non residencie excommunication by Chancelors officials by the scriptuers If they cannot what are they els but mens traditions And it is acknowledged Perpet gov p. 320. that this last is challenged not by Gods law but by mans How say our brethren then is it not an humane tradition this hiding of the disease tendeth not to healing but to Lib. de dile c. 5. further hurt Nolens se esse reum addit ad reatum excusando ignorat non se poenam removere sed veniam He that will not be guilty increaseth his guilt and by excusing himselfe procureth 〈◊〉 pardon but punishment 5. Cens Are we the men that are addicted to our own quiet credit and commodity Ans to petit p. 27. Answ VVho seek their quiet in the vvorld more then idle ministers that either do not or cannot preach vvho their credit more then they that seeke to haue preheminence aboue their brethren vvho their profit more then they that heape living to living benefice to benefice dignity to dignity Are not they the men that take upon them to bee proctors and patrons for all these VVee charge them not to put out their money to usurie their multiplicity of livings will make them rich enough without it their labours by preaching and writing against the common adversaie we dispraise not but wish the one were more and the other in many to better edifying Neither are their brethren the Petitioners inferior in any of these travels But this wee dislike that our bretheren should thinke by their labours to colour and countenance these corruptions This were as Hierome saith Rem medecinae vulnus Ad Demetr facere remedium animae venenum To make a wound with a medecine and turne the remedie of the soule into a maladie 6. Cens It is obiected That the desire of the Petitioners doth not suit with the state of a monarchy whereunto our answer briefly is this First to enforce this conclusion the confuters Vntruth diverse produce false and slanderous premises as that we would haue the king confined within the limits of some particular parish that they giue vnto the presbyters power to Answ to pet p. 29. censure euioyne penance excommunicate the king and where there is cause to proceed against him as a tyrant that they denie appeales to the prince would draw all causes to be Ecclesiasticall that they allow the magistrate Non potestatem iuris sed facti 1. The Petitioners utterly renounce all these uncharitable imputations they are further off from making all causes Ecclesiasticall then the Bishops and their officers for they think that actions matrimoniall decimarie testamentary de jure belong to the deciding of the civill Magistrate which now de facto are appropriated to the Ecclesiastical courts 2. Not presbyters but Bishops haue taken upon them to censure and excommunicate Kings as Odo suspended King Edwine the Bishop of London Elie VVinchester Hereford Fox p. 151. Fox p. 251. interdicted K. Iohn and the whole Realme they were the Bishops not presbyters that iutted with and iostled their Kings Anselme opposed himselfe against William Rufus Becket against K. Henry the 2. Ste. Langhton against K. Iohn Rob. Winchelsey against Edward the 1. Thomas Arundel against Rich. the 2. And few Archbishops we finde saith M. Eox with whom kings haue not bad some quarrels or Fox 395. other But as for the Petitioners concerning the censuring of Kings we assent unto their determination that thus write Si quis vetus novum Testamentum gestaque reuolverit patenter inveniet quod aut minime aut difficulter possint reges imperatores excommunicari admoneri possunt increpari argui a discretis viris c. If a man turn over the old new Testamēt Epist. Leodiens Eccles Cont. Pasch he shall apparantly said that none at all or very hardly Kings and Emperours can bee excommunicate they may be admonished rebuked by discreet men c. And they add further Hildebrandus papa primus levavit sacerdotalem lanceam contra diadema regum The Pope a Bishop not the presbyters did first lift up the Priestly launce against the Kingly crown If in some places some heady men haue presumed without warrant it ought not to preiudice neither us nor our cause But as Ambrose saith the example of such Non excusationi obtenditur sed cautioni proponitur should not be pretended to imitate but propounded to take heed Secondly would our brethren haue the The Ecclesiasticall state in earth not Monarchical state of the Church Monarchicall by this colour to make the Ecclesiasticall and Civill state suteable when there was but one Emperour ambitious policie brought in one supreame Bishop the Pope that tooke upon him to be chiefe over all Bishops There is great difference between the Church and the Kingdom their regiment cannot be alike Our Saviour himselfe sheweth a difference The Luc. 22. 23. Kings of the Gentiles reigne over them c. but yee shall not be so Christ would haue no Monarks and sole commanders in his Church as the Kings were among the Gentiles Do not our learned writers maintaine against Bellarmine that the policie of the Church Quam D. Sutcliffe l. 1. de pont Rom. c. 5. proxime accedere c. doth come most neere to an Aristocraticall estate not a Monarchicall And in this manner was the Church governed at the beginning as Hierome witnesseth communi presbyterorum consilio by the common In Tit. 1. counsell of presbyters Thirdly yet shall it appeare that the regiment and Discipline of the Church which the Petitioners moue is much more suteable to the state of a Monarchie then the Episcopall Hierarchie 1. VVee acknowledge no other Monarch both in Civill and Ecclesiasticall causes but the kings Maiesty there need not to be any other Prince or chiefe of the Bishops but the King 2. the civill state though it be Monarchicall in the head yet it is not throughout in the members The King first hath his honorable state of Councellors all of equall authority to that may answer