thirst Where to come to him and believe on him are manifestly said to be the same things which afterward he calls eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood v. 53 54. Now the generality of the Papists interpret this place of St. John not to be meant literally And therefore the other of Hoc est Corpus meum may not be meant literally These expressions of This is my Body and this is my Blood that is Symbolical and Sacramental Signs Seals and Representations of his Body and Blood and Passion are most agreeable to the Common Dialect and Idiotisms of the Jews to the Genius and Language of their Countrey and the Place where and Persons with whom our Saviour lived as is manifest by several phrases and parallel expressions of the Holy Ghost in Scripture So the seven fat Kine are call'd seven years of Plenty And Ezekiel speaking of dry Bones saith These Bones are the House of Israel So in Daniel Thou O King art that golden head So in the Gospel The Rock was Christ And Hagar and Sara are the two Covenants the seven Heads are seven Hills The Woman is that great City c. And our Saviour saith of himself I am the true Vine Why should we not infer as well from hence that Christ was turned into a Vine as what the Papists infer from other words since he saith only This is my Blood not my true Blood and here saith I am 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Christ saith he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the Papists Tenet is a thing gratis dictum a bare assertion without proof a begging of what should be proved This Popish Opinion would never have been receiv'd if the Tyranny of some and Ends and Interests of others did not unhappily cause it There is no more connection between the things contained in it than between Tenterton Steeple and Goodwin Sands no shadow of consequence Nor hath the antecedent any more Logical relation to the consequent than Chalk to Cheese And now I shall give you a clear account of what we Protestants at least what I believe in this particular Now that I may do this with as much clearness and sincerity as I can I shall say 1. That the Body and Blood of Christ may be said to be present in the Eucharist first respectu sui by a Corporeal Physical and Local presence as if Christ's Body it self were substantially in the place where the Bread and Wine is Secondly respectu causati effectus producti when Christ's Body tho' comprehended in Heaven that is the gracious effect of his Death and Passion goeth along with the Sacred Symbols and is really present to the Believing Receiver That we call a Local this a Virtual yet real presence Secondly As to the Local presence of our Saviour's Body we may say it is in Heaven only not here in the Eucharist and the Scripture saith so too in express terms It is in Heaven therefore not here it being impossible as involving a manifest contradiction that the same Numerical Body should at the same time be here and there too Thirdly As to the Virtual presence which is real too we say and believe that the gracious Effects of our Saviour's Body and Blood are really present and go along with the Sacred Signs in the Sacrament to those who are true Believers But for wicked Men who are Enemies to Christ and dead in their sins and trespasses Christ's Body and Blood are neither locally nor virtually present to them In that sense we now speak of they neither receive his Body nor Blood nor any benefit by them Fourthly We believe and say that the Cause of this presence is twofold first Moral secondly Physical First Faith being an Evangelical Condition on which all the Evangelical Promises and Blessings of God in Christ depend it is manifest that as the want of it is a Moral Cause why we want those Blessings so the having of it is morally a Cause why we have them For when once our gracious God doth promise us any thing upon condition of Faith and he doth promise Heaven it self on that condition the Condition being performed on our part there lies an Obligation on God who will not nay cannot break his promise to give us those Blessings which he promised on that Condition So that Faith being a conditio praestita ex parte nostri I call it a Moral cause and their own School-men call it so too of Christ's real presence to Believers in the Eucharist For as Faith was Conditio praerequisita a Condition required in those Adulti in the Acts who were to be baptized and the want of it was a Moral Cause why Baptism was not effectual and the presence of it a cause of all those gracious Consequents seal'd to Believers by Baptism So in the Eucharist Faith is a Moral Cause of the spiritual nourishment and growth of Grace seal'd to us in that Sacrament Secondly But there is another power which I call a Physical