to permit unto them and what that is who can tell but your selfe how then may it be safe to sweare to the Government of the Church by Archdeacons when wee cannot know what their Government is since the rules of that Office are very uncertaine and the prescription by practice more uncertaine to us especially who have had no such Jurisdiction in use among us and it may be if wee had wee should find more cause to except against it then to sweare for it which wee desire may not bee interpreted to the prejudice of any worthy person of that denomination and wee doubt not but there are many such and some well knowne to many of us for men of very eminent endowments both intellectuall and morall whom we acknowledge for such and so desire to enjoy them as our deare brethren and friends Of the c. Our Doubts hitherto have beene of the Governours expressed our next Inquiries are to bee made of the c. and of such Governours as are concealed under it and thereof our Doubts are divers and so counting on our 11. Particular DOUBT is Whether we may safely take a new Oath with an c. 11. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause in a new Oath we cannot be certaine without some expresse direction which in this case we find not how farre the sense of the c. reacheth and so we cannot sweare unto it in judgement as the Prophet Jeremy directeth Jerem. 4.2 but at the most in opinion There is no man would willingly seale a Bond with a blanke for the summe so that the Obligee might make the debt as large as hee listed and we conceive we should be more cautelous in ingaging our soules by an Oath then our estates by a Bond since in this the tye is more vigorous the breach more dangerous then it is in that and wee verily thinke that if wee should returne our deposition with some termes of the Oath as I A. B. doe sweare that I doe approve the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England and presently breake off with an c. though what followeth be well enough knowne it would not be allowed for a lawfull Oath which yet seemeth to us more warrantable then that which by this Canon is tendred unto us DOUBT 12. How farre the c. is to bee extended 12. Particular Doubt when it is expresly declared THE REASON BEcause of the variety of opinions which have beene conceived of the Contents of it * M. S. T. some who suppose they understand the Oath so well as to be able to expound it to others have said that the Governours of the Church are expressed before the c. and that under the c. are implicitely comprised the Rules or Constitutions of Government especially the Booke of Canons of the yeare 1603. but most conceive this to be an impertinent interpretation because the c. importeth somewhat of the same sort that went before and thus to expound it is to make a groundlesse transition à personis ad res but if we agree as most doe that persons are meant under the c. and those persons Governours which is most probable our Doubt is what Governours they be DOUBT 13. What Governours are included in the c. whether the King 13. Particular Doubt as Supreme be altogether omitted or implicitely contained in it THE REASON BEcause wee doe not know why hee should bee wholly omitted since hee is supreme Governour over all persons or causes both Ecclesiasticall and Temporall and so to bee acknowledged by all Preachers in their prayers before their Sermons by the 55. Canon nor can wee conceive any just cause why he should be but covertly implyed in an c. when inferiour degrees are formally expressed Object If it bee said that there is a peculiar Oath for his Supremacy to bee taken at the Ordination of Ministers and at other times by other persons upon severall occasions Answ We conceive that should bee no let to the asserting of his Soveraigne Right in this Oath because that Oath of Supremacy is expresly made as the title of it sheweth to shut out the usurpation of q The Bishop shall cause the Oath of the Kings Supremacy and against the power and authority of all forraine Potentates to bee administred to every one of them that are to be ordained So in the Ordinat of Deacons forrain powers and Potentates and so giveth no such security against those popular diminutions of his Ecclesiasticall Authority the jealousie whereof occasioned the reverend Prelates of the Church in the late Synod to propose this Oath as a Bond of assurance of their Episcopall preheminence They have shewed themselves zealous we confess in pressing his Royall Right both ecclesiasticall and civill against all r Can. 1. p. 13. popular as well as Papall impeachments and have annexed a penalty against such as shall by word or writing publickly maintaine or abett any position or conclusion in opposition to their explication of the Kings Authority But yet there is no Oath required to oblige any subject to a perpetuall approbation of his Regall power as supreme Governour of the Church as there is for Archbishops and Bishops nor is