there were present 482. Bishops and 800. Abbots who saith he have lesse to doe then Presbyters in the government of the Church Wherein he implyeth that there should be many more then two Convocation Clerkes in a Diocesse to advise and vote at a Synod And in our Diocesan Synods which are yearly called according to the ancient p Concil Agethen an 440. Can. 40. fo 165. Caranz Canon and Custome wee are all summoned to appeare in the Consistory as in the name of a Synod But when we come thither we have so little power and liberty allowed us either for discussion or determination of any matter wherein Presbyters both in right and fact have had a freedome heretofore that most of us appeare rather as Delinquents standing at the Consistoriall Barre or at the best as Clients or Tenents paying a tribute of suit and service at the Courts of their Landlord So that we may take up the complaint of Duarenus the famous Civilian q Olim hi conventus indicebantur ut Episcopus simul cum Presbyteris de disciplina cleri de causis c. sed hujus honestissimi instituti vix umbram hodie videmus Fr. Duaren de Min. ◠1. c. 11. fol. 13. O fold Synods were called that the Bishops and Presbyters should treat of the Discipline of the Clergie of Ecclesiasticall causes and of divine Doctrine for there was no matter of any great weight which the Bishops without that Senate would determine but now saith hee wee can scarce discerne so much as a shadow of that most honest institution In the fourth Councell of Carthage about the yeare 401. besides many other Constitutions in the behalfe and in honour of Presbyters it was decreed r Concil Carth. 4. Can. 23. pag. 313. edit Fr. Longi That a Bishop should not determine any mans cause but in presence of his Clergie ſ Ibid. Can. 34. pag. 316. That the Bishop though in the Church and in the Assemblies of the Presbyters hee should sit in an higher place yet privately should use his Presbyters as Colleagues and sitting himselfe should not suffer a Presbyter to stand And as Presbyters were not to be disdained by the Bishops but to be taken into a respective society with them for the t Qui Episcopatum desiderat benum opus desiderat exponere voluit quid sit Episcopus quia nomen est operis non honoris intelligat se non esse Episcopum qui praeesse desiderat non prodesse Aug. de civ Dei l. 19. c. 19. tom 5. p. 1310. name of a Bishop was anciently rather a name of labour then of honour rather of duty then of dignity so were they so much to be honoured by the Deacons below them as u Diaconus ita se Presbyteri ut Episcopi ministrum esse cognoscat Concil Carthag 4. Can. 17. subordinate to them as well as to the Bishops x Nec sedere quidem licet medio Presbyterorum Diaconos Concil Nicen. 1. Can. 14. fol. 50. Ne Diaconus coram Presbytero sedeat Concil Aralat Can. 15. Tit. Can. fol. 70. Concil Constantinop 6. Can. 7. Diaconus quolibet loco jubente Presbytero sedeat Concil Carth. 4. Can. 39. That a Deacon might not sit among those that were Presbyters as was decreed in the first Councell of Nice And so it was observed at Rome as y In Ecclesia Romae Presbyreri sedent stant Diaconi licet paulatim increbescentibus vitiis absente Episcopo sedere Diaconos viderim Hieron cpi. ad Evagr. Hieron tom 2. pag. 334. Hierome hath noted untill vice increased And then saith he in the absence of the Bishop I have seene Deacons to sit in the presence of Presbyters And though in later times one Bishop hath had power enough to undoe many Presbyters for small matters yet heretofore in a criminall cause z Causa criminalis Episcopi à duodecim Episcopis audiatur causa Presbyteri à sex causa verò Diaconi à tribus cum proprio Episcopo Concil Carth. 2. Can. 10. fol. 111. a. A Presbyter could not bee condemned by fewer then six Bishops A Bishop indeed as an elder brother had a double portion to censure him for twelve were requisite for a doome against a Bishop and the Deacon as a younger brother to a Presbyter had but halfe so many to give judgement of him as the Presbyter had Now if with security of the publicke peace and the favour of our Superiours there should bee any alteration in the Ecclesiasticall Government wherein we might be assured to be dealt withall if not as Brethren as a Nos omnes Episcopi meminisse debemus Presbyteros omnes esse nostros fratres collegas in Ministerio non famulos non mancipia eosque jure divino non minorem habere in pascendo populo Dei potestatem quam nos habemus Spalat de Repub. Eccles l. 2. c. 9. pag. 284. some of the Episcopall order have professed and pleaded on our behalfe yet rather as sonnes to reverend Fathers then as servants to imperious Lords we dare not be such hypocrites as to forswear a consent to that which wee conceive to bee our right and cannot but be willing to enjoy THE OATH Nor yet ever to subject it to the usurpations and superstitions of the See of Rome The 20. DOUBT is Why in this part of the Oath mention is made rather of the See of Rome 20. Particular Doubt then of the Church of Rome THE REASON BEcause though an ordinary Reader observe no materiall difference betwixt them yet wee are taught by a * Mr. E. B. of the M. T. judicious Lawyer that there is as much difference betwixt the See of Rome and the Church of Rome as betwixt treason and trespasse and he proveth his position by the 23. of Elis cap. 1. where it is said That to be reconciled to the See of Rome is treason but to be reconciled to the Church of Rome is not treason For then saith he every Papist of the Church of Rome should be a Traitour being a member of that Church and therefore reconciled to it Now the See of Rome saith he is nothing else but the Papacy or Supremacy of the Pope whereby by vertue of the Canon unam Sanctam made by Pope Boniface the eighth he challengeth a superiority of Jurisdiction and coercion over all Kings and Princes upon earth and those persons which take Juramentum fidei contained in the Councell of Trent which acknowledgeth this Supremacy are said to be reconciled to the See of Rome But the Church of Rome is nothing else but a number of men within the Popes Dominions or elsewhere professing the Religion of Popery So the meaning of the Oath in this clause of it as hee conceiveth may bee this You must not subject the Church of England to the See of Rome but you may subject it to the Church of Rome That there might be some such subtle meaning in the choice of