Cause of that real presence and that is our blessed Saviour himself as Mediator and Head of the Church For to him as such all Power is given of redeeming justifying sanctifying saving his Servants And he is both the Efficient and Meritorious Cause of all spiritual blessings bestowed on us So that the real presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament is from Faith as a Moral Cause and from another Power that of Jesus Christ as our Mediator as from the Efficient Cause You will find some of our Romish Adversaries so confident as to tell us that the first Christian World believed otherwise than the Protestants do in these and other Points But there they must of necessity if they will speak congruously by the first Christian World mean the first hundred years after Christ or that and some of the next Centuries following And to make this good surely they will bring some Authors of that time to prove it Some of them have cited St. Ignatius who lived in the time of of the first Century But why he is no Competent Witness will anon appear And as for D. Areopagite we know that he is a Bastard and no Father that the Works ascribed to him are adulterate and spurious Brats and confess'd so to us by the Papists and proved to be so many hundred years before Luther was born If Ignatius his Epistle to the Smyrnenses be not altogether forged yet it is so mangled and interpolated by the injury of time and the subtilty and knavery of persons enslaved to Interest that it is impossible to know which is genuine and which not and so the whole is of no competent Authority How strangely Ignatius is mangled and interpolated you may see by the vast difference of all Copies and Editions Greek and Latine as that of Videlius Vsserius J. Vossius You may likewise observe that the Papists do in some things go contrary to Councils For they go contrary to the Concilium Nicenum secundum that Council
is of a Person which likewise is twofold 1. Of Christ as Man For so he was in the Number of the Elect. Math. 12.18 2. Of those United with Christ namely of the Angels who persevered in their Obedience and of Men God ordain'd and Elected some Men to Offices and Honour in this World as Saul to the Government Others he Elected to Salvation and Glory in Heaven and of these our Question is Now here we say that this Divine Election by which God chooseth Certain Men from Eternity to Salvation is not an Act of the Divine Intellect or Knowledge by which he knows but of his Will by which according to his good pleasure he determines of us The Reason is because the Divine Knowledge is Natural and necessary so that it is impossible that God should not know every object that could be known but Election is a free Act since it is a thing confessed pâ—tuisse Deum vel nullos Condidisse vel Conditos non elegisse vel plures vel pauciores vel alios pâ—oâ—suo benâ—placito jure absoluto quo in Creaturas utitur The Divine Knowledge doth equally look at all objects possible or future but not so his Election which is a Discretive Act and passeth by some to perish for ever while it prepares Grace and Glory for others Now when it is ask'd if Election be from Faith foreseen First We do not deny that Faith was foreseen from Eternity since 't is manifest that the Knowledge of God is equally Eternal with his Will For sicut quicquid est futurum erat ab aeterno futurum ita etiam ab aeâ—erno Cognitum But Secondly We enquire of the habitude that the fâ—reseeing of Faith hath to Election This habitude for foreseen Faith in order to Election is threefold and may have the Notion First Antecedentis so that God chooseth none to Heaven in whom he had not seen Faith to come or did see that Faith would come before they were actually Elected Secondly It may have the Notion Conditionis and so Faith may be consider'd as a Condition necessarily required in Election Thirdly Foreseen Faith may further have the Notion of a Cause and so not to be only an Antecedent and a Condition of Election but to have the Notion of a Cause from whence Election follows as the Effect Now when 't is enquired if Election be of Faith foreseen Historical Faith is not meant nor a Faith of Miracles the which Unregenerate Men may have but the meaning is of justifying Faith which is proper only to the Regenerate These matters being thus setled Our Principal Conclusion is this viz. In illis qui Eliguntur Praedestinantur ad gloriam non datur aliquis Actus aut qualitas a Deo praevisa aut aliud quodcunque quod sit meritum causa ratio aut Conditio vel antecedens quolibet modo ita Praesuppositum Decreto Electionis ut ex positione talis Praecedanei in Praevisione divinâ ponatur Electio ex negatione negetur Or you may take the Conclusion thus viz. Nulla datur