prayer 1 lesson Iob. 31 Morning prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 15 Evening prayer 1 lesson Job 32 Evening prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 19 Iames. Morn prayer 1 lesson eccl 10 Morning prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 21 Evening prayer 1 lesson eccle 11 Evening prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 23 Bartholomew Morn prayer 1 lesson ezek 3 Morn prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 25 Evening prayer 1 lesson ezek 6 Evening prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 29 Matthew Morn prayer 1 lesson micha 7 Morning prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 35 Evening prayer 1 lesson Nahu 1 Evening prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 38 Michael Morn prayer 1 lesson Zecha 7 Morning prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 39 Evening prayer 1 lesson Zecha 8 Evening prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 44 Luke Morn prayer 1 lesson Iudu 13 Morning prayer 1 lesson ecclu. 51 Evening prayer 1 lesson Jud. 14 Evening prayer 1 lesson Iob. 1 Simon and Iude. Morn prayer 1 lesson Sapi. 17 Morn prayer 1 lesson Iob. 24. 25 Evening prayer 1 lesson Sapi. 18 Evening prayer 1 lesson Job 42 All Saints Morni prayer 1 lesson Wisd 3 Morn prayer 1 lesson part of Wis 3 Evening prayer 1 lesson Wisd 5 Even prayer 1 lesson part of Wis 5 Andrew Morni prayer 1 lesson Esai 5 Morning prayer 1 lesson Pro. 20 Evening prayer 1 lesson Esai 6 Evening prayer 1 lesson Pro. 21 Thomas Morn prayer 1 lesson Esa 48 Morning prayer 1 lesson Pro. 23 Evening prayer 1 lesson Esa 49 Evening prayer 1 lesson Pro. 24 Vnto these alterations there is one maine difference to be added and fitt in this place to be observed coÌ„cerning certaine dayes wherein proper lessons are to bee read For by the booke of King Edw. it is said proper Psalmes lessons for divers feasts and dayes but by the parish booke the title is after an other maner viz. Lessons proper for holy dayes From whence it followeth that all those dayes wherein proper lessons are to be read are by that title accompted to be holy dayes which is repugnant to a Rubricke of the same booke entituled These to bee observed for holy dayes and none other Out of which Rubrick amongst a number of holy dayes there specified six dayes be secluded from being holy dayes for the which six dayes notwithstaÌ„ding proper lessons are appointed to be read as vpon holy dayes and these six dayes be the dayes following viz. the day of the coÌ„version of Paule Barnabes day Wensday and Thursday before Easter Goodfriday and Easter even It seemeth therefore not to be so safe a matter as men are borne in hand it is for ministers absolutely to subscribe that there is nothing in the whole booke of common prayer repugnant to the holy worde of God seeing there is so grosse and palpable a repugnancie in the booke it selfe Consentiet nullâ— qui secum dissidet ipse Vnto which repugnancie also may be added an other repugnancy more absurd For besides the alterations and additions before specified and not comprised in the statute there is a Rubrick added which not only repugneth the booke of K. Edward but also crosseth the kalender aswell of the parish booke it selfe as of the booke of K. Edward By which Rubrick also there is a detraction from the booke of K. Edward worse then the former of the Letany Because this Rubrick appointeth onely part of the first chapter of Saint Matthew and part of the third chapter of Saint Luke to be read whensoever by the kalender or booke those chapters come to be read Whereas the kalender of both bookes appointeth the whole first chapter of Saint Matthew the whole third chapter of Saint Luke to be read vpon divers dayes in the yeare As for example both bookes on the first Sunday after the nativitie appoint the whole first chapter of Saint Matthew to be read for the Gospell Which whole chapter also is appointed by the kalenders of both bookes to be read for the second lesson of morning prayer on the second day of lanuary the third of May and the 31. of August The like is to be observed by the kalenders for the reading of the whole third chapter of Saint Luke for the second lesson at morning prayer vpon the 21. of February the 19. of Iune and the 17. of October But these chapters are no part of the Booke of coÌ„mon prayer and by the Preface before the second part of the Homilies a Minister may for some chapters of the old Testament read some chapters of the New as to him shall seeme to tend more to edification By your leave this your exception seemeth to be but an homelie frivoulous exception For though the chapters bee no part of the booke of common prayer yet be the chapters part of the matter of the common service of the church prescribed by the booke yea and the formall and orderly reading of such and such chapters at such such times is part also of the order and forme of saying the same service Insomuch as neither Mattens nor Evensong in matter forme can be song or said without the chapters be read And as for the preface to the Homilies that by the same the minister is at libertie to leaue some chapters of the old for some chapters of the new Testament for first or second lesson what doeth that helpe the falsification of the parish booke when the same in place of six and twentie or thereabouts of Canonical hath appointed so many of Apocriphall chapters vpon feast dayes to bee read Or how can the Preface exempt a Minister from being punishable before the Kinges Iustices if he shall follow some private preface and breake the Kings publike edict But both bookes agree in many pointes and namely that the Minister in Baptisme shall make a crosse vpon the childes forehead shall say We signe thee with the signe of the crosse c. And therefore how soever the bookes may differ in some moe pointes then are mentioned in the Statute yet cleane to disavow the book of common prayer provided