Franciscus à Sancta Clara Provinciall of the minorite Friars who holdeth h Ubi nulli praeesse solent Episcopi deesse debent Presbyteri hos si domas quam miserenda quaeso horrenda sunt quae necessariò subsequentur nam ubi nulli sunt Presbyteri nulla erunt Sacramenta nisi fortè Matrimonium Baptismus Franc. à Sancta Clara Apolog. Episcop pag. 151. That where Bishops doe not rule there are no Presbyters where no Presbyters no Sacraments Hee excepteth according to the tenet of his Church Matrimony and Baptisme the former as a Sacrament the later as a Sacrament and more then that in the Popish opinion as necessary to salvation and hee so farre enforceth this necessity as to say i Episcoporum necessitatem inficiari nihil aliud est quà m Dominicae pasâ—ionis irritationem subintroducere nostrumque redemptionis piaculum evacuare Ibid. pag. 152. That to deny the necessity of Episcopacy is nothing else but to bring in the irritation of the passion of our Lord and to evacuate the vertue of his redemption which is in effect as Doctor du Moulin wrote to Bishop Andrewes k Hoc asserere nihil aliud esset quà m omnes nostras Ecclesias addicere Tartaro Pet. du Moulin cpist 2. Episc Wintonien pag. 173. opusc to damne the Reformed Churches of France and other Countries to the pit of Hell which being brought in as a consequence of the Bishops Tenet of the Authority of Bishops that reverend Prelate very wisely and religiously shunneth saying l Caecus sit qui non videat stantes sine ea Ecclesias ferreus sit qui salutem iis neget Episc Winton Resp ad epist 2. Pet. du Moulin pag. 176. opusc Hee wants his sight that seeth not Churches standing without that Discipline and hath an iron heart that consenteth not that they may bee saved and therefore our late learned Soveraign King James lest he should be mistaken in some of his speeches of some of those who had no good conceipt of the Discipline of the English Church when his monitory Preface wherein hee toucheth most upon such matters was published in Latine that hee might not bee thought to condemne the Churches whose Discipline is different from ours he expresly professed m Puritanorum nomine Ecclesias apud exteros reformatas earumveregimen non designari mihi est decretissimum rebus alienis me non immiscere sed illas reformatae Religionis libertati permittere sic ad fin Praefat. monitor in 8o. printed Lond. 1609. That by that hee had said therein hee intended neither reproach nor reproofe to the Reformed Churches or to their forme of Government but left them free to their Christian liberty And when the Bishop of Landaffe asserted the Ecclesiasticall Imparity of the Church of England at the Synod of Dort hee did not seeke to obtrude it as necessary to salvation but used this caution in the conclusion of his speech n Haec non ad harum Ecclesiarum offensionem sed ad nostrae Anglicanae defensionem The joynt attestation that the Discipline of the Church of England was not impeached at the Synod at Dort pag. 17. This I say said hee not to give offence to these Churches scil those whose Clergy assembled at that Synod but for the defence of our Church the Church of England And the Church of England surely at that time was farre from the conceipt of the Franciscan Friar fore-mentioned when hee and other learned Divines were sent to that Synod the most generall Synod of the Reformed side that hath been held since the reformation of Religion to assist with their consultations and to confirme with their suffrages and subscriptions the Decrees of that Synod wherein among many Presbyters there was but one Bishop and hee not President of that Assembly And when hee who hath pleaded for Episcopacy not onely as a pinnacle of honour but as a pillar of support to the Church wrote thus against the Brownists I o So Bishop Hall in his Apology against the Brownists sect 19. p. 588. reverence from my soule so doth our Church their deare Sister those worthy forraine Churches which have chosen and followed those formes of outward government that are every way fittest for their owne condition It is enough for you to censure them I touch nothing common to them with you which wee alledge not against the government of Bishops In a meet and moderate imparity as the same p Bishop Hall his prop of Church government added to his Irrefrag prop. pag. 6. Authour stateth their preheminence but onely against the necessity of their superiority to salvation which is the point wee have now in hand Whereto agreeth that of Epiphanius who conceived more necessity of a Deacon to a Bishop then of a Bishop to a Church saying q Ubi non est inventus quis dignus Episcopatu permansit locus sine Episcopo verùm sine Diacono impossibile est esse Episcopum Epiphan haeres 75. l. 3. tom 1. pag. 215. That where there was not a man of sufficient worth to bee a Bishop the place might be without one but it is impossible said hee that a Bishop should bee without a Deacon And the fifth Canon of the second Councell of Carthage decreeth r Placuit ut Dioceses quae nunquam Episcopos acceperunt non habeant quae aliquando habuerunt habeant Concil Carth. 