ex parte nostrâ Causa ratio vel Conditio sine quâ non Praedestinatioâ—is seu Electionis Divinae The first Reason of this Conclusion is If Election be from Faith foreseen then Faith foreseen is some way a Cause of Election the which Consequence though the Remonstrants will sometimes deny and seem not to allow foreseen Faith as the Cause of Gods Electing as may be seen in the Collatio Hagiensis p. 103. Yet elsewhere they speak it out plainly in Writings held by them most Authentical namely in Actis Synodalibus Part. 2. p. 6. where they tell us Fidem Perseverationem in Electione Consâ—derari ut Conditionem ab bomine praestitam ac proinde tanquam Causam They add this Reason Because the Condition prescribed and perform'd doth necessario alicujus Causae rationem induere And indeed they must needs be forc'd to Confess this For if we ask them why God chose Peter and not Judas they say because God foresaw that Peter would believe So that from their Hypothesis it must needs be that foreseen Faith was the Cause that Peter was chosen before Judas Now I do subsume that foreseen Faith is not the Cause nor Reason nor Motive any way of Election First Because the Scripture allows of no Cause of Election extra Deum ipsum but refers it altogether to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beneplacitum For this Consult Ephes 1.11 and Rom. 9.11 On the other hand If you will believe you shall be Elected is no where to be found in Holy Writ either expresly or by equi valence There is I confess this proposition in Scripture He that believes shall be saved but not he that believes shall be predestinated because God never required Faith as antecedaneous to his decree Secondly If Faith be an effect and Consequent of Election then is it not the Cause of it or antecedaneous motive because 't is altogether impossible and implies a manifest Contradiction ut idem respectu ejusdem sit antecedens consequens causa effectus But Faith is an effect or Consequent of Election therefore 't is not a Cause or antecedent motive of it The minor I prove out of Eph. 1.4 According as he hath chosen us before the Foundation of the World that we should be Holy c. And v. 5th sheweth that God did predestinate those whom he would adopt for Sons not such as were Sons But if he had chosen such as believed then he would have chosen Holy Men and Sons But Sanctity and our Sonship are not the Cause nor Antecedent Motive of Election For Rom. 8.29 For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be Conformed to the Image of his Son not as if they were then so Again if Election were of Works then the Apostle might have had an Answer to his Objection in a readiness as to what he mentions in the 9th of the Romans about the Children neither having done any good or evil and in vain had the instance there been brought of the Potters power over the Clay of the same lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another to dishonour Whereas if Election had been from foreseen Faith he had spoke more aptly thus Hath not the Potter the art to know the difference in several parts of Clay and to separate the good from the bad But the Apostles similitude is exactly pertinent if we suppose Election to be absolute and all Creatures to be in an equal State The Bishop ends his determination with another Reason for his Conclusion Namely that Infants are Eleoted but not from Faith and perseverance for they are not capable thereof Partes sub antiquo saedere per Christi Mortem salutem sunt Consecuti TO begin with the sâ—â—tinâ— of the Question 1. By Fathers here we do not understand the Patriarchs and Prophets but all the Faithful under the Old Testament All the Children of Abraham I mean not of
nothing in this for their purpose 2. They make much use of Aristotle's Philosophy 3. Decretal Constitutions of Popes and all the received Doctrines and Rites of Rome were Authentick with them and whatever seem'd contradictory was denied or construed to a complying sense 2. Scholastica Media ab Alberto Magno 1220. ad Duranduâ— 1330. In hoc Intervallo Aristoteles aut Scholasticâ superiori ad Theologiae limen in ipsa Adâ—â— a Sacrarii Theologiae Introductus scripta ejus demonstratione niti censentur qua autem Verbum Dei docet credulitate opiâ—â—â—râ— probabili teâ—â—â— quod etiam expressè publice patentur Gal. Ockamus â—n Câ—ntiloâ—â—â—â—â—iâ—sculè asserunt eorum Docâ—â—â—â—â— Hac 〈◊〉 â—uaeâ—tioneâ— (b) Vid. Lamâ—ertâ—m Danaeum Loco citato ubi earum aliquas plurimae enim sunt brevi Catalogo Lectori exhibet Curiosas â—â—pâ—as Blasphemâ—â—â—â—mere pâ—oâ—â—nunt Scholaâ—â—icâ— Impie di cutiâ—nt ex principiis Philosoâ—â—â—â— Peripateticae potias quam Scripturae statuunt definiunt que 3. Scholastica tertia ultima pessima ab Anno 