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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	authority_n	jurisdiction_n	power_n	1,683	5	4.9363	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17925	Certaine considerations drawne from the canons of the last Sinod, and other the Kings ecclesiasticall and statue law ad informandum animum Domini Episcopi Wigornensis, seu alterius cuiusuis iudicis ecclesiastici, ne temere & inconsulto prosiliant ad depriuationem ministrorum Ecclesiæ: for not subscription, for the not exact vse of the order and forme of the booke of common prayer, heeretofore provided by the parishioners of any parish church, within the diocesse of Worcester, or for the not precise practise of the rites, ceremonies, & ornaments of the Church.	Babington, Gervase, 1550-1610.	1605 (1605)	STC 4585; ESTC S120971	54,648	69

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 tēporal 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 frō some parity or semblance of reason you might have inferred that a Parson or Vicare for cōtempt deprived of his free hold annexed to his function might notwithstanding such cōtempt 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 foūd 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 deprivatiōs 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 cōtempt vnto his ordinaries admonitiō 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 whē 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 deprivatiō 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 l●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 advāced 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 ●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

of this act Now by what other words then by these of this provisoe could the Parliament more fully and clearly have expressed their mind that the same by the tenor and effect of this provisoe intended for ever wholy to seclude all Papall and foraine canons from being vsed and executed within this Realme For at the petition and submission of the clergie the Parliament having first enacted that neither they nor any of them from thencefoorth should presume to attempt alleadge clayme or put in vre any constitutions o● ordinances Provincionall or Synodalles or any other Canons And againe at the petition and submission of the Clergie the same Parliament having committed to the view search examination and iudgement of the King and 32. persons such Canons constitutions and ordinances or the said Canons constitutions and ordinances provinciall and Synodall which as thertofore had bene made by the Clergie of this Realme And lastlie by this proviso the same Parliament having enacted that such Canons provinciall constitutions provinciall ordinances provinciall Synodalls Provinciall for the word Provinciall by the whole tenor and effect of this Act can not in this place but have reference to everie of these wordes shall still be vsed and executed c. till such tyme as they be viewed searched or otherwise ordered and determined by the said two thirtie persons c. Seeing these things I say be thus First submitted then afterwards committed and lastly provided and not one word sillable or lotter ayming at the continuance vse keeping or obedience of the popish canon law it can not bee averred by any vnlesse he be too too conceited opiniative that the Canon law or any part thereof made by the Pope without the Realme may lawfully at this day be attempted alleadged claymed or put in vre within the Realme by any Iudge Ecclesiasticall what soever yea and thus much also is confirmed by a statute 37. H. 8. c. 17. Howsoever therefore the Kings of England deryving their Ecclesiasticall Lawes from others being proved approved and allowed hereby and with a generall consent are rightly and aptly called the Kings Ecclesiasticall lawes of Englande in like maner as those lawes which the Normans borrowed from England were called the lawes of Normandie and as those lawes which the Romans fetching from Athens being allowed and approved by that state were called Ius ciuile Romanorum howsoever I say this be true nevertheles herevpon it will not follow that those Ecclesiasticall lawes thus borrowed and derived from others may then any more rightly and aptly be called the Kings Ecclesiasticall lawes of Englande when once by and with a generall consent in Parliament they have bene disproved and disallowed Yea and when also they have bene vtterly adnulled and commanded never to be put in execution within the Realme of England From whence it seemeth to follow that whatsoever subiect shall take vpon him full and plenarie power to deliver iustice in any cause to any the Kinges subiects or to punish any crime and offence within the Kings Dominions by vertue of those lawes once by so absolute high an authoritie disanulled that the same person denyeth the Parliament to have full power to allow and disalow lawes in all causes to all the Kinges subiects and consequently that the high Court of Parliament is not a compleat Court for the whole and intyre body of the Realme Wherefore albeit we graunt as the trueth of the Kings law is vnto the Archbishops Bishops other Ordinaries that lawfully they may proceede to inquire