2. Can. 5. That those places which never had Bishops shall have none at all and those that had them should have them still which they would not have done if they had conceived Episcopacy to be of necessity to salvation or of necessity to the being of a Church Quest But is there any cause to conceive that any of the late Synod imagined a necessity of Bishops either to save a Chrisian or to constitute a Church Answ Wee take not upon us confidently to impute that opinion to any nor can wee acquit the chiefest of them from such a conceipt for the Å¿ Archb. Laud in his relat of his conference with Fisher pag. 176. marg Archbish in his reply to A.C. having brought in a sentence out of Saint Hierome which is this t Ubi non est sacerdos non est Ecclesia Hieron advers Lucifer where there is no Priest there is no Church he taketh the word Sacerdos for one who hath the power of ordaining which in Hieromes owne judgement is no meere Priest but a Bishop only and thence concludeth so even with him no Bishop no Church which he so approveth as if some who professe more good will to Bishops then Hierome u See Doubt 16 pag. 80. and in the conference at Hampton Court pag. 34. are these words Hierome no friend to Bishops by reason of a quarrell betwixt the Bishop of Hierusalem and him elsewhere doth should say somewhat more or the same that he did with more confidence which to us seemeth little lesse and
expunge his name out of the Catalogue of u One onely branded Hereticke i. Aerius in so many hundred yeares opposed Episcopall government Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 1. p. 66. Heretickes but to enroll it in the Register of Orthodox Doctors And for the Tridentine Decree it is the lesse to be regarded because wee may say as Bishop Jewel doth of x As for the words of Leo his own authority in his own cause cannot be great Bish Jewel defence Apol. part 2. c. 3. pag. 101. Leo The words of the Bishops of that Councell are of no great weight because they make a Decree in their owne cause But Chrysostome and Augustine were Bishops though Hierome was none and yet they spake of Bishops and Presbyters so equally as hath beene said and if untruly indiscreetly also because both against the truth and themselves We may say the same of Bishop Jewel whose judgement is plaine against the opinion of Divine Right by his exposition of Saint Augustine fore-alledged Besides y Panormitanus in quaestionibus suis ex mala interpretatione Hier. negat hanc Divino Jure inter Episcopos Presbyteros distinctionem Franc. à Sancta Clara Apol. Episc pag. 64. Panormitan and z Fulv. Pacian de probationib l. 2. c. 28. fol 96. Pacianus very famous men in their faculties the one for a Canonist the other for a Civilian and divers more to say nothing of the a Chamier tom 2. l. 10. c. 6. pag. 350. learned men of the Reformed Churches in forraine parts will not admit of any preheminence of a Bishop above a Presbyter by Divine Right All which wee alledge not to contest with the reverend Prelates in point of Authority but to shew that if an acknowledgement of Episcopall preheminence as of Divine Right bee required in this Canon and by that wee have shewed wee have cause to suppose it it is too problematicall an opinion for such confidence as should accompany an Oath Of Archbishops Of Archbishops though their Authority be greater yet as touching the Tenure by Divine Right our beliefe is lesser for they that hold Bishops to bee superiours to Presbyters by Divine Right as the Apostles were superiours to the 72. Disciples doe not for the most part unlesse they be Papists allow of Archbishops in that sacred Episcopacy and even he who was an Archbishop himselfe and highly advanced in print the Episcopall degree hath out of Ignatius observed and thereby affronted the Papall usurpation that the twelve were all b Abundè probavi Christum suam Ecclesiam Apostolis omnibus aequè commendâsse eosque ad hoc necessariâ potestare aequè omnes adornâsse confentit Ignat. episi ad Philadelph dum ad Apostolos veluti ad Presbyterium Ecclesiae Collegium recurri postulat Collegium verò Aristocraticum nemo ignorat Spalat de Repub Eccles lib. 1. c. 12. pag. 137. The Archbish that now is saith the like of the Aristocraticall Government and equality of the Apostles and quoteth Bellarm. de Ro. Po. l. 1. c. 9. to the same purpose making account his words are a confession of the truth against his owne side So in relat of his conference pag. 168 200 202 380. See Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 2. pag. 13. equall as an Aristocraticall Colledge no Prince or Monarch ruling over the rest as the Romanists pretend and assume in the name of St. Peter wherein Saint c Jam illud considera quà m Petrus agit omnia ex communi Discipulorum sententia nihil authoritate suâ nihil cum Imperio Chrysost bom 3. in Act. Apost cap. 1. tom 3. col 459. Chrysostome is directly opposite unto them observing how Saint Peter in an assembly of the Disciples doth all by their common consent nothing by his owne authority nothing in a lofty or a Lordly manner For that Authority which they take up as Saint Peters right his Master and ours thought too much for him or any one man else fore-seeing as the Archbish of Spalato noted d Spalat de Repub. Eccles l. 1. c. 12. p. 138. That a Monarchy in a Church-man would bee apt to breake out into a tyrannie over the Church And for the tenure of Archiepiscopall authority wee may beleeve Bishop e Bish Jewels defence of his Apolog part 2. c. 3. divis 5. pag. 110. Jewel where hee saith in answer to Master Harding that though Primates or Archbishops had authority over the inferiour Bishops yet they had it but by agreement and custome neither by Christ nor by Peter nor Paul nor by any right of