1330. ad 1517. Haec aetas says my Author longè Impudentissima nam quae modestia in veteri media Scholastica adhuc manserat ne temere de quibusdam ritibus Quaestionibus adhuc dubiis affirmaretur istâ aetate periit Vtrum Papa sit simplex (c) Hence that blasphemous piece of Popish Poetry Papa stupor Mundi qui maxima Rerum nec Deus es nec Homo quasi neuter es inter utrumque Vid. Glossam verbo Papa in Praemio Clemuntinarum Homo an quasi Deus an participet utramque Naturam cum Christo An potestas ejus sit supra Concilium An Mariae conceptio erat Immaculata An Calix fit Laicis negundus Haec similia sub deliberatione quadam posita quaesivit Scholastica prior sed haec ultima temerè decrevit 1. But if any desire a fuller Account of the School-men and their Theologia Scholastica and the approbation Rome gave it he may consult 1. Hospinian Hist Sacramentariae Tom. 1. l. 4. cap. 9. p. 401. 2. Lamb. Danaeus in Prolegom ad Lib. Sent. Lombardi 1. cap. 1 2. fusi 9. 3. Sixtus Senensis Biblioth Sanctae Lib 3. p. 216. Edit Colon. Agr. 1626. 4. Possevinus Bibliothecae Selectae Lib. 3. cap. 12 c. The two first give a true account of the Iniquity and Ignorance of those Times of the Corruption of Divinity Introduction of Errours and Superstitions and the Schoolmens industrious endeavours to vindicate what the Pope and his Adherents had as impiously introduced The two last mince the matter conceal the truth and tell a confused Tale of the Original of School-Divinity and at last highly commend it and its Authors even for their Learning which all know they were never guilty of (a) Sixtus Senensis Bibl. Sanctae lib. 3. p. 217. and excuses their bad Latine with a piece of Scripture transferring that of St. Paul to Peter Lombard and his Followers (b) 2 Cor. 11. v. 6. tho' I am made rude in speech yet not in knowledge But others and more sober Papists are of another Opinion and candidly confess that truth which Protestants affirm and know I shall name one or two more and 1. Johan Tritthemius Abbas Spanhemiensis speaking of the Time of the Emperour Conradus tertius and the Year 1140. tells us (c) Tritthemius de Script Ecclesiasticis in Pet. Dialectico seu Abilardo p. 161. Edit Colon. 1546. ab hoc Tempore Philosophia saecularis Sacram Theologiam suâ curiositate inutili foedare caepit c. Tritthemius finish'd that Work long before Luther Anno 1494 * Johan Aventinus no Papist I confess yet commended by Learned and sober Papists and Conradus Aldermannus Canonici Augustiani 2. Quod Legem Historiae (d) Johan Andr. Quenstedt Dialogo de Patrum Illustrium Doctrinà Script Virorum Veritatem scilicet religiosè in scribendo observavit I say Aventine speaking of Lombard who was made Bishop of Paris 1159. saith thus Eâ Tempestate Petrus Longobardus Lutetiae Parisiorum Creatur Pontifex Is quidem Theologumen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4 Lib. scripsit sed Sacrosanct (e) Joh. Avent Anal. Boiorum lib. 6. p. 392. Edit Basil 1615. Edit Basil 1580. p. 508. Philosophiae Veritatem Fontemque purissimum sicuti plus millies a Jac. Fabro Jodoco Chichtoveo Praeceptoribus meis and they not Lutherans or Calvinists we are sure accepi atque audivi Coeno Quaestionum rivulis Opinionum conturbavit id quod usus Rerum magis nisi caeci simus satis superque docet Verba haec lineis inclusa ex fussu Inquisitorum ex Indic Expurgat Hispan Madriti 1667. Lusitanico Olysipone 1624. sunt delenda vid. dictos Indices in Joh. Aventino Floruit Aventinus circa 1500. One thing more may be observ'd of the School-men and of Popish Casuists and Commentators especially those before Luther that when they speak of Moral Duties and those things which lie within the compass of Natural Reason to know and judge of we shall find many things well and some things acutely said but when they speak of those things the knowledge of which depends on Scripture and Revelation as of Faith Repentance Sacraments Justification their ignorance of Tongues Antiquity and consequently of the meaning of Scripture besides they 're inslaved to maintain all the Errours and Superstitions of Rome which at that time were very many In their discourses of Subjects it is no wonder if their mistakes ex inscitiâ aut partium studio be many and great 21. It will be necessary for a Divine to have some Casuists c. Amongst the Popish Authors there are very many so that all persons of their Faction may find most Cases at least in general stated and determin'd according to the Principles and Interest of their Church and their prudence in this is great were their Cause good For Protestants there is no part of Divinity which has been I know not why more neglected very few have writ a just comprehensive Tract of Cases of Conscience However 't will be convenient to consult