in their hands the Bookes of the Old and New Testament had been much abused by many false glosseâ and ãâã which were made upon them tending to the seducing of the people especially of the younger sort and the raising of sedition within the Realm And thereupon it was enacted by the Authority of the Parliament on whom He was content to cast the envy of an Act so contrary to âis former gracious Proclamations That all manner of Bookes of the Old and New Testament of the crâââty false and untrue Translation of Tindââ be forthwith abolished and forbidden to be used and keât As also that all other Bâbles not being of Tindals Translation in which were sound any Preambles or Annotations other then the Quotations or Summaries of of the Chapters should be purged of the said Preambles and Annotatious either by cutting them out or blotting them in such wise that they might not be perceived or read And finally That the Bible be not read âpenly in any Church but by the leave of the King or of the Ordinary of the place nor privately by any Women Artificers Apprentices Iourney-men Husband-men ãâã or by any of the Servants of Yoomen or under with several pains to those who should do the conâtrary This is the substance of the statute of the 34 and 35 Hââ 8. c. 1. Which though iâ shewes that there was somewhat done in Parliament in a matter which concern'd Religion which howsoever if you mark it was rather the adding of the penalties than giving any resolution or decision of the points in question yet I presume the Papists wil not use this for an Argument that we have either a Parliament Religion or a Parliament Gospel or that we stand indebted to the Parliament for the use of the Scriptures in the English Tongue which is so principal a part of the Reformation Nor did the Parliament speed so prosperously in the undertaking which the wise King permitted them to have a hand in for the foresaid ends or found so general an obedience in it from the common people as would have been expected in these Times on the like occasion but that the King was fain to quicken and give life to the Acts thereof by his Proclamation Anno 1546. which you shal finde in Fox his book foâ 1437. To drive this Nail a little further The terrour of this statute dying with H. 8. or being repealed by that of K. Ed. 6. c. 22. the Bible was again made publique and not onely suffered to be read by particular persons either privatly or in the Church but ordered to be read over yearly in the Congregation as a part of the Liturgie or Divine Service Which how far it relates to the Court of Parliament we shal see anon But for the publishing thereof in Print for the use of the people for the comfort and edification of private persons that was done onely by the King at least in his Name and by His Authority And so it also stood in Q Elizabeths time the translation of the Bible being again reviewed by some of the most learned Bishops appointed thereunto by the Queens Commission from whence is had the name of the Bishops Bible and upon that review reâprinted by her sole Commandement and by her sole Authority left free and open to the use of her wel-affected and religious subjects Nor did the Parliament do any thing in all Her Reign with reference to the Scriptures in the English Tongue otherwise then at the reading of them in that Tongue in the Congregation is to be reckoned for a part of the English Liturgy whereof more hereafter In the translation of them into Welch or British somwhat indeed was done which doth look this way It being ordered in the Parliament 5. Eliz. c. 28. That the B. B. of Hereford St Davids Bangor Landaff and St Asaph should take care amongst them for translating the whole Bible with the book of Common Prayer into the Welch or Brittish Tongue on pain of forseiting 40 l. a piece in default hereof And to incourage them thereunto it was enacted that one book of either sort being so translated and imprinted should be provided and bought for every Cathedral Church as also for all Parish Churches and Chappels of Ease where the said tongue is commonly used the Ministers to pay the one half of the price and the Parishioners the other But then you must observe withal that it had been before determined in the Convocation of the self-same year Anno 1562. That the Common-Prayer of the Church ought to be celebrated in a tongue which was under stood by the people as you may see in the book of Articles of Religion Art 24. which came out that year and consequently aswel in the Welch or Brittish as in any other Which care had it been taken for Ireland also as it was for Wales no question but that people had been more generally civiliz'd and made conformable in all points to the English Government long before