Gods Word Object If it be objected as by some it hath been that though the Apostles had no Archbishops among themselves who had a priority of Order and a majority of Rule above the rest of that fundamentall Function yet in respect of other Bishops constituted by them they were all Archbishops to those that were under them It may be answered Answ 1. That the right of Episcopacy hath not been so well cleared by Scripture that it should bee taken for an undoubted ground whereon to erect an Archiepiscopall power for there is so much difficulty and dispute about that as makes it to us uncapable of the assurance of an Oath Secondly our Protestant Divines when the Papists plead for Peters Episcopall or Archiepiscopall supremacy at Rome to maintaine the usurpations of the Pope upon all other Churches answered that as we conceive according to the truth that to bee a Bishop or Archbishop and an Apostle imports a repugnancy for both Bishops and Archbishops were confined to a certaine compasse for their Authority but the Apostles were of an unlimited liberty and power both for planting and governing Churches all over the world wherein they had every one of them such an equall and universall interest that f Non erat ea facta divisio scil inter Apostolos ut alter ab alterius abstineret Apostolatu Baron Annal. tom 1. an 51. 27. col 424. no Apostle had any part of the world to himselfe wherein the rest had not an Apostolicall and Pastorall right as well as he which is not nor can be so in Episcopall or Archiepiscopall callings Object If the opinion of g Estius comment in 1 Tim. 5.19 col 809. Estius be interposed viz. That Archiepiscopacy was founded when Timothy was made Bishop of Ephesus the Metropolis of Asia wherein he had h Bish Hall reckons 36. Bishopricks under Ephes part 2. p. 24.43 See Will. Synops papis controv 5. in append ad quaest 3. p. 273. many Bishops under his Jurisdiction that to say nothing of what is said of the unbishoping of Timothy and Titus in a particular booke of that title being brought in without proofe will bee as readily k Didoclau Altare Damascen pag. 175. denied by some as it is easily affirmed by any and if we should say that untill Pope Zepherinus in the third Century named himselfe an l Cent. 3. c. 10.
DEFENSIVE DOUBTS HOPES AND REASONS For refusall of the Oath imposed by the sixth Canon of the late Synod With important Considerations both for the penning and publishing of them at this time By JOHN LEY Pastor of Great Budworth in Cheshire Above all things my Brethren sweare not Jam. 5.12 Falsa Juratio exitiosa est vera Juratio periculosa est nulla Juratio secura est August serm 28. de verbis Apostoli Hereunto is added by the same Author A Letter against the erection of an Altar written above five yeares agoe And a case of conscience touching the receiving of the Sacrament resolved LONDON Printed by R. Young for G. Lathum at the signe of the Bishops head in Pauls Church-yard 1641. To the right Worshipfull Sir William Brereton Baronet Peter Venables Esquire Baron of Kinderton Knights of the Shire for the County Palatine of Chester and Sir Thomas Smith And To the Worshipfull Francis Gamull Esquire Burgesses for the Citie of Chester John Ley wisheth the welfare of this and the other World Right Wor ll and worthy Sirs AS the good providence of God and the good will of your Countrie have sorted you together in the designe of publicke service of the Church and State so your united Interests in the cause and composer of this Booke have joyntly rather claimed as a dutie then invited as a courtesie that I should present it to publicke view under all your names It proposeth and pursueth many as I hope a judicious Reader will upon serious perusall find them just and weighty exceptions against the late Oath of the sixth Canon wherein it waiteth upon the wisdome and justice of your Honourable House of Commons who have voted it to vanish like the smoake of a Canon without a Bullet making a great sound but doing no hurt to avow your righteous and religious Act therein against the mis-conceit of such as either partially or perversly misdeeme the deserved doome which you have passed upon it And if now by your hands it may come to the eyes of your venerable Associates it may haply find such acceptance in their sight that by your common favour it may have the honour to appeare before the right Honourable Lords of the Upper House of Parliament and to represent us who were most exposed to the perill of the Canonicall Decree the more capable of the concurrent Grace of you all in the full and finall abrogation thereof And for my selfe besides my generall engagements with thousands who owe you the affectionate observance of publicke Patriots and Patrons in the places to which you are called the particular favours which I have received from you in severall oblige mee this or any other way wherein I may doe you any acceptable service to expresse my selfe Yours most ready to attend you with humble observance JOHN LEY From my Lodging at the Fountaine in Pauls Church-yard Febr. 22 1640. A Letter declaring the occasion of beginning a manner of proceeding for the penning and publishing of the Discourse ensuing TO The Right Worshipfull and Worshipfull my very reverend and worthy Friends and Brethren Mr. Th. M. D. of Ch. Dr. D. D. of R. Mr. R. H. W. of M. and Mr. Ch. H. R. of W. and with them to the rest of my venerable Brethren of the Diocesse of Chester My worthy and well beloved Brethren and Friends BEsides the Doubts of the Oath proposed in this Booke whereof wee must wait for resolution from our Superiours there may bee some Doubts of the Booke it selfe to which it most belongeth to mee to make answer and therein partly to give satisfaction to you