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A50647
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The merit and honour of the old English clergy asserted by laws and customs patriarchal, mosaical, evangelical, English, ecclesiastick, ethnick, and the demerit of the new clergy discovered / by an author anonymous.
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Author anonymous.
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1662
(1662)
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Wing M1786; ESTC R35039
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57,972
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183
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was so tender over poor Pagan Gibeonites be wholly neglective of our own Christian Godly and Learned Priests and High-Priests one and all O rather let that Canon of the Council of Nice prevail 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let old English Oaths Customs Usages Lawes Concessions Execrations prevail SECT IV. Jus Israeliticum Mosaicum The Israelitish account under the Law of Moses IF neither the signal and personal Merit of our old English Clergy nor the fair practice and precedents of our own Ancestors will oblige there are yet many Cords of love as the Prophet phraseth it twisted from the joynt practice of the most Generous Noble and Heroick Israelites in whom no guile who lived also in a pure and mere Theocratie as Gods peculiar Portion and Appropriation Begin we with Moses Whose own word as Gods great Legislator might determine this Controversie for our more glorious Ministery under the Gospel Moses the man Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the meekest man in all the earth Num. 12.3 Moses was of generous Extraction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fair and handsom person in the eyes of God Acts 7.20 Moses was deeply learned in all the wisdom of the Aegyptians Acts 7.22 Moses was valiant and couragious 〈…〉 â—ampion fourty years in the 〈…〉 ness against all Zamzummims 〈…〉 the sons of Anak Moses also 〈…〉 friend 〈…〉 the appellative of him onely and of Abraham in all the Old Testament This even this Moses was the noble and singular friend of Aaron and of the Tribe of Levi by a specialty of favour and endearment This meekest person in all the earth giveth a large benediction on them and a double execration and imprecation on all Malignants to that despised Tribe Deut. 33.11 Bless Lord not him only but his substance and accept the work of his hands And then he shifteth his foot from Mount Gerizzim to Mount Ebal Smite through the loins of them that rise against him and of them that hate him that they rise not again This mirrour of Gentility and Lenity upon Gods own record first falleth on cursing of such Edomites next giveth an extensive and entailed curse upon the loyns of their enemies then the fatal doom of a final and irrevocable destruction praying to the God of mercies that such may never rise again Go on now ye profane world ride on prosperously ye Edomites and Zamzummims Can these words be only airy and windy Are these curses but bruta fulmina Sure I am that if it be deeply considered that the holy Apostle fetcheth our Gospel-Ministry from Aaron Hebr. 5.4 No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron and Gospel-maintenance from Moses Law 2 Cor. 9. and Saint Jude maketh the gain-saying of Core a sin committed under the Gospel and Jude 11. Jer. 33.20 21. If ye can break my Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night and that there should not be day and night in their season even such is my Covenant with the Levites and Priests my Ministers and lastly if the Gospel-Ministry be more glorious then that of the Law whereof Saint Paul giveth most elaborate proof and argumentation 2 Cor. 3. per totum I say if all or any of these are demonstrable then it is more then a probability that the influence of Levi's benediction or the influence of that imprecation against his enemies is not expired or exstinct even under the Meridian of our Gospel-age Let any generous and Christian Soul first read the patern of Moses in the Mount and lay it close to his Reins and flat and plain to his Heart 2. Next I dare arraign and convent all the Tribes not of the Gentility only but of the vulgar Laity also in our own Israel and give them another specialty and patern of honour and favour in the Theocratie the Government of Gods choice and administration Is it not generous Sirs highly observable by you and by each called Christian that the Lord of Hosts was so tender and indulgent to the Militia togata Num. 2.2 Ainsworth that by his