the penalty for publicke opposition thereof so dangerous as for a private forbearance of the Oath though with a timerous and tender conscience For for not taking of the Oath a Minister may for ever bee deprived of all hee hath within three moneths but for publicke opposition against the Kings power hee shall not suffer so much unlesse hee continue contumacious two yeares together as they that reade and marke the Canon shall observe It may be his Majesties Supremacie was left out by accidentall oblivion or if by resolved intention it was perhaps upon supposall that the caution of the first Canon made it superfluous and it may be there may be some secret mysterie in this omission which if wee may not presume to know some haply will imagine it is to give some better colour to the Bishops proceedings in sending out the Processes of their Ecclesiasticall Courts in their own names which hath been often reproved by their opposites as very prejudiciall to the Royall Prerogative though of late yeares for that particular there hath been an award procured and published on the Bishops behalfe according to the request of the ſ I do humbly in the Churches name desire of your Majesty that it may be resolved by all the reverend Judges of England and then published by your Majestie that our keeping Courts and issuing Processe in our owne Names and the like exceptions formerly taken and now renewed are not against the Lawes of the Realme as 't is most certaine they are not that so the Church Governours may goe on cheerfully in their duty and the peoples minds be quieted by this assurance that neither the law nor their liberty as subjects is thereby infringed L. Archb. his Epist Dedicat. to
Archbish Whitg out of Master Foxe noteth that about the year 180. the three Archistamines of the Pagan Britain were changed into three Archbishoprickes the one of London the other of Yorke the third of Glamorgan none of Cant. Archb. Whitg reply to Master Cartwr pag. 323. It is like the most of England was under London the rest and Scotland under Yorke as Bishop Godwin writeth and under Glamorgan Wales Godw. Catal of Bish p. 181 182. London and Glamorgan or n See Godw. his Catal. of Bishops pag. 503 504. Saint Davids and for London it continued so from the yeare 300. or thereabout though Stowe say it was the same Archbishopricke with Canterburie onely locally changed untill Gregory his time who was Pope about the yeare 600. and the King may limit their Jurisdiction as he shall conceive to be most convenient Fourthly over the Archbishops of his dominions for the calling and governing of a o Nationale Concilium Patriarcha regni convocare debet Provinciale Archiepiscopus c. Praelud in Caranz sum concil cap. 3. p. 4. edit 1633. Nationall Councell hee may place a Patriarch and King James shewed himselfe well enough inclined to such a superiority when he said p King James his premonit to free Princes and States pag 366. Patriarchs I know were in the time of the Primitive Church and among them there was a contention for the first place and for my selfe if that were yet the Question and Papall Innovation in Religion put downe for that is his meaning though he doe not plainly expresse it I would with all mine heart give my consent that the Bishop of Rome should have the first seat I being a Westerne King would goe with the Patriarch of the West as the Churches of great Britaine of q By humane Institution wee suffered our selves to be ranged under the Church of Romes Patriarchall Authority as being the most famous Church of the West a matter of courtesie no necessity no spirituall obligation Bish Hall against Brownists sect 23. pag. 590. courtesie not of duty in former times were wont to doe And for each particular Prelate whether Archbishop or Bishop he is to bee regulated for his Courts and other Jurisdiction by Royall Authority and how farre they stand established in the Kings favour purpose or promise we cannot tell nor dare we sweare much lesse dare wee bee so peremptory concerning the power of Deanes or Archdeacons for to Deanes which have not Episcopall Jurisdiction hee may grant as much priviledge as the Deanes of Westminster or Windsor doe enjoy and by the same Authority that some may have more may others have lesse And for Archdeacons the doubt is more since their establishment consists in prescription as before hath been observed and that prescription in some respects may be a prevarication fitter to be abolished then established as appeareth by that of Spalatensis saying r Cum Archidiaconi jam passim supra Presbyteros collocentur id tandem nimiâ corum pertinaciâ Praelatorum conniventiâ eos evicisse meritò possumus affirmare Spalat de Repub. Eccles lib. 7. c. 4. pag. 273. 