by the Parishioners not to bee the booke of common prayer which the Ministers in their dayly ministâ—atioÌ„ are bound to vse is but a cavill and reproveth the whole state of Prelacie and of the Realme who have received and vsed the same booke ever since the first yeare of our late Queenes Raigne King Henrie the eight writing to the Emperour against the Pope telleth him that a free man ignorant of his freedome doth not therefore become a bondman because ignorantly he submitteth him selfe to servitude No more say we is the State of the Realme lyable to reproofe when having committed the ordering of these affayres to the fidelitie and circumspection of the Clergie it hath bene abused by the Clergie Howsoever the State then of the Realme have received and vsed the booke attayned and gotten by the Parishioners it mattereth not to the point in question For if the Clergie vnwitting to the State have caused or suffered a booke to bee printed and
or in any other Court by other of the Kings Iustices would our lawes freecustomes of the Realme think you iustifie that the spirituall person enioyning still his spiritual function might in this case be mulcted with the losse of his benefice and yet the teÌ„poral person not to be punishable by the losse of his freehold The examples produced by you relieve no whit at all your case nay rather they stand on our side and make good our part For how long soever the Maister of the Rolles and Warden of the Fleete doe enioy their offices for so long time by your owne collection they ought to enioy their Freeholdes annexed to their offices yea and you assume in effect that they may not lawfully for contempt or any other cause be disseised of their freeholds so long as they be possessed of their offices Now then if from the identity of reason you would conclude that a Parson or Vicare for contempt lawfully deposed from his ministeriall function should in like maner lawfully loose his freehold annexed to his office as the Maister of the Rolles and Warden of the Fleete put from their offices should loose theirs we would not much have gainsaid your assertion For we hold it vnreasonable that a Parson or Vicar deposed from his ministeriall function should enioy that freehold or maintenance which is provided for him that must succeed in his ministerial charge But then your assertion would make nothing against vs. For so you must prove that your officers for contempt only may lawfully be put from their freeholds annexed to their offices and yet notwithstanding remaine the same officers still And then indeed froÌ„ some parity or semblance of reason you might have inferred that a Parson or Vicare for coÌ„tempt deprived of his free hold annexed to his function might notwithstanding such coÌ„tempt enioy his ministeriall function still But to dispute after this sort were idlely to dispute not to dispute ad idem For how doth this follow The Kings officer if for contempt he be displaced from his office can not withall but be displaced from his freehold which ioyntly with his office and in regard of his office he possessed Therfore a Parson or Vicare for contempt may lawfully be deprived from his benefice or freehold annexed to his ministeriall function and yet notwithstanding enioy his ministeriall function still And this is the maine point generall case for the most part of all the Ministers which at this day for contempt stand deprived For among all the sentences pronounced for contempt there is scarce one to be fouÌ„d which deposeth a Parson or Vicare from his ministerial office but onlie which depriveth him from his Church Parsonadge or Vicaradge Whereby the vnreasonablenes of certeine ordinaries in their processe of deprivatioÌ„s become so much the more vnreasonable by how much more vnreasonable it seemeth to be that any publicke officer should lawfully be continued in his publicke office and yet not be suffered to enioy any publick meanes to mainteine the same his office And thus much have we replied vnto your answere made vnto our pleadings that by the lawes and freecustomes of the Realme a Parson or Vicar being a freeman of the Realme may not for coÌ„tempt vnto his ordinaries admonitioÌ„ be deprived from his freehold if so be you grant that he may enioy his ministerial function still As touching the lawes of the church it hath ben already sufficiently demonstrated that there is then no contempt at all committed against an admonition wheÌ„ the partie admonished can alleadge any iust or reasonable cause of his not yeelding to his admonisher And if no contempt in such case be made then no deprivatioÌ„ from a benefice or deposition from the ministerie in such case ought to follow Considerations against subscription to the booke of the forme and maner of making and consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons WHat the reason or cause should be that subscription vnto this booke of consecration ordination of Bishops Priests and Deacons hath bene of lâ—te yeares so hotly and egerly pursued by the Lords of the Clergie is a misterie perhaps not of many of the laytie well vnderstood And how soever vnder colour of the maintenance of obedience to the statute of the Realme whereby this booke is confirmed the same subscription may seeme to be pressed nevertheles if the maine drift and reason of this pressure were well boulted out it is to be feared that not only the vnlawful supremacie of an Archbishop is sought to be advaÌ„ced above the lawfull supremacie of our Soverayne Lord King Iames but also that the Synodals Canons and Constitutions made by the Clergie in their convocation are intended if not to be preferred above yet at leastwise to be made equall to the common law and statutes of the Realme By the ancient lawes and customes of the Realme one parcell of the Kings iurisdiction and imperiall Crowne hath evermore consisted in graunting ecclesiasticall iurisdiction vnto Archbishops Bishops and other Prelats For the maintenance of