for Ecclesiasticall matters a Synode of Bishops then in every shire there are worship full knights and Squires in commission for the peace were it not a confused The presbyter of Pastors proued suteable to the state estate that there should bee but one Iustice in a shire as now there is but one Chancellor or Archdeacon How much more suteable were it if every Deanery and division had their assembly and reverent learned Pastors for the administration of discipline then one ignorant Civilian or some other ordinary substituted person VVee appeale now to all religious politike statesmen whether this form of Ecclesiasticall government were not much more fitting to the Commonwealth then that which now is used VVherefore the Confuters are too blame to charge the Petitioners and their requests as not suteable to the state VVe say with Ambrose Didicimus omnes fidem proprio regi
Ergo seeing a Bishop and Presbyter are the same by the word of God iurisdiction doth of right belong to both Arg. 7. All pastorall duties doe equally belong unto the Pastors but to seperate the pretious from the vile is a Pastorall duty Ier. 15. 19. as it belongeth to the shepheard to seeke that which is lost Ezek 34. 4. that is to reconcile the penitent so also to separate the uncleane to correct the obstinate Augustine saith De corrept grat cap. 15. Pastoralis necessitas habet c. The Pastoral necessity requireth lest the contagion should spread further to separate the diseased sheepe from the sound Ergo it belongeth to Presbyters which are Pastors and haue their flockes Act. 20. 17. 28. to separate ane excommunicate the vile and uncleane Arg. 8. VVhatsoever belongeth to the gathering together of the Saints the work of the Ministery the edifying of the body of Christ is to be performed by the Pastors and Doctors with other Ministers of the Church for to this end hath Christ ordained these offices Ephes 4. 11. But to separate or excommunicate and recoÌ„cile are profitable to the said purposes This authority is given for edification 2. Cor. 10. 8. Ergo it belongeth to the Pastors and Teachers of the Church Arg. 9. The discipline should bee administred by such as are more likely to haue the spirit of direction and to whom with the least perill of the Church the censures might be exercised But an assembly of Presbyters are more like to haue the spirit of Direction as the Apostles and Presbyters assembled in councell saying It seemed good to the holy Ghost and Concil Affrican can 138. epist ad Coelestium to us Act. 15. 28. Thus saith the Councell of Affrican Vnlesse there be any that thinkes God inspireth one particular person with righteousnesse and forsaketh a number of Priests assembled in Synod Again there would arise lesse danger to the Church by this means for there is a rule in the Law Excommunicatus non potest excommunicare he that is excommunicate himselfe cannot excommunicate another caus 24. q. 1. c. 4. But a Bishop or any one Ecclesiasticall person may by many occasions stand under the censure of excommunication In what cases Bishops are liable to the censures of the church as if he haue two wiues caus 24. q. 3. c. 19. or if he bee a teacher of errour hee must bee delivered to Satan caus 24. q. 3. c 13. Pelagius or if he be an usurer caus 14. q. 4. c. 4. or a blasphemer or swearer Carth. 4. cap. 61. or a player at dice. Trullan c. 50. or be negligent in preaching and so continue can Apost 57. or giue orders for money Chalced. c. 2 Or be promoted for money Constant Conc. 6. gener c. 22. or make a lay man his vicar generall Hispatiens 2. c. 9. Or take upon him any civill office as vice-presidentship Iusticiariship Decr. Greg. 3. 58. 4. or sit in causes of bloud or giue sentence for the cutting off of any meber as of ears hands c. ibid. c 5. So writeth Alexander 3. in his rescript to the Bishop of Canterbury But a Bishop or any one man may stand excommunicate where an assembly or company cannot in this case by whom should the discipline be administred Ergo it is safer that the censures of the Church should bee disposed by many then by one Arg. 10. Presbyters by the word of God and practise of the Church are interessed in the spirituall rule and government of the Church but the Excommunication belongeth to the spirituall regiment Ergo For the proofe of the proposition first in the Scriptures wee find that the Apostles called together the Presbyters for the deciding of doubtfull questions and by the Apostle the Elders that labour in the word are made rulers the Elders that rule well especially they that labour in the word 1. Tim. 5. 17. they then that laboured in the word were also ruling Elders for how else should they haue a double honour being excluded from government which is counted one of the greatest honours of the Church Now the practise of the Church is most evident Hier. saith communi presbyterorum concilio Ecclesiae regebantur â—â—â—rom in â— 1. In the beginning Churches were governed by the common advise of presbyters caus 11. q. 3 c. 106. debent 12. sacerdotes Episcopum circumstare c. twelue Priests must stand by the Bisbop when he denounceth excommunication can 108. VVhen the penitent party was to bee reconciled the Bishop must bee assisted with as many caus 12. q. 2. c. 5. The Bishop could not dispose of the temporall things of the Church much lesse of spirituall inconsulto presbyterio not hauing before consulted with his presbitery neither was the assistance of the presbytery for decency and order onely but of necessity Episcopus nullius causam audiat absque praesentia clericorum aliter erit sententia irrita The Bishop shall heare no mans cause without the presence of his Clarks otherwise let the sentence bee voyd Carth. 