this superioritie ouer her Maiestie as being within the bodie of the churche or no they leaue it to the consideration of others the instance woulde bee as much as their life were worth And what shold they endanger their liues by vttering that in particular which in generall belike may be affirmed with safetie The generall assertion that a priest may haue a lawfull superior authoritie ouer the vniuersall body of the church being true and voide of treason why shall not the particular instance that the pope may be this priest which may haue this superiour authoritie ouer hir Maiestie as being included within the vniuersall bodie of the church be so to if one priest may haue this authoritie what shall hinder whie the pope may not be this priest though hee be not his idolatrie he may leaue his pride he may leaue his triple crowne he may leaue his name of pope he may leaue and whie then may not he somtimes though not alwayes be capable of this lawfull superiour authoritie Many of the Popes themselues neuer sat at Rome but either at Lions Arminia or Avinion looke Platina Baâ—e Pantal. c. as well as some other priest yea but this priest must not haue his scare at Rome TheÌ„ he will remooue his chaire vnto Rauenna or Canterburie and so there shal be no difference between him and this priest wherof D. Bridges speaketh And by this good diuinitie Sixtus the fifth now pope of Rome being no idolater void of pride abandoning his triple crowne and name of pope remoouing also his seate vnto LAMBETH might bee that one priest among the residue that might haue a lawfull superionr authoritie ouer the vniuersall bodie of the church as D. Bridges without blushing hath affirmed Let him nowe go and barke at the godly ministers in this land as he doth slaunderously in the preface of his prophane booke The intentes of vndermining the cinill gouernment are found in the vndutifull casket of his own bosome whereof their clothes are not once priuie What shoulde I at this time lay open any more of his vndutifull positions his booke I will at all times prooue to bee nothing els but a popish quilt let him challenge me of mine offer when he wil. This matter concerning her Maiesties supremacie being too too haynous of it selfe I meane not to agrauate and make more odious Your Hh. may see how pestilent and pernicious this wicked gouernment of our prelats is euen vnto hir Maiesties supreame and superiour authority which neuer any sincerelie seeking for reformation at any time eyther denied or diminished the same being rightly vnderstood according to the meaning of the statute And whatsoeuer hee hath saide of the godly learned ministers you see that it is he his fathers house with the gouernment thereof that go about to tread vnder foot the Lords annointed And this is the good diuinity that this Balaam for his lucres sake is not ashamed to teache and your Hh. dread not to tollerate As though we hadde to little to answere before the Lorde for the Antichristian dominion of the pope in this lande hee must needs make a priest in the land which may fetch the plague from other nations to bee powred vppon vs. Rather then the madnes of suche a prophet should be vnrebuked the very dumbe asse speaking with a mans voice would gain-say the fury of such a philistian tongue I cannot thinke my Lordes but that the Lorde hath some memorable plagues reserued for you and vs vnder your gouernment if notwithstanding all these things you stil countenance such 〈◊〉 in Israell as beeing the very ornaments of the Lords tabernacle I haue set downe out of the infallible trueth of Gods eternall word the reasons whereby the holie ghost cutteth the throare of all the corruptions in our church and hath giuen a deaths wounde vnto the vitall parts of this popish ware-house of Doctor bridges And let me see who will dare to replie vpon them As for D. bridges him selfe his vnfauery and vnlearned stile his popishe reasons long since bannished out of the schooles of all sound deuines hys tranflation of other mens writings throughout hys whole booke his vngodly and abhominable a Page 655. praier that the preaching of the word may neuer bee had generally throughout the land his scripture b Page 287. being the subscription of the second epistle to c Page 562.349.560 Timothie his alleadging of writers as cleare against himselfe as blacke is to white as of Augustine Caluin Aretius c his d Page 44â— imperfect periodes without sence or sauour his a Page a 272. Bishop Iames Arch-bishops b Page 259.69 266 Tim. and Titus his translations of c Page 450. vos autem nolite vocari rabbi into will not you bee called rabbi with thousand other monumens of his prophane imprety sottish ignorance and want of learning euidently conuince that he was neuer as yet in Platonis Politia where any good learning grewe but hath wallowed him selfe all his life in Romuli fece whence learning hath ben long since bannished godlines neuer shone And therfore he of al others can disproue nothing vnlesse the question before hand be granted of his side Yet let him know that I wil either