No man coulde euer haue thought this reasonable that had intended thereby onely to punish the iniury committed according to the grauitie of the fact For who knoweth not that harme aduisedly done is naturally lesse pardonable and therefore worthy of the sharper punishment But for as much as none did so vsually this way offende as men in that case which they wittingly fell into euen because they would bee so much the more freely outragious it was for their publique good where such disorder was growne to frame a positiue lawe for remedie thereof accordingly To this appertaine those knowne lawes of making lawes as that lawemakers must haue an eye to the place where and to the men amongst whome that one kinde of lawes cannot serue for all kindes of regiment that where the multitude beareth sway lawes that shall tend vnto the preseruation of that state must make common smaller offices to go by lot for feare of strife and deuision likely to arise by reason that ordinary qualities sufficing for discharge of such offices they could not but by many bee desired and so with daunger contended for and not missed without grudge and discontentment whereas at an vncertaine lot none can find themselues grieued on whomsoeuer it lighteth contrariwise the greatest whereof but few are capable to passe by popular election that neither the people may enuie such as haue those honours in as much as themselues bestow them and that the chiefest may bee kindled with desire to exercise all partes of rare and beneficiall vertue knowing they shal not loose their labour by growing in same and estimation amongst the people if the helme of chiefe gouernment bee in the handes of a few of the wealthiest that then lawes prouiding for continuance thereof must make the punishment of contumelie and wrong offered vnto any of the common sorte sharpe and grieuous that so the euill may be preuented whereby the rich are most likely to bring themselues into hatred with the people who are not wonte to take so great offence when they are excluded from honors and offices as wheÌ„ their persons are contumeliously troden vpon In other kindes of regiment the like is obserued concerning the difference of positiue lawes which to be euerie where the same is impossible and against their nature Now as the learned in the lawes of this land obserue that our statutes sometimes are onely the affirmation or ratification of that which by common law was held before so heere it is not to be omitted that generally all lawes humaine which are made for the ordering of politike societies bee either such as establish some dutie whereunto all men by the law of reason did before stand bound or else such as make that a dutie now which before was none The one sort wee may for distinctions sake call mixedly and the other meerely humane That which plaine or necessary reason bindeth men vnto may be in sundrie considerations expedient to be ratified by humane law For example if confusion of blood in marriage the libertie of hauing many wiues at once or any other the like corrupt and vnreasonable custome doth happen to haue preuailed far and to haue gotten the vpper hand of right reason with the greatest part so that no way is left to rectifie such soule disorder without prescribing by law the same thinges which reason necessarilie doth enforce but is not perceiued that so it doth or if many be grown vnto that which thapostle did lament in some concerning whom he writeth saying that Euen what things they naturally know in those very things as beasts void of reason they corrupted themselues or if there be no such speciall accident yet for as much as the common sort are led by the sway of their sensuall desires and therefore doe more shun sinne for the sensible euils which follow it amongst men then for any kinde of sentence which reason doth pronounce against it this very thing is cause sufficient why duties belonging vnto each kinde of vertue albeit the law of reason teach them should notwithstanding be prescribed euen by humane law Which law in this case we terme mixt because the matâ—er whereunto it bindeth is the same which reason necessarily doth require at our handes and from the law of reason it differeth in the maner of binding onely For whereas men before stoode bound in conscience to doe as the law of reason teacheth they are now by vertue of humane law become constrainable and if they outwardly transgresse punishable As for lawes which are meerely humane the matter of them is any thing which reason doth but probably â—each to bee fit and conuenient so that till such time as law hath passed amongst men about it of it selfe it bindeth no man One example whereof may be this Landes are by humane law in some places after the owners decease diuided vnto all his children in some all descendeth to the eldest sonne If the lawe of reason did necessarily require but the one of these two to be done they which by lawe haue receiued the other should be subiect to that heauy sentence which denounceth against all that decree wicked vniust vnreasonable things woe Whereas now which soeuer be receiued there is no law