wich imperiall iurisdiction and power against the vsurped supremacie of the Bishop of Rome divers statutes not introductorie of new law but declaratorie of the old in the time of King Henry the eight King Edward the sixth and of our late most Noble Queene deceased have bene made and enacted Yea and in a book entituled The Institution of a Christian man composed by Thomas Archbishop of Canterburie Edward Archbishop of Yorke all the Bishops divers Archdeacons Prelates of the Realme that then were dedicated also by them to King Henry the eight it is confessed and acknowledged that the nomination presentation of the Bishopricks apperteyned vnto the kings of this Realme And that it was and â—halbe lawfull to Kinges and Princes and their Successors with consent of their Parliaments to revoke and call againe into their owne handes or otherwise to restreine all the power and iurisdiction which was given and assigned vnto Priests Bishops by the lycence consent sufferance and authoritie of the same Kings and Princes and not by authoritie of God and his Gospell whensoever they shall have grounds and causes so to doe as shal be necessarie wholesome and expedient for the Realmes the repressing of vice the increase of Christian faith and religion Ever since which time vntill of late yeares the late Archbishops of Canterbury with the counsel of his colledge of Bishops altered that his opinion which some times in his answere made to the admonition to the Parliament he held it was generally and publickely maintained that the state power and iurisdiction of Provinciall and Diocesan Bishops in England stood not by any Divine right but meerly and altogether by humaine policie and ordinance alone And that therefore according to the first and best opinion and iudgment of the said Archbishops Bishops c. the same their iurisdiction might be taken away and altered at the will and pleasure of the kings of England when
soever they should have grounds and causes so to doe Mary since when as the Discipline and governement provinciall diocesan ministred and exercised by the late Archbishop deceased and his Suffraganes was diversly handled disputed and controverted not to be agreeable but repugnant to the holy Scriptures necessarie also for the repressing of vice the increase of faith and Christian religion to be changed they herevpon iustly fearing that the most vertuous Christian Queene deceased vpon sundry cōplaints made in open Parliament against their many vniust greevances would have reformed the same their maner of governement they then presently vpon new advise and consulation taken boldly and constantly avouched the same their governement to have bene from the Apostles times and agreeable to the holy scriptures and therefore also perpetuall and still to be vsed in no case to be altered by any king or Potentate whatsoever By meanes of which this their enclyning to the popish opinion and holding their Iurisdictiō to bee de iure divino professedly mainteyning in the Homilie wherevnto also subscription is vrged that the King and all the Nobilitie ought to be subiect to excommunication there is now at length growne such a mayne position of having a perpetuall Diocesan and Provinciall governement in the church that rather then their Hierarchie should stoope they would cause the Kings Supremacie which he hath over their said Iurisdiction to fall downe to the ground In so much as by their supposition the King hath no authoritie no not by his supreame power to alter their sayd governement at all And to this end and purpose as it seemeth in their late canons have they devised and decreed this booke of ordination to be subscribed vnto Which subscription can not but quite and cleane overthrow the Kings supremacie and auncient iurisdiction in the most dangerous degree For if their Provinciall and Diocesan orders and degrees of Ministerie together with their iurisdiction be to bee vsed as established and derived vnto them by the holy scriptures how then can it be in the power and iurisdiction of the King to graunt or not to graunt the vse of Provinciall and Diocesan Bishopisme and iurisdiction Or how may the provinciall Bishops with their Diocesan Suffraganes be called the kings ecclesiasticall officers if their iurisdictions be not derived vnto them from the king For if they be called Gods Bishops or Bishops of Gods making how then may they anie more be called the kings Bishops or Bishops of the kings presenting nominating and confirming Nay besides who then can alter them who can restreyne them who can revoke or recall their power and iurisdiction who can resist them or what king of England may pluck his neck from vnder their yoke Nay how should the kings Supremacie as by the ancient Lawes of the Realme it ought remayne inviolable when his Royall person whole Nobilitie and Realme is subiect and lyable to the censure of the canon Law excommunication Which law the Provinciall and Diocesan Bishops to this day in right and by vertue of their Provinciall and Diocesan iurisdiction and none otherwise do stil vse practise and put in execution Besides if Bishops Provinciall and Diocesan as they be described in that book be commanded in the Scriptures and were in vse ever since the Apostles times then ought they to be in the Church of England though the King and his law never allowed nor approved of them But to hold this opinion as it will vphold the Popes supremacie because the generall reasons which vphold a Provinciall Bishop will vphold a Pope so will it once againe not only impeach the Kings supremacie but also be repugnant to the lawes and customes of the Realm By which supremacie lawes and customes only the provinciall diocesan Bishops have bene hitherto vpheld For seing the lawes and customes of the Realme doe make the Kings nomination presentation and confirmation the very essence and being of a Provinciall Diocesan Bishop with vs So that these offices ought to be held only from the authoritie