4. c. 23. Thus it is evident that at the beginning the presbyters did assist the Bishops in the regiment and gouernment of the Church as is confessed also by our learned writers the government of the Church at the first was so apportioned that neither the presbyters should doe any thing without the Bishop Perpetual gover p. 307. nor the Bishop dispose matters of importance without his presbytery D. Fulke thus testifieth it is manifest that the authority of binding Ans to Rhem in 2 Cor. 2. sect 4. and loosing committing and retaining pertaineth generally to all the Apostles alike and to every pastor in his cure Thus was it in the beginning but by little and little in processe of time Bishops began to encroach upon presbyters and their office 1. Bishops had at the first but a priority before their presbyters they were not How Bishops by little and litile encroached upon Presbyters to suffer a presbyter to stand before them Carth. 4. 34. and within doores Collegam se presbyterorum esse cognoscat let the Bishop take himselfe to be the presbyters collegue and fellow but now Bishops are callled Prelats Ministers subditi their subiects 2. As yet the Bishops had no speciall kind of ordayning as differing in order from presbyters as Ambrose saith Episcopi presbyteri una ordinatio there is but one ordination of a presbyter and a Bishop uterque enim sacerdos for they are both but Priests or Ministers in 1. Tim. 3. afterward the Bishops brought in a speciall kind of consecration for themselues 3. Then they went further that whereas in giuing of Orders presbyters were ioyned with Bishops Carth. 4. c. 3. cited before they did assume that office to Hier. Evag. 10. themselues quid facit excepta ordinatione Episcopus c. What doth a Bishop that a Priest cannot doe ordination onely excepted 4. But not contented to stay here
the multiplicite of excommunications tot hodie fiunt officiales quod vix est aliquis c. There are so many excommunications now a dayes by officials that scarce any man that feareth God can liue in the world with a safe conscience VVhervpon it was directed vt caveant ab earū multiplicatione c. That they should beware of multiplying excômunications lest they be brought to contempt These are the showers of Chancelors and officials excommunications that flee faster then lightening in tempest Object 9. In our vnderstanding the Minister of the parish doth giue his consent to the petition p. 23. Ans VVhat consent call yee this when the Chancellor or Officiall sendeth his mandate and the Minister must denounce the sentence of excommunication or be suspended himselfe doe yee count this consent sufficient what is the pastor here els but the officials slaue to denounce his censures VVhat is this els but against the Apostle to be the seruantes of men But 1 Cor. 7. 21 De 7. ordin Eccles as Hierome saith non in dominatione vt servos habeas sed in ministerio liberos preachers should not be vsed as servants with indignitie but as free men in their ministrie Object 10. They intend the inabling of everie particular pastor alone to excommunicate Answ to the petition ibid. Ans Neither is it our desire that every particular Pastor should be inabled to excomunicat vntruth We giue no such power to particular pastors himself alone against the Apost rule not as Lords ouer Gods heritage As the the other is slavish so this were popelike as Hierome will saith contenti sint honore suo sciant se patres esse non dominos Let them be content with theyr owne honor and know they are fathers and not Lords Obejct 11. If the pastor ought to be ioyned in commission there would followe a world of troubles Answ ibid. Answ Neither were it fitt that everie pastor should be ioyned in commission with the Chauncelor and attend vpon his courts for that were infinite and tedious for the pastors to withdrawe them from their flocks Cyprian will saith Neque in altari meretur nominari in sacerdotum prece 1. Pet. 5. 3. Lib. 1. ep 9. qui ab altari sacerdotes avocare volunt Hce deserues not to be mentioned in the Minicters praiers that would draw him from executing his Ministery But it shall euen now appeare what our desire is Our desire is that discipline may be administred according to the rules of Gods word or as things now stand seeing there are three persons in this busines to bee respected the Bishop in his diocese the officers and Ministers of the Bishop and the severall pastors VVee would haue euery mans right reserved that all matters of instance and ciuill pleas should be still referred to the Civill Iudges but matters of office as they are called excommunication and spirituall misdemeanors to be censured by the companie of presbyters in euerie Deanrie and division assisted if it please the kings Maiestie with some graue persons of the Lay sort to be assembled monethly together or otherwise as there shall bee cause and from them if there bee any iust agrevance appeale to be made to the bishop Synods of the Bishops and Presbyters necessary with his synod of presbyters For this course to appeale and referre doubtfull matters to synods is both agreable to scriptuers and practise of the ancient Church As in Antioch when the Church was troubled about cercumcision they sent to the Apostles and Elders about that question Act. 15. 2. Thus was it decreed in the great Nicene synode that in euery prouince bishops should assemble twice in the yeare to heare the complaints of such as were excommunicate can 5. The same decree is revived Antioch c. 20. Neither had they onely provinciall synods but the bishop for the same cause had his assembly of pastors Cyprian writing to the presbyters and deacons of Carthage saith A primordio Episcopatus mei statui nibil sine consilio vestro mea privatim sententia gerere c. Since Cypr. lib. 3. epist. 