be answered or haue the cause granted at his hands For to omit that in 160. sheets of paper he hath don nothing but ouer thrown him selfe vtterly shamed his whoorishe cause by shewing the nakednes thereof translated other mens writings taught the reader howe to vnderstand the learned discoarse and added marginall notes so that if other men had neuer written he would haue said nothing this shal be found vndoubtedly true throughout the whole booke that he hath made a couenant before hand not to dispute vnlesse you graunt conclusion all and rather flatlie to be non plus then prooue any thing But our 4. bishops and their fautors are or would be accounted learned I desire no more against them al but to be iudicially heard according to the word if I bee disprooued in any one thing I haue written I will not desire to liue Hence it must needs followe your Hh. hauing regard vnto the state of your soules and bodies before the Lord and your good name amongst posterities that if these things set downe bee true if not bring vpon me deserued shame punishment you will either redresse the miserable estate of distressed Wales by erecting there a godly ministery and abbolishing of al Cananitish reliques or for the maintenance of a few vnconscionable and godlesse men aduenture to vndergo the fiery and flaming execution of the burning decree of Gods anger My LI. be not deceiued the Lord of heauen is angrie wyth you and his whole a Iosh 7.9.21 ezech 38.22 hoast for the Babilonish garments of these Achans Retaine them no longer if you woulde not fall before the enemie When the Lorde shall plead with you your wiues children families and
God vppon such Magistrates as tollerate them The proposition is not to be doubted off The assumption is thus prouided That gouernement and that booke whiche holdeth Iesus Christ God and man to haue prescribed no external form of gouernment in his church but such as at the pleasure of the magistrate when time and place requireth may without sinne be altered preferreth Moses before the Lord Iesus This is manifest out of the expresse word out of the text Heb. 3.2.6 Because that the Lorde Iesus beeing the sonne in this place is compared with Moses a faithful seruaunt is preferred before Moses in regarde of the externall gouernement which Moses had so faithfully prescribed as it was not to bee altered or chaunged at the pleasure of any magistrate vntill the messiah should cause the oblations to ceas a Dan. 9 27. For whatking was there euer in Iudah that without the breach of Gods lawe could euer alter the externall forme of the iewish Church in the Leuitical priesthood officers And that the comparison between the sonne and the seruant Christ and Moses is concerning the externall and not concerning the spyrituall gouernment of the inner man as D. bridges sayth it is plaine bieause that Moses had nothing to doe with the gouerning of the inner man therefore it were no prerogatiue for the Lorde to be preferred in faithfulnes before Moses b page 55. lin 30. in that thinge wherein Moses neuer dealt Nowe I assume that our fourme of Church-gouernement in Wales and this wicked booke holdeth Iesus Christ to haue ordained such an externall forme of gouernment in his Church at his departure from earth to heauen as at the pleasure of the magistrate may be altered without the brech of Gods institution which thing D. Bridges affirmeth page 55. and all our prelates will graunt that the magistrate may alter the forme of gouernement now established and therefore this gouernement and this booke preferreth Moses before Iesus Christ And I cannot see how far this differeth from blasphemie Now if Christ shuld be saide to haue ordained no externall regiment then Moses is far before him and so the thirst of superioritie in our prelates and their accomplishes is turned into extreme drunkennes of impietie by this assertion I beseech the Lord in mercie to open your Hh. eies that you may see how he and his people haue bene dealt with by retaining such lawes in force as iustle and ouerthrow the royall prerogatiue of his sonne And the Lord make you to see whether those men that defend the interest of the sonne of God in this point against the tyrannicall vsurpation of prelats and haue brought for his title vnaunswerable euidence out of the sacred records of Gods owne writings offending either in matter or circumstance in no one thing but that they haue not dealt more earnestly with your Hh. and more ronndly with the aduersaries in the right of their master haue deserued to be imprisoned thrust out of their liuings reuiled railed vppon and slaundered by vngodly and wicked prelates vnto your Hh. as seditious and discontented men with the ciuill gouernment dangerous subiects and enemies to her Maiesties crowne And surely the cause being made knowen vnto you as it is howsoeuer the Lord may beare with your ouersight heretofore in the ignorance of the waight thereof yet if you do not now abrogate and abolish such a Church gouernement wel may you hope for the fauour and entertainment of Moses that is the