58. That the Archdeacons placing above the Archpresbyters is to be imputed to their pertinacy and to the Bishops connivence But in this Diocesse for many yeares past Jurisdiction hath not been so much as an unnecessary appendance to Archdeacons since all that while it hath been no appendance at all for untill very lately they had no Jurisdiction at all wee cannot then say much lesse sweare their Government is established since it was but newly erected and made up out of Rurall Deanries which is a fabricke like a Tent or Tabernacle newly set up and may bee quickly taken downe againe 3. Partic. As by right it ought to stand The 16. DOUBT What this Right is 16. Particular Doubt by which the Government is meant to stand THE REASON BEcause there bee some that thinke these words a limitation or restriction of the former as if the meaning were that we ought to approve of the establishment of this Government so farre as of right it ought to stand and no further but concerning that they that framed the Oath could make no doubt of any ones dissent and therefore in that sense would call for none assurance upon Oath It is more consonant to reason to conceive that they meant to have an acknowledgement not onely that the Government de facto is indeed established but that de jure also of right it ought to bee so but then Quo jure will be the Question whether the same or a diverse right If the same whether shall Bishops come downe to Deanes and Archdeacons and claime no better warrant for their dignity then they or shall Deanes and Archdeacons advance the Tenure of their Authority as high as Bishops doe to claime their preheminence and power by divine right that as in the case of the Boemians concerning the use of the Communion cup at the Councel of ſ Basiliense concilium concessit Boe miae utriusque speciei usum modo faterentur id sibi conce di ab Ecclesia non autem ad hoc teneri divino jure Bellarm. l. 1. de Sacram. in genere c. 2. sect 2. Basil but more justly then so may bee denied to them all when under some other title preheminence may be allowed unto them Some conceive the word Right was left at large in favour to Deponents that there might be a latitude for such as are of a scrupulous conscience to conceive such right as they could best approve of and especially that right which agreeth to them all to wit a Positive and Ecclesiasticall right by humane constitution or prescription But those that have better meanes to know the minds of the Composers of the Canons will have the Right diversified according to that to which it is applyed as that Bishops stand by divine Right the rest by Right Ecclesiasticall To this purpose we may bring in the saying of our Saviour Lo Lam with you to the end of the world Mat. 28.20 which is not to be understood in person but by assistance for neither he nor they his Apostles to whom hee spake were to bee in the world untill the worlds end and this assistance is divers infallible as to the Apostles but sufficient only to their successors so the Right may be conceived to be divine in respect of Bishops but humane to all the rest But of this tenet of divine Right though it be held by very t The Archb. that now is in his Speech in the Starre-chamber p. 6. Bishop Hall in his late booke intitled Episcopacy by Divine right great Prelates of our Church and by u Bish Andrewes in his Answer to the 18. Chapter of Perrons Reply p. 15. some said to be the Doctrine of our Church such a Doctrine and so fully delivered by the Apostles That there is not the tenth part of the Plea for the Lords day from their
of Cant. many hundred of yeares together Fourthly many of those who in regard of the manifold doubts involved in the Oath are affraid to take it have given better evidence of their sincerity concerning the state both ecclesiasticall civill then can be expected of most that take the oath without any doubt or examination at all if yet there be doubt of them they may be put to the tryall of the first Canon concerning the Kings Authority and the eight made for preaching for conformity both decreed by this last Synod which may bee sufficient for full satisfaction without an Oath and yet they that dare not bee peremptory in every particular in those Canons determined may for all that bee as farre from all disposition to trouble either Church or State with any Innovation as they who would set the seale of an Oath to every line of them Fifthly though we doubt not but divers who have taken the Oath bee very learned grave and godly persons and have done it as they conceive with due consideration and good conscience yet it cannot bee denied but many may be too forward to sweare without any care or use of either either out of hope to bee held very heartily affected to those who have meanes to promote them the hope whereof as Aeneas Silvius observed made more to adhere to the Pope who gave preferments then to the Councell who had none to give or out of feare of their dis-favour who have power to lay heavie pressures upon them And in respect of such the Oath is of no use or force since the same affections not regulated by Reason and Religion will incline with the alteration of times