10. my first entrance into my Episcopall charge I dermined to doe nothing priuately of my self without your counsell Gregorie saith lest there be any dissention among brethren c. Lib. 7. epist 110. In unum convnire sacerdotis est c It is necessarie for the Priests to meet together quem negligentia reijcit cum omnium presbyterorum consilio refutetur whom his owne negligence maketh vnworthy let him be displaced by the councell of the presbyters Turenens 2. c. 7. For this cause it was not long since decreed by a provinciall synod singulis annis saltem synodus diocesane a singulis Reformat Ratisp art 35. Episcopis celebrant Euery yeare at the least let everie Bishop celebrate a synod in his diocese Thus if this course were taken Christs institution for the censure of excommunication shall be kept the Pastors shall bee reverenced the preaching of the word furthered people with long iournies not wearied manners shall bee duely corrected And thus much is insinuated by Cyprian Epist 3. ad Cornel. A Equum est iustum ut uniuscujusque causa illic audiatur ubi est crimen admissum singulis pastoribus sit portio gregis a scripta quam regat unusquisque gubernet rationem sui actus Domino redditurus It is right and iust that every mans cause bee heard where the fault is made and to every pastor a part of the flock should be committed to bee governed VVherefore most noble King 1. seeing The conclusion excommunication should bee decreed by an assembly according to Christs rule Matth. 18. 18. 2. Neither should there be any monark or sole commander in the spirituall regiment of the Church 3. If S. Paul did not excommunicate without the Pastors 4. If all that haue authoritie to preach haue right to the keyes 5. If they which haue a ioynt power of ordination haue also of iurisdiction 6. If by the word of God a Bishop and a Priest are all one 7. If all pastorall duties equally belong to all Pastors 8. If whatsoeuer appertaineth to the edifying of the Church is appendant to the pastors office 9 If it be safer that many excōmunicate by consent then one 10. If it hath been the practise of the Church to ioyne presbyters with Bishops in the spirituall regiment of the Church 11. If all Priests indifferently under the Law did separate and restore lepers whereunto answereth excommunication and reconciliation now 12. If presbyters sate in councels and gaue voyces and are allowed by the Law imperiall to excommunicate And further seing nothing can bee obiected of any moment 1. Neither S. Pauls delivering to Sathan of Alexander and Hymeneus 2. Neither of the Incestuous yong man at Corinth 3. seeing the key of knowledge which pastors haue is not to be severed from the keye of power 4. and as well may
for your Maiesties poore subiects the Ministers of the Gospell wee haue greater cause to thinke our selues happy that we may poure out our complaints into your Christian bosome then Paul did for that he was suffered to answer before king Agrippa and we doubt Acts 26. 3. not but that your princely eares are open to heare us for our selues that would haue us heard for your selfe as Ambrose saith to Theodosius Ipse non audies eos quos pro Ambros epi. 29. ad Theodos te audire velis Will not you heare those whom you desire may be heard for you 2. Cens Augustine saith The very change of custome otherwise profitable hurteth by innovation Answ Neither should custome prevaile Custome no rule of truth against truth nor antiquity counterpoise the verity Innovation is not to be feared where reformation is effected for then neither Christs Gospell should haue taken place against the Iewes traditions nor Christianity against Paganisme or Protestancie against Poperie Augustine saith well even in the same place where he is alledged for custome Aut propter fidem aut propter mores vel emendari oportet quod perperam fiebat vel institui quod non fiebat For faith and manners that may be amended which was evill used and that may be a new instituted which was altogether omitted And Ambrose answereth Symmachus well that urged custome for certain Pagan rites Nulla aetas ad perdiscendū sera est crubescat senestus quae se emendare non potest non annorum canities est laudāda sed morum nullus pudor est ad meliora transire Old age should not be ashamed to amend and it is no shame to change for the better 3. Cens If the ceremonies were superstitious with what conscience did they subscribe in respect of the times c Ans 1. The Ceremonies which we desire to be removed as we iudge them not Of subscription all to be alike superstitious so neither do we hold them profitable or fit to be retained being divers wayes scandalous as shall afterward be shewed in particular 2. Some men by subscription did beare them as tollerable in their opinion for the time not as condemnable in themselues And do our brethren aske with what conscience they could doe this Did not the Apostles subscribe in their Epistle for the retaining of the Iewish rites of abstaining from strangled bloud not thereby simply giving them approbation but yeelding toleration for a time As Augustine doth fitly resemble it Sicut defuncta corpora necessariorum officijs deducenda erant quomodo ad sepulturam c. As the bodies of the dead must haue a time to be brought after a seemly manner to the graue and not to be straight wayes forsaken c. so they which desired the peace of the Church and were loath to depriue the same of their labours did thinke they might by their subscription and tolleration beare these ceremonies for a time as the Apostles did the Iewish though the case be not altogether alike the one being legall rites the other humane inventions yet neither apparantly impious the time and other circumstances considered 3. And yet divers which sue for reformation did refuse at all to thrust their neckes under this yoake of subscription But how little the subscription of some maketh for the allowance of these offensiue ceremonies shall further appeare in the defence of the preface Art 6. 