gift and graunt of the King how ought not the kings nomination presentation authoritie and gift yea and the law it self in this case wholy cease if the order degree ministerie and iurisdiction of a provinciall and diocesan Bishop be founded in holy Scripture Vnlesse we shall affirme that that was in the Apostles times which was not or that that is to be found in holy Scripture which is not Namely that there were in the Apostles times and that there be in the holy Scriptures no Bishops but provinciall and dioceasan Bishops to bee found And that by the law of God and the Gospell every King and Potentate hath supreme power to suffer none but Provinciall Diosan Bishops to be in the Churches So that by subscription to allow that provinciall and Diocesan Bishops be Scripturely Bishops and that their iurisdiction and power is a Scripturely iurisdiction and power is to deny that their iurisdiction and power dependeth vpon the kings iurisdiction and power or that by the kings gift and authoritie they be made Bishops But how doeth subscription you will say to the booke of ordination approve the orders and degrees of provinciall diocesan Bishops to be by Divine right rather then by humane ordinance How Why thus it is evident saith the preface of that booke to all men diligently reading holy Scripture and ancient Authors that from the Apostles times there have bene these orders of Ministers in Christes Church Bishops Priests and Deacons Yea and by the whole order of prayer and of Scripture read vsed in the forme of consecrating of an Archbishop or Bishop it is apparant that the order of an Archbishop or Bishop consecrated by that booke is reputed taken to be of Divine institution And therfore seing the names of those orders of Ministers must necessarily be taken and vnderstood of such orders of Ministers as be sett forth and described in the body of that booke it must needes be intended that the Ministers by their subscription should approve the orders of Ministers mencioned in that booke to be of Divine institution and consequently that provinciall and diocesan Ministers or Bishops have not their essence and being from the nomination gift authoritie of the King Besides if we should vnderstand by the word Bishop him that hath the Ministrie of the word and Sacraments as the Pastor teacher and by the word Priest the Presbiter that is the Governing elder and by the word Deacon the provider for the poore then for the Ministers to subscribe to the booke of ordination would no way iustifie those officers or degrees of Ministers which are described in that booke but would indeed vtterly subvert and overthrow them Because the orders and degrees of a provincial diocesan Bishop of a Priest and Deacon mentioned in that booke be of a farr differing nature from those orders and degrees of Ministers which are mencioned
in the Scriptures because they only agree in name and not in nature Wherfore seeing there be other orders and degrees of Bishops then Provincial Diocesan Bishops found in the holy Scriptures seeing also Kings and Princes being Vicarij Dei be commanded to authorise all things for the trueth and nothing against the trueth it seemeth necessarie that his Maiestie should not only restrayne the Provinciall and Diocesan Bishops from vrging subscription to this booke of ordination being so derogatory in their sence and construction to his supremacie as nothing can be more but also to keepe the Bishops them selves within the tether and compasse of the word of God For if the word of God doe approve amongst the Ministers of the Word and Sacraments a primacie of order only denyeth vnto them any primacie of iurisdiction and power in ecclesiasticall governement as the learned Protestants have proved against the Papists touching Peters supremacie then will it follow that ours also ought to bee reduced to the same compasse both for the Kings Maiesties safetie and the Churches good Least Princes giving them more then God alloweth them they shoud them selves loose that right and authoritie which they ought to reteyne in their owne Royall persons Now that it may not be obiected that we begge the question of Scripturely Bishops not having any primacie of iurisdiction power in ecclesiasticall government to let passe all particuler reasons of the Protestants against the Papists in this point it shall suffice in this place to produce for witnesses six forty Iurors against whoÌ„ no chalendge or exception can be taken Namely the said Thomas Crammer Archbishop of Canterburie Edward Archbishop of Yorke Iohn Bishop of London Cuthhert Dunèlmem Steven Winton Robert Cariolen Iohn Exon Iohn Lincoln Rowl and Coven Lichfield Thomas Elien Nicholas Sarum Iohn Banger Edward Herefordien Hugh Wigornen Iohn Roffen Richard Cicestren William Norwicen William Meneven Robert Assaven Robert Landaven Richard Wolman Archdeacon of Sudbur William Knight Archdeacon of Richmond Iohn Bell Archdeacon of Gloster Edmond Boner Archdeacon of Lecester William Skipp Archdeacon of Dorset Nicholas Heeth Archdeacon of Stafford Cuthbert Marshall Archdeacon of Notingham and Richard Curren Archdeacon of Oxford Together with William Cliff Galfrid Downes Robert Oking Radulf Bradford Richard Smith Simon Mathew John Fryn William Lukemaster William May Nicholas Wotton Richard Cox Iohn Edmonds Thomas Robertson Iohn Baker Thomas Baret Iohn Hase and Iohn Tyson Sacrae Theologiae iuris ecclesiastici civilis Professores All which Archbishops Bishops Archdeacons and Prelates having with one voyce and accord shewed vnto King Henry the eight that divers good Fathers Bishops of Rome did greatly reprove and abhorre as a thing cleane coÌ„trarie to the Gospell the Decrees of the church that any Bishop of Rome or elswhere should presume vsurpe or take vpon him the tytle and name of the vniversall Bishop or of the head of all Priestes or of the highest Priest or any such like tytle proceede further and in the end conclude and give vp their verdict