special order and instruction the twelve Tribes were each and all of them of the Life-guard to the Sanctuary and to the Ministers of the Sanctuary Iudah Issachar and Zebulun on the East Dan Asher and Naphtali on the North Reuben Simeon and Gad on the South Ephraim Manasseh and Benjamin on the West and the Sanctuary in the midst of them all or in meditullio and Aaron with the Priests and Levites immediately surrounding and encompassing the Sanctuary So that the Sanctuary and the Ministers of it were encircled and guarded about by the auxiliary Forces of all the twelve Tribes and of all the men in the Camp It is now offered to the option and vote of all ingenuous persons whether they had rather chuse to make a breach and violation of that order by carrying weapons not defensive but offensive to the Ministers of the Sanctuary or else become Angeli castrametantes Angels even guardian Angels pitching their Tents round about them 3. The same Divine Wisdom in his own peculiar Common-wealth to enforce a happy association and blessed fraternity 'twixt Gentry and Clergy took and selected some eminent person of the State and another eminent person of the Church and united and sorted them together Just as the same Piety and Prudence under the New Testament consorted the very Apostles two and two for the ferment and perpetuity of love and respect among themselves and to consummate a very equipage of honour from each mutually and reciprocally Exod. 17.12 Thus was Moses consorted with Aaron in the very first field that ever his people fought and the Lord caused it to be recorded ad perpetuam rei memoriam v. 14. Write this for a memorial in a Book that the same course might for ever after be holden in all The like union and conjugation was of Barak with Deborah Judg. 4.9 Isa 37. 2 Chron. 20.14 2 Kings 13.14 of Hezekiah the King with Isaiah the Royal Prophet of Iehoshaphat with Iabaziel of Ioash with Elisha Thus both the Lily and the Cross were very consistent in Gods Heraldry And their mutual and reciprocal honour and respects to each maketh them both as the Church in the Canticles terribilis sicut acies ordinata i. e. terrible to others and amiable 'twixt themselves as an Army with Banners Thus 1. the signal vote and prayer of the King of Israel Gods great Legislator 2. the posture of the twelve Tribes of Israel 3. the fraternity of Sacred and Secular Order make up King Salomons treble cord to bind and unite their affections reciprocally to each other 4. It is highly observable by the proud contemners of the Clergy and singly and solely is an argument demonstrative and invincible for Priestly honour and dignity against all gain-sayers of Corahs order That cùm in omni natione certum aliquod nobilitatis argumentum Joseph in vita
authority to dispose of the Goods of the Church but as the holy Scriptures do testifie they are committed onely to the Priests to be disposed of And another saith That the King by evil Counsellors caused the Temporalties of Bishops to be seised into his hands 1 Edw. 3. c. 2. to the great damage of the Bishops Which from henceforth shall not be done 4. The temper and tenour of English Law In the Magna Charta confirmed 32. times by our best Parliaments it is expresly said We have granted to God and by this our Charter have confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that the Church of God shall be free and shall have her whole rights liberties inviolable The great Charter 2 Part. Instit proaem saith Sir Edw. Cook is no new Law but it is declaratory of the principal and fundamental Laws of England And he saith the Nobles and great Officers were to be sworn to the observation of it And by a Parliament it was judged and taken as the Common Law of England 25 Edw. 1. And which is not unworthy your observation in our printed Statutes there is an heavy curse pronounced against those who shall break this grand Charter 12 Hen. 3. pag. 23. Whilest then the Souls of Kings and Souls of Parliaments and Souls of Nobles and the Soul of the Law lye all at stake and must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Clergy he is a Fellow without a Soul in the Spanish Proverb of a debauched and dissolute person and no Christian Gentleman that studieth and meditateth the violation and alienation of that Reverence and Maintenance Deut. 27.17 Cursed be he that removeth the ancient Land-mark And all the people shall say Amen 5. The Devotion of English Gentry and Souldiery hath been such that a very ancient Bishop and our own Countrey-man saith Jo. Sariâ—b Polychron l. 6. c. 10. Jam inolevit consuetudo solennis i. e. Even in his ancient dayes it was yet a more ancient and solemn