curse of the law but the fauour and louing countenance of Iesus Christ I doe not see how you shall euer inioy My second reason That forme of church-gouerment and booke or bookes whiche maketh the ecclesiasticall regiment to bee an humane constitution that is such a constitution as is inclusiuely acording to the word any more then the ciuill gouernment which a 1. Pet. 2.13 2. Pet. 2.10 also must be inclusiuely according to the word and so may at the magistrates pleasure be changed as the ciuill gouernment may that gouerment and that booke or bookes besides that they prefer Moses before Iesus Christ as before is a wicked gouernment and they wicked sophisticall and vngodly bookes But our gouernement in Churche causes and b page 55. this booke with all other books of this greist make the ecclesiasticall gouernment to bee nothing else but an humaine constitution whiche may bee altered at the magistrates pleasure Therefore our Church-gouernement in Wales and this booke or bookes are vngodly and wicked The proposition is prooued by these reasons First because they make no difference betweene that which belongeth to the true worship of God as ecclesiastical gouernement doth that which appertaineth vnto ciuill pollicie 2. Peter 1.3 Contrary to the Apostle who affirmeth in expres words that we haue receiued by the knowledge of God whatsoeuer belongeth vnto true religion for so the word Eusebeia translated godlines signifieth in that place wheras there was neuer yet any place of scripture found wherin we are said to haue by the knowledge of God whatsoeuer belongeth to anthropinen kteisin the ciuill magistrat called mans ordinance by the same apostle a Peter 3. â—3 Wherin those thinges which are inuented by them that neuer knew God may be inclusiuelie according to the worde Secondly Ecclesiasticall gouernement being granted to be an humaine constitution maketh the Pope to haue sufficient b warraunt out of the worde not of his idolatrous and false religion And D. Bridges auoucheth this for good doctrin as I will shew but of his superioritie ouer ciuil magistrates and al the Pastors in the Churche For why should not hee the ciuill magistrate granting him this superioritie as they vnder his iurisdiction do be allowed by the word to be aboue the Emperour and all other magistrates and ministers whosoeuer if the ecclesiasticall gouernement be an humane ordinance For I am assured that the Emperor and all other princes in Europe may chuse a magistrate superiour vnto them all if they will And why may not he be a Byshop or an Arch-bishop if the Church-gouerment be an humane ordinance or if it be lawful for either of them to be a Lord and be are ciuill office Thirdly if Church-gouernment bee an humane constitution then it may be lawful for a Church-gouernour to preach administer the sacraments ouersee excommunicate c. and to be a king For the Apostle maketh it lawfull for any supplying the place of an humane constitution lawfully to bee a king and I would they durst denie it And where then learned they that diuinitie that it is more against the word for a Bishop to be Basileus a king Hyperichon a suriour Hegamon a captaine or gouernour b 1. Pet. â— 13 Luk. 22.25 beeing titles sanctified by the holy ghost for ciuill offices then Curios a Lord Hyperpheron a prelat of the garter Euergetes a lords grace The former the latter being by our Sauiour himself forbidden vnto Bishops or
ministers The second vz. Hyperpheron neuer read in the worde that I can remēber If they say that the abuse of lordlines and gracelesse grace is forbidden by Christe they haue bene answered they are answered and let them replie if they can that the Lorde neuer allowed abuse or tyrannie in ciuill gouernours wheras he doth not forbid them to rule as Lordes and to be called grace and therefore speaketh of the sanctified vse of gouernement and titles which sanctified vse lawfull in the ciuill magistrates hee denieth to be lawfull in his ministers Because therefore first to make that which belongeth to the outward worship of God to haue no more ground out of the worde then that which appertaineth vnto the ciuill magistracie Secondly to allow of the Popes superioritie and to affirme that a minister may also be a king are wicked and absurd assertions directly against the word as we see Therfore it is wicked in like manner to make the Ecclesiasticall gouerment to be an humane constitution And not vnlikly also by litle litle as experience in poperie techeth vs to paue the way for the vndermining of the ciuill gouernment For why may not a forged donation of Constantin or Ludouicus Pius in time ioyn the crown of England to the sea of Dauid or Bangor especially which from Ioseph of Aremathea can be prooued to haue a little better continuaunce of personall succession then Rome can from Peter aswell as it ioyned the kingdome of Scicilia the Dukedome of Naples the islands Corsica Sardinia c. vnto the Popes miter The thirde reason is thus ftamed and I will be briefe That forme of Church-gouernment that booke or bookes which teacheth that there is somthing to be obserued besides that which was concluded in the cōmission giuen by our sauiour christ vnto his Apostles Matth. 