4. Cens If they be indifferent c. then the Magistrate may command and we must obey Where is then their pretended obedience c. Answ Concerning the indifferencie of Some Ceremonies urged not indifferent Epist. 118. c. 8. these ceremonies 1. It will bee hard to shew that they are all indifferent Augustine hath this rule of things indifferent Quod neque contra fidem neque bonos more 's iniungitur indifferenter est habendum That which is not enioyned against Faith and maners must be held as indifferent Such Ceremonies then as haue no warrant in the word and so against faith as the Crosse in Baptisme and are offensiue to the brethren and so against charity as the Surplice how can they be sayd to be indifferent 2. VVere they indifferent in their owne nature yet the scandall that is given to the Church of God doth take away the indifferent use of them As S. Paul saith he would not eate flesh while the world standeth if it offend his brethren 1. Cor. 8. 13 and it is no small danger to wound the conscience of the brethren the Apostle saith they sinne against Christ 3. And if these ceremonies were indifferent in their owne nature yet to him that cannot be so perswaded they are not indifferent For whatsoever is not of faith that is of a Rom. 14. 23. ful resolutiō without doubting is sin For this were as Ambrose saith to be strenuum operibus affectu infidum To bee stong in action and unstable in affection VVherefore if either these ceremonies be not at all indifferent in their owne constitution or not so in the perswasion of the heart it is no disobedience to forbeare and refuse though they are commanded for the Apostles resolution is to be followed to obey God rather The Magistrate must not Act. 4. 19. be resisted and yet that which is against the conscience may without disloyaltie be refused as Ambrose excellently resolveth Volens nunquam ius deseram coactus repugnare non novi potero flere potero gemere Orat. in Auxentium I will never willingly forsake that which is right I cannot resist though provoked this I can do even to weep and waile Lastly seeing these ceremonies are confessed by our brethren to be indifferent then is it in your Maiesties power to take them out of the way Then seeing the removing of these ceremonies wil be no offence of conscience to those that hold them indifferent and yet the retaining of them wil grieue the consciences of many good Christiās that take them not to be such we humbly beseech your excellent Maiesty to take away these occasions of stumbling and we doubt not but your Maiesty is resolved with the Apostles to lay upon your people no other burdens beside necessarie things Act. 15. 28. Like to Theodosius the Emperour of whom Ambrose saith Malluit sibi homimines religione quam metu constringere in obit Theodos Hee had rather binde men unto him by religion then by feare Positiue abuses 5. Cens These men should not be suffered Vntruth 1. wee do not calumniate the state Vntrutht 2. There are many things positiue in the church worthy of blame to calumniate the State wherein there is nothing positiue worthy of blame Answ As touching the abuses in the Church some of them are in the very cōstitution as of Non-residents pluralities dumb ministers faculties excōmunication by Chancellors Officials and such like as shall afterward appeare in particular VVere there nothing herein positiue that is worthy of
canere instrumentis in animis puerorum est To vse instruments is for babes and children Itaque in ecclesijs sublatus est tantum instrumentorum vsus relictum est canere simpliciter so that our brethren thinking by these authorities to helpe their cause haue indeed cut the throat of it The Papists themselues confesse that their harmonicall musicke is much later lib. 4. Chronol p. 729. then Iustine Martyr or Augustine either Genebrand confesseth that Pope Constantine sent Organs to King Pippin anno 757. as yet unknowne to the Germanes and Frenchmen and Beza sheweth by good authorities that they were first brought in by Pope Viteliane at the soonest and Colloqu Mompelg par 2. p. 37. into France anno 878. So long the Churches of Christ stood without them and it had been well with them if they had stood so still VVherefore most noble King 1. Seing this theatricall Musicke serveth not to edification in the Church to the which all things there used should serue by the Apostles rule 2. Seeing it hindereth edification in withdrawing the minde from contemplation and pulling it down to carnall delight 3. Seeing it was a part of the Leviticall service which is now ceased in Christ 4. Seing plain voice musicke was taken to be fittest for Gods service by Christ and the Apostles and all the Fathers in the best times of the Church we most humbly entreate your maiesty that this stage-like musicke may be removed and that which is fittest for edification and best beseeming the spirituall worship of the Gospell may be retayned 12. Against the prophanation of the Lords day HErein we both consent Hee is very Answ to pet p. 12. prophane say our brethren that desireth not this from his heart Now wee heartily thanke the holy God of Heaven even for this and we pray him that hath begun this good in our brethren to encrease it to the day of Iesus Christ Indeed the sanctifying of the Sabbath Esay 58. 13 Exod. 31. 13 is it that giveth life to all religion and therefore this being once well setled all religious and Christian duties will quickly follow VVherefore O most noble King not onely we the ministers that desire reformation but both your Vniversities the Vice Chancellors Doctors and heads of houses and the rest of the learned Clergy and obedient subiects expect this at your Highnesse hands that as you haue by your most Christian proclamation give Constant. Euseb lib. 4. c. 19. Theodos Valent. c. de ferijs Carolus magn 139. K. Canutus K. Iuas in martyrol Fox p. 73. Gythcon K. of Danes ibid. p. 755. Exod. 20. 