and partly to require testification from you since to many of you a good part of what I shall say is very well knowne and that with the rest I shall reduce to these foure particulars whereof most as yet have either none or at least but a doubtfull apprehension and wherein it is meet they should be rightly informed 1. Concerning the occasion of the discourse ensuing 2. The presenting of it at first to you and then to him to whom it is inscribed 3. The addition made in this I may say second edition though a It was then not intended for the Presse yet but a manuscript 4. The Reasons why now I am willing to communicate Copies of it which before I was not First for the Occasion it was this Some of you and divers others my selfe for one met at W. at the monethly Exercise set up or upheld as is confidently delivered by divers persons of unquestionable credit with the good liking and allowance of our late learned Soveraigne as a godly and gratefull memoriall of his Majesties and the Kingdomes deliverance from the Powder Treason At one of the Assemblies there the Bishop of Chester that now is not long before hee was advanced to the Episcopall Chaire bestowed his paines in the Pulpit one part of the day and I mine the other At our premised meeting which was August 18. last past the service of the day was divided betwixt you Mr. Ch. H. and mee and our minds and tongues united in pressing Peace and Charity most needfull Themes for these crazie and distracted times Our Sermons ended and some of us invited to a place of convenient repose the rest of our Tribe who were a part of that Congregation resorted unto us every man accompanying his acquaintance and so making as it were a whole chaine of many linkes and withall it is not unlike but that the most that there met in person met also in perplexity of mind by reason of the late Canonicall Oath and in their desires to be resolved of their Doubts and they might have so much more hope thereof as there were the more at that time with whom in such cases of conscience they might consult Howsoever being so met that which was the common talke of the Laity and the particular trouble of the Clergy could not but be a principall part of our discourse at that time and of that the most that was said was the proposall of a Doubt Whether the Oath were doubtfull or no and all of us expressing but the same conceipt as I verily beleeve which every one brought with him unanimously consented in an Affirmative answer Our next Quaere was what course should be taken either that we might not take it or that it might be so cleared and qualified unto us that our consciences might not be entangled by it and for that wee resolved to propose our Doubts of the Oath to the Bishop of the Diocesse and by him to advance higher though in the low and humble way of Petition if there were cause Then the Question was Who should draw up our desires and doubts in writing and the company assembled presently agreed to put that taske upon me which I then undertooke This was the worst of that daies work which some whose place and profession promised more charity and discretion have slandered as a Schismaticall Conventicle
and a seditious Assembly and have added to their calumnies of us comminations of the highest displeasure and danger against us To what height would they have raised their indignation towards us if wee should have met of purpose to make a common purse to maintaine our cause as the a Bish Godwins Catal. of Bishops p. 116. Clergy in Henry the thirds time did against Boniface Archbishop of Canterbury or should have burnt the new booke of Canons as b Hist of the Councell of Trent l. 1. p. 12 Luther did the Popes Bull and Decretalls when a meeting in it selfe so faultlesse and inoffensive is racked to make it reach to the height of an hainous crime 2. The second particular is the presenting of that which upon the request of my Brethren I had performed first unto them which I did the next Exercise after notwithstanding my burthen of other businesse betwixt them both and received from them such an attestation and acceptance upon the reading thereof as I may well take for a recompence of greater paines then it cost mee and which may embolden mee to adventure it upon the view of other eyes then of professed friends From my Brethren of the Presbytery it was next to be a graduate to the Bishop of Chester But while that was in deliberation when and by whom to be done I was informed that a Letter was written by the Archbishop of Canterbury to other Bishops both of this and the other Province not to presse the Oath upon any untill the 13. of October and for that time it was resolved by some of us to whose discretion such considerations were referred it should be reserved Meane while we had assured newes of a Parliament shortly to ensue That as many of us then conceived so varied the case that it invited us to betake our selves to another course then wee intended before and then it was thought fit neither so to solicite the Bishop as if wee did principally depend upon his favour for our freedome from the Oath nor yet so to passe by him as to give cause of suspition that he was slighted by us and therefore about the 14. of October I brought him the Booke at first especially prepared for his reading which I told him I tendred not to him then as an Agent for the Clergy but as of mine owne private and particular respect unto my Diocesan which was such that I would not consent though much importuned that any should have a Copie of what I had composed untill it were first offered to his perusall for which it was at first intended and by joynt consent concluded among us Thirdly for the addition now made to it I may say truly and some of my Brethren