28.19.20 wherein they were enioyned to teach vs to obserue whatsoeuer hee had commaunded them is a gouernement execrable and accurssed and so are the bookes by the spirite of God in plaine wordes Gal. 1.9 And beeing such farre be it that either the gouernement or the bookes shoulde be maintained by law such a cursse being pronounced against the retaining of execrable things as we find Deut. 7.15 But our fourme of Church-gouernment in Wales and this booke with manye others published by auctoritie teach the same For where is it included much lesse prescribed in the woorde that our sauiour Christ abollished an outwarde gouernement of the Church in the Leuiticall pollity being in no sort an humaine ordinance but altogither prescribed by the Lorde him selfe to the ende that vnder the Gospell there should be no gouernment but an humaine ordinaunce that might bee chaunged at the pleasure of man Or where is it reuealed that the apostles gaue the ciuil magistrat when any should be in the Church the commission to aboll she the presbyterie established by them as our aduersaries confesse as the b word saith by god himselfe a 1 Cor. 13.5.12 Ephes 4.4 rom 12.6 1 pet 4.10 Mat. 21.25 12.11 and therefore not to bee abrogated vntill his pleasure in that point be known because there was no christian magistrate Therefore this gouernment and this booke or bookes are execrable and accurssed Lastly that fourme of gouernement and that booke or bookes which affirme the kingdoome of Christ in the ourward gouernment to be a kingdom that cānot be shaken that is altered or remoued as the ceremoniall gouernement was affirme that which is contrarie to the expresse written worde of God Heb. 12.28 and therefore not to be tollerated in anye christian estate But our Church gouernement in Wales by L. bb Arch-deacons dumbe ministers commissaries c in their making of minysters censures excommunications c is such and such is this vnlearned heape and sophisticall booke or bookes Therefore both the gouernement and the booke or bookes affirme things contrary to the word so are not to be tolerated vnlesse we would haue the Lorde bring speedye shame and confusion vpon vs Pro. 26.2.7 for maintaining sinne by law The proposition is most apparant Because that by the words kingdome that cannot be shaken must needes be ment perticularlye whatsoeuer signification else they haue as more generall the outward gouernement receiued vnder the Gospell since the abolishing of the ceremoniall law which being compared in regard of continuance and remoouing or doing away which Moses his gouernement is said to be a kingdom that cannot be shaken that is such as the Lord neuer meaneth to alter again vnto the worlds end as to haue another placed in the stead of it by him selfe much lesse by man whereas that vnder Moses a Hag. 2.7 is affirmed by Haggay and here by the apostle to bee a kingdome or gouernment that can bee shaken or altered And this is the proper meaning of the place For by the worde kingdome that cannot bee shaken must needs be ment either the assurance of saluation which we haue vnder the gospel or our enioying and possessing of eternall life or els the outward gouernement not onely in the preaching of the worde and administration of the Sacraments but in the very church offices the manner of their choice and their subiects wherein they are occupied But as concerning the assurance of saluation in this life and the possession of eternall life in heuē which the fathers vnder the law had it was no more to be shaken then ours the meanes therevnto by the word preached they had aswell as wee and so in these respects they had a kingdome that could no more be shaken then ours It remaineth therefore that theirs was to be shaken in regard of theyr outward gouernement and therfore ours vnmoueable in this respect which were senselesse to be affirmed if Christ in his kingdome wherevnto wee are heere subiects had instituted no externall gouernement Can that bee vnmoouable which is not at al more senselesse it were to thinke this kingdome to be vnmutable in regard of the sacraments and not of the persons and offices who were to deale with those misteries To come againe to your Honors you are not to learne that to defend by lawe or countenaunce by aucthority the breach of Gods ordinance is the defence of sin the defence of the sin is hatred of God who rewardeth thē to their face that hate him deu 7.10 therfore also you are not to be taught what horrible sinnes you committee in countenauncing and maintayning such execrable impieties They ar no trifles as you see And I assure you that Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab men a Nom. 26 9. famous in the congregation had more colour of right to claime vnto them selues either the ciuill gouernement from Moses or the priesthoode from Aaron because they were the sonnes of Reuben the first born vnto whose lot b Genes 49.4 had he not defiled his fathers bed by all likelyhoode either the scepter or the priesthood shold haue fallen then these