10. charge for the sanctifying of the Lords day and for restraining of idle sports and games upon it as the godly Emperours and Kings haue done before So because through the backwardnes and disorder of many brutish people that day is not yet so carefullie regarded as it should bee It will please your highnesse so soone as God shall giue opportunitie to enact it as a Law that all your Maiesties people may not onely keep a rest but a religious and holy rest upon that day VVee know your highnesse knoweth the largenesse of your gates that they be as large as your kingdom and therefore will provide by godly and wholesome lawes according to the charge of your God which is uppon you that all within your gates i. within your hignesse government and dominions shall keepe the day of the Lords rest in all the holy duties and services of it 13. That the rest upon holy dayes be not so strictly urged Argument 1. IF Saints dayes may without any offence to God bee remooved then the strict observation thereof should not be so severely urged But the first is true for some Churches reformed haue de facto taken them away as brought in by men and de iure they might so do because the keeping of such times without speciall commandement seemeth to be an observing of dayes contrary to the Apostle Gal. 4. 10. and a consecrating of them to the memory of men which should onely be obserued to the Lord Rom. 14. 6. As Ambrose well saith qui calendas Ianuarias colit peccat quoniam homini mortuo defert divinitatis obsequium he that keepeth the calends of Ianuarie sinneth because he giveth divine worship to a dead man his reason is as good against holy dayes Amb. ser 17 kept in the memory of Christian men as Pagans for divine honor should be yeelded to neither Arg. 2. There should be a diffrence made between the rest upon the Lords day and other holy dayes But now there is no difference the rest being as strictly urged upon the one day as the other Ergo. The proposition is thus proved i. The Lord himselfe maketh a difference betweene the Sabboth and other holy dayes of his own appointment for upon the passeover day it was lawfull to dresse that which they did eate Exod. 12. 16 But not so upon the Lord day Exod. 16. 2. 3. 2. the Sabboth is of the Lords institution and so precisely to be kept holy dayes are but an Ecclesiasticall constitituon and therefore not in the observation to bee made equall to the other 3. Difference to be made in the obseruatiō of the Lords day and other holy dayes the rest upon the Lords day doth simply bind in conscience as all the commandements of God doe the rest of holy dayes doth not simply bind in conscience in respect of the thing commanded but as we are bound in conscience to obey our governours in all lawfull things for there is but one lawgiuer which is able to saue and to destroy Iam. 4. 12. 4. the constitutions of the Church haue observed this difference making greater restraint of labour upon the Lords day then upon other festivals upon the Lords day all ruralia opera works of husbandrie are forbidden Cabilonens c. 18. itinerari cum caballis to travel with horse or oxen Aurelian 3. 27. to keep Fairs or Markets upon the Lords day Coloni part 9. c. 10. no courts or pleas then to be holden Tarraconens c. 4. no dansing or playes or shewes to bee used Mogunt c. 61. All these canons and many more provide onely or chiefly pro diebus dominicis for the Lords dayes Argu. 3. That liberty which God hath given to worke six daies ought not where Exod. 20. 6 there is no urgent necessity to be restrained especially where there is a necessity to labour for where necessity requireth wee deny not but a day of cessation may be enioyned upon the worke dayes as when a generall day of fast or of thanksgiving is proclaimed yet even upon these daies necessary labours are excepted But the rest of holy daies is upon no necessity yea many pore men working a crash for necessity haue been fetched to the Courts and forced to pay large fees Ergo it impugneth the liberty which God hath given and so is unlawfull as it is
answere Non dico juga boum aut villam emi c. sed plane parvulos me lactare fateor c. I say not I haue bought oxen or a farme but I suckle little ones and therefore I see not how I can come without their great danger Vniversities are not maintained but hindred by non-residents when by this meanes the elder sort liue there like drones and keepe out yonger students that might doe more good As for the masters of howses most of their places are sufficient without other helps to maintaine them in competent sort the other might be provided of dignities without cure that they need not clog themselues with benefices Cathedrall Churches also may be served with residence of Prebends by course there is no necessity of continuall or long absence from their flockes for this cause the onely inconvenience is to their purse if they bee not perpetuall residents according to that Canon which forbiddeth Ne canonici non residentes quotidianas distributiones ex integro perciperent They should but so much want of their divident VVherefore most noble King 1. Seing sheepheards ought to attend upon their flock 2. and Stewards upon their charge 3. and every one must abide wherein hee is called 4. seeing ministers are watchmen 5. and they which flee from their flocks are idle shepheards and hirelings 6. they which feed not the flocks loue not Christ 7. and they which are absent cannot discharge the pastoral duties which are many 8. seeing non residency bringeth apparant danger to the flock 9. and maketh the Pastor inexcusable 10. and is condemned by the Canons and constitutions of the Church And further seeing nothing of any moment can bee alledged in excuse of Non-residents 1. Neither the smalenesse of living 2. nor largenesle of