this time And for the new Translation of K. Iames his time to shew that the Translation of Scripture is no work of Parliament as it was principally occasioned by some passages in the Conference at Hampton Court without recourse unto the Parliament so was it done onely by such men as the King appointed and by His Authority alone imprinted published and imposed care being taken by the Canon of the year 1603. That one of them should be provided for each several at Church at the charge of the Parish No flying in this case to an Act of Parliament either to authorize the doing of it or to impose it being done 4 Of the Reformation of Religion in points of Doctrine NExt let us look upon the method used in former Times in the reforming of the Church whether in points of Doctrine or in formes of Worship and we shal find it stil the same The Clergy did the work as to them
and other Opponents whatsoever which after were approved and published by the Kings Authority They were in number 41. and were published by this following Title that is to say Articuli dâ quibus in Synoâ London Anno 1552. ãâ¦ã Religion is firmandum inter Episcopos alios Eruditis ãâã Convenerat Regia authoritate in lucem Editi And it is worth our observation that though the Parliament was held at the very time and that the Parliament passed several Acts which concerned Church-matters as viz. An Act for Vniformity of Divine Service and for the confirmation of the book of Ordination 5 and 6 Edw. 6. c. 1. All Act declaring which dayes onely shall be kept for Holy dayes and which for Fasting dayes C. 3. against striking or drawing weapon either in the Church or Church-yard C. 4. And finally another Act for the legitimating of the Marriages of Priests and Ministers C. 12. Yet neither in this Parliament nor in that which followed is there so much as the least syllable which reflecteth this way or medleth any thing at all with the book of Articles Where by the way if you behold the lawfulnesse of Priests Marriages as a matter Doctrinal or think we owe that point of Doctrine the indulgence granted to the Clergy in it to the care and goodness of the Parl. you may please to know that the point had been before determined in the Convocation stands determined by and for the Clergy in the 31 of those Articles and that the Parliament looked on it as a point of Doctrine but as it was a matter practical conducing to the benefit and improvement of the Common-wealth Or if it did yet was the statute built on no other ground-work than the Resolution of the Clergy the Marriage of Priests being before determined to be most lawfull I use the very words of the Act it self and according to the Word of God by the learned Clergy of this Realm in their Convocations as well by the common assent as by subscriptions of their hands 5 6. Edw. 6. chap. 12. And for the time of Queen Elizabeth it is most manifest that they had no other body of Doctrine in the first part of her Reign then onely the said Articles of K. Edwards book and that which was delivered in the book of Homilies of the said Kings time in which the Parliament had as little to do as you have seen they had in the book of Articles But in the Convocation of the year 1562. being the fifth of the Qu. Reign the Bishops and Clergy taking into consideration the said book of Articles and altering what they thought most fitting to make it more conducible to the use of the Church and the edification of the people presented it unto the Queen who caused it to be published with this Name and Title viz. Articles whereupon it was agreed by the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London Anno 1562 for the avoiding of diversity of Opinions and for the establishing of Consent touching true Religion put forth by the Queens authority Of any thing done or pretended to be done by the power of the Parliament either in the way of approbation or of confirmation âot one word occurs either in any of the printed books or the publique Registers At last indeed in the 13th of the said Queens Reign which was 8 years full after the passing of those Articles comes out a statute for the redressing of disorders in the Ministers of holy Church In which it was enacted That all such as were ordained Priests or Ministers of Gods Word and Sacraments after any other form then that appointed to be used in the Church of England all such as were to be ordained or permitted to preach or to be instituted into any Benefiâe with âure of soules should publikely subscribe to the said Articles and testifie their assent unto them Which shews if you observe it well that though the Parliament did well allow of and approve the said book of Articles yet the said book owes neither confirmation nor authority