vsurpers haue to claim the places they are in whereunto either by right of inheritaunce according to the flesh or ordinaunce from God they can lay no title You are wise inough I hope to consider what it is to tollerate the manifest breach of Gods law Well if you be not carefull herof yet at the lest look how you countenance the manifest ouerthrowe of her Maiesties sepreame authoritie and royall soueraigatie ouer her people both ministers and others which D. bridges as flatly ouerthroweah in this booke as euer did any that gaine-saied the same For the proofe hereof let his owne wordes bee brought foorth and arraigned be-before your Hh. page 448. line 3. these be his words Doth S. Peter then forbid that any one elder should haue and exercise any superiour gouernment ouer the cleargy vnderstanding the cleargie in this sense If hee doth not but alloweth it and his selfe practised it then howsoeuer both the name both of gouerning and of Cleargie may be abused the matter is clear that one priest or elder among the residew may hane a lawfull superiour aucthoritye ouer the cleargie that is ouer all the vniuersall bodye of the Church in euerie perticular or seuerall congregation Compare Belacap 10. lib 5. Con. 3. with this page and you shall finde the one to haue spoken for the arch bish the same â—â—at the other â—oth for the â—ope and so not onely ouer the people but also ouer the whole order of ministers Thus far are his words A shameles miserable doctor he is if he dare denie them but more miserable and shameles if affirming them he dare looke any christian subiect in the face much lesse your Hh. Belarmine the chiefe popish writerin our daies hath said no more for the pope in fiue whole books written vpon this controuersie Out of the D. words I thus reason Whosoeuer affirmeth that one priest amongst the residue may haue a lawfull superiour aucthoritie ouer the vniuersall bodie of the Church hee besides the inducing of a forrain power affirmeth that a priest may exercise a lawfull superiour authority ouer her Maiestie and all other magistrates much more ministers within the vniuersallbodie of the Church 1. Eliza. 1 13. Elizab. 1.1 Elizab. 5 and so directly is within the compasse of treason by the breach of the statuts prouided for the maintenance of her Maiesties supremacie within her owne dominions But D. Bridges doth this Doctorem ad capitale judicium voco poenae talionis me offe rens nisi laesa maiestatis rerum prob auero modo ipse sibi constiterit Ac deum testor me non patroni iugalum petere sed causa let his own words witnes against him Therfore he affirmeth that som one priest may exercise a lawfull superiour authoritie ouer her Maiestie and so is within compasse of the said statutes if he dare staÌ„d to that he hath written Nothing can be inferred out of his words but that which is set downe in the proposition for I am sure he wil not be so impudeÌ„tly traiterous as to deny hir Maiestie to be contained within the vniuersal bodie of the Church For by this meanes the wretched man would make her Maiesty to be an infidel and so should snare himselfe againe within the compasse of * treason And if he saye his meaning is not that this priest should be a forainer 13. Eliza. 1. and so thinketh to delude the statuts the plaster maketh the wound farre more grieuous and irkesome For first the iniurious indignitie is far greater vnto her right excellent Maiestie to make her owne vassall to bee a superiour gouernor ouer her vnto whom no prince els in all Europe will yeelde any homage then to acknowledge her selfe to be within the sheepefolde of a forraine Pope who it may bee is a Noble man borne and hath the Emperor the greatest states in christendome vnder his pastorall charge In the seconde place what notable contumelie is this for the noblekinges of Denmarke and Scots the state of Germanie Heluetia and all others that haue reiected the Popes authoritie as vnlawfull not onely in regard of his idolatrie and pride but euen of his lordly rule and supreme dignitie to holde it lawfull for them to haue an English priest to vsurpe authoritie ouer them and the Churches within ther dominions And I cannot expresse what indignitie it were to conceiue so vilely of her Maiestie the whol assemblie of parliament and your Hh. as to deeme that you banished poperie out of the land no otherwise then you thought it lawfull notwithstanding for an Englishe prieste I keepe the priestly D. owne wordes in stead of an Italian pope to haue superiour aucthoritie ouer the vniuersall bodie of the Church And howsoeuer some lawyers not vnderstanding how the state of the question concerning the popes prerogatiue is set downe by the best late popish writers might finde shifts for D Bridges to auoid the danger of the statute because there is not a particular instance brought in by him of a particular priest and a particular prince yet herof your Hh. may be assuredly perswaded that if the thinges set downe in this wretched and slaunderous booke be tollerable canonical the question concerning the popes supremacie whiche is the point I vrge and not the treason is granted on the papistes side For if it be yeelded that one priest or elder among the residue may haue a lawfull superiour authority ouer the vniuersall bodie of the Church that an Apostle might be a bish affirmed by a page 272. D. Bridges that Peter was prince of the Apostles being the title as it were the iuibushe of b page 445. 