chief Priests and lesser Priests Vestals Salii distinguishing and limiting all their respective Offices Jurisdictions habits by special Laws recorded by Dionysius Halicarnasseus Plutarch Livy and others Yea Godwin observes That it was A CUSTOME among the Graecians as likewise afterwards among the Romans THAT THEIR KINGS SHOULD PERFORM AS WELL THE CEREMONIES AND HOLY RITES OF RELIGION as Civil businesses being BOTH KINGS AND PRIESTS till Numa perceiving that foreign wars did often occasion the Kings absence whereby the service of the Gods was neglected thereupon ordained several Orders of Priests as their Vicars generals or Curates to discharge their priestly function Yet after this institution their Consuls Censors and some of their Pagan Emperors as Tiberius Veâ—â—atian Trajan were created PONTIFEX MAXIMUS their Highest Priest or POPE and managed the Supream Civil and Pontifical affairs and that by election of the Senate and the people only without the Priests as Alexander ab Alexandro and the Roman Histories record I shall close this Chapter with that of the Roman Historian PRINCIPIO RERUM GENTIUMque IMPERIUM PENES REGES ERAT populus nullis legibus tenebatur arbitria Principum pro legibus erant and that as well in all Sacred Religious as Civil and Military affairs BOOK I. CHAP. II. 2. My Second Proposition is That God after the Israelites deliverance from the Egyptian bondage when he first new modelled them into a Commonwealth and afterwards into a Kingdom setled their State and Church government and divided the Priesthood from the Supream Civil Magistracy and Kingship vesting the one in Moses Josuah David Solomon and their Royal Successors the other in Aaron his Sons and the Tribe of Levi did even then leave the Soveraign Ecclesiastical Power and Jurisdiction over all persons and causes still annexed to and residing in the Supream Civil Magistratical Office and Officers transferring only the Ministerial Priestly Offices to the Priests not the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction being not different in kind from but the very same with the Civil varyed only by the Object not Subject of it THis I shall evidence as clear as the noon-day Sunne 1. By Ten memorable particulars recorded in Sacred History concerning Moses the first Supream Temporal Governor in the Israelites Commonwealth demonstrating his Soveraign Jurisdiction in all Sacred Religious Church affairs 1. God himself by the Ministry of Moses not Aaron instituted described celebrated the feast and Sacrament of the Passeover and sanctified all the firstborn of the children of Israel unto God and was to Aaron INSTEAD OF GOD Exod. 4. 16. 2ly Moses not Aaron penned and prescribed that memorable Song of Praise which all the Israelites sang unto the Lord immediately after their deliverance out of Egypt and drowning of the Egyptians â—n the Red Sea 3dly Moses not Aaron gave them instructions concerning the gathering and for reserving of an Omer of Manna to be kept before the Lord as a Type of Christ the true Manna 4ly God himself immediately appeared unto Moses in Mount Sinai and by his Mouth and Ministry alone not Aarons delivered the first Covenant and the Moral Ceremonial and Iudicial Law unto his people Israel the only rule of their Worship Obedience Government Sacred and Civil 5ly That when Moses Aaron Nadab Abihu and seventy of the Elders were afterwards called up into Mount Sinai by God Moses alone was called to come near to God and Aaron left behind That Moses alone wrote all the words of the Lord built an Altar for the 12 Tribes of Israel read the Book of the Covenant to them sprinkled the blood of the Covenant both on the Altar Book all the people received the Tables of stone and Law written therein by God himself and the pattern of the Tabernacle Mercy-seat Altar and all the furniture and utensils thereof the garments of Aaron and the Priests the manner and ceremonies of their respective Consecrations and all the oblations sacrifices and parts of Gods worship to be therein performed both by the Priests and people from God Hence it is specially recorded both in the Old Testament and New That these precepts concerning the Sanctuary of God Let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell amongst them according to all that I shew thee after the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of the instruments thereof even so shall ye make it And look that thou make them after the pattern which was shewed thee in the Mount were given only to Moses the Chief Temporal Magistrate Not to Aaron nor the Priests or Levites who alone directed all things to be made accordingly And when all the work of the Tabernacle with the Curtains and the Priests Garments were finished by the Workmen Moses not Aaron survayed and looked upon all the work and behold they had done it as the Lord commanded even so had they done it and Moses not Aaron blessed them 6ly After all the work was thus finished Moses not Aaron was particularly commanded to rear up the Tabernacle with all its furniture and to anoint and consecrate them unto God 7ly Which is most observable Aaron and his Sonnes did not anoint Moses to be the Supream Civil Magistrate but on the contrary God by Moses not only prescribed all the spiritual Offices duties qualifications vestments wives marriages maintenance and appurtenances belonging to Aaron and his sons but also specially designed and commanded Moses to anoint and consecrate them to their Priesthood recorded in these words Exod. 40. 