in their visitations and Synodes and els where to take accusations and informations of all and every thing and things above mencioned done committed and perpetrated within the limites of their iurisdictions and authoritie and to punish the same by admonition suspension sequestration or deptivation though thus much had never bene provided by the statute nevertheles we desire to be resolved whether any minister ought to bee punished by these or any other censures and processe before the ordinarie for any offence mencioned in this act if for the same offence the same Minister by vertue of this act be not punishable before the Kings Iustices And therefore for example sake put this case viz. That a Minister for the not crossing of a childe vpon the forehead after baptisme is fully administred be indighted before some of the kings Iustices and afterward vpon a traverse before some other of the kings Iustices the same Minister be found to have ministred the same sacrament of Baptisme in such order and forme as in the booke is prescribed Notwithstanding the omission of this ceremonie after baptisme and that vpon such a traverse the indightment before the said second Iustices be found to be vnsufficient in law and the Minister by the same Iustices be adiudged not to be in danger of the penaltie of imprisonment c. because his such not crossing is no offence against the law we demand we say in this case whether the same Minister by the Bishops of the Diocesse may be suspended or deprived from his ministerie or from his benefice for the same his not crossing yea or no. Considerations against the deprivation of a Minister for the not vse of a Surplice in divine service IN the whole body of the statute there is not one syllable or letter frō the which any semblance of reason can be deduced that any Minister of the church for refusing to vse or for the not vsing of any ornament appointed by the statute or by the book to bee in vse should be punished with the peyne of deprivatiō For what soever punishment a Minister for the breach of the Statute may sustayne by the kings Iustices the same is only to be imposed for such offences as are specified before the last provisoe of the statute Ornamentes therfore of the church provided to be reteyned and to be in vse being not cōteyned in those premises or things mencioned before the second provisoe concerning the Archbishops and Bishops authoritie and for refusing whereof a Minister by the premises is punishable it followeth there being no punishmēt for refusing the vse of ornaments in the last provisoe that the not vse of ornamentes is not punishable before the kings Iustices And if there be no punishment appointed to be inflicted before the kings Iustices for the refusing to vse any ornament thē much lesse is there any punishment to be inflicted for the refusall of the vse of a Surplice For the Surplice is so farre from being commanded to be worne as an ornament in every service of the church as the same is not so much as once particularly mencioned either in the parish booke or in the statute Nay by the generall wordes both of the statute and the booke the Surplice is wholy secluded from being appointed to be an ornament of it selfe in some part of the service of the Church For if with the same in some part of the service there be not a Cope

had without cause devided them selves from the vnitie of the true church of Christ. Whereas in trueth the Church of Rome by hir Apostasie having cut hir selfe from the vnitie and vniversalitie of the doctrine and discipline of the true and mother church of Ierusalem is hir selfe become the most notable and prime sectarist and scismatick of all the world And of whose schismes our Diocesans so farre as they partake with hir can not be but guiltie Vnles then the Diocesans can approve them selves touching their vse of ceremonies and Diocesan governement to stand in vnitie with the true new Ierusalem in these dayes repaired departed from the old scismes and sectes of Rome we assure our selves that they shall never bee able to prove those ministers which stand not in vnitie either of iudgement or practise with them but be conscionably and so lawfully divided in these things from them for such division to be sectaries or scismatickes For it must be an vnlawful discession by inobedience from the vnitie of the first and mother church of Ierusalem and not a lawfull departure vpon conscienc efrō the vnitie of the daughter●church of England that maketh a sect or scisme For otherwise ought not all other Churches stande in vnitie of ceremonies and governement with the church of England or vnlawfully dividing them selves from the church of England must they not become scismatickes sectaries And how then are not almost all the christian and reformed churches in the world not onely almost but altogether scismatickes and heretickes For have they not divided them selves from all those rites ceremonies and ornaments yea from that maner of Diocesan governement which are yet reteyned in the Church of England My Lords I confesse that brevitie and perspicuitie are two commendable graces of the toung and of the penn such as in all mens speeches and writings are much to be affected But yet how long or tedious soever