446. 2. pages in this dutifull booke that from Peter the originall of vnitie did spring that the Church might be grounded vpon vnitie alledged by the D. out of c page 445. Ciprian The like sentence beeing no lesse then thrise brought in by Bellarmine out of Ciprian also to the same purpose if these things I say be granted what can the papists desire more to inferr the popes supremacie for eyther they will prooue Peters successour to be this priest or some other must be brought that can shew better euidence then he can This is Bellarmines own reason De Rom. ponti lib. 2. cap. 12. 753. D. and these be the points in the proofe whereof hee hath sweat and laboured so sore in his first two books de Rom. pontif And if the auoiding of a particular instant would answere the statute no popish traitors hereafter will be gotten within the compasse thereof seeing in generall tearmes they may lawfully auouch the popes supremacie and stande vnto this high treason the particular opening wherof would cost them their liues and they will say no more but that one priest may haue a lawfull superiour authoritie as D Bridges saith Peter had ouer the vniuersall bodie of the Church Now whether this prieste be the pope or no or whether the pope may haue
question is to be made knowen The slate of the question is whether he be anie minister at all good or bad vnto whome the Lord neuer said go and preach Mat. 28.18.19 I denye such a one to be any which is not whether our readers be such as haue the names supplie the places of ministers for he that will not graunt this denieth heat to be in the fire but whether they by the vnlawfull consent of our corrupt prelats stealing the names intruding themselues vppon the places of ministers that is hauing a corrupt outward calling be ministers indeede So that for the better vnderstanding of this controuersie I graunt that in our Churche in those daies of hir ruines there bee two sortes of ministers First a minister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely in name which is not a minister indeed Secondly a minister both in name and deede which also is double First a minister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is hauing not only vpon him the name of a minister but also in him these thinges which are agreeable vnto the name and giue the essence and being therevnto Secondly a minister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which both carrieth the name is pertake of the essence thereof and laboureth to perform indeed whatsoeuer belōgeth vnto his calling onely this minister is the good minister As for the ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they bee not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are all of them euill ministers Of the whiche crue are all those attainted with the faults spoken against a 1. Tim. 3.4.7 in the worde whome although by the censures of the Church they should bee compelled to leaue either theyr faultes or their ministerie yet I dare not deny to be ministers as long as the church tollerateth them vnlesse their offences bee such as presently there ensueth b 2. King 23.9 Ezeb 44.10 a nullitie of their ministerie before the Lord. Those who are onely ministers in name of which sorte by the reasons following I prooue all our readers to bee are not ministers indeede and therefore can by no meanes be accounted ministers Especiallie seeing as good and as able ministers altogether as they are might in ciuill pollicie bee established among the sauadge Caniballs who feed vpon mens flesh though they should neyther suffer any to come amongest them that might teache them true religion nor resorte them selues where the same were professed For our Liturgie booke of Articles manner of ordaining of Bishops and Priests articles agreed vpon by the cleargie in the conuocation house might bee translated vnto their toong they by a Lord-Archbishop or Bishop Caniball might bee mad Deacons or foule Priests to were a surplice a cloake with sleeues a truncke gowne a cap and tipper and I thinke bell and babell ornaments fit inogh for such deformed coxcombs to read a Gospell church women bid fasting dayes and holy-daies profane the Sacramentes praye at the buriall of the dead pronounce a cursse against sinners vppon Ash-wendsday and at no time els ordaine a new Sacrament of the crosse in the profanation of baptisme visit the sicke with a wafer cake and a wine-bottell read Homilies pray for the prosperitie of theeues pyrates murtherers yea a Pope Cardinall Arch-bishop Lord-bishop or any other enemie of God his Church if he trauaile by land or