12 to 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying THOV shalt bring Aaron and his sonnes to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation and wash them with water and THOU shalt put upon Aaron the holy Garments and anoint him and sanctifie him that he may Minister unto me in the Priests Office And Thou shalt bring his Sonnes and cloath them with coats and Thou shalt anoint them as Thou didst their Father that they may Minister unto me in the Priests Office For their anointing shall surely be an everlasting Priesthood throughout their generations Thus did Moses according to all that the Lord commanded him so did he So Moses finished the Work without Aarons or his Sonnes assistance Never did Aaron nor his Sons consecrate or anoint any part of the Tabernacle Ark or utensils thereof their own garments oyntment nor any one High Priest or Levite of their Tribe but Moses the Supreame Temporal Magistrate only by Gods own special command whose consecration alone for ever sanctified all their Successors to the High Priests and Priests respective offices which I desire all Popes and Romish Prelates who now appropriate all consecrations whatsoever of persons or things to themselves alone by a pretended Divine right excluding the Civil Magistrate seriously to consider and from thence argue a superiority over Kings Emperors as well as Priests and exact Canonical obedience from them 8ly When Aaron the
people had avenged themselves of their enemies at his not the Priests prayer to the Lord. 8ly He not the Priests assembled all the Congregation of Israel to Shiloh and there set up the Tabernacle of the Congregation 9ly He by Gods special command with advice of the Heads of the Tribes of the children of Israel appointed and set out the Cities of refuge and the 48 Cities with their Suburbs given to the Priests and Levites out of all the other Tribes Lots 10thly Joshua a little before his death not the Priests assembled all the Tribes of Israel to Sechem and there calling all their Elders Heads Judges Officers who presenting themselves before God he repeated the Histories of Gods great mercies to them from Terah his time till then and commanded them to serve the Lord in sincerity and truth and to put away all the gods which their Fathers had served renewed the Covenant between God and them set them a Statute and an Ordinance in Sechem and wrote all the words thereof in the Book of the Law of God and set up a stone for a witnesse unto them lest they should deny their God And penned the History stiled Joshua During all this time of Moses and Joshua's Governments we find not one syllable of any Ecclesiastical Supream Authority exercised or claimed by the High Priest Priests or Levites severally or joyntly but only by Moses and Joshua themselves in all the forecited particulars Which Popes and Popish Prelates would repute most strange and uncouth should Christian Emperors Kings Princes now exercise the like Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and confine them only to Preaching Administration of the Sacraments reading Masse or Common-Prayers and those other essential Ministerial duties which they delegate for the most part to poor Curates as they do their pretended Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Judicatories to their Vicars Generals Chancellors Officials Commissaries and other such party Officers the more to fleece the people and ease themselves from Trouble or Clamors 3dly After the death of Joshua though the High Priest Priests and Levites were all setled in their possessions and offices in his life yet we read of none of them in all the Book of Judges when the people of Israel were very idolatrous wicked and most needed Ecclesiastical censures to reform them that did ever use the least Ecclesiastical Authority over them Therefore doubtlesse they had none vested in them or else were intollerably negligent and blame-worthy And to put it past Dispute it is no less then four several times specially recorded in that sacred story Judg. 17. 6. c. 18. 1. c. 19. 1. c. 21. 25. IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL Every man did what seemed good in his own eyes First as the chief cause of Micah his making a graven and molten image and setting them up in the house of God and making an Ephod Teraphim and consecrating one of his sons who became a Priest to his Idols and after that in consecrating a Levite to be his Idols Priest 2ly b As the occasion of the Danites plundring and taking away Micahs Idol god and setting up his graven Image in the Tribe of Dan and making Priests unto it all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh 3ly Of a Levites taking to him a Concubine instead of a lawful Wife and the Gibionites ravishing her to death 4ly Of the Benjamites forceable taking away of the Virgins who came up to the feast of the Lord at Shiloth and making them their wives against their will and that by the Israelites advice and concurrence contrary to the curse and oath they had made All properly spiritual and ecclesiastical Crimes belonging rather to Papal and Pontifical then regal Jurisdiction and Coertion as they are now reputed yet all and every of these are recorded to be perpetrated but not corrected in the least because in those days there was no King in Israel Therefore questionless all the supreme Civil Ecclesiastical power to restrain punish these offences was wholly vested in the King not in the high Priest Priests or Levites of which they had then store in Israel And had this supreme spiritual Authority been in them these Texts had been very impertinently inserted and should rather have run in this Dialect In those days there was no high Priests or Priests in Israel nor any Ecclesiastical Court or Judge therefore every one did that which was right in his own eyes If any object that Ely the high Priest judged Israel forty years Judg. 4. 18. and that Samuel next high Priest after him judged Israel all his days till he was old built an Altar unto the Lord at Ramah and when he grew old made his two sons Judges over the people Judg. 7. 15 16 17. c. 8. 1. to 8. Therefore the high Priests had then the soveraign Jurisdiction as Priests I answer The Argument is most absurd for by the like Consequence they may argue Deborah a woman the wife of Lapidoth judged Israel and the Children of Israel came up to her for Judgement and she delivered them out of Sisera his hands who sorely oppressed them with his Chariots and Army Ergo Debora as a woman had then Soveraign Jurisdiction over them 2ly They judged them not as Priests but supreme Magistrates 3ly It seems the chief Ecclesiastical power was not in Ely when he judged Israel but in the Elders of Israel by their sending for and fetching the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto them in the Camp to save them from the enemies against Ely his Will 4ly He was very remiss and indulgent to inflicting no civil nor ecclesiastical punishment upon his sons though sons of Belial whose wickednesse was great before the Lord both in lying with the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation and forceably taking away from those that sacrificed to the Lord the flesh of the Sacrifices of those that came to offer how much when they pleased without burning the fat presently so that they made men abhor the offerings of the Lord His Sons presumed thus impudently to abuse the people because their father judged Israel who only gave them a mild Reprehension when he heard of their evil reports from all the people Which miscarriages of his sons in their Priest-hood and himself in his Judicature sharply reproved by a man of God were most severely punished of God by their slaughter and untimely deaths the ruine of their families and loss of the Priest-hood the taking of the Ark of God by the Philistines and slaughter of thirty thousand footmen in one day This was the Judgement befel the first Priest and his house who took upon him the supreme civil power and magistracy 4ly Though Samuel himself was a just Judge yet his sons were wicked n turning aside after Lucre perverting Judgement in so much that all the Elders of Israel
came to Samuel complaining against them and peremptorily desired him o TO MAKE THEM A KING OVER THEM to judge them like all the Nations not a Priest being so weary of Priests supreme Government that they would never permit him nor his sons to judge and govern them any longer and were never satisfied till they had a King which he made them by Gods direct on and Election much against his own will 5ly All the Priestly Offices and Jurisdiction he used towards them and Saul was but to pray without ceasing for them giving them good instructions and reprehending them for their sins telling them But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both you and your King his declaring Saul King by Gods election and the people 's doubled peremptory demand of