thus For confirmation whereof it is out of all doubt that there is no mencion made neither in scripture neither in the writings of any authenticall Doctour or Authour of the Church being within the tyme of the Apostles That Christ did ever make or institute any distinction or difference to be in the preeminence of power order or iurisdiction betweene the Aposties them selves or betweene the Bishops them selves but that they were all aequall in power order authoritie and iurisdiction And that there is now and sith the tyme of the Apostles any such diverâ—â—tie or difference among the Bishops it was devised by the ancient Fathers c. For the said Fathers considering the great and infinite multitude of Christian men and taking examples of the ould Testament thought it expedient to make an order of degrees to be among Bishops and spirituall governours of the Church and so ordeyned some to be Paâ—riarkes some to be Primates some to be Metropolitanes some to be Archpishops some to be Bishops c. Which differences the said holy Fathers thought necessarie to enact and establish by their Decrees and constitutions not for that any such differences were prescribed and established in the Gospell or mencioned in any Canonicall writings of the Apostles or testified by any ecclesiasticall Writer within the Apostles tyme. And thus farre their verdict But let vs graunt that orders of Bishops Priestes and Deacons bee conteyned in the holy scriptures yet if those orders of Bishops Priests and Deacons which are established in the booke be not the same orders of Bishops Priestes Deacons which are authorised by the scriptures then through the aequivocation of these wordes Orders of Bishops Priestes and Deacons there being afalacie how should this forme and maner of subscription be lawfull viz. that the booke coÌ„teyneth nothing contrarie to the word of God that it lawfully may be vsed For only such orders of Bishops Priestes and Deacons ought to be acknowledged subscribed vnto vsed as by the holy scriptures are warranted And therefore such as are conteyned in the booke if so be they be divers froÌ„ those which are approved in the holy scriptures how should they without sinne be subscribed vnto and vsed Vnlesse we shall affirme that Ministers of the Gospell of God may rightfully approove of such orders of Ministers as the Lord and Law giver of the Gospell never allowed ne approoved And thus much have we spoken touching not subscription touching the not exact vse of the order and forme of the booke of common prayer and touchinge the not precise practise and wearing of the rites ceremonies and ornaments of the church Wherein if we have spoken otherwise then as for our speaking wee have warrant from the Kings lawes our earnest desire is that it may be shewed vnto vs wherein we haue erred For if there be any thing whereof we be ignorant we shal be willing to be taught the same and having learned it to yeald to the practise thereof In the meane time seing not to weare a Surplice in the ministration of Divine service not to make a crosse in Baptisme not to subscribe c. in it selfe is not a sinne against any commandement of God nor a thing scandalous vnto the people And seeing also the Parsons who refuse to weare and vse the same be in every respect men of good note condition fame qualitie and behaviour yea such as against whom no misdemeanor for doctrine or life which might aggravate their offence can iustly be obiected we may lawfully as we thinke conclude in their behalf that de aequitate misericordia iuris they ought to be respected and tolerated rather then for their refusall meerely standing vpon their consciences whether erroneous or not erroneous it skilleth not de rigore iuris if there be any such rigour to be suspended excommunicated or deprived yea and in so generall and doubtfull a case
common prayer attayned and gotten by the Parishioners of M. for the Minister to vse in the same parish Church IT is provided and enacted that the bookes concerning the said services shal at the costs charges of the parishioners of every parish be attayned and gotten c. And that such parishes where the saide bookes shal be attayned and gotten c. shall within three wâ—ckes after the bookes so attayned and gotten vse the said service and put the same in vre according to this act from whence it seemeth to follow the Minister not being commanded to attayne get the said booke if the parishioners have not hitherto attayned and gotten the said booke that the minister of the same parish is not bouÌ„d to vse the said service put the same in vre which is not attayned gotten for him to be vsed invred That the parishioners of the said parish church have not hitherto attay ned gotteÌ„ the said book semeth to be manifest vpoÌ„ these coÌ„siderations The Booke which the Minister of the same Church is bound to vse should differ from the booke of common prayer authorised by act of Parliament 5. and 6. Ed. 6. But in foure poyntes that is to say one of alteration or addition of certeine lessons to be vsed on every sunday in the yeare an alteration correctioÌ„ of the forme of the Letany and two sentences only added in the delivery of the Sacrament to the coÌ„municants and none other or otherwise But in the booke attayned and gotten by the said parishioners therâ— be moe alterations then are specified in the statute The forme of the Letany is not corrected and altered and moreover there is some detraction from the very matter of the booke which detraction ought not to have bene made and which is conteyned in this prayer following From the Tyrannie of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities Good Lord deliver vs. And as touching the forme of the Letanie of K. Edw. booke whereas the same by the letter of the Act seemeth by the Parliament to have ben altered corrected for the words stand thus viz. altered corrected not to be altered corrected yet now so it is that the same forme remaineth stil in the