by water and brieflie to performe whatsoeuer anie reader within wales by his outwarde calling is bound to do Now any reasonable man would denie these to be ministers howbeit they emoyed the names and roomes agreeable vnto that function And I pray you what difference should there be betweene these and our readers in regard of their ministerie In their persons I graunt some might bee shewed but that can be nothing to make their ministerie disagree And this out of all controuersie is most true that no ministerie can be where true religion is not no ministerie can be out of the church as we see the ministerie of our readers may For the Apostle inseperablie ioyneth the gathering ' together of the saints with the a Ephes 4.22 worke of the ministerie Where also the importunacie of the distinction that they are euill that they are maimed ministers therfore ministers is esier answered then propoūded by granting thē to be euill may med ministers indeed but so euil and so maimed as they are flatly none so making 2. kinds of euill ministers the one so euil so maimed as they are none at al the other in deede euill and maymed but so as they want not the life whereby a minister is a minister A Chyrurgion entering into a campe of discomfited and wounded men shoulde finde them all it maye bee wounded and maimed in most miserable sorte but some so maimed as they were not men but deade corpses The same is to be said of our foiled and maimed ministerie in this Lande wherein all from the highest to the lowest some few excepted which kepe vs from beeing like Sodome and Gomoraah shal be found mangled by Sathan sorrowfull and desperate sight in their verie essential parts but some so maimed that they are as dead as the doore naile Now that all our readers want the very life essence and beeing whereby a minister is a minister that is are not ministers in deed I proue by these two reasons and haue prooued in the booke by the reasons that shall ensue Whosoeuer wanteth that life which is either prescribed or included in the word to be the life of a minister good or bad hee hath not so much as the life of a badde minister much lesse of a good But our readers want both that life which is prescribed or included in the worde to be the life of a good minister and that which is the life of a bad minister Therefore our readers haue not so much as the life of a bad minister much lesse of a good The proposition is most manifest For whence learne we what giueth life and beeing vnto a minister but out of the woorde The proose of the assumption is thus concluded First there is no essence of that minister either as good or as a bad minister set downe to the worde whereof there is at all no mencion made in worde The truth hereof Appius Caecus might see Doth the worde shewe what life and beeing hee can haue whome it denieth to be at all But our readers are not mentioned in the word as publik ministers Because the word neuer dremt of that minister vnto whome it is not sayd go a Math. 28.19 and teach Therefore there is no essence or life of our readers mentioned off in the worde either as good or as bad ministers Secondly there is no essence or life of that minister either as a good or as a badde minister set downe in the word which is but the ordinance of the church by the ordinance of the church I mean euery ministery minister which is not read of in the word howsoeuer
miserable if being warned of your estate you be hardened still in this securitie But this is not all Secondly therefore the Lords wrath hangeth ouer your heads for tollerating in Wales the dumb ministery the vsurped and Antichristian seates of Lorde Byshops and other Romish offices there remaining and so tollerated as by your consente and authoritie they are in force If Moses by a positiue law should haue allowed the offring of strange fire by Nadab and Abihu tollerated the ministerie of c Leui 20.18 23 blemished and deformed Leuites enacted that one not being of the line of Aaron might presse before the Altar d Nom. 16.10 18.7 to offer the breade of his God if Dauid had made it lawfull for Huzza to lay his hand vpon the Arke if Iosiah or any of the godly rulers had giuen leaue vnto the cursed shepherds in their daies to place others in their steed e Ezek. 44.8 to take the ouersight of the Sanctuarie briefly had established any thing contrary to the commandement in the Churche-gouernment prescribed by Moses had they not bin in danger of Gods wrath questionles they had And shal your HH be dispenced with being guilty of tollerating and establishing greater thinges amongst your people in Wales in stead of the gouernement prescribed by Iesus Christ assure your selues no. I do therefore in this point for the discharge of my conscience and dutie towards the Lord his church my Countrey and your Hh. taking my life in my hand testifie vnto you before the eternall GOD and his church that our vnlearned ministerie is no ministerie in deede that the calling of our L. Bb. Archdeacons Commissaries somoners and al other the excrements of the Romishe vomit as non-residents