to the Act of Parliament So that the wonder is the greater that that most insolent scoff which is put upon us by the Church of Rome in calling our Religion by the name Parliamentaria Religiâ should pass so long without controle unlesse perhaps it was in reference to our Formes of Worship of which I am to speak in the next place But first we must make answer unto some Objections which are made against us both from Law and Practice For Practice first it is alleadged by some out of Bishop Iewel in his Answer to the cavil of Dr Harding to be no strange matter to see Ecclesiastical Causes debated in Parliament and that it is apparent by the Lawes of King Inas King Alfred King Edward c. That our godly fore-fathers the Princes and Peers of this Realm never vouchsafed to treat of matters touching the common State before all controversies of Religion and Causes Ecclesiastical had been concluded Def. of the Apol. part 6 chap. 2. sect. 1. But the answer unto this is eaââe For first if our Religion may be called Parliamentarian because it hath received confirmation and debate in Parliament then the Religion of our Fore-fathers even Papistry it self concerning which so many Acts of Parliament were made in K. Hen. 8. and Q. Maries time must be called Parliamentarian also And secondly it is most certain that in the Parliaments or Common-Councels call them which you will both of King Inas time and the rest of the Saxon Kings which B. Iewel speaks of not onely Bishops Abbots and the higher part of the Clergy but the whole Body of the Clergy generally had their votes and suffrages either in person or by proxie Concerning which take this for the leading Case That in the Parliament or Common-councel in K. Ethelberts time who first of all the Saxon Kings received the Gospel the Clergy were convened in as full a manner as the Lay-Subjects of that Prince Convoâati communi Concilio tam Cleri quam Populi saith Sr H. Spelman in his Collection of the Councels Ann. 605. p. 118. And for the Parliament of King Ina which leades the way in Bishop Iewel it was saith the same Sr H. Spelman p. 630. Communi Concilium Episcoporum Procerum Comitum nec non omnium Sapientum Seniorum populorumque totius Regni Where doubtless Sapientes and Seniores and you know what Seniores signifieth in the Ecclesiastical notion must be some body else then those which after are expressed by the name of Populi which shews the falshood and absurdity of the collection made by Mr Pryn in the Epistle to his book against Dr Cousins viz. That the Parliament as it is now constituted hath an ancient genuine just and lawful Prerogative to establish true Religion in our Church and to abolish and suppress all false new and counterfeit Doctrines
to do either in making Canons or prescribing Orders for the regulating of Spiritual and Ecclesiastical matters and unto whom the same doth of right belong according to the Laws of the Realm of England And first King Henry being restored to his Headship or Supremacy call it which you will did not conceive himself so absolute in it though at the first much enamoured of it as not sometimes to take his Convocation with him but at all âimes to be advised by his Prelates when he had any thing to do that concerned the Church for which there had been no provision made by the aâcient Canons grounding most times his Edicts and ânjunctiâns Royal upon their advise and reââlution For on this grounâ I mean the judgement and conclusions of his Convocation did he set out the ãâã of the yeaâ 1536. for the aboââshing of superstitious Holy days the exâerminating oâ the Popes authority the publishing of the book oâ Articles which before we spake of âum 8. by all Parsons Vicaâs and Curates for preaching down the use of Imâges Reliques Pilgrimagâs and supeâstitious Miracles for reheaâsing oâenly in the Church in the English âongue the Creed the Pater noster and the ten Commandements for the due and râverend ministâiâg of the Sacraments and Sacramentals for providing English Bibleâ to be set in every Church for the use of the people for the regular and sober life of Clergy men and the relief of the poor And on the other side the King proceeded sometimes onely by the advise of his Prelates as in the Injunctions of the year 1538. for quarteâly Sermons in eâch Parish for admitting nonâ to preach but men sufficienâly Licenced for keeping a Register book of Christnings Weddings and Burials for the due paying of Tâthes as had been accâstomed for the abolishing of the commemoration of Sâ Thomas Becket For singing a Parce nobis Domine in stead of Ora prânobis and the like to these And of this sort were the Injunctions which came oât in some years succeeding for the taking away of Images and Reliques with