can testifie with mee that the most of it was penned before any part of it was sent to the sight and censure of the Ministers at W. and I therefore kept backe divers sheets of it of purpose that it might not be too long for their leisure at their first meeting after it was finished to reade it together And now since upon notice of more they will not rest content with a part lest they should sort mee to c Act 5.3 Ananias and Saphyra for a sacrilegious detention I am resolved to communicate the whole first unto you and then by you unto others And for this I am now in the fourth place to render some Reasons and they are chiefly these First to gratifie my Brethren and Friends who importunately presse mee to make them partakers of my private Dictates concerning the Oath Secondly to justifie our refusall of it which some have superciliously censured as proceeding of simplicity and some uncharitably as savouring of contumacy or of hypocrisie as if wee did but pretend a tendernesse of conscience and therefore that wee would be sure to take it rather then suffer any thing for standing out against it Thirdly to rectifie the mistaking of divers transcripts of my Booke from the first Copy which are spread abroad in many places either without my knowledge or against my will some whereof I have seen and by them have found out a double falshood the one of theft in stealing of Copies without my consent the other of lying in putting their ignorant or cursory slips upon mine accompt as if I had made them Fourthly to cleare the doubt of some and to confute the mis-report of others who give out that I am the Author of a Booke intituled Englands complaint to Jesus Christ against the Bishops Canons wherein I was a meere stranger for the matter of it untill I saw it in print and am yet for the maker of it now it is printed and though such as well know mee will no more beleeve it to bee mine then mine d Mr. E. B. ingenuous friend would doe who with his advertisement of that mis-taking wrote thus unto mee I am confident you never wrote it for it savours nothing either of your stile spirit or judgement Whereupon I have made bold in your name to disavow it yet for prevention of misprision in others it will doe well that this Booke bee extant as well as that and so may such as will bee pleased to compare them see more difference betwixt them then betwixt e Menander fecit Andriam Perinthiam qui utramvis rectè norit ambas noverit non ita sunt dissimili argumento Terent. in Prolog in Andr. Menanders Andria and Perinthia which though they were composed in a various phrase and stile were yet so like both in their argument and genius of the Poet that he that knew the one must know them both as sister-births of the same Authors braine which I dare confidently averre no well advised Reader will suspect of the Book which modestly discourseth of the Doubts of one Canon and that Booke which peremptorily condemneth them all and yet if not onely private fancy but publicke fame should father it upon mee I should not take the matter much to heart since the other day The most reverend father and for his rare learning constant preaching and consonant living the most renowned Archbishop of Armagh told mee of an egregious imposture putting his name to a late Pamphlet whereof not so much as one line was his which passed abroad a while as a Manuscript but was presently by printing to proceed to more publick notice if he had not opportunely procured an Order from the Honourable House of Commons in Parliament to the Master and Company of Stationers to prevent the impression whereof giving me some f According to the Tenour set downe as hereafter followeth printed Copies of it he willed mee to give an Advertisement thereof to the Readers of my Booke that neither himselfe nor others might be any more abused by such a fraudulent forgery and I might say impudent also for what impudence was it to impose such a discourse upon his Fatherhood a person so well so generally knowne and not more knowne then
Bishops allowing sometimes larger sometimes lesse Authority unto them Some have had power to b Crimina excessus quorumcunque Laicorum criminibus Adulterii Incestus tantummodo exceptis So in the Patent of Mr. P. Mr. E. Mr. L. for the Deanrie of F. censure all offenders and offences of the Laity the crimes of Incest and Adultery alone excepted And some have beene limited to the correction of some few faults specified in their Patents and of late about or not much above three yeares since have most of the Deanries been compounded together into one Patent or two at the most and assigned to the Archdeacons by your Lordship and by them resigned for execution to the Chancellour as their Officiall for that Jurisdiction Now if Deanes Rurall be meant in the Oath and considering what authority and power both in former times and of late they have had in this Diocesse and it may be by the Constitutions of the Church yet in force ought to have we know not why they should bee left out of the Government of the Church nor why they should not bee contained under the title of Deanes how can wee without being over-bold with our consciences take them into such an Oath there being so much diversity and uncertainty of their Authority Of Archdeacons The 10. DOUBT is What is the Authority and Government of Archdeacons 10. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause Deacons are inferiour to Presbyters so farre inferiour that a Deacon though dignified should not presume to sit before a Presbyter by the c Concil Constantinop 6. Can. 7. fol. 311. Caranz sixth Councell of Constantinople and so an Archpresbyter as a Deane Rurall is usually stiled should be superiour to an Archdeacon but as Doctor d Doct. Field of the Church l. 5. c. 25. p. 492. Field observeth notwithstanding all the Canons to the contrary they were many as we may have occasion to note elsewhere and the violent opposition of Hierome and other Worthies of those times they were lifted up not only above Presbyters but above Archpresbyters also and that came to passe as hee observeth for divers causes First because there were fewer Deacons then Presbyters and so e Diaconos paucitas honorabiles Presbyteros tutba contemptibiles facit Hier. ad Evagr. tom 2. pag. 334. paucity made the one sort to be honourable and multitude the other rather contemptible Secondly because Deacons had the charge of the treasure of the Church which kind of imployment is usually much set by Thirdly because they were often used by the Bishop for viewing of such parts of his Diocesse as hee could not conveniently visit himselfe and wee may conceive the reason of that to be because the Deacon was a close adherent to the side of the Bishop and that so necessarily as Epiphanius conceived that as f 3. Partic. Doubt pag. 20. lit q. before we have noted under another title hee said g Sine Diacono impossibile est esse Episcopum Epiphan Heres 75. l. 3. tom 1. p. 215. col 2. It was impossible for a Bishop to bee without a Deacon whereupon in tract of time as the Cardinalls by their propinquity to the Pope overtopped the Bishops who at first were so farre inferiour to them h refertur multos Episcopos praetermissos fuisse Cardinalari ne sie dignitate minucrentur Fulv. Pacian Tractat. de probationibus lib. 2. cap. 28. fol. 94 p. 1. col 1. That a Bishop would not be a Cardinall because hee would not submit to a diminution of dignity so the Archdeacons by their neernesse to the Bishops came to be exalted above the Presbyters which as Doctor i Doct. Field of the Church l. 5. c. 25. p. 492 Field conceiveth was in Saint Hieromes time But though there were then an Archdeacon above the Deacons who did not only officiate himselfe but prescribed unto others what they should doe yet an Archdeacon with allowed Jurisdiction over Presbyters was of a later Institution Bishop k Archidiaconatus gradus est novus Bish Andrâ—n Respâ—ad 3. Epist Pet. Moulin p. 191. Andrewes saith an Archdeaconship is a new degree which I suppose he would not have said if it had been authorized in Saint Hieromes time when if it were in use it was without the approbation of the best as hath been noted wee may well conceive then that Saint Stephen the Protomartyr was not an Archdeacon as he is called in the Decree of l Decret Lucii Pap. an 255. Caranz sum concil fol. 28. pag. 1. Pope Lucius For the Archdeacons Jurisdiction it is so diversly set downe in Ecclesiasticall Constitutions that it is very hard to tell what by rule their Office or Government is as will appeare to him who will take paines to peruse the quotations in the m Concil Aurel. 5. Can. 20. p. 473. decret l. 1. de officio Archidiac fol. 56. p. 1. col 1. Liadw provinc constit lib. 1. de offic Archidiac fol. 36. col 2. Ã Reformat leg Eccles de Eccles Minist c. 6. fol. 48. b. Azor. Instit tom 2. l. 3. cap. 43. col 448. Doct. Cous de pol. Eccles Angl. c. 6. Certaine Canons containing some points of Discipline approved in the Synod 1571. Margin so that from Constitution their Authority flyeth for refuge to Prescription of which Doctor Field saith thus n Doct. Field of the Church l. 5. c 29. pag 509. The Archdeacons which at first might not sit in the presence of a Presbyter but being willed by him so to doe in the end became by reason of their imployment by the Bishop to be greater not onely then the ordinary Presbyters but then the Archpresbyters themselves and therefore it is confessed by all that the Archdeacon hath none Authority or power of Jurisdiction by vertue of his degree and order but by prescription onely nor can hee claime more then hee can prescribe for and it may be hee may prescribe for that which is not commendable haply not lawfull as for that which the Councell of Challons severely condemneth o Can. 15. apud Symps of the Church p. 560. It is reported by some saith the Councell that Archdeacons use domination over the Presbyters and take tribute from them which smelleth rather of tyrannie then of order Prescription and Custome may prevaile against Right and Truth as many times they doe as Tertullian saith o Quicquid adversus veritatem sapit id Haeresis est etiam vetus consuetudo Tert. Whatsoever is set up against that is Heresie though it be an old custome In this Diocesse the Archdeacons have for the most part been but titular since the foundation of the Bishopricke into which were incorporated two Archdeaconries the one of Chester the other of Richmond and of late some Rurall Deanries as before we have observed were assigned unto them and some of us have heard your Lordship say That their Jurisdiction is such and so much as you are pleased