such as we have Protestants and Papists 1. For helps to understand Cases of Conscience we may amongst others which are Protestants consult such as 1. Bishop Sanderson's two Tracts or Praelections de Obligatione Conscientiae de Juramento are of great excellence and use for in them he has so plainly explain'd and prov'd many Propositions concerning Oaths and Conscience in Thesi and in general that he who understands and remembers them and can in Hypothesi hic nunc rightly apply them may determine many other Cases not mentioned by him 2. There are five Cases of Conscience determined by a late Learned Hand c. London 1666. Octavo No name to them but Parentem referunt they look so like that good Bishop that any would suspect they are his and worthy any persons perusal 3. Amesius de
and Learn the Greek Tongue 3. But that which most incouraged and necessitated the study of Languages and especially the Hebrew and Greek was Luther and the Reformation by him begun Anno 1517. Luther which was rare in those times in a Monk understood Hebrew and Greek and having many disputes with Cardinal Cajetan who was then Legat in Germany the Cardinal urging Scripture against him according to their Vulgar Latin Translation Luther told him that Translation was false and dissonant from the Original This puzl'd the Cardinal though a great Schoolman who thereupon set himself to study both Greek and Hebrew which with great diligence he did that he might be better able to Answer and Confute Luther and his followers many of which were excellent Grecians such were Melanchton and many others And hence it was that the Pope and his Party seeing the necessity of Languages especially Hebrew and Greek for the Defence of their Religion or Superstition rather against the Protestants Pope Paul the fifth Renews the Decree of Clement the fifth and the Council of Vienna before mention'd and though that Decree had been neglected and the Greek Tongue damn'd in their Canon Law yet he earnestly injoins the profession of it and of the Hebrew Chaldee and Arabick in all their (a) Vide Constitutionem 67. Pauli 5. in â—â—llario Romano Editionis Rome 1638. pag. 185 186. Vniversities Monasteries and Schools to this end that they might be better able to Confute the Hereticks I am Sir Your affectionate friend and Servant Tho. Lincolne A Letter concerning the Kings being empower'd to make a Lay-man his Vicar-General Sir THAT my Lord D. of Ormonds Commission which you say you have seen has no particular mention of the Kings Ecclesiastical Power deputed I wonder not The Commission which makes him Vice-roy Deputy or Lieutenant to the King does ipso facto make him his Vicar-General to execute both powers Ecclesiastical and Civil and by that Commission he does so Does not the Lieutenant there de jure ordinario and as Lieu-tenants call Synods collate Bishopricks and other Ecclesiastical Dignities and Preferments does he not hear and determine Ecclesiastical Causes by himself or some commissioned by him does he not punish Ecclesiastical persons when they are criminal Do not your Articles of Religion established in a National (a) Articles of Religion in the National Synod or Convocation at Dublâ—n 1615. § 57 58. c. Synod of Ireland give our Kings the same Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Causes there as he has here And do not our Kings here execute their Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction partly in Person in giving Arch-Bishopricks Bishopricks calling Synods c. partly by Commission so the Chancellors of England by their Commission have power to give some Ecclesiastical Dignities and Livings to visit Winsor I mean the Collegiate Church there and all his royal Chappels and Churches of his Foundation if he have not otherwise appointed other visitors c. In short I do believe that in England never any but Cromwel had such a large Commission and full power to Visit all persons in all Ecclesiastical Causes yet I believe it most evident that he may when he shall think it convenient give such a Commission I am Sir Your affectionate Friend and Servant T. L. A Letter concerning the allowance and respect that the Sentences of Protestant Bishops may expect from Popish ones writ by way of answer to a friend of Mr. Collington's who acquainted the Bishop that the Court of Arches here was of opinion that the Sentence of the Arch-bishop of Turin could not here be question'd by reason of the practice of Popish and Protestant Bishops allowing each others Sentences Sir FOR the contempt they of Rome have of our Bishops and all their Sentences and Judicial Acts especially in foro exteriori contentioso it is notoriously known that they have no value at all of our Bishops and pronounce all their sentences