all the Ornaments of the same and all the Monumânâs and writings of feigned Miracles and for restraint of ofââring or setting up Lights in any Churches but onely to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in which he was directed chiefly by Archbâshop Craââer aâ also those for eating of white meats in the ãâã of Lent the abolishing the Fast on St Marks day and the ridiculous but supeâstitious sports accustomably used on the days of St. Clâment St. Catherine and St. Niâholas All which and more was dâne in the said Kings Reign without help of Parliament For which I shall reâer you to the Acts and Mon. fol. 1385 1425 1441. The like may also be afâirmed of the Injuâctions published in the name of K. E. 6. An. 1547. and printed also then for the use of the Subjects And of the several Letters missive which went forth in his Name prohibiting the bearing of Candles one Candlemas day of Ashes in Lent and of Palms on Palm-sunday for the taking down of all the Images throughout the Kingdom for administring the Communion in both kinds dated March 13. 1548. for abrogating of pâivate Masâes Iune 24 1549. for briâging in all Missâls Graduals Processionals Legends and Ordinals about the latter end oâDecember of the same year âor taking down of Altars and setting up Tables in stead theâeof An. 1550. and the like to these All which partâcuâars you have in ãâã book of Actâ and Mon. in King Edwards life which whether they were done of the Kings meer motion or by advice of his Councâl or by coâsultation with his Bishops âor there is little left upon Râcord of the Convocaâions of that time more then the Articles of the year 1552 ceâtain I am that there was nothing done nor yet pâeâended to be done in all these particulars by the authority oâParliament Thus also in Qu. Elizabeâhs time before the new Bâshops were well setled and the Qâeen asâured of the afâections of her Clergâ she went that way to work in the Reformation which not onely her two Predecesâors ãâã all the Godly Kings and Princes in the Jewish State and many oâ thâChristian Emperours in the Primitive times had done before her in the well ordering oâ the Church and peopâe committed to their care and government by Almighty God and to that end she published her Injunctions An. 1559. A book of Ordeâs An. 1561. Another of Advertisements An. 1562. All tending unto Reformation unto the building up of the new Ierusalem with the advise and counsel of the Metropolitan and some other godly Prelaâes who were then abâut her by whom they were agreed on and subscribed unto before they were presented to her without the least concurrence of her Court of Parliâment But when the times were better seâled and the first diââiculâies of her Reign passed over she left Church work to the disposing of Church-men who by their place and calling were most proper for iâ and they being met in Cââvocation and thereto authorised as the laws required did make and publish several books of Canons as viz. 1571. An. 1584. An. 1597. Which being confirmed by the Queen undâr the broad seal of England were in force of Laws to all intents and purposes which they were first made but being confirmed without those formal words Her Heirs and Successors are not binding now but expired together with the Queen No Act of Paâliameât required to confirm them then nor never required ever since on the like occasion A fuller evidence whereof wâ cannot have then in the Canons of the year 1603. being the first year of King Iames made by the Clergie onely in the Cânvoââtion and confirmed onely by the King for though the old Canons were in force which had been made before the submisâion of the Clergie as before I shewed you which served in all these wavering and unâetled tâmes for the perpetuâl standing rule of the Churches govenment yet many new emergent câseâ did require new âules and whilest thâre is a possibility of Mali mores there will be a necessity of bona Leges Now in the confirmation of these Canons we shall find it thus That the Clârgy being met in their Convocatioâ according to the Tenour and effect of his Majesties Writ his Mâjâsty was pleased by virtue of his Prerogativâ Royal and Supream authoriây in causes Ecclesiastical to give and grant unâo them by his Letters Patents dated Apr. 12. and Iun. 25. full free and lawfuâl liberty licence power and authority to convene treat debate consider consult and agree upon such Canons Orâders Ordinances and Constitutions as they should think necesâary fit and convenient for the honor and service of Almighty God the good and quiet of the Church and the better government thereof from time to time c. to be kept by all persoâs within this Realm as far as lawfully being members oâ the Church it may concern