parish book vnaltered vncorrected For the whole forme order and dispositioÌ„ of prayers which is in the Letanie of the parish book is the same forme order disposition of prayers which was in the Letany of K. Ed. book Except vnhappely we shall say that the transposition and alteration of the prayer of Chrysostom by the booke of K. Edw. according to the nature of the letter of that prayer appointed to be read last of all the prayers in the Letanie is an alteration and correction of the forme of the Letanie when as notwithstanding the transposition and alteration of that prayer by the parish booke appointed not to bee read last but before sundrie other prayers is rather a playne corruption and not a correction of that parte of the forme of the Letanie For this transposition is as if an husband-man should set his cart before his horse or as an Orator should place his coÌ„clusion before his proheme Again it can not probably or reasonably be gathered that the Parliament mentioning an alteration correction made of the forme of the Letany did inteÌ„d by the words forme of the Letany altered corrected that part of the matter of the Letany was or should be altered corrected For the matter of that prayer was good and without fault needed no alteration and correction at all yea and had the ParliameÌ„t detracted or intended that that prayer should be detracted out of the Letany and that by the detraction thereof the forme of the Letanie had ben altered and corrected then would no doubt the Parliament have spoken properly and plainly in this case like as the same did in the other two cases in this or the like maner viz. one prayer against the tyrannie of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities detracted In like sorte I say as it enacted one alteration or addition of certeyne lessons to bee vsed on every sunday in the yeare and two sentences only added in the delivery of the Sacraments to the communicants wherefore the Parliament in the excellencie of their iudgement sharpnes of their wisdom by thâ—se wordes forme altered and corrected necessarily implying that the forme of the Letany of King Edwards booke was faulty and corrupt it can not by any reasonable construction bee gathered that the Parliament by forme of the Letanie did intend any part of the matter of the Letanie which was good and sincere For if we speake properly and not tropically plainly and not obscurely iudiciously and not ridiculously as all Statutes and all wise Law-makers speak or ought to speak we can not say that any parte of the matter of a thing is the forme of a thing For what a vanitie were it to call the matter of a loafe the forme of a loase The matter of an house the forme of an house or the matter of a man the forme of a man much more vainly then needs must wâ— speake if we call the matter of a mast of a ship the forme of a ship the matter of the clapper of a bell the forme of a bell or the matter of the whit of an egge the forme of an egge Wherefore it can not otherwise be intended by the Parliament but that the faulty and corrupt forme order and disposition of prayers conteyned in the Letany of King Edwards booke was or at leastwise should have bene corrected and altered into an holy sincere forme order and disposition of prayers and not to have continued still faulty and corrupted as the same was in the beginning and first originall thereof Yea and that this indeed was the true meaninge of the Parliament is more fully confirmed vnto vs out of the doctrine of one of the Homilies commaunded publikely to bee read in the churches For coÌ„mon prayer saith the Homilie is rehearsed and said by the publicke Minister in the name of the people the whole multitude present whervnto they giving their ready audience should assent and say Amen But in the Letany of the boâ—ke attayned and gotten by the Parishioners the forme of prayers is not framed after this maner For in some part of the Letany the Minister only repeateth some thing for the which the people praye and so it commeth to passe that the people only praye and not the Minister yea and so the Minister supplieth the place of the people and the people the place of the minister Agayne in some other partes of the Letany the minister prayeth for one thing and the people following pray for another By meanes whereof the faultie and corrupt forme order and disposition of prayers in the Letany disagreeable to the doctrine of the Homilie remayneth vnaltered and vncorrected contrarie to the act of
or shall wilfully and obstinately standing in the same vse any other rite ceremonie order forme or maner c. By which Letter of the Statute it seemeth that the Minister is none otherwise punishable before the Kings Iustices vnlesse wilfully and obstinately standing in the same hee shall vse some other rite ceremonie order forme or maner of celebrating the Lords Supper then is mencioned c. And vpon this clause as hath bene heretofore generally conceaved certaine inditements exactly framed even by some Iustices of assises sitting vpon the bench against certaine Ministers for the not observation of the booke before other of the Queenes Iustices haue ben traversed and avoyded as being in this point erroneous and not agreeable to the intendement of the statute Yea and it hath bene the opinion of some great Lawyers who have bene since Iudges that it is almost impossible to frame an indightement against a Minister for the breach of the first parte of the former clause of the statute which is not traversable and avoydable Fift Quaere If a Minister bound to say common prayer in any parish church shall not refuse to vse but indeed shall vse the said common prayers in such order and forme as they bee mencioned in the said booke whether he be punishable before the Kings Iustices in maner and forme before expressed if he refuse to say any part chapter or section of the said booke which part chapter of section conteyneth no prayer For howsoever the whole booke