of reason transgrest because there is probable reason why eyther of them may be expedient and for eyther of them more then probable reason there is not to bee found Lawes whether mixtly or meerely humane are made by politique societies some onely as those societies are ciuilly vnited some as they are spiritually ioyned and make such a body as wee call the Church Of lawes humane in this later kinde wee are to speake in the third booke following Let it therefore suffice thus far to haue touched the force wherewith almightie God hath gratiously endued our nature and thereby inabled the same to finde out both those lawes which all men generally are for euer bound to obserue and also such as are most fit for their behoofe who leade their liues in any ordered state of gouernment Now besides that lawe which simply concerneth men as men and that which belongeth vnto them as they are men linked with others in some forme of politique societie there is a third kinde of lawe which toucheth all such seuerall bodies politique so farre forth as one of them hath publique commerce with another And this third is the Lawe of nations Betweene men and beastes there is no possibilitie of sociable communion because the wâ—lspring of that communion is a naturall delight which man hath to transfuse from himselfe into others and to receiue from others into himselfe especially those things wherein the excellencie of his kinde doth most consist The chiefest instrument of humane communion therefore is speech because thereby we impart mutually one to another the conceiptes of our reasonable vnderstanding And for that cause seeing beasts are not hereof capable for as much as with them wee can vse no such conference they being in
of our fathers to be followed we therefore may not allow such customes as the Church of Rome hath because we cānot account of thē which are in that Church as of our fathers 6 To their allegation that the course of Gods owne wisedome doth make against our conformitie with the Church of Rome in such things 7 To the example of the eldest Church which they bring for the same purpose 8 That it is not our best politie as they pretend it is for establishment of sound Religion to haue in these thinges no agreement with the Church of Rome being vnsound 9 That neither the papists vpbraiding vs as furnished out of their store nor any hope which in that respect they are said to conceiue doth make any more against our ceremonies then the former allegations haue done 10 The griefe which they say godly brethren conceiue at such ceremonies as we haue common with the Church of Rome 11 The third thing for which they reproue a great part of our ceremonies is for that as we haue them from the Church of Rome so that Church had them from the Iewes 12 The fourth for that sundry of them haue bene they say abused vnto idolatrie and are by that meane become scandalous 13 The fift for that we retaine them still notwithstanding the example of certaine Churches reformed before vs which haue cast them out 14 A declaration of the proceedings of the Church of England for the establishment of things as they are 1 SVch was the ancient simplicitie and softnes of spirit which sometimes preuailed in the world that they whose wordes were euen as oracles amongst men seemed euermore loth to giue sentence against any thing publiquely receiued in the Church of God except it were wonderfull apparently euill for that they did not so much incline to that seueritie which delighteth to reproue the least things it seeth amisse as to that charity which is vnwilling to behold any thing that dutie bindeth it to reproue The state of this present age wherein zeale hath drowned charitie skill meeknes wil not now suffer any mā to maruel whatsoeuer he shal hear reproued by whōsoeuer Those rites ceremonies of the church therefore which are the selfesame now that they were whē holy vertuous men maintained thē against prophane and deriding aduersaries her owne children haue at this day in derision Whether iustly or no it shall then appeare when all thinges are heard which they haue to alleage against the outward receiued orders of this church Which in as much as thēselues do compare vnto mint and comin graunting thē to be no part of those things which in the matter of politie are waightier we hope that for small things their strife will neither bee earnest nor long The sifting of that which is obiected against the orders of the church in particular doth not belong vnto this place Here we are to discusse onely those generall exceptions which haue bene taken at any time against them First therfore to the end that their nature and vse whereunto they serue may plainely appeare and so afterwardes their qualitie the better be discerned we are to note that in euery grand or main publique dutie which God requireth at the hāds of his Church there is besides that matter and forme wherein the essence therof consisteth a certaine outward fashion whereby the same is in decent sort administred The substance of all Religious actions is deliuered from God himself in few words For example sake in the sacraments