to quite contrary effects Lastly so many of all sorts both of the Clergie and Laitie yea many of those who hold Episcopall imparity the best government of the Church and are no way addicted to the Presbyterian Discipline dislike this Oath so much that howsoever this Canon may discover some difference betwixt those whose lot the wise man sheweth may be alike viz. betwixt him that sweareth and him that feareth an oath Eccles 9.2 yet not that difference which may bee cause either of assurance of them that take it to the doctrine or government of the Church or of just jealousie or suspicion of them that refuse it 2. Generall Doubt Whether this Oath may be taken in faith 2. Generall Doubt without which the taking is sinne Rom. 14.23 THE REASON BEcause it comprehendeth so many things of severall kinds and divers of them unknowne unto most of us that though wee be ready to beleeve and receive some of them fingle our faith cannot fadome them altogether and so wee cannot sweare without doubting and if doubtfull swearing bee as dangerous as doubtfull eating as wee conceive it is and so may feare wee may be damned for it by the doome of the Apostle in the fore-cited place wee can neither with confidence nor safety take this Oath untill we be better resolved of the true meaning thereof and so as it seemeth to us a superfluous Oath it may prove to the takers a perillous Oath 3. Generall Doubt Whether the sixth Canon 3. Generall Doubt as it is charged with this Oath and penalty bee not like to crosse the chiefe end whereat his Majesty aimed in granting his Commission for a Convocation or Synod THE REASON BEcause in his Royall Declaration which hee was pleased to prefixe before the late Canons hee faith hee giveth leave for Ecclesiasticks to assemble and being assembled p The Kings Declaration prefixed before the Canons pag. 8. to conferre treat debate consider consult and agree of and upon Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they should thinke necessary and convenient to this end viz. for the honour and service of Almighty God and for the good and quiet of the Church the q Ibid. pag 10. end and purpose by his Majesty limited and prescribed to the Convocation or Synod and how this Oath sorteth to this end we appeale to the publick report of most Counties in the Kingdome wherein besides the Ministery the people neither of the worst sort for condition nor for conversation nor the fewest for number expresse much discontent and trouble of mind at the proposall of it Hereby wee impute no disobedience to the reverend Prelates and Clergie assembled for wee conceive they had no thought of opposition therein to the pious purpose of his sacred Majestie nor any imprudence since as they beleeved themselves of the Oath they might probably hope of acceptance with others and if generally accepted that such effects might follow as they projected But if they doe not their discretion will direct them to vary their course as times and occasions require For if the Church in this world bee like unto a ship upon the sea in which respect it is likened to r Arcam fuisse Ecclesiae imaginem certum est teste Petro. 1 Pet. 3. Calv. in Genes 6. Noahs Arke their Acts and aimes of Government of it may be sometimes disappointed by the indisposition of the people to comply with them as the purpose of the Pilot by the distemper of the weather who when he reasonably thinkes it meet to hoise up saile may bee soon after induced to strike saile for the avoidance of inconvenience or danger of this prudent accommodation of the Acts of Authority to the times and their uncertaine inclinations and events we find manifold examples both in the Civill and Ecclesiasticall estate Thus much of the Doubts in generall Our Doubts in particular The Doubts hitherto proposed touch not upon any branch of the Oath in severall Doubts in particular or of the appurtenances to it but reach to the whole as taken together those that follow arise out of particular consideration first of the parts of the Oath secondly of the explication of it thirdly of the persons that are to take it fourthly of the penalty attending upon it 1. Of the first part of the Oath I A.B. doe sweare 1. Of the parts of the Oath that I doe approve of the Doctrine Discipline or Government of the Church of England as containing all things necessary to salvation WE are not desirous without just ground ministred unto us to multiply Doubts upon the Text of the Oath and therefore wee take it for the present that by Doctrine is meant that to which the Clergy are required to subscribe by the 36. Canon especially the 39. Articles of Religion But for Discipline or Government our Doubt may be THE DOUBT What is meant by Discipline or Government 1. Particular Doubt whether the same things or no and if the same what they be THE REASON BEcause in divers Authours wee find them many times distinguished but there they seeme to bee the same The word Å¿ The points of Discipline Government and Policie of the Church c. The Kings large Declaration p. 330. Policy is taken with them into society