be authorised yet the peyne seemeth in this case to have bene inflicted only for the omission of prayer and not for the omission of every part chapter or section of the booke Besides these questions and their reasons there bee other reasons to induce vs to be of opinion that a Minister before the Kings Iustices is not punishable in maner and forme above expressed for his refusing to vse all and every prayer and prayers rite and rites ceremonie and ceremonies section and sections in such order and forme as they bee mencioned and set forth in the said booke In the preface to the booke it is confessed that nothing can almost so plainly be set forth but that doubts may arise in the vse and practising of the same and therefore for the appeasing of all such diversiâ—ie and for the resolution of all doubts concerning the maner how to vnderstand doe and execute the things conteyned in the booke it is provided that the parties that so doubt or diversly take any thing shalresort to the Bishop of the Diocesse who by his discretion shall take order for the quieting and appeasing of the same so that the same order be not contrarie to any thing contained in the said booke And in the two last clauses of the preface it is said that all Priestes and Deacons shall be bound to say daylie the morning evening prayer either privately or openly except they be lett by preaching studying of Divinitie or by some other vrgent cause And that the Curate that ministreth in any parish Church or Chappell being at home and not otherwise reasonably lett shall say the same in the parish Church or Chappell where hee ministreth From which places of the preface being part of the booke it is plainly to be gathered that the intent and meaning of the Parliament was not to have the Ministers to be punished before the Kings Iustices in maner and forme before expressed for refusing to vse all and singuler the prayers rites ceremonies and sections in such order forme as they be mencioned in the said booke if either vpon the Ministers doubts rysing in the vse and practise of these things the Bishop by his discretion did not take order for the quieting and appeasing of the same or if the Minister by preaching the word studying of Divinitie or by some other vrgent or reasonable cause were let so to doe And if no Minister in any of the cases before meÌ„cioned be punishable by the Kings Iustices in maner and forme aboue expressed then it is manifest by the provisoes following that the Archbishops and Bishops have no power and authoritie by vertue of this act to inquire and punish the default of any minister in these cases by admonition excommunication sequestration or deprivation And this not onely by the letter of the last provisoe ordeyned for corroboration of the Archbishops Bishopps and other Ordinaries power and authoritie but also by the provisoe next and immediately following that Provisoe is a matter most cleere and vndeniable Provided alwayes and be it enasted c. That all and singular Archbishops and Bishops c. shall have full power and authoritie by vertue of this Act aswell to inquire in their Visitation Synodes c. to take accusations and informations of all and every the thinges above mentioned done committed or perpetrated within the limites of their Jurisdictions c. And to punish the same by admonition excommunication sequestration or deprivation c. If then a Minister shall not doe commit or perpetrate any of the things above mencioned and so not be punishable by the Kings Iustices it followeth that the same minister is not punishable by the Ordinarie And this also by the next Provisoe is more playne by which it is enacted That What soever person offending in the premises shall for his offence first receyne punishment of the Orainarie shall not for the same offence est soones be convicted before the lustices And likewise receyving for the said first offence punishment by the Iustices he shall not for the same offence est soones receyve punishment of the Ordinarle No offence then punishable before the Iustices no offence punishable by the Ordinarie From all which premises it seemeth that the Queene the Lords and Commons never intended to impose such an exact and precise observation of the booke of common prayer vpon the Ministers as that in no place nor at any tyme they should omitt the reading saying or vsing of a chapter a prayer a section a rite or ceremonie vpon peyne of imprisonment c. before the Queenes Iustices or vppon peyne of deprivation before the ordinary And therefore the intent of the Parliament not beeing so much to binde the Minister to such an exact and precise observation as to seclude all orders and formes of prayers ministration of Sacramentes vse of rites and ceremonies not mentioned and set forth in the saide booke it seemeth very vnreasonable and much derogatorie to the authoritie of that Parliament that Archbishoppes and Bishoppes who were all secluded from that Parliament should by their extentions constructions and interpretations as it were invert the playne meaning of the Parliament and that ea qua sunt destinata in vnum sinem should by them bee converted to an other end But now if the Archbishops and Bishops at the abandoning of the Popes power out of the Realme have as we confesse they had an ordinarie iurisdiction by the statutes of the Realme reserved to their