Vnto the element let the word be added and they both doe make a sacrament saith S. Augustine Baptisme is giuen by the element of water and that prescript forme of words which the church of Christ doth vse the sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ is administred in the elements of bread and wine if those mysticall words be added thereunto But the due and decent forme of administring those holy sacramēts doth require a great deale more The end which is aimed at in setting downe the outward forme of all religious actiōs is the edification of the Church Now men are edified when either their vnderstanding is taught somewhat whereof in such actions it behoueth all men to consider or whē their harts are moued with any affectiō suteable therunto whē their minds are in any sort stirred vp vnto that reuerence deuotion attention due regard which in those cases seemeth requisit Because therfore vnto this purpose not only speech but sundry sēsible means besides haue alwaies bin thought necessary especially those means which being obiect to the eye the liueliest the most apprehensiue sense of all other haue in that respect seemed the fittest to make a deepe and strong impression from hence haue risen not onely a number of praiers readings questionings exhortings but euen of visible signes also which being vsed in performance of holy actions are vndoubtedly most effectual to open such matter as men when they know remēber carefully must needs be a great deale the better informed to what effect such duties serue We must not thinke but that there is some ground of reason euen in nature whereby it commeth to passe that no nation vnder heauen either doth or euer did suffer publique actiōs which are of waight whether they be ciuil and temporall or else spirituall and sacred to passe without some visible solemnitie the very strangenes whereof and difference from that which is common doth cause popular eyes to obserue and to marke the same Wordes both because they are common and doe not so strongly moue the phancie of man are for the most parte but sleightly heard and therfore with singular wisdome it hath bene prouided that the deeds of men which are made in the presence of witnesses should passe not onely with words but also with certaine sensible actions the memory wherof is farre more easie and durable then the memorie of speech can be The things which so long experience of all ages hath confirmed and made profitable let not vs presume to condemne as follies and toyes because wee sometimes know not the cause and reason of them A wit disposed to scorne whatsoeuer it doth not conceiue might aske wherefore Abraham should say to his seruant Put thy hand vnder my thigh and sweare was it not sufficient for his seruant to shew the Religion of an othe by naming the Lord God of heauen and earth vnlesse that straunge ceremonie were added In contracts bargaines and conueiances a mans worde is a token sufficient to expresse his wil. Yet this was the auncient maner in Israell concerning redeeming and exchanging to establish all things A man did pluck off his shooe and gaue it his neighbour and this was a sure witnesse in Israel Amongst the Romans in their making of a bondman free was it not wondred wherefore so great a doe should bee made The maister to present his slaue in some court to take him by the hand and not
which they did condemne The Apostles notwithstanding from whom Stephen had receiued it did not so teach the abrogation no not of those things which were necessarily to cease but that euen the Iewes being Christian might for a time continue in them And therefore in Ierusalem the first Christian Bishop not Circumcised was Marke and he not Bishop till the daies of Adrian the Emperour after the ouerthrow of Ierusalem there hauing bene fifteene Bishops before him which were all of the Circumcision The Christian Iewes did thinke at the first not onely themselues but the Christian Gentiles also bound and that necessarily to obserue the whole lawe There went forth certaine of the sect of Pharises which did beleeue and they comming vnto Antioch taught that it was necessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised and to keepe the lawe of Moses Whereupon there grew dissention Paul and Barnabas disputing against them The determination of the Councell held at Ierusalem concerning this matter was finally this Touching the Gentils which beleeue we haue written determined that they obserue no such thing Their protestation by letters is For as much as we haue heard that certain which departed froÌ„ vs haue troubled you with words and combred your minds saying Ye must be circumcised and keepe the lawe knowe that we gaue them no such commandement Paule therefore continued still teaching the Gentiles not onely that they were not bound to obserue the lawes of Moses but that the obseruation of those lawes which were necessarily to be abrogated was in them altogether vnlawfull In which point his doctrine was misreported as though he had euery where preached this not only concerning the Gentiles but also touching the Iewes Wherfore comming