à Deo Artic 11. Wickl Imputat in Concil Constam fol. 437. Concil Caranz None should be excommunicated by any Prelate unlesse he know him or rather thus unlesse hee conceive him excommunicated by God And if so while God is pleased as we hope he is to accept our endeavours to glorifie his Name and edifie his Flocke wee trust it will not be held any part of godlinesse with the Pastorall staffe to drive any faithfull Pastour from the fold of Christ 2. On Charity Secondly wee ground our Hopes upon your Lordships Charity whereof the fundamentall Rule in the Affirmative part is u Mat. 7.12 To doe unto all men as wee would they should doe unto us and in the Negative not to offer that to others which in the like case our selves would not suffer And we doubt not but your Lordship would bee loth that your feare of offence against God and your conscience should be so severely punished as by the Canon is threatned to such as are affraid to take this Oath and if you looke but upon us without reflecting upon your Lordships wee trust that for this after our long and studious endeavours in the University wherein some of us have spent our Patrimonies which might have maintained us in another course without Ecclesiasticall meanes after our constant and painfull imployment in our Pastoral charges even to the tyring out of our strength after our families are increased beyond our abilities to support them without the meanes wee receive from the Church and for many of us wee may say but poorely with it you will not by the discharge of this Canon upon us put us upon the poore refuge of the Canon of the x Clericus victum vestimentum sibi artificiolo vel agriculturâ praeparet Concil Carthag 4. Can. 51 52 53. Councell of Carthage made for inferiour and single Clerkes to labour in husbandry or manufactures which your y Ministers shall not give themselves to any servile labour Can. 75. Canons precisely prohibit for our maintenance sweare we dare not digge we cannot we were no Fishermen nor Tent-makers or other Artificers before we entred upon this holy calling and to begge we are ashamed and we may be also affraid since by the Law z The Complete Justice p. 212. nu 16. edit 1638. begging Scholars are no better then Rogues and so to be severely punished rather then charitably relieved what then shall we doe It is a good Rule given to Visiters by Gavant saith a * Bish Hall in his second book of moderation sect 9. p. 65. reverend Writer of your owne ranke that they should be sparing in making Decrees and no lesse profitable to spirituall Governours which Erasmus relates out of Gershon that they should not rashly throw about the Thunderbolts of their censures lest they should not take time sufficient to distinguish betwixt such as are more capable of pity then of severity and those who are more worthy of the rod then of the spirit of meeknesse to spare the one though they punish the other And wee looke for no lesse moderation and mercy from your Lordship since a b The Gouncell of Challons Can. 41. Councell adviseth you thus It becometh them who are in eminent roomes to deale mercifully with their inferiours knowing that they are brethren And while we accompt you in regard of the gravity and eminency of your parts and places Fathers wee cannot but hope that you will deale with us as with your sonnes with a c As for rule if we affect any but fatherly and moderate and such as must necessarily be required we doe not deprecate to censure Bish Hall of Episcopacy part 2. p. 58. fatherly moderation and not thinke us worthy to bee dis-inherited or cast off while wee desire and endeavour faithfully to hold on in our course of the service of God and his Church And we doubt not but you will remember the godly and gracious words of your owne Ordination d In the book of Ordination pag. penult That you have your Authority not to destroy but to save not to hurt but to help e Ibid. And that you are to be to your Flocks shepheards and not wolves to be so mercifull as not to be remisse so to administer Discipline as not to forget mercy and to bee so farre from oppressing of us that if wee were oppressed by others you should bee ready to succour us This is one end of Episcopall Visitations for which there is a Decree in a Councell of Arles to this effect f The Councell of Arles an 813 Can. 17 p. 564. Patrick Sympson of the Church Let every Bishep visit his bounds once every ye are and if he finde the poore to be oppressed by the violence of the mighty then let him with wholesome admonition exhort them to desist from such oppression and in case they will not desist from their violence then let the Bishop bring the cause to the eares of the Prince Nor doe wee conceive our different perswasion concerning this Oath doth represent us unto you as unworthy of your fatherly Compassion since he that of late hath shewed himselfe a most zealous Patron of Episcopall preheminence expresseth a pitifull affection towards the Divines of the Reformed Churches notwithstanding many greater differences then this of the Oath in this sort g Bish Hall in his Apolog. for Episcopacy part 1. sect 17. pag. 108. We heartily pity saith he the incompetent provision of our forraine brethren whose parts are as eminent as their maintenance is poore He whose charity reacheth so far off in commiserating the poverty of forrain Divines would not surely and wee trust many of the reverend Prelates are as pitifull as he be a meanes to make such miserable objects here at home by depriving of so many conscionable Ministers as make scruple of the Oath of the due provision whereof they are lawfully possessed especially if hee remember the Canon of the Matiscon Councell which saith h Episcopalis domus ad hoc instituta est ut sine personarum acceptione omnes in hospitalitate recipiat Concil Matisc 2. Can. 13. That a Bishops house is purposely appointed to afford hospitality to all that need without respect of persons And that other Canon of Charity which goeth under the name of the Apostles in these words i Si quis Episcopus aut Presbyter Clerico ex inopia laboranti necessaria non suppeditaverit à communione rejicitor si perseveraverit deponitor ut qui fratem suum necaverit Can. Apost 58. If any Bishop or Presbyter doe not minister to the necessities of a Clerke that is in want let him be debarred from the communion and if hee persevere in his want of pity let him be deposed as guilty of his brothers death in withholding from him brotherly reliefe Which not onely by the generall duty of Christianity but by especiall promise the Bishops of England are bound in conscience to