a King and approbation of Saul when presented to them and his anointing David when a privat person with oyl King after Sauls rejection by God they were only Acts of Ministry not of Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the High Priest above the King as I shall prove in its due place more largely in the cloze of this Chapter 4ly When God setled the Kingdom of Israel upon David and his posterity in performance of his promises to Abraham Sarah and Iacob that KINGS should come out of their loynes he translated the Supream Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Jurisdiction to them which they enjoyed exercised by Gods approbation not the high Priest Priests or Levites as the Scripture Annals attest 1. Davia a man after Gods own heart which fulfilled all his will not long after he was anointed King over Israel and Iudah assembled all the whole Congregation Priests Levites of Israel and went and removed the Ark of God from Gibeah with great triumph joy and shouting to the House of Obed-Edom and afterwards into the place tabernacle in the City of David which David had there chosen pitched for it and offered there burnt-offerings peace-offerings before the Lord and he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 2ly At the second removal of the Ark he assembled not only the Elders but the chief Priest and Levites informing them of their error in carrying the Ark in a cart at its first removal contrary to Moses command for which God made a breach upon them and that None ought to carry the Ark of the Lord but the Levites for them had the Lord chosen to carry the Ark of God and to minister unto him for ever For violating which precept Uzza was smitten to death before the Lord Hereupon David commanded the Priests and Levites to sanctify themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord God of Israel upon their shoulders as Moses commanded and to appoint Singers with instruments of musick and lifting up their voices to sing before it when they removed it to the City of David which command they punctually obeyed 3ly He appointed ordained certain of the Priests and Levits to minister by turns before the Ark of the Lord and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel continually prescribing them what instruments of musick they should use what Psalms and Praises they should sing most or all of them compiled by himself what burnt-offerings they should offer upon the altar of the Lord morning and eveing continually according to the Law of the Lord and to minister before the Ark continually as every dayes work required And appointed others of the Priests and Levites to minister continually in like manner before the Tabernacle of the Lord that was in the high place at Gibeon 4ly He purposed contrived propounded to Nathan and ordained the building of a standing House and Temple instead of a moving Tabernacle and Tent for the Ark and worship of God and intended himself to build it had not God inhibited him because he was a man of Warre and had shed much blood and appointed Solomon his Son and successor to build it he provided all sorts of materials for the building and exhorted all the Princes and Elders of the people to a liberal contribution towards it 5ly The Angel of the Lord commanded David to go and set up an Altar to the Lord in the threshing-floor of Ornan who accordingly went up at the saying of the Lord and build there an Altar and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings and called upon the Lord who answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering 6ly When he was old and had made Solomon King he gathered together all the Princes Priests and Levites and when he had numbred the Priests and Levites he appointed them their several Courses Services Offices Duties they should perform before the Lord from time to time as well before as after the Temple was built all which he set down in writing 7ly He as Moses assembled all the Princes of Israel and before all the Congregation in the audience of God gave Solomon them charge to serve and fear God and build the Temple Which done he gave to Solomon the pattern of the Temple and of the Houses thereof and of the Treasures thereof and of the upper chambers thereof and of the inner parlours thereof and of the Mercy-seat and the pattern of all that he had BY THE SPIRIT of the courts of the House of the Lord and of all the chambers round about of the Treasuries of the house of God and of the dedicated things AND FOR THE COURSES OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES and for all the work of the Service of the House of the Lord and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord. And David said unto Solomon Be strong and of a good courage and do it fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God