the King before his Speech in the Starre-chamber Lord Archbishop of Canterbury that now is Object But howsoever if the mention of his Soveraigne Authority bee omitted there is the lesse to sweare to and so the charge of the Oath is more light and may for that the more heartily be taken Answ It is true if the omission give no occasion of timerous surmise but to some it doth and if in charity wee hope the best of it in this case there is cause yet to doubt of the c. and therefore wee further demand of the subordinate Governours implyed in it The 14. DOUBT Who and what Governours they be 14. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause in the title of the seventh Canon there is mention of Archbishops and Bishops with an c. and in the body of the Canon Deans and Archdeacons are added to them and the next words are and the rest that beare office in the same that is in the Government of the Church of England And those that beare office besides these that are named are Guardians of Spiritualties Suffragans Chancellours Vicars generall Commissaries Officials Surrogates For the first t The Kings Preface before the late Can. pag. 9. Guardians of Spiritualties u So in the stat of 25. H. 8. c. 21. are those to whom the spirituall Jurisdiction of any Bishopricke or Archbishoprick is committed during the vacancy of the See x Episcopi Suffraganei coadjureres Episcoporum quorum vice nonnunquam ordinant Ministros Diaconos dedicant Ecclesias confirmant pueros ante informatos rudimentis Christianismi Doct. Cous de polit Eccles Angl. c. 7. Vide etiam Reform leg Eccles de Eccles Minist c. 16. fol. 51. b. Suffragans are titular Bishops ordained to assist the Bishop in his function whose turne they supply now and then in Ordination of Ministers and Deacons dedication of Churches confirmation of children that have been instructed in their Catechisme Chancellours who exercise ordinary Jurisdiction in the City of the Episcopall See next to the Bishop and by Authority derived from him y Can. 104. Vicars generall in some Diocesses are the same with the Chancellours as we may see by the stile of their Processes but if the office bee considered of it selfe as some describe it it is very large for thus we find it in Azorius A z Vicarius generalis potest excommunicare suspendere interdicere Sacramenta conferre vel conferendi facultatem concedere conferre Beneficia visitare inquirere instituere eligere confirmare praesentare corrigere punire votum jus-jurandum commutare relaxare Azor Instit tom 2. lib. 3. cap. 43. col 448. Vicar generall may excommunicate suspend interdict conferre Sacraments or give faculty to others for that purpose hee may collate Benefices visit inquire institute elect confirme present correct punish change vowes and dispense with Oaths a Can. 103.119.128.135 Convocat 1603. Commissaries b See Lindw constit provinc l. 1. cap. 1. de accusat verbo mandat Archiepisc are such as exercise Jurisdiction afarre off over those who cannot well come to the Bishops Consistory in the City c Can. 119. Officialls are properly such as exercise Jurisdiction under Archdeacons and are simply called Officialls without addition and if the Commissary bee called by that name as many times he is it should not be simply but as in d Lind. Tit. de sequestr possâ—ss c. 1. verbo Officialis Lindwood with the addition of Foraneus e Can. 128. Surrogates are such as are substituted by Chancellours Commissaries and Officialls To which wee may adde Canons or Prebendaries of Cathedrall Churches who are joyned in Government with their Deanes and are with them to bee à consiliis to the Bishop Clerkes of the Convocation and it may bee Parsons also may bee reckoned among Ecclesiasticall Governours for they are called Rectors of their Churches and Vicars and other preaching Pastours may be so called governing their Flocks as they doe And it may bee Registers Proctors and Apparitours of the Consistory Courts and Church-wardens and Sworn-men in particular Parishes may bee brought into the Oath by the Explication of the seventh Canon And if no Officers bee comprehended in it but Governours no Governours but such as have a coercive or compulsive power there are yet so many severall sorts of them so much diversity among them and so great difficultie to know their Government what it is and how farre it reacheth that very few not onely of the Laitie but of the Clergie also who are not profest Civilians with all can tell what hee sweareth to when hee sweareth to them under their expresse titles much lesse when under the ambiguous Intimation of c. These are our Doubts of the degrees of Government the next particular is their present state 2. Partic. As it now stands The 15. DOUBT 15. Particular Doubt Whether the establishment of the f So the Archbish of Cant. disting in his Speech in the Starre-chamb an 1637. p. 6. Adjuncts or the g So Bish Hall calleth them in the Coroll to his prop. touching Govern p. 7. not necessary Appendences of Bishops bee to bee sworne unto in this Oath THE REASON BEcause with them they now stand Episcopacy is now honoured and assisted by Baronries and the Ecclesiasticall Government by the high Commission now there are but two Archbishoprickes above the Archbishops no Patriarchs and the h Doct. Cous de polit Angl. cap. 3. Archbishops of Canterbury especially have many priviledges and prerogatives all which stand by the support or fall by the weight of Royall Authority from which their i Stat. 37. H. 8. c. 17. Stat. 1. Edw. 6. c. 2. 