usage and custom that Eâ ipsâ die quâ militari cingulo decoratur i. e. In that very day in which they were honoured with the badge and girdle of a Military Person they took their Swords imposed them on the Altar of Gods Church and made a celebrious Protestation of devoting both their weapons and themselves as the obsequious Propugners of the Altar and its Ministers Neither was this Superstitious practice as some would call it without the fair precedent of all the 12. Num. 2. Tribes encompassing and guarding the Tribe of God as shall be evidenced in the sequele of our Discourse touching the Israelitish account 6. The sad and bitter Execrations and Imprecations against Malignants to the Order are solemn denunciations of an utter total final and eternal separation from God and his blessing Body Soul Estate Posterity and all Ye may read the black lines of such composed by the command of that great King Edgar apud Jo. Selden in Notis ad Eadmerum pag. 155 156. They are doomed to the same damned end with lapsed Angels and Devils Cain Judas And even these Curses are but Copies drawn from the Originals and Authenticks of the meekest man Moses Deut. 33.11 and Darius his curse Ezr. 6.12 and Malachi 3.7 ad finem And the Curse was even visible of late dayes according to the Prophetick Prediction of a great Sage and Judge of English Law On the book of Statutes Anno 51. Hen. 3. That a sacrilegious or but slovenly Religion endeth commonly as ours lately did in downright Atheism Sir Edw. Cook in Winchesters Case 7. For the last the ancient English Usages and Customs the Priest had such eminent honour that Minori Thano i. e. villae Domino atque Militi aequiparabatur in censu capitis pariter aestimatus pariterque alià s honorandus i. e. His honour and account was in Equipage to the Lord of the Manour and Town Spelman Praef. Concil And again Selden Hist c. 14. sect 1. Comes praesidebat foro Comitatûs non solus sed adjunctus Episcopo hic ut Divinum jus ille ut Humanum diceret alterque alteri consilio esset auxilio i. e. The Bishop and the Sheriff were Coassessors in the County-court c. Can we yet further give instance of some singularity and specialty of favour in our English Constitutions and Canons of Charity The Bishop saith Sir Edw. Part 1. fol. 86. Cook non facit homagium Regi dicens Ego sum homo tuus doth not homage even to the King saying I am your Man sed fidelitatem but fealty quia homo est solius Dei because he is the Man only of God The Parson also in regard of his continual attendance upon that sacred Function is freed from all personal charges that may hinder him in his Calling For such an one shall not be chosen Bayliff Bedel Reeve or other such Officer nor be compelled to come to the Sheriffs Turn to the Leets of the King or other Lords Finch Of Law book 2. c. 1. p. 88 and all this by the course of Common Law saith Sir H. Finch What a strange inversion and perverting of those Orders from some mens Pride and Petulancy who while they would seem to sit on the Sunday at the feet of their Apostles and Teachers yet expect to have them all the week after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hominum homines in base and servile compliances and homages to each mans humour and fancy In short while we have had Courteous Sirs the Bond and Obligation by Oaths of Kings Nobles Parliaments and constant Customs and Usages as declaratory to indemnifie and secure the Clergies Honour and Patrimony must they not even yet be inviolable intemerate Let the Oath to poor and mean Gibeonites by Gods own verdict and sentence be the end of this Controversie The Case was thus The Gibeonites were a poor Pagan Heathenish Nation once devoted to destruction There was yet the interposition of an Oath for their Indemnity and there was an addition of a Dedication à parte post They were given to God therefore called Nethinims Ezr. 2.47 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to give for the service of the Temple to be Hewers of wood Josh 9.27 and Drawers of water An office vile and base even to a Proverb From the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water Deut. 29.11 Yet about 400. years after King Saul 2 Sam 21. in his zele too to please the humour of the people seeking to cut asunder all Bonds and Obligations to that despicable Gibeonite God sendeth three years Famine and hangeth up Sauls seven sons in Gibeah for their fathers violation of that Oath This the Verdict this the Judgment and Execution Suppose ye then Gentle Sirs all the English Clergy to be Gods Nethinims given to his service and suppose them as vile and base as Hewers of wood and Drawers of water Will the same God that