and judicial Acts null and every way invalid For 1. They generally deny our Bishops and Ministers to be true Bishops or Priests but admit them to be Lay-men only A Sorbon (a) Anth Champney P. and D. of the Sorbonne Douay 1616. Dr. In a Treatise about the Vocation of Bishops and Ministers indeavours to prove against Du Plessin Dr. Field and Mr. Mason that Protestant Bishops particularly those of England are not true Bishops nor have any lawful Calling Another and he a Popish Bishop speaking of our English Bishops and Pastors says (b) R. Smith Bp. of Chalcedon in praefat ad Collationem Doctrinae Catholicorum ac Pr testant Paris 1622. Eos quos nunc pro Pastoribus habent NIHIL EORVM OBTINERE quae ad ESSENTIAM hujus muneris requiruntur Another thus (c) Rich. Bâ—istow Motivo 21. Qualis est illa Ecclesia cujus Ministri NIHIL ALIVD sunt quam MERE LAICI NON MISSI NON VOCATI NON CONSECRATI Our Countrey-man Card. Alan and the Rhemish Annotators say (d) Annotatores Rhemenses in Rom. 10.15 All our Clergy-men from the highest to the lowest are false Prophets running and usurping being NEVER LAWFULLY CALLED And Dr. Kellison speaking of our Bishops and Ministers (e) Kellison in Repl. contra D. Sutlisse p. 31. NEC ORDINES nec JVRISDICTIONEM habent And Bellarmine (f) Bellarmin De Ecclesiâ militant l. 4. c. 8. Nostri temporis Haeretici nec ordinationem nec successionem habent ideo longè inverecundiùs quam ulli unquam Haeretici nomen munus Episcopi usurpant And some Popish Priests in their Petition to King James expresly tell the King (g) Supplicat ad Jacobum Regem 1604. NVLLI ministrorum vestrorum ad Catholicam fraternitatem accedentes habentur alii quam MERE LAICI Lastly Not to trouble you or my self with more Quotations Turrian tells us that Donatists and Luciferian Hereticks have some kind of Bishops and Priests (h) Turrian de Jure Ordinand lib. 1. cap. 7. Protestantes vero NULLAM PENITVS formam Ecclesiae habent quia NULLOS PENITUS Ecclesiae Verbi MINISTROS habent sed MEROS LAICOS This is their opinion of our Bishops and Clergy that they have no just Call or Ordination and consequently no Jurisdiction and then it necessarily follows if this were true that all their Sentences and Judicial Acts are invalid and absolute nullities 2. They say that all Protestants especially the Bishops and Clergy are Hereticks and Schismaticks extra Ecclesiam and neither have nor can have any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction so that whatever cause be brought before them in their Consistories it is coram non Judice and so whatever they do is a nullity That Hereticks and Schismaticks and such they declare all Protestants to be forfeit all their Ecclesiastical Authority and Jurisdiction their own (i) Gratian. Can. 4. Audivimus Can. vit Caelestinus 35. Can. Apertè 36. Can. Miramur 37. Caus 24. Quaest 1. vid. Card. de Turre-Cremata ad dictos Canones Canons expresly say And besides
fee'd one of the Doctors who is a Judge of one of those Courts where Matrimonial Causes are conusable and obtained his Opinion in Writing that the Marriage as being in jest was void You said the Divine had the character of one who was very dextrous and prudent and successful in the management of business But if you think fit to lay the Scene of the Law Suit in that Court where the party consulted is Judge as that you may do if you will you will have no cause to fear want of justice there when matters of fact come to be rightly stated in the Libel and back'd by proofs Every Proctor's Clerk can tell you that by the Style and constant practice of the Court you will be sure to effect the Gentleman's being examined upon Oath by the Judge himself as to all the particulars of the Facts you shewed me in the Case by you drawn after your Kinswomans Proctor hath put them into the Libell and to effect the Judge his causing him to give a plain full and Categorical answer on Oath as to each particular and you will be sure to effect the Sequestration of the Gentlemans person into some indifferent place for some days where being out of his Fathers Custody she or you or her Proctor will be allowed to go to him and discourse him privately of past matters and to read over to him the Facts as laid down in her Libell and advise him when he comes to be examined upon Oath by the Judge as to them he would not be aeternae suae salutis immemor If at his Examination by the Judge he shall confess the matters as laid down in the Libell there will be no doubt of her obtaining Sentence for the Marriage But on the whole matter tho it should so happen that neither by the young Gentlemans examination by the Judge nor by the proofs arising from her Witnesses there could be sufficient ground for the Judge his giving Sentence for the