25. H. 8. c. 19. 1 Elis c. 1. 5 Elis c. 1. 3. Jac. c. 4. Jurisdiction is derived For first as Bishop Godwin observeth when Rich. Clifford was made Bishop of London by the Popes provision against the Kings mind it was King Edward the fourth he k Bish Godw. in his Catol of Bish p. 200. denied to give him his Temporalties and so made him desist from pursuit of that spirituall promotion and the same power will bee we doubt not confessed by all our Bishops to bee in all our Kings successively Secondly for the high Commission it was first set up as some Lawyers have told us but in the beginning of Queen Elisabeths raigne and is not so established but that by Regall power it may bee demolished Thirdly there may bee more Archbishops then two if it please the King for by the same right or better that l Ibid. pag. 58. Offa King of Mercia erected a new Archbishopricke in Lichfield leaving to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his Province onely London Winchester Rochester and Sherbourne may his Majesty that now is erect new Archbishops in what Diocesse hee pleaseth and may restore the old and so not onely Lincolne shall bee an Archbishopricke but m
that phrase I have some reason saith he to imagine since I find in their late Bookes that they say the Church of Rome is a true Church and salvation to be had in it Because this Doubt hath Law for its ground the knowledge whereof properly belongeth to another profession we would not take upon us to deliver it in our own names but in the name of that learned Lawyer to whom we are beholding for the distinction of those termes and if they should not bee rightly applyed to the words of the Canon or to the meaning of those that made it wherein hee ingageth himselfe no further then probable conjecture and so farre reacheth the reason hee alledgeth for it yet that may be unto us a further occasion of doubt and the more we doubt the lesse warrant we have for the taking of the Oath THE OATH And all these things I doe plainly and sincerely acknowledge and sweare according to the plaine and common sense of these words without any equivocation or mentall evasion or secret reservation whatsoever The 21. DOUBT How wee can sweare to a plaine and common sense and understanding of the Oath 21. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause we doe not find the words plain but very ambiguous as is already evident by the precedent Doubts nor do we know what sense or understanding of them we can call common since the Oath is new and is in many particulars so variously expounded that yet it is not apparent to us what construction beareth away the plurality of voices The Oath then must be well expounded before it can bee taken else equivocation will hardly be avoided THE OATH And this I doe heartily willingly and truly c. The 22. DOUBT What willingnesse is required in the taking of this Oath 22. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause the words heartily and willingly in conformity to the forme of subscription set downe in the 36. Canon import a plenary consent without any grudging or reluctancy of the heart or will as when a man hath a mind to take it with a freedome to refuse it according to the saying of Seneca b Si vis scire an velim effice ut possim nolle Senec. de Benefic l. 2. c. 18. pag. 281. If you would know whether I be willing or no leave mee at liberty to be unwilling but wee conceive it cannot be so in this case at least with many of the Ministry who would by no meanes take it but for feare of the penalty annexed to the not taking of it and so their willingnesse is no more then such as this I am willing to take the Oath because I am unwilling to be deprived of my Ministry and Meanes and so to bee undone for refusall of it As a man casts his goods into the Sea in a Tempest lest himselfe and they should perish together And then whether should we not rather be absolved from such a c Juramento meticuloso fit absolutio per Judicem Ecclesiasticum Decret l. 2. c. 2. fol. 157. pag. 2. col 2. timerous Oath according to the Canon Law if wee had taken it then pressed to take it when having no heart or good will unto it we cannot say we sweare heartily and willingly in any other sense then hath been said without hypocrisie and consequently not without perjury also Thus much of the first part proposed which concerneth the Oath it selfe the second part is of the Interpretation of the Oath 2. Part. Of the Interpretation of the Oath 2. Part. The 23. DOUBT How the Doubts of the Oath may be resolved and cleared 23. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause in this case it will not satisfie to say as the Casuists on both sides wee meane Protestant and Popish resolve That the words of an Oath must be taken as this Oath conformable to the Oath of e In Mast Dalton his Country Just pag. 16. edit 3. Allegiance hath it f Eo sensu accipienda sunt verba Juramenti quo audientes accepturos judicamus quem habent in communi omnium usu quia verborum significatio pendet ex hominum usu Amesius de consc lib. 4. c. 22 pag. 153. Azor. instit vol. 1. l. 11. c. 8. col 742 according to the plain and common sense and understanding for what that is is not yet discovered And wee beleeve the Divines of Aberdene said well g The Minist and Professours of Aberdene in their generall Demands pag. 14. That the words of an Oath should be cleare and plaine and if they be any way ambiguous the true sense of them should bee so declared and manifested that all may know it As to satisfie the Doubt which many made concerning the signe of the Crosse in Baptisme Or as h Bish Morton in his book of Cerem Bishop Morton more warily writeth the Crosse after Baptisme was a particular i Can. 30. Canon set forth for declaration thereof and for removall of all such scruples as might any way trouble the consciences of them who are indeed rightly religious k In dubiis benigniora sunt praefèrenda regul Juris 55. addit libro cui tit est Reform leg Eccles printed an 1571. Some thinke it sufficient according to the dictate of charity to take the words of the Oath in the most favourable sense which is expounded by some as having reference to those who impose it of whose intention we are bound to make the fairest and most favourable construction Some take the favour to themselves and make such a sense of them as may most conduce to their owne Interests whether for advantage or for avoidance of damage or danger and so cometh in the Collusion of the Jesuits by equivocation or mentall reservation to save themselves from being discovered in their dangerous designes This is somewhat like that which some say of Manna that it was that to every mans taste wherewith it was most delighted So that shall be the meaning of the Oath which best pleaseth any that is to take it Azorius a famous Casuist of the Ignatian order determineth l In foro Judiciali semper est jurandum secundùm communem sensum quem reddunt verba ipsa communem hominum usum Azor Instit vol. 1. l. 11. c. 8. col 742. That in a Judiciall Court an Oath must be taken according to the common sense of the words m Ex communi hominum sententia juramentum in foro conscientiae semper accipiendum est juxta jurantis mentem Ibid. but in the Court of conscience all men hold saith hee that it must bee understood according to the mind of him that sweareth as if Justice and Conscience held contrary Tribunalls in the soule as Justice and Equity in the state and the same Oath might be right in the one and wrong in the other An absurdity like that which our dread Soveraign derideth in his large Declaration viz. n The Kings large Declaration
of the Tumults in Scotl. p. 176. That the same confession of faith consisting of the same words and syllables sworne without Authority if it shall be commanded by Authority becommeth a new and different confession of the faith There is a third opinion concerning the sense of an Oath to augment the doubt though so much lesse doubtfull as it bringeth with it the better Authority and the Authority for it is no lesse then Royall the sentence of a great and gracious King and which is more to us our King who resolveth o Ibid. p. 177. That an Oath must be either taken or refused according to the knowne intention of him that doth minister it p Ibid. p. 347. especially if it be a new Oath To the same sense though in different words say the q The Minist and Professors of Aberdene in their generall Demands p. 14 Aberdene Divines An Oath is to be given according to the mind and judgement of him that requireth it which words ministreth and requireth make up the meaning to bee That hee that ministreth an Oath who may bee some subordinate Officer must give it in that sense which he that requireth that is hee from whose Authority and Power it proceedeth doth intend That construction wee are taught to make by the explanation of the Oath in Scotland published by the right Honourable the L Marquesse Hamiltoun his Majesties high Commissioner there in these words r The explanation of the Oath in Scotl. in his Majesties large Declar. pag. 328. Oaths must be taken according to the mind intention and commandement of that Authority which exacteth the Oath For as wee conceive it rests not in