even my God will be with thee he will not fail thee nor forsake thee untill thou hast finished all the work for the service of the House of the Lord And BEHOLD THE COURSES OF THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES FOR ALL THE SERVICE OF THE HOUSE OF GOD and there shall be with thee for all manner of wâ—rkmanship every willing skilfull man for any manner of service and ALL THE PEOPLE WILL BE WHOLLY AT THY COMMAND 7ly David as King not the Priests compiled all or most of the Psalms and Prayers afterwards sung or used in the Temple recorded in the Books of Samuel the Chronicles and compiled together her in the Book of Psalms continually read sung used not only in the Temple and elsewhere by the Jewish but in all Christian Churches generally and more frequently read sung commented upon then any other Book of Canonical Scripture By all which memorable particulars and command to the Priests to annoint Solomon King it is most evident that the whole Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over persons causes things relating to Gods Worship remained intirely in David as King and no part of it in the Priests 5ly King Solomon his Sonne succeeding David
hominis et hominem sua causa Deum fecisse quam quod ex omnibus animantibus solus ita formatus est ut oculi ejus ad coelum directi facies ad Deum spectans vultus cum suo parente communis sit quasi porrecta manu allevatum ex humo ad contemplationem sui excitasse Propterea igitur coli se Deus expetit honorari ab homine tanquam Pater ut virtutem et sapientiam teneat quae sola immortalitatem parit Idcirco mundus factus est ut nascamur ideo nascimur ut agnoscamus factorem mundi ac nostri Deum ideo agnoscimus ut colamus ideo colimus ut immortalitatem pro mercede capiamus quoniam maximis laboribus cultus constat ideo praemio immortalitatis afficimur ut similes Angelis effecti summo Patri ac Domino in perpetuum serviamus et simus aternum Deo Regnum Haec summa rerum est hoc arcanum Dei hoc mysterium mundi Yea this is the sum mysterie of all the Kings and kingdoms in the world instituted by God for these only ends that all the kingdoms of the world might thereby become the temporal kingdoms of God and of his Christ on earth and his eternal kingdom in heaven All these recited Fathers lived under Heathen not Christian Emperors Kings to whom they Addressed their Apologies Appeals Defences of the substance truth of the Christian Religion they professed under them as the highest powers on earth the properest Judges of Religion and bound in duty to protest both it and them in the true profession thereof When the Roman Emperors and other Kings became Professors Protectors and Propagators of Christianity the Fathers Councils Bishops Clergy and Christians under them thus set forth their Supremacy in and over all Ecclesiastical and Religious affairs persons as well as temporal To pretermit the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction attributed to and exercised by Constantine the Great the first Christian Emperor which I shall insist on in the First Chapter of the 2d Book Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria as he constantly prayed to God in publike for Constantius the Emperor though an Arrian with all expressions of Loyalty duty and dedicated a special Apology to him in Justification both of his faith and loyalty useth this expression therein If I were accused to others I would appeal to your Majesty as Paul did to Cesar but seeing they accuse me unto you ad quem a te appellare potero nisi ad Deum There being none paramount the Emperour to Appeal to neither Pope nor Council but God alone How this Emperor Constantius twice removed and banished Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria and Paulus Bishop of Constantinople from their Bishopricks and placed Gregory and George two Arrian Bishops in their Sees and how upon their Complaints and Appeals to his Brother the Emperor Constans reigning in the West who summoned their accusers to appear before him which they did they were restored to their Bishopricks by the advice and decree of the Council of Sardis Anno 350 summoned by both these Emperors Edicts at the requests of Athanasius and Paulus to hear and decide their cause referred to them by the Emperors and the special Letters of Constantius sent to Athanasius What Creeds or forms of Christian faith both the Arrian and Orthodox Bishops compiled in the Councils of Antioch Sardis Jerusalem Smyrna Millain Arimino and Seleucia all summoned by the Emperors Edicts presented to the Emperors for their approbations and ratifications as Supreme Judges Moderators in such cases are at large recorded in Socrates Scholasticus Ecclesiast Hist l. 2. cap. 7 to 44. Nicephorus Calixtus Eccles Hist l. 9. c. 20. to 44. Sozomen Eccles hist l. 2. Cent. Magd. 