already I have bene I most humbly beseech your Honorable Lordshippes to licence me to passe on one steppe further especially the matter being of such importance as the same may not well bee passed over with silence It hath pleased Sir Edward Cooke Knight his Maixsesties Attornie Generall with all candor and charitie to confirme and satisfie by demōstrative profes all such as were not instructed in these points following First that an ecclesiastical Iudge may punish such Parsons Vicars c. as shall deprave or not observe the booke of common prayer by admonition excommunication sequestration or deprivation other censures and processe in like forme as heretofore hath beene vsed in like cases by the Queenes Ecclesiasticall lawes though the act of primo Eliza had never insflicted any punishment for depraving or not observing the same Secondly seeing the Authoritie of an Ecclesiasticall Iudge is to proceed and to give sentence in ecclesiasticall causes according to the ecclesiasticall law that the Iudges of the common law ought to give faith credit to their sentence and to allow it to be done according to the ecclesiasticall law when the iudge ecclesiasticall hath given sentence in a case ecclesiasticall vpon his proceedings by force of that law For saith he cuilibet in sua arte perito est credendum Now then as these two pointes bee plainly taught and demonstrated vnto vs so also even by the same demonstrative reasons it is cleere that there must be first a depraving or not observing of the booke secondly that every sentence given by an Ecclesiasticall Iudge in a case of depraving or not observing of that booke must be given according to the ecclesiasticall law and vpon his proceedings by force of that lawe in like forme c. From whence it followeth that all sentences touching depravation or not observatiō of the booke be either voyd sentences by reason of nullitie or no good sentences by reason of iniquitie and iniustice if by the Iudges Ecclesiasticall vpon their proceedings the same sentences have not bene given by force and according to the same lawes in like forme as heretofore hath bene vsed in like cases by the Kings Ecclesiasticall Lawes or if the factes charged vpon the Ministers by the iudges ecclesiasticall by the letter intendement of the law be no depravations or not observations of the same booke And therefore to the end all questions touching these two poyntes might hereafter vtterly cease and bee quite buried your Lordshipps could not performe a more acceptable service to the King the Church and Realme then by an humble importuning his Maiestie to have it explaned by parliament both who by the letter and true meaning of the Statute bee depravers or not observers of the booke and also what lawes Ecclesiasticall may and of right ought to be called indeed and trueth the Kings Ecclesiastical Lawes For vnlesse aswell touching these pointes as touching the former pointes of Sir Edward Cooks it be throughly decided what is the binding and assured law how should the Ministers or others content and satisfie themselves with an vndoubted trueth And that this maner of controversie about the invaliditie of sentences of deprivation given by ecclesiasticall Iudges is not a controversie now first moved but that the same hath bene long since handled and discussed is a matter yet remayning I doubt not vpon publike record For whereas sentences were given in the tyme of King Edward the sixt for the depriving of Steven Gardener from the Bishoprick of Wincester Bonner from the Bishopricke of London Heath from the Bishoprick of Worcester Day from the Bishopricke of Chester Tunstall from the Bishopricke of Durham Vessay from the Bishopricke of Exeter wherein many grave and learned commissioners were imployed as the Archbishop Cranmer Ridlie Bishop of London Goodrick Bishop of Elie Sir William Peeter and Sir Thomas Smith the Kings Secretaries Sir Iames Hales one of the Iudges of the Law Maister Gosnell Maister Goodrick Maister Lisley Maister Stamford men notably learned in the common lawes of this Realme Mai. Leveson and Mai. Oliver Doctors of the Civill Law nevertheles the same sentences were in the tyme of Queene Mary revoked and disannulled without Perliament within the space as myne Authour sayth of three dayes by vertue of other Commissioners for faultes found in the processes viz. that the former Commissioners had proceeded ex officio without authoritie contrary to the Kings Ecclesiastical Law sometimes quod iuris ordo non fuerit servatus c. sometimes that the Interrogatories were ministred to divers persons without knowledge of the defendants c. sometimes that some of the witnesses were examined privately without oath sometimes that their exceptions and appellations were not admitted but their persons committed to prison pendente appellatione c. And therefore most honorable Lords it is to be considered if the like or greater and more notorious defaultes and enormities bee to bee found in any sentence of deprivation given ex officio by a Diocesan governour at this day whether the same sentence

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 diversi●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 mēcioned 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