the power of an inferiour whether hee bee the taker or minister of the Oath to put his private conceipt for the sense which is the soule of a publicke constitution and if hee doe so wee cannot but doubt of it though it seeme never so plausible unlesse it bee allowed by the Authority which chargeth the Oath upon the conscience For First as ſ Bish Hall in his booke of Christian moderation lib. 2. sect 10. p. 109. Bishop Hall well saith The Church which makes the Canon and by the Canon decrees the Oath as it is a collective body so it hath a tongue of her owne speaking by the common voice of her Synods Confessions Articles Constitutions Catechismes Liturgies a tongue not onely to speake the text of her determination but to make a Comment if need be to cleare it and if any single person shall take upon him to bee the mouth of the Church his insolency is justly censureable So he Secondly Oaths are imposed for matter of caution and security to those that impose them that they may relye upon them without doubt or distrust and how can that be when we take them in another sense then they that require them doe meane or will admit of The old rule which is a maxime saith t Is committit in legem qui legis verba complectens contra legis nititur voluntatem Regul Juris 88. He offends against the law who cleaving to the words of the law leaveth the will of the law that is of the Law-maker For the law it selfe is a dead letter and hath no will at all There are some of our Brethren who in good will to themselves and us have undertaken to expound the Oath so as that they and we without scruple may take it and we take kindly their good intention and in good will to them againe request them to consider That a private interpretation of a publicke act can give no satisfaction unlesse it be either expresly or vertually allowed by the highest Authority that doth impose it and then it is made publicke but why they should expect such an approbation of their private opinions we cannot imagine and if that would serve the turne we could find in our hearts and it may bee in our heads too to make as mollifying a glosse on the Oath as they have done and such a one as might be more satisfactory to our consciences then theirs can be But the Authority of interpretation of any doubt in such a publicke act belongeth properly not to private but to publicke persons especially if they bee Authorized by the Synod for such a purpose as in the late Synod wee see u Quòd si in posterum aliqua dubia ambiguitates c. oriantur in co casu omnium hujusmodi dubiorum ambiguitatum difficultatum c. interpretationes declarationes fient per reverendissimum in Christo patrem Archiepiscopum Eboracensem Dominos Episcopos Dunelmensem Caestriensem Carliolensem aut duos eorundem quorum idem reverendissimus pater sit unus So in the Grant of the benevolence or contribution by the Clergie pag. 25. where the Doubts concerning the benevolence of the Clergy granted to his Majesty are ordered to bee determined by the Archbishop of Yorke the Bishop of Durham the Bishop of Chester and the Bishop of Carlile or by two of them at the least whereof the Archbishop is to bee one and in other Doubts whereof there is no certaine rule of Resolution set it is probable the decision should bee given by the sentence of the same or such like Judges For private men though learned if they take upon them the Interpretation of publicke Dictats may be more like to light on mutuall contradictions of each other then on the true and proper construction of the Text they interpret So did x Hist of the Councell of Trent lib. 2. pag. 216. Vega and Soto y Ibid. p. 229. Soto and Catherinus who wrote against each other contrary Comments upon the Councell of Trent In which respect it was a wise advice given to the Pope by the z Ibid. l. 8. p. 817. Bishop of Bestice viz. To appoint a Congregation for the expounding of the Councell and well followed by him when he forbade all sorts of persons Clerkes or Laicks being private men to make any Commentaries Glosses Annotations or any Interpretation whatsoever upon the Decrees of that Councell Doctor Burges indeed made an Interpretation of his owne subscription but there had been no validity in it as we conceive unlesse it had been allowed by the superiour powers and so it was for as hee saith a Doct. Burges in his Answ to a much applauded Pamphlet Prefat p. 26. It was accepted by King James and the Archbishop of Canterbury affirmed it to bee the true sense and meaning of the Church of England And if wee should take the Oath and a Notary publicke record it unlesse our exposition of it were publickly and lawfully for favourably is not sufficient both allowed and recorded also wee may haply bee charged with the crime of perjury and unable fairly and effectually to free our selves from that charge unlesse by Authority wee were permitted to conclude our Oath with the ancient clause of limitation viz. b Haec omnibus partibus