provided to bee worne the Surplice may not be worne For the better manifestation whereof it is necessary that we set downe the wordes of the Statute of the parish booke and of the booke of the second of K. Edw. the sixth vnto which booke of king Edward for the vse of ornaments the Ministers be referred both by the parish booke statute of 1. Eliza. c. 2. the wordes of which statute are these Provided alwayes and be it enacted That such ornamentes of the Church and of the Ministers shall be retayned and be in vse as was in the church of England by authoritie of Parliament in the second yeare of the raigne of King Edward the 6. vntill other order shal be therein taken by authoritie of the Queenes Matestie with the advise of her Commissioners appointed and authorised vnder the great seale of England for causes Ecclesiasticall or of the Metropolitane of this Realme Thus farre the statute the wordes of the parish booke follow It is to be noted that the Minister at the time of the Communion and other times in his ministration shall vse such ornamentes in the Church as were in vse by authoritie of Parliament in the second yeare of King Edw. the sixth according to the act of Parliament in that case enacted and provided The wordes of which booke of the second of King Edward are these Vpon the day and at the time appointed for the ministration of the holy Communion the Priest that shall execute the holy ministerie shall put vpon him the vesture appointed for that ministration that is to say A white Albe playne with a vestiment or cope Afterward it is said thus Vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes the English Letany shal be said or song c. And though there he none to communicate with the Priest yet those dayes after the Let any ended the Priest shall put vpon him a playne Albe or Surplice with a Cope and say all things at the Altar c. From all which places it is plaine First that no Minister at any time vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes after the Letany ended was bound simplie to weare a surplice at the Altare for it was in his choyse to put vpon him a playne Albe or Surplice with a Cope Secondly that no Priest vpon the day and at the time appointed for the Ministration of the holy communion might put vpon him a Surplice but only a white Albe playne with a vestiment or Cope Thirdly that no Minister vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes when hee read the Letany did weare or was bound to weare an Albe or Surplice and Cope For it had bene in vayne and a thing ridiculouse for the booke to have willed the Minister after the Letany ended to put vpon him those ornamentes if in the time of reading the Letany hee had had them vpon his backe Fourthly that no minister at or in any of the times services aforesaid is bound to put vpō him a Surplice vnlesse therewithall he weare a Cope For the vse of ornamentes ought to be according to the act of Parliament And therefore where no Cope there by the act no Surplice where no Altar to goo vnto after the Letany ended there no Surplice to be put on after the Letany where a Communion with a white Albe plaine a vestiment or Cope there a cōmunion without a Surplice There is yet one other speciall observation before touched though for an other purpose worthy to be reiterated in this place against the vse of the Surplice at the communion reading the Letany and saying prayers at the Altar And that is this Namely for that as well the Statute 1. Eliza. as the parish booke hath revived and commaunded the vse of those ornamentes according to the Act of Parliament 2. Edw. 6. which were repealed and forbidden by the booke of the 5. and 6. of King Edward the sixth It is to be noted saith the booke of 5. and 6. of King Edw. 6. That the Minister at the time of the communion and all other times in his ministration shall vse neither Albe vestiment nor Cope but being an Archbishop or Bishop he shall have and weare a Rochet and being a Priest or Deacon he shall have and weare a Surplice only And here it is to be noted sayeth the parish booke that the Minister at the time of the communion and at all other tymes in his ministration shall vse such ornamentes in the church as were in vse by Authoritie of Parliament in the 2. yeare of the reigne of King Edw. the 6. according to the Act of Parliament in that case made and provided which were as the booke of K. Edw. saith an Albe with a vestiment or Cope at the communion and an Albe or Surplice with a Cope vpon Wensdayes and Fridayes after the Letany ended But by the Provinciall constitutions ratified and confirmed by Act of Parliament the parishioners are enioyned at their costes and charges to provide a Surplice and in vayne were this charge layde vpon them if so be the Minister were not bound by the law to weare it It is true and can not be denied that all parishioners are enioyned and that every Masse-priest is bound by the Provincials the one sorte to provide the other to weare a Surplice for and at the celebration of the Masse and for and in the vse of other popish services The reason of the vse of which Surplice by the popish Glosers and Provincials is yeelded to be this That the Priest must be clothed with white to signifie his innocencie and puritie and also ob reverentiam Salvatoris nostri totius caelestis curiae quam sacramento altaris consiciendo confecto non est dubium interesse But how doeth it follow either from the provincall or reason of the provinciall that a Minister of the Gospell is bound by the provinciall to weare a Surplice at the ministration of the word and Sacraments of the Gospell when the doctrine and service of the Gospell is contrarie and repugnant to the service and doctrine of the Masse And when by the statute the Provinciall is not to be vsed and executed but as it was vsed and executed before the making of the statute which was Anno 25. of King Henry the eight at what time the service of the Masse called the Sacrament of the Altar was only in request A Minister therefore of the Gospell by the Provinciall is no more bound to weare a surplice then by the Provincials other lawes of the Realme he is bound to say a Masse For the Provinciall appointeth a surplice to bee worne at the Masse and other idolatrous services all which services and which Masse as being blasphemous to the sacrifice of our Saviour Christ once made vpon the crosse repugnant to the holy worship of God is abrogated by the lawes of the Realme Now then it were to bee wished that all states were given to vnderstand by what equitie law or good conscience