c remaining in Wales are intolerable before the Lorde and that it is not likely that euer your Hh. tollerating these things any longer shall escape the reuenging hand of God The truth hereof I make knowne briefly bicause I would not be tedious vnto your Hh. by the reasons following and offer to prooue these things more at large vppon the perill of my life and by the grace of God will against our 4. L. Bb. all their Chapleins retainers fauourers and welwillers whether in either of the two vniuersities in this lande or in anye place els in earth or in hell for in heauen I knowe they haue no fautors These things I offer to prooue against D. Bridges who lately in a booke of 7. shillings price hath vnder-taken their defence wherein besides the wrong done vnto the Church of God he hath offered her Maiestie and your Hh. most vndutifull iniurye by going about for the defence of his bellye and the bellies of the rest of his coate to ouerthrowe her Maiesties title of soueraigne preheminence and to alienate the heartes of the loyallest subiectes in the land from their most louing and carefull Prince gouernours As though her Maiestie and your Hh. ment to turne the edge of the sword against them who indeed deserue not to be smitten with the scabard And I will prooue that he hath crammed into this gorge as plaine poperie for the defence of our prelates as euer Belarmin Turrian Harding Saunders or any other the fierbrands and ensign-bearers of Romishe treason against her Maiesties crowne haue brought for the title of the popes supremacy Although he hath bene and I doubt not shal be sufficiently answered by those whose bookes hee is not worthie to beare yet in asmuch as hee in this booke hath shewed him selfe to bee an Ammonitish Tobiah against the building of Ierusalem in Wales by desending alasse reliquias Danaum the very breaches and ruines of the Babylonish ouerthrow which by the iust iudgement of God vnder poperie we haue sustained to be the perfectest building that Syon can be brought vnto and so by this slaunder withstandeth the saluation which I doubt not her Maiestie and your Hh. wishe vnto my Countrey I haue so framed my reasons folowing as they ouerthrowe the verye foundation and whole frame of that wicked booke And on the condicion that his cause maye fals If I besides that which others wil do ouerthrow him his cause I offer before your Hh. to lie in irons eat the bread of affliction vntill in a twise 7. pennie booke I disprooue by the worde make an vtter spoyle ruine ouerthrow of whatsoeuer he hath brought for the defence of that whiche in the gouernement is oppugned according to the woorde by the learned in this Lande I speake not more confidentlye then I should do for I know the cause to be a most confident and sure cause and therefore not timorouslye to be dealt in but in the feare of God with all boldnes to be stood too and aduouched Nowe that our dumbe ministers non-residents L. Bb. Arch-deacons c are nothing els but an increase a Nom. 22.14 of sinfull men risen vppe in stead of their fathers the Idolatrous monks and fryers stil to augment the fierce wrath of God against this land and you our gouernours and that this booke of D. Bridges and whatsoeuer els hath bene written for their defence are nothing els but edicts traitors against God and slaunderers to your sacred gouernement to defend the sale and exchange of church goods and the verye distruction of soules to speake all in a word that both these cortuptions and their defences are condemded by the Lords reuealed will as things directly against his will and the lawes of his maiestie expressed in his written word and therfore not to be tollerated by your Hh. vnlesse you thinke you may tollerate sinne by law nor yet once to bee spoken for or countenannced vnlesse you woulde plead for b Iudg. 6.31 Baall I prooue by these reasons That forme of Church-gouernment which maketh Iesus Christ to bee inferiour vnto Moses is an vngodly gouernement flat contrary to the c Heb. 3.6 nom 12 7. worde and therefore in no case to bee tollerated and the booke or bookes defending the same are vngodlye wicked and lying bookes But our Church-gouernment in Wales by L. Bb. Arch-deacons dumbeministers and other ecclesiastical officers there as for non-residents let this one reason for all serue against them they in asmuch as in them lyeth bereaue the people ouer whome they thrust themselues of the onely ordinarye meanes to saluation which is the d Rom. 10.14 1. cor 1.21 1. pet 1.21 word preached is such a gouernment as maketh the Lord of life Iesus Christ inferior vnto Moses and this book of Doctor Bridges doth the same therfore this gouernement in a gouernement not to be tollerated by law in any state vnlesse men would feele gods heauie iudgements for the same and therefore also a gouernement most pernitious and daungerous vnto the ciuill magistrate where it is established and this booke or bookes defending the same are vngodly wicked and lying books traiterous against the Maiestie of Iesus Christ crying for the importable vengeaunce of