the parish 3. nor sufferance by some positiue lawes giving way to the time 4. nor absence upon some necessary occasion 5. Seing non-residency tendeth not to the maintenance of learning Court Church nor Vniversity we trust your Maiesty is resolved to cherish good Pastors and to see all Churches planted with such as shall reside to doe their duty among their people And to say with Ambrose Ego Amb epist 54. diligo eos vel Presbyteros vel Diaconos qui cum aliquo processerint nequaquam se patiuntur a suo diutius abesse munere I loue such Presbyters and Deacons who when they are gone abroade will not long be from their charge ARTIC 4. Of the Marriage of Ministers IT is well our Brethren consent with us for ratifying of the civill marriage of Ministers we would also that they did accord with us concerning their spirituall marriage whereof Ambrose thus writeth upon these words of the Apostle Vnius uxoris virum c. Prohibet bigamum Episcopum ordinari si vero ad altiorem sensum conscendimus inhibet Episcopum duas usurpare Ecclesias He forbiddeth a Bishop that hath two wiues to be ordained but if we will go to an higher sense he forbiddeth a Bishop or Pastor to usurp two Churches The fifth Article of Subscription Reasons against subscription to the book 1. MINISTERS were forced to subscribe to many things not warranted by the word In such cases the Apostle giveth this rule to whom we gaue not place by subjection not for an houre Gal. 2. 5. And Hierom confidently saith Ego libera voce reclamante mundo profiteor c. I doe Ierom. Augustine freely professe though the world say nay that the ceremonies of the Iewes are deadly and pernicious to Christians and whosoever observeth them is cast down into the Devils dungeon VVherefore in imposing subscription not to Iewish onely but which is worse to ceremonies used in the Popish Church they layd a yoake upon mens shoulders too heauy to beare Secondly seeing the preachers consented in all substantiall points of doctrine they should haue used their Christian liberty in such ceremonies according to the Apostles rule the kingdom of God is not meate nor drink nor by the like reason apparell but righteousnesse and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost for whosoever in those things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men let us follow those thing which concerne peace and wherewith one may edifie another Rom. 14. 18 19. Vniformity in ceremonies then should not haue been so strictly urged seeing there was a generall consent in doctrine but forbearance should haue been vsed in matters say indifferent for peace sake in una fide nihil officit Ecclesiae sanctae consuetudo diuersa Toletan 5. can 5. 3. Though it had been a fault in the preachers not to be conformable in these ceremonies yet did it not deserue so great a punishment as suspension degradation incarceration deprivation that Non-residents idle ignorant superstitious adulterous Clergie men were not so proceeded against as honest painful preachers what was this else but with the Pharisees to straine at a gnat and swallow a Camell Such severity in trifles was taxed long ago by Augustine hoc nimis doleo c. this They were wont to obserue the 8. day after baptisme Aug. contra Petil. 2. 37. Aliud est quod octave die baptizatornm nos celebramus much greeveth me that many things wholesomely commanded in Scriptures are not endevoured and all things are so full of humane presumptions that he is more censured that in his octaues setteth his bare feete upon the ground then he that is givē over to drunkennesse Epist 11. c. 19. 4. Profitable ministers though wanting in some externall matters should haue been borne with for the common good of the Church this course S. Paul tooke what then yet Christ is preached all manner of wayes whether under pretence or sincerely I therein ioy and will ioy Phil. 1. 18. Thus Hierom saith well Ecclesia numero superata Advers Ioan bierosol peccantium c. the Church overcome with the number of offenders doth pardon the shepheard to do the sheep good Yea the Canons allow a toleration for the profit of the Church Vbi Ecclesiae maxima utilitas vel necessitas postulet where the necessity or utility caus 1. q. 7. cap. 17. of the Church so requireth There was small reason to thrust out preachers for trifles there being such want of preachers 4000 Churches in England yet being without 5 Subscription was urged by force not by perswasion there was no course taken to resolue them that doubted and Bishops peremptorily required subscription without yeelding any reason further or satisfaction to the doubtfull contrary to the Apostle who saith not that we haue dominion over your faith 2. Cor. 1. 24. But they which urged subscription commanded they perswaded not mens conscience the Church of Rome some time was more equall as Leo 1. thus writeth plus erga corrigendos agat benevolentia quà m severitas plus cohortatio quà m comminatio plus Charitas quà m potestas c. with those that are to be corrected let Clemency prevaile more