Marriage which latter may be feared if Mr. F. hath been tamper'd with as your Case mentions yet if your proof shall extend so far as this namely but to a kind of Semiplena probatio and to what may make impressions on the Judge his belief and private Conscience that the Gentleman did at the Marriage or some one 〈◊〉 of the Acts of the Ratification of it reverà intend a consent to the same and that if Mr. F. had not been tampered with he would have sworn the truth about the Marriage and what he knew of the subsequent ratifications of it tho he cannot give Sentence for the Marriage but shall give Sentence for the Defendant yet you may expect that he will condemn the Defendant in the Charges made by the Plaintiff and under the notion of Charges order her a good round Sum of Money for the dammage she sustained by the Defendants means They at Doctors-Commons can tell you how in the famous Marriage Cause between Mrs. Isabella Jones and Sir Robert Carr in the Arches where Sir Robert was claimed by her for her Husband tho' for want of full proof of the Marriage Sir Gyles Sweit the Dean of the Arches pronounced Sentence against the Marriage yet however he condemned Sir Robert Carr in 1500 l. Costs to Mrs. Jones and from which Sir Robert appealed not but paid the Mony Sir Gyles was in his Conscience convinced that Sir Robert and Mrs. Jones had been really married tho by reason of one of the Witnesses to it having been tamper'd with the Marriage could not be fully proved by her I can at any time acquaint you with the Circumstances of that Cause and give you an account of the remarkable Judgments of God inflicted on the Persons who tamper'd with the Witness in that Cause whereby the Marriage between Sir Robert Carr and Mrs. Jones failed of Sentence But one Circumstance of hers I shall not here omit namely that she was but a Servant a Waiting-woman to Sir Robert's Mother and your Kinswoman being the Daughter of an Arch-deacon vertuous and of good Education her Case is thereby rendred more favourable in the eye of the Law than Mrs. Jones was I know the Rule is that Victus Victori condemnabitur in expensis But all Practitioners in the Ecclesiastical Courts know the exception from that Rule even in Common Causes Si just am causam litigandi victus habuerat and that particularly in Matrimonial Causes ex justâ Causâ litigandi ipse Vincens in expensis Condemnatur ut si matrimonium allegans sponsalia prohaverit aut tractatum and other like Circumstaces And that not only the ordinary expensae litis are here to be allow'd but extraordinary ones I pray God direct your Kinswoman in this her weighty Concern I doubt not but some of the Clergy who were her Father's Acquaintance will not grudge their pains in advising her what to do in point of Conscience Perhaps after the Citation hath been served on the Gentleman the result of it may be that he will not be able to master his Affection to her If he had forsworn her love yet may Nature possibly over-power him and thus according to the old Verse you have met with Jupiter é Caelis ridet perjuria amantûm I am sorry for the Prospect you have of the great Charge in the Law shortly after you have enter'd into the Suit but I have before mention'd your prospect of this being returned to your Kinswoman again tho Sentence should go against the Marriage We know the Saying of the Prophet The liberal man deviseth liberal things c. and the hearts of some good men may be inclined accoâ—ding to the Tenor of a London Divine's good practical Discourse call'd Charity Directed printed in the Year 1676. to afford the Widow and Fatherless your Kinswomen their help whereby they may be enabled the better to bear the Burthen of the expenceful Suit at the present But methinks if the Father of the young Gentleman who is a wealthy man be a man swayed by Principles of Conscience some wise and sober man of that Perswasion of Religion he professeth might be found out to apply to him in a friendly serious manner and discourse to him of the particulars of the Facts mention'd in your Case whereby he will see how much your Kinswoman hath been damnified by his Son The Case of Biretti before referr'd to in Bishop Taylor 's Cases of Conscience mentions Biretti's being oblig'd to make a Compensation to the Gentlewoman he first married without his intending a Consent to the Marriage I know that regularly Compromissum contra matrimonium initum non valet But if on a Case of the Fact truly stated and laid before Divines for their consideration and directing either Party what to do in point of Conscience thereupon they shall be of opinion that God never joined the Parties and that the young Gentleman bred at home and in the Country here in England having at 18 years of Age equalled