vnto Iames and the rest of the Cleargie at Ierusalem they tolde him plainely of it saying Thou seest brother how many thousand Iewes there are which beleeue they are all zealous of the law Now they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Iewes which are amongst the Gentiles to forsake Moses and sayest that they ought not to circumcise their children neither to liue after the customes And hereupon they gaue him counsell to make it apparent in the eyes of all men that those flying reports were vntrue and that himselfe being a Iew kept the lawe euen as they did In some thinges therefore wee see the Apostles did teach that there ought not to be conformitie betweene the Christian Iewes and Gentiles How many things this lawe of inconformitie did comprehend there is no need we should stand to examine This generall is true that the Gentiles were not made conformable vnto the Iewes in that which was necessarily to cease at the comming of Christ. Touching things positiue which might either cease or continue as occasion should require the Apostles tendering the zeale of the Iewes thought it necessary to binde euen the Gentiles for a time to abstaine as the Iewes did froÌ„ things offered vnto idols from bloud froÌ„ strangled These decrees were euery where deliuered vnto the Gentiles to bee straightly obserued and kept In the other matters where the Gentiles were free and the Iewes in their owne opinion still tied the Apostles doctrine vnto the Iewe was Condemne not the Gentile vnto the Gentile Despise not the Iewe the one sorte they warned to take heed that scrupulositie did not make them rigorous in giuing vnaduised sentence against their brethren which were free the other that they did not become scandalous by abusing their libertie freedome to the offence of their weake brethren which were scrupulous From hence therefore two conclusioÌ„s there are which may euidently be drawne the first that whatsouer conformitie of positiue lawes the Apostles did bring in betweene the Churches of Iewes and Gentiles it was in those things only which might either cease or continue a shorter or a longer time as occasion did most require the second that they did not impose vpon the Churches of the Gentiles any part of the Iewes ordinances with bond of necessary and perpetuall obseruatioÌ„ as we al both by doctrine and practise acknowledge but only in respect of the conueniencie and fitnes for the present state of the Church as theÌ„ it stood The words of the Councels decree coÌ„cerning the Gentiles are It seemed good to the holy Ghost to vs to lay vpoÌ„ you no more burden sauing only those things of necessitie abstinence froÌ„ Idoll-offrings froÌ„ strangled bloud and froÌ„ fornication So that in other things positiue which the coÌ„ming of Christ did not necessarily extinguish the Gentils were left altogether free Neither ought it to seeme vnreasonable that the Gentils should necessarily be bound tied to Iewish ordinances so far forth as that decree importeth For to the Iew who knew that their differeÌ„ce froÌ„ other nations which were aliens strangers froÌ„ God did especially consist in this that Gods people had positiue ordinaÌ„ces giuen to theÌ„ of God himself it seemed maruelous hard that the ChristiaÌ„ Gentils should be incorporated into the same common welth with Gods owne chosen people be subiect to no part of his statutes more then only the lawe of nature which heatheÌ„s count theÌ„selues bouÌ„d vnto It was an opinioÌ„ constaÌ„tly receiued amongst the Iews that God did deliuer vnto the sonnes of Noah seueÌ„ precepts namely to liue in some form of regimeÌ„t vnder 1 publique lawes 2 to serue call vpoÌ„ the name of God 3 to shun Idolatry 4 not to suffer effusioÌ„ of bloud 5 to abhor all vncleane knowledge in the flesh 6 to commit no â—apine 7 finally not to eate of any liuing creature whereof the bloud was not first let out if therefore the Gentiles would be exempt from the lawe of Moses yet it might seeme hard they should also cast off euen those things positiue which were obserued before Moses and which were not of the same kinde with lawes that were necessarily to cease And peraduenture hereupon the Councell sawe it expedient to determine that the Gentiles should according vnto the third the seuenth and the fift of those precepts abstaine from things sacrificed vnto idoles from strangled and bloud and from fornication The rest the Gentiles did of their owne accord obserue nature leading them thereunto And did not nature also teach them to abstaine from fornication No doubt it did Neither can we with reason thinke that as the former two are positiue so likewise this being meant as the Apostle doth otherwise vsually vnderstand it But very marriage within a number of degrees being not onely by the lawe of Moses but also by the lawe of the sonnes of Noah for so they tooke it an vnlawfull discouerie of nakednes this discouerie of nakednesse by vnlawfull marriages such as Moses in the lawe reckoneth vp I thinke it for mine owne part more probable to haue bene meant in the wordes of that Canon then fornication according vnto the sense of the lawe of