4. cap. 8. and sundry others to whom I referr the Readers for brevity sake Only I shall recite the memorable requests of the Orthodox Bishops in the Council of Arimino to the Emperor Constantius in their second Epistle to him Wherefore we humbly request your Majesty of your gracious Favour and wonted Clemency to accept this our Message That you admit no novelty to creep into the Church of God to the contumely of such as are already departed this life but that you grant us your license and lawfull favor firmly to persevere in those things which our Ancestors have decreed in as much as it is evident to all men that whatsoever they did it was through well advised counsel prudent consideration and the aid of the holy Ghost Also We humbly request that the exiled Bishops which wander in farre and foraign Regions grievously afflicted by reason of great years and the misery of want and necessity may by your safe conduct return home from exile to the end the Churches remain not desolate and desolate of their Bishops being thus farr asunder Last of all Our humble sute is to your Majesty that nothing may be diminished from or added to the Old and Antient Decrees but that all whatsoever have been observed unto this day through the godly procurement of your Father may henceforth be of force strength and virtue and that hereafter there may arise no molestation to us about those things and that you suffer us not to be banished our Churches c. Saint Hillary Bishop of Poictiers wrote thus to this Arrian Emperour Constantius not long after At hanasius in the Orthodox Christians behalf We beseech your Clemency to permit that the people may have such teachers as they like such as they think well of such as they chuse and let them solemnize the divine mysteries and make prayers for your safety and prosperity In which Book to this Emperor he acknowledgeth his Supremacy in and over all Ecclesiastical persons causes though he justly censures his force imposed on them in their Councils to make them vote against their wills and the Orthodox faith in behalf of the Arrian Hereticks The Godly Western Bishops assembled by this Arrian Emperor Constantius his Edict to the Council of Ariminum and there long detained by him from their Cures wrote two supplicatory Epistles to him from thence to dismisse them to their Bishopricks before the cold Winter approached In the first they thus petitioned them We beseech your Majesty that you cause us not to be banished nor stayed from our Churches but that the Bishops together with the people may live in peace and tranquillity and may humbly pray for your health kingdom and safety in which the Divine Majesty long preserve you Pro tua salute Imperio prolixo So Nicephorus renders it but others thus Supplicantes Deo pro pace tui Imperii pariter et salutis quam tibi Dominus in perpetuum largiatur They concluded their second Letter to him with this Supplication For this cause we beseech your Clemency the second time most religious Lord and Emperor that you command us to depart to our Churches if it so please your Godlinesse before the sharpnesse of Winter come That we
forte ad maâ—o malum evâ—tandum non est culpandum These publick Harlots constituted Popes themselves before Hildebrands time and in most ages since Priests wives prohibited they have been highly 〈◊〉 courted like Princes and Ladies even in Rome it self at noon-day as well as in the night by disguised Cardinals and Clergy-men as Paul the 3d. his own Cardinals thus informed him In hac etiam urbe Meretrices ut Matronae incedunt per urbem seu Mula vehuntur quas affectantur de media die Nobiles familiares Cardinalium praesertim noctu nulla in urbe videmus hanc corruptionem praeterquam in hac omnium exemplari Habitant etiam insignes aedes Yea Peter Martyr adds Vehuntur per publicum habitu Principum Sedent in equis gradiariis c. Habent secum Torquatos Larvatos Comites interdum etiam Cardinalium praesertim noctu ancilarum sumptuosissimam gregem Nunc O Deus bone quomodo Romae coercentur Meretrices Yea to prevent the Emperors other Kings punishing and reformation of these abuses they exempted all Clergy-men from their Tribunals and the accusations of Laymen decreeing that no Cardinal should be convicted condemned of adultery whoredom c. but by 72. witnesses no Cardinal Priest but by 64. no Cardinal Deacon or Bishop but by 24. nor Sub-deacon or Cardinal of inferior degree nor Bishop but by 7. witnesses at least And those would be more than impudent who durst commit whoredom adultery or sodomy in the open view of so many Priests or Clergy men or yet of Laymen though disabled to accuse them by their Canons It is very observable 1. That Pope Hildebrand himself as Lambertus Schasnaburgensis and sundry others record was not only suspected but openly accused and branded for his