manifest examples of the primitiue Perpet gov p. 406. Church wee striue not for it Answ 1. But why we pray you do you make mention of the Canons of the Church onely and not of the word of God will you haue bishops to haue more authority and Pastors lesse then the word of God alloweth them 2. But we refuse not to debate this matter by the Canons and practise of the Church which notwithstanding hath been in part shewed before argum 10. and shall bee declared further in the answer to the 11. Objection Hierom thus writeth quomodo ibi leprosum sacerdos mundum vel immundū In Mat. ◠16. facit sic hic alligat vel solvit Episcopus presbyter As there under the Law the Priest made the leprous person cleane or uncleane so here the presbyter bindeth or looseth So then as the iudgement and censuring of the leprosie belonged not onely to the chiefe Priests but indifferently to them all He shall be brought to Aaron the Priest or one of his sonnes the Priests Lev. 13. 2. So now the censuring of spirituall leprosie should indifferently belong to all spirituall Pastors Further wee find that presbyters sate together with Bishops and gaue voyces and made decrees not onely in matters which concerne the word and doctrine as we are borne in hand but such as belonged Perpet gov pag. 291. to discipline and excommunication and anathematizing as is evident Concil Eliberrm to the which subscribed 36. presbyters can 52. 62. 67. And in Arelatens 2. can 25. 28. and can * 30. they decree concerning the suspension of Bishops to this Synod subscribed 12. presbyters from hence it is cleare that presbyters assembled in a synod haue power to excommunicate The imperiall Law saith We charge all Bishops and Priests that they separate no Novil constitut 125. c. 11. man from the sacred communion before they shew the cause c. And he that presumeth to excommunicate let him bee put from the communion Thus it was indifferent for Bishops or presbyters to excommunicate Obj. 6. Not in very Church but in every citty there were presbyters assisting and ayding Perpet gov p. 183. the Bishop and these were Clergy men to helpe him in all sacred actions and advise him in all iudiciall and Ecclesiasticall proceedings p. 184. Answ 1. Neither do we urge to haue a presbyterie of Clergy men in everie parish Church but that in every division the presbyters and Pastors should assemble together for the execution of Discipline 2. It being confessed that presbyters in cities haue assisted the Bishop in Ecclesiacall proceedings why then may not the presbyters of country Churches be admitted who are so much the more fit because they are acquainted with the particular diseases in their severall cures 3. The Presbyteries were not onely in great and populous citties neither had the bishops them such large circuits but that one presbytery might suffice for the Cittie and confines thereof for then the bishop had his proper parish Episcopus propriam parochiam non derelinquat Can. Apost 13. his The Bishop had his proper flock proper Church The bishop qui non acquierit ire ad Ecclesiam sibi cōmissam Which did not resolue to goe to the Church committed to his charge should be put from the communion Antioch concil c. 17. hee had his peculiar flock Episcopus grege sibi commissum c. The bishop must instruct the flocke committed unto him with the preaching of the word Turonens sub Carol. Then bishops lived not onely in famous great Citties but in base and obsure townes Episcopus de loco ignobili ad nobilem per ambitionē non transeat A bishop ambitiously must not go from a base and ignoble towne to a noble Carth. 4. can 15. Then bishops had not such a large Diocesse In Augustines time there were in one province under Carthage of the Catholicke Donatist aboue Bishops 9000. Of the Catholicks part there were present 286. and absent 120. by reason of sicknesse and old age Epispall Churches voyd 60. in all 466. Of the Donatists there were present 279. absent 120. Churches voyd 60. in all 459. These so many bishops in one province cannot be thought to haue had Diocesses much larger then some parishes And few bishoprickes haue so many parish Churches under them and none in England unlesse it be Norwich is found to haue more It is no marvell then if one presbyterie with the bishop sufficed for such Diocesses Object 7. Presbyters sate with the bishops at the first as assessors and consenters before Perpet gov p. 317. Synods undertooke such causes Ans 1. The frequenting of Synods was no let to the authority of the presbytery 1. It was a Synod that decreed that Sententia Episcopi c. The sentence of the Bishop should be voyd if it were not confirmed by the sentence of the Clergie Carth. 4. c. 23. 2. From the Nicene Councell to the time of this Synod were assembled in the space of an hundred years and somewhat more twenty provinciall Synods as the Elibortine Arelatens 1. and 2. Gangrens Agrippin Antioch Sardic with others 3. And before this it was decreed that there should be a Synod of bishops twice every yeare Antio c. 20. Constantin 1. c. 2. But after the time of this Synod of Carthage when the authority of the presbytery began to bee impaired it was decreed that bishops should assemble but once in the yeare Toletan 3. c. 18. So that even when Synods were most frequent the presbytery was in greatest authority it began to fail when Synods were not so often celebrated Obj. 8. For our parts though we take the keyes to be common to all that haue pastorall charge of soules in their degree yet to avoyd Perpet gov p. 320. the infinite showers of excommunication c. if every presbyter at his pleasure might excommunicate we praise the wisedome of Gods Church in suffering no inferiour to excommunicate without the Bishops consent c. Answ 1. If by the institution of Christ the administration of the keyes be common to all pastors what presumption is this for men to take upon thē to be wiser then God to change his institution The Esay 40. 13 prophet saith who hath instructed the spirit of God or taught him 2. It is not the wisdom of the Church but the ambition of Bishops that hath excluded the pastors as Diotrephes that loued to haue preeminence would not receive the brethren 3. Neither are Ioh. epist. 3. excōmunications the fewer because one by the Bishops authoritie excommunicateth but the more for there is like to be more grace and discretion in a companie of reverent and learned pastors then in one vnlearned Chancellor or Officiall and the Courts now intend their own gain therefore multiplie excommunications wheras then the profite of mens soules should be expected As though there hath not been long since complaint made of