incontinency especially with the Countesse Machtilâ—a whom he divorced from her husband that he might the more intirely and securely enjoy carnal copulation with her Machtilda Pontificis lateri pene Comes individua adhaerebat eumque imo colebat affectu Ubicunque opera ejus Papa indiguisset ocyus aderat tanquam Patri vel Domino sedulum exhibebat officium unde nec evadere potuit incestiamoris suspicionem passim jactantibus Regis fautoribus praetipue Clericis quibus illicita contra scita Canonum contracta conjugia prohibebat quod die et nocte impudenter Papa in ejus volutaretur amplexibus et illa furtivis Papae amoribus praeoccupata post amissum conjugem ultra secundas contrahere nuptias detrectaret Hence Domniz a Priest thus writes of her Postposuit Regem per tres tenuit pia menses Gregorium Papam cui servit ut altera Martha Auribus intentis capiâ—bat sedula mentis Cuncta patris dicta ceu Christi verba Maria. Propria clavigero sua subdidit omnia Petro Janitor est Coeli suus haeres ipsaque Petri. 2ly That Petrus Dâ—mâ—anus living in that age retired from Rome as from Sodom and Gomorrah leaving his Cardinalship and Bishoprick there betaking himself to a Hermits life writ a Book entituled De Correctione Episcopi Papae yea Gomorhaeus describing sodomy filthiness wherewith the Popes Cardinals Prelates the Court of Rome were then 〈◊〉 which last Book Pope Alexander the 2d stole from the Author and suppressed occasionem capâ—ans quod obscaenius rem expressisset whence Cardinal Beronius himself is enforced thus to display the Sodomitical filthyness of that age Vepres infausti spinae urticae agrum Patris-familiaes in immensum oppleverant qui ex putore carnis corruptionis fimo turpiter excreverant Omnis quippe caro corruperat viam suam ut non tantum ad eas abluendas sordes videretur satis esse diluvium sed nefanda scelera ignem ecaelo Gomorrhaeum quo exusta est Pentapolis postularent Yea Joâ—nnes de Casa Bishop of Beneventum in Italy was so impudent as to write a Book in justification of Sodomy stiling it a sweet and pleasant sin confessing that he and others of his Roman Brethren used no other carnal copulation but this preferred before the sacred Ordinance and Romish Sacrament of Marriage it self by the Pandors of the Whore of Babylon 3ly That Saint Bernard himself living in and after that age thus reprehends the pompous apparel unchast Sodomitical lives of the Hildebrandian Virgin unmarried Prelates Priests Clergy of those times Ministri Christi sunt serviunt Antichristo honorati incedunt de bonis Domini cui honorem non deferunt Vnde hinc est eis quem quotidie videmus meritricius nitor histronicus habitus satanicus apparatus c. Episcopi vero et Sacerdotes hujus temporis castitatem et sanctimoniam sine qua nemo videbit Deum tam in corde quam in corpore quomodo student observare Certe Dominus dixit in Evangelio ad Episcopos haud dubium in primitiva Ecclesia sint lumbi vestri praecincti castitatem approbans non tantum sed etiam praecipiens Isti autem castitatis insigne qualiter custodiunt qui traditi in reprobum sensum faciunt quae non conveniunt alluding to the sodomy and filthyness of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 24. to 30. whereof they were guilty quae enim in occulto facta ab Episcopis turpe est dicere Melius itaque arbitror super hoc dissimulare superseaere quam aliquid unde scandalizentur innocentes inexperti dicere Sed ego cur verecundor dicere quod ipsi non verecundantur facere Imo quol Apostolus non verecundatur scribere publicare Dicit autem egregius praedicator Sic masculi in masculos operantes turpitu sinem mercedem sui erroris reportantes Fatres factus sum insipiens vos me coegistis And in Cant. Serm. 66. Tolle De Ecclesia honorabile connubium c. Nonne reples eam concubinariis incestuosis seminifluis mollibus masculorum concubitoribus et omni denique genere immundorum 4ly That Mathew Paris a Monk records how Pope Innocent the 4th his Cardinals and Court departing from Lions in France where they had continued near seven years unto Millain upon this occasion Frater Hugo Cardinalis quasi ex parte Domini Papae valedicens civibus Lugdunensibus ermonem populo fecit generalem Et postquam omnes eleganter informasset informando ex parte Dom. Papae totius Curiae civiliter salutasset unum sermonem addidit quem duximus huic paginae propter Satyricam reprehensionem inserere Amici magnam fecimus postquam in hanc urbem venimus utilitatem et elemosinam quando enim primum huc venimus tria vel quatuor Prostibula invenimus sed nunc recedentes unum solum relinquimus Verum ipsum durat continuatum ab Orientali porta Civitatis usque ad Occidentalem Et erat verbum offensionis in auribus omnium mulierum quarum infinita multitudo sermoni assedebat Omnes enim Civitatem inhabitantes voce praeconia convocabantur ex parte Domini Papae recessuri